Ok, so a friend of mine from high school, Liz, whose blog I stalk regularly lives in CA and experienced a little earthquake recently.
It made me remember how much I fear earthquakes and wonder why I have this crazy fear and in my own self analyzing way I figured it out:
I live in Utah where the 90% of the population lives on this big fault line that runs along the mountains.
Every time there is the tiniest earthquake anywhere in Utah the news goes NUTSO talking about earthquakes and how a huge one will one day hit the Wasatch Front leaving behind death and distruction abound and all the other lovely stuff that the news tries to terrorize us with. Yes... I do think the news people are in a way terrorists, but that's a post for another time.
They have been doing this since I can remember. In fact, this reoccurring "breaking news" story resurfaced when I was 9 or so and in the 4th grade. It was nearly Christmas time and there were all these prediction rumors going around that there would be a big earthquake soon.
I was terrified and of course my 9 year old brain didn't have the reasoning that the adult world does so I was sure it was going to happen any day. I had all my christmas presents wrapped up in pillows in the bottom of my closet so they wouldn't get broken and I seriously lived in fear for a while there.
Come Christmas morning, I wake up before the crack of dawn to my bed shaking ferociously. I sprung into action and Quickly grabbed my pillow, rolled off my bed (breaking my record player in the process), and slithered underneath my bed to safety. Suddenly, I hear not the creaking of the earth beneath me but my brother saying, "What they heck are you doing?" He was just trying to wake me up to go open presents BY SHAKING MY BED! I was so embarrassed.
Since then, I have calmed a little in my paranoia but I am all too often reminded of my silly fear every time there is a 2.0 or 3.0 earthquake in Utah. Or even a reasonably large earthquake in California.
So there you have it. The self proclaimed shrink blames the news, and my brother for my fear of earthquakes. Now if she just had a solution. :)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Crazy mad fun!
Shane's parents came to visit and they brought along Shane's sister, Greta, and her three kids so it was kind of a mad house around here but it was fun. Boy, the kids had fun together. By the end they were fighting quite a bit but it was funny because one of the times they got in trouble for fighting they said, "but we're just pretending to fight." Either way, fighting or not, I know Roman had a blast having his cousins around to play with all day long.
In order to attempt to keep your attention through the whole post I will try to keep it brief and the pictures to a minimum but we crammed a lot into 10 days and took a lot of pictures so bare with me.
The first few days Shane was still out of town for work so we spent most of the time just letting the kids play because the child to adult ratio was a little out of balance.
Day 1: We managed to totally destroy the Dairy Queen in a matter of 45 minutes. I felt like it was a rather successful trip simply because we came with full tummies and happy children but I guess I was turning a blind eye to the chaos because Grandpa and Grandma said they didn't want to do that again. Maybe I'm just used to eating out with small children.
Day 2: Grandma got her hair redecorated. :) She wanted something new so I made an appointment and I think it turned out great. She has had the same hairstyle for a LONG time and I think that her new style makes her look younger and vibrant. I think she is still a little unsure about it, but I hope she gets lots of compliments because it looks great. Anyway, Greta, Marisa and I all went along to her appointment and enjoyed watching him cut away. We left all the other kids with Grandpa which I'm sure he really appreciated. After the cut we walked over to Real Deals, which is a home decor place I've been wanting to visit for a long time but haven't been able to because it's not the kind of place you want to take small children who can break things and they are only open on Thursdays and Saturdays. I found a few rod iron type decorations for our house that I'm really happy with. The only downside is that they are kind of heavy and I'm unsure about hanging it. I will figure it out sometime.
Day 3: Somehow we managed to eat a whole loaf of bread and drink more than a half gallon of milk before noon. So.... we had to go to the store. :)
Day 4: We started the day with the fish wrangling in Spanish Fork. Since it was Spanish Fork's Fiesta Days there was a place downtown where they put in a makeshift pond and they put some trout in there. Then you pay $5 and you can jump in and catch yourself a fish with your hands or a net. Roman thought it was awesome that he got to catch a fish. He caught one with help then as they were trying to get him out of the pond, he caught another all by himself. All the kids caught their fish, but we put all but two back because no one really likes to eat fish but me. I did gut and scale the two fish we kept and we barbecued them up for dinner. I had a few bites and was done but it was fun to experience that again since I haven't done that since I was a kid. I will admit that it is pretty gross but one of those life experiences that I'm glad to have.
