Family Face Off

So last night we decided to have our pre-bed routine outside on the deck off of Nathan and I's room. We blew up the air mattress and got a bunch of blankets because it was chilly. We read a few books, read scriptures, had family prayer and things might have continued to settle down after that had a blogging obsessed mom resisted taking one quick picture. Somehow that innocent picture snow balled into a full on silly face competition. Here are just a few of about a dozen rounds:

Kohen and I went first and as you can see Nathan and Kenna clearly copied the essence of our picture. Round 1 goes to Ko-dawg and I.

Round 2 definitely goes to Nathan and Kenna but just know that there were no feel good ties in this competition. Kohen and I were the clear winners.



The Grand Finale came when Nathan and Kenna whipped out their cheez covered "Thumbs Up!"


To which Kohen and I responded with a too-cool-for-school "Thumbs Down!" (or Thumbs "Dee-yown" pronounced by Kohen with two syllables)



T.U. and T.D. is sort of a thing we do where anything good we see (ie: bikers wearing helmets)
gets a gregarious Thumbs UP! And anything bad (ie: no helmets or someone smoking) gets a big Thumbs Dee-yown! It was the funniest way we could have possibly ended our little competition. We all snuggled up together and goofed off some more before Nathan took the kids one by one to bed. It was an unexpectedly fun time. A deck and a digital camera...who knew?

A Dream Come True For Kohen

And what could these 3 cuties be so excited about????

General Conference!!!!!!!

Okay, no. I lied. It was their first ever viewing of Star Wars, Episode 4!!! ( or the first old one, to uncomplicate it, ha!)

Don't be fooled, Aly was reacting to the popcorn not the movie...

So Nathan and I have been debating for a while whether or not it was time to let Kohen see at least one of the Star Wars episodes. Apparently Nathan decided tonight was the night because he and Kennedy came home from errands with the video in hand. Kohen was ecstatic and it was SO worth it to watch his reactions. Like the first time Luke turned on his light saber and Kohen's mouth dropped open, or when Darth Vader made his first appearance, "Why is that guy bad? he has a cape!" Obviously in Kohen's mind Cape = Righteousness, so this was all a bit mind blowing for him. Kennedy didn't miss much so I had to distract her once or twice and she probably asked several hundred questions throughout the movie- love her but that got a little old. Aly called it quits and went to bed about a half hour in....guess the popcorn must have been gone.

A Thank You

There is a reason for this belated post...Computer problem when Nathan wasn't home, need I say more? Anyway, Nathan's parents Bonnie and Norm were kind enough to bring down our second car and then stay for a few days and help us out getting our house in order. The boys especially, did all the manly work and had switched out the refrigerators practically before Bonnie and I could even sit down! Nathan and I were so grateful for their help.
Monday before Bonnie and Norm left we loaded everyone up and headed to San Fran to share our new favorite Crepe Vine and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf to snag some sourdough bread and clam chowder. Then we decided to find out just how close we could cut it taking someone to the airport, yikes~ I think we had all of two or three minutes left before the cut off. Anyway, we were so grateful they came even for a short time.

What Type of Blog Do You Have?

On MMW's someone asked if perfectly polished stories and retellings of our lives and experiences are really what we want our blogs/journals to be (referring to when stories on blogs are totally rose colored compared to what they told you in person). It was an interesting question because you know, we've all read blogs that are so perfect you have to fight the gag reflex. But I think that is different than those who are choosing only to write about the good, which is also a reasonable option. But unfortunately for you, it isn't an option for me. I strive to be like my personal fave blogs (see the long list to the right) I always check first, they are the ones where I know I will find reality for better or for worse. No sugar coating.

Lest anyone should get the wrong idea about my blog I shall share:

*Yesterday I burned the left side above my lip cuz I kept the Mustachio Remover on too long whilst breaking up an ultimate fighting brawl between my kids. (course that was after Kohen found me with the cream on my face and asked me if I was shaving like Dad. Yay! free self-esteem boost!)

