The Zoo in July

Last Saturday, Neal could sense that I needed some time alone (he was correct), and offered to take all the children to the zoo so I could do alone kind of stuff. (I went to a baptism & Old Navy & the grocery store & out to lunch by myself [where I got this salad]), in case you were wondering.)

It was heavenly, at least for me. Neal (who, as a Louisianan, NEVER complains about the heat), told me that I should be glad I wasn't there, for it was perhaps one of the steamiest days on record.* The kids were fine and didn't complain, but the animals were extra stinky, and Miles' head was completely soaked upon exiting the car. Even Neal got sweaty.

Here are some highlights. If you love the zoo as much as I do (I don't love the zoo), these will be thrilling. I just think my kids are cute and I like to covet Audrey's hair.

There are some sort of monkeys in this picture. No, I mean behind those crazy ones in the clothes. hehee

A Komodo Dragon. Eeww.

The kids in front of a Toco Toucan, Neal's favorite kind of bird. It amazes me that Neal and I can have completely different feelings on the subject of animals and still get along so well. (A list of our former and current pets alone could be a long post unto itself. [See here, here, and, if you're really curious, here.] Some of them have been quite icky.)

*You may think it's hot where you live, but you have NO idea what hot can be until you've been to South Texas in the summer. The weather report here actually calls for "OPPRESSIVE HEAT & HUMIDITY." As in, just don't even think about going outside. Can I get a witness, all my H-town girls?

Just the Boys

We took the boys to "Mormon Night" at the Astros game the other night. (Audrey didn't want to come and we didn't want to hear her complain the whole time.) I guess we were ready to be part of something bigger, because we thought, "Surely they'll make mention of all of us LDS people here tonight on the big screen," (even though we didn't really see any noticeable Mormons [Sometimes you can pick 'em out, in a good way.]), or the announcer will acknowledge our presence with some sort of special welcome, but no, it was also NASA night. Apparently rocket scientists and astronauts are much more interesting (probably true). They got to throw out the first pitch, and the only recognition we got was, well, nothing, actually. BUT our tickets were only $8.50. So there ya go.

We had a great time. Parker is getting old enough that he'll actually watch the game, and if I was whispering in his ear, telling him which player to watch, he was figuring out the rules and cheering in the right places and everything. *He even got to see a grand slam hit by one of the players (Craig Biggio) who is retiring this season after 20 years with the Astros. Every time he came up to bat, the audience stood, he tipped his hat and then that one time the bases were loaded, he knocked it out of the park.

And that's why baseball is cool.

Another lollipop. Ssshh, don't tell Dr. Neal. Oh wait.

Me and my only kid who bears a slight resemblance to me.

The other great thing about that night was, that after living in this city for almost 7 years now, Neal and I FINALLY figured out how to get to our freeway from downtown. We get lost EVERY single time. It's usually very late at night (like on the way home from this), and usually we're trying to get home to our kids. But this time, we found it in a matter of minutes and without entering a single ghetto. (You take a left on Pierce.)

*I was in line to get ice cream in a helmet and so I missed the big grand slam. After the crowd roared like crazy, I had to hear about it from the old guy behind me in line who had stereo headphones on. Lame.

Children's Book of the Week: 18

This week's book comes not only from our rather extensive library of Rosemary Wells' charming creations, but straight out of my very own childhood. I loved this book when I was little, and if you haven't read it, well, then, shame on you. You need it, especially if you have more than one child. It's called

Noisy Nora
by Rosemary Wells

This book follows little Nora around her house as she comes to realize the difficulty that comes with being the middle child. Poor Nora is ignored because mother and father are either helping Kate with her homework or feeding baby Jack. She finally has had enough and, after being scolded repeatedly for making too much noise, decides she better just leave home. It's adorable, so fun to read aloud, and the kids always love it. You can get yours here.

