Queue Ode To Joy

OK, I haven't blogged in a loooong time. But I have something truly blog-worthy.

3 weeks ago Riley & Olivia were goofing around in the kitchen. I had been unloading the dishwasher and got a phone call so I left it open and went in the other room. Riley was running backward and tripped over the open door and fell right smack on top of it. Oh joy. After looking it over and doing a test-run we discovered that the door was bent and it now leaked. Again, I say, oh joy.

After much debate and many phone calls we determined that it made more sense to replace it than fix it. It never was a very good dishwasher so we had the circuitous debate.. spend a few hundred to fix a crappy machine, or put that money toward a better one. Fish? or cut bait? Dad helped the decision along since he called one too many times and got the response, "I'm washing the dishes" when asked what I was doing. So, Merry Christmas! We got our new dishwasher today and I'm running the first load right now. It's SO quiet!

I've been humming the Ode To Joy for the last hour. After 3 weeks of washing dishes by hand in scalding hot water, (yes, I know I should have bought gloves but it just seemed like such a woosie thing to do) and 2 cut fingers by grazing knives in the scalding depths, and dry cracked hands and peeling fingernails.... I am truly in a joyous mood.

I can't wait to make chili and put the bowls straight in without washing them out first just to put it to the test.

Ye olde crappy, wash-the-dishes-before-you-wash-the-dishes machine.

The new fabulous, quiet machine. Not quite fully installed, still has the protective plastic on the front and no handle. But even at this stage it was splendiferous!

Ahh... 4th grade...

Sammi is in the 4th grade, you know what that means... time for the unit on Utah Native Americans. She had to pick a type of Indian dwelling and make it. She picked an Earth House, which of course was one of the hardest ones to find pictures of on Google.

We helped her plan it out and gave her suggestions & instructions from time to time. We also cut the sticks for her and manned the hot glue gun for her, but other than that she did the whole thing herself. My favorite part is the little ladder. She glued it together and then tied grass around the joints.

She should get an A... as long as the teacher believes she did it herself. Kind of sad when you wonder if you should have to do something crappy looking just to make sure it looks "kid made". hehe.

Millions of peaches.. peaches for me...

Well I just finished bottling all my peaches today. I kind of spread it out over the last 4 days, which worked out pretty well for me. So now I've got 49 quarts of yummy peaches. They're so pretty I don't know if I'll let anyone eat them!

Thanks to Catherine who didn't get irritated (or at least didn't show it) when I called her for my yearly bottling questions. "ummm... I forgot how much sugar. And how many vitamin C was that again?" I actually did write all that stuff down last year... but let's just say my organizational skills need work since I couldn't figure out WHERE I'd written it down.

Ok, peaches down. Next up... Applesauce!

Visitors

Last week we got to visit with my nephew, his wife and their cute little boy. The nephew has been in town on some sort of medical rotation at the hospital here and they came by a few times to use the computer. I had a good time chatting with them and the kids really loved cute little E, who by the way speaks Russian. Little smarty-pants. He kept saying something and I couldn't figure it out so I asked his dad, who replied, "Oh, that's Russian for *blah*". Sorry I couldn't actually remember the word. hehe.

Wow. My kid looks like a shrimp next to him. I know part of it is the fact that he's a little closer to the camera... but... these two are actually 2 years apart in age... and size-wise... I'm not seeing it in this picture. ha ha.

Speaking of my shrimpy family... I had to go to the Jr. High to talk to Riley's teacher today and I got there just as school was getting out. BIG MISTAKE! I was practically run over about 10 times and most of the 8th & 9th graders were TALLER than me! It felt like a huge surge of sweaty kids fighting to get out, and since I was coming in... too bad for me.

1st Day of School

Yesterday was Sammi's first day of school, and was technically Riley's too. Riley actually had a half day on Tuesday that was just for 7th graders so they could get a feel for the whole locker & 5 classes thing.

As I tried to get Riley to let me take her picture... she refused. So as she was headed out to her carpool I called her name and snapped this one really quick when she turned around. haha!

