From my Facebook Notes

I'm cleaning house on my Facebook account and deleting a bunch of stuff I've posted. There are, however a few things that I want to keep, so I thought I'd put them on here so when I print my blog out as my "journal" I have a printed record of everyday aspects of me and my life.

Written January 30, 2009
"25 Random Things About Me"

1. I wear my pajamas when I take my boys to school.
2. I'm already thinking about pre-school (in a good way) for Miles- he's 3 months old
3. I'm a vegetarian
4. Hot Thai food is awesome
5. I am obsessive-compulsive about snow removal from my driveway and walks.
6. I am a control freak and not getting my way is hard for me
7. I love mashed potatoes.
8. I ate green gumdrops (the spearamint ones) for breakfast
9. I let my kids eat mac & cheese everyday, but only the Whole Grain kind
10. The inside of my car is nasty dirty
11. I like to make stuff- foods, cards, etc
12. I want to go to Peru.
13. I'd like to go to base camp on Everest.
14. I play the piano
15. I intensely dislike camping.
16. I am listed as retired with the AARP
17. I intentionally flooded the school toilets in 4th grade
18. I want to do the ULCER century ride this summer and pull Miles along in the trailer
19. My hair is amazingly straight and won't hold a curl or take color
20. I take great pride in my children's accomplishments
21. I like blogging.
22. I intensely dislike attending Sunday School
23. I hate finger/hand prints on door frames
24. I haven't read a REAL book in a long time, I just can't focus on print right now
25. I refuse to tag anyone!

Written February 19, 2009
"My Husband"

1. What's he doing right now? Working on a new drill bit design
2. You’re out to eat. What kind of dressing does he get on his salad? 1,000 Island
3. What is one food he doesn’t like? Circus Peanuts
4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Tomato Juice
5. Where did he go to high school? American Fork High, Class of '83
6. What size shoe does he wear? 8.5
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? bikes
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Monster Sandwich (made by me!)
9. What would the Husband eat every day if he could? Bean Burritos (and he does)
10. What is his favorite cereal? Oatmeal (another daily food)
11. What would he never wear? a Speedo
12. What is his favorite sports team? None... he likes downhill skiing (he's not a team player!)
13. Who is his best friend? Me, but when he wants to go biking, it is Kevin!
14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? Waft
15. Who did he vote for in the last election? Some Libertarian (for State Treasurer)
16. How many states has he lived in? 4 (Utah, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado)
17. What is his heritage? Mostly British and Danish
18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind? Angel Food (but he'd rather have a watermelon)
19. Did he play sports in high school? "Play" is a funny word... he wrestled and "played" football
20. What could he spend hours doing? Spinning and practicing the violin

March 30, 2009
"You Know Me"

Three names I go by:
1. Larrrrrrr-la
2. Mom
3. Orla

Three Jobs I have had in my life
1.Cytotechnologist
2. Swim Team Coach
3. Xeroxer at Xerox Business Services

Three Places I have lived
1. Hampton, Virginia
2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
3. Salt Lake City, Utah

Three Favorite drinks
1. Water
2. Diet Coke with Lime
3. Caffeine Free Diet Coke

Three TV Shows that I watch
1. Nightly News
2. Local News
3. Letterman

Three places I have been
1. China
2. Israel
3. Luxembourg

Three words that describe me
1. busy
2. micromanaging
3. silly

Three favorite films
1. Emma
2. You've Got Mail
3. When Harry Met Sally

Three People who know me Best
1. Dan
2. Aly
3. God

Three words that don't describe me
1. Chillaxed
2. Unopinionated
3. Male

Three favorite words:
1. Now
2. Good Night Boys
3. Fabulous

Three things that annoy me:
1. Cabinets Left Open
2. Quoters
3. Hand prints on Door Frames

People who call me regularly
1. Sisters
2. Shauna
3. Sharon

Three things you want to do before you turn 50
1. Go to Peru
2. Get Lasic
3. Do a Century Ride

Three things you do when you are bored
1. Internet
2. Fold Laundry
3. Go for a Walk

Three of my favorite foods
1. Thai!
2. Garlic Naan
3. Scrambled Eggs

Three places I want to go:
1. Peru
2. Australia
3. Base Camp at Everest

Three Things I am looking forward to
1. My boys growing up into productive, motivated men
2. Finding a new house
3. Getting Beijing declawed

Three things I plan to do before the day is over
1. Take out my contacts
2. Do my Strength Training
3. Make a Fire Escape Plan

Written July 17, 2009
MMMMMEEEEEEE Monster!

