Christmas 2009

I think these are pretty self explanatory. We taped Aidan opening Christmas presents from the family. I thought I would hurry and put these up without a lot of fanfare so that everyone could enjoy them. I didn't want anybody to miss out on seeing him open the gifts. We missed going to Michigan this year. We also missed leaving our home this year due to the terrible winter weather. It was just us and Sarah who barely made it around the block to us because of the snow drifts. So whether we didn't see you for Christmas because we weren't in the same state or because we were just down the block, Merry Christmas and hope to see you in the new year.

Music is important

I have been noticing how important music is to me lately. I went to the library boutique the other day to take a look at the sheet music and compilation books they have there. I bought a whole bunch of stuff for only $3.70. What a great deal. Most of the stuff I bought was really old stuff to play for my residents. In my last 10 or 11 years of practice I have learned that music is one of the first things you learn to recognize (even in utero) and one of the last things you forget.

Tonight we had a luau and there was a DJ there playing for 5 hours. I am pretty sure I knew just about every song he played. It really surprised me, especially how many Hawaiian tunes I knew. (Yes, I watch Lawrence Welk) As a little girl I used to sit with my mom while she played the piano. The piano was in my room for years when I was little and my dad used to play Beth and I to sleep at night. My Grandma had this blue book with children's songs in it that she used to play for us. Classics such as Three Little Kittens and The Bear Went Over the Mountain.

I thought maybe I would tell you the reason some of the songs in my Playlist Player are there.

• I have couple of Ella Fitzgerald because she is great.
• Little Wonders is from Meet the Robinsons which I watched because of Aidan. Then I heard this song and just fell in love with it. It has so much meaning. The kind of thing you just don't expect from a kid's film.
• Don't You Forget About Me is my favorite '80's song. Upbeat and fun. Plus it is from a great movie which you can find playing on some station just about every Saturday morning.
• Take on Me is a great 1 hit wonder. I loved this video. I miss MTV. You know the one that played music videos for popular songs during normal waking hours. The good old days.
• I Love Rock 'n Roll got me through my driver's training test. I was freaking out and I thought "If I just had some rock and roll this would be so much easier" Hence the song.
• I had a crush on the Nelson twins once upon a time. I believe I had a poster of them in my room at one time. Good old Matthew and Gunner. For my 15th birthday my Aunts Christina and Melody got me tickets to see them live in concert. They were opening for Cinderella. I think Melody took me. Somewhere around that time I decided I wanted to manage rock bands because I loved all of the behind the scenes stuff.
• BonJovi. Yet another big crush. I just thought he was the greatest.
• Keep Your Hands to Yourself I have decided that this may just be the best and most comfortable way for me to teach my children standards. I mean really. Doesn't it say what needs to be said?
• Too Fat Polka reminds me of sitting around the piano at my Grandma's house and singing as a family. Does this mean my family is dysfunctional? lol
• Finally Celebration is the song that was played when the Muskegon Lumberjacks scored a goal. I love hockey and spent lots of time at games when I was a kid. Great times.

I am sure music is important to most of you as well. Tell me what is your favorite song and why. What makes up the soundtrack of your life?

Happy Grandparents Day

Yesterday was Grandparents Day. At work I read a whole lot of great little quotes about grandparents to my residents. It got me to thinking about my own grandparents. Unfortunately, I didn't get to know three of my grandparents very well.

My paternal grandparents lived out west. I went to see them at least once that I remember. I know them mostly from my Dad's stories. I know my grandfather was a no nonsense kind of guy. I seem to remember a story about an uncle of mine who he "fired". But "fired" only meant he didn't get paid. Lucky guy still got to work just as hard, he just received no pay. He also said "never take advice from a loser unless he is telling you what he did wrong." My paternal grandmother seemed like a very neat lady. She took the kids out on hikes into the mountains. She would take picnic lunches. She taught Primary for a number of years at church and had a little "kit" she would take with that had crayons and other necessities in it.

My maternal grandfather passed away when I 13. When I was a kid he used to pick me up from school. I would come out of the building and he would be chatting with all of the mothers who where there to pick up their kids. He told me he wanted to go to school with me sometimes because it sounded like so much fun. He really liked chocolate milk, but grandma said he wasn't on his diet. We would stop on the way home sometimes and get a chocolate milk. The trick was he had to drink it before we got home to grandma. My maternal grandparents served a mission in Long Beach, California with the Cambodian people. Grandpa was not a highly educated man and the Cambodian language was difficult for him. But he had a great love for the people and they knew that. Which was good because there was one man whose name he just couldn't say and it came out "pork chop". I know how the poor guy felt. He always called me "Owndrea". Just couldn't get his mouth to say my name right.

My maternal grandmother is the grandparent I knew best. She cared for me when I was little so we spent a lot of time together. She taught me to make pies and cookies. She took me out to the garden and showed me how to pick beans, raspberries, and beets. She taught me how important church service was and how to care for others. I think it was Beth who told me she was shy, but I never would have known it because she was always the first to introduce herself to people and invite them over for dinner. I am blessed to have her journal and it is interesting to me to read how she saw the world.

I miss my grandparents a lot. I am glad to know that someday I will get the opportunity to know them better. Thank goodness for them. They helped make my parents who they are and my parents have passed down their wisdom to me. And probably some of their craziness, but all in all I feel grateful for them.