Sammi had no problem posing for me, and I'm just guessing that Olivia will be more than happy to pose her little heart out today when I take her to preschool.

It's several hours later and I was correct. Olivia gave me quite a variety of poses, some hands on hips, some with one hand in the pocket, you know... all your basic super-model poses.

Hair Cuts

The girls got haircuts on Saturday as part of the whole "getting ready for school" ritual. I think they look pretty cute!

Kamikaze Dragonflies...

We've had a couple of big wind storms this summer, and both times the girls found something strange in the netting of our trampoline. This time I had the presence of mind to take pictures.

Apparently in high winds, dragonflies become shooting missiles and impale themselves into things, such as trampoline netting. The first dragonfly they found was a pretty bright green. They get stuck becuase they manage to get their heads and front legs through, but the wings obviously won't co-operate.

This time around the dragonfly was brown and green. We've now figured out the best extraction process... take a trowel and push on it's nose to push it backwards through the netting. And.. zippp... they fly off.

Click the pictures to enlarge... they're pretty cool.

Kamping...

We went camping at Jordanelle recently with Mark & Tricia & their family. It's been a hot summer... so of course the weekend we picked to go was cold and kinda rainy.

We had adjoining campsites, and Riley, Kenzie & her friend had their own tent close to ours. We had a lot of fun... but man were the nights COLD! Matt and I had stupidly opted to sleep with blankets instead of sleeping bags. We also didn't quite get our air mattress blown up all the way. That first night I was freezing and couldn't sleep. I finally got up and got our 5 towels out of the car and laid them over the top of the blankets. Ahhh... sleep... but I kept dreaming about my butt hurting. First it was the right side... then I woke up and rolled over... then it was the left side... yeah... my butt was pretty much resting right on the ground all night.

The next day Tricia and I ran to Wal-mart (yes.. we were WAY out in the wilds.. hehe) and bought some cheapo blankets for both of us. I do have to say though... even though we weren't really rough camping it.. we did see a deer. And on the way home we saw a squooshed mountain lion in Parley's Canyon. I'm REALLY glad we didn't see the mountain lion on the way there... I think I would have been too scared to sleep.

We went boating on Saturday... with cloud cover and wind. The kids enjoyed tubing behind the boat. Riley kept reaching in the water and splashing on herself because the water was warmer than the air. We had to cut the boating short because it started to sprinkle and everyone was shivering.

All in all, it was a fun time. We roasted smores, chatted, quoted movie lines from Zoolander and The Princess Bride. And the last day Tricia and I sang every good 80's song we could think of as loud as possible.

Our campsite... Matt, me, Sammi & Livie in the blue tent, Riley, Kenzie & Devon in the green tent.

Mark & Tricia's site. They were basically Base Kamp.

Sammi, Riley & Kenzie roasting smores.

Livie didn't like her feet to get dirty. Ummmm.... try keeping the water shoes ON.

Sammi, you can't really tell from the picture, but her legs were bright red from the cold water. She didn't seem to care though.

Oakley & Sammi riding the tube.

Riley & Max. Riley trying to splash the 'warm' water on them.

Max turfing it in spectacular fashion.

Riley having a thrill ride. She refused to let go and quit, it was like a personal thing for her. She's getting pretty tough.

Riley doing her version of Trogdor with a leg instead of a beefy arm.

2 Peas...

People have always said Olivia looks like Matt. I agree, but just this last weekend I took one of those pictures that so classically illustrates the comparison. Click the picture for a closer look.

It almost looks like an ornery version of Blue Steel... or is that Magnum?

Love it.

4 Going on 14

Olivia is our girly-girl. She was just born that way. From the first time I heard her pathetic little "oh poor me, you guys are all so mean" cry in the O.R. I could just tell... this little one is ALL GIRL.

The last 4 years have only reinforced this theory. She looooves pink, and she looooves kitties, and she looooves dressing up pretty, etc, etc. One of her standard exclamations is, "Oh, it's so cuuuuuuuutie!" Now along with this girly-ness comes a Princessy Diva attitude. Combine that with her sharp little mind and you get some pretty funny moments.

