Happy Birthday Sunshine!

About a week ago we handed out these invitations:

Today Sunshine woke up just bursting with excitement for his 4th birthday! Cloudburst was the first to wish him a happy birthday. After our regular morning routine, we were back home making sure everything was ready for friends to come over. After all, this was going to be Super Hero Training Camp!

Thunder soon came home with a big surprise, and I do mean BIG!

No, we didn't buy this huge thing! But we did have it for the day, and the kids didn't waste one minute. Soon friends started arriving, and the first order of business was to make their very own super hero capes and masks.

Soon, we had our own Legion of Superheros:

After everyone was properly outifitted, the "training" commenced on the giant obstacle course.



Soon, everyone was ready for some Superhero refreshment-- cake! (Yes, I made it, if you are wondering)
Sunshine got some great presents, but most of all, loved playing with his friends. Saying his prayers tonight, Sunshine said "thank you for such a happy birthday." We were glad he had such a great day, he deserves it!

The 5K Race

My friend Noel and I have been running over the summer, and we found a great race to run this past Saturday. Yes, the race for nerds, the PiMi (aka 3.14 miles)

Uh, yeah, that's snow in the picture! The race was up Provo Canyon and we were right in the middle of the first snow of the season.

There were about 100 people who raced that day, this is us at the start. The course went up Provo Canyon about 1.5 miles, then back again to the same place to finish. It was slightly uphill to start, then slightly downhill to finish... perfect!

Here's my big finish! I finished in 30:51. Not as good as my time last year, but hey, I didn't feel like throwing up at the end either! It was a nice run.

After the race, they had food and water for us, and some prizes. Noel won a free bucket of balls to a local golf course. All in all, a fun morning. And even better when we all went out to dinner to celebrate that night!

And this pic... this is what we woke up to this morning. It is just October 12, right? Ahhh!

The Newest Family Dancer

Tonight we were watching a music TV station, and the kids totally rocked out. And guess who started it? Tornado! He has just been starting to dance, jump and run a lot more. And today, he figured out how to open doors...

The Ugly Dumpling

We usually have Family Night on Mondays. The kids truly treasure this time alone with Mom and Dad. Of course, they always fight over Dad when we sing the "Sunbeam" song because he can throw them up higher in the air than I can.... and they love taking turns leading "Do As I'm Doing." Even Tornado takes a turn.
Well, after reading a friend's blog with some great kid-friendly recipes, we made Ugly Dumplings. While they were in the oven we read 1 Samuel 16:7 and the story of the Ugly Duckling. They were so sad for that poor "duckling."

But they sure didn't mind eating the Ugly Dumplings! They were very good.

Ugly Dumplings
1 medium apple, or pear
1 package of extra large refrigerated biscuits
2 T sugar
¼ t ground cinnamon
2 T butter or margarine
1 T butter or margarine, melted

Peel and chop fruit.

Separate biscuits, on a lightly floured surface, pat or roll each biscuit into a 4 inch circle. Place about 1 T fruit in the middle of each biscuit.

Stir together sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over fruit. Dot each with some butter.

Shape into bundles and seal by moistening and pinching the edges. Place in a greased muffin pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 10.

Triathlon!!!

Today was Thunder's big race! Too bad we woke up to rainy, cold weather and a flat tire on Thunder's bike. Hmmm. Despite that, he and Randall made it in plenty of time to start.

This is everyone lined up before the swim began. Thunder and Randall started towards the middle of the pack.

Here is Thunder on the swim. Too bad his back was to me in all the shots I took!

After the swim was done, he quickly donned his shoes, shirt and helmet and was off to the biking portion. They had almost canceled this part due to heavy rain, so they had to be careful on all the corners. Thunder is in the blue helmet.

And we can't forget the trusty spectators! I must say, the kids were pretty good considering the pouring rain and cold wind. Tornado's feet were practically frozen, but he still kept chasing Sunshine through the rain puddles!

And the big finish! The run was last, and includes lots of hills. He came in at a time of 1 hour 42 minutes. I couldn't believe he was smiling after all that! Great job, we were proud!!

The Race

Thunder and I are both in Training Mode. We both have races coming up, although his is a lot harder than mine!
Thunder is doing a triathlon with a swim, bike ride and run. Yikes. He's been going on a lot of bike rides and runs, and was swimming several mornings a week for the last few months. Sometimes it makes me tired just thinking about what he's doing. He's been working really hard!
My race is a regular 5K race- for nerds! Yes, I am running a race the distance of Pi! It is up Provo Canyon, so hopefully it's not too hilly. I haven't been training on hills at all. Sheesh, I can barely run that far. But I will finish! Anyone around, here join in!

