A Little Update from Our House

I thought I should get on here and do a little family update, if nothing else! 

We are doing great!  I am tired, worn-out, and extremely round, but like I told Gabe last night- if I start to sound unhappy, remind me of how happy I am!  Here's a few things we've got going on around here...

Baby is scheduled to arrive in 4 weeks and 3 days!  And by scheduled, I mean if he doesn't show up by then himself... But I haven't gone into labor yet, and I'm really not expecting to this time :-)  I have been having some pretty impressive contractions if I'm not careful, but it's probably just my body giving me a reminder not to over do it.

About the decluttering:  Annie came over last week and was extremely motivating!  She helped me rotate and clean out the girls' clothes.  Hopefully she'll come help with the boys' room!  I would still like to paint it, but I've got to do something about all the trucks and trains first!  I've failed completely at "cleaning one thing per day" idea, but I am trying to keep working at those problem areas :-) 

Gabe completed the TV area- and it's much more functional now!  We have a place for our new-to-us TV and all those black boxes that needed a better place to sit.  In addition, with the back half of that space, we have floor-to-ceiling shelves in the back room... Which aren't exactly organized *yet!*  But we've moved things around in that room to allow half of it to be for school, and that is helping a ton in the dining room because all our school was taking place out there.  As for school, Melia clued me in to a fascinating little fact about her... She does much better focusing when I leave the radio on (and it has to be Positive Life Radio :-).  Her reading is really picking up as well, which is SO fun to see!  Kiera's perfectionist mindset is slowly making room for her own creativity.  She's drawing a LOT now, and not being quite so frustrated when something doesn't look just right.  With numbers and letters though, she's still irritated that they don't look exactly like mine, which, ironically enough, often means her penmanship is better than Melia's :-)

I still have a ton of stuff to do before baby comes, but hopefully we'll get the main stuff accomplished.  If not, we'll figure it out when we bring him home!  If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I have to let go of my preconceived ideas and be flexible.  It'll all work out :-)

And no, he still doesn't have a name.  We stopped looking a while ago, just hoping he "looks" like something when he's born.  If not, we do have a small list of possible fits :-)

St Patricks Day Recipe Review

I enjoy making some kinds of traditional foods.  If they're easy.  And if I think my family will eat them. 

One of my most appreciated comments about our kids was our pastor last year- he complimented them on being "willing to try all the foods" at our Passover Seder.  When I'm often concerned about the little things they did wrong, people do a great job of reminding me how much they do right! 

Anyway, this year I chose this recipe: "Beer Braised Irish Stew and Colcannon," plus Irish Soda Bread. I was pretty sure that the stew would go over well, and mashed potatoes are normally pretty popular with everyone except me!  I'm sad I didn't take pictures, but like normal, getting dinner ready for when Gabe gets home at 7:30 is much harder than trying to have it done earlier- mostly because the kids are pretty worn out and hungry, so I forgot :-)

But Gabe's comment was that "there is nothing about this meal that is light!"  The stew was very thick and meaty, and the colcannon was REALLY thick (I think made a little too much potato!), plus the bread is a heavy bread.  But the flavors were fantastic- everybody ate all of their helpings, and Melia had extra colcannon.

The things I changed:  In the stew we had part venison, part beef.  For the potatoes, I used Yukon Golds instead of Russets.  And I followed one of the comments on allrecipes and stir-fried the cabbage instead of microwaving it. 

Definitely a successful meal!

Snow Pics

I am so glad we finally got some snow this year!  Unfortunately, it looks like that might be it...  But Kiera got her "winter wish"- we fit in one evening of sledding :-) 

Christmas Gifts and Pretty Sure He never saw this coming...

 Melia looked all through her new molding book before she decided to do something else :-)  Without any instructions, I think it turned out all right! 

 Our first completed batch of cake pops!

And I really don't think in all of Gabe's wildest imaginings that his deer would ever become the girls' dress-up "toy."  Ever. 

Big Resolutions, and a funny quote

Our (my, but I can't do it alone) main resolution is to simplify our lives by decluttering.  I know I've said that before... but we are both unorganized and scatterbrained, so I feel like if I could choose one area of our lives that would effect all the others, this would be it.  We would save money and time and energy by not having so much stuff!  And being able to find the important stuff we have!  I'm hoping to fit in a date night soon so we can really make some goals and hard plans... cause baby is only 18 weeks away! 

