Easter Weekend

Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning! The Easter bunny decided to come to Almond park and invited the primary and nursery aged kids to come and find the eggs. Madie literally woke up 15 minutes before it started.

To start her off, we cracked open an egg for her to show her what was inside...I think you know where this is going.

She kind of ate as she collected.

Saturday night, we went to the Atheys for an egg dying party. Madie had some friends her age come along as well, and they were completely taken with the sliding door. At one point, I saw Madie inside the home, blocking the sliding doorway from her friend Rion. He kept trying to climb the steps to get in and she had her foot stretched out onto his head, preventing him from climbing up. When I glanced over, I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing! I didn't know whether to laugh, watch, or scold. So, I did all three (in a 3 second window).

Of course, we dyed some eggs.

Played with Madie's other little friend Maggie. I don't know that their friendship is necessarily mutual.

Easter Sunday was so nice. Mal and the choir sounded really good, despite my frequent exits from the chapel and chasing a running Madie down the aisles. She is getting really quick! Even when she is in this big poof-y Easter dress. She was pretty tired by the end of church. When I picked her up from nursery, all the kids were being read to and were seated in small chairs while Madie was sprawled out on her back on the side; apparently tired. She fell asleep on the 5 minute car ride home.

Prepping for Easter dinner, which included deviled eggs, lamb, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, asparagus, bundt pan rolls, and carrot cake.

The Secret Garden

No, I don't keep this magical English garden locked and confined between large stone walls. BUT, I do keep one which is protected by armed guards who drive SUV's, mounted turrets included. Have I caught your attention yet? Well now it might get boring, because it's just a gardening club at work. Yes, everyone goes through security checks at work where your ID is verified by an armed guard...and they do drive the aforementioned vehicles. But this garden is part of the LLNL's Organic Gardening Club, which I just joined a couple of months ago. Each member receives a plot roughly 15'x20', which you can pretty much do what you want with except plant a tree, berry bush, or let rot. Since LLNL is picky about who they will let in and out of the laboratory (clearance reasons), it is a bit of an exclusive garden. I can't even take pictures of it! I have been working on it since the beginning of March. We have already planted beets, carrots, heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, poppies, oregano, zucchini, and corn. Going to plant basil next week. I really wish Mal could join me because it was a lot of work getting it ready, and it would be fun for Madie to get her hands dirty. Mal has been trying to cope with it by doing some planting at home, namely a potted thornless blackberry bush, cilantro, chives, and beans (accidentally).

Oh, Where Is My Hairbrush?

I have had the same hairbrush for years. Many years. In fact, I believe I got it before moving away from home--which was six years ago. My first year away, I moved ten times. I've flown across the world three times and across the country countless ones. I've held eight different jobs; I've learned to drive a stick; I've gotten married and had a kid; I've been through numerous haircuts; I've ended one blog and started another, and another, and another, and joined a friend on another; I've read multiple books, some of which have changed the way I view the world; I've made a plethora of acquaintances, some of which have come on as full-time friends. Through all of this, I have had the same hairbrush. It's seen a lot, and never been left behind. 

Yesterday that hairbrush came to a watery end in the depths of a murky porcelain pool.

The culprit:

Daddy-Daughter Campout

Our ward in Livermore has some pretty awesome activities, this one is an annual trip to Half Moon Bay, CA for dads with daughters. I think it's good because not all dads have sons, so it's kind of a way of reaching to everyone. And let's face it, the men in my immediate family don't have a great track record for producing boys. I'll take what I can get!

First thing we did after we set up camp was head down to the water. We could see/hear the waves breaking from our campground, which gives you an idea of how close we actually were.

Madie loved every minute of it. She didn't want to go back up to camp. There was one casualty on this trip: Madie's blankie. We are still searching for it. I'm glad she is still young enough that she will likely forget about it and move on in-case we can't find it.

Here are some things we did...

Ran around with friends.

First s'more!

I think the s'more was overwhelming to her, so she didn't really take to it. Plus, she is really particular about sticky things, or crumbs on her hands. This was a bit too messy for her. Gloves perhaps?

Lights were a hit in the tent.

