I Wonder Woman

Geocaching

2013-06-06T12:03:00.001-07:00

Geocaching is like treasure hunting, but with a really good map. Caches are hidden boxes or objects, and the GPS coordinates are logged in an official database. With a GPS unit, like a smart phone, you can go searching for them! When you find it you can sign the log book found with the box, and if you have trinkets to swap you can take a little treasure home with you. We left a few coins, and the girls picked out a clam shell. This cache is at a trail/park just about a block away.

Chore Chart

2013-05-16T16:36:00.001-07:00

I have made a chore chart!

This is probably only exciting to me, since I've deliberated on design for years, and today finally decided to google "Washi tape chore chart," took a cursory glance at what popped up, and then did whatever I wanted to do.

1) Type a list of chores in Word. Size the font up to 18, format into two columns, and print. I made multiples of things like "put away laundry" and "get dressed."

2) Trim paper around words, and mod podge onto wooden clothes pins.

3) I used a template and Sharpies to trace CHORES onto my canvas, and then decorated with Washi tape. We all chose a ribbon design, and I sandwiched 12 inch lengths between the Washi tape I'd laid down and a new design.

4) Push upholstery tacks into the frame of the canvas to better secure the ribbon.

Easy peasy, and finished during Cocoa's nap.

I've been on a cleaning binge/purging streak lately- a least half the kids' toys have either been put away for later, donated, listed in Craigslist, thrown away, or simply confiscated. I cleared three garbage sacks of stuff from their bedroom floor the other day! The books, I returned and Ernie organized the shelves again. Clothes were bundled into the washing machine, and toys are in a bin in my room; they can each earn two toys back every morning if their room and playroom are clean when they go to bed. If they're not clean, everything I find out goes into my bin. I'm going crazy, there HAS to be some order in this house! Less stuff, so we can find what we want, and less stuff so we value what we have.

Big Band Sound!

2013-05-11T22:42:00.001-07:00

My family performed at a dinner tonight for our senior citizens- is there a more fun audience to perform broadway and big band pieces for? I think not. My brother Bear is vocals, my husband is electric bass, and I'm on keyboard. My sister, LoLo joined in for a duet on Cuando, Cuando, Cuando.

We were on between dance numbers from a local ballroom school- for these last three in our set, they came up to the floor to dance with whomever they could get out of their chairs! Too, too much fun. So glad we were invited to perform!

These three were our closer pieces- I'll upload the others as well, we all chose a few classic broadway pieces to open.

"Cuando, Cuando, Cuando"

Foggy Day

Feeling Good

Changeling

2013-04-08T21:21:00.001-07:00

At dinner tonight I found out that the girls have given each of the light bulbs in our new fixture a My Little Pony name- correspondingly, the chair you choose is tied to a certain light and grants you that title. I heard them chattering about it, and when they dropped to a whisper I perked up. Apparently I was in chair of the dark, burnt out bulb. The evil Changeling Queen chair. Muahahaha.

A Bit of Sunshine

2013-04-04T23:11:00.001-07:00

We enjoyed some amazing weather last week- in parting with Seattle's "40's/50's/60's and drizzling October-June" rule, Easter week saw temperatures in the 70's. MAN. I could get used to that.

Don't worry, it's gray and drizzly again today. With the season's yellow daffodils against the gray skies, we're looking quite stylish around here!

We hit our neighborhood beach Saturday afternoon with our cousins. We live blocks from a gorgeous lake, and I seem to forget that a lot of the time! We saw bald eagles, herons, and cormorants. Think there are a lot of fish to be had for munching??

The girls and I watercolor painted after school today- the assignment was to paint a tropical island, with an ocean/sky horizon. I think it's hilarious that Ernie managed to work a rainbow into her painting. Ever since I taught her the rainbow order of colors, everything in her life has revolved around that order. She loves order. Have we learned this yet?

Tuesday

2013-03-26T23:04:00.001-07:00

It's been a quiet Tuesday. Ernie is getting pretty self-sufficient in her school. Mimi is loving the warmer weather and disappears for hours to go walk the garden wall, play with chalk, swing, dig, and sing to herself. We call her our little pixie princess. When I found her with her blond curls full of moss the other day, she really looked it!