*Briefly tried potty training Aly today- she would hold it while on the potty then go elsewhere and relieve herself. You would think I would have been a little more suspicious when she wanted to snuggle on my lap...I guess she didn't want to take a bath alone???

*During Quiet Time Kohen had smuggled some Elmer's Glue into his room and smeared glue all over the back of his door and stuck one of Kennedy's paper dolls to it. After overseeing him scrub his door clean I turn to find where the other 3/4 bottle of glue went...I didn't like the carpet here anyway.

*While making dinner the kids were out back riding their respective bikes. There must have been some sort of fantastic collision because all three trailed in whimpering, bruised and bleeding. Had that UnSupermom moment where I fumed their Dad wasn't home to help juggle...

*Went to church here for the first time to find a ward so little our 3 kiddies added 18% to their primary in one day. And at least 70% of the ward is very elderly. This was underlined when they noted the two funerals they had that week had gone well. Bloom where you're planted, bloom where you're planted...who am I kidding, I always kill plants.

*No matter how you cut it, it is lonely in a new place without friends.

I'll Give That A Four

Last night I had just gotten the children settled and I was sitting on the floor trying to figure out the tv in the family room when out of no where there was the loudest noise that sounded like a freight train and the whole house started to shake. So obviously it was an earthquake- my first ever- but I got to tell you, it took me about 3 of the 4 seconds the house shook to make sense of what was happening. It was just so completely unexpected and it is funny to me now how my mind tried to make sense of something it didn't understand.

And it totally scared the crap outta me. I know 'crap' isn't a nice word but I am using it here because it is how I felt. Nathan had left to catch a flight up to the BYU game with his BIL's and Dad and so I was on my own. Immediately after the shaking stopped I hear Kennedy upstairs and as I go to her she says worriedly, "Mom, my bed was just shaking!" And then I had to act (emphasis on the word 'act') like I was calm and not afraid and try and explain to her what an earthquake was and wasn't that so cool... all the while trying not to let her see how shaken up I was...no pun intended.

I don't expect to always be a pansy about earthquakes. Really I don't, but this caught me so off guard and I was alone and I haven't learned what I should do in case of a dangerous earthquake, though I think I have a general idea. And I also spent the next half hour worried because Nathan's phone was out of service off and on on the way to the airport. But once I got a hold of him and learned he was fine (hadn't felt it) I went back to just worrying about me, lol. I didn't know if there would be more or if the one that happened was even a big deal somewhere else.

I found the news and learned that it was a 4.0 and the epicenter was about half and hour away but 10 miles below the surface...And when I opened up our home page on the computer and it was on CNN's headlines I felt a lot better about myself. Obviously it wasn't a huge earthquake but enough that it made me feel better about my newbie reaction. I think we have officially been welcomed to California.....

Last Week In Review

I've got some catching up to do! Ahh! Okay deep breath...So last week our favoritist Marianne came and visited us from the Y where she is on the Woman's Basketball Team (and her brother Jeff is on the Football team #58 - a shameless shout-out cuz I am super proud even though technically they are Nathan's cousins, but they are Bells which puts them in a grey area that I proudly claim). It was kinda weird she and I decided because being together felt just like in VA except we were now in California, a little twilight zone-ish. Anyway, it was super fun. She and I caught up on love interests -she has a new one, don't worry mine is still the same- and watched Step Up 2 (oh yes we did- only to find Channing Tatum was only in the first few minutes and did a little too much 'acting' *wince* and not enough dancing and/or standing there looking hot).

I found this quaint little WaterPark a half an hour away and so Friday after naps we picked Nathan up from the Metro station and we headed over (sorry, I'm all over the place this post but I have to say they call their Metro here "the BART". Yuck. I am rebelling. As far as I'm concerned 'the Bart' is a disrespectful yellow cartoon character. I refuse to ride 'the Bart'. It is a Metro thank you very much). It was only $5 each to get into the park which is about what they are really worth after all. It turned out so great, several small waterslides for the kids and few bigger ones that Kenna and the rest of us could go on.

