Wishing

Other than wishing our spec home would sell and trying to control my fuming anger, here's what I've been up to lately...

I'm a little behind with work, so I taught Clara how to use my 10-key. Really, this was on the box and she pulled it onto her lap and started smacking the keys. I don't use this often and when I do, it's never on my lap. So what does this mean? Um, she's a genius. Speaking of work, I got a new client and I think it's going to be great. It's just the transition that's been a bit of a problem. Today was their first payroll and I still hadn't talked to the prior accountant yesterday. How are some people okay with not returning phone calls? I don't get it. Anyway, I think I figured it out and now I just have to figure the rest of the Organization out alone!

Also this week Clara has been doing strange things. First, she took two wonderful two hour naps on Monday. Since then, she's been taking 30-40 minute naps and just SCREAMS. Plus, she's waking up super early. I'm about to go crazy. I'm hoping it's a phase, along with her sudden hatred of vegetables. Clara used to eat just about anything I fed her. Wednesday I believe it was, she was spitting it out and I just kept giving her more. She ended up eating some of it, but not without a fight and making some awfully hysterical faces and noises. Just see for yourself...Wednesday night she was still being a stinker so I decided to go on a walk. But don't worry, I bundled her all up since I'm sure it was like 70 degrees outside.

Today was renewing for me. For part of my birthday present, my mom offered to help me 'organize' my house. I'm a perfectionist and part of that means I don't want to do something unless I can do it perfectly. It either needs to be done perfectly or I can't bring myself to do it at all. Obviously, I don't have hours on end to get my house the way I want it, so my mom came to my rescue. We rearranged our front room and cleaned the guest room which she insists I now call my office. I called it the front room and she says, "What did you say?!" Ha ha. Anyway, she's coming back to help with my room and the garage. It's hard because we have SO little storage in our house and what little we do have is being used. Plus, Jason likes to keep everything but doesn't like to help organize it, so we have a bunch of half-full boxes all over the place. My wise mother said to tell him he can keep everything and anything he wants... and we'll just stick it in the attic.

We took a little break to go to "Grandparent's Day" at Lily's and James' school. Kathryn and her girls came too. Since Lily doesn't have any living grandparents, we decided Kathryn or I could be the mom and my mom could be the Grandma. It's been YEARS since I ate cafeteria food. I was a little nervous, but the hamburger really had no flavor so no flavor is better than none!

Tonight I went to Nylene's to make these marshmallow roasters that we're going to have the Scouts make. It was really fun and I think they are going to turn out AWESOME. We'll see what they look though after they cook and are painted. Until then, I need to get back to thinking about working...

Be Thankful

Last night I was giving Clara a bath and she let out some gas. This was nothing unusual. The thought crossed my mind, "What if?" I quickly disregarded it. She hadn't done that since she was like six weeks old. Oh the look that must have swept across my face when I noticed a foreign object appear just moments later. Be thankful I know where to draw the line on what I take pictures of and I'll be thankful for Clorox. :)

Lazy Days

I can't remember the last time I stayed home from church because I was sick, let alone went without showering for a few days and managed to stay in the same pj's for two days straight. Until yesterday, that is. Every night for the last four or so I went to bed thinking, tomorrow it will be better. Unfortunately, my simple hopes were never a reality. Sunday Jason and I slept when Clara slept (well, I did once and Jason did both her naps plus some) and just laid on the floor when she was playing. I also read pretty much all day. Rachel brought me Twilight to finish. I had started when I was in Utah three months ago and hadn't made the effort to get a copy to finish. When I left the story in Utah at chapter five, I was intrigued and was interested a little bit. Once I got a few more chapters in, I couldn't put the book down. Now that I have finished the book, I haven't stopped waiting to read the next. I'm about to go crazy not knowing what happens and decided I quite enjoy fantasy, maybe even childish, love stories. I've also decided I want Jason to be a vampire and haven't stopped begging him to be such. I told him he should read the book so he can know how I want him to act. Maybe I can just relate to the way Bella feels about Edward. Oh, new young love, so sweet.

The good news is I think the worst of my illness has passed because I feel better today. I have lots of work to do again, but our weekly meeting got canceled yesterday, so that was a relief. I had decided I'd go eventhough I didn't feel like it and definetely didn't want to.

