Some Days Are Like That

Friday was a fabulous day. The kids had a long weekend for fall break. A friend and I took our six kids to IHOP for a late breakfast. My mom and I took my kiddos to Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake, and I loved it. I'm so happy she bought a six month pass because we are definitely going back. It takes a lot to make me want to drive all the way to Salt Lake. This was definitely worth the guzzle.

What did my kids love the most? They were mesmerized from the moment we walked through the doors and saw the multitude of clear plastic tubes climbing up past the second floor, kids repeatedly putting balls inside to be sucked up by a vacuum, watching the colorful dots as they traveled on their merry ways. Then, we found the construction zone with a giant crane to lift huge, soft, gray blocks up to a platform where all kinds of cool creations were built and knocked down. The little house with it's miniature furniture and window boxes for flowers was adorable, and the details, oh how I loved the details. A small opening in the bottom of the wall revealed a pretend "mouse house," a tiny mirror image of the playroom it bordered.

The water feature was not only amazing, embellished with beautiful glass mosaics, but, educational too, showing the kids how water rains down from the sky, runs off the mountains, travels through rivers and dams and ends up in our homes. Lots of splishing and splashing by my children at this one. AiAi loved dancing around the "bird refuge" just for the little ones, E-Man loved using a realistic gas pump to fill up his car, and Soph skipped up and down the aisles of the market with her shopping list gathering pretend groceries for her basket. I loved that right next to the market was a produce truck, and right next to that was a farm -- to show the kids where the stuff from the market actually comes from (fake chickens, right?). How can I even explain all the things the kids enjoyed? The climbing wall. Delivering the mail. And, the doghouse with a motion sensor that barked at AiAi all twenty times that he poked his head inside.

As much fun as we had on the first level, the upstairs may have been the best. Soph was intrigued with making her own comic strips and filming animated shorts. They loved all the ways they could send messages to each other from one side of the building to the other. Then, there was the science area. My boys adored the science area. They spent at least 30 minutes sending papers up clear vacuum tubes, watching them float up to the ceiling, and cascade down to the floor. There were many interesting blocks and magnets. And, one wall was metal, decorated with magnetic PVC pipes of varying shapes and sizes. E-Man built some pretty rockin' contraptions to send little balls rolling down.

Just when we thought we had seen it all, we noticed a full size replica of a lifelight helicopter on the balcony. There was a call center and speakers so we could actually communicate between there and the helicopter. So cool. The first two times someone hit the "take off" button and it started making a noise like the blades were speeding up, E-Man jumped out with a concerned look like he thought it really was going to take off. My mom finally explained to him that it was bolted down (so cute that he thought it could take off though). It was such a fabulous day . . .

And, it's nice to be able to remember days like Friday on days like today.

I woke up and got the kids all ready for school on time. Soph left with her carpool just as the kids I babysit arrived. The only thing I had left to do was comb E-Man's hair (and, he was sporting quite the impressive bedhead this morning). He and Supermanth ran off to play and I decided, unwisely, that since I had a full 30-minutes until their school started, I could go check my e-mail and blogs. I was reading a blog of a friend where she talked about forgetting to feed her son breakfast and lunch and then finally realizing why he was so fussy when she wanted him to enjoy a corn maze. She said something about needing to be a "more mindful" mother, and I was thinking, "Yeah, I totally relate. Some days are like that," and, I was just getting ready to comment to that effect when I realized the kids' school started in 30 seconds! I shouted to everyone to get in the van. The babies had no shoes on. I cruised to the school, and just as E-Man jumped out, I saw his rooster-do. Awww, man! Are you kidding me? What kind of a mom am I? Luckily, there is a drinking fountain right by his classroom, so I was able to straighten it out just before they started reciting the pledge of allegiance.

The day was consumed by laundry, housework, a bit of errand running, and I even got some organizing done (my house is in bad need of organization). One minute, I looked at the clock and I had 20-minutes before I had to leave to pick up Soph's carpool. The next minute, when I looked at the clock, it was five-minutes past time to leave! Then, I realized I needed to install a carseat. Then, I went to get my sleeping Izzy up from her nap to get in said carseat and found her covered in diarrhea (no diaper, she recently potty trained). Blech! I was cleaning her up as fast as I could and wondering, "Why right now?" And, calming myself with, "It's okay. You are not the first mom in history to be 10-minutes late to pick up the carpool." Oh, how I loathe to be late.

