Sticky Situations (revisited)

One day in December when I picked up Ava from school she handed me a jewelry party invite. She was going on and on about how we HAD to go.  I didn’t want to. I hate the pressure to buy at those parties. Being Christmas time, I was low on money, and I hadn’t washed my hair in three days. Plus Matt was out of town and I just wanted to clean up dinner and stay home. But another mom called me and said she had heard we were going and that her daughter REALLY wanted to go as well but they had company. Next thing I knew I committed to taking not only Mallerie and Ava but a friend as well. The invite said it was an open house from 6-8. We got there about 7. The house is a good 15 minutes up Center Street, past Timberlake’s, far. I pulled up to see we were the only car. Grrr. You can picture it. I wanted to back out and leave. But the girls said, “Who cares if we’re the only ones” (uh, I do.) And we were. We were the only people who came the ENTIRE night. It was a dire situation. There was a spread enough for a RS social; cheese ball and crackers, veggies and dip, chips and salsa, fruit platter, cream puffs, and a frothy drink in a glass punch bowl…all for us. I wasn’t even hungry but obliged by eating a couple puffs and some fresh pineapple. AWKWARD. Why is my life one situation like this after another? We chatted with the host and browsed the jewelry VERY thoroughly. Pressure to buy? You betcha. Good thing everything was just five bucks. And I did still need some jewelry to go with Katrina and Mallerie’s Sunday dresses. I shoed the girls to the car after they made their purchases and then handed over my last fifteen dollars. I mean, really, if I had know what my night had in store I would have taken it easy at dinner and WASHED MY HAIR.

Mallerie found herself in a sticky situation of her own. She decided to throw a surprise party for a friend of hers. I sort of feel for this girl, she is from a single parent family, they just lost their home (literally, it was bulldozed to make room for more McDonalds parking on Main St), so she is living with an aunt, etc...I thought that was sweet of Mallerie to want to throw the party but being December I have zero chump change to spend on a  party (I have GOT to plan better next year). I told her to tell people to bring pizza toppings on the invitations and we would make the crust and sauce here. I had all that stuff in my food storage and it was cheap to make a cake as well. Side note, the cake TOTALLY sunk in the middle for a some reason. I scrambled and filled the dent with silk poinsettia's after icing it. Matt said, "Oh, you made a bunt cake?" Who even knew he was aware of such a thing as a 'bunt' cake. Anyway, I had to work the first train that night and got home well after the party was under way. I walked in to the smell of a wood burning stove. This was not a bad smell per say, however, WE DO NOT HAVE A WOOD BURNING STOVE. Mallerie confessed she had baked the pizza ON the wooden pizza paddle instead of the stone. Oops. She was super sorry and offered to pay me $10 bucks for the paddle. I took it. It came in real handy at that jewelry party.

Let the Celebrations begin! 11/24/11

First up: Thanksgiving and my Mom’s Birthday. This was the first year we had to spill over into a church because of our numbers. You do loose some of the homey feel, but no one was ready to offer up their sofas to 280 little fingers.  Lindsey had made darling centerpieces and my mom brought tablecloths and it looked cheerful in no time. Another family was feasting till 4 pm so this made for a later than usual start time. No worries, I was glad to have the morning to make my stuffing and rolls. The day before I had enlisted the girls to help me with the pies. I was so happy they were willing to help. This was the only reason we were done in time to go to Orem and see Mike and Donna who had arrived. I had one pie still in the oven when it was time for us to leave. My friend Pam offered to come over and take it out. She called me, “When I went over there was smoke coming out of your oven.” I panicked, “WHAT!” She was KIDDING. Phew.

Peanut Butter Cup Pie: by Ava (next year we need to make TWO). She also made a banana cream pie.

Apple Pie by Mallerie. She also made cornbread and let it dry out over night for Jamie's famous stuffing.

Katrina: Pecan Pie and Cranberry SAUCE. I fear she thought she was making jelly. We won't cook it on hight for 20 minutes next year maybe.

The picture of baking. I made a pumpkin cheesecake pie and orange rolls.