Other than being sick, I LOVE this time of year. I love the cold weather, I love hot chocolate and I love the holidays. Everything is just more cheerful: the stores, the music, the people. A few weeks ago I told Jason I was so excited for Christmas and his mature response was, "Why? We don't have any money." Obviously growing up he missed the point of Christmas. The best things about Christmas will be here regardless of our situation. The trees, the lights, the music, the get togethers, the movies, the decorations, the traditions and most important, a celebration of our Savior's birth. I just love the feeling in the air. Yeah for this time of year! Now you see it...

Now you don't! Yum.Clara update for my own personal records: On Thanksgiving Clara would only crawl the real way in the grass at my mom's. Now, sometimes she will, but more often than not, she's back to slithering. Also, her top tooth to the left of her left middle is totally in. I noticed I think on Friday or Saturday that it had barely broke the skin and now it looks almost as big as her giant front teeth. The other side broke through just a few days ago too and is coming in rather quickly. Six teeth, 11 months and cute as can be. I just can't get enough of my baby. Sad, sick and oh so sweet.

For whatever reason, Clara LOVES Jason's hat. When he gets home, he'll take it off and give it to her and she gets so excited. I tried to fix her red eyes in this picture and it made her right eye look psycho, but I'm too lazy to move the picture to my computer and use the program I have. :)

I don't normally put shoes on Clara, but since it's cold, I've decided I better stop. My friend bought these cute little shoes for Clara months before she was born and they finally fit. Clara just couldn't figure out what was on her feet and was devising a plan on how to get them off.

Family Fun

After we got home Thanksgiving night, sick and exhausted neither our fun nor our sickness came to an end. Friday, I went shopping for a few things and got most of my Christmas shopping done (it's amazing how quickly you can accomplish such a feat when you have very limited funds :)). Then, Clara and I just pretty much laid around all day and all night. When Jason got home from work, he laid around with us. We were all coughing, had fevers and felt miserable. Saturday seemed to be a little better, or maybe I was in denial that sickness could last so long. Jason worked in the morning and then met me at my mom's to watch Clara while I got to go to the Temple with my family. Casey Anne loves the little babies, so Clara was off on a wagon ride before I even left.

Since it's quite rare to all be together, I didn't miss a chance to take some pictures. As always, Clint and Ryan were very enthusiastic about my happy snapper finger.
Of the "grown-ups" we're just missing Emily. Hopefully someday we can all be together. Note: it is apparently a Melzer trait, one I didn't inherit, to close your eyes in 95% of pictures. However, I couldn't help but notice that in almost every picture I took out in the bright sun, the typical eye closers had their eyes open perfectly fun.
After that, the married kids went to dinner. My mom and dad stayed with Rachel's kids. I feel bad because it seems like my mom always ends up babysitting. I know she loves her grandkids, but I think she'd also like to go out with us one of these times. It is always fun being with my family. Because really, do any of you have brother-in-laws that would draw something so randomly well as this? Oh, and notice the bread he (Clint) drew and being the nice Uncle he is, offered some to Clara.
I had our server take a picture of all of us. If only Rachel's eyes were opened, but apparently the server was too enthralled with her smile to notice. After he took the picture, he looks at her and said, "Great smile" with a little grin. He was nice, but did a few strange things. Like when Clara started getting fussy, he said, "You're my last table, so I will hold your baby if you want. I love kids." I used the best excuse that I could muster up that she was afraid of strangers and he said, "Well, she can watch Sesame Street on my phone." I thanked him and tried to sort through how to take his offer. That type of thing is borderline super nice person/psycho freak. After dinner, we were going to have a girl's night out. We were going to get dessert and watch Hair Spray in the theater. We ended up going to Golden Spoon with all but one of the kids (Don, Jason and Micah decided to go have a guys outing... so off went the babysitters) and then watched Hairspray at Ryan and Kathryn's. Jason did get back before we started the movie so he took Clara and put her to sleep and Don took Lucas. This is Emma. She's just like a littl ray of sunshine spritzing around.

