At the grocery store with Erica.....

I stopped off at the grocery store tonight after work and after picking up Erica from the babysitter's house. I just wanted to make it a quick trip to get a few items for dinner and for the weekend. Now when is a trip to the grocery store, especially with a toddler in tow, ever quick?!


Erica was excited. I never, and I mean never take her grocery shopping anymore! I usually do my grocery shopping at night, when kids are all in bed and I can enjoy the time to myself. Well, she remembers seeing the shopping carts with cars on them, of course. Oh, how I hate those carts! They are impossible to steer and don't hold very many groceries.


As soon as Erica saw a car cart available she was ecstatic! "Wanna go for ride! Go for ride!" So I let her in and started steering the clumsy thing all over the store. Meanwhile Erica was "steering" to her little heart's content, waving hi to everyone, pointing out things she wanted.


Several times I would misjudge where the end of the car was and bump into the edges of the store shelves. Every time I did, Erica would say in her sweet voice, "Ooops! Sorry Mommy!" as if she was really driving it!


Of course, by the time we got to the checkout line she was ready to get out and explore. Not fun trying to hang onto a two-year old while unloading the cart and paying for the transaction! Then listening to her scream all the way to the car since, with no free hands available, I had locked and loaded her back in the car. She was hanging out the side, hollering like she was being abducted.


Yes, this is why I don't bring kids to the grocery store anymore....


.....or drive a Suburban.

Who has time to blog?!

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment....


I am currently working full time, which in the dental world means four days a week. (How lucky could we be, right?) Luckily I like my job and I love the people I work with. However, I happen to have another full time job......


Mom, wife, Beehive leader, housekeeper (or lack thereof in my case lately)....


My house is a disaster. There are dishes piled to Kingdom Come in the kitchen. There are piles of laundry in all their various stages all over the house. The kitchen floor needs a good mopping. My bathroom is embarrassing. I have a lesson to work on for Sunday. I need to go grocery shopping. I got one visiting teaching appointment done tonight, but have two more to do still.....Does the list EVER END?!?!


So for the moment I am vegging, staring at the computer with zero ambition to complete any necessary tasks. Why is it by the time I get to have "me time" it is when I am in an almost catatonic state?


Okay, I'll stop complaining.


Just no surprise visits from anyone this weekend, or you may find yourself swallowed up in the giant abyss of craziness that is my house.

My Resolution

Once again it is a new year! And true to form, once again I have set some New Year Resolutions.


The most important resolution I made was given as a challenge, first from our Young Women's President, and then quickly followed by our Primary President for the Primary kids. Hmmm, they must receive inspiration from the same source, huh?


The challenge is to open and read from our scriptures every day in 2011!


I printed off a chart the Primary Presidency sent us to mark off the days as we go. If you would like to use this as well, here is the link.


So far, I am at 100%. I know, that's amazing!! I fully intend on not letting a single day pass that I do not open and read from my scriptures. I know because of this commitment, I will have the opportunity to learn more about my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I will be blessed even more with the Spirit everyday.


I think 2011 is going to be a fantastic year!

Happy New Year!

We spent New Year's Eve with our friends, the Sisco family. We had a lot of fun eating tons of great food and playing games. Heidi went to a Youth Dance later that night. Before the midnight hour approached, the little ones were in bed and we enjoyed watching the fireworks display from the Space Needle downtown, from the warmth and comfort of our own family room, I might add! Today has been a lazy day, spent cuddling with kids and watching movies. We went to Red Robin for a late lunch and made our traditional holiday visit to Mukilteo Beach.

After the beach trip, Eric and I picked up our own copy of the Wii game "Just Dance," which we had such a blast with at the Sisco's. We just spent the remainder of the evening laughing at ourselves trying to "bust a move." Let me tell you, this Momma can't dance!!

I like to joke that I haven't cooked a meal, done the dishes, or cleaned the house since LAST YEAR! (It's a standing joke from my friend Audrey....she comes up with the best ones, of course!) Maybe it's time for me to start being a bit more productive, but it was sure fun to have a completely unproductive weekend!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Christmas at Mt Baker

We spent Christmas with my parents and my sister and her husband at the base of Mt Baker. Despite all the extra snow gear, boots, gloves, hats, pants, and even sleds, there was.....