Grateful Sunday

Happy Sunday!
This week, I'm grateful for:

• Parker, who gave his first talk at church today. He spoke about how his family follows Jesus Christ in faith by praying together and spending time together. He did such a great job. Of course, I was the only one who knew what he was saying. This is because A. I wrote his talk, B. the microphone was broken, C. the other kids were less than quiet, and D. I'm really good at lip reading.
• Summertime. I'm really looking forward to the kids going back to school in a few weeks (they are b.o.r.e.d.), but I am also really enjoying not making lunches every night and not having to get people out the door in the morning.
• Neal. I thought I loved my husband before, but lately I have realized just how much I really, truly, deeply L-o-v-e him. I am so lucky.
  
• Miles, who says, "mama mama" all day while he follows me around the house.
  
• Audrey, too, who is becoming very helpful of her very own free will. She voluntarily helps so much with Miles, taking care of him, getting him out of his crib (yes, scary), taking him up into fast food restaurant playplaces with her (love that), and pretty much doing whatever I ask her to do. She's a peach.
  

Photos of the kids at the best Mexican place ever, last night, being silly with their tortillas (and f. fry).

Want one?

Try and ignore my freckles and check out my new necklace from Lisa Leonard. I don't know Lisa, though I wish I lived in her town (San Luis Obispo, CA), but she makes some splendid personalized jewelry. I blogged about her work on A Room Somewhere a couple of months ago because I love it so much! You can order a little something for YOU from her blog page, here.

Camping. Sort of.

We put our tent up in the living room last weekend for the kids. They got to sleep in it (and I had to look at it) for two nights in a row.

We're cool like that.

One Month Too Late

I just found Parker's Reyn Spooner outfit in our little chubby boy clothing stash a couple of days ago. I'm so sad we didn't have it in Hawaii.

Here is Miles, Hawaii 5-O style, standing by the piano, the bass portion of which is his new favorite toy.
I love this little doodle. Did you know that it's almost his birthday?

Sidebar Highlights and Blogging Break

I'm taking a short break from the blogging for a while. I have completely ceased to feel productive, and the computer habit isn't helping. In the meantime, enjoy the following posts from my friends and family. I've included my connection to all these fabulous people, too. Just because.

Jenny's kids are very observant. (Married to my sis-in-law's brother, we've never actually met.)

Kelley, livin' the life. (Kelley and I [and about 14 other girls] shared a room in London, 1998.)

Ginger & Elliott's boys are mini-Republicans. And super smart. (Ginger is married to Elliott, my oldest brother.)

And don't forget Emma. She's got some ideas, too. (This would be Elliott's blog.)

Natalie now misses the romance of the South. (Natalie is my friend who recently moved west.)

Oliver's always playing defense. (Steph's my awesome younger sister.)

Why is it so fun to listen to kids talk to each other? Listen to what Charlotte overheard. (Charlotte is my husband, Neal's, sister.) See what my kids have been talking about, below.

You must see the pictures my parents took of the Norwegian fjords. And Julianne is prepping for Oxford. Yes, the one in England. (Um, these are my parents, and Julianne is the youngest in our family. She's going to do graduate work at Oxford this fall.)

Just take a few minutes and read Ginny's whole blog. Because I can't pick a favorite post. (Ginny is part of the S* family, to which we have many connections. We used to enjoy going dancing in Provo, and she used to lend me her bike.)

Mrs. Dub is always good for a laugh, or a cry. (Ginny's youngest sister, and blogger extraordinaire. Their middle sister, Amy, and I met at EFY when we were 15, then roomed together at BYU. Then Mrs. Dub became close friends with my sister. It's complicated.)

Kelly was awfully brave to attend an authentic Turkish bath. Luckily, I think they're easier on the women. I've heard bad stories about the men's version (i.e., they completely beat you up.) (Kelly is married to Jeff, my brother's close friend from high school. Jeff used to hang out with me and my friends in college.)

Annie always has lovely pictures on her blog, but this one of her father-in-law is just perfect. (Annie is my friend from our days living in H-town. She now lives in California.)

Seriously, Judy takes awesome photos. (Judy is Ginger's sister.)

It's a long story, but Mindy is an intensely productive woman. (I don't know Mindy well, but we were in the same ward for a while in H-town.)

Audra just broke down and pretended to be handicapped. (Audra and I first met when we were newlyweds in the same ward in Provo. A year after we moved to Texas, they moved into our ward. Now she lives in Georgia.)

