A video post

Several days ago my sister sent me a text asking to take a lot of videos of our Christmas moments and email them to her so she could make a video. 

Hmmm, 

I slacked off and didn't really get much recorded. 

But she did what she could with what I gave her and mixed it with the Trinnaman Christmas back in Utah. It almost feels like we were all together. 

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

And just because this is awesome. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

I may have given birth to spiderman. 

He's goin' for that bowl of stocking candy on top of the fridge. 

Notice his disappointment when he fails. 

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this boy. 

Dinner Date.

I had more fun last night than I've had in a loooonnng time! 

Hurray for awesome friends!

A night at the Nutcracker

Our trip to the St. Louis Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker was fantastic!

It was unfortunate that Lydia was not entertained in the least bit. 

She did like dressing up, and the atmosphere, but she was a pain in the neck during the performance! 

I guess Lydia won't be going to the theater any time soon. 

Gracie was completely enchanted. She was on the edge of her seat the entire time. I couldn't stop her from dancing and twirling in the hallways during intermission. 

I guess there is a reason why Lydia quit her dance classes after 3 weeks and Gracie wishes she could go to class everyday. 

It was magical for me! I constantly had chills going up my back and when the principal (playing the sugarplum fairy) was performing. I may have found my chin quivering and eyes filling up with tears. She was absolutely breathtaking. 

Visions of a sugarplum fairy

I can't wait!

I got tickets for me to take my girls to see the Nutcracker Ballet tomorrow night.

They have no idea.

*squeee!*

I'm so stinkin' excited. 

This will be their very first experience with the professional theater.

Counting down the hours. 

Every Night...

these two are tucked into bed separately. 

And EVERY NIGHT they end up like this:

Last night I suggested to Lydia that she just bring her pillow over so she doesn't steal Henry's. 

After getting them tucked in, together, Lydia giggles and says, 

"It's like we're married!"

MakeOver!

What do you think of my make-over? It was time for a clean sweep. I've changed, my life has changed, therefore, my blog needed a change. It feels clean. A round of applause for my famous sister Gentri!

**My husband has pointed out to me that the first words on my last post are brian fog...as opposed to brain fog. Just another example of my fleeting brain (spelled it right that time!)**

Morning time with Chablis

Brian fog is a real problem people. 

Just as proof that it's an actual symptomatic condition of RA I found an article. 

If  you so desire, you may go HERE to read it. 

I'm sure none of you will care to read it, but I wanted PROOF that I'm not just nuts. 

Mornings are not my best time of the day. 

This a.m. while the girls were eating cereal and I was managing to throw together lunches for the two we had a conversation that went like this:

Gracie and Lydia were fighting over who got to look at the back of the cereal box. 

So, I took the box away and put it out of the way. 

Gracie then stomped her foot and let out a squeal of frustration. 

I turned to her and said,

"That is un.....(inappropriate was the word I was searching for) COOL!

If you two can't figure out how to treat each other and the the cereal box....(kindly is the word I would have used, but alas) LIGHTLY then you can't have the box at all."

The girls could see the hesitation in my face as I tried to form coherent sentences. 

Not my proudest moment as a mother. 

We managed to read a page of the scriptures and say our prayers before I declared, 

"Now go and grab your cat...I mean jocket....whatever, you know what I mean."

Coat or jacket Chablis. Pick one and run with it.

A new attitude

Several weeks ago I wrote a post, late at night because I couldn't fall asleep and I was feeling sorry for myself. The following morning I felt uneasy about it, so quickly deleted it. Some of you may have still read it through Google Reader. 


It went a little something like this: 


Warning: this post contains personal whinery and has no pictures. Viewer discretion is advised.

I've been thinking.

Bad. I know. (why don't you just be smart and STOP thinking, Chablis)

Here comes the serious part:
My personal, inner self life is crashing and crumbling. You may be thinking, "Oh no! Something serious has happened! Did her husband die? Are her children sick?" No. My life is wonderful. More wonderful than I deserve. You see, I have a very bad case of "keeping up with the Jones'" in a sort of sense. I don't have any idea where I got this notion inside of me but it goes something like this:

"If I don't have all the external stuff all together, meaning, if I don't look pretty and my house doesn't make an impression on people, and if my children aren't dressed well, and I'm not being creative and strutting my hostess skills around and baking and cooking for the neighborhood, then...well...what the heck do I have to give to others so that they'll like me?"

There are too many external forces binding me up to be able to uphold all of these social checkpoints I have in my head. RA is a big binder. My lack of financial and caloric restraint are also finding their stringy ways around my hands as well.

I'm finding I can't keep up the important spiritual aspects, prioritizing of my family and such, AND all the other stuff too and make it all work. Something's gotta give.

