Missing My WIfe...

No she has not gone anywhere... she is just not feeling well. Nothing makes you appreciate mom like a day without her help and influence. My poor wife woke up under the weather this morning and I had to take a family sick day. The kid's and I got her loaded in the car and ran up to the doctor's office. She has to stay in bed for a couple of days and we are praying for a speedy recovery.

We had purchased tickets to the Barnum & Bailey Circus several weeks ago and the kids were anxious to go. I thought it was important that I stay and tend to my wife's needs but she wouldn't hear of it and pushed us out the door.

That is were my adventure began! While driving thru the bank my little Hema asks for some water and in typical kid fashion reminded me every 5 seconds. We stopped by a fast food joint and ordered a bottle of water. Of course once I gave it to Hema little Vela wanted in on the action too. Using my finely tuned "Daddy" skills I managed to get them to share and averted WWIII (world war three) in the back seat.

We got to the trax station and while trying to figure the ticket machine out the train leaves. My thought was that another one would be along in a couple of minutes right... 20 minutes later we finally board. Somewhere in Murray we come to a stop and a voice announces over the speaker that we will be a few minutes as a there is a problem with a train just in front of us. Anyway... long story short... we were late to the circus. I was the only one bothered by this and the kids... well they really didn't mind it a bit.

They really enjoyed the show! I on the other hand didn't get to really watch much of it as I was busy cleaning up spilled soda, keeping my little angel Vela from flying off the balcony, pulling my little buddy Hema off the railing as he was trying to imitate the tight rope act, wiping up the nacho cheese art Vela painted on the seat next to us, feeding Hema his jumbo hot dog because all the condiments were dripping everywhere, and of course DIAPERS. The return ride on trax was memorable too since the licorice I used to pacify Vela with during the show finally kicked in. At least the people on trax thought it was entertaining to watch a huge Polynesian wrestle with a 23 month old toddler.

Now don't take this wrong... I loved every minute of it! But... I did miss my SWEET HEARTs helpful input, her awesome organization skills, her calming voice, her toddler submission holds, her... "Mommy Skills". Most of all I missed her next to me through it all. I love you honey and hope you feel better soon. - Hema

Uh, Hema.... I Think You Forgot Something!

Last night I tucked Little Hema into bed and went downstairs to wait for daddy Hema to get home from a church meeting. When he got home we went up and found this in the kid's bathroom. I guess Hema got up to go to the bathroom and was still half asleep and didn't realized the lid was down. Luckily, the lids on our toilets have a bit of a dip in them and so rather than finding the pee all over the bathroom floor, it formed into this little pee lake on top of the toilet. There wasn't any dripping down the sides or on the floor. Fortunately his daddy cleaned it up and I just had to finish it up with some Clorox wipes. I thought it was pretty funny.

My Little Pretties!

I got a lot of comments about how nasty looking my canned chicken was. I know, it really isn't the prettiest thing. That is why they sell it in cans with labels on them in the stores, rather than in nice clear bottles. But it is very yummy and we are looking forward to delicious, quick meals from it. But I thought I'd post a few pictures of my pretty canning that I did this week. Let's face it, fruits and veggies are just prettier in jars!

Here are salsa, applesauce and raspberry jam. I canned 38 pints of salsa today. It was a new recipe that I got from my mom with cumin in it. It has a little different flavor and is pretty tasty! I did 26 pints of applesauce last night. (After the outdoor movie - yeah I was up pretty late.) We've already eaten 2 jars of applesauce. I did pints because I thought we'd waste it in quarts. I didn't realize how yummy it would be. I think I'll do some quarts of it this weekend. It is so good!

Here is a little bowl I'm about to eat as a late night snack! Yummers! Now I am wondering - do you can? If so, what do you do each year. I'd love to try some new recipes.

Round 2: One of These Things Is Not Like the Other!!

Last night our neighborhood has a fun movie night. We all watched Bolt outside on the neighbor's garage door. The weather was perfect and I didn't see a single mosquito. I guess that was because they were all busy biting little Hema, which I didn't know until this morning.

He woke up this morning and said in a very worried voice, "I can't even open my eye." This side looks perfectly normal.

Nope, he's not winking!!

His eye is completely swollen shut! He couldn't even get it open a crack! It's especially noticeable because he has those beautiful big brown eyes!

We told him he looks like he got in a fight last night. He couldn't stop looking in the mirror and laughing! We took him to the Dr and they said he had 3 bites around his eye and just gets bad reactions to them.
Here he is at noon today. It's open a tiny crack after some Benadryl! I guess I'll get no mommy of the year awards after not using bug spray last night! Sorry Hema! The Dr says you'll be back to normal soon!

Shrek vs. Nacho Libre

You know when you were a kid and you would ask the question, "Who would win if _________ and _________ got in a fight?" I remember my little brothers always wondering if my dad could beat up pretty much every person or animal on the face of the earth. Of course, my mother assured them that he could. I do remember the time we were in front of the Christus statue at temple square and it was either Joe or Josh that asked who would win out of my dad and Jesus. My mom had to do a little explaining about fights and Jesus at that point.

Well, in case you have ever wondered who would win out of Shrek and Nacho Libre - here's your answer!!

(Sorry about the bad dark video, my camcorder is in the shop!) In case you couldn't tell, Nacho Libre takes Shrek down every time! Maybe that is because Nacho Libre is 4 and Shrek is only 1.

Lately, Hema and Vela have been loving these sweet masked capes that we picked up in Mexico a few years ago. If I remember right, they were 2 for $5. We should have picked up a few more!

