These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Fin Fun Mermaid Giveaway

2011-08-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Enter to win one of these sweet mermaid tails at 71toes.blogspot.com. I would have loved one of these as a child--I always wanted to be a mermaid!
Fin fun mermaid is the company who makes these cool tails and the link is www.finfunmermaid.blogspot.com.

Tender Tennessee Christmas for Tiny Dancer

2010-12-30T19:39:00.000-08:00

Holly had an incredible year in dance. Just 2 weeks ago she and I traveled to Tennessee where she competed for an Outstanding Dancer scholarship. After two days of intense dancing and auditions, not only was she awarded the scholarship, but she received the only ballet scholarship in her age group (out of 70 plus girls). We were thrilled! Both our jaws dropped to the floor when her name was announced for the ballet award, as she does not like ballet at all and has not been as strong in it. She will now go to New York in July where she will compete in the national competition. It was such a great moment for us. Holly has worked so hard and come so far. Above she is posing with Joe Lanteri the director of the New York City Dance Alliance.

Holly, Rozy and Cassie also competed their trio "Spring Cleaning" and received a "platinum" award. Again, I was in shock as I was just hoping their piece would earn at least a high gold.

Holly, Rozy and Cassie

On the flight home we changed planes in Las Vegas. As we were waiting on the tarmac for our gate, this sweet flight attendant pictured below with the girls announced over the loudspeaker, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have two very special guests on board with us today: Holly and Rozy who have just earned Outstanding Dancer scholarships and will go on to compete in New York in the summer. I just know we will see their names in big lights some day!" The passengers on the packed plane all started to clap for them. It was so darling! She had talked to the girls throughout the flight, but we had no idea she was going to make such an announcement. As we waited for the connecting flight to Salt Lake, several passengers came up to the girls and congratulated them.
We took Rozy with us on our trip so she could compete and qualify their trio. Rozy's mom bought and packed these adorable matching outfits for the girls. People kept asking if the girls were twins. We loved having Rozy along! She and Holly absolutely adore each other.

It snowed about half an inch in Nashville and the whole city shut down. Seriously, the schools and many businesses were closed. Evidently, it hadn't snowed in Nashville since 2001. The dancers from Tennessee were screaming because some had never seen snow.
This is the view of the snow outside our window. The woman who drove our shuttle was petrified as she had never driven in snow. I offered to take the wheel and I think for a second she considered it. Snow and all we had a fabulous time in Tennessee!

giveaway

2010-02-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Alice Lane, the fabulous new store in Orem is giving away $100 gift certificate to a lucky reader. Check it out: http://liveatwillowcreek.com/alicelaneblog/?p=583&cpage=2#comments

First Day of School

2009-08-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Summer went by much too quickly. Here we are another school year. In spite of their moaning and groaning about going back, they were pretty excited this morning.

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The traditional first day of school pose on the front sidewalk. My mom had me and my siblings pose like this every new school year. I, of course, have my kids do the same pose.

Piers Island

2009-05-05T12:39:00.001-07:00

For Spring Break our dear friends, the Freedmans, invited us to spend the week at their beautiful and spacious cottage on Piers Island, a quaint tiny island located north of Victoria, B.C., Canada. We had a glorious time on this little getaway. First, we drove a suburban (which Den found) for the Freedmans up to Vancouver, Wa. where we spent two nights with Den's lifelong friend, Jeff and his wife, Rebecca and their new baby, James (a precious son who took ten years to get here). Sadly, I did not take one picture there. Ahh! We attended church with them (Easter) and then had a wonderful meal with some of their ward friends. The next morning we drove to Port Angeles where we (car included) all boarded the ferry for a 90 minute ride to Victoria. The Freedmans picked us and all our luggage up in their fishing boat in Canoe Cove Marina and ferried us to their gorgous home on the beach. We all had a fabulous time and did not want to come home. The weather cooperated too. Not too cold or rainy, as was predicted.

Bill took us crabbing and prawning. First, the pods attached to buoys and containing bait of salmon, chicken and lures were thrown into the water . Several hours later we would return and retrieve the pods. We caught around 12 crabs (but had to release the females) and countless prawn. Bill steamed or scampied them for us each night. They were divine! Dipped in drawn butter or cocktail sauce the prawn tasted like a cross between shrimp and lobster--out of this world! I must have eaten twenty or more each night.

The kids had so much fun in the hot tub. Can't beat this view.

We awakened to this view each morning

Getting ready to go catch more crab and prawn

More photos to come later ....

Jo Jo' 16 month check up

2009-02-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

Last week Jolie had a well baby check up. She is healthy and progressing well. It is so sad for me to see my baby growing. This has truly been the fastest year of my life.

Weight 19.86 lbs (6 %tile)

Height 30.25 inches (32 %tile)

She is tiny.

