I know I haven't been around much. My blogging has kind of ebbed and flowed - I suppose I'm ebbing right now. I have had a lot of things going on - most of them not so good. I think that has maybe dampened my desire to blog. I've been finding a lot of peace and stress reduction in my garden. And its blooming nicely right now.

Lots of lilies and daylilies:


The orange ones are my favorite. They're so striking.
I actually don't remember planing this color, but I've got lots so smaller plants with this flower. Could it be a cross pollination?
Sunny daisies thrive in my yard.

I even have 3 hydrangeas thriving in a shady spot.
Delphinium are among my favorites. With monarda and weigela in the back - I think they're stunning.
Hopefully I'll be back to regular blogging shortly.

Good riddence June!

The entire month of June has pretty much sucked. I'm tempted to say that the entire month has been overall shitty, but this is a family blog. (wait . . . ) To say that I'm excited to change the calendar to July tomorrow would be an understatement. I cannot wait. (even if I do hate the hot weather)

Today was another bad day. As I was driving home, I couldn't help but to wallow in my self-pity. I won't bore anyone with details, but one thing after another just rained down on me from crap heaven. I even got called pregnant today by some jerk in the office (of course I'm not, and I made sure he knew that I'm not). As I was recalling the events of the day, and generally feeling sorry for myself, the DJ on the radio announced a contest. He was giving away a gift certificate to the 13th caller.

Normally I don't ever call into radio stations, but today I gave it a shot. I needed something good to happen. So, I dialed the number. It was busy.

I dialed again. Same result.

I tried one more time. It rang!!

"They must have already given the prize away," I thought to myself.

But then, amazingly, the DJ answered the phone.

"You're caller 12! Better luck next time!" he shouted at me in his cheesy, DJ voice.

AH. I was so close, but still so far away. Maybe I'll try to win another one in July.

Why we don't give Brynlee sugar before bed

Please ignore my messy house:

Am I the only one?

Am I just being over protective, or does this scare the crap out of anyone else?

White trash weekend

Lest anyone be offended, let me first clarify that I am placing the "WT" moniker upon myself. And it does fit - let me tell you how well:


Last Saturday night, as a family we went to the Bluffdale Town Days demolition derby. Now, if you've never been to a demolition derby, you really should go. Where else can you eat all the deep fried junk food that you can fit in your beer belly, all while watching cars from the 1970s and 80s crash into each other. It really is entertainment that cannot be beat.

Can't you tell by the look of pure joy on our faces?Ok, here's a more joyous face:
We actually had lots of fun. The girls would pick their favorite car, and then cheer for it throughout the entire heat. The best heat, was the final, when there were two #6 cars. The girls even had the kids around us chanting "Num-ber SIX! Num-ber SIX!" And wouldn't you know it? First and second place went to both #6 cars. Amazing.

After the heats, the cars that couldn't drive on their own (most of them) would be hauled out by tow trucks. This is my favorite: the short bus. How fitting.
One of the best crashes of the night. This car actually drove up on the jersey barrier, and cracked the poor thing up.
This was the best crash of the night. The poor green car rolled on its side, and I think it actually came back in a later heat.

Actually.
What up B?

(can you see the smeared deep-fried Kit-Kat on her face? and are you now asking yourself what in the *&^$ is a deep-fried Kit-Kat? Don't knock it till you try it)

Is my calendar on the wrong month?

I'm pretty sure its June 10. At least that is what the calendar said today. But pretty much only the calendar knows that is what today is. Mother Nature must have missed the memo.

Driving home from work today, the car told me outside temperature was only 56 degrees (yes, Fahrenheit). And when I got home, I saw this:
and this:
and this:
Piles of snow?

Actually, no. Piles of HAIL! A good 2 hours after the storm had passed. Believe it or not, we are luckier than the neighborhood just west of us, where several homes flooded. The worst damage we had, were my poor baby delphinium that had just sprouted from seed. I'm afraid they didn't make it. Nor did my peonies. Good thing I have this to remind me of how beautiful they were:

The perfect pancake

I am a lover of pancakes. One may even call me a pancake connoisseur. My love began with my grandpa. He and my grandma used to own a bed and breakfast - a beautiful Victorian mansion on a Civil War battlefield. It was a wonderful place to visit as a child. I have such fond memories of spending time there, but my favorite memory is of my grandfather's breakfasts. He would always have the best bacon and lots of fresh fruit - and if I got lucky, he'd make his famous blueberry pancakes.

I think I've spent a lifetime (or at least 30-some years of one) trying to perfect my pancake recipe. I know I'll never make one quite like his, but I think I've got my own version down pretty well. It takes just the right combination of buttermilk mixture added to buckwheat. Then, I put lots of butter down in the pan before I add the batter (no one said these were low fat). And it has to have fat blueberries (I've had the best luck with frozen berries actually).

Oh, and my pancakes (unlike grandpa's, as he was always cooking for a crowd) has to be the size of a pan:
With lots of fresh berries on top:
Add some whipped cream:
Delicious!
So, who's coming for breakfast?