Our Friendly Feline Neighbor

Our house backs up to a giant open field, and since we have moved in, we have occasionally seen stray cats wandering around. Our first winter here, we even had a few who decided to move in with us. Well, our garage. And how did they repay us? They peed all over everything in there. It was so gross. So, you can understand our mistrust of our furry friends, even if they do keep mice away.

Well, our neighbors found one cat in particular that they swear is cleaner than all the other stray cats, and have decided to adopt it. They feed it, and it comes around every day. Sometimes they let "Molly" sleep inside with them and they even might take her to the vet soon. I still wasn't sure how nice this cat was....

until I saw Tornado outside, dragging it around by it's tail. The poor cat ran under our picnic table, and Tornado pulled her out by her ears! And that patient cat never seemed mad or aggressive. So even though the germ-freak in me wants to chase that dirty cat away, I don't mind so much if the kids play with her.

As long as they wash their hands.

A FFFFun Day

Firefighters: We happened to go to Costco here when firefighters, policemen and Smokey the Bear were visiting. We even got to see a helicopter land. The kids kept wondering why Smokey the Bear wouldn't talk to them. They concluded that his suit was too hot. That's great logic there.

Fall Festival: Cloudburst's school held a fall carnival to raise money for the school. The kids loved it! They had a giant blowup bouncy area, games, balloons, Dunk the Principal and baskets for a silent auction. Thunder was bummed he didn't win the big BYU basket they had.

It was a Fun Friday!

Happy Treats Update

So the verdict is... success! At least for now...

When we first started this whole deal, it was so traumatic for them to go from 10 Happy Treats all the way down to 9 Happy Treats. "Please Mom, let me have it back! I need to have all 10!" And sometimes that would result in another crying session, and another HT being taken away. But after a couple of days, they figured it out. They can go from the fast pre-cry breathing to a forced smile in no time flat now. It's interesting to see their personalities come out, too. Cloudburst, who had the bigger problem with unnecessary tears to start with, is much more motivated by losing a HT. If Sunshine gets upset enough, there's no reasoning with him and he doesn't care about anything. But Sunshine has started to figure out that 8 or 9 Happy Treats are still a lot. So no big deal to lose one or two... so we may be lowering the "start value" next week. We'll see. It's definitely a work in progress!

And they said...

Cloudburst: Today she put on a headband and it looked cute. I told her to go look in the mirror to see it. She went and looked in the mirror, and I asked her what she thought. She said, "It does look cute. But you know what? It looks even better with a smile on my face." So true!

Sunshine: Today I picked him up from preschool and his teacher told me that he taught his entire class a song to learn the days of the week. She said, "he's definitely not shy!"

Tornado: So where did you sleep last night buddy? "Big Bed." Yes, I laid him down in his crib last night and he began to cry around midnight. After trying and failing to console him, I decided to lay down on the big bed with him. He promptly fell alseep. Tonight at bedtime he refused to go in the crib. So, I guess he decided it was time to graduate completely to the big bed!
And this random pic: the children were enamored by a poor praying mantis outside today (in the lower right of the shot). Of course, the older two kept encouraging Tornado to be the one to touch it, then they would all jump and scream. Then they found a long white tube and were trying to hit the poor thing... that's when we all came inside. I think it was glad!

The Big Leagues

I must say, I'm breathing a little easier tonight. I am in the Primary presidency in our church ward, and today was our Primary Program. This is a special Sunday where the Primary aged children (4-11 years old) put on the bulk of our Sacrament service. Now, we have over 200 kids in our Primary (our ward had about 900 people there on Sunday), and had about 100 children to fit up front today, so we were just doing crowd control for much of it! There were songs and speaking parts and it all actually went very well. But for me, my heart was beating a little faster because Cloudburst had a solo singing part! She sang the first verse of a song called "When Jesus Christ was Baptized." She did great! I was much more nervous than she was. Thunder was also great and helped us get the dozens of chairs, risers, and benches back to their respective homes. Even though it was a lot of work and stress, it was very fun to see all those cute kids up there.
And our other big kid moment was for Sunshine. BYU had a football game yesterday, and we thought Sunshine might like to attend. Well.... they came home during the third quarter. Sunshine kept asking to come home, and even fell asleep in the midst of 60,000 screaming fans! Sunshine has still been talking nonstop about it so at least he still thought it was fun.

Big Boy Bed

In Tornado's room, we have a queen-sized bed set up in case we need it for guests. Most of the time it has stuffed animals strewn all over it, but today they were all cleared off. And as we were sitting on the bed reading stories before nap time, I thought "I just wonder if..." and then laid Tornado down on the bed.
It worked! He'll be two in about a month (and still loves his two favorite blankies!), so we'll be reserving this change of scenery for naptime. Now you may notice the distinct non-boy colors of the bedding, but it didn't bother him at all...