She also had to get two shots-not fun. She only cried for a second, though.

Jolie is at a very fun stage right now. She communicates what she wants very well.

She says quite a few words now:

Mommy

Daddeeee

Hawyee (Holly)

Co ee (Cory)

baby

ba ba

sssss (shoe)

Be (when she wants to turn on the light switch. Not sure where this came from)

na na (banana)

grow (gross--when I change her diaper)

ewwww (" ")

chee (chesse)

numnum

uh oh

When something is hot she will blow (fire, stovetop, etc.). The other day I put her in the bathtub and it was a little too warm for her. I took her out and she stood on the side and started blowing into the tub.

A couple of days ago I had a bag of flour sitting open on the kitchen floor (mistake!). She dipped her hand into it and of course, got flour all over the floor. I said "Uh oh". She went over to the garbage cupboard and pulled out a tissue and began to wipe it up. It was adorable.

Jolie also got the box of dishwashing soap and took it over to the open dishwasher to try and fill the cup. I let her close the cap after we fill it and she loves it. She also loves to help me empty the dishwasher--clean or dirty. She loves to throw the silverware and plates on the floor.

She is such a sweet baby. We all adore her. The kids all love to play with her. Every morning Cory goes into her room to get her up (He will wake her intentionally if she is asleep. Drives me nuts!) Holly is such a good helper. She will bathe her every Sunday for me.

The Real Mavericks

2008-11-17T16:22:00.000-08:00

The day before our ward Halloween party Den and I were still without costumes. We threw this combo together at the last minute. I spray painted Den's hair and put a color rinse in my hair. Everyone was dying how great we looked! We were dying how great we looked! The whole night we were in character and were having a total blast! We did get some nasty remarks from some of our Liberal friends, though. We ended up winning the Halloween contest and scored a beautiful handmade Fall quilt.

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More Halloween Fun!

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Don't worry Annie, er Holly, the sun will come out tomorrow.

Holly also won a prize for her depiction of Annie.

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Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah...Gooooo Cougars!

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Lindsey and neighborhood/preschool pal Charlie Freedman.

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While this little pixie didn't care too much for her hat,

she was loving all the candy Halloween brought.

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Magic Mountain

2008-10-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Dennis suggested we go to California over Fall break. He went to a car auction one day while the kids and I swam. The next day we went to Magic Mountain and had such a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and the park was practically deserted. Jolie was a perfect angel too. She loved being outdoors and with the family the whole day. We figured we spent 10 1/2 hours at the amusement park.

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Our favorite rides were the Log Jammer and this Jet Stream.

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We got soaked!

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Fabulous Photographer

2008-10-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

I have discovered incredible photographer Anna Jones. She did my baby's photos a few months ago and I was thrilled with her. She was kind, patient, professional and very talented. For a peek at our slideshow go to http://Indieannajones.com/jolie. She is currently offering photography classes. Her first class will begin on October 26 at 9:30-1:30. She also has an afternoon session. For all the details and to see Anna's work go to http://blog.indieannajones.com/.. I am enrolled in the morning class and am looking forward to it!

Spice Girl

2008-09-10T21:27:00.001-07:00

Baby Jo Jo Spice loves when I open the spice racks. She picks each bottle up and tosses it to the floor with glee.

She also loves to get inside the dishwasher and toss all the silverware onto the floor. Sometimes if they are dirty she will lick what she can get. In addition she discovered how to open the garbage cupboard and will pick out whatever tasty morsel she can find, even if it is an onion peel.

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Jolie's favorite place is in the dishwasher

Summer Fun

2008-09-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

Peek-a-boo, Jo Jo

2008-09-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Lindsey Cracks Me Up

2008-09-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked Lindsey and Charlie Freedman up from pre-school. On the way home the two four year old were sitting in the backseat and I overheard Lindsey say to Charlie, "Did you know Joseph Smith lied about the cherry tree? Or was it the apple tree? Yeah, it was the apple tree." I had to giggle over that one. Later that day I called Dennis to recount the story and found myself asking him, "Was that George Washington or Abraham Lincoln?" Oh yeah, GW, I knew that!

2008-08-19T09:45:00.001-07:00

New clothes

2008-08-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

This was taken a few days before school started. The kids were excited about new school clothes.

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2008-08-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

We went to Canyon Glen on Monday in Provo Canyon with the Lindsay family and with my mom and dad for Family Home Evening. We had a yummy barbeque with hamburgers and hot dogs. Dennis was the master barbequer and did a terrific job in spite of my forgetting the spatula. He made do with the marshmallow roasting spears. I gave the lesson on reverence--something we are trying to work on in our home. We played "Happy Church, Sad Church" and acted out behaviors belonging under each title. I helped eveyone with their action with the exception of Cory who chose to act out smoking. We all got a good chuckle. It was a beautiful and fun night. We haven't done that in a while. The kids love being with their cousins.

