Oh Phil, what do you know anyway?

So Punxsutawny Phil has predicted another six weeks of winter....

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Bummer.

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Actually, I don't remember ever hearing the prediction that spring will start early. That crazy little rodent always scitters back into his "hole."

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All the news reports are trying to put a positive spin on this important piece of information. They are saying that Canada is very pleased, because they were concerned about the low snowfall prior to the Vancouver Olympics in a few weeks. Oh yes, I'm sure they are breathing a huge sigh of relief now. "Thank goodness! Phil says there is more winter to come! We were getting a bit concerned there!"

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Oh, and just for your information and entertainment, that is the accurate spelling for "Punxsutawny." Who would have thought? I looked it up just in case.

Date with Dad

Yesterday Eric took the kids rock climbing. They had a great time, sore muscles and all.

These are some shots from his camera phone.

My dad bought me a harness and pair of climbing shoes for my college graduation gift. Can you believe that Heidi can't even wear those shoes, they are too small? These kids are just growing way too fast!!

Spider Monkeys

Museum of Glass

On Friday Eric and Elise played hookey, and they took me and Erica with them down to Tacoma. Now Tacoma itself is not exactly a bright spot in the Washington landscape, however, it does have an amazing place to visit -- the Museum of Glass.

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Tacoma is the birth place of the great glass artist Dale Chihuly and he founded a museum to house some of his works and also showcase other glass artists. I have always wanted to go see it.

Not only does the museum show its own artwork, it has a functioning glass studio in it as well. We got to watch the Hot Shop Team work on a piece. I was a little disappointed in the piece they were doing -- it was a replica of a set of headphones. I really wanted to see them doing a big hand blown vase or bowl, but beggars can't be chosers!

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The museum has a fun exhibit going now called Kids' Designs. It is a collection of pieces done based on drawings by kids of varying ages. There are 52 fantastical pieces, with crazy creatures invented by kids. I loved it! Some of our favorites were "Pizza Cat," "Shark Attack," "Coyote in Socks," "A Very Extinct Rainblow Collector," "Bacon Boy," and "Gop Thing." Cameras were not allowed in the exhibits, so we got a set of playing cards that has pictures of each of the pieces.

Outside the museum was just as amazing as inside. There was this cool tilted structure.....

and a wall of Chihuly's own work.....

not to mention these giant suncatchers.....

and a bridge with an amazing ceiling!

What would I give to have this to look up to everyday?

This is How I Found Erica Yesterday.....

For the last month Erica has been fascinated with a bag of pancake mix I have in the pantry. She keeps finding the bag, no matter how deep I try to bury it or hide it in there. Well, she found it again yesterday.


Don't let the pictures fool you, that was a hard mess to clean up! It seems to be the gift that keeps on giving, since that chair is still uttering a puff of powder every time you sit on it.

Ethan's Blast Off Cake!

Last night was the annual Cub Scout Cake Bake Auction. The theme this year was "Power Up!" Ethan wanted to make a rocket so we put our heads together to come up with a cool way of creating a rocket.

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On Sunday night Ethan helped me bake the cakes that served as the platform. He also helped me bake some jumbo cupcakes, that were part of our original plan for a jumbo-sized tower of chocolatey goodness meant to be transformed into a rocket.

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Let me first explain our amazing and dramatic plans for this masterpiece:

Imagine a stack of jumbo-sized cupcakes over a foot tall resting on a thick platform made of cake. These cupcakes would then be wrapped with the smooth white of baker's fondent to give a sleek appearance. The fins would be made from King-size Hershey bars cut into wedges. Then to top it off, a giant Hershey's Kiss would serve as the nose to the rocket, in a flaming metalic red! Doesn't that sound fabulous?! Who would have thought it wouldn't work?!

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First we froze the giant cupcakes, so we could trim them easier. Then we tried stacking them with a large wooden dowel inserted for support. The cakes just fell apart around the dowel, so we resorted to wooden kabob skewers. Still, the tower would not hold its shape.

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On to Plan B: On Monday night I baked two batches of regular-sized cupcakes to be sold at the auction. We thought we would try for a skinnier version of the original, stacking the smaller cakes together. The thing looked pathetic. We tried carving it down to make it more even, but there was so little cake left it wouldn't hold together.

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On to Plan C: We stacked marshmallows on a skewer and called it good.