My Dad

I am sorry I missed a couple of days. We had computer trouble. But all is well now. I have had this blog in my head for a couple of days so I hope I don't forget what I wanted to say.



My Dad just had a birthday on the 5th. So I thought I would mention a few things I remember about my Dad from childhood. He always had a lot of stories. (Is that where I get this from) I remember a few favorites. There was one about the barn cats. There were two cats that looked so much the same that their kittens didn't really know which was which and would just go with or nurse on whichever one was there. Then there was one about a chicken who had it's eye pecked out and dad tried to save it. He told me about how he and his nephew Steve had driven the jeep at age 4. One drove and one worked the peddles. (p.s. Aidan drove a golf cart the other day. Just stood up and grab the wheel while his Aunt Sarah was in the passenger seat.)

We had a special relationship. We did fun stuff together. When I was really little he owned a bakery and he used to take me to work with him sometimes. He even took me to deliver donuts in the wee hours of the morning. We used to hide under my bed together. It was a secret hideout and I loved being down there. Now I would probably freak out at such a small space. Although I would get spanked as a kid, if I cried, he would hug me until he squeezed all the tears out. He took Beth and I camping. Not easy camping. Hard camping. The kind where the water is running because that is what streams do. He believed in comfortable camping though. He taught us you need a good bed, good food and a good chair. We always had those. He even afforded Beth and I one more luxury. He bought us a toilet seat on a tripod thing. You know so we could feel more comfortable going behind a tree. He did say I talked to much during those trips but where did I get that from.

I also associate my dad with chocolate, fixing cars, cats and in more recent years dogs, and MASH. When I was little he used to watch TV at night in the living room. I would complain that i couldn't sleep and he would say I could come watch TV with him. The only catch was he got to lay in front and on his side. Oddly, I fell for it every time. I guess I just didn't want to be alone.

Now I love to go visit my dad because he lives on a scout reservation. Who doesn't love the green wilderness of Michigan. It is a pretty sweet job. It is the job I wish he had had 20 years ago. Although I do really appreciate his ability to fix my cars body. (Don't you Beth? Think Cadillac...)

I love my dad and I am blessed to have him. I hope I get to enjoy many more birthdays with him.

The Saga of the Washer/Dryer

I bought my first house when I was 22. I was a very inexperienced homeowner. When I first looked at my house the owner told me she had converted the half bath into a laundry room and that she had had to take the door apart to get the stackable washer and dryer in. I thought she meant she had removed the door not the whole frame, which was the case. They had done a terrible job putting it back in and I suppose I was just so horrified by the colors she had painted the house that I missed the terrible plaster job. Anyway, I dreaded the day when the stackable washer and dryer would die and I would have to figure out how to get them out and how to get new ones back in. Luckily by the time they died I was married and had a good husband to help me figure it all out. (Actually only the washer broke. How frustrating to have to throw away a perfectly good dryer because they are hooked together)



Matt loves to research. He found a Haier washer/dryer. This machine was supposed to be all in one. You put the clothes in it and it washes AND dries them without you ever having to touch them or move them from one machine to the other. The best part is that it fits in the door without having to rip the door apart. Somehow Matt managed to rip the old washer and dryer out without having to take the door apart. We were sure our laundry woes were over. How wrong we were.



We payed $700 plus dollars for our new washer/dryer. It did not work nearly as well as we hoped. I am not sure it did a very good job cleaning the clothes. What I was sure of was that it left permanent wrinkles in my clothes. I am sure you all have heard of permanent press, well I had permanent wrinkles. I am pretty sure polyester isn't supposed to wrinkle like that but it did. There was no iron or steamer that could defeat these wrinkles. After maybe two years, the thing broke. We were told that it would be more expensive to fix than to buy a new machine.



I was secretly happy that the wrinkle machine was gone. We ended up buying a used washer and dryer and ripping out the door frame. My brother-in-law helped us put in a new door that is wider and much better looking. So that no future homeowner will ever have to worry about the laundry room again. To all future owners of 1821, you are welcome.

Quilts

I don't quilt. A few times I have tied a quilt as part of some church project. But I have never made one start to finish and I can't really say I really want to. But I do have fond memories of quilts and quilting. My first quilt memory is of one that my Grandmother made for me. It was blue and had bunny rabbits quilted on it. I loved that quilt. For some weird reason I ate the fuzz off the bunnies. (Explains a lot doesn't it?)

My Grandmother had a huge quilt frame. It was so big that it took up the whole living room. When I was a little girl my Grandma took care of me while my mom worked. I used to lay under the quilt frame and watch TV on the big console TV in the living room. My Aunts were still teenagers when I was born and when they would get home from work and school they always wanted to watch soap operas. I specifically remember laying on the living room floor and watching General Hospital.

I have one other weird quilt memory. At my first job as an activity director at an assisted living home in Utah, an elderly man moved in and one of his first questions was "Will I be able to fit my quilt frame fit in my room?" Oddly it did. He made baby quilts for all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It was interesting to see this old farmer type guy sitting in his room tying quilts.

Maybe I should take up quilting. It is a shame that my grandchildren won't have a quilt made my grandma. I will put that on my to do list.

Got a story about it?

I have been noticing that at least once a day I read a quote or am talking to my residents and I have a story or memory about whatever it is we are talking about. Sometimes it is about pie making or the mittens my grandmother knitted for me. Other times it is about Aidan's latest adventures. I was thinking that at 33 I just shouldn't have this many stories. But I do. So I thought I should write them down. What better place than a blog. Then once a year or so I can have them printed into a book and it will make a nice journal. Now I just need to remember what stories I tell my residents each day a write them down.