My peonies

Last fall, I was browsing the clearance nursery stock. I came across a sickly, half dead peony plant for only $1. Not one to pass up a bargain, I purchased it. I'll be honest - I wasn't expecting much. But, I figured that I could gamble a dollar. I knew just where I was going to plant it - in the vacant spot adjacent to my garage. I brought it home, and immediately got to planting.

This spring, I was overjoyed to see the succulent sprouts emerging. I checked it every day, just waiting for buds to appear. One day after work, I noticed four small buds that had emerged. A few days later, there were ants crawling all over the buds - the tell-tale sign that the blossoms will open any day.

Today after work, I was finally rewarded: 2 gorgeous blossoms bigger than my hand, so heavy that the stalks bent over. And I could smell them half-way across my yard.

I just have one problem: how exactly do you pronounce peony? Is it pea-oh-knee or pee-a-nee?

Family ties

Last weekend, some of my extended family visited from Maryland, Michigan, Colorado and Arizona - a mini-family reunion. We gathered because it would have been my grandfather's birthday - our first without him. And since it was so close to memorial day, it only made sense. It has always been important to me that my kids know their extended family, but its isn't so simple when most of them live far away. So, I made sure they had the opportunity to spend some time with them.
I'm sad this picture didn't turn out better - its Bryn with my grandma (her great grandma). My grandma is an amazing person, and for an 85-year-old is vibrant and active. She's also small - I think they said she barely weighs 80 pounds.
This is my uncle (dad's brother) who is going to be a grandpa himself any day now. He loved the little kids so much - and you can tell how much they loved him too. Bryn actually kept calling him Grandpa (he does look so much like my dad - they could almost be twins, so I can understand how she'd be confused).
And here's G with my Grandma. I just wish the pictures were better - for some reason, pictures I take in my mom's house never turn out very well.
Me and Ben. I should have taken off my glasses - its rare to actually get a picture together with my husband.
This is Bryn with my cousin (he's only 11, but yes, he's my cousin). He was the designated piggy-back-giver. The girls loved him too - especially Bryn. Actually, Bryn loves everyone.

Saturday hike

Last summer we tried to take a family hike every Saturday. It didn't happen every week (more like once a month or so), but we tried. I think we're going to try harder this year. G is 100% in love with hiking, and Bryn is getting old enough to be able to keep up.

Today we decided to head up to Bell's Canyon. Its a nice short hike , and perfect for the kids. It is a bit technical for a 3 and 5 year old, but it isn't even a mile up to the little lake. Totally do-able for the kids. From there, you can hike on up to the very top of the canyon, but we didn't go that far today. We just went around the lake, had a picnic lunch, and came home. It was perfect.

Bryn insisted on wearing a sun dress, but G dressed for the occasion. Bryn made it almost to the top (about 95% of the way to the lake) before she asked to ride in the backpack. I think next time, we'll leave the pack at home so she only had the option of walking. She can do it. G is a certifiable hiker - she was bounding from rock to rock, and literally running along the trail. I had to keep reminding her to slow down. I sounded like such a MOTHER! I guess that is what I am now though. HaHa!

Here are just a random smattering of pics - I'm not even going to bother narrating them.

Under the light

So, I had LASIK surgery two weeks ago. I'd been wanting to have it done for years, but for one reason or another (money, pregnancy, the fear of having my eyes gouged out) I had procrastinated. Then, a few months ago, I had called our new eye insurance company about getting a reimbursement for my new glasses. While on the phone with me, they mentioned that they partially covered LASIK, and asked me if I wanted them to send me some information about which places they covered.

I picked a place and made an appointment for my free consultation. I was told that because my eyesight wasn't terrible, and because my eyes were healthy and the "right" shape, I was a candidate for the "all laser" LASIK (as opposed to the one where they use a blade to cut the eye) and asked if I wanted to schedule a time for surgery.

I didn't. My decision was mostly based upon money and the fear of having my eyes gouged out (can't claim pregnancy now), and so I told them I'd think about it.

I had no intention of going back. That stuff scared me. I'm not normally afraid of medical procedures, but elective ones dealing with my EYES? That's freaky!

But they kept calling me. Each time they called, the price got lower and lower. Finally, in a moment of weakness, I said "YES!" and scheduled an appointment. They'd lowered the price over 50% (there went my money excuse - and I couldn't let the fear of having my eyes gouged out be the only thing keeping me from perfect vision).

SO, I went under the knife (light??) a couple of Fridays ago, and to make a long story short, lets just say that I had a tinsy, tiny, anxiety attack in the middle of the procedure. They had given me a vallum, but only a few minutes before (I don't think it kicked in until it was all over - I did at least feel good afterward). I also could feel in one of my eyes - it was partially numb, but not completely. I still have enough feeling in that eye to know and FEEL everything that was going on. And when my vision went black and then I SMELLED my eyes burning, I freaked out. I tried to take deep breaths and remind myself that it would be over quickly, and I was going to be alright.

And I was. By my follow-up appointment the next morning, my vision was 20/15, and it has only gotten better since then. I love being able to see - I don't miss my glasses one bit. For Mother's Day, my husband got me a nice pair of sunglasses - my first ever.