He slept there for 3 hours!

Tasty Tomatoes

Yesterday was Veggie Day. It is starting to get cold, so I decided to go out to the garden, pick as many veggies as I could, and do something with them! To start, I froze several cups of zucchini. I've given away tons of zucchini, yellow squash, Big Boy tomatoes, onions, and cherry tomatoes, but then I talked to a friend (Karee B.) who makes her own spaghetti sauce and freezes it for easy meals down the road. She emailed me her recipe and I modified it slightly with the ingredients I had on hand. Of course I had some great helpers!

Our Spaghetti Sauce 2008
20-30 tomatoes
2 very small onions
3-4 cloves garlic
basil, parsley, oregano to taste
1/2 C. chopped mushrooms
2 cans tomato paste
1 packet spaghetti seasoning
2 lb. ground beef, browned

1. Blanch tomatoes, remove skins
2. Remove stems, cut in half and squeeze out seeds/juice
3. Place onions and garlic in food processor (Thunder does not like texture of onions), then place these in a pot with the tomatoes and spices
4. Let simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally
5. Add mushrooms, tomato paste and seasoning packet; simmer for a 1/2 hour
6. Add ground beef, allow to cool slightly
7. Freeze in quart freezer bags, filled with 2 to 2 1/2 C sauce

Happy Treats

I have been having a hard time as a mom with something lately- crying for no reason. No, not me! My kids! And would you believe that the child who cries the most is my oldest, Cloudburst? Whenever she meets with frustration, the flood gates break open. Oh yes, she can cry a river. Over a wet book, a stuck zipper, an uncooperative toy or too many bites to eat at dinner. Of course, I never give in to her crying because I figure that would reinforce and reward it. In fact, she usually gets sent to her room. I've tried time outs, ignoring it, and stern talks, to no avail.

So, tonight, we had Family Night and talked about how happiness is a choice and that God wants us to find joy in this life. We tried to brainstorm ideas about what to do instead of cry. Cloudburst said "have mommy help me with my problem." Well.... we tried to give them ideas of other things to do (take a deep breath, sing a song, go under a pillow and scream-thanks Thunder). Sunshine just sat there and said "uh, just don't cry." Yeah, it's not his struggle too much. Anyway, we unveiled

the Happy Treats.

I thought I'd give positive reinforcement a try. Each child will start the day with 10 Happy Treats (for now, chocolate chips). Each time they cry, one treat is taken away. In the evening, they get to eat the remaining treats. Hey, it's a great math lesson too! I'll let you know how it goes. And if you have any suggestions, let me know!

Fun Friday

So, I've been feeling like I should do more artsy stuff with my kids. I know how much they love it... but I often think in terms of messes, how to keep Tornado occupied, when to fit it in, the work to get prepared, etc..... but I have been thinking about them a lot lately, and what kind of memories I want them to have. It's been wonderful having them be outside for several hours a day, but that will soon be coming to a close! So I decided to start...

Fun Fridays.

We do fun things at random times... but I want to make sure we have it scheduled once a week, just in case! Now on Fridays, during Tornado's afternoon nap, we will do some sort of Art project. I found a great website called Art Projects for Kids, where I found the idea for the "piece" the children did this week.
It's patterned after Demuth's "Figure 5 in Gold" although they chose to use a letter instead. You can see how their interpretation kind of represents their little boy/girl personalities...

and best of all they had a great time!

Where were you?

I was in our small apartment in Provo, rushing around and getting ready for the day. Thunder called home from work and told me to turn on the TV- a plane had crashed into a building in NYC. Now, those of you who know Thunder well, know that he likes to play jokes and sometimes makes things up. Silly me, I didn't believe him at first! I finally was persuaded to turn it on, and then I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was mesmerized by the scenes; once the second plane crashed into the other building, then all the rumors started flying... but it was still hard to believe that it couldn't be some sort of bizarre accident. I remember feeling a strange, anxious energy that whole day. I went to Physiology class at BYU, and everyone had a jittery, nervous look as they tried to concentrate. Finally, our class was let out early and I was glued to the TV for the rest of the day, both shocked and horrified. Thunder and I hugged a little longer that night.



Today I was trying to explain the significance of this day to my kids, and I found a reverent video on the internet that I felt was appropriate for them to watch. Today I have felt a profound sorrow listening again to the personal stories, and also deep gratitude for my and my family's safety and liberty.

Whatcha watchin?