Today I would like to tell you that Aidan has a new favorite phrase. "You got a song about it?" We will be having a conversation and all of the sudden I will say a "trigger" word and he will say "You got a song about it?" What he means is that he heard a word that he knows is in a song that he is familiar with. For example. We were looking at the Swiss Colony catalog the other day and they had a cake that looked like a snowman. Aidan says, "you got a song about it?" Mean that he knows a song called "Once there was a snowman" . So I say yes and start singing the song. What has been interesting is that my mom has been here for the past few days and she knows infinitely more songs than I do. So when the question is posed, "you got a song about it?" She does. Every time she said the word Michigan it led to the song "I Was Born in Michigan"

At least Aidan will be well versed in music. The question is when he learns his Gaga's name is Diana what song shall we sing to go with that? Dirty Diana? Doesn't seem to fit does it?

Return of the blogger

I have been lax in my blogging and reading of others' blogs. For which I apologize. I am back at work and I was going to use that as my excuse. I was going to shut down the blog. I was going to just be a facebook junky. Then I got the camera out to take some pics and realized I had a ton of pictures I wanted to show all of you and comment on. So I shall put on my super mom hat and continue the blog. I mean really I have no reason not to. Matt takes care of the household chores. I am not some pioneer who has to walk across the plains all day and then make dinner. I don't even have to take the bus to work. Shoot, I only have to drive about 15 minutes to work. No good excuses.

Let's see, where to begin. Aidan had a birthday in March for which I made a cake. The first one was a very moist yellow cake. So moist it didn't come out of the mold.

The next was a chocolate cake that did come out of the mold. I think I was up until 2 0r 3 in the morning decorating it. Thank goodness for the power rock infomercial.

We were supposed to have my in laws over but the weather was sort of icy/snowy so they didn't come up. Which left us with only one choice which was to go hang out with our friends Jenni, Ken, Logan and Hannah.

Ken is a fireman. He was working that night so we got to go to the firehouse and have a little party. Sadly, Jenni was not feeling well and they had to leave early, but we still had cake and presents and best of all Aidan got to get in the fire truck. (last time he was too afraid to spend much time in there, but this time he was pretty brave).

Then we had cake. Which he loved. Finally he opened presents. Logan got him this nice plane which he loved. I think he even wrapped it himself

That is Aidan's birthday part two. Next I shall cover my quick trip to Michigan, my new job, and a new addition to the family. Stay tuned!

Live Like You Are Dying

Wow! I had no idea it had been so long since I posted. I am sure I have plenty of catching up to do. First I will say that I haven't been keeping up the last week or so because I have been on a vacation/job interview. Around the first of March I applied for a job with the state of Michigan to be an inspector for homes for the aged. I thought I had no chance and thought it would be an honor just to get an interview. On April 8 I got a call to come for an interview. It had to be done in person, so I packed my bags and left with Aidan the next day. We got to spend Easter in MI and although it was short notice we got to spend time with family (and I tried to spend time with some friends). It was nice. The interview was the 15th and it went well. I don't think I got the job since I didn't finish the final written portion, but I feel like I have a whole lot better understanding of the state interview process. Oh and a new suit, which was commented on by the interviewers.

So I know the title of my little post seems scary. No fear I am NOT dying. I just saw this billboard during on my way back to Kansas. It was one of those Pass It On billboards. It said "He wrote a book on living while he was dying." I am sorry I didn't get the guys name. Anyway, it got me thinking. What would I do if I had six months to live. Here is a few points I thought of

• Food-Part of me says "if you are dying who cares about weight and health. Another part of me say "if you were dying you may extend your life by eating better". Then the practical part chimes in "would you want to lay in a casket with 'fat neck' and have to have an extra large casket?" Of course I would not. I would probably slip the mortician a few bucks to duct tape my neck in the back to get rid of the 'fat neck' look. So eat healthy wins.
• I would work very hard to be a good mom. I would want Aidan to remember making cookies with me and reading stories and playing silly games together.
• I would keep a better journal.
• I would try to teach Matt all the things he needs to do in my absence to take care of Aidan. He is a great dad. He just forgets some of the basic things. I worry that he would forget that kids need to see the doctor for a physical or that he wouldn't make every effort to get Aidan to eat vegetables. I worry that he would forget to put him in preschool or to look through the hand-me-down clothes every season. Things that I do without ever a thought and never mention to him.
• I usually tell people "thank you" and "I love you" when appropriate. I would make sure I NEVER forgot to do that.
• I would clean my house. No need to have the Relief Society come over to clean before the funeral.
• I can't say I would go anywhere or do anything "special". I have been blessed to travel and experience many things in my life. And while they were fun and I am glad to have experienced them for some reason I just don't think I would want to spend my time traveling or checking bungee jumping off a list.
• I would get more organized. I wouldn't want to leave a mess for those left. Put the coupons in order. Make some freezer meals. Go through the boxes of papers and photos I have.
• I think I would spend some time thinking about what things I would leave to people. It seems stupid to waste time on that I guess. But I think I would pick out special things and maybe write a little something to explain why I am giving the item to that person.
• I also would study the gospel more. I would read my scriptures, go to the temple, and make my prayers more meaningful.