Holly Girl

Lindsey couldn't get enough of the marshmallows!

Grandpa and Grandma

Lighting the fire. Before we were able to roast marshmallows the park ranger asked us to put it out because of high fire season. Bummer!

Mommy and Lindsey

I'm giving a lesson on reverence.

Jolie loved being in the open air.

Cory and McKay enjoyed being in the dirt and were fascinated by the fire.

Fab food blog

2008-07-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

I found a great new cooking site full of yummy recipes. Go to http://www.mywoodenspoon.com/

Lindseyisms

2008-04-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Our four year old has some pretty classic sayings:

"Happy Violins Day, Mom!"-- A statement she declared to me after preschool on the Day of Love
"Mom, will you take off your flumb?"--Not to be confused with "flinger" She requests the thumb removal trick several times a week.
"Hip hops"--another name for Summer sandles
"Oag meal"--a nutritious breakfast cereal
"Sleeping Booty"--Snow White's groovin' soul sister

Sweet Jason

2008-04-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Two days ago was the anniversary of my nephew Christopher' death. He would have been 24 this year. I called Sherry and her family to let them know I was thinking of them. She had some visitors staying with them (a less active LDS family from Australia, who, sadly, have two small children with the same rare form of Muscular Dystrophy as Sherry's kids) so I was unable to speak to her. I talked to Bill for a few minutes and asked him if I could talk to 20 year old Jason. When he got on the phone I told him how sorry I was he had lost his brother. We chatted about how difficult it has been for him to lose his 2 siblings. He stated as time goes by he is starting to forget them. We talked a little about death and I said something like "don't you think about going anywhere!" He replied, "I don't plan to go anywhere any time soon." And then with all the sincerity he could muster added, "But if I do Christy, I want you to know how much I love you!" He told me how grateful he was that I had always been there for his family. He said he would never forget when I came to California to help out when he and Chris had their surgeries. He said nobody had ever done that for them. Needless to say, I told him through my sniffles and tears how much I loved him. It was a very sweet moment I will always cherish.

Warning: New symptom for diabetes

2008-04-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Cory came downstairs in the kitchen and in a very concerned voice stated to Dennis "Dad, I've got diabetes." Dennis asked him, "Why do you think that Cory?" Cory replied,

"There was corn in my poop this morning." Of course, Dennis and I busted up over this declaration and especially at trying to imagine Cory examining his own specimen with horror.

Both Den's mom and my dad have adult onset diabetes (as well as heart problems, which also affect Den's dad--he had a terrifying heart attack a couple of years ago) and I am paranoid of the hereditary factor. My kids constantly hear how I want our family to eat well so we can avoid the disease as much as possible. And I do believe most cases of Type II diabetes can be preventable by making wise healthy choices in eating and lifestyle. Everyone calls me the "Food Nazi" because I am so concerned with the food we eat. I can see my habits are having a positive affect on my children (and on Den! He drinks skim milk, skips fries (most of the time) and never salts anything anymore. This is quite a fete for a man whose family's middle name is Sour Cream!)

I must say I love when Holly comes home from school and disgustedly tells me, "Mom, all they had today for lunch was deep fried!" I am also proud of her for choosing skim milk Tuesday through Friday and drinking chocolate milk only on Mondays (at my insistence, of course. I still feel one day a week is even too much, but I can't be a total meany when most of the kids drink chocolate milk every day. I know she honorably sticks to the rule, even though I am not there with my Swastika.) I am pretty astonished with how unhealthy the lunches are at our school. Vegetables or fresh fruit are rarely served and most of the meals are deep fried. I try to send a lunch to school with Holly, but most mornings are so chaotic that it just doesn't happen. I'm really wanting to go speak to the principal about making a change. I am not happy. In this day and age the lunches at school should be as wholesome and nutritious as ever.

Thankfully, I can report: Cory does not have diabetes. You can be certain--not too long ago this Nazi had him tested.

2008-02-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

Our Sweet Kids

2008-02-29T21:12:00.000-08:00

Holly is 8. She is a sprite, energetic, smart, sweet, and sensitive child. She is eager to please, loves to have fun with family and friends and is often, surprisingly loud. Sometimes she acts and thinks so much like me, that I'm scared for her future! She can be very indecisive and disorganized--traits I both possess and despise.

Some of her favorite things:

-Hannah Montana (What 8 year old girl isn't obsessed with her?!)

-Her daddy

-Dancing (she's on a little competition jazz team)

-Cousins (She is especially close to my brother's daughter Jamie who is one month older and attends the same school and who is on the same dance company)

-Bike riding

-Earrings (although she doesn't have her ears pierced, yet. Despite the pleas, Mom is not caving until she's 13)

-Macaroni and Cheese

-Blueberries

-Reading (Holly has always been a fantastic reader and in first grade was one of a select few who was asked to participate in an accelerated reading program. Sorry if you are gagging right now but as this is my only journal I'm hoping Holly might be interested in that tidbit).