Secured two children in the car, picked up four more. Delivered three to their homes and headed to E-Man's school to pick up four new ones. Finally, everyone was safe at home. I rinsed the offensive clothing and thought about the irony that this happened just after I finished six loads of laundry. Stripped down some sheets and started another load while the kids munched on chips and salsa. Just when I thought all was going well and the kids were settling into their lessons and homework, AiAi hurled all down the front of himself. Ewwww!!! I've always said that I'd rather clean up pooh than puke, and today I was able to test and prove that theory true. I somehow managed to clean it up (amazingly without hurling down the front of myself) and put AiAi in the tub while I stripped down more beds and started the eighth load of laundry. Then, AiAi splashed his bath water all over the floor. The messes of motherhood. Sometimes they seem to never end.

Oh well. Some days are like Friday. And, some days are like today. At least I was able to send them all into the backyard for a few moments of peace while I write about it and make myself feel better. How was your day?

*************************************************************************************
Edited to add:

I had just typed the last word and was about five-seconds away from realizing that it was way past time for me to begin preparing dinner (we usually eat early). I know. Such a hypocrite after that last post. I guess the theme for today was being a bit behind.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and there stood my lovely friend bringing me dinner! What!? Yes, a delicious spicy vegetable soup, Mormon muffins, and a big bag of old fashioned taffy from The Greenery. I couldn't believe how perfect her timing was. What a tremendous gift to have friends who look out for you. Now, I'm feeling all warm in my tummy (from the food) and all warm in my soul (from the love). And, in a few hours I'll feel all warm in my bed (clean sheets!). I guess some days are just like that.

Supper's on the Table, Come Home

I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of family mealtime. I think, as the world gets more and more crazy, this ritual of slowing down and partaking of a healthy meal around the dinner table becomes even more precious. Yet, several things have stopped me from doing this in the past.

First of all, Photoguy works a lot of nights. And, even when I think he isn't working nights, he usually is. And, even when he isn't, he often says, "I had a big lunch so I'm not very hungry," just as I'm putting supper on the table. For a long time, making a whole dinner for my baby and me, or my two-year-old and baby and me, or my three pre-schoolers and me (you get the idea) didn't make a lot of sense. Then, all of the sudden, I had a kid in school. And, those evening hours became a precious little flash of time in which to do homework and lessons and practicing and reading and baths before it was off to bed. And, I really, really wanted to have family dinner.

Then, I heard a quote, something to the effect of, "If your life isn't what you want it to be, well, then, maybe you didn't show up." And, I thought, "That is me. I'm not showing up." I was feeling all sad that we couldn't have "family" dinners because of Photoguy's sporadic schedule when I realized that I was only making a sporadic effort. Obstacle number one solved. No matter who would or would not be present, I resolved to stop whining and start showing up for family dinner by preparing it.

After making my resolve, I found out there were more obstacles. One was/is complaining kids. We have a new rule that when someone (usually that would be me) puts a lot of work into preparing dinner, you aren't allowed to say, "EWWWW!!! That looks/smells/sounds disgusting," while making a face and whining loudly. I have to remind the kids of this rule nearly every night. However, they are discovering that they do like more things than just toast and warmed up milk as I put more and more meals on the table and they work up the nerve to try them.

I was still having a few problems. For starters, it takes a lot of time and planning to sit down with a slew of cookbooks, look up all the recipes you're going to use, and make a grocery list. Then, you have to actually remember to take the grocery list to the store (that's probably just me). Oft times I found myself staring into an empty fridge at 4 p.m. surrounded by hungry pleas due to lack of planning. And, I admit, I've never been good at figuring out side dishes. Also, it's easy to fall into the habit of preparing the same things over and over again. Finally, it's been a problem for me that most of my recipes make ginormous amounts of food and I find myself eating/serving the same dish for a week straight until none of us ever want to see that food again.

In an effort to simplify things, I purchased the book: "Supper's on the Table, Come Home" by Rachel Masters, at www.schallertel.net~rmasters/ for $15, and I've been very pleased with the results.

This cookbook is uniquely divided into 13 weeks of meals. Each week contains 5 dinners with accompanying sides, one dessert, and one snack. At the beginning of each section/week, there is a complete grocery list already prepared for you! This has saved me tons of time in the planning phase.

