Girl on a Pony

I know it's been a whole month, but I have to post a blog about how cute McKenzie was on my birthday. I told her it was my birthday and that she needed to treat me extra special. She asked, "Who's going to get you a present?" I told her that maybe Daddy would. She said that maybe she could go with him and get me a present too. I told her to tell Daddy that I wanted a camera (just to tease him because we can't just up and buy the one I want right now). A little while later, she told Jason that she needed to go to the store with him to get me "a barbie on a horse" and asked me if I would like that. This was on Wednesday and we told McKenzie that we were going to wait until Saturday to celebrate my birthday (Jason and I both had things going on Wed night). So Saturday morning I was quietly reminding Jason to be sure to take McKenzie to the store with him since she was so excited to get me something. She must have overheard and came running into the room and told Jason that she needed to go with him to get me "a girl on a pony." Then she eagerly asked me, "would you like that? Would you like that, Mommy?".......(I mean, how can you say no? Besides, I actually found this strange child-like excitement growing within me about the idea of playing with a girl on a pony. The same kind of excitement I felt at 7-ish years old about my doll on skates). Then McKenzie told me that they would "wrap it up in paper with a little bow and probably give it to [me] open or closed - but probably open". So Jason and McKenzie came back from the store and he helped her put the present in a gift bag. She then came running upstairs holding the bag out for me and immediately said "can I play with it?" :) It was way cute! As she eagerly waited for me to open it, she said, "we tried to look for a 'cranma', but we couldn't find one." It took me awhile to realize that she was saying "camera"! I completely forgot that I had told her I wanted a camera. I asked Jason if they had looked at camera's and he said that he couldn't figure out what she was saying - he thought she was saying something about a "grandma". I thought it was cute that she actually tried to get my message across even though it had been three whole days since we had talked about it. How thoughtful! McKenzie and Ethan played with my gift and had a great time. It was a fabulous birthday had by all. You can see in the background that Jason is making a french toast breakfast for me - yum! He also made my annual blueberry cheesecake that I always look so forward to. I try to save it for that one time a year because, well, it's not Jason's favorite and the way you buy the ingredients, it only makes sense to make two pies of it and.........let's just say he made them on Sunday night and the first pie was gone by Tuesday. As for the second pie - it took great perseverence to keep a couple of pieces in tact past the end of the week. Hey, Asher needed to participate in the celebration too - even though he couldn't play with the "girl on the pony". (By the way, we're naming our son Asher Helaman - for those of you who didn't know and were curious) :)

I'm it!

TAGGED!
JOBS I'VE HAD
Kooskia Motel Cleaner (gross!)
Piano Teacher
Violin Teacher
Ricks College Custodian (not quite as gross)
Millhollow Frozen Yogurt girl
Telemarketer
Gringos Waitress (some fun times!)
USU Skyroom Restaurant Waitress (also some good times!)
Piano Teacher
Copy Machine girl (a blast!)
Piano Teacher
Brick Oven Waitress in Provo (a place I affectionately call the "B.O.")
Name tag designer and maker (included making all the MTC tags)
composer (earned $1,000 for writing a few background pieces to a children's learning book,
along with writing an alphabet song. Pretty fun!)
diaper changer, human jungle gym, entertainer, disciplinarian, cook, custodian, source of all
knowledge and answerer of all "whys", storyteller, American Idol, dancer, the great
multi-tasker, zombie, teacher, listener.
Piano Teacher...again

PLACES I HAVE LIVED
West Jordan, UT
Orem, UT
Richardson, Texas
Sandy, UT
Kooskia, ID
Rexburg, ID
Provo, UT
Logan, UT
Provo, UT
Logan, UT
Holladay, UT
West Jordan, UT

PLACES I WANT TO VISIT
How does one even choose?

I HAVE VISITED
All the church history sites back East
Niagara Falls

TV SHOWS I WATCH
King of Queens
24
The Office
Oprah
Nanny 911
Wife Swap
American Idol
Lost

FAVORITE PLACES TO EAT
Quiznos
Chilis
Olive Garden

WEBSITES I VISIT
Craigslist
ksl.com
lds.org
bank and credit card sites
Everyone's blogs
e-mail