1. What time did you get up this morning? I got out of bed at 6 a.m. to open the windows to let the cool air in and to update the house listings on KSL and Craigslist.

2. How do you like your steak? I'm a vegetarian... but back in the day, I ate it medium.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Last summer I took Nolan to see Journey to the Center of the Earth. That's the last time I went to a theater.

4. What is your favorite TV show? I don't watch TV per se, but often I fall asleep with Universal Sports Channel on.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I don't know... not in Rome or east Texas!

6. What did you have for breakfast? Today it was Malt-o-Meal Tootie Frooties and chocolate chips!

7. What is your favorite cuisine? I love Thai & Indian Food. If it's spicy, I like it!

8. What foods do you dislike? Slimey foods--- Jello, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.

9. Favorite Place to Eat? To eat out? For quick meals I like Cafe Fresh inside Good Earth Foods, and Cafe Rio.

10. Favorite dressing? None! Let the vegetables speak for themselves!

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? A Chevy Prizm with a dent in the front bumper where Dan hit an opossum.

12. What are your favorite clothes? These questions are stupid. I'd hang out in my pajama pants and orange t-shirt all the time if it was socially acceptable and self cleaning!

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? I'm in a Peru kind of mood.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Depends on the day.

15. Where would you want to retire? Somewhere where I am debt free!

16. Favorite time of day? The 5 minutes between the time my boys have gone to bed and I go to bed.

17. Where were you born? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Downhill Skiing and swimming (in the pool, not downhill!)

22. Bird watcher? What happened to #s 19-21? Thanks to whoever deleted them. Let's see... bird watcher... only if there's a bird right in front of me.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning.

24. Do you have any pets? 3 boys, a husband, and Nolan has a cat.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? My eyes are so dry that I have to use artificial tears.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher... I'm do glad I got over that!

27. What is your best childhood memory? First one that popped in my head was buying a really big jaw breaker at Columbia.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Well we have a cat, but I don't really like her.

29. Are you married? Yes... 18 years next month

30. Always wear your seat belt? Yes. I'm religious about that!

31. Been in a car accident? Who hasn't?

32. Any pet peeves? Drama Kings, whiners, coddled "grown-ups"

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? pineapple, peppers, onions, and corn (really, you should try the corn!)

34. Favorite Flower? Wildflowers picked for me from my boys or daisies

35. Favorite ice cream? Rocky Road with real mini marshmallows in it... no marshmallow cream (Off topic, but yesterday I bought mint chip ice cream; it was white instead of green!)

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? I'll eat a baked potato and side salad at Wendys or a cheese quesadilla at Taco Bell, but that's the limit

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None, but I lost points for not backing up in a straight line and for (of all things) driving too slow!

38. From whom did you get your last email? From Deep Discounts DVD confirming an order I placed this morning!

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I don't know... I hate shopping. Probably Target because I could get some of everything.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? I ate a piece of London Broil...

41. Like your job? Being a mom is awesome, but the chauffeur part isn't the best.

42. Broccoli? Yes! Lightly steamed, but never raw!

43. What was your favorite vacation? I loved Kauai, China with my family, and Israel

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? The family... Sweet Tomatoes

45. What are you listening to right now? The noises of the house... Jonathan mixing up a pancake, the computer running, the refrigerator purring, and car that just passed by outside.

