Nadia's 3rd Grade Musical

This is a picture of all the 3rd graders singing for their performance at school.  I don't remember if the program had an actual name, but all of the songs had to do with the planets and galaxy.  We have been hearing about "Interplanetary Mail"  and "Moon Madness"  for a couple weeks.  I have been trying for a week to get the video from this and Caleb's birthday to load, but I think the files might be too big. That's a  shame, because Nadia really got into the milky way rap.  She is definitely a performer.

Anyway, she really enjoyed it and did great during her speaking part.  Brandon and the other 1st graders also got to see it.  Benjamin was very excited to go, until he got there, and then kept asking if they were done yet.  The little turkey.

My Brother's Backwards Post

 Apparently, it's been so long since I have downloaded more than one picture that I forgot that they usually go in the REVERSE order than what I think they need to.  Anyway, here is my SoCal Bro Steven with the two little boys that will probably out do him for head traumas and giving parents gray hairs.  They may be cousins, but they are definitely brothers in the mayhem, mischief and cute departments.

 Here we have Caleb and cousin Aaden at the January birthday party.  I think Caleb looks sad that Aaden got the cash and he just got a lousy truck.  Rotten parents.

 This is the other cousin, Parker.  Is it okay that I secretly hate him?  Okay not really hate, but I am definitely more than jealous of this little cutie and all that hair.  He is 6 months old and has had 2 haircuts already.  My kids?  Maybe the first haircut when they're 2.

Here is Steven with his darling family.  His wife, Sarah, (yes, I totally love her name) and their two little boys came to visit us freezing Idahoans for almost a week.  We have also convinced them to come back this summer to actually do stuff outside instead of staying in their SoCal house that currently has no AC.  We had a great time with them and can't wait for summer!

The Big Talk

Cliff and I have done our best to let our children know that they can talk to us about anything.  We will do our best to answer any question or offer advice to help solve a problem.  We even have answer and question sessions once in a while for family home evening, just so they know that we are always available, and that we can talk about anything at all with them.
Of course, there are a few subjects that I am a little, shall we say hesitant, to discuss with them.  I am sure that every parent has a few of these.  They can be awkward, you wonder if you are giving too much information for their age and understanding, and you would prefer to do it as a united front instead of being blindsided by yourself.  So what do you do?  Shut down the dialogue, or soldier through it? 
Readers, I am proud to say that I soldiered through.  Nadia and I had the talk about Justin Bieber, and I made it. Oh, did you think I meant THAT talk?  Been there, done that.  This was much worse.
She came home from school the other day saying some girls had teased her because she didn't know who Justin Bieber is.  One of the girls has his phone number, or is his Facebook friend, I don't remember.  I just remember I wanted to cry. It means Nadia is now surrounded by Tweens.
BUT, because we as parents had made the decision to be honest and open about everything with our children, I gritted my teeth and we looked him up on Wikipedia and then found a link to see 2 of his music videos.  I have never been prouder of my daughter than when she said, "He really isn't that good."
Now, some of you may wonder what the big deal about this is.  It means the end of childhood, and I wish I were joking. Tweens are not natural; they are simply kids that have been exposed to too much too soon.  I want my kids to remain kids as long as possible.  They will be grownup too soon.  They need to have memories of being children, not tiny adults.
So my children will continue to dress like children.  They will watch children movies and shows.  We will keep the lines of communication open, and when the next Big Talk comes up, I will try to handle it with all the grace and finesse of a giraffe.  Because that is what I am. A giraffe who loves her children very very very much.

The Incredibly Romantic Getaway

Cliff gave me a wonderful present for Christmas:  a romantic weekend getaway.  No kids, no calls, no work, just the two of us running away together.  Doesn't that just sound exciting and fun? Are you jealous?
So who wants to guess how many ways it went wrong?
1.  A huge cold front moves in.  Do we stay or do we go, and risk the possible blizzard?  How romantic will it be to return home to an ice cave because the pipes burst while we were gone?  Can I sell the pics of our ice encrusted house and (finally) pay off the dentist?
2.  What do you do when the friends you want to visit in Boise have to go to a grandfather's funeral in Utah?  And your Utah friends are coming up to Idaho to see her parents?  Can Cliff and I actually have a conversation that doesn't include who stayed dry last night or why that contractor insists on using the J-47 sealant instead of the epoxy overcoat system?  Who can we now include in our weekend so we can rely on them for all of our conversational needs?
3.  My incredibly loving yet diabolical brother got the new Rick Riordan book and gave it to me.  Can I read it on this romantic getaway?   Can my love of books and my love for Cliff live peacefully side by side, or must they eventually tear each other apart?  And after that last sentence, have I read the inside flap to too many romance novels?

So what actually happened on this incredibly romantic getaway?  We stayed at home.  I cleaned a bathroom and Clifford took a nap.  We moved the big TV into our bedroom for New Year's Eve to watch 4 hours of Leverage and ate some subpar cheese bites.  I bought a new coat and Clifford didn't complain while I was shopping for it.  Clifford shopped for a 32 gig Ipod Touch and I didn't complain while he searched (in vain) for it.  We baked cookies and a pie and slept in until 8:30.  And we loved it.