Trying to see look into the light and wear the lamp at the same time.

Adjusting the headlamp...

Finally fell asleep after playing in the tent with Dad for literally two hours straight! She was very excited to be in there, and it was one of the first times she wasn't 'confined' to a crib or pack and play. She certainly took advantage of her situation by crawling all over Dad, playing with the tent walls, flashlights, etc.

Climbed trees (sort of).

Scoping out the surf.

She loved walking through the water as it came upon shore. My shoes got completely soaked from saving her from a big wave a few times.

To top it off, we went for a hike in the redwoods.

Become a Bookworm!

I really like our Relief Society here. I'm on the activity planning committee and--at the risk of sounding boastful--we come up with some pretty awesome ideas. (Of course, most of them are our chairman's, Ashley, but still.) Anyway, at the beginning of the year we had a little meeting to roughly outline what we'd like to do for our monthly/bi-monthly activities. Ashley said she had been trying to think of things that used our talents and she was a little despairing because she didn't feel she had any talents that were really shareable. Then it came to her that she loved books and could share that. At the meeting she found she was in good company and so we decided to have an activity that focused on learning to love books and how to find some great ones. It was awesome! We had some people sign up to share books from different genres, and despite trying to keep it to about 40-45 minutes so there'd be time to peruse the books on display as well, we went over. But nobody seemed to mind--which means it's really good!

Anyway, I just thought, since there are so many people who read this blog who love to read books, I would post the titles and genres of each. Before I do that though, let me start off with a couple of tips Ashley gave before the presenters got up.

~I know some of you are already on there, but Goodreads.com is a great site. Mike just got on recently too, and he's really enjoying it. Go! Explore! Add me as a friend! It's free and it's pretty easy to navigate.
~Ashley keeps book-journals. They're not anything deep necessarily, but just the title of the book, the author, and a little blurb about it. She read a couple; some of them were as short as, "Fantastic!" and others go into more detail. I prefer to write in my books. Either way, I strongly recommend writing. When I write about what I read, or take notes in the margins, even if I never go back to that book again, I remember a lot more from it. Reading to me demands participation.
~(This one's from me.) Try to read from a variety of genres. Mike has a really hard time getting away from non-fiction, and Ashley has a really hard time getting away from YA, and another friend of mine reads only fiction, especially sci-fi, and another friend of mine just told me she's a junkie for socio-economic commentary. That's all well and good that they enjoy reading those genres, but c'mon! Ever heard the phrase "stranger than fiction?" That is so true! There are some incredible true stories out there, and you're totally missing out! But if all you read is non-fiction, you are depriving yourself of some of the most moving and truthful and eye-opening prose there is; honestly, you're hampering yourself from a greater understanding of the world you live in. And fiction like that can come from any sub-category--any. After you've read some of each then you can decide whether you really just don't like that genre or not. Not before. Okay, off my soapbox.

Onto the books! (The titles are links, except for the church historical fiction ones. I tried to find more than just reviews, but that's not always the case. Sorry!)
Science Fiction: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Romance: (trilogy) Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan (point of view of Mr. Darcy)
Church Historical Fiction: (She kind of got carried away picking, so these are all series) Prelude to Glory by Ron Carter; Children of the Promise by Dean Hughes; The Promised Land by David G. Woolley
Non-Fiction: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
Biography: Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow; Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Young Adult Novel: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Middle Grade Novels (between 8 and 12): Ida B. by Katherine Hannigan (I am putting this on my list, FYI)
Graphic Novel: Bone by Jeff Smith
Poetry: Behind My Eyes by Li-Young Lee
Mystery/Thriller: The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Adult Fiction: Room by Emma Donoghue

Back home, and upgraded

For those of you who haven't heard, we were babysitting and house sitting this last week for some friends who went to Europe. We went from one kid to four in a blink of an eye. It was exhausting, I'm not going to lie. Anyways, their youngest was born the same week as Madie and it was so fun to watch these two run around together.

Within 24 hours, we used one of our life-lines and phoned some friends for help. The kids were kind of fighting and we were still adjusting to each other. Luckily, the Atheys brought Maggie over for a visit and totally distracted the kids for a few hours! That's Maggie's tongue, btw.