For lunch, Shane, Marisa, Greta and I all went for curry at Thai Chili Gardens. Yum!
That evening the kids played in the pool in the back yard for three hours straight but somehow managed to not get sunburned.
Day 5: Church, dinner and the kids got to play in the rain.
Day 6: I sent everyone off to Kangaroo Zoo to play so that I could clean the carpets in our house. Our carpet was getting pretty gross and I've been intending to clean them for a long time now, but I can't do it when there are kids in the house so this was a perfect opportunity. I was a little worried about how Marisa would do because she is as attached as ever but she had a lot of fun. Roman was in four year old heaven. They spent three hours wearing themselves out and skinning their elbows on the slides.
That night we went to the stock parade in Spanish Fork. I'm not sure exactly why they call it a stock parade because the only animal in the parade was horses. I can't believe there wasn't even a single sheep or cow on a leash. So, it was disappointing but luckily there was a little candy thrown so the kids felt like it was worth it. At least we didn't drive far, wait for hours or sit in the hot sun.
Now if I had to cross the plains in a wagon... this is how I would like to go. Talk about luxury. :)
Day 7: We went to Chuck-E-Cheeses to try to stay out of the heat but still keep the kids from going crazy. 500 tokens later they had played every game till they were sick of it (or the adults were sick of it anyway), and Marisa had ridden every ride three or four times. She really enjoyed herself.
That night was the Fiesta Days Rodeo. It started at 8:00pm which was already past the younger kids bedtimes but it was still lots of fun. Marisa thought the stairs were her own personal perfectly sized seat and she spent the first hour or so sitting there proud as a peacock. She would stand up and dance to the music and LOVED seeing all the animals.
Roman really liked the mutton busters and when I asked him if he wanted to try riding a sheep he said "YEAH!!!" He sure was tired by the end though, he kept trying to find a place to lie down. You can't blame the kid. He didn't nap, although he did give it a try, and it was four hours past his normal bedtime by the time we got home.
Day 8: We had Doctors appointments for Roman and Marisa in American Fork that morning. They went really well, Marisa is 80% for height and 30% for weight (thank goodness because she wants me to carry her all the time) and Roman is 80% for height and 50% for weight. Roman didn't have to get any shots but, I had prepared him for them because I didn't know. So when the Dr. said he didn't have to have any Roman said "But I need them so I don't get sick!" So... Roman got his Kindergarten shots already. He got four big shots in his legs and didn't cry or nothin'. He was so proud. Marisa got two shots and did cry, but not for very long. One of them was the Chicken Pox vaccine though and I remember Roman being grouchy for nearly a week after that one and Marisa seems to be the same. :(
After the appointments we met up with everyone else at the Lehi Legacy Center to go swimming. We had heard about their cool indoor pool so we thought we would try it out. It was really nice. I enjoyed being able to swim in a very child friendly pool without the sun baking me to death.
Roman was his usual self in the pool thinking he is invincible and being really brave (which is good and bad) . Marisa who wouldn't come out of the fetal position the last time we went swimming was super brave too. She kept trying to float on her back and wanted to walk in the water without me touching her. She dunked herself a few times and was blowing bubbles in the water. After three hours of swimming the kids were hungry and adults were water logged so we went home. Both kids were out after just a few seconds in the car. We rarely get to see our kids asleep because our kids just like sleeping in their beds, in the dark, with the doors closed so I had to take a picture. All these days of playing as hard as they can, They were TIRED!
Day 9: The day was spent enjoying some more play time. Shane went with his dad to see Batman and we all just played randomly here and there.
Day 10: We wrapped things up, Greta, Marisa, Shane and I went for more curry at a different place, it wasn't as good.
We all said our goodbyes because everyone was leaving really early the next morning.
