The Nonagon and The Potty

I LOVE They Might Be Giants. I truly do. They are funny and upbeat and only mildly annoying. Their kids music is great, too. We have on Here Come the ABC's and the 123's all the time. I guess my kids are picking up stuff from them. There is a song on the 123's about a party of shapes. It talks of a nonagon who attends the party. The other day I was having a bad day, and Cadet came up to me and gave me a very intricate card. He handed it to me mom and said, "Look - I made you a nonagon card to make you happy. It has 9 sides." Sure enough, he had cut it so that it had 9 sides. So...thanks be to They Might be Giants for schooling my 3 year old on nonagons. Sometimes....Cadet seems very old for a three year old....but then there are other times when he is VERY 3.

The day after he made me a nonagon card he had his 1st performance for his music preschool class he is attending. In the middle of the 1st song - Dona Nobis Pacem ( a pretty little Latin piece) - came a shriek from the front row: "MOMMY! I have to got POTTY NOW!! Hurry before the Piddle comes out all over! Mommy! I have to go Potty!" I had the great pleasure of escoring him to the potty. Accident averted. Concert interrupted. People laughing. The joys of a very adorable 3 year old!

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few pictures from you from our recent Halloween adventures. There is root beer from our preschool party, leaves from our trip to Liberty Park/Tracy Aviary and our pumpkins that have been at the Haunted Hangar here. Cadet's 1st place award winning pumpkin is Santa Pumpkin, complete with a Candy Corn Cape. Our family pumpkins are PETOP pumpkins (pumpkins for the ethical treatment of pumpkins.) Just in case you can't read it from the picture the canned pumpkin says: Here lies our precious pureed pumpkin pal. Bless his seeds. Enjoy!

Yesterday.

Cadet got stung by a bee. Tink landed his picture in the newspaper for the 2nd time in 3 days. Hubby got mashed pretzel on his suit. I scored a sore throat.

Energizer Baby

So last week, when I was in the bathroom Tink managed to swallow a watch size battery. He was playing with a light up flash toy that you put on your arm to make sure you are visible on a bike. We got it at a safety fair. Yeah, not a very safe thing to give your baby I guess. He managed to break it open. I noticed that there were two battery slots inside, with one battery missing. I looked everywhere. I wasn't sure at first if he swallowed it - but being a battery and all - I decided to take him in. Sure enough the x-ray revealed the battery. They called down to the ER at Primary Children's, but they said that since the battery had already passed through to the stomach he should be fine. I just got to dig through his diapers for a few days until it came out. Hubby actually found it over the weekend. All is well again. I felt like a very inattentive mom. But - I have to say that it has been 3 1/2 years and two kids before either of them ever swallowed anything harmful. That's not too bad of a record.

I've been inspired by this incident. Tink is going to be the Energizer Baby for Halloween now. I'm putting some bunny earson him , giving him a drum, and he'll wear a black shirt with the picture of the battery in his tummy. Not quite as fun as Cadet's first Halloween as a Sumo-wrestler, but it will work.

5, 242, 650 : 6

5, 242, 650. That is the number of steps I took this summer from June 4 - September 27th. I entered the Weber Pathways Step it up Competition. You just had to wear a pedometer, and the person who clocked in the most steps won a day pack with a witer syphon thingy and a whole bunch of other stuff. I ended up winning. Walking has been my solution to boredom this summer. I'm taking at least a week off from walking now!

6 - that is the number of steps that Tink has taken this summer! On Saturday he took his first steps. Now that's a REAL accomplishment. I can't wait for him to start walking. Neither can Cadet. Cadet wanted to call everyone and tell them that Tink was walking. Cadet also wants to start potty-training Tink. "He can use my little toilet." Cadet proclaims. Ahh - if only it were that easy! I think he has a few more years before he gets the hang of that. Cadet thinks he can do it tomorrow. We'll just wait and see who wins this debate.

Disturbing. Wrong. Gross.