46. What is your favorite color? Red

47. How many tattoos do you have? None, but I have scars

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 10:06 a.m. (already made Nolan breakfast, been to Walmart, Smiths, and swim team practice)

50. Coffee Drinker? Nope.

To Do Today

Okay, so what am I doing today? I need to work on Nolan's Halloween costume and go drop off "because I'm a lazy visiting teacher" treats. I'm having lunch with Aly and Cole at 11 a.m. Pick up Jonathan at 2:15 p.m. Pick up Nolan at 3:30 p.m. and take him to piano (and drive by the PG house...), Pick up Nolan at 5 p.m. At 5:30 p.m. I have to take Jonathan to a band rehearsal, then we're all off to his concert at 7 p.m. What a day!

Jonathan is Such a Stud

Quite often, it seems that Jonathan gets left out of my blog posts. I really love him, so it's not intentional. Today I decided to give him his very own post.

Jonathan is one of the most amazing people in the world! He is so talented in so many areas. We've known (since about five minutes after he was born) that he is brilliant. He just wrapped up his first quarter of his freshman year with STRAIGHT A's. To be expected, right? Well, maybe... he's taking an incredibly difficult course load and is really busy with afterschool activites on top of that. Jonathan starts school everyday at 6:30 a.m. with Jazz band or Percussion ensemble. He is the Principle Saxophonist in Jazz band and has lots of solos to play! He is also in Symphonic band where he is the second chair clarinetist, but more recently, he's been asked to play special parts on the sax in there. I think he's missing his clari a bit, but he really is shining on the sax (usually, saxophones are not allowed in Miss Ugaki's non-jazz bands). In addition to 3 band classes (all which require practicing at home), Jonathan is taking Spanish 3, 2 honors classes, and AP class (as a Freshman), and woodshop. He tends to have an impressive amount of homework to tackle nightly. So, it would seem that school rules his life, but no... he's takes private clarinet and saxophone lessons, an afterschool woodshop class, a tennis class, and goes to mutual as well. His life makes me tired!

Jonathan is also in seminary. He has taken his teacher's challenges to heart and makes sure he reads scriptures every night, no matter how late it is. He even took his scriptures to his Science Demo team training overnighter (oh, I forgot, he's also on his school's science demonstration team--- Science with an Attitude is their motto) so he wouldn't miss a night of reading. He recently had a seminary assignment where he needed to take notes on 4 general conference speakers. The assignment was worth 400 points, 100 points per talk. Jonathan took notes on all 31 speakers and got 3100/400 on that assignment.

Another amazing thing about Jonathan is that while he is in the midst of the so called "self-centered, "all about me" years, Jonathan understands the concept of service. He is always volunteering to help out. Last night was the ward Halloween Party and Jonathan signed up to run one of the game booths. He plays the piano almost everytime in seminary. He plays the piano for mutual opening exercises. He even, on the spot, played for a court of honor. Jonathan volunteered to help out the scouts and help them collect for Friends of Scouting. He helps the deacons out with fast offerings. He is always willing to usher. Last week he was ready early for church. I asked him what the deal was. He said that he thought he might have to help with the sacrament prep and he was ready to go if needed. Wow! He's a great example to me.

More Jonathan things... he loves classical music and wanders the house with his MP3 player on (which drives me nuts because he can't hear me!) listening to classical music. He doesn't get why classical music isn't "cool"! He loves to read the Civil War books by Jeff and Michael Shaara. He also loves to read the Darwin Awards books. He is beyond amused at the stupidity of some humans. Foodwise, he hasn't changed much... mac and cheese is still #1. Pasta, rice, and ramen are right up there. He has discovered that he really likes deli turkey meat (with cheese, lettuce, and cucumbers! Nearly everyday at school, he has pizza, a rolls, a fruit, and chocolate milk. He likes his mountain bike and is really looking forward to another ski season. Nascar his one interest that I do not understand, but he finds it exciting!

Jonathan is an amazing kid with so many abilities and so much potential. It is fun to watch him grow and discover who he is. It is an honor to be his mother.

Another Grocery Shopping Post

Three gallons of Milk, 4 pounds of Tillamook Cheese, 2 bags of fun size Butterfingers, 1 fun size bag of Nerds... .91! Yep... all that for less than a dollar (pre-tax, of course!).