Roman was sad to have everyone go, but he said "I'm not gonna cry about it" and he didn't.
We were glad to have visitors and now I can't believe that July is nearly over. I just need visitors for these next three months to help the time fly because I already feel completely overstretched and huge. A distraction would be nice.
Roman has swimming lessons in a week so that will help distract him and I am hunting for a good preschool for Roman for this fall. I'm not too concerned with what he learns at preschool but I would like him to have the peer interaction and the break from a crazy mommy with three children she doesn't know what to do with, I just hate the looking part. I know of three close by but I think they are all about learning so much that kindergarten is boring and they are expensive so I'm looking for a cheaper and perhaps more fun option. His preschool teacher from last year isn't doing it again this year which we are sad about.
In order to attempt to keep your attention through the whole post I will try to keep it brief and the pictures to a minimum but we crammed a lot into 10 days and took a lot of pictures so bare with me.
The first few days Shane was still out of town for work so we spent most of the time just letting the kids play because the child to adult ratio was a little out of balance.
Day 1: We managed to totally destroy the Dairy Queen in a matter of 45 minutes. I felt like it was a rather successful trip simply because we came with full tummies and happy children but I guess I was turning a blind eye to the chaos because Grandpa and Grandma said they didn't want to do that again. Maybe I'm just used to eating out with small children.
Day 2: Grandma got her hair redecorated. :) She wanted something new so I made an appointment and I think it turned out great. She has had the same hairstyle for a LONG time and I think that her new style makes her look younger and vibrant. I think she is still a little unsure about it, but I hope she gets lots of compliments because it looks great. Anyway, Greta, Marisa and I all went along to her appointment and enjoyed watching him cut away. We left all the other kids with Grandpa which I'm sure he really appreciated. After the cut we walked over to Real Deals, which is a home decor place I've been wanting to visit for a long time but haven't been able to because it's not the kind of place you want to take small children who can break things and they are only open on Thursdays and Saturdays. I found a few rod iron type decorations for our house that I'm really happy with. The only downside is that they are kind of heavy and I'm unsure about hanging it. I will figure it out sometime.
Day 3: Somehow we managed to eat a whole loaf of bread and drink more than a half gallon of milk before noon. So.... we had to go to the store. :)
Day 4: We started the day with the fish wrangling in Spanish Fork. Since it was Spanish Fork's Fiesta Days there was a place downtown where they put in a makeshift pond and they put some trout in there. Then you pay $5 and you can jump in and catch yourself a fish with your hands or a net. Roman thought it was awesome that he got to catch a fish. He caught one with help then as they were trying to get him out of the pond, he caught another all by himself. All the kids caught their fish, but we put all but two back because no one really likes to eat fish but me. I did gut and scale the two fish we kept and we barbecued them up for dinner. I had a few bites and was done but it was fun to experience that again since I haven't done that since I was a kid. I will admit that it is pretty gross but one of those life experiences that I'm glad to have.
For lunch, Shane, Marisa, Greta and I all went for curry at Thai Chili Gardens. Yum!
That evening the kids played in the pool in the back yard for three hours straight but somehow managed to not get sunburned.
Day 5: Church, dinner and the kids got to play in the rain.
Day 6: I sent everyone off to Kangaroo Zoo to play so that I could clean the carpets in our house. Our carpet was getting pretty gross and I've been intending to clean them for a long time now, but I can't do it when there are kids in the house so this was a perfect opportunity. I was a little worried about how Marisa would do because she is as attached as ever but she had a lot of fun. Roman was in four year old heaven. They spent three hours wearing themselves out and skinning their elbows on the slides.
That night we went to the stock parade in Spanish Fork. I'm not sure exactly why they call it a stock parade because the only animal in the parade was horses. I can't believe there wasn't even a single sheep or cow on a leash. So, it was disappointing but luckily there was a little candy thrown so the kids felt like it was worth it. At least we didn't drive far, wait for hours or sit in the hot sun.