Cocoa has come down with a fever, again. (Last was was about two months ago, we were fever/flu buddies. And couch/movie buddies.). After letting him sleep in his crib about 4 hours I got nervous and woke him up- he sleeps hot like his dad, and his fever and gone over 102 again. Thermometer actually said 104, but I take its readings with a grain of salt. He eagerly gulped down his medicine (bless the makers of 8 hour Advil for children!!) and then drained two cups of water and started crying for pizza. (He hasn't eaten all day.) He ate a piece of bread and half a muffin, and his fever is down now and he's watching Mythbusters with his dad and I'm getting sleep while I can! Why does he keep getting fevers??

Oh, shining spot today: his favorite ball, the one he wouldn't leave the house without, went missing a few weeks ago. We found a replacement today, and he clutched it for five hours before he fell asleep. Welcome back, little green ball!

Kitchen Pantry

2013-03-16T14:58:00.001-07:00

We've taken the doors off our kitchen pantry closet, so they can be painted.

I'm liking the open feeling of no doors, and how nothing is blocking the hallway when we need to get into the page try but need to do some tidying/basketing if I'm going to keep them off.

Or, I could replace them with curtains. They'd be easy to wash when they got dusty, but it would be one more thing to remember to take down and wash, and for Cocoa to pull on/ hide in.

Any thoughts?
A) Paint the doors, put them back.
B). No doors! Get it tidy in there.
C) Put up curtains.

Happy Saturday

2013-02-16T15:33:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday everyone- hopefully I'll have a finished stitchy to show on Monday!

February Blahs and a Park Day

2013-02-15T22:10:00.000-08:00

A letter sent to my sister today.

1) I love Thriftbooks.com
2) We had sun today for the first time since I can remember. NOT sun breaks, actual blue skies. All afternoon.
3) I ate too many cookies today.

To my sister:

Just ordered Chalice, Beauty, Rosedaughter, and Gluten-Free Girl's first book. Less than $20.

And then went and used a $40 gift certificate that Rae gave me and ordered a sewing book and some embroidery patterns.

Spent alllllll afternoon at the park. WOOT! And, my cookies are really, really good. (1 c. PB, 1 c. sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla. Mix it all up, bake 10 minutes at 350 on a silpat. Don't forget to smash them with a fork :) I used my smallest scoop. I highly suggest scooping a huge amount of my raspberry jam on top and then shoving it in your face.

We're going to survive February. Aren't we?

Mimi saw a plane on the way to the park.

We spent our morning at the co-op- Mimi started a "My Gym" class today with lots of tumbling and stretching and dancing with ribbons. Ernie started a writing workshop- lots of stories and thinking like a writer. Ernie also takes a Science/Art class (study the diaphragm and lungs and then build a model, etc.). We LOVE our co-op!

Home for lunch and Cocoa's nap, and I pushed the girls out the door to enjoy the sunshine. We ended up at the park, and Daddy (home sick with a flu/cough) drove Cocoa over when he got up from his nap. Came home for some painting time for the kids and pizza-making time for me (and nap time for Daddy.)

I have a favorite crust for the weekly pizza night (makes a super soft, un-chewy, crust) but the last few weeks I've been using socca as my pizza. Oh my goodness is it good- just chickpea flour and water with some olive oil and salt, cooked like a pancake in a super hot, oiled, pan. I threw in some garlic and dried basil tonight, in honor of pizza night, but topped it with leftover chicken mushroom curry (and some cotija) from last night's dinner. I was a happy girl tonight. The chickpea flour was easy to get- I just ground up a bag of garbanzo beans in the grain mill. Thank you Bobbi for the recipe! You've saved my pizza nights :o)

The kids took baths after dinner (much to their chagrin- Friday is supposed to be pizza and movie night. They NEEDED baths.)

I finally snapped a picture of a sleeping Cocoa this week. The girls go to bed around 8, but he doesn't get ready for bed till 9 or so. In the past month, his crib has gotten pretty full- there's the soft baby blanket from Nana, and then the enormous duck he likes to sleep on from Nana Great. The hot rice bag on his feet, and a little soft blanket square in his hand from Mama Papaya, and his stinky frog (a Scentsy Buddy) from Nana Great in his other. Then two star-casting light up animals, one from Santa and the other from Uncle Bear. THEN you kiss his nose goodnight and leave. He loves it in there. I wish he'd STAY in there at night, but I'm glad bed time (and nap time) is so easy!