There were several pools one of which had these giant floating lily pads with a rope running above them the length of the pool and you could try your luck at getting across. Kennedy did so awesome! nimble little thing that she is. She got going so well she started not using the rope to help her balance. Nathan, Marianne and I all tried and let's just say that Mar's height for once was not to her advantage, SPLASH!!! lol. And there are pics of me going across but they are being withheld do to the risk you run of singeing your cornea seeing my bright white legs. It's for your protection, trust me. The best part about this trip was that Aly finally realized her floaty frog would hold her up. Suddenly she wouldn't let us hold her in the water and she kept announcing over and over, "I swimmin'! I swimmin!" I had been so nervous she wouldn't love the water like the other two...she certainly held out the longest! Anyway we rounded out that night with a trip to IN & OUT Burger, I know. You're jealous. I shouldn't have even told you....

We spent Saturday before Marianne left over in San Francisco and we headed straight to the highly recommended 'Crepe Vine'. Again, not that I ever want to have one, but if I had to pick a last meal, this is now it:

We also explored some of the crazy hills around here, our car was parked on a hill facing a sidewalk and it absolutely felt like the van was gonna roll at any second. I have no idea how it didn't and the picture just doesn't do it justice.

We also went to Fisherman's Wharf for a bit and let the kids watch all of the Sea Lions that hang out on the floating docks. It is mildly entertaining to watch- for all their lazy sunbathing they sure do move around a lot...and bark at each other a lot....and do this thing with their mouths open like, 'I swear I'm gonna bite you!' but you learn pretty quick theres nothing behind it. I have two words that would solve all the Sea Lions problems- Sit Still.

On our way to drop Marzipan off at the airport we decided to go down the famous Lombard street. Check out how curvy it is on the GPS...it's so curvy they sell Dramamine at the top...what? okay, no they don't.

We got home just in time to pick things up before Nathan's parents arrived, bringing us what will be our second car for the next year. Stay tuned.... Thanks for visiting Marzipan!!!!

Oh Kohen....

We were driving up one of the hills near our home when Kohen shouts excitedly, "Mom! I see a sign that says Reindeer can go on the road!!!"

Revenge of the...

NERDS!!!

One of Nathan's cousins Marianne, who we lived near in VA came to visit for a few days and last night we were all sitting together and realized what nerds we were since we were all on the couch surfing the Internet on our personal laptops. I swear we were speaking to each other out loud and not just IM-ing each other! Cuz that would have been just ridiculous.

Kennedy's First Day of Kindergarten

Kennedy was coloring pictures the other day and when she showed me this one I said, "how cute! That's Aly?" and she says, "Yeah, AlyCat". I don't know exactly what my expression was but it must have been impressive because then Kenna says, "Isn't it the cutest ever? Does it make you want to cry?"

It is official. Kennedy is (finally) a Kindergartner! She couldn't be more happy. Seriously, she has been waiting a long time and she is excited. I, on the other hand, have a been having a bit of a rough time. Not because she is going to be away for a few hours everyday (yeah no. not sad about that) it is because I can't believe my mini little Kennedy is off to school. The process of losing her to a life of her own has started...and it hurts my heart. I know it is cliche' but just grant me this okay?! I swear "it seems like just yesterday" that Nathan and I were in the hospital changing her first diaper and trying to find some article of clothing to fit her tiny body, and most of all, I was grateful I wasn't pregnant anymore, PRAISE ALLAH! and the trampoline that food had found when it hit my stomach for the past 9 months had suddenly disappeared ( a Festivus Miracle!) and we were left with this beautiful baby girl. There is a line from the musical Children of Eden that has always struck painfully true to me. Noah sings this, "And it's only in Eden grows a rose without a thorn, and your children start to leave you on the day that they are born..." Just reading it isn't as moving as with music but ya know, it is a great song, if you want to read the rest of the lyrics click here.

Anyway, I had my choking up moment at the meet and greet yesterday but today I was totally pulled together...what? I swear! Kennedy had a great day and is totally excited to go back "every day for ever and ever until how many weathers have gone by mom?". I love this little girl....

Somebody Call Me A Waahmbulance!

