Updates

1. Brianna had her braces surgically removed and her mouth continues to heal wonderfully. It will be July before we can get her three broken teeth fixed. She needs time for the swelling in her gums to go down.

2. I am on week 4 of bronchitis and I am sick of being sick. This is my 6th illness since Feb 24th and I just don't understand what I am doing wrong, lol. Bronchitis however tops the list as being the worst of all of it because I just can't get it to go away. The coughing is horrible but it is the fatigue that I can't handle. I have so much to do, and I just don't have the strength to do it all.

3. In the last few months, I have been trying to clean things up but it is a slow process thanks to item #2. It has become aware to me that my kids have too much stuff to keep clean/organized by themselves. This has led to a huge amount of purging on my part with lots of stuff heading to Good Will.

4. To keep the toy clutter from growing back, I have decided to change what gifts I plan on giving for birthdays and for Christmas. I will now give them experiences instead of toys. The only toy they will receive is the one they ask for from Santa. I have told my Mom this, and she totally loves this idea and is going to make her gifts experiences as well. Some ideas we have come up with are swim lessons, summer camp, a day at the water park with Mom or Dad, dinner and a movie, spa day, an outing to a museum, or a class. If you have any ideas, please feel free to share them?

5. Andrew and I are getting caught up on our food storage. We now have water storage and by Saturday, we will have a 3 month food supply.

6, Andrew has been keeping very busy with gardening this month. He made a 20x40 foot garden in our backyard, where he has planted potatoes, corn, 24 tomato plants, green beans, peas, lettuces, parsnips, corn, herbs, cucumbers, pumpkins, watermelon, onions, carrots, radishes, beets, and peppers. Hopefully it all grows well. Andrew also planted a lot of plants in our front yard and added three new flower beds. It is looking really good. Some of my favorites that he has planted include dwarf gardenias, iceberg roses, and caladium.

7. I finally gave up and I am trying to finish Ella's potty training. She is doing pretty well but really prefers not to be potty trained. The silly girl.

8. Ty is sick with a fever. My poor little buddy.

9. Arick's team won their soccer game yesterday.

10. Today is field day at school for the kids and they are so excited. Just a couple more weeks of school!

My neck is freezing!

Today, I decided to get my hair cut short. I was very nervous and I almost backed out, but I wanted a drastic change. So I told the stylist to cut about 15 inches off. 15 inches! This is the shortest my hair has been since third grade.To ease the pain, I donated the hair to Locks of Love. It is very strange having short hair and I am starting to get used to it but, wow, is my neck cold! I understand now why scarves exist. It is to keep necks warm. Amazing concept I know, but you see, my neck has never been cold. Well, until now. Apparently my hair kept my neck warm for all of these years.

My sister

My sister and her family moved her to Tennessee recently and it so much fun to have her here. The kids are loving having their cousins so close.

A newer photo of Brianna

Just wanted to share a photo of Bri, to show how well she is doing.

Ponytails and headbands

What do ponytails and headbands have to do with this beautiful little girl pictured here? Well, our darling Ella got her little hands on a pair of scissors and decided to give herself a haircut. She cut out about a cup full of hair with a large section very close to the scalp. I can't bring myself to cut her hair really short so she will just have to wear head bands and ponytails for a long time.

So where did she get the idea to cut her hair? Let's just say that Ty will be getting his hair shaved bald (again!) tonight. He has learned a very important lesson of being a good example for his little sister. Ty is not very happy about having to go bald again. When I let him know he will get his shaved, he exclaimed "Aw Phooey!" Well said my little one, well said!

Friday Fifteen

I am so sorry for the lack of posts lately. Sicknesses and life have kept me off the computer more than ever lately. Here is a list of things that have been going on around here.

1. Brianna is doing fantastic. She did not have to wear elastics this week. The doctor is trying to balance the need to heal her jaw joint on one side and the fracture on the other. She goes in today for xrays to see how it is healing.

