making a good childhood and holiday ideas

Thanks for the comments on the last post! I'm still accepting more comments.

I've been writing down ideas of things I've liked and heard others say they've liked about their childhood.

First here are some things my kids like right now: Halloween and holidays-we make a big deal about holidays around these parts and now they are really into holidays too, the condo in Oct. with Todd's family, playing together-Alex and Nathan are best friends, playing with cousins Dallin and Kevin and Ethan, time with extended family, going on dates with mom and dad, going on trips- they remember trips to see Great nana, Disneyland, going to AR, etc. Todd and I decided trips are always worth more in memories than they cost in money.

Ideas: doing crafts with them, going places like the Dino Museum, etc., playing with them, date nights, talk time at night when going to bed, helping them explore their talents (I loved my flute), telling them stories, hiking and outdoor fun, instead of wishing I had a farm, I'll go visit a farm, maybe have some chickens eventually; until I have my over-the-top backyard garden, I can take the kids to Tahitian Noni gardens in Provo or Thanksgiving Point gardens and we can do school, have a picnic, run around, we can have a big vegetable garden in the back for now; for the house- keeping it clean- cleaning for 1 hour a day- no more no less, and having the kids do the cleaning with me; playing with friends; lots of traditions (also see holidays)

Does that sound like a good childhood for my kids?


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Side note-
For my Christian readers, I recommend this book for activities for Easter:

http://deseretbook.com/store/product/4253892

My ideas for St. Patricks Day: making leprechaun traps http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/feature/ff0309-to-catch-a-leprechaun/ff0309-to-catch-a-leprechaun.html, or http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/leprechauntrapscraftsactivitiesforkids.html

shamrock crayon melts (melt crayon shavings on wax paper and cute into shamrocks):

shamrock meatloaf cupcakes (meatloaf cupcakes with green mashed potatoes for "frosting") or other green food shamrock shakes (mint green), finding gold coins that the leprechauns left

other ideas I found: The leprechauns turn our tap water green (the girls go around to each faucet and watch the green water come out)

leave "leprechaun stew" - pistachio pudding that turns green when you mix it, and leave slimy green footprints or gold glitter dust all over the counter tops. It has turned a normally uneventful holiday into a treasure hunt not unlike Christmas or Easter morning. http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/content/experiment/leprechauns-st-patricks

lots of ideas here: http://holidays.kaboose.com/saint-patricks-day/

And don't forget to wear green!!

"love my dad"; and "please comment"

I just got off the phone with my dad-- he is always so wise and knows just what to say. Points I want to remember:
1. Kids don't notice what the house or yard looks like. I'd love them to have an amusement park for a backyard and a castle for a house, but then my energy, time and focus is on that instead of on them. All they care about is probably if it's clean. What they do care about is time together and doing fun things together. I know that, but sometimes it's easy to forget that in my actions and thoughts.
(Now that they have no kids in the house, my dad took up the hobby of woodworking. He said it would have maybe been nice to have that when we were younger, but then it would have taken too much money, time away from us, maybe he could have done it with Ryan but who knows if he would have even liked it or not, but now he can do it all he wants after work.)
2. I can concentrate on one thing at a time (paint project, garden project, etc) and have patience. That "p" word scares me.

Anyone know where I can get buy some patience and self control? Preferably a place that takes credit cards....

In thinking about the perfect childhood, I was wondering, what was your favorite childhood memory? I remember Emily saying that her mom always had the house clean and cookies. I remember loving the "forest" (empty lot full of trees by our house) and any other enchanted place that was full of imaginary potential. Tawnya said that she didn't envy the girls who did gymanstics, etc, she just wished she had a mom to give her attention. I remember loving the piano music and peaceful feeling at my childhood piano teacher's house (Carol? I forgot her name). In our house I loved that our parents let us build forts with tons of blankets and couch coushins. They let us use the video camera to make our "movies". They even let us "draw on" the coffee table (literally)! (ha ha, they thought we meant "with paper" but we meant- literally). Our house wasn't so fancy that we couldn't have fun as kids. I also loved camping and swimming all day. I loved trips to CA (or just any trips). And we had a birthday party EVERY year. Now I find that not all parents give birthday parties every year-- I thought birthday parties were a given! Todd maybe had one party (poor guy).