Matt was helpful where ever he was needed. Mallerie had him open cans of chicken broth to put in her stuffing. He opened the can and asked, "Do I drain this?"

The bird! Neither Jon nor Matt wanted to pick at the bones for every last bit of turkey. My mom said to go dump it in the field for they animals, "They love stuff like that." Being her birthday and all, I sent those boys out into the field.

Let this be a lesson to us all why we don't encourage overhead fluorescent lighting people! I yam what i yam.

 

 The food was soooo delish; I look at these pictures and my mouth waters. Eliza brought out a lovely carrot cake when the time was right and then we dove into the pies. I was sorry to see that my pumpkin cheesecake was left untouched. I think mainly because it looked like raisins were floating in it instead of chocolate chips. Also the pumpkin mouse was more the color of eggs. For this reason I put a sign, ‘Those aren’t raisins, their chocolate chips!” But to no avail, I had to bring it again to Granny’s Christmas party the next day. Sadie finally tried some, “Who would have guessed a raisin quiche could be so tasty.” Ha!

The little kids were all sitting at a round table till someone brought out this small one and they moved. This left the round table set up and decorated with no one sitting at it. I noted it was just like a ward party, "That's for the less active that we hoped would come."

The table proved useful for coloring time.

My mom had all kinds of info on the first Thanksgiving with a packet for each family. The kids sat for MOST of it.

For my mom's gift I crocheted around the edge of a soft afghan in beige for her. Graham came up to me and told me exactly what he wanted me to write in the card: 

"Granny, we yarned this for you because you are always yarning stuff for other people. We made it long enough to go over your head if you are taking a nap and have a bad dream."

 I brought large marshmallows for the kids to decorate with marker and then they saw how far they could throw them. I had tons of marshmallows leftover since I just gave them to the kids in the gym. I didn’t want to go hunting through the church. The next day at the Christmas party I brought the bag of treats again in case the kids needed an activity. We didn’t.  Later while the adults were visiting some of the kids were saying they were hungry even though we had eaten a nice dinner. Lindsey said, “You have to eat when the food is out, otherwise you’ll be hungry.” I pointed to my bag of marshmallows, “That’s why I carry this around.”

(Boy word sure spreads fast when there is an open bag of marshmallows.)

**You may stop reading now if you want any respect for me in the future.**

After the party was over the older girls begged me to take them out for some Black Friday shopping. I drove them up to the outlets. There wasn’t even a place for me to park! I dropped them off and went to Wal-Mart. I’ve never been to black Friday and when I saw the throngs of people it was confirmed, “it does exists. “  I picked the girls up and we were home by 2 am. As I was getting ready for bed I got to thinking of a certain receipt that I thought I had thrown away with something I needed to return.  I looked in the kitchen trash. Shoot, the trash had already been taken out. I opened the garage and lifted the top sack out. I rummaged through disgusting Thanksgiving debris; giblets, egg shells, oatmeal (with rubber gloves of course.) How can a receipt just disappear? The next day Matt said, “What took so long to come to bed last night.” I couldn’t tell him! It wasn’t one of my finer moments standing outside in the middle of the night in my robe digging through the trash. Then I started wrapping Elder Wasson’s gifts and saw in the bag that blasted receipt! I started laughing and then told Matt of my shame. 

Pinewood Derby Numero Uno 11/3/11

The sky looked promising.

The cake looked promising.

The cars looked promising.

The track looked promising.

The kid looked promising. 

The car came in DEAD LAST on every heat.

How is this for a good attitude, Grayson smiled and said, "Look at the bright side, at least it moved!"

Train Mania

In with my paycheck last year for working on the North Pole Express were three passes to come ride the train during the year. There they sat on the ribbon board in my kitchen till November when I realized they expired in a matter of weeks. So one Saturday Matt and I took the four youngest on a train ride on the Heber Valley Railroad.

We weren't banking on any entertainment but at the Soldier Hollow platform some bandits got on the train and we had to put our hands up.

A couple of weeks earlier I had gone to the local Cowboy gathering and Buck-a-roo fair where I donated "Cowboy" cookies. I wished I had some with me to soften the angry mobs.