Oh and little Lucas. He's so little and just so cute. He is just a tiny bit taller than Clara but walks (he's four months older). I love how his itty bitty pants are still too big for him.Of course my night wouldn't be complete without attempting a cousins picture. Emily's kids are missing, so hopefully next time we're all together we can get one with all the kids. Okay, now how I felt about the movie. It was totally cheesey, but it made me laugh. I was a little surprised at the number of sexual innuendos and thought it'd be a little cleaner than what it was. I'm sure I'd watch it again and I'd probably laugh because I'd catch even more of the subtle lines in the songs. I can't imagine Jason even enjoying five minutes of it with me, so it was a good thing I watched it with the girls.

Huh?

Sometimes when I hear the things kids say I think how much I look forward to having my own talking children to make me laugh. And then I have conversations like the following with Jason that make me realize I already have a speaking age household member that says off the wall things...

Anna: What do you want for Christmas?
Jason: Nothing.
Anna: Tell me.
Jason: I know, I will take what you'd spend on me and buy you that camera that's $150.
Anna: Um, sorry, we can spend like $20 on each other.
Jason: What? You can't even buy the big box of tampons with that!

Ode to Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving! I appreciate this holiday, not just for the neverending feasts it seems to bring, but I also enjoy reflecting on the many things I'm grateful for. I made a lengthy list of my blessings (imagine that, me make a long list...) so that if I'm ever feeling down I can read it to remember how blessed I am. At the top of the list are: Jason, Clara, Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, the Gospel, the Scriptures, the Temple and my family. I love my family and enjoy spending time with them.

I had this great idea when we woke up to go get donuts and a paper from the grocery store and then go watch Rachel finish the 10k Turkey Trot. Well, it didn't all go according to planned, we never saw Rachel after looking for her for about 30 minutes (plus about 20 minutes of walking to and from the finish line) which made Clara late for her nap. Normally, that wouldn't be bad, but she's been so sick. I think she has Croup. Anyway, while she napped Jason and I made 10 pounds of mashed potatoes. Then we were off to my mom's for our feast. Yum. I was excited because last year I had to be cautious about what I ate since I was so fat and pregnant. This year, nothing held me back. As always, there was plenty of good food. Here's just a few of the company. I was trying to stuff my face and Clara's so fast that I didn't think to get a picture while everyone was eating.
Afterwards, we just visited. I was outside with Steve, Daniel and Sarah (Daniel's friend) and decided I wanted to ride on Daniel's motorcycle. The first, last and only other time I attempted that was in Snowflake about 13 years ago. After running into the house, the garbage cans and barely missing the car, I opted to leave that adventure for another time. Now that I'm so much older, I figured I could handle a tiny little motorcycle. Too bad we didn't get my foolishness on video today. I was concentrating so hard on letting the clutch out ever so slowly with my left hand, I didn't realize I was pulling down on the gas with my right. It jerked forward and as I tried to hang on to the bike as tight as I could with my right hand (the GAS) the front wheel shot straight up. Luckily I jumped off, but I was hanging on the right handle with all my might trying to keep the bike from smacking Rachel's car (which, by the way, just got a new bumper) not realizing I was giving it so much gas and that's why it kept getting harder to hold on to. This all happened very fast and I thought I was going to die if I didn't let go, so I did and Daniel helped save me. I hurt my hand and I think I hurt the bike a little bit. Wooops! Everyone laughed and I retired for the day from trying to ride the bike. Steven ran over to give me a hug. I'm not sure if it was because I got hurt or because he was so embarassed for me. Ha. Someday I'll be smart enough...

Okay, Angela is babysitting her business partner's dog Feather. Clara and Feather loved each other and although this picture gives the appearance that Clara is petrified, she's totally happy. I think Angela got some better ones. To all those that don't think we have seasons in Arizona... this is of the changing leaves in my parent's yard. :)
Little Beaver Teeth loving Angela's necklace.
Clara loved all of the pumpkin pie Angela fed her. She'd just open her mouth and wait for more. And would go towards the fork every time it got near her mouth.