Now if I had to cross the plains in a wagon... this is how I would like to go. Talk about luxury. :)
Day 7: We went to Chuck-E-Cheeses to try to stay out of the heat but still keep the kids from going crazy. 500 tokens later they had played every game till they were sick of it (or the adults were sick of it anyway), and Marisa had ridden every ride three or four times. She really enjoyed herself.
That night was the Fiesta Days Rodeo. It started at 8:00pm which was already past the younger kids bedtimes but it was still lots of fun. Marisa thought the stairs were her own personal perfectly sized seat and she spent the first hour or so sitting there proud as a peacock. She would stand up and dance to the music and LOVED seeing all the animals.
Roman really liked the mutton busters and when I asked him if he wanted to try riding a sheep he said "YEAH!!!" He sure was tired by the end though, he kept trying to find a place to lie down. You can't blame the kid. He didn't nap, although he did give it a try, and it was four hours past his normal bedtime by the time we got home.Day 8: We had Doctors appointments for Roman and Marisa in American Fork that morning. They went really well, Marisa is 80% for height and 30% for weight (thank goodness because she wants me to carry her all the time) and Roman is 80% for height and 50% for weight. Roman didn't have to get any shots but, I had prepared him for them because I didn't know. So when the Dr. said he didn't have to have any Roman said "But I need them so I don't get sick!" So... Roman got his Kindergarten shots already. He got four big shots in his legs and didn't cry or nothin'. He was so proud. Marisa got two shots and did cry, but not for very long. One of them was the Chicken Pox vaccine though and I remember Roman being grouchy for nearly a week after that one and Marisa seems to be the same. :(
After the appointments we met up with everyone else at the Lehi Legacy Center to go swimming. We had heard about their cool indoor pool so we thought we would try it out. It was really nice. I enjoyed being able to swim in a very child friendly pool without the sun baking me to death.
Roman was his usual self in the pool thinking he is invincible and being really brave (which is good and bad) . Marisa who wouldn't come out of the fetal position the last time we went swimming was super brave too. She kept trying to float on her back and wanted to walk in the water without me touching her. She dunked herself a few times and was blowing bubbles in the water. After three hours of swimming the kids were hungry and adults were water logged so we went home. Both kids were out after just a few seconds in the car. We rarely get to see our kids asleep because our kids just like sleeping in their beds, in the dark, with the doors closed so I had to take a picture. All these days of playing as hard as they can, They were TIRED!
Day 9: The day was spent enjoying some more play time. Shane went with his dad to see Batman and we all just played randomly here and there.
Day 10: We wrapped things up, Greta, Marisa, Shane and I went for more curry at a different place, it wasn't as good.
We all said our goodbyes because everyone was leaving really early the next morning.
Roman was sad to have everyone go, but he said "I'm not gonna cry about it" and he didn't.
We were glad to have visitors and now I can't believe that July is nearly over. I just need visitors for these next three months to help the time fly because I already feel completely overstretched and huge. A distraction would be nice.
Roman has swimming lessons in a week so that will help distract him and I am hunting for a good preschool for Roman for this fall. I'm not too concerned with what he learns at preschool but I would like him to have the peer interaction and the break from a crazy mommy with three children she doesn't know what to do with, I just hate the looking part. I know of three close by but I think they are all about learning so much that kindergarten is boring and they are expensive so I'm looking for a cheaper and perhaps more fun option. His preschool teacher from last year isn't doing it again this year which we are sad about.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Memories.... sweet memories
Please play with me!
Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.
(I got this from Kristy, who was my roommate and friend in college.)
Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.
(I got this from Kristy, who was my roommate and friend in college.)
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Fun 4th of July Weekend
We had a fun, but not too busy holiday weekend. Although I'm not sure very much was all that picture worthy. I did get a few.
Shane's brother Lance came to visit and that is always an excuse to have a little extra fun. Roman always enjoys another person to talk to and play with and Lance is really good at both listening to his banter and playing with him.
We started out the festivities with the balloon launch on Thursday in Provo. It's always so hard to get up and get going that early but I remember how bad I wanted to do it every year as a kid and being the youngest, it didn't happen very often because I couldn't convince anyone to wake up that early. So I'm trying to be a good sport about it.