That was just a few of the things I thought of. For the past couple of days I have been thinking about doing something everyday to live like I am dying. Or better yet, not make my time here on earth a waste. Today I got Aidan to eat beets. Sure they were hidden in chicken nuggets, but he ate them. We also went outside and used two of his plastic bowling pins and bowling ball to play what he called "tennis".

I am going to start doing a better job of living. I would hate to get to the end and have to cram. Because we all know when you cram for a test it just doesn't stick with you the same way it does if you are studying all along.

A Glimpse Into the World of a Preschooler

Conversation with Aidan on Sunday:

Matt: What are you eating?

Aidan: Macaroni.

Andrea: Where did you get macaroni from?

Aidan: My nose.

Happy Birthday Aidan

I waited a long time to have Aidan. We had been trying for over 18 months to get pregnant. Plus all the years before I was married and the nine months I actually carried him it seemed like forever. So when I was 37ish weeks my friend Caity had her baby 5 weeks early. That week I decided to take Friday off, go to my Dr. appointment with Matt and get some last minute stuff done. At my Dr. appointment she said she wouldn't check me until the next week unless I wanted her too. Thinking of Caity, I said "check me". She jokingly said, "let's hope for 4". Then she said, "you are 4! I was just kidding, but you really are 4. I stripped your membrane. See you this weekend. But try not to make it Saturday night I have theater tickets."

Well, of course we were surprised. We went to Walmart to get the oil changed and get some baby things we didn't have yet. I was having a contraction here and there, but nothing serious. Then I went home and cleaned and set up baby stuff and called my family and friends. Then around 7 pm Matt left to go get us dinner. I remember having a contraction, laying down in the bed and looking at the clock. 7 on the nose. My Dad and Pam stopped by with a pack n play for us and my Dad and Matt gave me a blessing. I was continuing to have contractions, but they were regular in strength or length so we waited. Just as Matt was finishing putting our stroller together, I felt something weird and decided to head to the hospital.

I won't go into all of the details. I will say that with almost every contraction I managed to get to pushes in. My epidural only work on half my body. I still think I should send a note to Dr. "not so feel good" and apologize for my death stares. I kept my eyes closed most of the time and every time I opened them there were more and more staff in the room. I know my mom and Matt stood by my bedside and Beth was behind the staff at the back of the room. Every now and then I would yell to her about something. I remember one time I opened my eyes and there was an intern that was way to good looking to be assisting in the birth so I just closed my eyes again.

When Aidan was finally born they put him on my chest (which I thought I wanted). Then I looked at him and thought "wow" and "yeah I am not kissing him. He is covered in yuck". At that point I was a little worried about my maternal instincts. I mean look at this: (viewer discretion is advised)

But here is a better picture and isn't he just adorable. By this time my maternal instinct had kicked in.

Here are just a few things that I come to love about Aidan in the last year.

His vocabulary has just exploded. He now tries to say everything we do. Which has proved to be a wake up call for me. For a while he picked up on my "dingus". For some reason it didn't sound like anything coming out of my mouth, but when I heard him yelling at a toy and calling it dingus I was not happy.

He has a wonderful imagination and I love to listen to him play with his toys. Just recently he has begun to give voice to his toys. They argue and yell for help and last night Thomas was having trouble sleeping. Poor Aidan he tried to console him and then brought him to me to hold for awhile. I guess he isn't ready for parenthood yet.

He loves to have books read to him and he really loves the library. But he also loves to read books to me or to himself.
That was John Grisham. Most of the time he sticks to picture books.

He is making friends. He really looks forward to having people over and going to nursery and playgroup. He even told me he wanted to marry his friend Hannah. (that was after he found out he couldn't marry Daddy or his cousin Helena)

His very best friend is Savannah. I am so glad she came back. On the morning of his birthday we were laying in bed and I said "I want to sing you happy birthday". Then Savannah jumped up and I said, "I think Savannah wants to too." So I started singing. About half way through he looked at Savannah and said, "Come on Savannah. Sing!" As though she would actually break into song.

Last night we had to give her bath because the neighbor cat sprayed her. (that will be another post). Anyway, Aidan was yelling through the door, "It's okay. It's just a bath. You'll be fine Savannah." Then he went to the closet and got her a "nice" towel for when she got out. Once out, the soaking kitty went behind a chair to lick herself dry. While she was doing that Aidan got out a Curious George book to read to her.

And finally, for his birthday I was just enough on the ball to send in a picture and message and to Sprout. Go to sproutonline.com to see why I did not make a birthday card. Anyway, of the many choices they had he made it on TV. Sorry for the poor quality. I had no idea how to get it off of DVR onto the computer. Also sorry for the excited Aidan. This was only the 10th time he had seen it.

Truth in unusual places

I watch too much TV. I have several favorites. I love Frasier, Golden Girls and MASH. Oddly I didn't really care for Frasier or MASH when they were actually on the air. I often feel a bit guilty for taking pleasure in watching TV. Today I was rewarded while enjoying MASH with a bit of wonderful truth.

I am often surprised by how deep MASH is. Father Mulcahy was giving a sermon about selfishness and he said this: "God didn't put us here for that pat on the back. He created s so He could be here himself. So that he could exist in the lives of those he created in His image."

Good stuff huh? We are here to help others. Simple but beautifully said.

A couple random pics

So I have a few pics that I need to post just because.