My camera battery died so I don't have very many pictures. Plus, I am getting sick and feel terrible so even if I had better pictures (I do have a few) I wouldn't upload them tonight! I am going to bed even though it's super early because I feel so icky. Poor little Clara has been coughing since I laid her down. Poor little baby. I think this is like the fourth time we've been sick in the last couple of months. Clearly that is not normal for us... Can't imagine why I keep getting sick! :)

When Upon Life's Billows

I've heard more than once that if you are feeling down, make a list of all your blessings to realize how much we've been given. Then, read your list every time you are down to be reminded of how blessed you are. I absolutely love Hymn #241, Count Your Blessings. I have always loved it because of the words (oh, and because it's easy to play on the piano so I don't make many mistakes, ha!). For some time, I've had the song memorized and if I'm feeling down, I sing the words until I am able to remember how blessed I am and it works every time.

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tosssed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.


Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings; every doubt will fly,
And you will singing as the days go by.


When you think of other's with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold.
Count your many blessings; money can not buy
Your reward in Heaven nor your home on high.


So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged; God is over all.
Count your many blessings; angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.



I enjoy how the verses seem to coincide with the progression of my feelings and it addresses all aspects of the feelings I feel when I sometimes forget to recognize my blessings. First, when we are down and out, think of our blessings. If it gets worse and we feel like life is too much, count our blessings. If we find ourselves wishing we had the worldly posessions someone else does, think of our eternal blessings, since that is what matters. And finally, it doesn't matter if it's big or small, "Do not be discouraged; God is over all." That line is so powerful and reassuring to me. If you believe in the truthfulness of that simple message, there is no need to get too upset.

So here is a list of things, in no particular order after the first few, I'm grateful for (you didn't think Thanksgiving would pass without me making a list, did you?) 1. Jason, a husband that loves me 2. Clara, a sweet, beautiful healthy baby 3. Jesus Christ, my Savior 4. Heavenly Father 5. The Holy Ghost 6. The Scriptures 7. The Gospel 8. Temples 9. A living prophet 10. My family 11. Prayer 12. Church buildings 13. Food to eat 14. The Atonement 15. Testimony 16. Education 17. Ability to work from home 18. Good health 19. Health insurance 20. Friends 21. Running water 22. Electricity 23. Eye sight 24. Hearing 25. Music 26. Service (given & received) 27. Thoughtful people 28. Trials (not always when they are happening though, but I'm working on it) 29. Freedom 30. USA 31. House 32. Reliable cars 33. Bed 34. Eternal marriage 35. Internet 36. Books 37. Modern medicine 38. Doctors 39. Candy :) 40. Holidays 41. Extended family 42. Flowers 43. My garden 44. Generous employers 45. Good jobs 46. Clothing 47. Talents 48. Safety 49. Missionaries 50. Priesthood 51. Deoderant 52. Soap 53. Dental hygiene items


Really, after reading the first 11 or so, I realize those things alone should make me grateful for the life I have. Those things should be enough to sustain me in any situation.

Lunch & Pan

I guess I was so excited to talk about my weekend that I forgot to talk about Friday. I went and met my friends for lunch: Nylene, Machelle and Jen. The four of us were in the Primary Presidency for a couple of years and even though it's been over a year since we got released, we still get together for each other's birthdays. We also secretly try to have callings where we get to serve with each other still. Nylene is the best at that (helps that her husband is in the Bishopric...). She is in Scouts with me and she's the Primary pianist and Machelle is the chorister. Too bad Jen just got put in YW, now it might be a while before we have callings with her. We went to Crackers and although for some reason it was hilarious that I got a cheeseburger there, I had a great time. The only bad thing about that as my first calling after I got married is that it's going to be hard to beat. I loved being with the kids and I loved who I got to serve with. We had loads of fun and became great friends. Plus, all of these ladies are just amazing and I have so much to learn from all of them.

On my way home, I stopped to get the mail and I was giddy when I saw that I had a package. I love getting mail, even just ads, so I was totally stoaked to get a package. It was from my BF in California: the one and only Nikki. When I was there earlier this year, she was telling me how her mom has a frying pan small enough for a few eggs. We were at her mom's and she showed it to me. I don't really like eggs, but started eating them ALL the time for breakfast since they are quick and I have to eat a good hearty breakfast since I'm nursing. It's little and that way, you don't have to dirty a huge frying pan to cook yourself breakfast. Of course I was completely fascinated by the concept. Well, in the package I found my very own egg pan! Wooo hooo! I scramble my eggs most of the time, but you can just fry them and it's the perfect size if you want to make a breakfast sandwich. Oh the simple pleasures of life.