Now, I have to admit, upon first perusal of this book, I initially was disappointed that some of the "side" dishes are tator tots or veggies mixed with Velveeta (is Velveeta even a food?). After setting aside my reservations, I decided to make a few modifications and changes to make the book my own. I soon discovered I didn't need to make that many changes after all. Now, I'm really excited because for the past month, we've been sitting down to complete homemade meals and I'm loving it!

The side dishes include fun things like homemade French bread with lasagna, many yummy muffins from scratch, jazzed up veggies (i.e. homemade curly fries in the apple corer/peeler/slicer), something as simple as orange wedges neatly arranged on a plate with tacos, and good ways to get your kids to try spinach (rolled into balls with stuffing).

The portions seem to be just right for our family. There's usually a small amount of leftovers -- perfect for lunch for two the next day. Most of the recipes are pretty basic. My kids have liked several of the meals (which is saying a lot from this picky bunch). And, I like that the recipes are simple so that I can add my own fancy twists if I want to. This is embarrassing to admit, but, before I got this book, I had never made chili or sloppy Joe's. I just didn't really know how. And, with chili, for example, there are so many kooky recipes out there, I wasn't even sure what kind of beans I should be using or where to begin.

Wallah! Planning, sides, variety, portions -- all solved!

In addition to the 13-weeks of easy meal planning, this book also includes great sections at the end, such as, "what to do with all the garden produce" recipes, breakfast/lunch/holiday feasting ideas, tips on stocking the kitchen, leftovers, freezing, substitutions, cooking for those with food allergies, tips on making bread from scratch, speedy shopping, eating on a budget, improving your kids manners -- a fantastic resource on so many topics!

This is my exceedingly long-winded way of saying, "I'm really impressed with this book." I may be a novice in the kitchen. But, on the first week of cooking from this book, we had a roast the first night, French dip sandwiches (with meat from the roast) later in the week, and at the end of the week, I threw the leftovers from the roast (meat, carrots, onions and potatoes that had been cooked in the crock pot) in a pot with the leftover gravy (made on roast night) and a can of stewed tomatoes and we had a delicious stew. I've never been so awesome at transforming leftovers before.

If you are reading this and thinking that things have gotten a little boring in the kitchen, or, if you are facing some of the same obstacles, I'd highly recommend getting a copy. And, no, I'm not her friend or getting a kick back for saying that.

Also, it seems we've been able to lure Photoguy home for a few more dinners than before. Funny how life works like that.

California Vaycay

Back when Soph and E-Man were 2 and 1 (it was, in fact, the week of E-Man's first birthday), we took a beautiful vacation to a beach house at Laguna. It was a fabulous week of playing in the sand, walking the enchanting streets, eating ice-cream, swimming in the "tiny swimming pool" (as Soph called the hot tub), and BBQ-ing on the deck while watching the sun set over the ocean.

During that week, we also spontaneously swung over to Disneyland for one day. Both of our kids were free (under 3) and adult passes were $45 each (only a few years before that, passes were $30). With parking, it cost $100 to take the fam to Disneyland. That seemed like a ton of money to me then. I could entertain my kids every day for a year with $100 when they were that age.

We've been back a couple of times, always taking advantage of the Get Away Today package deals, so that two 3-day-adult-hoppers are included, the kids passes are discounted, and there's a free night included at the hotel -- or something like that. It's always seemed like a pretty good deal.

This time around it was a real eye-opener to see how much Di$neyland tickets have gone up in price. We had our "free" trip, so a lot of the cost was comped. I can't complain, but, man oh man has the Di$neyland Man gotten greedy.

Now, to take our family to Di$neyland for one day (this doesn't include parking) is $315. And, if we want to upgrade those to hopper tickets, the cost goes up to $390. And, that doesn't even include the $70 we spent on treats (we were cheap and took a huge bag of food inside, yet we still spent that much . . . and, we didn't even splurge for the $3/bottle water to quench our extreme thirst. We just walked around all dehydrated drinking from the lukewarm water fountains).

Am I the only one who thinks that $69 for a one-day or $94 for a one-day hopper seems like a bit much?

I must be the only one, because, despite our best efforts to go on a random Monday in October to avoid the crowds, that place was bursting with people. Economy going bust, what?

I digress . . .

This is really meant to be a post about our fun family vacation. And, fun it was.