The first is a result of a conversation between my mom and Aidan. She got him a Thomas Valentine card. I mentioned that we would be going to see Thomas in May. She said "Aidan, make sure you take a picture with Thomas". Aidan thought she meant the card. He ran immediately to get both the camera and the card so we could take the picture. He loves to get his picture taken.

Sticking with Aidan, we go to open gym at the community center once a week. Usually it is just Aidan and I. We get to run and play with whatever we want. Aidan has gotten used to having the place to ourselves. A couple of weeks ago we went and a Parents as Teachers group had decided to host their group there. Aidan tried to play some but then decided he didn't like having all of these strangers there. He ran off and hid under a pool table where they store some mats. He told me he needed to "wewrax" (relax). Oh the stress of being 2!

Finally, Matt had to work on Valentine's Day. I told him all I wanted was a heart shaped pizza. I was unaware that Papa John's actually had heart shaped pizzas. What a treat to get for Valentine's Day. Please excuse the grungy PJs and my tire face. By the way, it came with it's own pizza cutter. How cute!

New Blog

I have started a new politicalish blog. Check it out. I fear at times it may be me ranting. I am trying to become more politically educated so I can share my thoughts as well as my feelings. I am hoping is fun and gets people thinking. Hope to see you there. http://www.poortiredhuddledmasses.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Mom

I know that when someone you love has a birthday you are supposed to come up with as many nice things to say as years they are old. But this is my mom and I don't know if that is appropriate. Does she want everyone to know her age? She probably wouldn't care because she doesn't look anywhere near her age, but out of respect I will not tell you. I figure you all know she is at least 50. Since I am 32 there is no way she could be 29, but lets just say she is somewhere over 50. So I am going to tell you the 50 things I love about my mom.

1.She loves me
2.She loves her grandkids
3. She has a really good design sense.
4.She love beautiful things such as art, flowers, home furnishings and surrounds herself with these things.
5.She is a very hard worker, nice things don't generally come easy.
6.She is smart and has a wide vocabulary.
7.She knows how to cook even if she doesn't do it very often.
8.She raised me in the gospel
9.She has a testimony of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation.
10.She has shared her knowledge and testimony with me.
11.She has trouble remembering whether things that happened in my childhood happened to me or my sister.
12.She keeps little dishes of candy around her house.
13.She loves to travel and lucky for me she used to take me places.
14.She likes to buy me clothes, and thank goodness she does or else I would have nothing appropriate to wear.
15.She love Walt Disney World.(Hmmmmmm do we know anyone else who loves WDW?)
16.She plays the piano and I have always felt blessed to have that in my home when I was growing up.
17.She does really well when she talks to Aidan on the phone. She is very good at keeping up a one way conversation if needed.
18.Although she didn't like to admit it she liked having pet cats.
19.She gives a lot of good advise, which would be easier to take if she wasn't usually right.
20.She is very well read.
21.She tried to expose me to culture when I was growing up.
22.She is very responsible.
23.She is funny but doesn't always know it.
24.She eat Cheerios everyday. (I mean EVERY day, expect one time when we were on vacation and she bought the generic kind at Piggly Wiggley-Pig Oats.)
25.She loves ice cream, especially Cherry Garcia.
26.She saw the Beatles in concert.
27.She likes to write letters. I mean really letters. Like the kind you have to put a stamp on. When I was in college she would send me three letters a week. Most of the time they were just a hello and the weather report.
28.She watches the Weather Channel.
29.She lights up when she sees her grandkids.
30.She is very generous. She loves to give. I used to tell her I had a need at the nursing home and the next day she would fulfill that need.
31.Once she knows you like something she never forgets, and usually gives you gifts related to that interest.
32.She is good at taking care of the sick. If you ever need someone to go to the hospital with you she is the woman.
33.She can talk to just about anyone and usually does. I can't tell you how many times I have watched her talk to a complete stranger in the grocery line.
34.She is artsy craftsy, a talent which I think she will have more time to develop in her retirement.
35.Education is very important to her and she made she I got a good one.
36.She loves nature but hates camping.
37.She always let me have my friends over to play when I was a kid.
38.When you go shopping with my mom, you need to allow plenty of time. I have never been to Meijer with her when we have just gone in for one thing and left with one thing.
39.She acts younger than her age, especially when she is with my Aunt Christina
40.When she is with my niece, they go off into their own little world and have a wonderful time together.
41.She knows just what sorts of things Aidan likes to do. She always has just the right toys or sends him just the right things in the mail. What makes this most interesting is that when I told her I was having a boy she said "I don't know what to do with boys".
42.She is a quick learner.
43.She is opinionated and not afraid to share her opinion at places like city council meetings.
44.She is a good driver. I know this seems silly maybe, but I remember he teaching me how to get out into traffic and her telling me to slam on the gas. She doesn't get in accidents, she can navigate big cities and empty stretches of highway. All good things if you take most of your vacations in car.
45.If she gets a hotel room that is not clean, she not only tells the manager about it, she also brings a sampling of the dirt and trash she finds in the room.
46.She makes invisible capes of comfort.
47.She is an excellent writer. Especially resumes.
48.Her example encourages me to be a better person.
49.She has a beautiful smile.
50.She is my mom and I love her.

Happy Birthday MOM

Prodigy

Yes, like all parents I think my kid is a genius. I know he is developing normally and that most kids do this, but when you see it you just have to capture it and share it. I went in my room the other night and there he was leafing through the pages of my John Grisham book. He told me he was "reading".