Sweet Goose

Clara continues to get more and more entertaining the older she gets. In the last few weeks, she's started trying to hold multiple objects in one hand. Even if she just has two toys that she wants to tote around with her, she will try to grasp them both with one hand, no matter how odd shaped and big they are. She's pretty good at it too. One time I think she had four or five plastic toddler utensils between her two hands and was crawling around with them. She also likes to drag her blanket around with her. Jason said he's going to start calling her Linus. Nice. Finally, after much consideration that she acknowledges nothing I show her, she decided she will sign. She signs eat/food and more. If only I could get her to sign more when she really wants more and not because I get excited when she does it. She's also started dancing. Oh my, it cracks me up. She does it really well when Jason plays music on his phone and gives it to her. She gets the most serious look on her face and either shakes her hand holding the phone or rocks back and forth, sometimes even both. If I'm feeling ambitious, maybe I'll put a video of her doing it on here. She's going through a growth spurt and suddenly none of her clothes she's worn the last several months fit.

Clara typically naps from about 10 - Noon. On Sundays, since we have to leave for church before 1015, I've been putting her down at 930 so she'll at least get a 30-45 minute nap. Today, I had this awesome idea to not let her take a nap. My theory was she'd be so tired at church, she'd fall asleep there. She doesn't normally just fall asleep in random places unless she's really tired. Well, what an awesome idea that turned out to be! She was so cranky during Sacrament Meeting and then fell asleep when I fed her. She slept for about 10 minutes in the Mother's Lounge so we never made it to Sunday School. She was actually pretty good during Relief Society but I think a 30 minute nap proved to be more beneficial than no nap!

Mission: Accomplished

For 24 hours, I babysat Brian and Kari's three boys. Jaxon and Kaden are four year old twins and Conner is 18 months old. The twins have a reputation of being very 'active'. Add an 18 month old and an 11 month old (Clara) and I'm pretty sure you can understand why I was a wee bit nervous since I knew I'd be alone most of the time. Kari's main request was that I just keep them alive. Friday was fine and wasn't too bad until bedtime. Jason was there, so I assumed it wouldn't be bad. But, during the five minutes I was trying to get the three boys in bed so I could feed Clara, Jason had to use the restroom. Funny how that happens. I eventually got the boys ready for bed and fed Clara. She cried when I put her in the crib, but not for long. About thirty minutes after she stopped crying, she made some more noise, but then went to bed. I haven't been real successful at getting her to sleep other places since we've stopped letting her have her pacifier. After all the kids were in bed I didn't want to do anything but sit. I told Jason by the time we have four kids, I need a maid. I didn't care what the house looked like, I just wanted to sit! Oh, and remember, this was after only about five hours, not even a full day. Soon after I was on my own, the older boys decided they'd try to hide from me under these baskets... So meet Kaden...and Jaxon...

We didn't get up until after 700 am, so that was good. We just played and had a wonderful day. The kids play so well and they are fortunate to have a nice big yard with fun toys to utilize their energy. They call their big toys they climb on 'parks'. They have three swings, which was great until Clara woke up from her nap. Jaxon could never get high enough for his satisfaction and Kaden did not want to go high at all. I was intrigued by how very different the twins are. I mostly was just entertained all day by the funny things the twins said. They were absolutely amused every time I fed Clara and were so inquisitive as to what food she was eating. They kept telling me they wanted to watch him (yes him, meaning Clara - no feminine pronouns in their vocabulary) drink. Kaden loved Clara and liked to hug her and play with her. He watched me kissing her head and told me he wanted to kiss the baby.

Hmm, can't imagine what Clara is planning on doing with this rock after she thoroughly examines it. She kept putting the rocks in her mouth and I kept telling her no and moving her hand. Well, the twins decided they'd help me out and every time she'd start to put a rock in her mouth, they'd say, "No! Don't eat it!" After about two or three times, Clara must've got her feelings hurt and she just started crying and crying. I told her it wasn't safe to eat rocks and they were just trying to help her be safe. It is funny how saying things to a baby in a certain way can make them so sad!Some of my favorite quotes/conversations:

Kaden to me: "I love your daddy." (meaning Clara's daddy: Jason)

Jaxon after washing the blood off his owie: "See! Look! It feels better."
Jaxon when his sore started bleeding again and looking very concerned: "Ooooh, look, it hurts again."

