And The Award Goes To...

ME!!

Ciara over at Ramblings and Whatnot has given me the
I'm not sure if this means I'm thoughtful as in nice or thoughtful as in putting a lot of thought in to my blog. Either way I'll take it and display it.

I'll also pay it forward to Jen at Lords of the Manor and Robin at Around The Island . Any woman who is that concerned about her husband riding a unicycle MUST be thoughtful.

I was also awarded the from Christie O over at Captain Poopy In return I will then pass this award to my new friend over at The Nelson Gaggle and to EWE over at Wherever Ewe Go, There Ewe Are Her latest picture of her litle one eating peas is enough for anyone to love.

Thursday Thirteen #9

#9 Thirteen Authors I Loved When I Was a Child I spent my childhood reading. I would read anything and everything that was given to me. Here is a list of some of my favorites. 1. John Steinbeck. The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl - these all came from my Dad. 2. Beverly Cleary. Ramona, The Mouse and the Motorcycle and many more. My grandmother introduced her books to me after meeting her at a conference for aspiring writers. 3. Judy Blume. Fudge, Superfudge, and the list goes on – I’ve read them all. 4. Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read all the Little House books. In fact I treasured the set myself I never loaned them out. You can tell by the looks of them they’ve been read over and over and I’m happy to say that was all my doing. 5. Peggy Parish. Amelia Bedelia 6. Agatha Christie. You name it I’m sure I’ve read it. We wore out the little nook in the corner of our library devoted to her novels when I was in the 5th grade. 7. William Golding. Lord of the Flies. Another book from my Dad. Did you know it actually can annoy your teachers at school that you have already read the book – SEVERAL TIMES? 8. Katherine Paterson. The Great Gilly Hopkins. I loved this book as a kid. 9. Frances Hodgson Burnett. The Secret Garden. We almost rented a house in England with a secret garden but in the end they decided to sell. 10. Noel Streatfield. Ballet Shoes and several other “shoes” books. It started with the Ballet Shoes though because I was once obsessed with books about Ballet. 11. Cynthia Voigt. Homecoming, Dicey’s Song, A Solitary Blue. 12. Francine Pascal. Sweet Valley High. These came out when I was 10. I have the original books – before the TV show. 13. CS Lewis. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and the rest of the Chronicles of Narnia. These were my brother’s books. I remember having to bribe him to let me borrow them. Probably cost me 8 packs of hubba bubba – that would have been $2 worth of gum at the time – my whole weekly allowance. --I'm sure I'll have a few wondering why Anne of Green Gables is not on my list. I attempted reading one once and I was bored to tears.

Also - looks like I've finally made the TT blogroll - could someone tell me how to put one of those compact little blogrolls on here? lol

Riding a Bike

Jordan has been asking me for quite a while to take the stabilizers (training wheels) off of her bike. She finally got her wish using the ever popular "all of my friends are doing it". She can't be the only 5 year old on the block with training wheels still on her bike so off they came. We live at the bottom of a cul-de-sac. By bottom I mean bottom of a HILL. So, we pack up the bike and head up to the base where they have huge, flat park areas with sidewalks running all around protected by grass on both sides. This is where I found out how different it was teaching the girl to ride a bike then the boys.

Jackson rode a bike without training wheels at four. I was pregnant and my neighbor insisted Jackson could ride. Took his training wheels off, ran with him down the street and that was that. He could turn, he could brake, and soon after he could ride that bike off a ramp and jump over items placed at the end of the ramp. Evel Kneivel watch out.

Jared didn't learn so quickly. Jared doesn't like doing things that he knows could potentially hurt him. I never pushed taking the training wheels off. In fact I was inside the house and the kids came yelling to come watch Jared kamikaze down the cul-de-sac hill in to our driveway. He was on Jackson's old bike with no training wheels and did just fine. He was 7.