Liebster Award

2013-02-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

J. over at Cygnus Opus tagged me on her Liebster Award. (A way to recognize tiny blogs. Like this one. Hooray for teeny!) I'm not going to tag anybody, but if you want to join in, go for it!

I need to list 11 facts about me, and then answer her list of questions. I'm not sure I can find 11 things you don't already know!

12/12, Grand Canyon

Eleven Facts about Myrnie:

I'm a twin, and my sisters call me Myrnie.
My hands fit inside of a Pringles can. You should see the size of my wedding ring, it's tiny.
My husband and I got engaged after dating three months (too short! people said), and were married 6 months after that (too long! people said.)
I was married a few weeks after my 22nd birthday, and Ernie was born 18 months later.
Two summers after high school, our college choir trip to Vienna was canceled after 9/11. My sister and I used our ticket money for that and bought two tickets for a brand new cruise ship that was sailing from Dover to Barcelona. I booked plane tickets to London, and then found a man with a van whose business it was to pick folks up in London and drive them to the docks in Dover. (Turns out he also owned a bed and breakfast.) We saw France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, etc. and booked a few extra days at a hotel in Barcelona at the end and then flew back to Seattle. At the time it was amazing, and now it's just incredible. I can't believe we did that!
I started college when I was 16- our area has a program that allows high school students to complete their high school requirements at the local community college and pays the tuition. We actually got our Associates Degree a week before our high school diplomas.
I earned my Bachelors at the University of Washington- business, with an emphasis in accounting. I also minored in music.
I've been teaching piano since I was 17. I also worked as a house cleaner and babysitter for a family in high school, and spent a few weeks in the summer helping out at a bakery while all their workers were at camp.
I love cooking food from all around the world. I love good food, but am too cheap to buy really great food. So, I have to make it myself!
My favorite thing about having these three kids of ours is seeing how insanely talented each child is, in their own way. I'm convinced that every child is a genius, if we can focus long enough to find out who they are.
I love to create things. I love to paint, write, draw, cook, dance, sing, play piano and organ, and make jewelry. I'm not extremely talented or trained, but I believe we all have a need to create.

Hello Cocoa, you smooshy ball of love. We took this self-portrait about 6:00 a.m. on a family trip to the lake. No one else was up yet so we went on the deck to watch the sun come up.

1. Tell me about one of your most embarrassing moment that you wouldn't mind sharing.
You know, I can't think of any! I get embarrassed a lot, because I tend to say excessively dumb things whenever I go out in public, but there's not really any great stories. Just me doing dumb stuff, like being invited to a baby shower at Ichiro's home (yeah, the baseball player, his wife is a sweetheart) and then refusing to take home the flowers she offered because I didn't understand that they were for me. And then I told her I couldn't eat her sushi, because I was pregnant. Like THAT isn't offensive to a gourmet Japanese cook. Oh, and mistaking the high-end boutique she bought my gift at for a consignment shop. See? I'm a recluse for my own safety.

2. Name someone you admire that is still alive.
So many people! This isn't a fair question, because most of the people I admire are reading this *right now.* (Hi family!) Let's see. Is Corrie Tenboom still alive?

3. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?
Woah. Paris, for sight seeing. Disney World for the Epcot Center. Wales for the country side. Italy, for sitting around and eating gelato. Japan, for just eating. Chicago and Washington D.C. for the museums. Somewhere sunny, just for sun.

4. If you could travel in time where or rather when would you go?
Oh boy. I'm not sure- I feel so insanely blessed to be alive right now, I'm not sure there's a time I'd rather be in. We have so many freedoms, and such incredible knowledge about the world just at our finger tips.

5. What do you most wish for the future generations?
I wish they could remember that there IS value in doing things simply and the "old-fashioned" way. The more we learn, the more we find out that maybe grandma was right even if she didn't know why. Highly mechanized and efficient isn't the best way for the human race to be.