Marisa loves balloons and hot air balloons are no exception. Unfortunately for me, 5:45 isn't far from her normal wake up time so she was ready to party. Roman on the other hand was sleepy for the rest of the day. But he still enjoyed it.
For lunch we went to Thai Chili Garden which is a favorite for us, but is just far enough away that we don't make it there very often. If you are ever in North Orem, I suggest trying the Mussaman Curry. I've had an aversion to it. We had Mussaman curry the day Roman was born and let's just say, it tasted quite the same coming back up a few hours later and I am so bad with smell associations etc. that it really has never been the same for me. But I used to love it! I also suggest getting the sticky rice rather than just the white rice. It has a sweeter flavor and is SUPER sticky but OH SO GOOD!!! I just have rice with a little bit of curry sauce on top and it's actually one of my favorite meals. The kids love to eat the rice too.
We really took it easy on the 4th. Neither Shane nor I enjoy parades much, but that was another venue that I really liked as a kid. Maybe when the kids are a bit older, I will suffer through it. It just seems like the Provo parade is SO packed and it's impossible to get a good place to sit that we might just stick to the small town parades.
We did go to Shane's sisters house for a good BBQ lunch and some wii play time, but most of the day was spent lounging around doing a whole lot of notin'. We also bought a small pack of fireworks for Roman to enjoy but in an attempt to have a semi normal, not exausted kid the next day we had to light them before it was really dark. Hey, Roman is 4 and doesn't really know the difference so he can watch his fireworks in the light. Lucky for him it was at least cloudy. :) I look forward to the day when he and his siblings are old enough to stay up and go to see some real big fireworks because I like them too, but for now, I prefer a well rested child.
I also did something this week I have been wanting to do for 5 years now and that was to sell the boxing stand that we have in our basement. It was given to us from some friends who were moving and it was kind of fun to own, but it was SO BIG and for the most part really bothered me. Not that we don't have the room for it, but I just don't think we had the use for it. Shane used it an average of once a year or less, I'm not a big boxing fan anyway and would prefer that my kids avoid the sport so I've been saying that I wanted it gone for a long time. Well, I got permission to sell it this week and I jumped on that faster than lightning. It was listed on KSL and that night I had a buyer. Woo Hoo!!!! I probably didn't ask for enough considering the speed at which is sold, but I almost felt guilty asking for any money at all since it was given to us and I almost would have paid someone to take it away with the level of dislike I had for the thing.
Anyway, in the process of taking the thing down, Roman discovered the boxing gloves and latched on to those like you can't believe. He had so much fun boxing with Lance, Shane and his 6 year old cousin, you can imagine how sad he was when the guy who bought the set came to take it all away. In it's place is a bunk bed that we inherited from the neighbors. I figured that we could probably get a little more use out of it, including the pending visit from some more cousins in a few weeks. And, if we decide we really don't want to use it. I guess I can just list it on KSL for $30 and it can make room for whatever is next. LOL
Hope you all had a good weekend too.
Shane's brother Lance came to visit and that is always an excuse to have a little extra fun. Roman always enjoys another person to talk to and play with and Lance is really good at both listening to his banter and playing with him.
We started out the festivities with the balloon launch on Thursday in Provo. It's always so hard to get up and get going that early but I remember how bad I wanted to do it every year as a kid and being the youngest, it didn't happen very often because I couldn't convince anyone to wake up that early. So I'm trying to be a good sport about it.
Marisa loves balloons and hot air balloons are no exception. Unfortunately for me, 5:45 isn't far from her normal wake up time so she was ready to party. Roman on the other hand was sleepy for the rest of the day. But he still enjoyed it.
For lunch we went to Thai Chili Garden which is a favorite for us, but is just far enough away that we don't make it there very often. If you are ever in North Orem, I suggest trying the Mussaman Curry. I've had an aversion to it. We had Mussaman curry the day Roman was born and let's just say, it tasted quite the same coming back up a few hours later and I am so bad with smell associations etc. that it really has never been the same for me. But I used to love it! I also suggest getting the sticky rice rather than just the white rice. It has a sweeter flavor and is SUPER sticky but OH SO GOOD!!! I just have rice with a little bit of curry sauce on top and it's actually one of my favorite meals. The kids love to eat the rice too.