2. My sister and her family have moved here. We are all so excited, but the kids are especially excited to have their cousins close.

3. Arick has started soccer and he is doing great. He is the fastest kid on the team and should do pretty well. His first game is this weekend.

4. I read the book "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and I enjoyed it, although I felt like it ended quite abruptly. It is about the Nazi occupation during WWII on the island of Guernsey which is off the the coast of England.

5. I made a batch of whole wheat bread this week. I love the smell of baking bread.

6. Andrew and I are enjoying the new season of 24.

7. I recently listened to the book The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. It was fantastic and I highly recommend the audio version as it is quite well done.

8. My studio is almost complete, yay!

9. Andrew worked incredibly hard this last week and finally got our 40'x20' garden all ready for planting. That meant shoveling in the 5000 pounds of dirt. Thanks Andrew! Hoping to plant the cool weather veggies this week.

10. We bought our tickets for our trip to Utah this weekend. The prices fell a lot, so we jumped on it. We are so excited! Our van rental might cost as much as our tickets though, ouch!

11. Arick came in second place in the pinewood derby. We were not expecting that at all. His car was slow at first and he lost in his first race. In the second chance race, his car got faster and he won. Every race after that, we watched his car get a little faster. It was very exciting. Arick was thrilled. It is the first time he has ever won anything.

12. Andrew joined a community band and it has been fun to hear him playing tuba in the house. His first concert was in March and another one will be in May. Hopefully Bri and I can actually attend that one!

13. Ella is completely obsessed with being a princess. Everyday she must wear a pink frilly dress and her tiara. Fancy shoes and a purse usually complete her ensemble. It is so adorable.

14. This weekend, I have to work on taxes. I am not looking forward to it at all.

15. My new favorite games on my iphone are Wheel of Fortune and 10 balls 7 cups.

Pics of Brianna

We wanted to show some pics of Brianna to show how good she looks. (these are cell phone pics)



Brianna after the surgery.



Brianna showing her metal mouth!

Brianna is doing great!

Hello everyone! Brianna has a mouth full of metal now and is at home relaxing. She is feeling great and everything went better than they expected. They were able to avoid wiring and instead used elastic bands. These bands keep her mouth shut but we can remove them for mealtimes and brushing her teeth which is a huge blessing. She won't be able to chew anything for a month or more, but as far as treatment goes, it could have been much worse. We are so grateful. Yay!

Chipmunk Cheeks

We now have a chipmunk living in our house. Her name is Brianna. So how did she get this new nickname? Yesterday, she suffered a fall from a scooter. The neighborhood boy found her crying and carried her all bloody back to our home. Arick cried out telling me that Brianna's hand was cut and bleeding really bad. If only it was her hand. I sat her down and saw lots of blood on her face. I had her open her mouth and I saw that half of her front tooth was missing. A stinky thing to have happen, but manageable. Call the dentist and get it fixed. If only.

The bleeding was still profuse, so I examined her more and I found a large cut under her chin. Scratch the dentist, go to the ER for a set of stitches. If only. We put the towels on the cut but she was still bleeding. So I examined her again and found a terrible laceration under her lower lip. This is where I completely started freaking out. Scars of the faces of boys are war wounds, not so much for girls. It doesn't help that this was the worse cut I have yet to witness on any of my children. So now we were definitely off to the ER to deal with what I thought was an awful situation. If only.

We chose to go to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital since our last experience with stitches at Summit Hospital was less than good. What I thought would be a three hour experience, ended up as a 10 hour ordeal. If only, this had been a simple case of needing stitches and fixing one tooth. In the end, Brianna was found to have broken 3 permenant teeth, fractured her jaw in two places and she did receive stitches for her two icky cuts. If only it been just a hand injury, right??? She is a sight to behold, bless my heart, as her face is very swollen.

So that is the story about how Brianna earned her new nickname. Tomorrow is her appointment to get more x-rays to see if there is more dental damage (please pray there is no more damage!) and to go over the details of her surgery on Friday. Please keep her in your prayers that the next couple of months will fly by and that her discomfort will be minimal.