Heads up: If given the right circumstances I can be a real "Debbie Downer"(wah-wahhh). And this past week was totally the perfect storm. Wed. when the movers came, at first I was so happy to just have a place to put our things and I was tearing through the unpacking which was so different from when we moved to VA. Though our townhouse was a fine size there was just so little storage space! I remember trying to unpack just standing in the kitchen doing slow circles around and around trying to figure out what to do first, it was terribly overwhelming. But there is plenty of storage space in this house so you simply unpack a box right into where it belongs and call it good. So that part was great and I felt really proud of all the work I had done on Wed. Thursday morning I woke up and I don't know if it was the scent of dog pee wafting around my nose or the chaotic state of things left half unpacked or what but lets just say, I had "packed my angry eyes" and I put them on before I rolled out of bed.

I just couldn't make myself work or unpack anything else because I was determined that if something wasn't done with the stinky/filthy house, I was leaving. And then I was even more frustrated because I knew there was no way to really leave...and I hate being forced. The kitchen turned into a sore spot because it was filthy. The cleaning women had surface cleaned it some but there was so much more to do elsewhere in the house that it was still pretty bad. I couldn't unpack the kitchen because it was dirty and needed to be cleaned, but I couldn't clean it because I needed to unpack to find the cleaning supplies. In the mood I was in it seemed a hopeless conundrum so I politely backed out of the house, into the car and- wait for it- found the nearest TARGET. It took the edge off a little, I actually needed to go so I wasn't being completely useless but no matter how you cut it it was not as productive a day as it needed to be. While I am out blowing off steam Nathan was of course at home working the phone to get some of the issues figured out...love that guy.


Friday morning I brake out the rubber gloves and get to work in the kitchen. All of the cupboards have food splattered and stuck on them and - against all logic- in them. There was old lining in all of the cupboards which I stripped out and the bane of my existence Friday was the detail work on the front of every cupboard door. There was no other way to get it clean besides scrubbing with a toothbrush. The picture of the water (which looked much darker in real life, the picture makes it look pretty weak sauce) was after I had cleaned only 2 cupboards that were supposedly already clean...blech.

The tiled floor in the kitchen was really grossing me out too. The grout was now black though it should be tan, and there is so much texture to each tile and the texture was all filled in with black grime...With as limited as our time was we decided to call back the cleaning ladies who at first thought Nathan wanted them to come back because they hadn't done a good enough job- she was all- You not happy? I am so sorry, there was just SO much to do!- But Nathan quickly explained that they had done a great job and we wanted to pay them to come back just to scrub the kitchen floor and baseboard. It took 2 ladies over two hours to clean that floor. I was SO grateful for them! Finally I was feeling like I could move into the kitchen.

And for the grand finale, what you've all been waiting for...The latest chapter in the "Dog Pee Chronicles". So, I am with all of you who suggested new carpet. Believe me, I long for it. But we are renting and so the choice isn't really ours. But we have been speaking directly with the owners whose dog is at the epicenter of our suffering and this guy has been very apologetic and desiring to make it right. He called around and found a company that specializes in 'pet problems'. He said the guy had some machine that detected where the urine was...I was skeptical, you know, the whole Debbie Downer thing.


But low and behold this guy shows up with this thing he pokes all over in your carpet which beeps when it detects moisture or salt (what is left when urine dries) and then he takes this gynormous syringe and needle and literally injects the cleaner into the padding under the carpet. It contains live enzymes that feed off of the remnants until they are gone. It was fascinating to watch the guy work and blessedly it started to work very quickly.


It turns out we were right, the dog had marked the inner frame of every doorway- especially bathroom doors, and so some of the particle board there has actually swelled out. eew. I have to say that I love animals and especially dogs but I really think there is NO excuse for this. But the Dog Pee Doctor obviously sees it all day long everyday and he didn't seem to think this was the worst he had seen by any means. He left us some of the cleaner too which I was grateful for.