6. Name something you would fix in the country you live in?
The way the economy and benefits are handled. Stop handing out more money than we have, and figure out a way to give government help ONLY to those who really need it. Teach people to be self-reliant, and stop punishing people who are successful at what they do. Stop making knee-jerk-reaction legislation every time something horrible happens, because it doesn't stop the next horrible thing from happening, it only makes life harder for people who try to do the right thing. (HELLO SARBANES-OXLEY, I DESPISE YOU.)

7. If you could be a teacher/professor, what would you teach?
HA! I already teach piano, sunday school, and second grade. I guess I'd like to have some sort of class where I could just brain dump everything I've learned over the years about cooking, childhood development, and how to make stuff myself. Is that narcissistic? I've spent so much time studying, and it seems like I could save people some time if I just got it all compiled into something usable Like that book I keep starting and stopping.

8. What hymn means the most to you?
Oh My Father. I love the words, and I was able to perform a solo section in a CES broadcast when I was in college. President Eyring spoke, and our Seattle UW Institute choir combined with the University of Idaho choir to sing at the monthly broadcast. It was filmed at the U of I, in the Kibbey Dome- I also helped accompany a four-handed choir piece written just for the occasion (a mash-up of Army of Helaman and As Sisters in Zion.) I have a copy of the video, but it's not in the online archives because it wasn't broadcast from BYU and for some reason that made a difference?

9. What's your favorite flower?
Anything in bloom? Let's see, I love fuscias because Grandma grew them. I love hellebores because they bloom in January. I love daffodils and quince because they bloom in February. I love wild roses because they taste good. I love nasturtium for the same reason, and they're SO COLORFUL. I love trillium because finding them feels like finding a fairy hideout. I love tulips because they smell like tomatoes, and I think it's funny to see them grow so tall in their vases of water. I love peonies because they're huge and showy and don't care who knows it. I love rhododendrons because they are EVERYWHERE in Seattle- there's not many yards that don't include a few of those old standbys.

10. What was your favorite cartoon as a kid? I don't remember having a favorite. We liked Jem, because it seemed so grownup and cool and glamorous. Looking back, it was probably completely inappropriate for 6-year-olds.

11. If you were at Baskin Robbin's what flavor of ice cream would you choose? I really, really, love vanilla ice cream. Lately we've been choosing frozen yogurt, so I can get popping boba on top. Om nom.

Myrnie on the left, two weeks before Ernie was born. That's a skinny and in-love Aunt LoLo on the right. She's two weeks from getting engaged- poor thing! He wouldn't propose until after the baby was born, just to make sure she wouldn't get called away for the birth while he was trying to get the question out.

Day In the Life: Cocoa's Birthday

2013-02-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

12:30 am Up and at 'em, Mom! Cocoa here. I have a cold and a sore throat and a full diaper and woke up yesterday with a 102 fever, and heck- let's go watch cartoons and drink OJ. Yeah, now. No, I won't be soothed. I will writhe and kick and head butt you because I half crazy with this aching pain in my throat. UP and at 'em!

3:30 am Text my husband to tell him of my good fortune. OJ and Curious George, all night baby! Bless you, Netflix, and your "continuous play" option.

4:00 am Cocoa is asleep and I put him in his crib and go lay down.

4:30 am Cocoa is up again and comes to bed with me. We sleep. HALLELUJAH.

9:00 am We wake up. Man, am I glad I canceled all my early morning piano lessons this week until the crud is gone. (That's a technical term, by the way. We get flu season, and then we get the crud. Not really sick, but not totally well either. Nasty coughs, grumpy faces, gooey noses.) Go tell the girls their cartoon time is over, time to have breakfast and clean up the playroom.

9:30 am Send Ernie to get ready for a shower. Change Cocoa's dirty diaper.

10:00 am Tired of waiting for her (she's making her bed) I take my shower.

10:30 am Ernie is now tucking teddy bears into bed. I remind her that she needs a shower this morning. I find Cocoa with a pen and Ernie's binder of "most prized print out coloring pages from Pinterest." I substitute a page of scrap paper for him and start cleaning the kitchen. I've been on the couch for 5 days, either sick or just too exhausted to get up for more than a little bit. I'm finally feeling better, and it's time to catch up! New diaper for Cocoa, and give him a piece of chalk for the easel. He draws swirls and excitedly turns and shrieks "FROWAH!" Obviously, my Monet is drawing a flower garden. Little genius.