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Yesterday the toothpaste moved from the kids' bathroom to a kitchen cupboard (thanks to a post by Tammy a while back) because I caught Melia with a mouthful of it... just because she liked it.  (Another reason they really shouldn't make it taste so good...)  Thankfully, she hadn't swallowed any of it, but she really had a lot in there.  After reiterating to Gabe this particular event, he said "She needs a swat every time she forgets to think."  I thought that was awesome... Although if you have any suggestions about lack of "thinking" punishments/consequences, I'd love to hear them.  I was completely lost as to how to respond to this incident, since she knows not to swallow the toothpaste...  and while Gabe's thought was accurate, we totally recognize that sometimes swatting is not the answer.  (Emphasis on sometimes :-)

Isaac's first Christmas, Sick- 2011

I thought I would photograph Isaac opening his gifts from the Elliott side so everyone can see how he loved his presents :-)

 Wooden sound puzzle from Great-Gma Elliott

Tool set from Ken and Brenda

 Buildable Big Truck from Sissy (part of the kids' exchange)

Fire Truck Track Puzzle from Roy and Lois

Adventurer Rig from Great-Gma Elliott



Good Start to the Holiday Season!

This weekend we went shopping for decorations to do our "Basket of Blessings,"  and for our Operation Christmas Child Boxes.  The girls helped me thread the ribbon through the basket and tie the flowers on top, and so far we've seperated the kids' stuff into different bags because we can't find any shoe boxes :-)  I'm a little bummed we didn't get finished, but this week is the drop off for both these items so that puts the pressure on to GET IT DONE! 

Now, about shopping for gifts...  I need to start making my lists!  (Hint Hint... that means I need some lists, if you all feel kind enough to email me some!!!)

Thoughtful things to remember

This morning we were discussing dreams.  Mine were nightmares about purple praying mantis' and Melia trying to eat one and having it bite her tongue- you can see why I needed to talk that out...  But Melia began to tell me about hers:

Melia: "Mommy, remember that girl... oh wait.  I'll need my photo book for this one."  (runs and gets photo album and shows me a picture from preschool)  "Remember this girl?  I just don't understand why she liked all the other kids but not me.  Everyday I'd ask her to play with me, and everyone else would, but she always said no." 

I found this fascinating that she was putting into words what she wouldn't talk about three years ago.  We knew this was a problem because the teacher told us about it, but Melia never would really articulate that her feelings were being hurt by this snubbing and bossing (she was also bossy about who could play with who).  Interesting.  So just because they don't mention it at the time doesn't mean they don't feel it inside.

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Saturday, the girls were instructed to clean up their room because it had been a disaster for days.  And I really mean it by disaster.  Long story short, things did not go well because of arguing, tattling, etc... So finding myself nearly in tears, Gabe and I entered the room with two garbage bags and a storage bin, and cleaned up for them.  Half a bag of trash, one bag of "donate" items, and one bin later, we'd removed all but the very minimum of their toys. 

What was astounding was the lack of tears!  They even continued to bring us toys that they found hiding!  At one point I just said to Melia, "Why don't you just keep that one?" because I was tired of digging out the bin over and over.  But she says, "But I can't have it until I show you that I can keep my clothes picked up.  Then I can play with it again."  Well, ok then.  I'll just drag that bin out again.  How can I argue with my own logic?  :-)

Carving Fun

Kiera's Butterfly... That Daddy carved :-)

I guess raw pumpkin isn't so bad... At least for an almost one year old :-)

Oh Alden- you will enjoy these pictures someday, I promise!  :-)

 

Melia's Dolphin jumping out of the water.  She worked very diligently on this, and it turned out great!

Pumpkin Craft- Can YOU Guess Who?

Today at Co-op in my math class we did a craft- creating a pumpkin out of triangles.  While Gabe and I were preparing last night (isn't he great!) we were discussing what kind of results the kids would come up with.  I so enjoyed watching the kids and their little brains working that when we got home I had the girls sit down with the leftover pieces... and I had to join... and then Gabe too :-)

Can you guess who made each pumpkin?  It was great fun!

 A.

B.

 C.

D.

Salt Lake City: Part One

Last week I tagged along with Gabe to Utah for his annual Spillman user's conference (which is the computer system the jail uses.)  It was amazing :-)  I read FOUR books, took TWO naps, and had lots of fun with him on his downtime.  He also did very well on his certification tests.  It was a great vacation! 