Saturday Family Chore

Since before we even had the offer accepted on our Lindon house, we said that the Blue Spruce in the front yard had to go! I don't like how big and fat Blue Spruces end up and I think they are ugly trees. There was a Blue Spruce BUSH planted in the front yard that wasn't pruned regularly and turned into a big, ugly Blue Spruce Tree-Bush-Thing in a very small space. It didn't grow straight and it was competing with a nearby Aspen. Our neighbors hated the Bush-Tree-Thing and kept cutting it back so it didn't overgrow onto their yard. All along we planned to remove the spruce this fall. Yesterday, I decided that I'd had it with the Bush-Tree-Thing and took the bypass pruners to it. I hacked and hacked at it until I made a hole big enough to get in close enough to the trunk to take the bow saw and hatchet to it. I think it drives Dan nuts when I get these "bees in my bonnet" and start a project that is too big for me to finish on my own! Anyway, we got up today and decided that as a family, we would attack the Bush-Tree-Thing and get it down. I went out and used the bow saw and cut out a wedge. Then I took the hatchet to the wedge. I tied a clove hitch to the trunk and Dan, Jonathan, and Nolan tried to pull it over. More hatchet, more pulling, more hatchet, more pulling, then finally, hatchet, hatchet, hatchet, timber! The top of the tree was down! There was still about a 5 foot high section of tree left. Dan went to work cutting off the lower branches and the rest of the stump. I raked out the spruce needles that were about a foot deep. Jonathan and Nolan moved the top of the Bush-Tree-Thing onto the grass, then hauled the branches off to the field behind the house (and left them to compost themselves). Miles, contentedly stayed in his backpack on Dan's back and ate a sugar cookie. I love it when it's 1 p.m. and I feel we've already completed a big task. Oh, and I learned the proper Boy Scout way to carry and hatchet and how to pass it to another person safely (the magic phrase is "thank you").
Miles, the cookie monster, and Dan.
Hauling the tree top to the grass. Jonathan is all about safety! See, he is prepared with work gloves and safety glasses to protect his eyes from the Spruce needles (no, I'm not mocking him... I got a branch in the eye last night and it hurt!)


"Working together, helping each other; that's what families do-oooo" (inside family joke!)

More Rip-Stick

Let's call this picture "Nolan the Stunt Rider Meets Mom Trying to be Creative With the Camera".

Fall Leaves

Miles likes leaves. He's in heaven with all the neighbors' leaves falling to the ground. There was a little breeze yesterday and the sky was full of falling leaves. Nolan made Miles a small pile of leaves to play in. He wasn't impressed. Miles carries leaves around like they are a treasure. After awhile, he thinks they should go in the street. That's when we have a problem. Miles wants to throw the leaves on to the street. I don't think he should go that close to the street. We have a "3 strikes" rule... I remove him from the curb 3 times (telling him "no street" each time), but after the third time, he has to go inside. Then he throws a tantrum!

Oh, tantrums! Did I mention I have a tantrum thrower? Miles has mastered that skill early. Currently, when inside, Miles loves to carry around pieces of my Haunted Village. I'm tired of hunting the pieces down and gluing the ones he breaks back together. Last night I wouldn't give him a piece of the village, and he threw an amazingly impressive tantrum. I, much to his chagrin, was amused. I even took pictures of him!See? He's telling me exactly what he wants by pointing to where the village is!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Every morning (okay, not every morning, but at least 340 mornings a year), thanks to Krusteaz, I make the boys Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Every morning I ask the same 2 questions- "do you want a pancake?" (knowing that the answer has a 99% probablity of being" yes"- especially from Jonathan- I don't think he's ever said "no) and "1-giant or mini-pancakes?" Miles has joined the big boys' daily pancake party. I make him one pancake that is about 1.5 inches in diameter. The big boys get chocolate chips inside and on top of their pancakes. Miles gets a plain pancake; that is, until today. This morning, Miles got his first chocolate chip (literally, a (1) chocolate chip) pancake. He loved it! The evidence was all over his face!