Cory, our only boy, is 6. He, too, is very active and always on the go. Some parents wish their kids wouldn't watch so much TV. I sometimes wish my kids would watch more! I'm thinking my house would stay cleaner, I could get more things done, and I would enjoy a little more peace and quiet with couch potato kids. (Truthfully, I am very grateful they are so physical and creative. I can't stand the TV to be on). Cory is my most affectionate and forgiving of my kids. Whenever I get mad at him (I know, hard to believe!) he'll quickly run to me with a huge warm hug and tell me how sorry he is for his mistake. It truly melts my heart and makes me feel so sad I got mad at him in the first place. He is a happy, kind, smart and artistic boy who loves to be outside on his bike or in the dirt. He may be our only boy, but he is ALL boy!

Cory's faves include:

-Anything with sugar in it. The second he wakes up he wants a treat. He'll scour the entire house trying desperately (and usually unsuccessfully) to find some kind of candy or pop. He's the only one in our family (besides Dennis, of course) with fillings in his mouth. He already has two, which is putting me over the edge since I have never had any. -Playing with his cousin and best buddy Skyler. Skyler is my sister's 9 year old boy who lives next door and who is so sweet to my kids. We tell Cory that Skyler can be his brother since he doesn't have one. He is thrilled with this arrangement as he worships the boy. -Going to work with Dad. He also idolizes his dad and loves every minute he spends with him. Dennis is a good sport to let Cory come to work with him. Sometimes it's very challenging though when Den has customers and Cory is pulling on him to come help him with a computer game or to get him some candy. -Computer games. This past year has been our first experience with electronic games and we are finding it's going to be quite the challenge to carefully monitor what games and how often our kids can play. So far we let them play for limited amounts of time on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. I am finding this to be even too much. We'll see how it goes. My cousin Lori only allows her kids to play games on Fridays. I'm also finding I am going to have to be hyper vigilant about what they play on the Internet. Several months ago I was on the phone and looked on the computer screen to see Cory playing a cartoon game called "Pete the Perv". Pete was getting quite the thrill watching a girl take a shower. It was horrifying! I couldn't believe my eyes or my innocent son's! I'm hoping the filter will block such vile content from now on. -Root beer (See #1 fave) -Play basketball and football with Skyler (See #2 fave) -Drawing and making things with paper or boxes (Lately he's had a fascination with Styrofoam--our basement is evidence!) -Brick Oven pizza -Vegetables! (All my kids are exceptional eaters. They have zero qualms with onions or tomatoes. They beg for and down asparagus, artichokes, Brussels Sprouts, spinach, beets, etc. This thrills me to no end!)

Lindsey is 4 year old girly diva who is passionate about anything to do with Disney Princesses--especially the Little Mermaid. She is very sensitive and can throw a serious tantrum if she doesn't get her way. She is the shyest of our kids. She entertains herself all day long while I'm doing errands around the house. She loves to help me cook and clean. She is a very sweet little girl who is the spitting image of me when I was her age.

Lindsey's faves:

--dancing and singing loudly around the house

--getting into mom's makeup and jewelry

--apples and pears

--Mom's "gentle" soup (lentil soup)

--high heeled shoes

--skirts

--lime yogurt

--rocking out to Hannah Montana

--reading books with Mama

--throwing her clothes and toys all over the house until every square inch of our floors is covered

--breath mints

This week Lindsey discovered she does not like shaving. She used her dad's razor on her face and ended up cutting her nose, lip and chin. Fortunately the cuts were minor, however the one one her nose will probably leave a little scar.

Each week Lindsey comes with Holly and me to Holly's piano lesson. She is quite good about sitting quietly reading or coloring. Last lesson she drew a picture of our family and as she was coloring our faces she asked me for a white crayon for the teeth. When we couldn't find a white crayon in the box she said whispered loudly, "That's okay. I'll draw rotten teeth" and pulled out a brown crayon.

My First Post

2008-02-29T20:56:00.001-08:00

This is my first attempt at a blog and somehow I already lost my first post to Cyberspace. Let's try again. I've never been a good journal writer mostly because I hate to write by hand and even if I did nobody would ever be able to read it, myself included. Also, I tend to be very detailed and fear I would spend my whole life writing if I kept a handwritten journal. I am sick I haven't written more things about my children in the past so I have decided I am going to start, here and now, a little online record of our family. I also thought it might be a fun way for our dear family and friends who live far away from us to every now and again sneak a peak into our crazy lives. Once I become more proficient with posting pictures I will add more.