Friday, we drove down to St. George. My sister-in-law's parents live in a condo right across the street from the finish line for the St. George Marathon. We stayed with them last year and they were so incredibly nice (and the location beyond convenient) that we decided to do it again. We were, once again, thoroughly spoiled by their hospitality.

There was a headwind and showers during the entire marathon. Photoguy finished in 3 hours and 27 minutes, his slowest for this particular race (3rd run), and not Boston qualifying. He still felt good about it given the conditions.

This was his 6th marathon since Boston (in April). Now he says he is on a roll and wants to do two more before the year's end (8 in '08). All the marathons are over in Utah for now, so, we'll see what he comes up with.

After the marathon, we drove from St. George to Anaheim (with a stop at In-N-Out Burger when Photoguy's appetite came to him) and checked into our hotel. The sad part was that there were no kid suites or any kind of suites (I was hoping to upgrade to the classiest budget suite on the block), but the happy part was that there were three pools plus two hot tubs and really nice gardens with shrubbery trimmed to look like animals by the pools. We got there in time to take a dip the first night. And, I will never forget how, lying in our room in the dark, long after I thought the kids were asleep, AiAi burst out singing, "Who let the dogs out? Woof, woof, woof, woof."

Sunday, we headed to Laguna (it's become sort of a tradition). We got there right as high-tide was coming in. I have never seen the ocean so rough before. Giant waves crashed, and the surf sometimes traveled to the most remote edges of the beach, eventually even touching the boardwalk (as we discovered after all of our towels and things were soaked three different times). We spent $3 on parking, and $15 on overpriced sand toys at a novelty shop on the beach. We had at least as much fun as Di$neyland, and the food at Ruby's Diner (another tradition) was even better and only $45 including tip (I'm sorry, I know, I know, I really need to let the high-priced Di$neyland thing go, just seems so appalling . . .). Photoguy likes Ruby's for the juicy hamburgers (with healthy turkey patties), and I love their awesome salads.

E-Man LOVED the ocean, a nice change from his fear of the waves at age one. He even got knocked over by the rushing surf three times and still kept playing in it. Way to go E-Man! Soph was a bit unnerved by the surf knocking her down and all the sand in her swim suit. She is usually the one standing waist deep in the waves while the rest of us look on. I hope she finds her love of the ocean again by the next time we visit. AiAi kept his distance, but had a grand time chasing the seagulls with a shovel and plowing around in the sand.

At dusk, it was back to the hotel for another dip in the pool. I think swimming in the hotel pools was the favorite activity for all three of our kids (I think they liked it even better than Di$neyland). And, a few loads of laundry (when you add up stinky marathon clothes, peed in p.j.'s, and an armload of beach towels reeking of salt water, you see why it had to be done).

The next day, we woke up bright and early and prepared ourselves for Disneyland. True to my die-hard Disneyland reputation, we boarded the 9 a.m. shuttle (though the park didn't open until 10 a.m.), I waited in line for tickets while Photoguy waited in line to enter the park. We were among the first visitors -- on Main Street with 3 minutes to spare -- and cheering with the crowds as they played loud music and opened the park for the day.

The park was decorated for Halloween, which was cute. When we went when the kids were really small, it was decorated for Christmas and that was amazing.

It was pretty crowded. I guess I didn't get the memo on the Miley Cyrus birthday party on Sunday. I think the crowds were a holdover from that. Also, apparently it was fall break in Arizona (met lots of nice folks from Arizona). Ah, well. We tried. But like the time we accidentally went on Tuesday that happened to be part of a random four-day weekend for school kids in the state of California, once again, we hit it when it was busy.

We still got to do most of the things we wanted to do. Photoguy was unsuccessful in talking our kids into riding Splash Mountain (they've ridden it before and haven't gotten over the terror embedded in their hearts from the final downhill). I thought it was very un-Disneyesque when we went to visit Minnie Mouse. First, we waited in line. And, then we were told that Minnie was out for 15-minutes, could we please come back. So, we visited Mickey first and went back. But, right as we stepped into line, a worker cut us off and said that Minnie would be leaving, could we please come back. At that point, Photoguy said to bag it and we hopped on the train to head to New Orleans Square. Turned out that station was closed, so we accidentally rode the train all the way around and back to Toon Town where we started. It was lucky for our kids so they could meet Minnie, right?