I read a terribly disturbing news story. Here it is:

September 23, 2008
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, CofoundersBen & Jerry's Homemade Inc.
Dear Mr. Cohen and Mr. Greenfield,
On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters, I'd like to bring your attention to an innovative new idea from Switzerland that would bring a unique twist to Ben and Jerry's. Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers--and cows--would reap the benefits.
Using cow's milk for your ice cream is a hazard to your customer's health. Dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies, constipation, obesity, and prostate and ovarian cancer. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it may play a role in anemia, allergies, and juvenile diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease--America's number one cause of death.
Animals will also benefit from the switch to breast milk. Like all mammals, cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy, so to be able to constantly milk them, cows are forcefully impregnated every nine months. After several years of living in filthy conditions and being forced to produce 10 times more milk than they would naturally, their exhausted bodies are turned into hamburgers or ground up for soup.
And of course, the veal industry could not survive without the dairy industry. Because male calves can't produce milk, dairy farmers take them from their mothers immediately after birth and sell them to veal farms, where they endure 14 to17 weeks of torment chained inside a crate so small that they can't even turn around.
The breast is best! Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman

This just really bugs me. I had to vent. I think maybe it is because I nursed both of my boys. I think it just bugs me. Worried about the cows? What about the women? Have they ever used a pump? Anyone who has ever used a pump will probably agree - it is just not fun. It is just wrong to suggest using women's milk for ice cream. Not just wrong - it's gross. Peta. You really disturb me.

I've been tagged.

Jenna has tagged me on a High School Tag. I have to agree with Jenna - I liked college a lot better....and Jenna this post should make you feel a lot better. You were WAY cooler than me :)



.1 Did you date someone from your school? Date? What was a date?


2 What kind of car did you drive? um....I did get to drive a Pontiac Grand Am once or twice about a month before school got out. The first time I drove it - I got hit. Not my fault really. I was rear-ended. Really.

3 Did you pass your driver's license test on the first try? Okay...here we go. No. I didn't. Well, let me preface by saying I got 100 percent on the written part on the first try. Now - the driving part. That was another story. I didn't pass on the first try, or the second...I think it may have been the third. I've kind of blocked that whole misery out. Let's just say driving was not my forte. My seminary teacher had pity on me (Good old Brother Pyper was a private driving instructor on the side). He gave me some private driving lessons - and yes, I finally did get my liscence. Albeit - rather late. I think there was something in the yearbook that was Top 10 Signs you shouldn't be out on the road - go me - my name was Number 6. I'm happy to report though, that I can drive California freeways with no problem. LA traffic even...and I've never had a ticket, or been in a wreck that was my fault, or hit another moving object (not moving...well....let's not go there...I did hit a cement wall my first week of college and dented my car.)

4 Were you a party animal? Not a chance. I was voted most likely to live with my parents until I die! Go me! That's how much of a party animal I was.

5 Were you considered a flirt? Only the biggest ever. Okay, no.

6 Were you in a band, orchestra or choir? I was in choir and musical theatre, and would have loved to have been in an orchestra but our district didn't believe in stringed instruments.

7 Were you a nerd? Yes - and I still am. Once a nerd always a nerd.


8 Were you on any varsity teams? What are varsity teams? (Kidding.)

9 Did you get suspended or expelled? No - but that might have been fun.

10 Can you still sing the fight song? Yes, unfortunately. Music sticks to me like glue. Especially annoying songs.


11 Who were your favorite teachers? I think that I must be negative - because it was much easier for me to think of all the teachers that I didn't like. I did like Miss Nelson - she was the only teacher who made me feel like I could actually do math. I liked Ann Ward - even though she only taught I think one semester for the complete joke of a class "Advanced Research" - she was my elementary LEAD teacher, and I have always just adored her. Mr. Anderson.


12 Where did you sit during lunch? On a chair. I remember going to some bagel store with Jenna, Ashley, and Tigger or staying in the cafeteria with Kami and Jennifer.