So please let me know, what are some of your fondest childhood memories?

Also, what things and traits do you admire in your mom and/or dad?

a glimpse inside my chaotic mind right now

Right now, I have a million things I'm thinking about. I've been loving looking at blogs about things I love (I found a new one like Nie Nie's... her friend), and recently looking at pictures on flikr. Here are some things I like:

I love this vintage yellow desk-- it's unique and a bright cheery color. I want to find furniture like this to decorate Katherine's room.

I wish I had a great camera and could take great pictures. This is from a blog, this is her daughter. I love the bright colors on the blanket:

It's starting to be spring, so my gardening obsession begins! That takes up 99% of my brain power 99% of the time right now. Here's how it will look eventually:

I've also been loving chandeliers lately. I want to put one above our kitchen table and in Katherine's room...

...and I want to put this one on either side of our bed. I have all the plans for the decorating of our room (now just need the money):

I wish I had chickens! I see chicks for sale on craigslist and I read a "backyard chickens" book. Here is how my chicken coop would look:

I love vintage. Here is a picture from a blog who also loves vintage. This is from a children's book:

this is in her daughter's room. I'm going to steal this idea-- I love it!

She also writes a letter to Anne with an "e" (Anne of Green Gables)--

I love reading blogs about finding romance in everyday life:

"my problem, dear anne, is that it is 2009. kids don't like to get all fussied up anymore, and i don't think they would go to the trouble of making up stories about lost broaches to be able to go to a silly church picnic. in my mind the little girls are wearing spring dresses and holding parasols with their gloved hands while the boys are eating biscuits and drinking homemade rootbeer with their hats and suspenders on. but i live in a dreamland where i want everything stylized. i know you understand me, anne.
but let me tell you, that's not how it will really go. i imagine most kids will want to stay home and play computer games, but their moms will make them come and so they'll grudgingly put on a some church pants and skirts. so i was wondering if you could help me know how to bring the romance back into our modern life? it's not really that important, no matter the dress or the menu, we just want the kids to come to feel the spirit of the temple. but it's like you said, anne, when you don't use your imagination to make life beautiful, "how much you miss."
say hi to gilbert and the kids. with love, k.m."

I've been looking at all sorts of great crafts and thinking that I really want to do crafts with my kids. All they want to do is play computer games and watch tv! I feel like we're in a rut!

I also feel like I wish I was more crafty, creative and artistic! Here are some drawings in an Etsy shop from a woman here in Utah:

I love this! I want to frame it and put it up in the kids' bathroom:

I've also been itching to have a fancy tea party and make petit fours and other pretty finger pasteries. I've been looking at lots of pictures of those kinds of things to get ideas on how to decorate pretty pasteries. Maybe Katherine's first birthday party can be a fancy tea party:)

More flowers and romantic things I love:

More vintage pictures I love:

cute dolls I want to learn to make. I love the bright colors. Maybe I could make some and put it in Katherine's room. I love how the dolls are "holding hands"

I saw this on flikr. She made a bunch of cute packages from old things. She made this from a Camembert cheese box. I'd love to make one of these and put my petit fours in it:)

The Erica challenge 2 part 1
Originally uploaded by Lulu at Home

She also made this jar of honey. she made the label on the computer and the top is paper and she used a hole punch to make it look like lace. I'd love my breakfast table to look like this:

Maybe while I'm in AR I can do some crafty things.

So, as you can see, I have no time or brain power left to think about things like...cleaning.

Then I get frustrated, because why can't I have 3 kids, homeschool, have a beautifully decorated house, over-the-top back yard garden, have chickens, a dog, do crafts, make everything beautiful, picture-perfect and wonderful for my family, make cute pasteries, draw, keep everything clean, do photography, and spend money like we're millionaries...why why why??? That's all I want!!

funny boys

*When we were walking out of Home Depot, Nathan said, "I need a diet coke." I don't know where he got that from, because I hate diet coke. But where does he come up with any of the stuff he comes up with?

*Nathan was trying to describe stuffing: "That stuff you eat at Thanksgiving that's crunchy and pushy-tushy and like ice blocks with green things on it."