I couldn't help myself.

And of course, we got some good shots of our ever so photogenic Madie. The family had a basket of shoes sitting by the door, which meant Madie was in heaven. I'm pretty sure she test drove every pair in the basket at one point.

Mal took the kids to the splash park so that they could get out and stretch their legs for a bit.

Post splash park picture. Madie's hair was so greasy from the sunscreen that we decided to have a photo-shoot.

These two did really well together. Even though each kid (and adult) had our meltdown moments this week, I think it was pretty good overall. Of course, I'm the one who was working all week and was only home in the evenings.

One huge bonus that came from watching kids this week was we had access to a van. Vans are pretty amazing, because they can actually hold a lot more than trucks can (for the most part). We have been wanting new furniture for a while, and have hounded Craigslist for months trying to figure out ways to squeeze furniture into our little Jetta or even renting a truck for a few hours. I don't know why we don't know more people with trucks, but we don't! It just worked out that we were looking into getting this table the day that we began babysitting...and it was then that we realized we had a van to put it in! I took the seats out of the van and headed over to pick up the table and chairs.

We figured hey, we have the means to transport furniture. Lets get a leather couch! We picked one up that same day for a very reasonable price. Great condition, comfortable, and hopefully will endure anything our kids will throw at it for the next 15 or so years.

What's that you say? A $15 pony from the local thrift shop? Pick it up!

Awesome $3 lamp at a garage sale. Guess we didn't really need the van for this one.

Things I've Learned

Some of you may know Mike and I have been watching the three children of some friends of ours while they're in England for the week. We're almost done--they get back on Saturday morning--but it's been an interesting experience. Let's just say we are glad twins--and triplets--don't run in either of our families! I thought I'd share a few highlights.

Deep thought:
~If Wish Bear can grant pretty much any wish, why are there any other Care Bears? And for that matter, is there really any risk in any of the episodes?

Proud moments:
~The food is a little different than what we normally have at home. I don't know that it's worse or better, it's just--mooore--what exactly? Faster? Yes, it's faster. Much faster. I was a little worried Madie might end up not feeling very well after a week (she's got sensitive bowels, if you know what I mean) or worse: that her tastes would be spoiled. All my work! Not that we only eat organic foods or even all good foods--I love to bake and Mike's obsession with homemade ice cream is hard to reel in sometimes--but we eat a lot of vegetables and fruit and vegetarian meals and fishy meals--a nice balance I think. Madie eats two or three whole fruits a day. So last night while the other three were chowing down on saucy chicken and rice (with extra sauce poured on top), I was very happy to see that the first thing gone from Madie's plate was the broccoli. :)

~Despite all the craziness and extra kids, I've gotten a lot of reading done. In fact, I finished The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Oh so good!

Breakthrough:

~I realized what it was about some friends' houses that really turned me off as a kid: the smell. It's not the smell of poopy diapers or pee-soaked beds. It's the smell of microwaved corn dogs and maple syrup long after breakfast is over.

Back to school....back to school...

I have already disclosed this on Facebook to most of you, but for those who haven't heard I got accepted into the School of Public Health at Tulane University. I'll begin coursework for my Masters of Public Health, concentration in Occupational and Environmental Health on May 31st. I am very excited to begin working on this and get it out of the way. Luckily, work has agreed to pay for nearly half of it which is HUGE! That also means that I'll be working full-time and taking at least 6 credits per semester (two courses) every summer, fall, and spring semesters until July 2013. Busy? Indeed. I'm glad Mal is willing to go along with this, because she will most likely be working much harder than me.

One thing that I like about Tulane's distance education program is they literally broadcast their lectures live via internet, and require you to have a camera and mic so that you can participate in classroom discussions and interact as if you were actually there. Amazing, isn't it? Another plus about Tulane is they have a really good reputation in public health because they are the oldest school of public health in the U.S. (see malaria outbreaks in the 1800's). And, out of all the schools of public health in the nation, they are ranked number 13 by U.S. Weekly. Always a plus. I feel very fortunate to be in the program and am ready to work.