My Birthday!

Well, my golden birthday was pretty sunny. I decided that despite the fact that Tyler was gone at a conference all weekend, and that I'd be stuck w/the kids, including cooking all the meals myself, that I would have a good attitude. And it must have rubbed off bcse the kids were great all day! They both took long naps so I could get some work done (yes, I wanted to...I needed to solve a puzzle w/some dead people :) ) And I received IM's and phone calls all day and didn't care if they weren't w/Verizon and went over on our minutes (hope we don't too bad :) ) bcse it was my B-day!

These photos are what I ate/got that day. I made some coffee cake muffins for b-fast, then a yummy bagel sandwich. Let me tell you about this sandwich that I created. It is broiled chicken breast flavored w/herbs de Provence and fresh basil, broiled bacon, avocado, tomato, melted provolone cheese on a toasted Costco Parmesan cheese bagel smeared w/Boursin! Oh, yummy! With an Izze drink (all natural sparkling juice). And then Melanie (my new favorite downstairs neighbor who replaced Melissa--physically but not emotionally--smile-- ) brought me some fresh brownies and let me hang out w/her and her cute daughter who is a week younger than Jocelyn!

Then on Saturday I had an audition in the morning (Thanks Leanna for watching my kids and letting me borrow your car!!!) which I wasn't called back for...."you're a good actress but..." you didn't portray the character right. Then Melanie offered to straighten my hair!! And then we (local family) went to Red Robin and then Tyler, Rose and her italian boyfriend and I went shopping. I bought a pair of jeans from the GAP!! My splurge (only bcse I had great % off ) and they didn't have my size not online or in the entire state) and that made me bummed so I bought the smaller size that fit like a glove about to pop, so I have that to work toward! To fit into my first pair of sexy expensive jeans! But I did wear my new favorite shirt that I think is flattering to my body shape and coloring (a first)! And then I was bummed again bcse "I am Legend" was out of 5 Redboxes!!!! But it all worked out bcse the night was bit quieter w/just me and Tyler!


Thank you all who called me over the weekend! It was fantastic! And thanks for the flowers Troy and Jana and the gifts (rest of family :) )And Samuel even told his primary teacher on Sunday that it was my birthday (he thinks it lasted 3 days bcse of all the events)....that made me smile inside.
And last night Tyler made me a cake we saw on Food network! Yay for chocolate! And I frosted it! Yay for pretty frosting!

So, Happy Day to myself!

Birthday Month!

Well, March is one of my favorite months, probably bcse is my birth month. But I wanted to highlight some of my other favorite March birthday people!
March 1: Micaela. My cousin on my mom's side. Our mom's are best friends. But Micaela is gorgeous, funny, clever, intelligent, has great taste in fashion, music and interior design. She is a fantastic mother and wife, is living it up in VA, I live vicariously through her adventures. She has been my best friend since I can't remember. She is amazing and I love her! And she had a fantastic birthday!

March 4: My cousin Tim and my DAD!
My cousin Tim has grown considerable amounts of hair since his babydom...He is silly, a big smarty pants, creative and married a great woman! He reminds me of my older brother, likes to do computer stuff, musical stuff and Family History!

My Dad: Well, he is amazing. He is hard working, fit as a fiddle, creative, funny, handsome, caring, a fantastic photographer, an entrepreneur, a skiir, former marathoner of running, an inspiration, a current 50-miler bike marathoner, an artist, an AMAZING BBQ chef, a grandfather, a husband, a brother, a friend. I love you, Dad!

March 17: Jana, my sister-in-law (Tyler's bro's wife). She is my newest favorite member of the family! Jana is easy to get along with, laid back, beautiful, smart, organization Queen, keeps a clean house, is a fantastic friend and wife, funny, goal oriented, honest, and great to be with! Happy St. Patrick's Birthday! March 28th: My b-day!
March 29: Kellon (Tyler's cousin) and Hannah, my sister-in-law (Tyler's sister).
Kellon is funny, lives in OK, talented, handsome, and vivacious. He is an adventurer and came to visit us in Paris and nearly missed his flight back home bcse of his love for the Metro :) I'll never forget that, Kellon! Happy Day!

I hate that Hannah's b-day is the day after mine! I always forget to call her! I wish it were the same day as mine! It would be so much easier! We were both born 2-3 weeks late and as a result both big babies and born w/in one day apart (and quite a few years) from each other! Crazy! Hannah is an amazing lady! She is now a mia-maid and she is already so mature! She is getting prettier everyday! She is organized, so incredibly kind, talented in dancing, sports, art, cooking, cleaning, and being a great friend! She is a great example to me!!! She is a fantastic aunt! My kids LOVE her! She has so much potential to be a marvelous lady! She is on the right track to being perfect! She is so service oriented and loving that I am in awe of her! Happy Birthday! I love you!