We did read some of the book together that night. I do try to read him some non picture books but usually they are more juvenile than Bleachers. I just hope he can teach himself to read by 4 like his Aunt Beth.

What happened here?

On Thursday night we got a little surprise here in the Wehner household. It made this mess in Aidan's room

It gave me a great work out. It cause fear in me that I had not felt in some time. It cause commotion. It got the cat in a lot of trouble.

This is what came to visit:

I am not sure this is the exact kind of bird, but it was small, brown, and a little plump. The kind you see hopping around in park lots.

I let the cat in and wasn't paying attention until I saw her standing the bathroom doorway and her tail was poofy. I thought it was the neighbor cat in the wind so I went to check it out. There in my hallway sat a bird. At first I thought it was dead since it was sitting so still and had I not spent so long freaking out about it and fighting with Matt over who should take care of it, I probably could have caught it right then with no trouble. But I did freak out, we did fight about who should clean it up, and the bird regained it's senses. It then flew a few feet into Aidan's room.

I got a large box and tried to capture it. Hence the whole torn up room. It went in every little crevice it could find. Every time I got close it took off. I kept trying to convince it that I wanted it out as bad as it wanted to be out but even when we were eye to eye it didn't seem to understand my desire.

I finally figured out I need to stop it from being able to fly. So I started with a broom and that worked but I had to get it in the box and then remove the broom then put a cookie sheet under the box and get the whole thing outside. Yeah I know a little complicated.

Then when I got the bird trapped here:

I realized I should use a towel. So after a couple of tries I caught the bird. I took it outside and unwrapped the towel. The bird then tried to fly back up into our carport where it's nest is. Unfortunately it ran into a metal pool that supports our carport. It was a little stunned but eventually it must have gotten home because there is no sign of it anywhere.

Needless to say the cat is back on the poop list. I should have known she would try something like this. She has been very energetic lately and playing with her fishing pool toy with feathers on the end and even her tail. She probably just felt so tempted by those feathers that she couldn't take it anymore. Not bad for a cat with no claws huh?

Beauty School Drop Out?

Matt and I have an agreement. Every other haircut I go the beauty school. I think of it as community service and Matt thinks of it as a money saving plan. I don't mind going because I figure that my hair grows quickly enough and it is just a cut. I never get a perm or color (that could go terribly wrong).

I am spoiled by my hair. I have had the same haircut most of my teenage and adult life. Truth be told I currently have the same haircut I had as a toddler. The reason I have had the same haircut most of my life is that it works so well for me. With a good cut I have to use no product, don't have to do much if any curling, just blow it dry (don't even have to use a brush while drying it) and if I get caught in a hurricane I simple run my fingers through it.

Notice that I said with a good haircut? That is not what I got at the beauty school in November. I got a bad haircut. My usual hairdresser had warned me once that often in the beauty school the students overdue it in order to impress. My beautician even told me exactly what to tell them I wanted. I made the mistake of adding in a little extra thing. I call it stacking. It is just putting in a little half inch of layers at the base, sort of a bevel if you will. I used the word little when explaining it. I also used the word nothing extreme. When she showed me one of the other students with a layered haircut I told her I did not want anything that severe.

Apparently, I must have not made myself clear. Because I ended up with this.

This is what it looked like after a blow dry. Notice, no volume, it does not curl under, It is not short and it has layers. Lots of layers. In fact, she even poofed it way up in the back when she styled it.

Thank goodness I am not going to work at 6:30 am because it would always look like this.

After 15 minutes of curling and lots of product this is what I ended up with.

Now I know that for some of you 15 minutes and lots of product sounds pretty normal. But for a wash and dry girl it is torture. I ended up pulling up the sides most days and just curling the bottom layer.

I didn't wait my usual 2 to 3 months between haircuts this time. I just couldn't stand it. So earlier this month I went back to beauty school. I got a brand new student this time. I was worried. Then the instructor came and cut the guide line for her. She took a really long time to cut just the back of my hair. I think she may have been shaking. Then her instructor came back cut the sides in 30 seconds and I was done.

I have only a couple of complaints. First, my shampoo was luke warm at best. And second when she was drying my hair she used a bristle brush that she insisted on digging into my head. I know I need to speak up when stuff like that happens, but the poor thing seemed so nervous. So although my eyes were watering during the styling, I managed to not cry. But for $7 what can I expect.

I am very happy with the finished product so the hour I spent getting it cut was worth it I guess.

The moral of the story is that you should go to the beauty school and give the students some practice. Just follow these simple tips:

1. Be very specific

2. Use words like a little, minimal, just a bit, or better yet, use actual measurements in inches.

3. Tell them when you aren't happy with something. If you don't say anything they never get better.

4. Explain what you want to the instructor as well as the student. And when the instructor comes to check it tell her if there is something wrong.

5. Have them dry and style it. It is a good way to check how it looks and see if it is something you can keep up.

6. Don't be afraid to go back if when you style your hair the next day it isn't right. They will fix it at no charge and it can often be a learning experience for other students. (Yes, I have had to go back before)

7. Tip them if they do a good job.

A Very Merry Christmas, Part 3

Well, I have finally gotten to Christmas day. For Christmas we went to my Dad's house as usual. We had more great food and plenty of it. We had a great time eating and visiting. I am sorry that I didn't get any pictures of the new babies. I was too busy holding them I guess. In some of the photos you can see Colten in the background. I held Lily for sometime while she slept which may be why I didn't get a whole lot of photos to the end.