13 What's your school's full name? Hillcrest High School

14 What was your mascot and colors? Knight. Red Black and White.

15 Did you go to homecoming? Which dance was that? I may have. I did go to a few. I just didn't enjoy them much.


16 If you could go back and do it all again, would you? No way. Been there done that. Don't want to do it again.


17 What do you remember most about graduation? Not much.


18 Where did you go on your Senior Skip Day? Which one?

19 Were you in any clubs? HOSA, Italian Club, Key Club...maybe something else - I don't remember.


20 Have you gained some weight since then? Yes, I did gain quite a bit in college. I got the classic "piano bench butt" (your bottom expands to fit the bench because you are sitting on it so much) - , but then I lost it. I'm thinner now.

21 Who was your prom date? It that is the one at the end of the year - I think it was John Welch. A friend who was going to Ricks College.

22 Are you planning to go to your 10 year reunion? I missed it. I was out of town. Really I was. My hubby had a business trip and I went with.

23 Did you have a job while in high school? Yup - I taught piano. Funny, I'm still doing the same thing. Some things don't change that much.

T is for Tanzanian Tangawizi

Cadet just started a neighborhood co-op preschool this month. It has been great fun - for him and for me. I was ecstatic when two other women in my neighborhood invited me to join in. It not only gives Cadet some friends - it has given me something to do. I'm still hopelessly bored here. This week was my week and I had quite a bit of fun with it. The letter was T....so...on day one we went on a treasure hunt to Tanzania (which was under the Table) and we found Turtles. Just in case you were wondering, there really are turtles in Tanzania. In fact there are 6 different species of sea turtles that are endangered there. We found Tanzania on a globe and colored it in on a map of Africa. Then we made turtle shells out of brown grocery bags, read the story of the tortoise and the hare, and then had races in our turtle shells. The highlight of the whole day was snack time for me. I made Tanzanian Tangawizi - a banana smothered in ginger, brown sugar, orange juice, lemon juice and cocunut. Although no one wanted to touch the banana Tanzanian Tangawizi until I smothered it in whipped cream - I got a kick out of just listening to them try and try to pronounce the name of the concoction they were eyeing with such hesitation. It really is pretty entertaining listening to four three year olds try to say "Tanzanian Tangawizi."

Day 2 was a little less exciting. We just took a train trip to see Henry David Thoreau's home (drawn with sidewalk chalk in my backyard.) Then, we took a nature walk like Thoreau used to and read some pretty lame books about Thoreau. They are Henry hikes to Fitchburg, Henry builds a Cabin, and another one I can't remember all by D.B. Johnson. They are meant for toddlers, to introduce them to Thoreau. I was not impressed by them. They are about a bear named Henry who says things to the tax collector like, "Pay a state that let's farmers own slaves? Never!" The kids just kept getting confused and asking me, "Was Thoreau a bear?" We rounded out the day by turning on some Tchaikovsky and dancing to The Nutcracker. That was another fun name to listen to the kids slaughter. Tchaikovsky.

Preschool is turning out to be a fun adventure after all. Next up is the letter E. I'm thinking Egypt and Edgar Allan Poe, although, hubby is worried I'll scare the tikes with that one. One of the little girls was already freaking out over all the dead fish in our aquarium that we just haven't removed yet. Her brother thought it was so cool that they were nibbling on the dead fish. The little girl had a justifiable small spaz attack. I just laughed. So cruel. I know.

Bath and Body Works

Once upon a time I had a cell phone. Cadet decided to give the phone a bath. Goodbye telephone. Hello new telephone from hubby. The End.

Once upon a time I had another cell phone. Tink decided to give the phone a bath. Goodbye telephone again. I will miss you deeply. Hello new phone from the store. The End.

Why? Why? Why must my chillen's baptize my telephones? I think I need to invest in insurance for them!

In other news - I ran my first 10K yesterday! It was surprisngly fun. I did finish 2nd to last in my age range - but I don't much care - I'm just proud for having completed it....proud...and very sore!