"I put my hands up in the air sometimes, saying eh-o, gotta let go."

The whole "show" was rather hokey if you ask me. 

 This guy in the white shirt proposed to his girl at the back of our train. Funny thing, last time we rode someone got engaged also. This poor guy looked like he was going to die. I overheard him as we were getting off the train, "That is the most nervous I have ever been in my life."

The night before Matt had gone to a Daddy/Daughter party with Ava where she painted his nails. It gave me a start every time I looked down and saw those hands. I didn't hate it.

A photographer comes on board and takes your picture then you can buy it for $12.  I wish I would have just taken a picture of the picture that day, like I did here a few weeks later...

..while at tithing settlement the director of the railroad invited our family to ride the next night for free 11/30. Jamie brought some the kids and Jon and Lindsey brought theirs. We were towards the back of the train. Mallerie brought Morgan so it goes without saying we were the rowdy back of the bus. I hadn't heard from anyone this year if they needed Readers again for the North Pole Express. I should have just picked up the phone and asked. It turns out the lady who "hired" me last year doesn't work there now and since I was the alternate I wasn't on any list. But when we came to ride that night as a family I was asked to come read the following Friday; funny how things work out. I should add 'when you pay your tithing.' Since it was at tithing settlement where we ran into the train director who is the Bishop of the other ward. 

Mallerie's personality really comes out when she is around her friends; particularly this friend, Morgan. I ran into her bus driver at the grocery store. I said, "Hey, thanks for giving Mallerie a ride to school every day." We chatted and from that chat I learned just HOW bubbly Mallerie is. Consequently the bus driver has assigned Mallerie to sit up by her. I asked Mallerie about this later, "Does anyone else have an assigned seat?" "No just meeeeeee!!!"

Samantha looks like she's rattling off quite a list. I was sad that Katrina didn't join us that night. She said she was way too busy with homework. When Friday night rolled around and she had big plans I reminded her, "Remember you are too busy, better stay home."

You'd think the ruckus would have been coming from this bunch, but they were quite well mannered. After all, we were in route to pick up SANTA.

Santa! Baby!

The train website says that they have invited High School Choirs from all over Utah to be the entertainment this year. I figured that is why the reader on our train did NOTHING. Literally, no Night Before Christmas, no playing the soundtrack with singing, no meet-and-greet, no nothing. I had to yell out, "Look, we're at the North Pole." Jamie asked, "So how is it different when YOU read on the train?" I'll tell ya, I get off my duff and mingle and ask people where they are from and let the kids tell into the mic what their Christmas wish is. I give a history of the train car we are riding in and of the Railroad in general. We sing Jingle bells with real bells to MUSIC. All the songs we sing are to music. But my favorite is the soundtrack that goes with "Twas the Night Before Christmas." It sounds so pretty in the background as the story is read aloud. The riders can tell jokes from stacks that are already printed and we all around have a good time. I am not saying I am the best reader on the train but now I know I'm not the worst either!

As part of the 'free' train ride we had committed to be back the next morning at 6:30 AM when Big Buda from Good Day Utah would be featuring the Heber Valley Railroad. As we drove to the station bundled head to toe Graham asked why were leaving in the middle of the night so dark it was. As I sat on the train with them both Callie and Graham gave a gasp at the same time at something out the window. I looked outside to see what had garnered their attention. It was...the sunrise.

I DVR'd the program at home to see us in the background and Buda even asked Ava a question. It seemed like we had been up for hours but the kids weren't even late for school.  By 10 am though I was exhausted. Getting up early is for the birds.

So now I am back to reading on the train a couple of times a week. Not a big fan of the choirs coming in. The first time I read they were standing in the isles so half the train couldn't even see when we reached the North Pole. So now if they are singing and I can see we are getting close I just say into the mic, "Thank you carolers you can start filing to the back and off the train." Offending people is my specialty. It's a great gig. Very laid back if you can't do it. If there is a good crowd it can be loads of fun. The last time I read though we got stuck at the North Pole for 35 minutes because the switch was stuck. I went through every trivia question and story in the box. When we had to go further to get on the right track a man asked, "Where are we going now?" I was as done as he was with sitting on that train, "The South Pole."