Once again Aidan and Helena were stuck like glue. They sat and ate together and every time Helena moved Aidan would start asking where she was. What a nut.

It was good to see all of the cousins together. They had a lot of fun playing together. Since Amy's girls are the same age as Aidan and Helena they had instant playmates. The only down side to the whole thing was that Aidan ending up wandering around holding one of their Barbies, which of course was half naked. I don't know what Matt was up to but luckily he missed that. He tends to freak out when Aidan plays with "girl" toys.

The coolest part of the day was as things were winding down. Pam asked us to open the one present under the tree which was addressed to "the whole family". When the gift was opened it was Twister. Most of the adults were too full and inflexible to play, but Dan and Matthew (my brother) gave it a shot. They were definitely pretzels at times. For the life of me I can't remember who won.

The kids tried it too.


Aidan was just too small to play. He couldn't reach from one side of the mat to the other.

But Aidan sure did try. He even made some interesting yoga poses.

Once I finally convinced Aidan that he couldn't play, he began attacking Helena. I guess he thought if he couldn't play she sure wasn't going to. He would just jump on her back and she would topple over.

But they both had fun, especially Aidan.

May I just say that my brother Matthew was awesome. I guess that I just never realized how cool he is. I think it is because of our age difference. I still tend to think of him as a pestering little kid. He has done a lot of growing up and he was great with the kids and fun to talk to. Who knew. Not me that is for sure. Maybe it is his new baby, but I think I just missed his growing up somehow.

I don't want to go on and on about just him because we had a great time with everyone. My sister Amy was there and I hadn't seen her since before Aidan was born. It is always fun to be with her. We are just comfortable around each other no matter how long it has been since we have seen each other. Probably comes from spending so much time hanging out together in her room as teenagers. There is something nice about being with family. Especially when there is a lot of family. And of course children and Christmas just make magic.

The time came all to soon that we had to leave. Beth and I snapped some pics of the best friends together before we went. That shirt Aidan is wearing was part of his Gaga's spoils from day after Christmas shopping. It lights up when he moves. He would still be wearing that if I hadn't hid it.

We had to take a couple of shots because it is hard to get two kids to smile and look normal doing it. I only included two of them that were the best.

We had a fabulous time in Michigan and Aidan is still talking about going back to Michigan. Just today I found he playing with his McQueen car and saying "we are going to Michigan." We will be back so just look out. As we have proven you may never know when are coming.

A Very Merry Christmas, Part 2

I figure I better get this up before I forget more details than I already have. I have already told you how we got to Michigan so we will skip that part. As I mentioned in previous posts, my mother has a Mexican Fiesta on Christmas Eve. ( I have been told Mexican was choosen as the fare over 30 years ago because that was what my parents could cook. I know my mom can cook all sorts of things but she keeps that a secret. Just ask her how to make no grainy fudge or lump free gravy. We are on to you.)


So on Christmas Eve, all of the family was excited to see us. But I would have to say that Helena and Aidan were most excited to see each other. I think they even ignored their presents to play with each other sometimes. When Helena first got there, the two shared a long awaited and anticipated hug.

This really is a hug and not Helena trying to suffocate Aidan.

We ate a wonderful meal as usual. I had been telling Matt since Thanksgiving that I no longer got the same pleasure from food on holidays. Luckily it was some sort of temporary problems because I oinked while I was at my moms.

The kids went to the basement and from what I can gather just ran back and forth. Everytime Helena came upstairs Aidan would follow her up and bug her until she went back down to run with her. When it was time for presents he really didn't care and wanted to go back downstairs. I should say he didn't care until he started opening his presents. Then he cared a whole lot.

He absolutely loved all of his gifts. He is still at the age where he wants to play with his toys more than open new presents. So Helena did have to encourage him a bit.

Thanks to whoever got him the Candyland game. He loves it and we play it every day.

This toy is so cool. It is a fire truck that opens up into this little city. It has these little tiny cars that go with it. What you don't see in this picture are the tiny parts and the stickers that seem to cover every inch. Bless Matt for spending over an hour with a sticker sheet, mini pieces and a diagram trying to put it all together.

Helena and Aidan spent a good part of the night like this:

They LOVE each other so much. I think they both have not realized that Aidan is no longer a baby because Helena still likes to hold him as if he were one. Not that Aidan seems to mind a bit.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my mother has a sophisticated tree. Here is a pic, but you can't see the top with the twigs and ribbon. Sorry.

(Hunter, David, and the back of Beth's head are in this one too. As well as, a look at the beautiful presents.)

I will end this post here and do one more I think. I will cover Christmas day in the next one. Stay tuned because some of the funniest pictures are yet to come.

A Very Merry Christmas Part 1

I have to begin by backtracking from my last post. As I mentioned we had Christmas with the Wehner side of the family the Saturday before Christmas. We had a breakfast and visited and opened presents. Thank goodness Grampa Wehner gave his presents to Aidan right away or Aidan never would have made it through the breakfast part. Grampa brought Aidan puzzles and Hot Wheels and M&Ms. He must still be a kid at heart because those are the things Aidan is always playing with. And don't think you can pass by M&M with out a mention from Aidan. You know the kicker is that Aidan has played as much with that stuff as all the other stuff he got for Christmas. Will this be the last Christmas where big and expensive don't matter?