My Thoughtful Man

So I was having a bad night just feeling like a terrible mom (haven't been the most patient pregnant lady at times) and was letting out all my emotions about how I'm a failure as a parent along with anything else I could think of to dig up and load on there to help celebrate a good rock-solid pity party (as long as I was having one) to poor innocent Jason and then the next morning I picked my parents up 12 hours too early at the airport. I discovered this after waiting for 1/2 hour - during which McKenzie announced that she was "too little" to go to the airport - then parking and getting both kids out of the car and going into the airport to find a payphone to call Jason in my most uncomfy shoes while trying to hold Ethan who was leaning his whole body weight to get out of my one arm, while my other arm was desperately trying to help Kenzie onto the escalator so we could retrieve one of my aforementioned shoes that had already made it's way down. (Lesson learned: help your don't-have-much-experience-with-moving-staircases child onto the escalator before you help yourself on so you're not running back upriver with a fat belly, lopsided body due to only one uncomfy shoe now, and a wiggly boy in arms). Anyway.......the bad part is that this happens all too often with me - going to the wrong place at the right time. Or the right place at the wrong time. Or the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person, wearing the wrong outfit, bearing the wrong kind of a gift, with the wrong .....o.k. enough with the ever so slight exaggeration. So.....embarrassed to face Jason after yet another failed attempt to be where I should have been at the time I should have been there, I was slightly relieved to see that he was gone when we got home. I figured he'd be home soon, give me a bad time, get his kicks, and then life would roll along just as smoothly as usual (or at least until my next failed attempt). When Jason got back, he had roses, a card and some sticky notes (to write down where I needed to be and when).



"Some spring in your step, some sky in your blue,
some good in your mood being wished for you!"
"Here's to a new day, and a new you!"

The card plays the music "I'm feelin' good from my head to my shoes, know where I'm going and I know what to do...............I gotta new attitude! Ooh Oh oh ooooooh!"

We all danced around the kitchen and then McKenzie carried the card around for a couple of days to provide random jammin' sessions in the middle of whatever we happened to be doing: watching a movie......sliding down the slide........playing in the water.....ya know. I mean, is there every really a bad time to bust a move with a new attitude?

Well.......Just a sample of how thoughtful Jason is. What a man!

Close

I love to make bread all by hand and pretend we're a little farmhouse family that works hard, makes do and adapts, with only enough time left over to study the scriptures and play together until bedtime when all the kids sleep cozy and snuggly in one big bed. (Yes, I like to escape all the luxuries and distractions of life sometimes and dream big). Well, the spoiled Stanger 2007 version of this 18th century dream consists of something that brings me just as much joy as baking bread - Ethan and McKenzie sharing a room even though it's not absolutely necessary. Now that Ethan is out of a crib, he and McKenzie play and play together at night. At first I tried to get them to go right to sleep. Now I just love listening to them get some bonding time in. And what to do about them going to sleep too late, you ask? Put them to bed way early! Jason and I get more time with just eachother. McKenzie and Ethan get more time with just eachother. How can you go wrong? And they have FUN!!! I'd love to put a hidden camera in there sometime to see exactly what they do.

Well, one night I shut the door - just mostly so I could peek through the crack and catch a glimpse of their nightly ritual. Their favorite thing is to get on and off the headboard. I just love the second picture. Notice McKenzie's head under Ethan. It didn't even phase her. I've been in there while he has climbed on the headboard and stepped down right onto her hair over and over again (ouch!). But to McKenzie, it's just a part of the bedtime routine. Yes, Ethan has had his fair share of bumps on the head while mastering the headboard. And, no, he and McKenzie aren't always pleasant with eachother (like the night McKenzie took it upon herself to "teach Ethan not to suck his thumb" by pulling it out of his mouth every time he stuck it in)...




But when all is said and done (and in a strange sort of way), the torture, mayhem, laughter and dare-devilish headboard stunts through the early hours of the nights, are creating a closeness that will last a lifetime. The last picture shows just the kind of outcome I envision in a little candle-lit farmhouse. But perhaps it brings me even more joy to know that that couch is over 8 ft long and almost 4 ft wide. I guess when you have a headboard jumping buddy, sometimes you just plain like to be together no matter how much space you have to spread out.

Ethan is so stinkin' cute!

One day McKenzie started a prayer and Ethan immediately joined in for his first prayer - clasping his hands together and babbling off something very important. I keep my camera in the kitchen, out of it's case, ready to go (best decision I've made as far as picture taking goes - although with that bit of info and the cookies in the background of the picture, I may have revealed a little too much about where we spend most of our time). Anyhow, although this isn't THE first prayer - I was able to get him to pray again shortly thereafter for a pic. Pretty cute!


Ethan LOVES to brush his teeth. At least once a day, he'll go into the bathroom and say "uh, uh, uh..." until we position the stool for him in front of the sink and then "uh, uh, uh" until we turn the water on and hand him a toothbrush. His toothbrush of choice used to be Daddy's (he seriously would not have it any other way if it was available) until one fateful day, after I caught him splashing one hand in the toilet water while holding the toothbrush with the other hand.....the toothbrush of choice suddenly became unavailable (you just can't gamble with these sort of things).

Need I say more?