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So what did we do with that luscious giant Hershey's Kiss? Ethan stuck a flag in it and called it an observation dome.

Heather's New Job

Yesterday I started a new job. It was a good day, and I think the switch will be good in the long run, but changes for me in general are difficult. I like my routine.


I won't go into detail about the time I spent agonizing over my decision to take a new job. It was tough. Nothing in my life ever seems to be black and white. It's all in the very gray realm. However, after much prayer, I feel like I have made the right decision and now can move on in my life.


Part of the distress of my job-hunting experiences is what is known in the dental field as the "working interview." It's where you go work in the office for a day or more and just try each other out. There is no committment on either side, and it gives you a chance to see if you can mesh together or not.


I usually have crazy things develop when I am doing a working interview. I have had kid emergencies crop up at really inconvenient times, and once a car accident on the way to the interview, making me over an hour late. Gee, that leaves a great impression.


When I was interviewing at my last job I developed a sudden and severe allergic reaction during lunch. As my lips and eyes swelled up to huge proportions, I was downing Benadryl like you wouldn't believe, but it wasn't working. I had to go back to work, completely embarassed about my appearance and the situation. They were super nice and one of the girls drove me to the walk-in clinic so I could get an epinephrine shot to stop the reaction. She waited with me there for over an hour as they were observing me. After that fiasco, I thought for sure that I would never hear back from them. Crazily enough, I got the job, and it's been where I've worked for the last five years!


So it wouldn't be overlooked, this recent interview also had its crazy moments. The doctor took me and their other hygienist to lunch. It was a great teriyaki place, but unfortunately it was about six or seven blocks away from the office....and we walked. Of course by the time we left the restaurant, there was a freak rainstorm outside. I don't know how many of you have been in a true Washington rainstorm, but it's intense! You feel like buckets are literally dumping on you! The streets flood with rivers of water because the drains can't even keep up. And they always seem to hit all of a sudden! Needless to say, none of us had umbrellas, or even hoods on our jackets! We had to run all the way back to the office, and got so completely drenched it was ridiculous! I may as well have jumped into a swimming pool. I scurried into the bathroom and tried to fix my plastered hair and streaked makeup into something presentable. I still had three more patients to see. Everyone said I looked fine, but I was mortified! I ended up having to throw out my purse because it was so waterlogged. (This included all my essential paper items: my dayplanner, my checkbook, all my doctor's business cards, etc. It was traumatic!)


But now I'm working there....


I guess the sticky starts are all par for the course for me. Who knows, maybe these events even help seal the deal, because I am certainly not going to be one of the applicants they forget anytime soon! After all, how many times do you meet an abnormally petite gal with puffy eyes and streaked makeup, who has a tendency to rear-end irritating lolly-gaggers at traffic intersections?

Impromptu Photo Shoot

On Friday I set up my photography backdrop for a photo session for one of my friends. After she left, the girls were having a lot of fun posing and acting so cute that I got some photos of them as well.

(The girls totally posed themselves here! Even Erica's hand on Elise's leg! So cute!)

When the kids brought home their order forms for their school pictures I decided I would rather take them myself. So, to each of their grandparents and other important relations waiting for a set of school pictures for their walls, here they are!

Eat your heart out, Dorian photographers! Ha ha!

Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky with the group shots. This was the best one. Go figure....

These Things I Love....

Today I was thinking about the year 2009. These are the things that stand out in my memories. These are the things that I love and want to always remember:





*listening to Heidi practicing the hymns on the piano.

*watching Erica learn to walk.

*watching Elise start to crawl.

*listening to Ethan read from the Book of Mormon.

*watching as Eric served so many, without a single word of complaint.

*watching the numbers drop on my scale by 25 pounds :)

*hearing Erica say "I love you!"

*watching Heidi as she lovingly nurtures her younger siblings.

*observing all the books my book club has read this year.

*listening to Elise's laughter as she played in the sand on the beach at Ocean Shores.

*watching Ethan's excitement over his new kite, and new-found kite-flying skills.

*cuddling with Eric, and having the chance to reconnect with him during our now-regular date nights.

*serving at the temple every month for our Ward Temple Nights.

*spending time with our families, who are never close enough.

*sharing intimate moments with my friends, and realizing that they are more of a blessing in my life than I could ever be to them.

*watching all four of my children as they have blossomed and grown so much! I am so proud of each of them!





I just know that 2010 is going to be just as amazing!!