DTDW

So my family always had a saying, "Debby's Time - Debby's Way - DTDW." I guess there is some truth in that - I do like things just a certain way - and I'm pretty stubborn. You can only get me to 7do something if I want to do it - and when I want to do it. I guess I passed this trait on to Cadet. He is 3 1/2 and I was beginning to wonder if he would ever be potty-trained. When all the coaxing and bribery failed - I decided to not push the issue. My mom kept telling me he would do it when he was ready. She was right. He just had to decide it was his time. So....two weeks ago - he randomly commented that he wanted to use the bathroom. So - he did for the 1st time. He just took his diaper off - and that was that. Funny how easy it was! Well...kind of. We've had a few bumps along the way - but lots of success. Of course, he decided to do this the day before we were going to take a 7 hour drive to Colorado for hubby's work and a visit to my sisters!!! It made for a fun drive. It only took us 11 hours to get there. (I need to go - I need to go- every 30 minutes.) So...yeah Cadet! We're very happy to be down to one diapered kid!

5K and the Call of the Wild

It has been almost a month, and I haven't written in here. I suppose that is because I haven't had much interesting to say.

I ran my 1st 5k two weeks ago! Yippeee! I have walked several of them - in San Diego I did the Father Joe's Thanksgiving 5K and the March of Dimes. I am just NOT a runner at all, though. In fact, prior to running this 5K - I have not ever run a mile in my life. I kid you not - I just have never been able to do it. I can walk for forever, but running is a different story. But, I signed up for the South Ogden Twilight 5K for fun, and hubby offered to watch the boys in the park - so without kids I thought, why not try to run? So, I did. I was super slow, and finished back at the pack with all the old grannies and grandpas, but I did it. I never stopped running. It was a great feeling. I think I could get into running, just not much further than a 5K. My time was 35:27. It was such a breakthrough for me to realize that I could run that I signed up for the Syracuse Cure for Scleroderma 5K the next Saturday. My finish time on that was 31:14. I was excited to be getting faster - so I signed up for the Idaho Falls Firecracker 5K on July 4th. My finish on that was 28:01! Not the fastest in the world, but I am improving. I think I can see now why people run, it is a great feeling to push yourself a little bit more. So, there you have it - I've been running a few miles.

I've also been enjoying nature the last little bit here. We came back from a fun vacation to IF to see our families for the 4th - only to be greeted by a broken Air Conditioner. Our house is just way to hot without it. It was 89 in the family room, and that was the coolest room in the house. So we put up our tent and we've been in the back yard camping out for the last 2 nights. Cadet loves it! Tink does not to say the least, but we are surviving. Hopefully our neighbors are, too. Anyhow - it gives us confidence that maybe we could go camping in Yellowstone in September. We were worried it wouldn't work well with the boys, but I think we can do it. Also---hubby says that I am officially ready to camp now that I did something that everyone has to do at least once in the open. We were soooo hot on Sunday we went for a walk down a paved pathway trail here. I was so hot I was drinking like a fish. The trail is a little over 4 miles, and there is only one restroom on the trail - at the beginning. We got to the halfway point about 2 miles in and I HAD to go. I could not hold it. (Complements to having Tink.) So....I did what I thought was the unthinkable. I found a bush. I went in the wild. I have always had a hangup about doing that. I just have never been able to bring myself to do it before....but thanks to a weakened bladder - I had no problem. So...I guess we can go real camping now. I still think I want to find a site with a toilet, though. I'm not sure I want a repeat performance of connecting with nature quite yet!

Home is where the Sun Shines

I got to take my trip to San Diego! I had so much fun. It felt like I was going home. I kept super busy and felt like I finally got some closure on having to move. We left the week of the terrible fires. I felt like I never really got to say good-bye to everyone and was so tired and stressed out and pregnant that I didn't get to go around see my old favorite haunts. Being such a sappy and sentimental person - that was all pretty important to me. So on my trip this time....I went to Seaport Village, walked along the Bay, went to the Coronado library (I know I'm weird, a library on a vacation? I had always wanted to go there, though and never got the chance. It has a FABulous children's section. I miss the libraries of San Diego. They are really stellar. They just don't make them like that here. )