Let me just say that Aidan made out fabulously that day. He got two big cars that make noise and move which he was afraid of. But luckily Matt turned off the sound and now he carries his McQueen around like a doll. He also got a Thomas the Tank Engine ball pit. Which we haven't set up yet, but now that the tree is down maybe we can put it up for a few days. Oh how I long for the day when we will have a basement. I don't think he even really knew what it was when he opened it, just that it was Thomas. Apparently that was enough. Because he looked like this:

And not to be forgetten was his movies. He got Wall E and a new undestroyed Cars and Ratatouille. Thank goodness for those. He watched them endlessly from KS to MI.

Matt got me a toiletry Christmas. Expensive razor blades, shampoo, toothbrush heads, and the pricey Secret Clinical Strength. (it smells really good by the way) I know all that stuff seems simple and weird, but since we are underemployed this Christmas those are the luxuries we have had to forego that I really miss. What a thoughtful guy.

Anyway, we went home and Aidan proceeded to take all of his toys out of the box and play with everything. We even put his balls from the pit into a laundry basket and he sat there and threw them around. (Don't make fun of me. I was not going to blow up that ball pit. Especially since it was cold and we only have a pump that hooks into the cigarette lighter. And yes, I did try to blow it up with my mouth, but I couldn't because of the valve.)

Since no one knew we were coming for Christmas, we had received several packages full of gifts. I had put them all under the tree since I didn't know we were going either. Hence on Monday night we packed up all the presents under the tree and headed off for MI.

I would like to make a statement about the tree. Yes, I know it has feathers on top. My mom bought me those last year, since I told her I wanted to have more bright colors on my tree. I do not have a sophisticated tree like my mom. I couldn't think of anywhere to put them but there. I sort of put them there to try it out and then never really straightened them like I should have. I am not sure I will ever have a tree sophisticated enough to have feathers or twigs coming out of the top, but a girl can try. And thank you Matt for letting me try and not sneaking in and putting up the poinsetta thing on the top that I don't really care for.

I am going to end this post here so you don't get eye strain from reading my whole experience at once. Stay tuned.

Surprise Christmas

So Matt completely surprised me and my family for Christmas. Well, actually his mom surprised me. Matt planned for us to go to Michigan for Christmas. He had changed the day for the Christmas celebration with his family, saved the money, and planned a way to surprise me. In the process of planning he had to tell his family why he wanted to change the date of the Christmas celebration. He told his mom and she called me all worked up because she was sure we would die traveling in the bad weather. I believe she said "the whole country is pink on the Weather Channel". So she sort of ruined the surprise for me.

But we were able to keep it a complete secret from everyone but Beth and her family. I played it up at every turn with my mom. I told her the ornaments I make every year were just to fragile to ship. I told her we would really miss being home. Sometimes she would talk about how much she wanted Aidan to enjoy the Christmas things she had at her house like Helena and Hunter were. Oh it was so hard to not tell her. Especially when she sounded so sad.

We left on Monday night after Matt got home from work. We heard that the weather was going to be getting bad so we were trying to beat the weather to Michigan. The first night we made it to Des Moines. Then the next day we drove down through Iowa. Are prayers were answered and God blessed us to not get caught in the horrible weather. All the way through Iowa we kept seeing cars, trucks, and semis in the ditch. The road was slick at times and we were going maybe 50 miles an hour.

Then as we got closer to Chicago, traffic slowed way down. Well actually, it came to a stop. Luckily, Matt saw hwy 6 and thought that may get us out of the traffic. It did. We drove through slushy roads and suburbs but we got out of traffic. It may have actually been longer in mileage, but when you are moving you know you are actually going somewhere. By the time we got back on 94 I just wanted to be in Muskegon. But Matt, in his wisdom, said we should stop, rest, and we rejuvenated for our arrival. So we stopped in Chesterton and had a great night at the Best Western.

After a good nights sleep we were back on the road. Driving in Michigan was actually pretty good. We were able to get to Muskegon by about 2pm. Once we got into town we had to have a little fun with my mom. We stopped at Wesco to get a couple of gift cards. I called my mom while we were stopped. I played as though I was really missing not being home for the festivities. I was telling her how I was going to miss the Mexican meal that evening. Anyway, I went on and on. I even asked if she had gotten my package by UPS. I told her that it was supposed to arrive on Christmas eve day. We talked to her almost all the way to her door.

Funny thing, as we were pulling out of the gas station, her husband David was right in front of us. He thought maybe he had missed the announcement that we were coming. In fact, he almost called my mom to let her know we had made it.

So we pull in the driveway, I am hurriedly trying to put fresh batteries in the camera. We decide to send David up with Aidan to the door to ring the bell.

In the picture below my mom first looked through the window at David and kind of gave him a look like "why are you ringing the bell you fool." Then she looks down and sees Aidan.



This next picture is not very clear because my mom just swooped Aidan up and let the door shut. I don't think she really even thought about how we got there or if anyone else, including David, wanted to come in.




Needless to say, it was awesome. I will do another post on our actual vacation.

Oh and not to be forgotten, my dad's reaction. I called him and told him we were in town. I could hear his beaming face through the phone. It was great to be able to surprise everybody. What fun.

Oh and Helena could barely keep it together when she found out Aidan was coming. She talked to me on the phone a couple times during our trip. She said they would postpone whatever activities were taking place until we got there.

Stay tuned for upcoming photos of Aidan and Helena's reunion.