Kaden: "Draw a dinosaur" ... "Let's call it the daddy" ... "I want you to draw a baby dinosaur"... "I know, let's call it Little Foot" ... after I drew the third one: "Let's call that one mommy"

Anna, as I'm drawing the fourth dinosaur: "Let's draw another small dinosaur and call it Kaden"

Kaden: "No, let's call it annuder Little Foot."

Anna: "Okay, let's draw another baby and call it Jaxon."

Kaden: "No, let's call it annuder Little Foot."

During lunch we had a conversation about why too much sugar is bad for you and when Kaden asked if he could have a second cookie Jaxon said, "No, cookies have sugar in them."

Kaden after drawing an 'X' in the dirt: "X marks the spot."

Anna: "What spot?"

Kaden: "The one where the treasure is."
Anna: "Ooooh, what's in the treasure?"
Kaden: "Gold."

Anna: "Quick, dig it up!"

Kaden: "Okay." Kaden then asked if we could dig a "deep deep deep deep ... (three minutes later)... deep hole like the Higgly's (a cartoon?) did. I told them they probably had special powers to help, but they said they didn't. Anyway, Kaden went and got the shovel and let Jaxon do all the digging.

Anna: "Guess who just called? Grandma and Grandpa Mills."
Kaden, ecstatic: "Oh, I LOVE them!"

Kaden when we were playing hide-n-seek and I found him: "Oh, I thought you were my daddy."
Anna: "Really? Does your daddy have long hair?"
Kaden: "No, I just see his face." (aww, how sweet)

There were two jets doing like a mini air show that I watched as I pushed the kids on the swings. It was pretty cool so I tried to get the boys to watch and they weren't all that interested. But one of them, I think it was Kaden, after staring at the jets in the sky said, "I can see sparkles!" Ha, from it being bright out, he could see the spots and called them sparkles.

Kaden, showing me Conner's blanket with brown cow spots printed on it: "Conner's blanket has poop on it."

There were so many more but I just can't think of them. I need to get a tape recorded and just record everything my kids say. They come up with the funniest things and are so unique.

The twins aren't all that different than other four year old boys so I don't have much to complain about! Don't get me wrong, it is different and more work than one kid, but you don't have to have four kids or any kids at all to be aware of the obvious. They are very busy, but I am used to that. If someone wasn't around a lot of kids or boys, they might think they are too active, but boys are boys. Conner is just a calm little kid, so that helped out too. It's funny how much more pride I have in making breakfast or getting the dishwasher loaded while taking care of four kids. The small accomplishments must get more and more significant in a mother's eyes with each kid she has! I felt pretty good when all four kids were dressed for the day. :) As for my mission to keep the kiddos alive? Accomplished.

Times Two

Yesterday was another good day, believe it or not. That means two very good days in a row, wow, I'm on a roll. Amy called to see if she could take me to lunch for my birthday and of course I was more than happy to go. We went to BJ's. I'd never been there but was quite impressed with it all: the presentation, the atmosphere and the food. While I was working, we always ate at nice places and I became somewhat of a food snob. I have high expectations when I eat out and certainly was not let down by BJ's! We shared a salad and a pizza and I enjoyed every bite. Thanks Amy for being my friend and taking me out to eat. It was a special and rare outing for me and I had a great time.

Last night we also had Enrichment. It was out at Usery Park so I asked Jason about a week ago if he'd be home to watch Clara and put her to bed. He said he would but ended up having to take Wednesday off of work and so his boss asked him to work Thursday and he forgot he had already agreed to watch Clara. But don't worry, Auntie Angela came to the rescue. Her and Clint were happy to watch the goose until Jason came home. Not only that but she did my dishes too. Sheesh, Angela is definitely the perfect babysitter: she LOVES Clara and plays well with her, she's reliable and trustworthy, she cleans and she's FREE. I don't think it gets much better than that! Thanks Angelala and Clinty.