We really took it easy on the 4th. Neither Shane nor I enjoy parades much, but that was another venue that I really liked as a kid. Maybe when the kids are a bit older, I will suffer through it. It just seems like the Provo parade is SO packed and it's impossible to get a good place to sit that we might just stick to the small town parades.
We did go to Shane's sisters house for a good BBQ lunch and some wii play time, but most of the day was spent lounging around doing a whole lot of notin'. We also bought a small pack of fireworks for Roman to enjoy but in an attempt to have a semi normal, not exausted kid the next day we had to light them before it was really dark. Hey, Roman is 4 and doesn't really know the difference so he can watch his fireworks in the light. Lucky for him it was at least cloudy. :) I look forward to the day when he and his siblings are old enough to stay up and go to see some real big fireworks because I like them too, but for now, I prefer a well rested child.
I also did something this week I have been wanting to do for 5 years now and that was to sell the boxing stand that we have in our basement. It was given to us from some friends who were moving and it was kind of fun to own, but it was SO BIG and for the most part really bothered me. Not that we don't have the room for it, but I just don't think we had the use for it. Shane used it an average of once a year or less, I'm not a big boxing fan anyway and would prefer that my kids avoid the sport so I've been saying that I wanted it gone for a long time. Well, I got permission to sell it this week and I jumped on that faster than lightning. It was listed on KSL and that night I had a buyer. Woo Hoo!!!! I probably didn't ask for enough considering the speed at which is sold, but I almost felt guilty asking for any money at all since it was given to us and I almost would have paid someone to take it away with the level of dislike I had for the thing.
Anyway, in the process of taking the thing down, Roman discovered the boxing gloves and latched on to those like you can't believe. He had so much fun boxing with Lance, Shane and his 6 year old cousin, you can imagine how sad he was when the guy who bought the set came to take it all away. In it's place is a bunk bed that we inherited from the neighbors. I figured that we could probably get a little more use out of it, including the pending visit from some more cousins in a few weeks. And, if we decide we really don't want to use it. I guess I can just list it on KSL for $30 and it can make room for whatever is next. LOL
Hope you all had a good weekend too.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Cheap Summer Fun
Summer has finally come with a big bang. It's been so hot that it doesn't even make our house cooler at night to open the windows. It's been in the mid to high 90's all week but it's not stopping us from having some good old fashioned, cheap summer fun.
One afternoon we turned on a sprinkler and Roman ran through. For kicks I put on Marisa's swimming suit, but she mostly just watched. She did get brave and let her legs get wet but that's about as far as she would go. She sure was cute in her little patriotic swimsuit, compliments of Greta and Corinne. We LOVE hand-me-downs!
Today I noticed we had a few old hamburger buns and a couple bagels that were growing something so I thought.... Why not go find some ducks to feed? I love feeding ducks for some reason. I don't know what is so entertaining about watching normally pretty calm ducks go crazy for moldy bread and stale cheerios but the kids get a kick out of it too.
Marisa even attempted to say duck and to quack. Her "duck" was actually quite good but her quacks were very similar to her dog barks.
One afternoon we turned on a sprinkler and Roman ran through. For kicks I put on Marisa's swimming suit, but she mostly just watched. She did get brave and let her legs get wet but that's about as far as she would go. She sure was cute in her little patriotic swimsuit, compliments of Greta and Corinne. We LOVE hand-me-downs!
Today I noticed we had a few old hamburger buns and a couple bagels that were growing something so I thought.... Why not go find some ducks to feed? I love feeding ducks for some reason. I don't know what is so entertaining about watching normally pretty calm ducks go crazy for moldy bread and stale cheerios but the kids get a kick out of it too.
Marisa even attempted to say duck and to quack. Her "duck" was actually quite good but her quacks were very similar to her dog barks.
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