NO SNOW!!!

It was wet and rainy instead, but we had a lot of fun anyway!!!

We spent a considerable amount of time making the ornaments for the tree. All the decorations were made of paper: origami cranes, geometric boxes and stars, frilly snowflakes, and a paper chain garland. It turned out beautiful!

Ethan made this beautiful and elaborate star which adorned the top of the tree.





On Christmas Eve night, Grandma and Grandpa read the Christmas story. Erica fell asleep in Grandma's lap by the end.



Christmas morning was all about the presents!!! To Erica, it was all about the candy. She ate so much she got sick! Her favorite present was this Dora doll that Santa brought her.







We had such a wonderful time, creating memories I will always cherish!!

*Playing Christmas carols together on the musical instruments we brought.

*Heidi and Ethan's first ski/snowboard adventure at Mt Baker.

*Cooking with my mom in the kitchen, and enjoying her amazing cinnamon rolls.

*Playing games together.

*Watching movies together.

*Listening to the CD that Diana and Jordan made, with Christmas songs they recorded themselves.

*Experimenting and getting photo tips from my dad. (All the best photos here are his.)

*Relaxing in the hot tub, in the rain.

*Being completely surprised with an amazing diamond necklace from my sweet sweet husband.

*Making all the fun ornaments for the tree.

*Spending quality time with everyone, with no phones, and very little television.

Commitment

Today was a busy Sunday.

******

I sang in a quartet this morning in church. Heidi was teaching her Sunday School class. I was supposed to teach the Beehives (which I ended up getting a sub for, thank goodness!) Eric gave a talk at another Ward. I had choir practice, with the song that I am accompanying on the violin. And tonight was the Adult Christmas Fireside, in which I participated in three of the numbers, one being the violin piece.

******

Last night as I was stressing over the song to be performed this morning, I was agonizing over the fact that Eric wouldn't be there to hear it. He would be going over to another church building to speak instead. Eric was also stressing over the talk he had to give. We were each pretty wrapped up in our own commitments.

******

This morning I sang my song. It turned out great. I was a little sad, though, thinking that Eric wasn't there to hear it.

******

After the meeting I decided I would slip out and go listen to Eric speak. When I got to the building, I could hear his voice piped out into the foyer, but I could tell that he hadn't been speaking very long yet, so I slipped into the back of the chapel. We caught eyes for a moment, and he continued on with his talk.

******

After the meeting, I waited for him in the back of the room. He told me it surprised him to see me walk in and it threw him off for a minute since he wasn't expecting to see me. We laughed about that.

******

Then he told me that he heard me sing. He stopped at the church before he went to his other meeting and was able to listen to it from the foyer.

******

That warm, wonderful feeling of being loved and loving in return is something that I never get tired of. Something as simple as being there means the world! Even though we have a list of commitments a mile long, number one on that list is each other.

******

I feel like I am the luckiest woman in the world.

Food for Thought

I had this really crazy dream....

------

Eric and I were housing several inmates in cells in our basement. They were complete prison cells, with bars and everything.

------

Then we went on vacation, and were gone for a week.

------

When we returned home, we realized we had not provided the means to take care of these inmates. No food, no water for one week.

------

Frantic, I told Eric to run downstairs and see if they were still alive while I called 911. I went through every agony of revulsion and despair thinking of what it would be like to be without food and water for a week. Then I rationalized that surely they would yell and scream until someone rescued them, but what if nobody heard??? And then I thought in great detail how we would be arrested and charged with neglect and abuse and possibly even manslaughter.....

------

As I woke from this dream, trying to shake myself out of that crazy in-between world of dreams and wakefulness, I described my dream to Eric. He said, "That's crazy! We don't even have a basement!"

------

Want to know the interpretation of the dream?

We ran out of fish food.


But that's another story.....

Family Portrait: Take 2

Yesterday we headed to Mukilteo Beach to try for another family portrait session. It was cold and breezy, but the sun was out so it was a good day for picture-taking! Over-all, this was a much more successful session!