Anyway whether or not you can believe it things are finally looking up around here. I actually love the house, though it is a shame it hasn't been kept as well as it should have been. But it sits up in these hills and where we are seems so private. Our children are loving the backyard and playroom and haven't had the tv on once or even asked about it. And California is of course gorgeous. I know I am going to love it here. And although I have painted quite an unsavory picture of our new home- things are being taken care of and turned around. It would really be a super nice place to visit. Hint Hint.

More "Adventures"

(Random cute picture of Aly with her leg warmers on, and it seems just yesterday I had her all snuggled up in the Moby wrap, *sigh)

Note the sarcasm in the title of this post. This move and move in needed/needs to go smoothly. Apparently no one else got the memo. We only had less than one week to get everything settled and taken care of before I am on my own. Okay, better avert your eyes now if you aren't in the mood to read my vent.

First train car to derail was our moving truck. It was 'delayed' and so suddenly our move in date was pushed back to Tuesday. As frustrated as we were we were still feeling optimistic. We had to go to the DMV to get our licenses most importantly for Kennedy's Kindergarten registration -they have to have a CA picture I.D.- so we headed there with the Fiesta Trio in tow. It was towards the end of what should have been nap time and all three were severely sleep deprived at this point. They did well until Nathan and I were trying to take our written tests and they started in. Aly kept lifting up her coloring and shouting "To-To-Dah!!!" (ta-dah) and the older two were irritating each other and having moments of high decibels. About halfway through the test, in a first for our family, we were asked to leave. Uh-huh, they asked one of us to take the children out while the other finished. I was supremely embarrassed. I don't know why, after all it was the DMV, not the FBI, or BYU, or NYC or some other dang acronym. It was the DMV, please. So I tried to get over it quickly but still- not fun.

From there we went up to our house and since our realtor suddenly wasn't returning calls we had Kennedy go through the doggie-door and let us in. The first thing that hit us as we walked through the garage door was the strong smell of dog pee. Kind of like what I imagine was a giant bat of dog pee smell and I was being hit in the face over and over with it *gag*. Next we noticed that the carpets that had supposedly been cleaned hadn't been vacuumed before they were cleaned and the further we looked around the more obvious it became the house had not been cleaned at all since the owners left - from the looks of things they didn't clean much when they lived there either. We don't know how we didn't notice this before but partly because when you walk through a house you don't open cupboards (and find they are stuck shut from some spilled substance) or lift toilet seats or whatever. Plus we think someone just brought in their own Hoover carpet cleaner and gave it a once over and dog pee stains were brought out through the heat and water exposure. I could go on but I will spare you the gory details. Just know that the 3 Hispanic ladies (saints!) who were hired to come over and clean today said it was bad -as they were literally covered in sweat and worked hour after hour trying to cut through the grime- then you gotta believe it was bad.

And of course our movers were delayed again which at this point is a blessing seeing as the house wasn't ready. But you know, just a lot of stress. And in the middle of it all we have 3 little ones who are off schedule and under foot and so yeah, things haven't been smooth so far. My Eternal Optimist husband was even down a little yesterday but today it seems he has corked as usual and after a short bout of frustration, today he was determined that all could be well. But I for one am not gonna feel okay until the pee is out of the spare bedroom by the garage. Anyone have any ideas short of getting new carpet?

Life Is A Highway...

I love our Honda Odyssey, have I mentioned that before? Seriously, it is so nice and comfortable. This morning as we packed every square inch of it with things we have acquired (from camping, weddings, birthdays etc) I still knew that it would be a relatively comfortable trip to Cali. As we pulled out of my parents neighborhood Kennedy parts the piles of stuff she is buried under in the back and asks, "Is that thing on top going to slide off?" Thinking she was worrying needlessly about the topper I started to answer her when Nathan slowed the van and pulled over saying to himself, "Geez you've got to be kidding me..." I was surprised when he thanked Kenna for reminding him and got out of the car to strap the topper down. Yeah, that wouldn't have been good.