Thunder and I don't have/make much time to watch TV, so we watch selectively. I must say I am a total NERD! I love shows with a science or sci-fi theme. I'd say my favorite show of the last few years is

They even have online graphic novels that go along with the story. However, the second season of Heroes wasn't as good as the first... and I really started to like the clever wit and medical mysteries in

Being the man of the house, Thunder started to get into a certain show before it went on a long hiatus for the writer's strike, even though it was it's worst season according to the TV Show Guru (a.k.a. my brother--hey Happy Birthday today!)... yes, it is

So now we're up to this year. Will there be anything new to force my hand at setting up a DVR recording? I've heard some hype about
.... but we'll see. What do you watch?

We support our local school...

even though we don't go there. :-)

My friend Noel met us at the door, and even gave us some free tickets. Thanks again! Of course, the kids desperately wanted to get their faces painted... and it was nearly the longest line of anything.

But these smiles were worth the wait.

Hootin Scootin

One of the kids' favorite activities:
Poor Tornado still doesn't understand how to take "turns." But on a totally different note, he pooped on the potty today! He'll turn 2 in October. I'm not holding my breath that this will stick... but still cool for a little guy.

Mutant Vegetables

We live near powerlines. Could it be turning my veggies into freaks of nature? I picked all of these yesterday. The tomatoes, squash and onions look fine...

but what is up with those carrots?

Sale Day

So besides picking about 20 tomatoes, 5 yellow squash, 2 zucchini, 15 onions, 2 butternut squash (did I plant that?), and an overflowing bowl of cherry tomatoes, my kids and I hit some sales. And yes, if you want veggies give me a call!

The first one we went to was a uniform swap at a great local store called Xpressions. They just opened last fall (and the owner has the highest hair I've ever seen!). They carry clothes for charter and private schools, and so I got a few second hand items for Cloudburst for just $10. And the kids got free popcorn, can't beat that!

The second sale was a madhouse. A company called Modbe sells capsleeve t-shirt and other "modest" type apparel. They have a huge sale once a year where they release all of their returned items and last-season type stuff. There was a line to get in, and a zillion strollers, all packed into a tiny room! There were bins filled with returned items, and other things laid out on tables. I was able to find many cute shirts from $3-$5 and even a swimsuit. The kids were a little intimidated by the crowd and general anxiety in the air, but they stuck together and were good sports. And they took good naps!

Crazy Canners

My friend Michelle mentioned that she found a great place for peaches and got a half bushel. I said, "so what are you going to do with all those peaches? Let's CAN THEM!"

Now, I haven't EVER canned anything by myself, and the last time I did it with my mom was back when we lived in Idaho. Ah, yeah, that was 5+ years ago. So thanks to modern technology, I called my mom on my trusty cell phone and she nicely sent an email with instructions. I unpacked my canning supplies (which had been through 2 moves unopened by this point) and got some great looking Redhaven peaches. Only $13 for a half bushel!
After only 2 additional phone calls to Mom we worked our way through all those peaches. It took us about 4 hours. Now we've both got 10-12 bottles of peaches and also some frozen. Not bad for a summer afternoon!

My New Maternal Trial

I am not ready for this yet!!!

At least he can't open doors yet!

PreSchooler!

Today was definitely Sunshine's day, and he deserved it! He was such a good sport when Cloudburst had the hoopla over going to kindergarten. And now it was finally his turn!

I remember when I took Cloudburst to Preschool (in fact, it is the same place with the same teacher) and we all walked up the stairs together to the room and I quietly slipped off. Sunshine wasn't having any of that! I could barely snap a picture of him by the outer door before he bounced up the stairs saying "I'll do it myself mom" and didn't even look back. What a guy!

But poor Tornado. He found an old backpack, put it on, and tried to slip up the school stairs behind Sunshine. He threw a royal fit when I had to pick him up and cart him back to the car. Poor guy, he just wants so bad to be a big kid! So now, for 1.5 hours twice a week, it is just Tornado and me. What will I do with myself?

Dad's Day Off! (A.K.A. Labor Dady)

For the last several months Sunshine has been begging to go to a fun place called Boondocks. It is mostly for older kids (it has an arcade, go-carts, laser tag, etc.) but they do have a huge section called Kiddie-Cove just for the little ones. So, today we decided to take advantage of Thunder being home and headed over. And they were in heaven for nearly 2 hours! It is only $3 for the kids to go in and they had a great time.

And I have a funny kid story. I was telling a bed time story involving an evil castle and "an enemy" inside. Cloudburst and Sunshine would periodically ask questions about the "enemeny" and then I finally realized that they were talking about an "anemone" instead! They heard that word first, I suppose, from a Little Mermaid book we have. I guess that actually made the story more interesting...

to have an evil anemone!