* Yesterday both boys sold Todd a rock for $1.

our day and some of my favorite places to go

First, Alex has a concert for you:
(he really likes piano lessons)







Second, here is my first attempt at doing Katherine's hair. See the tiny ponytail?

Now, I wanted to tell you about some of my favorite places in Salt Lake (and where we went today):

Elizabeth's Bakery and Tea Shop:

It's in a renovated old house with tons of charm, and serves afternoon tea, and other authentic British food and drink. For those of us who only drink herbal tea, they have a great selection of herbal fruit teas. Today I had a hot chocolate and it was the best I've ever had! I like this because of its great atmosphere. It is by Trolley Square 575 S 700 E SLC Tues.-Thurs. 9am-5pm and Fri-Sat. 9am-7pm, closed Sunday. 801-433-1170

Next to the tea shop is a British store and I got the boys a candy. They have chocolate eggs that have a little toy inside they like.

Les Madeleines:

Todd and I saw this patisserie on Food Network. They were featuring Salt Lake and so we decided to try this a few months back. I love bakeries and patisseries. 216 E 500 S SLC 801-355-2294, http://www.les-madeleines.com/ . They have won many awards and the owner is very friendly. They sell out every day of their specialty, the Kouing-aman, so call before you go or go early in the day to try it! They also have classes, that I'm sure Todd and/or I will soon be signing up for! http://les-madeleines.com/classes.html

Dancing to the music in the patisserie

Discovery Gateway aka Utah Children's Museum:

Discovery Gateway is in the Gateway in downtown Salt Lake. This is a TERRIFIC children's museum. It's worth it to get a membership. Saturdays are pretty busy, so we like to go during the week. I wish it were closer, we would definitely go every day. It is fun for all ages-- babies to adults. They even have fun classes that you can sign the kids up for that are free with admission. http://www.discoverygateway.org/

The birthday room:

(I think it would be fun to have that tree in our playroom; and we could decorate it according to the season.)

almost crawling:

cute giggles

maestro

Other favorites not in Salt Lake:

*Dear Lizzie Boutique and Bistro (Highland/Alpine):
I think I'm going to have a girl's birthday party for my 30th at Dear Lizzie http://www.mydearlizzie.com/. Would you like to come Sat. March 7 at 11am? PLEASE email me or leave a comment.

*Thanksgiving Point!! Love the place!! I get the property membership and then everyone that comes with me gets half off. It was cheaper than getting everyone in the family memberships, and if I go with a friend they also get half off. The Gardens open March 28-- YIPEE!!!! Lehi http://www.thanksgivingpoint.com/

*Gardner Village- lots of fun shops in cute cottage houses-West Jordan http://www.gardnervillage.com/

*Tahitian Noni Gardens-- in the Riverwoods in Provo and it's free! It's like a small Thanksgiving Point-- 5 acres of beautiful gardens. They have picnic tables and a wading pool for the kids to put their feet in. If you work there you can go after hours and on Sundays--I need to get a job there so I can go on Sundays!

*Fun for kids- Jumping Jacks in Springville

*What are some of your local favorite places to go--in or out of Utah?

Alex's hero

Alex really looks up to his dad. He wants to be just like him. Todd was cooking dinner and Alex got out his Easy Bake oven to cook with him.

a picture of the cute happy baby girl for your enjoyment!

FHE

Today for Family Home Evening, we talked to the boys about how our family rules apply to the boys even at friends' houses, and about good and bad touch. Then Nathan said, "and we don't smoke" and Alex added, "and we don't watch wars because then you could start shooting people, like at Trolley Square."

Then we played a game of Settlers and Alex won first, Nathan second and me and Todd tied for last. Usually Todd wins every time, but this time the boys won!



Tonight Nathan said he tried "cooked" chocolate. I asked him what that was and he said one time he had a chocolate gold coin and he put it on the light switch, one without a switch plate, and he saw, heard and felt it zap. I asked him if it hurt and he said it made him crazy. He said he still ate it even though it was cooked.