As a mom my heart is broken for my little girl. I hope and pray the damage is not worse and that there won't be any lasting effects of the injury. Of course, Brianna is handling this incredibly well. She is most disappointed to miss soccer for probably the entire season and her snow cone party at school on Friday.

My blogging vacation is over

This past month has been incredibly busy and stressful for me. I am trying to go through and declutter the house, as well as turn my office/craft room into a studio. It has been many hours of work. Add to that being busy with clients, my calling, the childrens' activities, trying to keep the house clean, illness, etc and you can see I do have valid excuses. Just thinking about these past three months makes me want to go crawl in bed and sleep for a week.

So I will resume regular blog posts about family life later this evening. I just have to share this video with you now. Watch it. This talk is probably my favorite talk of all time. The entire message can be found here:

What a difference 10 years make!

These first three pictures are of Brianna's first birthday 10 years ago. This week she turned 11 and it amazes me how much she has grown. She is such a great kid and we are so grateful for her.





Brianna at 11:



Forgive the silly expression but we were working on a cover for a book that she was writing. Here is how the cover turned out below.

Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful Christmas and we hope that you did too!

The kids had an amazing time opening presents and their reactions were more than I could have hoped for. We had Andrew's parents here along with my Mom and Craig which made it even more wonderful. Here is a list of some of the highlights of our Christmas season.

• Andrew and I were able to enjoy a night at the Nashville Symphony earlier in December as part of his company Christmas party. The food was very good but the music (Canadian Brass) was fantastic. I will have to go every year from now on. It was perfect for getting me into the Christmas spirit.
• Andrew and I attended a 'couples-only' Christmas Party, the first we have ever attended. We were instructed to bring a good gift and a "white-elephant" gift. It was a super fun night filled with lots of laughs and tasty treats (the bacon-wrapped chestnuts were our favorite).
  
• On Christmas Eve, the kids had to go on a hunt to find their new pajamas. I was just so sick of wrapping by that point that hiding them seemed to be both fun for the kids and merciful to me. I will have to do that again next year. The boys got matching pajamas from Old Navy. Brianna's were also from Old Navy (yes, they were having a gret sale on cool, soft jammies!!) Ella got a set of super-cute Care Bears pajamas that were hand made by her Aunty Maren.
  

• Brianna's best reaction to a Christmas gift was when she opened the book Brisinger. It is the third book in a series and she has been begging to read it for a long time. I know she is already well into the 400s of the book's over 700 pages! She brings it with her everywhere. She is also very excited for her 5 shelf bookcase and her microscope.

• Arick and Ty received Star Wars sheets and the news that there were getting a Star Wars themed room. To say this Christmas had a lot of Star Wars stuff is putting it lightly. The star wars stuff found under the tree this year included light sabers, R2D2 and C3P0 Fathead stickers for the boys room, Millenium Falcon and Tie-fighter kits, star wars t-shirts, a clone-trooper helmet etc. etc. etc. All THREE boys were delighted ;)

• Ella had a great time this year. She quickly learned that presents can be very fun. She was so excited for everything! When she opened up a princess costume, she had to put it on right away. Her big present this year was a super cute wood kitchen from Gigi. When we first unveiled the huge gift, Ella didn't react at all and I was a little disappointed. She quickly and resolutely turned around, walked over to her pile of presents and pulled out the set of pots and pans she received earlier. She then walked right over to her kitchen and started cooking up some grub. It was so cute to watch her. She played for hours!
• Ty was so much fun to watch as well. His reaction to his new nintendo DS and game was perfect.
  
• I was spoiled the most of everybody, I swear. Andrew totally surprised me with an iPhone which I love, love, love! I found it at the bottom of my stocking (which we open last). Just as I was putting my hand in there, the toe started ringing and vibrating. Totally scared me, lol! I loved it. Andrew and the kids also gave me my Swarovski and my Lenox 2008 snowflake ornaments which I collect. My other big gift is something I received in the summer and I that I mentioned before. It is a trip to Phoenix to a photographer's convention. Anne Geddes will be speaking there.