My eyes have been pretty bruised (but I bruise easily anyway, so that isn't a big surprise). But that has been the only side-effect. Otherwise, its been perfect.

The fruits of my labor

I love gardening. Unlike housework, the effort that I put in yields a result that only increases (as opposed to being undone in a matter of 1.4 seconds by the tornadoes that live in my house). I love the challenge of making things grow. This year, I put a lot of "food products" into my gardens. Because of the weird shape of my yard (pentagon) and the fact that I don't get a lot of sun, I put my fruit/veggies right into my flower garden. I've even planted a salsa garden complete with at least one of each plant that I need to make my famous salsa. These are the first strawberries of the season - and they were yummy! Sweet, juicy, and firm. We devoured them.
Of course not everything is edible. I grow other things too, just for the beauty of them. My tulips were AMAZING this year. I'd bought several dozen bulbs last year from the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival. They dig up the old bulbs, and you can buy them. The problem is, they're mystery bulbs: you have absolutely no idea what kind you are getting. But I wasn't disappointed - they were beautiful.
I also have peonies ready to bloom. I love peonies.
This is a lupine that I got as an easter present (hence the reason it is already so big and tall). I love it.
The vinca vine is growing in the crack in the rock wall quite nicely.

The Mother's Day post that almost never was

Ok - so I've been a bit MIA in the blog-o-sphere. Even more MIA than it seems, because my last several posts were auto scheduled (except the one about not weighing myself - and I still haven't). I probably haven't really blogged since mid-April. Definitely too long. But life has been absolutely crazy, and I've just needed a break.

But I do have a lot to post, and a lot to catch up on - which I intend to do eventually. And I think I'll start with a post about Mother's Day - although it was a week ago.

The weekend started out pretty crappy. We had a birthday party planned for G on Saturday, but she woke up that morning with a fever. She was sick enough, that I figured she needed to go to InstaCare. Besides, if I was going to cancel her party, I wanted reassurance from the doctor.

Turns out I made the right decision: she had strep throat. The party was cancelled, but she got sicker and sicker by the hour. By 5pm she was burning up with fever (despite being on both Motrin and Tylenol) and in so much pain that she couldn't bare to lift her head off of the pillow. Worried about facing a long night being very sick, I decided to take her back to be checked out.

Again, it turns out I made the right decision. The doctor there was worried about meningitis (her fever there was 103), and they ran some tests on her. They did end up sending her home, but the next morning (mother's day) I got a call before G was even awake. Her test results showed possible problems, and I was to take her immediately to Primary Children's Medical Center. PMC is the hospital that they send kids when they're really sick - and I was scared.

I rushed her there, without even taking time to get myself cleaned up. Ironically, by the time we got there, she was feeling about 80% better. I almost felt foolish, but when they saw her test results they were worried too. But after 3 hours and evaluation by many doctors, they felt it was ok to let us go. I'm sure the fact that she was complaining that she was STARVING, and posing for pictures:
that made them think she was ok. If not, I'm sure the riding Superman around on the wheeled stool sealed the deal:
So yes, she's ok. Just really bad strep apparently. I hear its going around.

We did manage to have a decent day - brunch, and then a quick stop at both Grandma's houses to give them their gifts. Here's Bryn and my mom:
And then me, my mom and the girls. If my eyes look weird, its a combination of the fact that I had LASIK last week (working on that post too) and the combined 3 nights of no sleep. All things considered, I think I'm looking pretty damn fine!


At any rate, Happy Belated Mother's Day.

If the walls had ears part 3

Bryn (while wearing a Santa hat): Ho ho ho. I have a long white beard and a penis.
G: That is NOT appropriate! Santa is watching.

G: I think the temple is where God's daddy lives.

Bryn: Look everybody! Look at my penis.
(?????? she likes to put toys in her panties so she has a "bulge")

Bryn: I only eat my boogers sometimes.
(we've made progress)

G (while looking at me after a run): You look cold Mommy
Me: I do? What makes you say that?
G: Its your boobies. They look like you're really cold.
(yes - she did mean what you're thinking. And no - I do NOT know where she learned that one!)

Bryn: Does Jesus have a penis?
(clearly this girl has a one-track mind)

And, for my very favorite comment ever, what Bryn said to Daddy when he took her potty inside the men's restroom:

Bryn: Look Daddy! That man has a penis just like yours! Only yours is bigger!

No-weigh May

Ok - I'll admit it: I am OBSESSED with the scale. And its a sick obsession. Some days, I weigh myself before bed, and then again when I wake up. (and sometimes I actually GAIN weight while I sleep - explain that one) I know I'm healthy, and getting healthier. But somehow, that stupid (not so) little number on the scale means more than everything else.

So, I hereby profess that, starting today, I will not weigh myself for the entire month of May. I will not think about the scale. I will not even look at the scale - let alone step on it. I will work on running and eating healthy, and I will focus on how I look and feel.

I WILL NOT OBSESS ABOUT MY WEIGHT!

And I will be happier and healthier, both in body and spirit.