Dingaling Dong the Christmas Bells are ringing

The other night I helped Mallerie make sugar cookies with peppermint icing and crushed candy canes. They are a family favorite so she wanted to take some to her Young Women's Christmas Traditions night. I wondered why I had so much icing left when usually it comes out even Stephen with the cookies. Then last night when Mallerie went to warm tortillas in the oven there was a sheet of BAKED cookies STILL in there. Too bad I had let Graham eat the rest of the icing with a spoon.

At the beginning of November I had my cousin Mieken's baby shower on the calendar. I was so looking forward to a day with aunts, sisters, cousins, and my mom up in Salt Lake. I made a very special Hummingbird Cake dripping with caramel icing. It was a bit labor intensive since it called for grated sweet potatoes and the icing had to be cooked on the stove. However the shower wasn't till 3 so I had plenty of time. I even stopped at the Sweet Tooth Fairy on Foothill to get som gluten free cupcakes for a couple gals in the group. A fresh blanket of snow had covered the Salt Lake Valley and I was downright jolly walking out of the bakery. I had my hands pretty full by the time I got to the door. A gift, the cake on it's stand, the cupcakes, and my purse. I could see people inside so I knocked with my foot. As I walked in and towards the kitchen to drop my cake Sadie asked if I had been knocking for two hours. I was confused. I asked Laina, "The shower was at 3 right?" She said, "No, 1:30." Jolly nuthin!

(**update on Mieken's baby she had in in the car at a Maverik!**)

The kids had their Primary Program at the end of October. Donna was with us that weekend. I loved seeing her sititng on the bench. After the Sacrament the rest of the program was announced. I heard, "after the closing song Brother Bocanegra will give us a closing prayer." Hmm I thought, "Was I suppose to give an opening prayer?" I opened the program to see my name listed as the opening prayer. Thinking back, I remembered the bishop had given it. How had I missed that announcement entirely???We hadn't been late, in fact we were early to the meeting. And there I had sat.

Ding Dong Ding Dong Christmas bells are ringing...

Little C turns 3

There is debate every year as to when exactly Callie’s birthday is. Most say November 2^nd, which is what was on Matt’s calendar. But I know it’s the THIRD. I wanted to get Callie something to ride on. I had envisioned a classic wooden type toy that wouldn’t be an eyesore if it was left in the living room. However, she fell in love with a bright pink pony on wheels.

The day before when we were at the local thrift store and I couldn’t get her to get off of it. I mumbled to the lady next to me, “I would get it for her birthday, but I don’t know how I’d pull that off.” This lady worked there and had a plan spinning in no time. She painstakingly took the horse from Callie and wrapped it in the back while I pulled the van around. The pony made its next appearance as the centerpiece on her birthday table.

Callie is right on target with her likes: Pink, Barbie, Pink, Sparkly, and Pink. It was easy for me to decide which cake to make for her.

Mallerie and Ava helped me pick out a peti- skirt for Callie while at Swiss Days this September. I put it in a bag and stuck it in my sewing closet (though it was REALLY hard to not give it to her right then). One day in October I was getting in the closet and she pointed to the bag, “That’s my beautiful dress.” This shocked me, “What is?” This time she touched the bag, “This is my beautiful dress.” Hmmm.

If she had seen it before hand she showed the same recognition she had for the pony when she opened it, which wasn’t much. I’ll tell you this though, whenever she wears that skirt (which is OFTEN), she gets comment after comment. It’s a great skirt!

When Grandma Donna was here she gave Callie this Fur-Real kitty. Right away Callie named her Serephina from the Barbie movie. It was a prrrrr-fect gift.

She looked especially cute the next day flouncing around the doctor’s office. She was there for her well child checkup where they did an eye exam on her. The nurse pointed to the pictures while Callie called them out, for the heart she said, “Heart,” for the cup she said, “A drink.”