I suppose you could say I'm being forced into a redirection of my energies. I'm not sure how to go about my new life without all the busy-ness (aka: shopping at Target) and "prettiness". I'm pretty sure I'm being flagged down from above in an effort to grow in my testimony and redirect my focus into my children. I know this, but can I do it?  

I'm not sure where to go from here, and I'm not sure how this blog may suffer (heaven knows it's been suffering for the last year). A part of me wants to just get rid of the blog to end it's poor suffering and help me keep focus. Another part of me can't quite let it go.


Silly, right? I think it's an all too common theme for women. Especially stay-at-home-moms. And you all  can vouch for my excessive complaining and whining about my RA. 


Well, I've changed my attitude. Thanks to some help from a few fabulous books written by Carol Tuttle. I AM enough. I am happy and I love my family and my friends. I am blessed with a fabulous body that does what I need it to.  


There are a certain few people whom I adore, but never felt good enough for. I'm so happy these people are so talented and blessed. I don't need their affirmations to be whole. I love me because God created me, and he doesn't make mistakes!


My blogging has suffered for a long time. I used to blog because I felt I needed the support and affirmations from the comments. I used to find things to blog about that would bring positive comments to lift me up. But I've realized that this was a very unhealthy relationship with blogging which is why I've disabled the comments. 


I have no idea where my new found attitude will take me with blogging. I may forget about it completely. Of course, I will never stop looking at all of your dear blogs! I LOVE them. Who knows if I'll have anything interesting to blog about and who knows if I care to plug it in, even if I do have something interesting! It doesn't matter because I don't assess my worth through this blog anymore. 


I love you all! Thank you for your support and love. Especially to those of you who took the time to email me from concern for the changes on the blog! I am so grateful for you. 

Exploring our community: Magic House

This is easily exactly how I picture our future home. 

I mean, it's gorgeous! 

The magic house is actually a dreamy children's museum. 

The most amazing I've ever seen. 

My kids were completely overwhelmed. 

I was completely exhausted. 

It was a good day. 

 The beanstalk is three stories high:

 They climbed it several times. 

Smashing our faces into the "pin mold" was one of or favorite activities:

One of Scott's favorite historical stories is of Lewis and Clark's exploration. 

There was an entire floor dedicated to learning about the adventure:

We have big plans for Henry. 

I'll be bringing him here every week so he can become better acquainted with his future digs:

Random thoughts

* I can't believe I've never seen this movie before:

Thanks to Netflix I am now a fan!

With all the theatrical movies I watched with my mom as a kid I can't believe we skipped this one... and I would have related to her hatred of red hair so much! 

* Last night I had a bunch of ladies from my church over for a soup and bread night. 

I can't believe how much this (@#%*) RA played a part in my day. 

A thing gathering like this would have been nothing to me back in the day.

 I mean - I adore planning and preparing parties. 

Yesterday was SO HARD for me. 

My knuckles swelled up like I've never seen before last night. All I did was chop a few veggies and clean! 

Ugh - I'm still getting used to the "new" me. 

*It was 60 degrees when I put my kids on the bus this morning for school. Now, 4 hours later, it's 42 degrees. I suppose I can't complain since it's a mere 12 degrees in my beloved Alaska today. 

*I played baseball with Henry this morning. His batting average was 60%. Pretty darn good for a 3 yr old with his gimpy mamma for a pitcher! 

*I'm dying to buy THIS album. I'm having insane cravings to listen to my favorite artist in a new album. 

I must not give in to temptation. I must wait until at least the week of Thanksgiving!

Salsa Verde

When we were living in Virginia there was a "Spanish Speaking Branch" that met in the same building as my ward. 

For those of you who don't speak "mormon" talk: members of our church who speak Spanish met separately and had their own church services each week. 

My friends and I asked the ladies of the Spanish branch to teach us how they make salsa. 

Holy moly, there is nothing like the real, hand-me-down, traditional foods from Mexico. 

Here is the recipe for Salsa Verde:

10 tomatillos (little green tomato looking fruit that has a green husk around it, the husk leaves a sticky mess on the rind of the tomatillo)

2 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno (depending on how spicy you like it you can leave the seeds in, or cut the jalapeno in half and scoop out the seeds)

1/2 onion

1/2 bunch of cilantro

pinch of salt

Peel the husk off the tomatillos. Boil the tomatillos and jalapeno until soft. Drain water and blend all ingredients in a blender. 

This stuff is SO yummy! It's delicious warm or cold and is awesome on tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, scrambled eggs, or just with tortilla chips. 

Wishing you all a

HAPPY McHALLOW-e-i-e-i-EEN!

{timer pictures never really turn out with this family. When will I learn to just run and ask a neighbor?}