Anyway, there we were a few hours later somewhere -or rather nowhere- in Nevada. I was driving while Nathan (jet lagged from his trip back from Taiwan yesterday) rested. We were cruising along on the gently rolling hills of the asphalt ocean that is I-80. I was singing my heart out to my favorite tunes on my iPod feeling like, dang I sound good- even though I can't hear my own voice with the buds filling my ears with perfectly pitched professionals. It was 103 degrees outside but what did I care? we were comfortable in our well air conditioned slice of heaven-in-motion. My little utopia was suddenly given a reality check when the gas light decided to rear it's ugly head.

This shouldn't be a huge deal, but last week we had new tires and wheels put on the van -for all you nonmechanical people out there yes, those are two different things- which is a whole different drama in and of itself. But since the switch a few quirky things had been happening. I noticed that the one time the gas light had come on the digital read out said Range: 44 miles which was totally normal. Then in a matter of about 10 miles it told me that the Range was 0 miles...not normal. It is usually perfectly accurate and thankfully has a generous buffer after we hit Range:0 miles. But in light of what happened last time we were worried. Nathan and I watched nervously as the digital miles before the big "E" dropped like el-bees off the Biggest Loser, and we were down to zero in about 10 minutes. Not good.

About twenty minutes later my worst (immediate) fear was realized when the gas ran out. I hit the flashers and aimed for a big gravel spot off the shoulder. Now all of a sudden the 103 degree weather was serious and we rolled down the windows and put the sun shade up in the windshield which worked all right. I had visions of Nathan hitchhiking into the nearest town -which was a mere 8 miles away- but in a matter of minutes Nathan had found a towing company who brought out some gas. It was the cleanest tow truck either of us had ever seen and the gentleman was super friendly and did his best to make us feel less stupid. He said that it was a long stretch and a gas station about midway that had been open for 50 years had burned down and so people who think they can fill up there get a not so nice surprise. He also said our tires could totally mess with the system so it tells us we have more gas then we really do.

Anyway, it was an expensive fill up but quite a little adventure seeing as it was a first for both Nathan and I. Good times. You know you are jealous, and if you aren't by now then I will just throw in that after we filled up we were back on the freeway all of 5 minutes before traffic came to a complete standstill due to an accident somewhere up ahead. We waited an hour before things started to move. So yeah, those are just a few "adventures" from our day. I am sure there will be more to come soon. Here is a pic of "Belle" on her thrown she made, with her dog "Rootbeer" resting in her lap, before the mean witch made them get their pj's on and go to bed.

Girls Night Out

Trevi, Bonnie, Amber, Kysa, lil-ol Me, Tara

So as you can see, I got my very first Pedi the other night with my SILS Amber and Kysa. I am S-O-L-D! It was so relaxing and wonderful and over far too quickly! After, we met up with my other SILS and MIL and did some shopping before dinner at PF Changs. It's always really fun shopping together because you get feedback from 5 trusted sources which is so nice/dangerous. Dinner was great though Tara did have to save me with an infusion of caffeine from her D.P. and pretty soon I was feeling a little perky-er.
When everyone called it a night Kysa drove me home and we sat out in my parents drive way for almost 2 hours talking (which frankly, isn't that difficult for the two of us to do) but it was a total blast from the past when I went to go inside and everyone was asleep and I was locked out...does anyone else remember those days? or am I the only one who had them? Anyway, as usual it was a great night with the girls!

Kohen's 4th B-day

My favorite little boy in the whole world has turned 4. He is still the happy boy he has been since he was born, or at least a few minutes after anyway. I was showing Kohen pictures from when he was born, many of which he is crying in. His simple observation was, "I didn't like you guys." And from that context he looks right! But actually he was the sweetest and easiest baby I have had. He only cried if Kennedy was trying to scratch his eyes out or if I had overlooked feeding him because he was always just content to hang out.

He can still be talked down from most melt downs by tickle torture or teasing which is helpful...unless he has irritated me past the point of silliness. But for the most part he is a happy and fun kid. He shows signs of having his fathers unfailing optimism ("one in a million?......So your sayin there's a chance!") and a bit of his mom's healthy imagination, though he is very much his own little guy. We are grateful everyday that Heavenly Father chose to send him to our family.