Thanks to Keri, our bathroom door is now open! Incidentally, do you know how I met Keri? We were having a birthday party for Nathan years ago, and Sydney (her daughter) was in Nathan's nursery class. We went to her house to invite her and it was the last invitation we had to pass out. All the other invitations the boys went to the house, but they were tired so I left them in the car so I could run this last one to the door. While at the door, I heard a loud crash, and looked to see that Alex had put the car in drive and smashed into their garage door. Luckily it didn't fall down. I was embarrassed and didn't know what to do, but they invited me in to figure it out. So, that's how we met.

My thoughts at 2:22am

I can always remember having a dog. Growing up, the family dog always slept with me (in my bed). I couldn't wait for Todd and "Snuggles" (my dog from about age 13-23 and email address honoree) to meet, and Snug sure liked Todd! At about age 10 until college, I collected dog figurines. I am a dog lover through and through.

So when we bought our house, I couldn't wait to finally get a dog! We got a black lab puppy from a puppy mill that had some "issues" and could not be potty trained. After a few months, we gave her away. Then we got a 3 year old German Shephard, JT, with epilepsy and a 4 month old yellow lab/ golden retriever, Rocket, both from the animal shelter. When JT had seizures he was completely out of it, and one night turned on the water in the downstairs bathroom in the middle of the night and flooded our entire downstairs. Another time he was out of it he ran off and got hit by a car on the freeway but lived. Then his seizures couldn't be controlled by medicine so we had to put him to sleep. We still have Rocket, and he has gotten about 3 tickets, eaten about 1239854757 blinds, gotten into the trash 1239854635376789790890789463789463789463 times, eaten the drywall in the bathroom, etc, etc, and recently the unforgivable sin of eating all 14 of Todd's chocolate, caramel and toasted coconut cookies. For some strange reason, Todd now hates Rocket (and I'm thinking he hates all animals at this point) but he is a great husband and father and has tolerated him for the last 3 years because he knows that the me and the kids love him.

Well, recently my parents in Arkansas offered to take Rocket. Todd has never told me to get rid of Rocket, but I thought this was a good compromise having my parents take him: we still get to see him, we know he's in a good home, he'll have another dog to play with, Todd's happy. The plan is that in March I am going to drive to Arizona with the kids and the dog to visit my sister, then my parents are going to pick me and the kids and the dog up and we'll drive back to Arkansas. Then the kids and I will fly home and Rocket will stay with them (until he gets evicted for eating their drywall).

But the closer it gets, the more worried/scared/sad I get about him leaving. Remember what I said about me being a dog person? How can I live without a dog?? (Of course I would rather live without a dog than without a husband).

Here's what I will miss about Rocket:
-taking him swimming at Salem Pond, watching him leap off the pier like a jack rabbit--it always draws a crowd
-car walks
-jogging or riding my bike with him
-hikes and camping with him
-watching the kids laugh and play with him
-taking him and the kids to the playground and getting Rocket to go down the slides; throwing the ball with him and all the kids at the playground wanting to take turns throwing the ball
-spending all day outside in the spring/summer playing trikes and bikes and gardening and he's with us
-petting Rocket in the middle of the night when I can't go back to sleep
-having Rocket in the house the one week a year when Todd goes out of town to computer conferences
-having him constantly at my heels

Here's what I won't miss:
-having him constantly at my heels
-the dog hair in all of our eyes, ears, noses, mouths, our food, on our clothes, in our hair, in our toes, in our bellybuttons, behind our ears, in our shoes, on our walls, our counters, knee deep on our floor, on the computer screen, on the tv screen, no this is not a fur coat, in our car, under our fingernails, on the furniture, on the cieling, asd sdfjakleio avnioe oinvnela ioasoij eio bepoijh eio vnaelwiojwerg aoi n ero ijag n (it's driving me insane!!!!!)
-wondering if tonight is the night that our neighbors (one in particular) will murder us and the dog in our sleep
-having a window or two that always needs new blinds
-going to court with the inmates because our dog got another ticket
-having to see that mean ugly animal control cop
-wondering if Todd will murder Rocket with his bare hands




P.S. A random side note: somehow our downstairs bathroom door got locked, and it has been locked for 2 days now and we can't get it open. Can you help us?