Recently she's been throwing up the "air quotes" while talking. Example: I was telling her that we should try french braiding her hair because she had such nice long hair. Her response was, "Are you trying to make me a 'stupid girl'? Then people will say I'm 'stupid' and they will 'be jealous of me'?" (imagine the air quotes and sassy voice)

Tonight she cracked us up with her comments during a movie. A scene came on with some kissing, all of a sudden you hear her say in a sing-song voice, "Awk-ward...." Apparently she didn't mean it as a joke because she got mad when we laughed.

Wild Ride with the Barf Sisters

And now for the final installment of the Cabin Extravaganza. Some of you may have already heard a version of this story, but it's so awesome that it deserves memorializing on the blog.

On the last day we packed up, cleaned up, and loaded the cars. While all the adults were busy cleaning, loading, etc. the kids snuck off to the creek. This was one of the times the Wyoming nephew decided to get into creek with long pants, long sleeves and "water proof" hiking boots.

We took a last couple of 4 wheeler rides before loading them up too. And bid farewell to S&C's beautiful cabin and the humingbirds and headed out.

Matt was driving a bit faster than maybe he should have on the windy windy road so... Olivia got car sick and started throwing up, which of course no one noticed but me when I heard a weird quiet sound. So I’m yelling at the other two to throw me a blanket or something. Riley is trying to grab the green one, while Sammy is holding on to the green one for dear life because it’s hers. Meanwhile barf is spewing and spreading all over Livie and pooling in her car seat... yeah... nice... Too bad I couldn’t have caught it in something... like maybe a BLANKET? So we finally wrestle the blanket from Sammy and I kind of just cover the mess so Olivia and everyone else doesn’t have to look at, smell or touch it.

Then Samantha says... “mommy, I don’t feel good”. Prior notice is a lovely thing. I tell her to grab the blue blanket (which was sitting right next to her, but she was so busy protecting the green one, that she couldn’t toss this one to us). I tell her to use it if she needs to spew. (If you need to spew, spew in this.) And sure enough... right when we’re almost done with the twisty, windies... barf. To which Riley yells, “OH! Not her too!”. I yell at Matt to pull over, he says, “Why? What can you do?”. Ummm… let’s see, make her feel better? Wipe her face off? Wrap her blanket in such a way as to avoid spilling the contents all over this child and her seat too? And in so doing, quell some of the stench that is rolling from the back seat?

We drive the rest of the way to the Wrangler Inn and the lovely little gas station next to it with the windows down and Sammy and Livie sitting grey-faced holding their breakfast covered blankets. (Actually Livie looked more white with purple lips and purple shadows under her eyes)
At the little store our clean up begins, and once we get a good look at Livie’s booster it’s pretty clear that a hazmat team would be handy right about now. Matt has to change her clothes while she keeps complaining that she doesn’t want anyone to see her. Meantime I’m trying to find the nearest garbage can for that blue blanket which is beyond disgusting and so old it’s falling apart anyway, and Riley freaks out. “No! You can’t throw that one away!” Apparently there is some attachment that only surfaced at that moment, because she never cared about that blanket before. In the end we have to find a garbage bag and shove both blankets in it and stuff it in the back of the car. (And OF COURSE Riley didn’t complain about the smell the whole way home... hellooo... )

So, Olivia is in a new outfit. I’m scrubbing her chair with wipes, as well as scrubbing the leather seats, and DOWN IN THE CRACKS of the seats. And I hear Olivia say, “Daddy, can I have a marshmallow?”

Ahhhh… good times, good times.

Actually we had a great time that weekend, it was just the ride home that stunk… literally.

Obsession

OK, so I've hinted at the obsession I had up at the cabin in an earlier post... My sister-in-law sets out a hummingbird feeder whenever they go up to the cabin and there are several little hummingbirds who like to fight over it.

One morning I got lucky with my camera and got a shot of the little orange chested guy. It turns out it really was a lucky shot because the little stinker wouldn't let me get another really good one for the rest of the trip.