• The favorite gifts I gave this year include a set of architectural blocks for my mom that she has wanted for a while and the R2D2 robot for Andrew. The reactions were fabulous and totally reminded me why it is so much better to give than to receive . . . unless you are getting the iPhone. :)
  
• We enjoyed a tasty breakfast casserole and fresh fruit in the morning and in the evening we had a delicious ham dinner.

• We had a lot of fun with family. I finally learned how to play Settlers of Catan and I loved it. We spent a lot of time relaxing, chatting, seeing the movie Bolt in 3-D, enjoying the kids and eating great food. A wonderful Christmas was had by all.
  

Ten for Tuesday

Today's Ten for Tuesday is a Christmas theme. Here are ten things my kids see at Christmas time in our house.




1. I am baking like crazy! I made pumpkin / chocolate chip bread yesterday to share with the families we home teach and visit teach. Today I'm making crepes and several loaves of whole-wheat bread.



2. Each year, as one of our Family Home Evening activites, we cut out snowflakes to hang on windows. You can make your own virtual snowflake here: http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/ (This site even shows you how to fold the paper so you can make real ones if you'd like.)



3. The Polar Express train circling under the tree. Ty received this train last year as a gift from Grandpa Craig. When Ty gets to be the engineer, the smile on his face is priceless!



4. Thanks to Monique for sharing the "Teach the Children" FHE. This is a lesson we will do every year from now on! The ornaments on the tree represent one of the symbols of the real meaning of Christmas.



5. I have piles of boxes building up in my room. I don't have very much time to go out and shop these days so I did most of my shopping online.



6. Our new Gingerbread house. We are years away from making the perfect gingerbread house, but we sure had fun (and a little frustration) this year. The gingerbread house is a kit from Trader Joe's. The kids are counting down to when they can eat it on New Year's Eve.



7. I love Nativity sets. We have five right now. I made this one at my very first Relief Society "Super Saturday" craft event and I'm amazed it is still with us after 12 years!



8. On the top of our tree sits my sterling silver star. I was given this by my Mom and Dad the year that I danced in the Boston Ballet's Nutcracker. I played a 'party boy' because I was small enough to fit in the costume. I still remember the tag on the gift that said, "To: The Star of the Show!"



9. I absolutely love when the stockings have been hung. These special stockings were hand made and personalized by my Aunt Lou Jean. Mine was made when I was a baby and it is the stocking I grew up with. Andrew received his stocking as a wedding gift and the kids were given theirs after they were born. I love how the stockings remind us of our loving family in addition to the impending arrival of Santa.



10. I love children's Christmas stories. This is a photo of some of the Christmas books we own. The music box in the center was another gift I received when I danced in the Nutcracker.

We hope you and your family have a very safe, wonderful and enjoyable Christmas!!

Tennessee Sunsets

One of the things that I love about Tennessee is the sunsets. Enjoy! BTW, the pink in the sky was really that pink. I thought the lake looked like punch. I am so grateful I had my camera with me.

Southern Living Shrimp Casserole

Gigi made this recipe a few months ago and it is one of my new favorite dishes. Yum.

Prep: 30 min., Cook: 17 min., Bake: 25 min.

Yield

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain rice
• 1 1/2 pounds medium-size raw shrimp
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 (10 3/4-oz.) cans cream of shrimp soup, undiluted*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar-colby cheese blend
• 1/4 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs

Preparation

1. Prepare rice according to package directions.

2. Peel shrimp, and devein, if desired.

3. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add bell pepper and next 4 ingredients, and sauté 10 to 12 minutes or until tender. Stir in soup, shrimp, salt, and pepper; cook 3 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink. (Do not overcook.)

4. Combine shrimp mixture and rice. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup shredded cheese and 1/4 cup breadcrumbs.

5. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

*2 (10 3/4-oz.) cans cream of celery soup, undiluted, may be substituted.

Chicken-and-Rice Casserole: Substitute 3 cups chopped cooked chicken for shrimp and 2 (10 3/4-oz.) cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted, for cream of shrimp soup. Proceed with recipe as directed.

Carol Dodd, Arley, Alabama, Southern Living, APRIL 2007

She read what?

Brianna surprised us this week by reading the classic Mutiny on the Bounty. Of course she loved it and tells me that I need to read it so we can have our own little book club. One of her wishes in life is that she can go to the adult book group that I attend. I just love my little nerd. If you had any doubts that she is a nerd (a beautiful one I might add) then you must know what she is asking Santa for this year. She wants a microscope for Christmas so that she can investigate sand further. Enough said.

P.S. I wouldn't want her to be any other way.

Poor Puppy

Last night we attended a neighborhood party. Part of the decor included a small animal pelt. When Ella saw it she said, "OH NO! Poor puppy." Gotta love kids!

Happy Thanksgiving

We just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family.

A few shots from our trip to California

Andrew and I had our first weekend away without all the kids. We flew to San Diego to see Andrew's sister and her husband be sealed in the beautiful San Diego Temple. We left the kids with my Mom and Craig. They thoroughly spoiled the kids by taking them to the Science Center and shopping and Church and let them watch movies, etc. They even managed to keep their sanity! Very impressive.

I'll admit that I suffered from a lot of anxiety before we left the kids and I am very grateful for all those around me who put up with my over reaction. It was comforting to know my kids were in great hands and I did manage to really enjoy the weekend.

We arrived late Friday night and picked up our rental car. I love National Rental Car because of their Emerald Club! When I made our reservations, I paid for a 2-door standard but as an Emerald Club member, we were able to choose the 7 seat Dodge Journey without any extra charge. The extra seats turned out to be quite handy for our trip as we often had 5 or 6 people in the car. After that, we drove from LAX to our hotel in Santa Ana. We booked reservations through Priceline at the Doubletree Hotel ($45 a night which was 55% off their website rate!) and it turned out to be a very nice place to stay! The warm cookies were a bonus, even if they were a bit too crunchy for my taste.

Andy and Jamie at the San Diego Temple

The Smith Family

Saturday was spent in San Diego for Andy and Jamie's Sealing. It was a beautiful ceremony and it was so neat to have the Smith kids there at the Temple. I took a few photographs after the ceremony. I would have liked more time to shoot everyone, but we were late for the dinner.

Jamie and Andy by the Beach Bonfire

Steven Staring at the Fire

David by Firelight

Later that night we all went to a bonfire on the beach. I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun hanging out and practicing my low-light photography skills. It's pretty difficult, but I did manage to get a few neat shots. The silhouettes below are the result of some of the experimentation I did. I look forward to trying that again in the future.

Dave and Logan

Steve and Crystal

Here are a few candid shots from the bonfire:

Awwww!

Hand Talkers

The Smith Brothers

Dave in a Cave

We left Sunday afternoon after hanging out and attending Church. It was a quick trip but was just long enough to have a good time and catch up with family and friends. When we picked up the kids, it was obvious that Ty and Ella really missed me. Their hugs were very tight . . . and I have to admit that I loved it! Bri and Arick were pretty happy to see us, too. It was a great weekend and it's good to be home.

Congratulations Andy and Jamie!! Thank you for letting us be a part of that amazing event. You are kind, generous, and wonderful. You deserve every bit of happiness you get!

Pet peeves

Just wanted to share some of my pet peeves in life.

1. Shoes and socks being left all around the house.

2. Buying/finding items at the grocery store that have already expired.

3. Doctors incorrectly billing the wrong amount. Seriously, four in the last few months have been billed for higher amounts than they should be.

4. People hurting other peoples' feelings because of their opposing political affiliation. Ridiculous.