My good friend Isa organized a dinner for me with a bunch of my friends. Thanks a million Isa!!! It was fun to see them - especially since many of them are graduating from UCSD and moving on to Portland, Northern CA, maybe Boston, etc.... I was a highjlight of my trip! I also went to my old stroller strides class, Del Mar, Torrey Pines Beach, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla Library, Point Loma lighthouse, bayside trail, Pint Loma lighthouse, walk around my old neighorhood, the temple, Pacific Beach, an Asian market - and of course I had rehearsals and the choir concert. I'm amazed I squeezed all this into 4 1/2 days. I didn't get to do Legoland or Sea World or Shelter Island or hike Torrey Pines but I still had fun. I had a great time with Leslie - thanks for putting me up - and putting up with me!!! We made tomato soup cake and sour cream enchiladas and ate lots of junk food and stayed up late talking! It was fun! Unfortunately - I had to come home. I did miss Cadet and hubby, but other than that I really miss San Diego. Some things I miss the most are:

1. The people

2. Fish tacos - the edible kind- they are nasty out here in UT

3. Papaya Salad from Thai cafe on Coronado

4. the ocean

5. The Sunshine - being able to walk outside every day with great views!

6. The Temple

7. My old neighborhood - perfect for walking

8. My piano students

9. The choir - I miss making music

10. the nursing lounge at church - it is social hour every hour in there!!!!

Well - enough reminsiscing for now! San Diego I love ya' and I miss ya'! Hopefully before too long it will start to feel like home here, too.

Rabbits, Dinosaurs, Hikes, and the Earth

So, after my trip to San Diego, I came home lamenting living here. I have been determined not to sit and mope about it though. So....I tried to go out and find some fun things to do around here. It proved somewhat challenging because the weather was not cooperating. It has been pretty chilly and rainy. But, I did find a few things to do with the kids to save my sanity! We went to the George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park for the first time in Ogden. It was a lot of fun. It had just a bunch of dinosaurs and fossils and a great playground for the kids. We also found a flat "hiking" - more like a walking trail to go down. We went to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden and they had a giant inflatable earth set up. Every day this month they are giving a passport to you and you get to go and learn about a different country every day, complete with facts, slides, pictures, and a treat. We learned about France on our day, and got a greatEiffel Tower Stamp for our passport.

So there are some pictures from the Dino Park and the Earth.

And finally....at the Dinosaur Park we saw some rabbits. Cade was very excited about seeing them. He asked me to take a picture and then asked me..."Mom...what are they doing? Mom mom - tell me what they are doing!" Of course - he would ask me this. Here is the picture of that.

The Carrot Seed

One of my favorite books as a kid was The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. My mom used to sing it to me as she read it. If you aren't familiar with it - its the story of a little boy who plants a carrot seed and everyone says it won't come up - but in the end it does. Here is a link if you want to listen to the story and music - its free. They also have lots of other classic kids stories on here, too. I love Little Black Sambo, too. Another throw back to my childhood. So here's the link: http://www.kiddierecords.com/2005/index.htm

Well....my carrot seeds didn't work. Sad. Oh well...but I was greeted with other success in my garden.

I actually grew something from my garden. I'm quite surprised, and VERY happy about this. I am such a pessimist. I didn't think anything would come up....but it did. So far we have harvested 9 very tasty heads of Romaine lettuce and 11 Radishes. We still have 2 more heads of lettuce and I think that our beets are ready now. Yippee. I think I like having a garden, if you couldn't tell.

"....and now you can have a grand piano!"

We've been trying to teach Cadet that you don't always get what you want. "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" (I keep repeating ad nauseum to him.) He will often tell us that he wants this or that, and I'm getting really good at saying no. For several days when he was telling me what he wanted I responded by telling him that I wanted a grand piano, but that just wasn't going to happen. We just don't always get what we want. Sometimes, we do, though. The other day I was driving by and saw that a daycare was going out of business and so they were selling all their toys. I came across The Millenium Falcon from Star Wars with 7 figurines inside for $7 - a total steal - so I caved in and got it for Cadet. He was so ecstatic. When I gave it to him he smiled and hugged me and told me...."and now you can have a grand piano! Dad and I will go and get one for you tonight." How thoughtful.

"Who are you and what have you done with my wife?"