Being the weirdo that I am, I just had to set up my tripod and my zoom lens and try to get some more shots of the little stinkers. I got quite a few of one with a bright pink throat, that is, when the orange guy wasn't chasing him away. The little orange guy would lurk in a nearby pine tree and any time one of the others tried to get a drink he'd come dive bombing in and squeaking and scare them away.

I wasted A LOT of time doing this, however since I was on vacation and I was having fun doing it... I suppose it wasn't a waste. I also got some really good shots. Sammie wanted to get in on the fun so she pulled up a chair to the tripod and took over for a while. And dang it if she didn't get some of the best shots!

If you click on the pictures you can see them larger with more detail. And also, I'm proud to say that the only Photoshopping I did to these was to crop them. Nothing else... (which is hard for me because I just love to tweak things till they look just perfect).

Thank you to my sis-in-law for getting a picture of my daughter while I was busy shooting birds! She got this one of Sammie waiting patiently for more hummingbirds.

Cabin version of Par-tay!

For those of us that don't go camping very often, and are confronted with a 3-5 day trip with no (gasp) television, computers, or cell phones, you might wonder... what will my children do with all this time? And will they drive me buggy by saying the B-word to me? (The B-word being BORED)

Well that was just not an issue up at the cabin. For one, there were plenty of cousins to play with, not to mention a creek! The kids had a great time playing in the creek and building dams. Occasionally one would fall in and get soaked, but just as often they would not fall in... and would be just as wet. My nephew liked to go in the creek fully dressed in long pants, long sleeve shirt, and hiking boots. He rationalized that they were "water proof boots". But failed to understand that the water proof properties didn't really work if you were in knee deep water above your boot-line.


They also took everyone on a horse ride. I stayed behind and took pictures of my obsession for the trip... that will be in a later post.


My brother has a Rhino up there (it's a 4-wheeler/truck thingy like they use on Little People Big World) and my dad brought up two 4 wheelers. So there were many fun rides around the property and on trails. And of course I had to be the one to scoff at using sunscreen. "I won't be gone that long." I think the sun must be super inferno hot up there or something... right? Yep, I was lobster lady for the rest of the trip.

There was even some low tech fun. Stick a bottle on top of a pile of dirt and throw rocks and sticks at it until you knock it down. Fun for every boy and girl.

The big loft on the 3rd floor was popular too. Between the Foosball table and just the general open area there was a lot of fun to be had. I didn't venture up there to look, but judging from all the running, laughing and yelling, I'd say they entertained themselves quite well.

We were going to shoot guns too, but the weather was being tricky and in the end Smores at the campfire won out over the shooting.

My brother and my neice. Roasting marshmallows on some very fancy willow sticks.

My Livie was mad because her marshmallows got burned.

There was entertainment all around, and I was sad that it was all over too soon.

Cabin Fever

Over the 4th my brother & his wife invited the whole family up to their cabin in Idaho for a little reunion. I think I'll blog a little about it over the next few days.


Today's topic: The awesome area and cabin. Thanks so much S & C for hosting such a fun weekend!


The area was beautiful. We had to drive a while to get back into it, and drive, and drive.. which reminds me of a little primary tune with new lyrics... "The Frandsen children puked as they drove, and drove, and drove, and drove." Haha. But that is a story for another day.


The cabin was gorgeous! My kind of camping! Of course once we arrived my dad gave up his bedroom claiming he'd been just waiting to sleep out on the deck. Nothing could change his mind, he was apparently very excited to do it. Ummm.. yeah, my dad is sweet and very stubborn.


The view from the deck was beautiful. A valley full of pines, and mist in the mornings. There were also a couple of thunderstorms which made things quite exciting. Seriously... they were very cool, we even got hail with one of them.

The cabin. They finished building it last summer, they've got a big family and a couple of cute grandkids so they pretty much fill it up when all the college kids come home.

This shot is actually in the late afternoon, you can see the smoke from the campfire where they made Dutch Oven dinner, and the little white specks you see are hailstones coming down.

After the deluge of rain and hail. Here are Riley's clothes that we hung up to dry after playing in the creek. Umm... they're even more wet now!