Crazy Hair Day

It's Red Ribbon Week at Nolan's school. Each day there there is a dress-up that goes along with the anti-drug theme of the day. Monday it was Wear Red; Tuesday it was Crazy Sock Day; yesterday it was Crazy Hair Day. Here's Nolan with his Crazy Hair!Today it is "Peace Out" Day where they are supposed to dress-up like hippies. Nolan is opting-out today.

Nolan's Sweet Ride

Today Nolan reminded me that I hadn't blogged about his Rip-Stick riding yet. So here goes... Nolan can really tear it up on his Rip-Stick. I don't know how he does it because I, who have a pretty good sense of balance, feel like I will break my neck every time I try to ride (okay, just get started on) his Rip-Stick. But Nolan is a natural and shreds up and down the driveway and can even avoid/dodge Miles when he is outside too!


This video was shot when Nolan was still a beginner. You should see him now!

Busy Boy

Miles is busy. He is a walking tornado. He dumps everything out of everywhere... the bookcases and "tupperware" area are his favorites. He loves to open the cabinets and pull out and play with the "Olive Garden" cheese grater, the cylinder that goes in the top of the food processor, and the rice cooker. He loves to help me cook. A few days ago I was making cookies. He is mesmerized by the mixer and loves to watch it do its thing. Miles was sitting on the counter eating string cheese and watching me dump ingredients in the mixer and watching the mixer mix and he decided to help me out. He threw his cheese stick in the mixing bowl. Thanks! I fished it out. But before I had the cheese stick in the sink, he'd reached over, grabbed a plum, and threw it in the bowl (while the mixer was going) as well. I got that one out in time too! He loves to climb into every little nook and corner he can squeeze himself into. The other day he found a new drawer to climb in.
Silly boy! At least he's light enough that it didn't break!

Breadcutting 101

Why is it that cutting homemade bread is so difficult? I remember being intimidated by that loaf of bread and knowing before I ever even touched the knife to the loaf that I would cut it unevenly. I still don't cut it perfectly straight, but I'm improving with age! Below is Nolan's first-ever attempt of cutting a slice of bread. I think he'd benefit from a class or two on bread cutting.

Dining Room Done (sort of)

It only took me six weeks, but I finally finished painting the dining room, well sort of, for now, that is. I intended to paint the dining room on labor day, but had that "ladder incident" while taping off the ceiling. Nearly a month later, my shoulder was healed well enough to be able handle the paint roller motion. I painted the 2 "not so high, only 9 foot ceiling" walls at the end of September. Then Dan went out of town on travel and I really wanted to finish the painting. He told me that I wasn't to use our ladder. I didn't. I called Lynn and he brought me his Little Giant ladder to use (it's a cool ladder... and I have ladder envy now). I started simple and low to the ground and painted below the chair rail. Then Lynn's ladder arrived and he set it up for me. I tried to climb it, but I was a little freaked. He took pity on me and taped off the 12.5 foot high parts of the ceiling (everybody needs a brother-in-law like Lynn). I got the windowless wall painted on October 3rd. I was nervous on the ladder at first, but by the 200th time I scaled the ladder, I was over my fear. I didn't get to the window-wall until this past Saturday night. It's "done" now... meaning all the walls are the same color! However, the previous painters did the worst prep job possible and now I have to go back and repaint all the trim because it has red paint on it and repaint the ceiling because they stunk at taping off and the red bled onto the ceiling as well. That painting isn't a high priority for me and I figure I'll get to it in the next year or two (after I have a Little Giant ladder of my own!)

Me on the ladder doing the un-taping...


Partially Painted... the red is what we were painting over. There was 2 shades of ugly khaki under the chair rail that I didn't get a picture of before I painted the white over it!

Finished!

New Pictures of the Boys

Rather than pay lots of money for carpy pictures, I took the boys to Aly's neighbor, who is a professional photographer, for "school" pictures. She runs a great school picture special so off we went. Not only did a get a lot of pictures at a great price, butI got to choose the picture I wanted!