Some Day

Some day I will be able to decorate my Christmas tree exactly the way I want it.  I won't have to use plastic ornaments, or string popcorn and cranberry garlands, and I will use any color scheme I so desire.  The ornaments won't be bunched up with big patches in between, because kids want to keep their special ornaments together.  There won't be a loud train constantly being turned on and then knocked off the tracks from the excitement of watching it go.
Some day I will be able to do holiday baking without interruption.  No one will cry because they are getting some orange slices with a cheese stick instead of the gingerbread girl with all the sprinkles.  Nothing will burn because I am dealing with baby drama.  Holiday treats will go out to the neighbors on time, instead of sporadically throughout the winter season and maybe even March.
Some day I will have to decorate my tree all by myself, without small hands to help.  I will be the only one to sing with John Denver and the Muppets; I will be the only one to see if all the lights are working.  It will be quiet and maybe even a little somber, instead being full of voices and joyful  impatience and life.  Ornaments will go up without the excitement that only comes from a child unwrapping a welcome surprise.
Some day all of my holiday baking will be done with efficiency and some degree of cleanliness as well.  There will be no small and warm body pressed against mine and the counter while we try to measure together. I will have to figure out what to bake by myself, without the help of strong and loud opinions or promises already made to teachers and friends. Instead, there will be rows of naked gingerbread people and no ideas as to what they should wear.
Although I may at times wish for Some day, I need to remember the little joys that I can be a part of today.

Thanksgiving and Lots of Other Stuff

I am angry.  Oh, I am absolutely furious.  And I am to blame.  I lost our camera's memory card while on the way to the store to print out pics.  I even had a little nagging thought that I should upload the pics to the computer first, but didn't because I am lazy.  So I lost everything on that card from our trip to Delta.  Sigh.
This first pic was going to be of all the snow we have received, so you could see how incredibly brave/crazy/delusional/stubborn we were to attempt the drive in the first place.  In fact, after it started snowing on Monday and didn't stop, we were all prepared to have Thanksgiving up here instead.  Then we got a phone call Thursday morning and were persuaded to try.  The roads were ice until Pocatello, where they miraculously started to clear up.  I swear there is an invisible weather line there, and up north things must stay icier and colder than down south of this line.
The next picture I wanted to show you was of Brandon and Braedon playing Wii basketball together.  Brandon dominated the game.  Not my word.  Braedon is getting a very fine BYU sports education.
Nadia had some toe drama and had to be driven from Delta to Springville.  I did not take any pics of this, either of the toe or of the drive.  That toe is something that not even a mother could love, and the drive is just kinda meh.
We started Brandon's birthday early, since we were with lots of cousins and grandparents.  We went to Nickel City and let the kids loose with bags of nickels for arcade games, and they also got to play laser tag.  This is where I could really kick myself.  I had pics of the kids playing and getting ready to unwrap presents and even of the little confectionary delights that go by the name of cupcake from Deseret Book.  Those were bites of heaven, my friends.  And pics that just can't be replaced.  Ugh.
We then went and saw our good friends the Styers, and had a great time visiting with them.  That should have been the end of the trip, but it wasn't.  After getting back on the road and merging onto the interstate, Cliff got a call from his high school best bud.  He and his family were currently in Salt Lake.  We couldn't miss that chance, and so we went to Temple Square and visited with them as well.  It was so well timed, and so wonderful to see them again!  I love to see Temple Square at Christmas time, and love to see old friends even more.
It was perfect.  The roads on the way home were okay, and we did have to take it slow from Tremonton UT all the way home, but I am so glad we left when we did.  The next day one of the big news items was how many cars were sliding off the road from Provo to Salt Lake. It would have been a miserable trip if we had waited!
So this week I am going to continue to hunt for that card, and then probably buy another one next week.  And I'll find the lost one right after that.

Sibling Revenge

Now that I have talked about all of my sibs, I thought it only fair to reveal a few embarrassing and maybe funny stories about myself, before any one hacked into my account and did it for me.
So what was I like as a child?  Well, my dad used to call me his "Stepford Child", referring that I was perfect.  Unfortunately, this isn't too far off the mark, and it makes for some creepy home video watching.  While some of my other siblings would sit for a few minutes and then start to spin the chair or suddenly do a cartwheel, I would sit in the chair, ramrod straight, with my arms folded. I was so still it's hard to tell if I was breathing.  My parents were "Mother" and "Father", and I enunciated every word like I was on an ESL program.
Did you know I used to be a hoarder?  Oh yes, I was.  And it was those little Pillsbury layered biscuits that I simply had to have.  I would gorge on them at dinner, and when no one was looking, I would slip a few onto my lap for later.  Then I would hide them in between the bed and dresser, or in my sock drawer.  See, Krista, it could be worse.
I used to have that Dorothy Hamill pageboy/bowl cut.  Look it up on Wikipedia and see the disaster that was my hair. I hated how short it was, especially compared to my sister's divinely lovely hair that went at least halfway down her back.  My parents finally let me grow out the back, so I had an almost mullet.  But being the incredibly serious child that I was, you can be sure that even with business in the front there wasn't a party in the back. Maybe a pleasant chat between friends, but never a party.
Did you know that I used to cry while reading a book or watching a movie?  And it didn't even have to be that good?  What am I saying, I still do that. You don't want to know how many tissues I went through when Dobby the house elf died in the last Harry Potter book.  J.K. Rowling is a monster.
So when did I become the incredibly chic, cool, suave and witty woman that I am today?  Ha!  I will tell you: I am the world's best actress.  It is all a front. I am still that little geeky girl just waiting to be exposed.  Which is why I find it amazing that people talk to me on a regular basis and actually invite me to things. 
And now you know more about me.