Jordan is a totally different story. She wants to ride this bike. In fact she CAN DO IT ALL BY HERSELF!! That is what I heard over and over yesterday. I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! In fact I actually had to turn my back to her and ignore her unless she invited me to watch her attempts. We found that while she is hesitant about riding on the sidewalks she can ride for quite a long time on the grass. Good thing it is a soccer field because while she can ride she can't turn. This doesn't mean she goes straight, because she doesn't. If you ask her to turn she will yell "I CAN'T DO IT" which is probably the reason she can't. She also can not start the pedaling process on her own. Coordinating where her feet should best be placed, pushing off and then getting the other foot on the pedal? Not quite there yet.

As our lesson ended she was out in the field and fell over. I saw her, she was barely moving at the time of the "crash" and she fell mostly of her own doing. She started crying. I ignored her. Then I see this man running in full speed rescue mode towards her. Being the mom I am I had to yell out to him that she in fact was okay and just being dramatic.

I then walked out to the field, put her back on the bike and pushed her on her way again.

Eyelips

Conversation while doing Jordan's hair this morning.

Me: Please look straight ahead while I'm doing your hair so it isn't all crooked.

Jordan: I am looking straight.

Me: Yes, you are looking straight at the CORNER you need to look straight at the wall.

Jordan: Is it all right if I look at the wall but my eyelips go down so I'm looking at the floor?

Me: They are eyeLIDS not eyeLIPS.

Jordan: Oh, like the lid of a cup, okay.

What's That Smell?

England is an interesting place to live. Did you know that in England there are things that are legal that are illegal in ALL 50 states in the United States? Are you curious as to what that would be? Let me tell you.

We have this family at church, the A's, and let's just say the family as a whole is a bit odd. The mother in unstable and runs out in tears almost every Sunday. The children? All four of them are a bit "weird" but all of this could be attributed to their parents. Then I found out something interesting. A friends daughter was getting married (in Utah) and apparently in her geneology about 6 branches back her tree merges with her soon to be hubbies tree. Six generations back - not a big deal and hey it makes it easier on your children keeping track of their family history right? Anyway her mom says "J is a bit embarrassed at the fact that she's related distantly to her husband but I just told her it isn't like the A's so really no big deal." Now I am intrigued - the A's are related and we aren't talking 6 generations back?? I do a bit of investigating and find out just HOW related they are. They are double cousins. Do you know what this means?

Let me tell you: A brother and sister from family A marry a brother and sister from family B. Then they each have children. Not a big deal. Then a boy from one set marries a girl from the other set. You aren't just cousins - you are double cousins. Instead of your family tree branching OUT it merges back together. In the US there are a few states that allow you to marry your cousin but NONE of them allow double cousin marriage. I suppose it is lucky for the A's they don't live in the states.

Anyway, that bit of background really has nothing to do with my issue of the day, even though it does involve Brother A. At church yesterday we are all sitting nicely in our pews. We sit on the left hand side in the 4th or 5th row. It is a small chapel so while it sounds close it is actually it is as far back as we can sit without sitting on folding chairs. We have an opening song and I smell something. I know I showered this morning and my shirt is clean - recheck myself for body odor - nope not me. Lean over to pre-teen boy. Just last week I told him I would tell him when he smells and we can buy deodorant. Nope, he doesn't smell yet. Lean toward hubby, nope not him either. Song ends. Smell subsides. General announcements are said and the usual and then time for another song. There is the smell again WOW I almost could pass out. Then I realize it is Brother A. Nothing like a man with intense body odor in the front of the chapel conducting the music. Just what we need is him waving his arms around. I think to myself "I am so glad I am not pregnant because that would surely make me hurl".

Do you think that if you marry your double cousin maybe you both have the same smelling gene and that you are unable to tell that your husband stinks? Maybe THIS explains why Sister A gets up and leaves 1/2 way through church in tears almost every Sunday.

Quite a few of you were confused on this. I found this picture that might help.

Now what happens at the bottoms - you take Brother and match him with Double First Cousin as husband and wife then they have kids. Instead of having 4 sets of great grandparents you only have 2.

