Monday, February 16

Our Valentine's Day

I've had too much fun the last week, so this is going to have to be short and sweet so I can get back to making up for all the real-life I've been putting off.
We had a BLAST goofing off at the ward Valentine's Dance, something we used to go to every year and were trying to make a tradition. There's hope yet... ;D Our pupils are way dilated- we look kind of freaky! Oh well, cute pose. (Courtesy Andrea McClelland- thanks for not settling for the first boring pose we struck Andrea! We need all the help we can get...)
Zach enlisted Breezi's help for his Valentine present to me. She is going to be rich and famous for these... YUM!!


I made a "fancy" dinner. But I didn't take pictures of it because fancy didn't include good-looking. At least it tasted good- all the kids ate it right up, green bean casserole and all!

Friday, February 13

Little reader

We are loving our reading book, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." We started seven or eight months ago- right before Mia turned three. She knew her capital letters, and some of the lowercase, but had no idea what sounds any of them made. The book uses the SRA DISTAR method (basically phonetics,) and gives you absolutely everything you need to teach your kid. There's a script for parents to read for each little step, and tips on how to encourage and correct as you go.
We've had a lot of ups and downs, as we have learned to be patient with each other. For a while, we butted heads because she didn't want to be corrected the wrong way, and I was using the word "no," which killed the buzz every time. We fought our way to lesson 78 and came to a standstill. No treat was good enough to get her excited to read. So we went back to 47 and started over. Her confidence skyrocketed, and I was free to concentrate more on my teaching than her reading. Things that we really struggled with the first time through took a fraction of the time. Finally I got into the habit of just "hmm"ing when I needed to stop her, which morphed into "try again," a phrase she responds to really well. Lesson 78 found a much happier, more willing, and more capable Mia the second time around. And a much less frustrated me. This was lesson 82.
I think accomplishing this together has really been good for us. It's definitely reinforced my desire to "home"school. We are learning so much more than how to read!
The book is out of print, but copies are everywhere online- we got ours used for seven bucks!
Did I just say "bucks"?! How unladylike. ;D

Thursday, February 12

6th picture tag

Amanda tagged me. So this is the same as the 4th picture tag, but you're supposed to go to your picture folder, get the 6th folder, and the 6th pic from that folder.
July 2006. Mine was going in reverse order, so this is actually the sixth from the end of the Britt wedding. This is the wedding where I first heard the "Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World" medley by Israel Kamakawiwo. It was playing during the daddy/daughter dance, and her sister told me a little about their sweet relationship that almost brought me to tears. So cute. This pic is actually after everyone went home, and she and her new hubby were just goofing around.
Taaaaagggg. Hmmm. RhondaLue, Ally, Wa (I know I tagged you last, time, but I just can't help it,) Nog, Maury aaaaannnd... BLOGSTALKER. Where in the heck is Blogstalker- I think I've fallen out of his or her good graces. Maybe I need to add him or her to my blogroll- duh.

Friday, February 6

Because I'm such a joiner

If you are on Facebook, you have probably been tagged by at least 10 people to do this "25 random things about me." Because I've waited so long to do it, I'm sure I don't have any friends who haven't already been tagged, but we'll see if there are any people out there left still fighting this pseudo cult.

1) I once lost a contact from keeping my eyes open on the back of a bullet bike doing 100 mph on 1300 E. in Sandy. Speed limit: 35.

2) When I was a kid I regularly thought up names for twin girls, including one for me named Winter. Because for some reason there were two photos of me on the wall, we tried to convince my cousin Rachelle that Winter actually existed. I would dress up in different outfits, and make entrances and exits from different places. I think she kind of believed it for about 30 seconds.

3) Someone showed me how Skittles are better when you taste the whole rainbow at once, and now that's the only way I’ll eat them. If there are no purples or greens or whatevers left, I usually give the package to someone else to finish, or chuck it.

4) I can’t keep plants alive, especially since I had kids (which I can keep alive- how nice.)

5) Archery is probably my best sport. No running involved, no balls flying at my face. I have pretty good aim.

6) I am always covered in at least three bruises, and can never figure out how I got them.

7) When I became a mom, I was told my pain threshold is really high. I think it might explain the inexplicable bruises.

8) Chocolate will be my ultimate undoing.

9) Favorite color is clear, and I won’t take any flack about it.

10) Each of the handful of times I’ve met women taller than me I was so disoriented I kind of felt uncomfortable. Somehow, my family members don’t have the same effect.

11) I’ve always wished I were shorter. At least 5’ 10” would be nice. Clothes shopping is what usually reminds me. But it is kind of funny that my size 12 makes me look like a stick, compared to a short person’s size 12.

12) My wedding ring is in my jewelry box so I won’t lose it. So is all of my other jewelry. I wear one of the plain bands to look married.

13) You probably can’t offend me. But, uh- I’m not issuing a challenge or anything…

14) I hate dogs, won’t touch reptiles, and can’t squish bugs with tissue.

15) I’ll wipe perfect stranger’s baby’s drool off with my bare hands to get a good picture.

16) My hair has been cut boy short twice and grown below the strap three times in the last eight years, and I’m not sure what color it really is.

17) I’m the world’s worst multi-tasker. And no, having twins hasn’t helped.

18) I once started an elbow judging contest. For some reason a lot of people cared all of the sudden what I would rate their elbows on a scale of 1 to 10. Probably had something to do with the palpable lack of anything else to do.

19) Every one of my Facebook friends from the past is someone I’ve thought of at least a few times over the years and wondered how they were doing- even those who weren’t close friends.

20) Strangers ask me if I’m from California, Washington, Canada, England, Utah, Wisconsin/ Minnesota area, because of how I talk. I don’t think I have any kind of accent whatsoever. Once a guy on a subway in New York knew my sister and I were Mormon because of our hair- and we didn’t even have the bob or anything. (Has anyone else from Utah dealt with this?)

21) When I was working at Olan Mills Kids, at least once a week strangers asked if I had kids. I was 18. They meant it as a friendly conversational starter, but it always annoyed my insecure self to no end.

22) I can’t leave the house with the girls without hearing some variation of the phrase “you’ve got your hands full.” I’m not kidding- EVERY TIME we’re in public. It hasn’t been annoying though, probably because so far I only hear it from smiling people when the girls are being good. It's a nice change from the old check-to-see-if-she's-wearing-heels glance that used to be the norm.

23) I’m seriously considering homeschooling if we can’t get Mia into a good school. (I’ve only heard bad things about the district we’re in now, so Kindergarten is definitely going to be at home.) I have dreams of traveling to visit places instead of just reading about them. “Home”schooling will be a very loose term for us if that’s what we end up doing. I’m sure we’ll be able to find a good high school, though. Zach will be done with residency, and we’ll be able to choose where we live.

24) Zach and I both want to live away from noise. We’re pretty tired of being at the mercy of inconsiderate neighbors for peace and quiet.

25) 99% of my talents are pointless. I learned how to flawlessly and simultaneously crack two eggs into a bowl because of Little House on the Prairie.