Mom University

Maybe it's the change in the weather. I love this time of year. I always find myself longing to go back to school, to learn new things and to become better. It's funny because I don't remember loving school so much when I was in it. Maybe that is normal. Maybe someday I will go back to school and get my Masters degree or maybe even go to law school - I'd love to be a guardian ad litem some day when my kids are all grown up. But for now, I love my job of being a homemaker and don't really need any more formal education to do it well. But there is a lot of training in homemaking that I could still really use. I love learning from my mom. She is so amazing. She knows how to do EVERYTHING domestic. She really does. Sometimes she makes me crazy when I ask how she makes something and she says she has no recipe or instructions - she just throws stuff in and it always turns out great. She came over today and helped be can 31 more pints of raspberries jam. (Hema and I went and picked them last night.) I also made a big double batch of laundry soap. I've been making my own and using it for about 6 months now and can't believe how much money I wasted on Tide through the years. Then I made a huge batch of spaghetti sauce with lots of yummy fresh veggies in it and froze 4 containers for later. It's nearly 10:00 and the kids are tucked into bed, the mess is cleaned up and I am tired, but excited to know that on a cold winters day I can bake up some wheat bread and spread on the raspberry jam and enjoy the fruits of my labor. I've always sort of longed to have lived back in the days of the pioneers or maybe the time of my favorite book These is my Words. I somehow feel more connected to those times, to my ancestors when I do these things that they too did, learning from my mother- what she learned from hers and she from hers and so on. It's hard to explain it, but I love it. I love feeling part of a greater legacy of womanhood, and homemaking and motherhood. Thanks Mom, for taking the time to help me be better!

Hema's First Day of School

Hema actually started preschool on Tuesday, but I've been a little swamped with Primary stuff so I am just getting this posted. He has been so excited to start preschool. Each morning he watches the neighbor kids walking to the elementary school and asks if he gets to go to school yet. He loves Preschool and his teacher is fabulous!!! We love Mrs. Jensen. (I don't know why I forgot to get a picture with her this year.) When he got all ready and got his backpack on, Vela of course needed hers too. She wanted to get in on the picture fun.

Here Hema is getting ready to go inside. He looks so grown up. Maybe that is due in part to his shorter hair.

We miss having Hema home with us even though it is only 2 hours twice a week, but we know he is having too much fun to miss us. I am excited to have some one-on-one time with little Vela. We'll be attending some story time at the library, doing a little shopping, playing at the park and maybe getting pedicures. Well, maybe not the pedicures - but I sure could use one!

Lab Experiments??

Have any of you ever bottled your own chicken? I love the canned chicken from the cannery, and have been so sad ever since I ran out. If you love it too, then you already know that they no longer allow families to can chicken to take home. I decided to can my own. It is just as yummy and ready to be thrown into so many tasty dinners this winter. My mom (who patiently mentors me on all things homemaking related) wasn't able to help me on Saturday - and so I canned it all my myself.... sort of.......I did call her no less than 25 times (no exaggeration) in the nearly 6 hours that it took to bottle 28 pints of chicken! I also called a neighbor and did a lot of internet reading on the subject. Needless to say, I was a little nervous that I would do something wrong and poison my family all winter long - but it turned out great! I know it looks like bottles of lab experiments, but it is seriously tasty chicken. You just add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the fresh chicken and it makes all that lovely broth! Yummers! Each pint holds about a pound of fresh chicken, perfect for most recipes that I make for my family. I foresee a lot of chicken enchiladas, chicken tacos, chicken pot pies, pasta dishes with chicken, chicken salad sandwiches and so many more yummies in our future. I still have about 60 more pounds of chicken to go. Wish me luck! And don't be surprised if you come over for dinner and chicken is on the menu.

And now for some other exciting news.... Vela (who we are in no way trying to potty train) came in to the bathroom tonight and said "potty." So I humored her and sat her on the potty and low and behold - within 5 seconds, she peed! She was so pleased with herself! We were all pleased too. I'm sure this is no indicator of how smoothly her potty training will really go someday, but it was a small victory for today!

Beckams Birthday and Green Boots

Today was Beckam's 1 Year birthday party. He is such a cutie! He loved the cake. Isn't his little hat adorable that Rindi made?

Hema and Vela had so much fun at the party. It was at a park and they loved the swings and playground. Here they are with Beckam.

Oh, and I know this picture is blurry, but seriously I can't get enough of these little green patent leather boots I bought for Vela. They really don't match a thing that she owns, but do they really even need to match? I made a quick bracelet and bow to go with them. Honestly, I am a sucker when I find cute stuff for a great price. I got these boots for $10. I just couldn't resist! Quite frankly, I wish I had a pair too!

Fun Times for Hema - Not So Much Fun for Vela!

Little Hema started his Let's Play Music class last week. It is so much fun. The first semester is called Red Balloons and he was so pleased to get a red balloon at class. I love that I get to go with him every other week and see what he is learning. If you aren't familiar with LPM, you ought to check them out. It is a very neat program and he is learning so much!

This morning Vela got tubes in her ears. She has had a lot of ear infections and also they thought that it might be effecting her speech. The procedure itself was pretty simple and took all of 10 minutes. But they did have to give her anesthesia and that was pretty scary for me. She was so cute walking into the hospital - she had no idea what was up.

Here she is in her cute little gown.

They had lots of fun little toys for her and Hema to play with while we waited for her turn to go in.

They let them each color a face on a hospital buddy.

Here is Vela with her doctor - Heidi Haras - before the surgery.

Waking up from the anesthesia was definitely the junkiest part. She was so groggy and crying so hard. She was starving since she hadn't had a thing to eat or drink since 9:00 the night before. I aksed twice if she could have milk. "Sure" the nurse said. Then as Vela started throwing up all over she suddenly says, "you really should have just given her clear liquids." Thanks. A little late to mention that now. Oh Well!

We are glad that that is over with and hope that our sweet little angel is feeling great soon!