Happy Easter!












My dad graciously took Easter photos of my kids (sorry that the photo program cut a lot off of your great editing!!!) .

Samuel used to be so photogenic we thought about getting him an agent. And now we spend 90% of our time just trying to get a real smile out of him. His looks are a combination of my dad, Tyler, Tyler's brother Troy, and my younger brother Levi. He doesn't have any of me (except my hair genes :)) The third row, 2nd to last photo is SO Troy when he was a kid! Crazy!


Here is Jocelyn. She loves the camera. The first upper left hand picture is her classic "I am Chinese" face. You can see both sides of our family in her. Me, my Aunt Emily boston, Lori my mother-in-law and sometimes my mom. Rarely Tyler.

We gave talks in Church a few weeks ago and we were able to speak about our Savior, Jesus Christ, which was nice at this poignant time of year. It was a great opportunity for us to really reflect on His life. I spoke about how we need to teach our children about the Savior and live Christ-like lives in order to be better examples to children and for our own salvation. I kept remembering a high school teacher of History who was male and single (and very chauvinistic) who would always say mockingly, "Oh, the children...the children!" with a tremolo on the OH!" It was so annoying. If he only knew how important they really are! They watch our every move and learn so quickly. But you already know this! But I am still amazed at how much they pick up on our behavior and mannerisms. We have to be so careful. I also mentioned the commitment penguins have to their family. (see the movies Happy Feet or better yet, the documentary March of the Penguins). They thrive on love and teaching by example. It made me think of my own family. If I truly love them then I need to take the responsibility to love the Savior and teach them to do the same. He is just not a picture of a man with a robe and a beard. He is special and we need Him in our lives, especially now. Oh, how the children will need Him when they are grown!
So, yes, Easter was about eggs and bunnies and lots and lots of candy. But I hope Samuel and Jocelyn gleaned something of this time of year beyond all of that.

update

I haven't blogged in a while so this will be a bunch of random thoughts. I am awaiting some photos of Jocelyn from my dad to blog about Easter. Don't be frightened by the length...just read what is interesting to you. I'll even title the subject to make it easier.

Intro: Well, I should be preparing a monologue for an audition this Saturday but it's not happening. I'd rather blog or watch tv or read my book club book that we already had tonight. I volunteered (or was rather encouraged) to lead the discussion for next month's book, just so I'll get it done in time. I feel like I'm in HS again. I rarely finished books. I was so bad! I was in AP English too! (well, I think I did finish most of them...) Why can't we read play for book club? They're so much easier to read!

Wogging. Ever heard of it? I just read an article in the March 2008 issue of Family Circle that I picked up from the $1 store. It's basically a combo of jogging and walking. I thought about trying it help me prepare for a 5k that I will one day run. (you'll have to click on the images to read them more clearly).




Also, here is a snippet from the same magazine about metabolism.


I wanted to say a late congratulations to my good friend Melissa. She had her darling baby boy 3 weeks early (two weeks ago...) Yay for going early! And she is going to whip herself back into shape faster than I can just bcse she's like that (tall and thin). I've only known her as a pregnant person so it'll be kind of weird to see her w/o a belly. But she was super thin at the beginning of her pregnancy so I know she'll be back to her old self in no time. Go Melissa! Can't wait to start training for our 5k!

Anyone know of any good pre-schools around my area? What about for low-income families? And how early do I need to register? My cousin in VA registered just recently and practically had a brawl to get the last spot!!! Is it that hard here? I don't think I'll start Samuel until Jan of next year bcse his b-day (Sep 23) is after the UT deadline and he'll be too young to start kindergarten next fall. So he'll be the oldest in his class, which I don't see as a bad thing. But I don't really want to have him in pre-school for two years either.

Sleeping: Here is a good article I read in Readers' Digest recently. You've got to read this article about how and why women need sleep. It covers everything from stress, sex, and weight and more. It's an easy read! Check it out when you have a minute!

We went to Colorado for Spring break last week. It was great to visit Tyler's family, my old home town, my great friend Nora and Jennie and Grant. But I'll have to leave this post for later.