Angie has such a way of putting things. I loved this post. (Angie and I were close buds while on study abroad in London.)

I'm going to embarrass Ryan even more than Rachel did. (Rachel and I became good friends during our freshman year, when she and Lisa lived across the hall. We all lived together until Neal moved in when I married him.)

Erika found this awesome commercial regarding taco salad. (Erika moved into our neighborhood last year. Our children's ages match up perfectly!)

Annette features a lovely Isak Dinesen quote here. (Annette is Rachel's sister.)

Angela can't bring herself to trust anyone anymore. Not even the bathroom scale. (Angela and I don't know each other, except that we have a random connection to Tyler, Texas, and our kids have red hair. But I love her blog.)

Enjoy! There's more here, in case you missed the last round.

Quotes of the Day XIV (that's 14)

More quotes from the fam, mostly the kids, because they're the crazy ones.

Neal, to me, while he brushed Parker's teeth one night: It looks like Parker's hair is getting a little bit blonde from the sun.
Audrey: Parkie, you're like a magical person. You're always changing colors. Your eyeballs change colors, your hair changes colors . . .

She seemed a bit jealous. And yes, Parker's eyes, which were once blue, have been a light shade of grey for a couple of years now, but lately are looking sageish greenish. He's magical, obviously.

In the car one day, after spending an hour that morning watching a show entitled "The Search for Egypt's Lost Queen," Audrey and Parker start discussing their career paths. Neal once told Audrey that she could be an Egyptologist one day, and that made her very excited. I told her, "Well, you have to go to college for a long time to be an Egyptologist, but college is so fun. You'll love it. You can even take a whole class just on Egypt!"
Kids: Whoa.
Me: Or you can take classes on painting, or math, or dinosaurs, or whatever you want!
Audrey: You mean you get to pick? I want to take an Egypt class and a painting class.
Parker: I want to take an Egypt class, too.
Me: Well, you guys might be at the same college at the same time!

thoughtful pause, some undecipherable whispering in the way back . . .

Audrey: Mama, can you choose where you sit when you're at college?
Me: Yep.
Audrey: Me and Parker are going to sit together.

Nerds Beget Nerds

So my theory that nerdy parents have nerdy children was proven yet again this week. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm quite proud of my love for education, my knack for paper-writing, my obsession with correct spelling and grammar, my apparent affinity for parentheses, and my craving for college courses. I'm even more proud of my ultra-smart husband. Even though I tease him all the time because of all the random things he knows so much about (he used the word denouement in our conversation yesterday), he really is the most brilliant person I know. His smarts have gotten him (and us) quite far. (This is his 12th year as a post-high school student, and third year post-doctorate [see, I like to brag].) I want our kids to be smart and to love learning. (And, in a recent development, little Audrey may be getting glasses. Cute? Yes. Nerdy? Perhaps.)

Okay, on to the point of the post. I saw in the Target ad on Sunday that backpacks and school supplies are now available! In July! Yay! This is the one time of year when I'm glad that stores like Target seem to exist in a realm 2 months ahead of real time. So where did we find ourselves Tuesday night? All five of us, heading over to Target to pick out backpacks and lunchboxes, and to look at all the fun pencil cases, crayon sets, folders & binders, pens . . . Audrey and I were really wishing we had Audrey's school supply list, but we'll have to wait on that one. I picked up a pocket dictionary set for myself, complete with a pocket Spanish dictionary (which will come in handy while I'm visiting teaching). It was awesome. Our kids were thrilled with their new stuff, and sure, we could have waited until the last few days of summer when the stuff is probably going to be cheaper (and completely picked over), but I think it's really important for kids to get excited about school starting. I want them to know how lucky they are that they even get to go to school, and I want to make it fun.

Plus, we really had to be sure that Parker got his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles backpack, and you know those will be the first to go.

Real Simple (real late)

A lovely little questionnaire from Real Simple magazine (from forever ago), via my long lost Natalie at La Vie en Rose.