The kids didn’t have school that day and I was glad because Ava is good about getting Callie ready before we go somewhere. She did Callie’s hair. Callie pointed to the hair spray, “I want the smoke.”

I didn’t have all her gifts on the table because I knew the kids would enjoy watching her open them and I didn’t want to have to tell her she couldn’t. So that morning I just had one simple gift on the table; new socks. It turns out even if you are turning three, socks are a bad gift plain and simple.  She lifted them from the bag and gave me the look of annoyance, “Mom….don’t get me SOCKS.”

When she woke up from her nap Katrina was sitting at the counter. Callie walked in and said sleepily, “Trina, it’s my birfday.” Then when Matt came in from work, “Dad, it’s my birfday.”

Once everyone was home she opened the movie Tangled, or as she calls it, “Punzel.” We all watched it downstairs. There was no homework being done or friends over; just our family downstairs watching Punzel.

When we cut into the cake afterwards Callie cried, “My Barbie!!!”

The next day after Callie’s appointment I TORE into the yard. For six hours I cut back perennials and raked leaves filling every bag we had in the garage. I was in the zone and didn’t want to be bothered with fixing food for myself (like I mentioned the kids were home from school to tend to the little ones). Whenever I passed through the house from the front yard to the back I cut a sliver of that cake off. Barbie sustained me.

A glimpse into an evening with Callie:

Oh she is a fun one to have at the tail end of our family.  The weekend before I took she and Ava to Beauty and the Beast at the High School. She did pretty good other than that she wanted to sit on my lap the entire time. I couldn’t really blame her since she is so small. However right before the show started she hollered out, “Hey I can’t see!”  This caused the couple in front of us to slouch in their seats the entire first half of the play (regardless of my pleas that they didn’t need to).

During the scene where the wolves attack the beast in the forest as he sets Belle free Callie said sadly, “Be our guest died.” She didn’t call him the BEAST until the last number when Mrs. Potts sang, “Beauty and the Beast…”  It was then that it dawned on Callie what play we were watching, “its Beauty and the Beast!”

We were cutting it close to get to the play on time so I took the girls to Arby’s across the street beforehand. We finished eating in line.  But Callie was taking her sweet time with her Jr. Roast beef. Even though he sign said, “No food or drink in theatre” I didn’t want to take it from her because she was actually eating it. Besides, no one seemed to notice so she walked into the theatre still chomping. In our seats she handed me a tiny piece of bun pinched between her index finger and thumb, “I can’t finish this” and she would NOT take that last bite.

When the smoke came out and was transforming the beast she wondered, "What da heck?"

The play was one of the most amazing High School plays I have ever been to. The scenery was breathtaking and the singing superb. It was a moment of pride for Wasatch County. 

When we asked Callie what her favorite part was she said, "The pretty dress."

Little Callie is sweet as can be but has enough spit in her to keep things interesting. She came out of the hall and said, “Graham is so annoying!” I chuckled at that big word because how could she even know what that means.  A few days later I was sweeping the kitchen floor and she was in the living room. I kept dropping the handle and it would bang on the tile. Callie called from the living room, ‘That’s so annoying!” I thought, hey she does know what it means.

Even after she has been tucked in at night she always comes in to lay with Matt and I while we watch TV. Last night I was reading and I could hear her coming up the hall. I hurried and turned out the light. She stood there a minute then left. Then Matt came to bed and he did the same thing when he heard her coming. After a bit we felt it was safe enough to turn on the TV. Before long she was huffing and puffing to get up on the bed. As she slid in the covers she whispered, “I’m back.”

Ava just informed me that while cleaning their room Callie's kitty meowed from the closet. Callie noticed right away, "Don't be annoying Serephina."

She always says HER for SHE: "Her won't get mean." Instead of She won't get mad. Ava asked Callie where Serephina was, "Her is lost."

Other Callie words:

Band Aid=Head Band

Lolly Pocket= Lolly Pop

Popcorn Popping= Popper

We learned this last one at FHE when she always wanted to sing "Popper" for her song. Me and the girls started right in, "All my Life I've always wanted..." Till Matt cut us off. Turns out she was requesting Popcorn Popping anyway.