4 Things Meme

Moving Mama tagged me to do the 4 Things Meme and since I was looking for something to do today here are my answers:

Four jobs that I have had in my life:

1. File clerk for an insurance company. Let's talk about file folder cuts - the king of all papercut.
2. Cheese packager. Yep - cutting the cheese (haha) and putting it in the plastic that it gets sealed in.
3. Front desk clerk at a hotel. Or maybe it was really a motel.
4. 7th grade English and Utah History teacher.

Four places that I have lived:

1 Oregon - born and raised here until I was 13.
2 Tustin California - lived here until I was 18.
3 Rexburg Idaho - This is where I went to college - Dorm 1 Room 11.
4 Bountiful Utah - Where the hubs and I lived for 6 months when we first got married.

Four countries that I have been to on vacation: I am not counting the UK since I LIVE here now.

1 Mexico
2 Belgium
3 France
4 Germany

Four of my favorite foods:

1 bacon, guacamole, and swiss burger - mmmmm had this last night and I couldn make another one tonight.
2 Icecream - this counts!
3 Tacos
4 A really good salad full of yummy stuff - copied from MM but she's right - mmmmmm.

Four places I would rather be right now:

1 Asleep
2 In the states drinking raspberry lemonade at the cheesecake factory
3 In Italy - I don't know just sounds fun.
4 With friends just having fun.

Four people that I am tagging:
Hmmm I don't know how about you, you and you - oh and you over there.
You, of course, get a pass if you’ve been there, done that with this meme.

Jet Lag

Jet Lag Sucks! That's all I should say. I could actually come up with something to blog about if I could sleep normal. With three kids that are also jetlagged we're having quite a bit of fun at our house. Last night I put the kids in bed at 9:30. At midnight I finally went to bed. At 1am Jordan was up. They boys each got up saying they couldn't sleep. I made them all go back to bed. Jordan was crying saying she couldn't sleep. Finally I put her on the floor in my room. She was in bed with us but my arm kept falling asleep. I would say it was about 3am before I was asleep. I woke up at 9am when hubby was leaving for work and even though I had a 10:30 meeting decided to close my eyes for a few more minutes. 10:20 my eyes open, I look at the clock, jump up and send a text saying I'll be late. Got showered, got the kids up and was at my meeting by 10:50. Not too bad really. Hopefully being up a little earlier this morning will help with sleeping tonight. Let's all hope so.

So - anybody up for visiting England?

Thursday Thirteen #8

#8 Thirteen Places I had to eat at before returning to the UK I was just in the States for a month and won't be returning for at least 9 months. I had to make sure and eat at all my favorite places to tide me over for that time. 1. Wendy’s - This was the first place we went – straight for the Big Bacon Classic 2. Rubio’s Fish Tacos – I had this more than once. Mmmm the Pesky Combo. 3. Taco Bell – We made a few runs for the border as well. 4. Red Lobster – Couldn’t taste a thing as my mouth was still numb from the dentist. 5. Fazoli’s – Quick Italian food – good for when you’re hungry and can’t eat another Big Bacon Classic 6. Stuart Anderson’s – We always go here with my sister in law. It was yummy as usual. 7. Olive Garden – my niece works there so we took her with us and got the employee discount. 8. Applebee’s – we went here for lunch. My father in law wanted to go to Denny’s – I vetoed that. The oriental chicken wrap was way better than any lunch item at Denny’s. 9. Ihop – can’t leave all the good food for dinner. There wasn’t a single breakfast served with black pudding OR cooked tomato. 10. Claim Jumper – The food was great but our service sucked. Who brings a 10 year old a birthday dessert and then just walks away? We all waited for a song but they never came back. 11. Quizno’s – I was craving a turkey bacon guacamole for 4 days before I finally had one in Barstow. 12. Don Jose’s – our favorite Mexican restaurant in Southern California. Two taco combo one chicken and one shredded beef. 13. Red Robin – this is where I ate my last meal. A bacon, guacamole, and swiss burger. If it wasn’t 3am and I wasn’t in England I would go have another one right now!!

Two Days

Two more days then we are headed back to England. I'm not ready. Everyone says the last "home leave" you take before your last year is the hardest. That you suddenly realize that you are ready to be home NOW but you have another year. The good thing is that it is just one year and that will go quick.