1. What's the one thing about your younger self that you would like to reclaim?
Agility, or flexibility, or my ability to do cartwheels (or get up off the floor) without hurting myself. (Maybe if I started stretching or like exercising or something, that would go away.) Or the fact that I had no wrinkles around my eyes. I totally have them now and I've yet to touch 30!

2. What's something you are really good at?
Packing the back of my car full of groceries. I think I would be a really good grocery bagger, too. In fact sometimes when no one is working in my checkout line, I'll start bagging them up (and I think it's fun).

3. Before I die, I'd like to....
look over at Neal, smile, and tell him thanks for not dying first.

4. John, Paul, George, or Ringo?
I grew up with an extremely devoted Beatles fan for a mother, so I can appreciate all four for their own separate personality traits, learned so well by watching Help! and A Hard Day's Night over and over. Mom prefers Paulie (she loved John when she was a teen), but I always went for the nerdy types, and have always had a little thing for George, even though he had the worst teeth. Plus, my sister is going to hook up with his son in Oxford, so we need to kiss up a bit. PLUS he wrote a few of my favorite Beatles' songs (Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes the Sun). That's why.

5. Who was your favorite teacher and why?
Mr. Barrett, my English and Latin teacher in high school. He taught me how to love words and how to use them correctly. He also had a way of letting you know that he thought you were really going somewhere in life, and he appreciated the kids who really tried to learn. But since he made learning so fun, we all had no trouble. He was so great that sometimes my friends and I would actually eat lunch in his classroom. Nerds? Brown nosers? Nope, he was just that cool to hang out with.

6. I wish I could ignore....
my dirty bathroom.

7. The big decision I'm currently wrestling with is.....
pretty much the biggest decision ever: where we're going to live and start working. Luckily, Neal and I are working on that one as a team.

just like thin mints, only "thinner"

Yum. Thanks, Target for placing them directly in front of my face in the checkout line!!

I was desperate . . .

The Sky Last Night

I took these three pictures in a matter of about 5 minutes last night. We had thunderstorms all day, and by nightfall, the storms were moving out and the sky was incredible. We were all playing in Miles' room, when I looked outside at the weird, greenish light and knew there had to be a rainbow. Sure enough, there it was, directly above our house!

Here was our sunset,

then I turned around to the other end of our street and saw the storms moving east. Crazy!

Children's Book of the Week: 17

This week's book is one that Audrey's teacher read to her class one day. She told me all about it when she got home and how much she laughed while Mrs. Marroquin read it to her. Lo and behold, there it was in the next Scholastic Book Order! It's very silly, and I find that the sillier the story, the more my kids want to read it. It's called

The Great Fuzz Frenzy
by Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel

This is the story of a colony of prairie dogs that, one day, receives a tennis ball in their burrow courtesy of the neighborhood dog. They are immediately curious about the ball and then one of them points out that "it's fuzzy!" Suddenly, they are all quite obsessed by the fuzz and beging tearing it off and playing with it. They start making clothing and silly costumes out of it. Neighboring colonies of prairie dogs hear of the fuzz and come running to get some of it, too. Soon, the ball is picked and picked until the fuzz runs out! All the prairie dogs start stealing fuzz off of each other, and soon they are all fighting. Something a little scary (for the prairie dogs) happens next that sends all the little animals back into their burrow, where they realize what's really important: each other.

And not the fuzz.

It's a really cute book, a very silly premise, but so fun for the kids!

Read more about it (and the awards it has won) here. You can buy one here!

Grateful Sundee

This Sunday, I'm grateful for:

• my blog. It's just nice to have sometimes, you know? It's fun to look back at what we were doing a year ago or even last week. I'm so glad Steph started one and that I copied her.
• my husband and kids, because they love me even though sometimes I don't feel like I'm very good at what I do.
• the pools in our neighborhood, because without them, we really would have nothing to do during these hellishly hot days.
• my friends, who it's just fun to be a mom with. And that includes all of my blogfriends. :)
• Primary kids singing.
• Parker's earlobes, which are, as we like to say, "super yummy."
• the little language that Miles speaks. I wish I could spell the words he produces, but the sounds are too complicated. The funny thing is that Parker said all the same little words. When he was a bit older than Miles, he coined the word "budgnk," our word for his favorite drink, orange juice.
  