Pretty view of the mist at about 6:30 am. Yes, I know... I was up at 6 AM!! Isn't that one of the signs of the Apocalypse?

Another shot of the mist in the mountains. It was so pretty, this picture just doesn't do it justice.

My dear old dad. Sleeping outside on the deck. NO ONE could convince him to come inside, he's just an outdoors kind of guy. Though, I'm pretty sure it was more an excuse to make Matt & I take his bedroom. That's my dad.

Alice in Creepyland

click pic to enlarge for full effect

We saw the movie poster last night for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. If you can't tell, that's Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. True to Tim Burton form it looks like it will be cool and creepy.

My first thought when I saw this picture was that he looked like Madonna but creepier. But I think Matt nailed it on the head with "a deranged Frodo".

Of course I love Tim Burton films, so I'm excited to see this movie. But I AM a little wierded out by this picture. hehe. What do you think?

Harry Potter

Ok, my niece got after me for not blogging in such a long time. So here I am. And the latest excitement in our lives? ... we saw Harry Potter tonight.

I have to say, I think this one has been the best so far. Of course it didn't follow the book entirely, but if you can look past that, it really was a good movie. The effects were cool, and the acting is getting better and better. Oh and the best thing... Quiddich is back! I've missed the Quiddich in some of the movies.

Riley was bummed because she wanted to see the dramatic scene when Harry first kisses Ginny, (oh hell, it's starting) and they handled that scene in a different way. Matt wanted to see more of the battle at the end.. but they both agree it was good.

Sammy was freaked out by the inferi, but Olivia didn't seem to mind. She plugged her ears a lot, but that was mostly because it was loud.

Can't wait to see the next two!

En Garde...

Riley and her friend Wyatt (who Olivia calls Quiet) wanted to take fencing lessons. It's pretty cool because their coach is a Master of Sport in USSR, former Ukraine National Coach, and coached a Jr. Fencing World Championship team. Not too shabby, eh? He has a very thick accent and the kids understand him MOST of the time. Hehe.


Tuesday was the last day of this round of classes and they got to use the foils that are hooked up to a score keeping doo-hickey. It was really fun to watch, though like a ding-dong I took pictures from the wrong side so all you see is Riley's back.


Riley and I also had a good time practicing Tuesday with a toy Pirates of the Caribbean sword and a vaccuum extention. I got cracked on the knuckles really good a few times, but it was still fun.

Riley is on the left.

Yes, I know she looks a bit like a one-eyed pirate here, but she actually smiled without being asked!

Live long and prosper

We saw the new Star Trek movie tonight with our friends Kevin & Jen. Now... I'm not what you'd call a Trekkie. I mean I did watch several episodes back in the 70's, and so did you! Don't lie! But I've never watched any of the movies and you couldn't have paid me to watch a bare-chested poofy haired Ricardo Montalban in "The Wrath of Khan". Some people should have just stuck to Fantasy Island and rich Corinthian leather, but I digress.

So, back to the latest Trek movie, which by the way had my man Karl Urban in it sporting a totally dorky hairdo and doing an awesome job of playing Dr. McCoy (Bones). Best line: "Dammit Spock! I'm a doctor not a physicist!"

Another plus is that for the first time I could ACTUALLY believe that Kirk was a sexy womanizing hottie... I mean seriously.. do you remember the old TV show?

Here... you be the judge... is there really any question here?

There were many homages to the old TV show that were great. They picked the perfect cast, and the moment they began to play the Beastie Boys "Sabotage" in the first part of the movie, I knew it was going to be awesome. They also incorporated a lot of the classic music from the TV show into the movie (if you've seen Jim Carey in the movie The Cable Guy, battling at Medieval Times you'll know what music I'm referring to.. watch below).

YouTube - cable guy immense

This movie was funny and action packed from beginning to end. We didn't even touch our treats, that should tell you a lot. No clip at the end of the credits, so you don't need to bother hanging around.

I give it an 'A', despite the fact that you'll be watching it in a theater full of nerds that clap and cheer at certain points in the movie.

Oh... and I'm sure all the guys want to know... yes... there IS a green chick in the movie.