We stood in a very long line (this was the third attempt too, mind you), and right before it was our turn, they came and whisked Minnie off leaving dozens of children standing there shocked and disappointed! I couldn't really believe it because I've come to expect superb treatment at Disneyland (one of their truly redeeming qualities). At that point, we had to wait in yet another line at another location because our kids HAD to meet Minnie. Quite the ordeal.

The new Nemo ride was cool, and Soph and E-Man (recently converted Star Wars fans) loved Star Tours. And, those $4 Mickey ice-cream bars really were quite tasty. The park closed at 8 p.m., so we made it back to the hotel in time to swim in the pool before bed.

The next morning, we grabbed one more swim before checking out and driving all the way back to Utah. We hadn't planned to do the whole drive in one day, but, we were making awesome time. It was only about 10 1/2 hours in the car start to finish (I thought it was a minimum of 12). And, we didn't stop much because our kids were awesome!!!

In all, I would say it was a pretty balanced vacation. One day at Disneyland is not enough. It was kind of like a Disneyland teaser. But, it was nice to visit the beach and nice to have enough downtime to do what is really important to the kids -- swim. I remember one trip we took consisted of 5 days in a row of theme parks and the pool went unvisited in all the mayhem. So, this was short and sweet, but, lots of fun!

My First Day of Canning

When Soph and E-Man were still babies, Photoguy's mom helped me bottle apricot jam at her house. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about that day except 1) It's really hard to focus on anything for an entire day with two babies demanding your attention 2) Jam is mostly sugar . . . I mean a LOT of sugar, and, 3) I then discovered that my husband only eats raspberry jam (and, as it turns out, I prefer it too).

My only other past experience with canning was thinking of it as extremely difficult and grueling (not because of the jam day, but, because I guess I grew up thinking that).

This year, I felt inspired by a slew of blogging friends raving about the delights of bottling up the harvest to lay aside for the winter. On Tuesday, I decided to try it.

I first procured a half-bushel of the most flavorful and amazing tomatoes ever from Photoguy's parents' garden (Thanks!!!). Then, added a half-bushel of sweet peaches from Perry to my growing mountain of produce. A friend who posted about bottling peaches a few weeks ago was kind enough to loan me her canning supplies. Oh, and I had to go to three stores to find jars (apparently, it's a little late in the canning season).

Finally, I called my dear friend CK, a prolific canner, to ask for tips and, guess what? She dropped everything, came to my house, and spent the next four hours showing me the ropes (including all the shortcuts) of canning!

In the end, I have 17 beautiful jars of peaches and 13 crimson jars of tomatoes. It took about 8 hours to finish it all up. And, CK taught me to save the peach pits for Peach Stone Jelly, a super easy, mildly peach flavored topping for toast, made from the pits one would usually just toss aside, and, you guessed it, LOTS of sugar!

I think the time in my life just happened to be right to awaken the inner canning woman in me. Because, I loved it. I loved hearing CK talk about how she learned it all from her grandma. I loved how excited she was to share it with me. It made me feel very connected to the earth and prior generations and my dear friend and my kids. Speaking of kids, my friend has three boys who are 4, 2 and 10 months. By the time the school crowd came home, we had nine kids eight and under (my three plus my other three, read: babysitting). Every snack in sight was consumed, way too much T.V. was watched, and my house looked like it had been hit by a small tornado when the canning was over, but, I was surprised how much we were able to accomplish with nine kids that small!

It would have been the perfect canning experience, except for one slight mishap. CK was letting me use her brand new steamer, and on the last batch, I boiled the water dry!!! Trust me, you don't want to do that. I was reading to the kids, getting them ready for bed, when the house suddenly filled with white smoke and a bad smell. Upon investigating, I found a quarter-inch of blackness permanently baked on the bottom of the steamer. I ran to the store to buy a new steamer, but, they were all out. So, I bought S.O.S. and steel wool instead. I spent an entire hour scrubbing that pot. And, the next day, Photoguy also spent an additional hour (plus used a sharp knife to remove the blackness). In the end, the steamer looked almost like new again. Whew! My wrist is still aching. Lesson learned.

Remember how I swore off gardening? Well, now that I've had so much fun canning, I'm already planning for next year's gardening success (or, maybe I should be more like baba capra and start planning for next year's failure -- less disappointment that way).

Perhaps I'm ready to awaken the inner seamstress in me? I've never been crafty, at all. And, grew up thinking sewing machines were manufactured by the devil. But, I think I just might give sewing a try . . .