Enrichment was a good experience. As I mentioned, it was at Usery Park and although the wind was CRAZY, it was still enjoyable. We had soup in soup bowls, one of my FAVORITE things to eat and then we had a program around a fire pit. They had some women share some experiences about how the light of Christ has influenced their lives. At the end they showed a DVD with pictures of Christ and it was good for me to ponder on my feelings of Christ. And if any of you can hack into my secret blog, feel free to read those feelings there. :)

After lunch, I started feeling a wee bit sick and it continued to get worse. I just felt like I was going to puke. Several humorous people wanted to blame it on pregnancy but I'm pretty sure that's not the problem. Anyway, when I got home, I was freezing and fell asleep on the couch for like 30 minutes and woke up feeling awful. I went straight to the toilet ignoring Jason when he asked if I was okay, because everyone knows silence means it's not okay. And then I yacked three times in the toilet. I can't remember the last time I threw up that much. I don't think if you combined the few times I threw up when I was pregnant with Clara that it would equal the amount from last night. The good thing is, after it was over and my teeth were brushed, I felt fine. I feel fine today too, so either I have a five hour flu or ate something that upset me. Normally I don't have a sensitive stomach, so if my sickness was due to food, it must have been bad!

Good Days

Days such as today leave me feeling good. I had several things going on and was able to stay organized and on time for everything. That is a good feeling. It is better than not having much to do and feeling like I've wasted time doing nothing all day. For obvious reasons, it's also better than having so much to do and nothing seems to go as planned and by the end of the day, I feel like a tornado went through my brain and I want to do nothing but sit.

I was up until 200 am working and looking at houses which made it even better that Clara didn't wake up until 845 am. I got up and had to finish some stuff for work and get all ready for Scouts. I met my VT's at Tropical Smoothie for a birthday lunch (I did have to wake Clara up from her nap early). I miss going out to lunch and I enjoyed the food and company. I fed Clara in the car and then went to do payroll. Good thing Ryan is so baby hungry because he held Clara while I did some stuff. He might pretend he does it to help me out, but I know he secretly can't wait for another little baby. Ha ha. From there I went to the post office, the bank and then straight to Scouts. I got to Scouts at the perfect time. We only have three Scouts right now and it's pretty funny to listen to the things the kids say. At the pack meeting on Saturday, they got their Geology belt loops. I was the one that 'taught' them about it. You can only imagine my feeling of being a complete failure when the Scout Master asked the boys what they had to do to get it and they had no clue. So he asked them what geology was, but again, blank faces and closed mouths. Trying to be helpful, he asked if they study the earth or rocks, to which our entire Wold Den said, "No." Wow, let's hope I get better results from my own children!

Back to today... I got everything done I needed to (so far) and didn't feel stressed, but rather productive and organized. It's a shame I don't have days like this more often. I normally switch back and forth between crazy days and lazy days. In my opinion, my day was well balanced and I got just the right amounts of family (minus Jason, of course), friends, work and service in.

On a completely different note, I've decided it's not necessary to have speed limits in East Mesa because the snowbirds drive 30 mph and block the lanes so no one has a chance of driving the speed limit, let alone speeding.

Surprises

26 years, 312 months, 1,352 weeks, 9,490 days, 227,760 hours, 13,665,600 minutes, 819,936,000 seconds... anyway you look at it, that's how old I was at 1001 am. Today I woke up and had a little surprise on the counter that made me smile: a rather large card from Jason. Later, Clara pulled a piece of paper out of the recycle can, which I later found out was Jason's failed attempt at copying Angela's pop-out card for Clint. Poor Jason was up until 200 am having issues with this card and then finally scrapped it and made a different one.
Kathryn called me to see if Jason and I wanted to come over for treats after FHE. I called Jason to see if he had plans and he said, "No." At least I can count on him being honest! I was a little sad he didn't plan anything (or say he would plan something) but I was trying not to let it bother me too much. After all, I got a card and that was one step ahead of the last holiday! He said he'd be leaving work at 600pm and so I suggested we go to Kathryn's around 700 pm and he said that'd be great.