Goals for the week:

1. Find something for these kids to do so they don't go crazy.
2. Enjoy the slow, lazy mornings of summer. Well, I already do that. I think all of us are dreading school starting in a few weeks, because it means having to wake up earlier, and then, worst of all, having to wake up Audrey.

image from my sis, Julianne

Wildwood

On the Fourth of July, hours after returning from California, we packed up the car and drove to Louisiana. Neal's entire family was just hours away all week, but since Neal had already taken a week off to be in Paradise with my family (thanks, baby), we could only join his family for
one short day of fun in the country.

His brother and his wife did a great job organizing a reunion with immediate and extended family, most of whom I had never met. I'd heard plenty of stories about most of them, but it had been years since Neal had seem them, too. We all went to a resort called Wildwood, near the Texas border, where there was lots of water, lots of good food, lots of laughs, and most importantly, lots of cousins to play with. I got a few pictures:

Neal took the kids on his brother Jeff's sleek and speedy boat, then on the tube being pulled very quickly by said boat. Picture from Jeff.

Parker, all set.

Off they go.

some cousins in the sandpile

Uncle Jeff just *loves* that little Moe.

Miles, with Claire, eating the hose.

Your Library

I was browsing through my sister's Real Simple* magazine by the pool in Hawaii and came across their recommendation for a website called LibraryThing. You can catalog all of the books in your library (up to 200 free, then there's a fee). It's a great way to see what you have and to determine your preferences for new reads. In fact, once you start cataloging, the website will even recommend books that it thinks you would like! Sure, Amazon does this, too, based on things you search for and things in your wishlist, but my recommendations are always kid books or dental anatomy manuals. My LibraryThing account is all my OWN books. Yay for things just for ME. ;)

Check it out here!

And here's more info.

Image of color-coded bookstore found here. You should see the other ones.

*Steph, I stole your magazine, btw. Thanks. :)

For Once,

I'm glad I don't live in England. This poor family (please ignore their frighteningly bad taste in clothing) is being absolutely terrorized and driven from their home because they have four red-headed children. (fyi, i have three of those myself and am asked at least once daily "so where does the red hair come from?")

I'm glad my neighbors are so tolerant.

Click here to read the story.

Update: Senior Year Meme

Super fun meme from Natalie's blog and passed around a bit. I added a picture. :) But NOT a prom picture.

It was 1995 . . .

1. Who was your best friend? Heather M. now F. (me & her on top of my car. ignore my overalls & lack of mascara. i obviously had no clue. or it was the 90s and this was actually cool.)

2. What sports did you play? None. I am a weakling.

3. What kind of car did you drive? my fabulous green GMC Jimmy with a Beatles sticker on the back window and the Smiths or the Cranberries playing on the inside. And full of friends. Those were good times in that Jimmy.

4. It's Friday night, where were you? Dance party, Tomorrowland, Disneyland. Nowhere else.

5. Were you a party animal? No. I was a good girl.

6. Were you considered a flirt? I don't think so. If I was, it certainly wasn't working. I don't think I really cultivated my flirting skills until college.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No. But I was still taking piano lessons!

8. Were you a nerd? Not nerdy enough to be in band or orchestra (hehee), but to some extent, I guess I was. I was in all the nerdy classes. Except pre-calculus. My brain doesn't do math.

9. Did you get suspended or expelled? Heavens, no.

10. Can you sing the fight song? No. Did we have one?

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mr. Barrett (english & latin) or Mr. Fjeldstead, who taught Physics. Since I was really bad at physics, and since his wife worked for my dad, he was very lenient and let me pass.

12. Where did you sit during lunch? Surprisingly enough, I sat with the cool kids, even though I never hung out with them outside of school. Occcasionally, I would go visit the VP brotherhood or my sister with her friends, wherever she was eating.

13. What is your school's full name? Villa Park High School

14. School mascot? The Spartans

15. Did you go to Prom? Ya, but I'm pretty sure it was a pity date. My friend Matt, who was a Sophomore, took me. Thanks, Matt.