11:00 am Make a birthday cake with the kids- yes, I use boxed cake mixes. It was a choice between cooking with my kids or banning them from the kitchen, and I had to choose kid time. (Because I don't have the attention span necessary to follow a 15-ingredient recipe AND keep track of whose turn it is to stir, dump, pour, measure, mix.....eep.)

11:30 am Run around the upstairs with a garbage bag and a clothes hamper. There are a LOT of used tissues around here. GROSS. Socks, too. Why do kids leave their socks in every room of the house?

12:00 Serve the kids homemade apple sauce to start their lunch off- they all had seconds on Sunday, I know they'll like this. I thawed out more just because they liked it so much. I puree it so it's extra smooth, the only way they'll eat it.

12:30 They are having sword fights with their spoons and won't touch the applesauce. I give them bread and jam for the 156th meal in a row and give them the mother's curse: Someday may you have children who don't appreciate good food, and eat nothing but bread. And then you can try to explain to them why they can't poop.

1:00 Send kids downstairs to clean up the play room, and I sit at the computer for a few minutes and start blogging. (Did we just go meta?) E-mail back and forth with my husband a few times on his lunch break, and make sure I tell him I love him a few hundred times. Because Mama is coming off a week of flu and PMS and...yeah. Needs to make sure people know she's back. He wants a haircut, but not a haircut. The only haircut I know how to cut is Missionary. You know, the kind of haircut that's 1 inch long. (You wondered why all the guy LDS missionaries look alike? Yeah, there are rules for personal grooming!)

2:00 Get all the kids ready to go- I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor to go over some blood work and Cocoa gets his two-year check up today. Shoes and coats on everybody, realize that I can't fit any shoes over Cocoa's outfit of choice (red footy pajamas) so I run upstairs and dig through the clean laundry hamper to find a fresh outfit for him. (Have I mentioned that the hubby does all the laundry now, and I take care of sorting/folding/putting away? It had to happen- I never, ever, remember to cart the dirty laundry to the basement and get it started! It was either start washing stuff, or buy everyone new underwear. Thanks for picking up my slack, hon, we make a great team ;)

2:30-3:30 The appointment actually goes really well! When one kid spills a glass of water on the table in the foyer, one of the gals from the desk pops out with a huge terry cloth towel. When Mimi starts exclaiming that the table is sticky (because there is maple syrup on her doll, and MOM the table is only sticky to toys that's why it doesn't feel sticky, and NO my doll wasn't sticky yesterday!) the same gal comes out with a lysol wipe. Basically, I love the staff there. All two of them. And our doctor. Everything looks good, I'm from Seattle and am low in Vitamin D, and the kids all get suckers on the way out the door. Happy campers!

3:30 Since we're in town, we head over to our nearest Asian market. I load up on rice cakes for dok bokki, tiny baby bok choi, ground flax seed, panda crackers for the kids, and sweet potatoes to roast and snack on for me and Cocoa. (Everybody else thinks they're a punishment- I can't keep Cocoa's little grabby fingers off them!) Cocoa falls asleep on the way home.

4:20 Home! Ernie eagerly offers to carry ALL the groceries upstairs for me (the better to get to their panda crackers!) and I cart Cocoa off to bed. It's a late nap, but he's so crazy in sleep schedule right now it's not even funny. He took three naps yesterday, all in my lap. I've had this flu, it's not fun, and I'm just going to let him sleep when and where he wants! I pull some raspberry jam out of the freezer to fill the birthday cake with and settle down with a mug of our homemade applesauce. And holy heck, it's awful stuff. No wonder the kids wouldn't eat it- we've found the remains of that one batch I triple-cinnamoned on accident. Ouch. It's beyond spicy and into just plain punishing. Maybe it will clear up the rest of my congestion.

4:45 Girls are done with their snack, and I send them downstairs to clean up their playroom. Actually DO it this time. Ernie really wants to help decorate Cocoa's cake, but the playroom needs to be cleaned up first and I can't wait forever. Hopefully that will help her focus just a bit- I tell her that I'm going to make dinner in about 20 minutes, and I will decorate the cake after dinner. So, if her toys are put away before dinner, she can definitely help me!