I think I've done well on this vacation. Shopped everywhere I needed to shop, ate everywhere I needed to eat and just generally relaxed. The kids are all at a friends playing water games so I have 2 hours to do something that WILL include air conditioning. Since that isn't in this room I guess that's the end of the blog for today.

Red Lobster

No, that isn't where we had dinner - that is what I look like. We went to the beach on Friday and I am fried. I am a good mommy and put sunscreen on all the children and the hubby and then sat down and relaxed and watched them play in the ocean. You would think that I would be smarter - that after years of burning and KNOWING BETTER I would put sunscreen on. Seriously though, I can not go back to England as white as I left it right? My body needs some sun, I need some evidence of my vacation!! Right? Right? Ouch - don't touch my shoulder that hurts!

I do have to say I love the coppertone spray sunscreen that stuff rocks. I am notorious for putting sunscreen on and missing huge spaces - but with the spray I can stand there and see where it hits and spray again. Kids are happy, hubby is happy, mommy is fried!

Knott's Berry Farm

Yesterday's adventure took us to Knott's Berry Farm. Actually a great park for a family with a mixed "height" of children. Not to mention we went to the grocery store and got tickets for $17 off the regular admission. The hubs took Jackson and they rode all of the big roller coasters and my parents and I wandered around with the other two and watched as they conquered all the rides in Camp Snoopy. Jared is tall enough to go on coasters but JUST BARELY and he chooses not to. No big surprise there as he is not that kind of kid. The funny thing was when they got in line to go on one kiddie ride and Jared was actually too tall. Never in his life has he been TOO TALL to do something. 48" while wearing a good pair of tennis shoes will actually get you out of riding the mini scrambler with your sister!

Today we're all exhausted and will probably just stay around home. Maybe a trip in to the park and the pool will be in order but that's about all I can handle so far.

The Vacation Continues

Hello now from California. I'll be here for the next 2 weeks and then back to England. My parents have dsl so I might actually be able to get on the computer. I was either faced with my mother-in-laws dial up or my brother-in-laws laptop. The laptop was quicker but anytime there was a screen with a pop-up - like looking at blog comments the whole thing would freeze up. Oh, I am so spoiled at home with all of my internet luxuries.

We've had 2 birthdays in the last week and a 1/2 so I now have a 10 year old and an 8 year old. I don't know what I was thinking having Jordan in February. Okay, yes I do - the heat. But do you KNOW how hard it is for a 5 year old girl to sit there and watch BOTH brothers get presents and you get nothing? Of course she complained and cried and acted altogether miserable. Then to top it off I totally encouraged her behavior - I am a bad mom. My mom bought her roller blades and asked if she should bring them in when Jared had his party since Jackson was also getting a skateboard from my mom. I said "no just wait until she complains and cries then take her outside and give her the skates." We completely rewarded her behavior and I didn't even think about it until it was all done. Oh well - it was Grandma that did the spoiling not me, right?

Okay - off to many adventures here in California (Orange County if you're wondering) and I'll try to keep you better updated. I might even get a chance to READ someone elses blog now and then.

Hello From Idaho!

Just in for another quick update. Actually not so quick as the mother in law has dial up and every time I click on something it sounds as though the computer is going to up and die.

Father in law is in the hospital with heart problems. He had a major heart attack just a few months ago but had been given the okay. That is until Sunday morning when he was having "classic" symptoms and went in to the hospital. The man's heart now has 6 stints on it - totally crazy but whatever keeps him kicking. He should be coming home today if all goes well. He is insane though and keeps trying to tell us we should all go to Red Lodge Montana when he gets out. Um, no thanks. I'm not going to be responsible for taking him 8 hours away from his doctors and have something go wrong.

I didn't mention while in Utah that my nieces were teasing Jordan big time. She would say something with her "accent" and they would just go nuts laughing and copying her. My nieces and nephews here don't even mention it. While I do agree that her little British accent is FREAKING CUTE we don't need to point it out every 5 minutes.

Well this went from a quick post to not so quick. I'm off now - time to go over to the hospital and see what the latest update is.