16. If you could go back and do it over, would you? I wouldn't go back, but it was fun at the time. College kicked high school's butt, though. It was way better.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? It was rained out and kids from my class were playing slip & slide on the track at Kelly Stadium. (It never rains in June in the OC, but it did that day.) They moved the ceremony to the school's gym, but I didn't go to that, and never picked up my diploma.

18. What was your favorite class? Latin

19. Where were you on senior skip day? We had to go to Magic Mountain. Where I was a total loner.

20. Did you have a job your senior year? If you count working at my dad's office a "job."

21. Where did you go most often for lunch? I was able to go home since I lived close enough to school that I could have walked. Except I didn't, I drove. Or I'd go to Togo's with Kara O.

22. Have you gained weight since then? not a whole lot.

23. What did you do after graduation? I went to England with my parents. They had sort of started a tradition of a Senior Trip. And London is where I wanted to go. I know, poor me.

24. Who was your Senior prom date? My friend, Matt R. asked me. Like I said, he was a sophomore, and asked me kind of late, but I wasn't being asked, which makes me think that our moms had something to do with the arrangement. But I did get an adorable pale pink dress at Saks for the evening, my first and only formal dance. Remember, I couldn't flirt. (And, sshhhh, I had no boobies to speak of, which is my real theory for why boys didn't like me.)

25. Did you go to your 10 year reunion?
I was lucky enough to have the really good excuse of living in Texas on a student budget at the time. Didn't go watch all those losers get drunk. :)

Our New Favorite Song

by one of our old favorite bands (Travis):



I'm really just killing time until Stephanie calls me with news regarding the gender of her third-born. (How I managed to NOT find out the gender of dear little Miles is a mystery to me, because I am absolutely dying to know what Steph's baby will be, and she's not even Me.)
So, baby steps till twelve o'clock . . .

Children's Book of the Week installments will resume next week. I'm just not in book report mood today. Because I'm still wishing we were sitting by the Kea Lani pool right now, to tell you the truth.

update: steph called. her wish came true, as audrey put it. click here to see!

Grateful Sunday

This Sunday, I'm grateful for Hawaii. Sure, I'm sort of glad to be home, but now Neal goes away every day and it's too hot to play outside. We're "sleep training" poor little Miles, and there are bills to pay.

So I'm grateful that Hawaii exists, and that it's part of America, and that my parents thought it would be fun to go with my whole lovely family for an entire week. It was pretty much what I imagined heaven to be like: perfect weather, all the people I love, flowers blooming everywhere, the sound of the ocean, sunshine and breezes, and we were all so happy. (But there would be more grandparents there if it were really heaven.)

And for good measure, here are the last of my pictures. You know, if you told anyone in my little family today that we could go back tomorrow, we'd start packing right this very second. We had so much fun and really miss everybody.

Miles loved being outside for hours on end.

Katie was a pro at entertaining the kids, as usual.

The kids built a Step Pyramid, just like the one in Egypt.

Neal and I had a nice dinner ALONE. (ps, this is Neal with contacts in, for those of you who know him)

Audrey and Parker found a molted crab shell in the tide pools. I convinced Audrey that it wouldn't stay intact if we brought it home and that taking a picture of it was just as good. Good thinking, Me.

We made leis.

Neal took the two big kids on a real submarine ride to see a shipwreck and some reefs.

We took nice walks along the ocean to and from this amazing hotel.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the vacation of a lifetime.
Next time, we're taking you.

Quite a Spectacle

You take 25 people (12 of whom are under age 7) anywhere, and you're going to cause a scene. Here are a few shots of most or all of us smooshing together during our trip.

Ell A Ecks (LAX)

OGG (Why is the Kahului, Maui airport code OGG? Anyone?)

The adults watching the kids put on a show of all their best tricks, outside our rooms.

The kids doing said tricks.

Vying for shade at the beach. 2 umbrellas for 25 fair-skinned whities, give or take a few tan in-laws.

One day, we all ate at the breakfast buffet. Together. I think Mimi (right w/strawberry) liked it the best.

Lunch at the poolside grill, which we took over, obviously. Yum. Thanks, Dad.

Cabana life. It's a good life.