I am going to go to San Diego! YIPPEE!! I'm so excited about this, if you couldn't tell. One of the old conductors from the San Diego Children's Choir didn't know that I had moved. She saw my profile still up on the San Diego Children's Choir website under personnel ( http://www.sdcchoir.org/personnel/index.htm) - and I still have my cell phone with a San Diego number. She called me and asked me to play at an honor choir choral festival for Middle Schoolers. At first, I told her - umm....no...I moved. I called her back a few hours later, and there you have it. I get to come for a visit! It is just a Saturday festival - and it will pay enough to pay for my flight. I still have to pay for a car, etc... but it is soooo worth it. I have missed San Diego, and playing the piano soooo much. I can't wait to go. Hubby is a bit surprised I'm going though. His response, "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" I have been terrified of Airplanes in the past. (Think of Meg Ryan's freak out episode on French Kiss magnified times 10 - that's me. I have had panic attacks on airplanes, tried to run out of my seatbelt, shredded paper to try to calm me down, and have been threatened by a drunk man once "I've been drinkin' Tequila since 4 A.M. and if you don't quiet down, I'm gonna make ya!" ) Needless to say, I don't like flying. I have done much better after I got married, but I have always vowed that I wouldn't fly without my whole family. If we die - we all go down together that way. Welll..... it is just Tink and I headed out on this trip, and I'm okay with that. I am ecstatic and not scared at all. I think that says something about how bad I've missed San Diego. At any rate.....I can't wait for a fun weekend. I'm leaving at the end of this month, and I'm counting down the hours! I hope to see some of my friends there before a lot of them graduate and move on. I also can't wait to show Tink the beach. Here I come!

A Yardin' and a Garden

May 1 - SNOW

May 2 - MOW

This weather is crazy I say. On May 1st - I had a picnic lunch planned with two of my old college roomates. We got snowed out and had to meet inside, where Cadet was going crazy. Snow. In May. Yuck. on May 2nd - I got to mow our yard for the first time! YEAH!!! I really enjoyed it. I know it sounds crazy, but it felt good. Our mower is not a self-propelled mower, so it was a pretty good workout. It made me remember all the summer days I spent mowing my lawn growing up. I always enjoyed it. It is fun being outside, and the smell of freshly cut grass makes me happy. In the past, I enjoyed putting on my walkman as a teenager, and blasting my classical music, and dreaming about how I wished that my two neighbor girls would move and some really cute boy would move in and be all impressed that I mowed the yard and loved classical music. (NERD ALERT!!! I can't believe I just wrote that for public consumption - and if Tink weren't needing my attention soon, I think that I would simply erase it - but no time to revise) moving forward. Now- I just enjoyed a break from the boys, and the symmetry of going in cirlces and the whole patch of unmowed grass getting progressivly smaller. It took me a good hour and half to mow our huge backyard. I attached some pictures of our yard - so you can appreciate my small feat.

Enough about mowing the lawn.....as a family we have started to garden! We are loving it! I don't know if anything will grow. I think I have a black thumb - if there is such a thing. Everything I touch wilts or dies. But - so far it has been a blast. We have planted the cool weather crops and we are using the square foot gardening method. It has been fun. We planted some peas, Walla Walla Sweet onions, Kohlrahbi, Eggplant, Bok Choy, Cabbage, Romaine Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots, Spinach....I can't even remember what else, that might be all. We have 16 squares so far. I'm very excited about this. I am a veggi-a-holic - so this is so exciting to me to be growing my own food. Now...we'll see if it yields anything. My peas actually sprouted, even with all the snow! YEAH! I was so excited. I'm loving it. Here are a few pics of my garden.

On Saturday - after going to the dentist to pick up my free teeth whitening kit - and getting my tooth sanded (I chipped it eating a carmel!!!!)- I went to 7 garage sales. I emerged triumphant. I found a patio set for super cheap....and I also managed to get it delivered for free from a complete stranger. This nice couple at the garage sale -(not the ones selling the set, I might add) offered to deliver the patio set for me. We got talking, and they found out I moved from San Diego, and they were also from Southern California, and they were so nice - they brought it by for me for free. Their comment, "Welcome back to Utah - we hope you like it!" We had barbecued chicken and onions tonight out on our new patio set. It was nice. I think I will like it here once the weather stays warmer!