The weird part for me was traveling alone. Because we used air miles to book my flight, I had to fly down the day before him, and home 6 hours later. While waiting for him to arrive, I took in the Hogle Zoo there in Salt Lake City, and hit a movie (The Help) which finished right as he was landing. Perfect!

We spent that evening with his co-worker and a gal from the Wenatchee PD, and another fellow from the west side playing pool and eating some delicious food at a small sports bar.  I must say, I am not a pool fan.  I'll watch, but please don't make me play! 

Monday Gabe had a review and testing (and I read and read and read...).  After his test we drove south a bit to take in a Brazilian steakhouse called Braza.  I've heard about this type of restaurant, and have been wanting to take Gabe to one for a while, so this seemed the ideal opportunity!  What we didn't know, and had it explained to us later in the week, was that the elevation can affect more than just your breathing... Apparently, it also can change how much you can consume... which makes it not the ideal opportunity to catch an "all-you-can-eat-meat" deal!  However, most of the meat was fabulous, and the salad bar was pretty good, plus the price was right.  We wished we could have eaten more, but this was just setting the tone for the rest of the week!  I went on to not be hungry at all until I arrived back home- it was crazy!   Especially when I am trying to enjoy having my plate to myself and not sharing with three little piggies!  Oh well!  Live and learn!  I also really noticed going up the stairs in the conference center- I felt like I was so out of shape, but then got laughed at because of the altitude thing... and I didn't feel so bad :-)

The next day was the corporate "event," in which they took us all out to Miller Motorsports in Tooele.  Here Gabe rode along in a racing mustang, which he said didn't go fast enough!  This is him exiting the car... he looks like he had fun, doesn't he?  :-)

Can you read the price tag? $80K- polished aluminum... brand new it'd run ya $140K.

Miller Motorsports has the largest private collection of Shelby Cobras, plus Shelby Mustangs and Ford GT40s.  There were some really high prices in this museum... all the way up to 14 million.  I can't believe they let me stand so close...

We also experienced riding in Jeep Rubicons on a rock crawling course and drove *real* go-carts!  You know, the 40 mph kind!  Gabe only passed me 3 times... But I did some passing too :-)  He was just the fastest driver out there by far- so I didn't stand a chance!  The rock crawling ranked high on my "how do they do that" bucket list... though I never would have admitted it.  I only went because these are "experienced" drivers... but they had a tendency to make mistakes here and there too!  Those pics are on Gabe's phone, so I'll have to post those later...

The next day included more conferencing, during which I drove down to Lehi to pick up some essential oils directly from the Young Living office (kinda cool!), plus visited the local Costco where I bought another book (which put my checked bag at 1 pound over the limit!) on Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  The conference's closing banquet ended the day, but Keys on Main topped off the night!  Keys on Main is a bar which hosts dueling pianos two days a week- and it was the number one thing on Gabe's to-do-again list from last year!  I can't begin to describe how much fun it was- phenomenally talented pianists- funny drunk people- great songs.  What a blast!

Gabe had a few classes to do the next morning, and then we scooted out to do some sightseeing together.  First I wanted to check out the Temple Square- mainly to see the Beehive House and Lion House because I'd recently (in the last year) read about their history and Brigham's countless wives :-)  However, once we entered the square and started rounding the temple itself, we decided to leave due to "feeling weird."  We did drive by the houses the next morning, but after leaving we found the yummiest little bakery/sandwich shop ever!  Hagermann's Bakehouse:  if ever you find yourself in Salt Lake City, visit here.  They had scrumptious samples, tasty sandwiches, and we went up afterwards to pick out dessert (because we couldn't refuse!) and they gave it to us free! 

My apricot-jalapeno jelly was sliming me!  (By then we'd learned to split whatever we ordered!)

To be continued.... because it's late and blogger is not cooperating in the photo upload process... :-)

Woodland Park Zoo, Part Three

 This bear picture is kinda weird, but you can see the blond hair in front of the glass- the bear was right on the other side!  On our side it was absolute chaos with people pushing and shoving to see the bear up close.  Poor Isaac even got stepped on!  Insanity!

 This made the girls' day because we missed the carousel at Silverwood, thinking it would still be open when we were on our way out (like we had seen it do before,) but it wasn't :-(