Beka and her boys brought me Sonic and Angela came over after work and we all just hung out. I was SO glad they came to visit me because I would have been really bored and probably would have found myself feeling sorry for myself that I had nothing to do on my birthday and my husband didn't seem like he wanted to help the situation. I don't mind sitting around as long as I have good company. Plus, goose was there to keep me happy. Notice her pants in this picture: a wee bit too big around her waist and it makes her look like a midget with short little legs. Jason came home around 600 pm and while I originally planned on making dinner, I opted not to and to ask him what was for dinner when he got home (thinking maybe he'd bring me something). He brought me some beautiful flowers in a watering pot (just what I wanted for my garden). The dinner thing, however, still wasn't getting through to him. I asked him if he'd hoped for the dinner fairy to make dinner or if he wanted to me to make it. Anyway, he said we'd get something on the way to Ryan and Kathryn's, which we didn't. Obviously, I was completely starving and a little sad that even after several very STRONG non-physical nudges I still wasn't getting dinner on my birthday.

When we got to Ryan and Kathryn's, I walked in and smelled brownies and thought, "Mmmmm, brownies and ice cream, that sounds good... especially since I haven't eaten dinner." As I walked in I noticed a table in the dining room all set up with an elaborate display of toppings for ice cream and lots of brownies. I got really confused and asked, "Are there more people here?" and then saw everyone in the family room. I'm not sure if my brain processed what was going on before or after I heard, "Surprise!" That's right, my first surprise birthday party ever... and the best thing is I had NO clue. Not even a hope that something like that would happen because it never even crossed my mind. I have always been able to catch on to Jason when he is planning something because he gets so giddy. I'm sure my face turned a lovely shade of red as everyone sang to me and all eyes were on me (that is so awkward). I just didn't know what to think, so I didn't, I just smiled. :)

I haven't seen Matt and Lindsay forever (I don't think since Beka's wedding because only Matt was at Tyler's...) and they've only recently moved back but they were there, so that was fun. Here are some of the wonderful guests... notice we had three sets of twins in our company tonight!

Lily and Tanner
Three stooges
People, including Clint's radical expression.
Kathryn, Miss {Wonderful} Host
Beka, me and Amy... we're all laughing because the second before the picture took, Beka says, "Chins up!" and in unison, all three of our chins shot up.

Lindsay and the Palmer twins
My dad snuck away to sleep in the living room... poor guy never sleeps. I do have to mention that my mom gives us a card every year on our birthday and my dad has NEVER written on them. I, however, must have a lucky year in store because my dad wrote me the funniest note on the card. It was a pleasant treat.
Matt and Gavin
Kathryn and 1/2 of the Melzer twins

Our little family: if you can't tell, Clara was thrilled to have a picture taken. :) She missed her afternoon nap because she didn't want to sleep when Braden and Landon were there, but other than not wanting to smile and look at the camera she was pretty behaved for being SO sleepy.
The Pickett twins
A very serious conversation
The other 1/2 of the Melzer twins - at this point in the night, the clip holding her bangs back was long gone and she's signing 'please'. Whenever they want something, they sign 'please'. I laugh and say they've learned to beg in sign language.
Maren and Brynlee (don't worry, I already told her the bow was too big for her head, LOL!)

My mommy, Clara and I... once again, Clara is thrilled that I've taken advantage of another photo opportunity.
At Ryan and Kathryn's, Jason asked me if I wanted to get take out on the way home. Then, as we were driving home, it became apparent he was not planning on going anywhere so I brought it up again, since he'd made mention of it several times... Jason must think I'm fat because I had not had dinner and he saw no problem in it. He'd laugh when I brought it up like he didn't see why I wanted to eat. Of all the days he chose to starve me, did he have to do it on my birthday? Since it was 900pm and he had so much to do, we went to Panda Express. He must have been so excited about the surprise that he never even thought about doing anything for dinner. Even after I brought it up multiple times, he still never thought of it. Oh how things change once you get married.

Thanks thanks thanks to everyone that came to celebrate, called, e-mailed, posted sweet thoughts about me (true or not Jen and Beka, ha!) or thought about me today. My day was special thanks to all of you! Who knew a random 26th birthday could have been so enjoyable when all things were considered?

Who was at the party tonight: {Ryan, Kathryn, Elsa, Lucy}{Maren, Scott, Brynlee}{Angela, Clint}{Mom, Dad, Daniel (just long enough to give me a hug), James, Lily}{Amy, Steven, Ryan, Steven}{Beka, Danny, Braden, Landon}{Matt, Lindsay, Blake, Brooklynn, Gavin}{Doug, Suzanne, Tanner, Jack}{Jason, Me, Clara}