Jonathan's FRESHMAN picture

Nolan's FIFTH GRADE pictureMiles' ONE YEAR picture
See how Miles' left eye is turned in a bit? That what we want the pediatric opthlamologist too see! Miles wasn't too thrilled about having his picture taken... he actually almost smiled in this picture (dang stranger anxiety!).

One Year Old Check-up

Yesterday was Miles' one year old check up at the pediatrician's. All is fine, but he has been referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist. Dan and I have noticed that Miles' left eye seems to turn inward a bit. Aly noticed that too. I mentioned that to the pediatrician and while he couldn't see what we have seen (isn't it always that way...whatever is atypical can't be reproduced when it's needed), he wants Miles to be seen by a specialist (that appointment isn't until January!) to check for lazy eye. Miles got 3 shots... chicken pox, MMR, and pneumococcal (I think... and I have no idea how to spell that!). He only got one shot in his leg... the other two were int he "fatty" part of his arm. Since when did they start giving babies shots in the arm? He really didn't appreciate his shots and he screamed until we left the office (I had to get him dressed, wait while they made his eye appointment, and make his 18 mo. check-up appointment before we could leave). I think his second flu shot should be a real treat! Okay... on to the stats! Miles, compared to his brothers at age one, is no longer my smallest child. He weighed 20# 1 oz and is 29.25" long. Jonathan was the mongo... 20# 13 oz and 29.75" long, and Nolan was the mini-man at 19# 12 oz and 29" long.

First Birthday

Miles turned 1 today! He got to taste his first fast food - Wendy's chicken nuggets and french fries. He preferred nuggets, but thought that sucking the salt off the french fries, then throwing them on the floor was pretty good too. He got to party with Amy, Leslie, and Pieter (Aly and her family had to cancel because Shalyn got sick). Back at the house, Miles had cake and ice cream. He seemed to enjoy it - yum!



After cake and ice cream, it was time for presents! Miles got an ABC book, crayons, Buzz Lightyear toys, a big boy carseat, a Fisher Price "pop pop" toy, and, his favorite, a box of tissues.



He got so wound up and that he wouldn't go to bed until now (10:30pm) - he just crashed hard! Happy Birthday, Miles!

Birthday Cupcakes

In honor of Miles' obsession with lawn mowers, I made him lawn mower cupcakes for his first birthday! See??? There's a huge fleet mowers waiting to be eaten!

Miles' Adventures

Miles has been busy lately. He's getting good at throwing tantrums! His latest tantrum was because I wouldn't (or couldn't) put all three pairs of his shoes on him at the same time! He's experienced a new food, had his first time-outs (because he likes to bite my leg), and done actions to a song! Watch and witness...

First doughnut... On Saturday I took the boys out for doughnuts. We got 31 doughnuts- 3 for going in Krispy Kreme, 4 because I had 4 free doughnut coupons, and 2 dozen (buy 1 get 1 free). The boys loved being doughnut rich. Miles got to try a doughnut and he loved it!



Miles has had several time-outs thins past week. At first he was kind of amused by them. Now he's realized that they are no fun!



Finally, Miles loves the song "If You are Happy". We even have bookmarked his favorite clip of it on YouTube. Now he participates in the motions when he hears the song!

Should I Laugh or Cry

Today, within minutes of each other, I had two of those moments that left me bewildered. Let me start off by saying that I was not looking my best this morning. I'd put my contacts in and brushed my hair, but that was about it... no make-up and wearing sweats, but I wanted to get my errands run while Miles was still happy! I started out at the copy store getting some laminating done. The clerk who has worked there forever asked me if I tended every day. I looked puzzled and looked down at Miles and said, "No, he's mine". The clerk said "Really? I thought he was your grandchild!". I about died... do I look that old? Next I went to Walmart and saw a "neighbor" who I hadn't seen in a couple of years. She didn't know we had Miles and she was admiring him. Some lady who I'd never seen before came up and started touching Miles' head. Julianna wandered off but the stranger lady started talking to me. She just had to let me know that I needed to use my food stamps at Sam's Club. I told her "good to know, but I don't have food stamps." So what is my problem? I guess I really need to pay more attention to my appearance!