And lastly...I Can Make You Thin is a show on TLC about losing weight w/o taking pills, exercising a ton (or at all) and possibly using hypnosis. I know it sounds bogus but this British guy is really convincing. It's a 5 part series and I watched the first episode last night. He has 4 golden rules which are 1st: When you are hungry go and eat 2. Eat what you want 3. Eat consciously and 4. When you think you're full--stop eating.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, the Frenchies believe a lot of the same things. They eat slowly and eat rich foods and walking is about the only aerobic exercise they get...and look at them! I really like the book French Women Don't Get Fat. Read it when you can.
Also, rule #3 means to put the fork down after every bite and really savor the taste of what you are eating. Don't force yourself to eat something you don't want to, esp bcse you don't want to waste it. Doggie bag it for later or throw it away. Eat chocolate and whatever you want, but only until you're full. Don't ever stuff or starve yourself. Eat until you are content, even if it means 10 minutes later you are hungry again. Interesting stuff. I am concsiouly trying it out. I am still allowing myself to eat chocolate (like the French do....they purposely leave room for their delectable desserts), and trying to eat slower and smaller portions! We'll see how it works.

Well, I hope that wasn't too much for one post!

Quickies

The other night I was playing a childhood favorite game Cooties. And Samuel kept saying, "Oh, no! My head fell on the floor" every time he dropped it. I thought it was pretty funny. Actually, I wonder if that literally happens to me everyday. Jocelyn actually beat us both! Sammy usually beats me and this is the first time Joc has played. I think Samuel was a little jealous.

I may have gone back 11 generations on Tyler's grandpa's side. Clear back to the year1505! I am so excited! I love doing this genealogy!


Anyone have any recommendations for non-cheesy children's music? I like music by Elizabeth Mitchell I like her song, You are my Sunshine.


I think I am going to post my favorite kids shopping list on my deals blog. So look out for it.

I just joined goodreads. You should too! I've been putting my favorite (and not so favorite) children's books on their too.

Last night was a beast. I put Samuel down at 8pm as usual. He goes down seamlessly every night except last night. At about 9:30pm he came out, looking tired and like he'd been sleeping. He was probably sleep walking. But then he kept doing that until 11:30pm!!! Then he started crying which woke up Jocelyn, twice. So I was ready to go to bed so I just put him on the couch. And then at like 1:30 AM he woke us up again. So finally, I put him in his bedroom and he must have fallen asleep because I didn't see him until this morning. Ugh. I have no idea who abducted my child and replaced him w/this mean little boy. So needless to say, I am a grump this morning.

New years

Well, just to keep track on my resolutions. I have tried two and failed so far.
I failed at making it into the first play and we attempted to potty train Samuel and failed. He did it for about 2 weeks but by the end he was having more accidents than successes. After talking w/Marci I realized that was normal and to try again later. He seems to be okay w/that and is still confused about the whole thing. Like today he voluntarily sat on the potty and peed. But he won't consistently. And super-nanny says she hates those parents who do both diapers and underwear. Soooooo we'll try again later.

And as far as the play goes....I'll try that again later too.

But I have succeeded at the work thing. I have nearly finished my dad's filing. And I have had great success w/the family history job. I have, over time, and lot's of brain damage (headaches from not getting up to drink water or eat bcse I am so excited about what I am learning and finding) , found the Furber family line clear back to the year 1505!!!! 14 generations form Samuel! It was sort of lucky bcse they are all from the same town in England. But I had to draw the connections and verify it w/several other sources. But it all makes sense now! Yay, for success and some failures in between!

I know her!

I enjoy watching the TV show Dancing with the Stars and especially since Julianne Hough is one of the dancers. The reason I like Julianne so much is because she was one of my students. Yes, I taught her something. Well, I don't know about that. I only thought I was. Little did I know she already had a blossoming career. I was the assistant director for a high school theatre workshop at BYU for 3 years in a row. And one summer Julianne came. She was not a stand-out talented actress or singer but she was very polite and sort of quiet. And she was cute, spunky, confident and clearly professional. Her strongest area back then too, was her hip-hop dancing that we had her do. At the time she had just come from studying ballroom in London. She has grown so much since then and made a career for herself. But I like that she is still a home-grown kinda girl. She is still sweet and not afraid to admit that she is a Mormon. Here is a video of her talking a bit about it. I didn't like that she was wearing a bikini at first, but her justification is okay. I have not and never plan to (even if I did look good enough) wear a bikini bcse I don't believe they are modest but I like that she is still innocent about it. I hope she stays that way!

video

Recipe of the week

Check out the recipe of the week on my "deals" blog (banner on the right)