4:56 Cocoa is awake. DARN IT. He sure doesn't sound happy. Maybe he's just looking forward to his Panda crackers. I DID promise him he could have them after I bought them.

5:03 He was excited about the crackers until I put one in his hand. No problem, he's strapped into his high chair. I walk away. It's the only way he'll ever really eat: ALONE. I'm in the next room, listening to crunchings and crinklings and happy mmmm'ings.

5:10 I go help the girls go a little faster in their clean up downstairs. Looking pretty good!

5:30 I leave the kids downstairs and go start dinner- rick sticks and steamed bok choi. Not terribly filling or nutritious, but hopefully something everyone will happily eat. Most of us aren't too hungry- I've been staying pretty full on just a small juice glass of almond milk for breakfast, another for lunch, and a few bites of dinner. Most miserable diet ever, being too sick and tired to be hungry! I boil the rice sticks for a few minutes, and then try a new way of cooking them. Normally I take these smooshy rice bites (think something like gnocchi, but chewy and stretchy) and toss them in a pan with some oil to crisp them up a bit. They stick and make a terrible mess- today I rinse off all the starch I can, toss them in oil, and then put them under the broiler on a foil-lined pan. The recipe I found said to broil them 5 minutes till they're golden brown. I go ten minutes, and they're looking wrinkly. Switch to bake at 450 for another 5 or 10 minutes and they're just drying out and still completely white. Then I spend 20 minutes peeling them from the foil, and then peeling the foil from the rice sticks. Technique fail! I frost the cake while I'm waiting for everything to cook, and fill the center with my raspberry jam. I should put the cake in the fridge, since the jam is thickened with gelatin and doesn't stand up to room temperature without going runny, but I put it on the cake stand and now it won't fit.

6:15 Call the kids to dinner. THEY LOVE THE RICE STICKS. Hallelujah. Ernie even likes the bok choi. Mimi bravely tries a bite, so kudos for her.

6:45 I pull the girls into the kitchen to decorate the birthday cake- lots of chocolate candies and sprinkles, check! It looks amazing! Daddy gets home from work and gets himself kiss from me and a plate of dinner from the pot while I'm supervising in the kitchen.

7:00 Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Bear, and Aunt Bert arrive for the birthday party. Cocoa loves opening his presents. His cake dripped and oozed red rasberry jam (very festive with the blue icing and vanilla ice cream). Nana and Grandpa called from Utah to Facetime him a very happy birthday. What a great night to be two!

8:30 Everyone has gone home, kitchen is just about cleaned (THANK YOU GRANDMA!!) we read scriptures with the kids and help them say their prayers and brush their teeth. Rice bags get warmed up, and girls are tucked into bed with hot rice bags and cold cups of water.

9:00 Cocoa figures now is a good time to watch more cartoons.

9:30 Cocoa falls asleep, and then wakes up wailing when I put him in his crib. He sits with Daddy until Daddy falls asleep.

10:15 Here's me and Cocoa, blogging. And watching Curious George. And both wanting to be asleep, I'm sure of it. Man alive, I'm feeling better today but I still don't have enough energy to be taking care of a two-year-old with The Crud at 10:15 PM. (He's not normally like this- bed time for him is normally around 8:30 or 9:00. And it's easy. He rubs his eyes, we heat up his rice bag, and stick him in bed. The end.)

10:30 Give up on being the Nice Mom on Cocoa's birthday, and call in Tough Love. Which is what he needs. Give him his Advil, put him in his crib with a warm rice bag and his fuzzy blankets, leave the hall light on to keep him company, and go finish cleaning the kitchen. And use the bathroom for as long as I want without company. And listen to Cocoa play, sing, whimper half heartedly, and finally go silent.

11:00 PM Finish up the last few dishes, wake Daddy up and send us to bed.

The Gluten Series: Part 1

2013-02-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've started and stopped this post a couple of times. Right now it's called "The Post That's Hard to Write."

First off, I don't want to be laughed at. Because doing things that are different, while socially applauded in the general sense (Be Unique! Be yourself!) is not...really...OK... when you're talking to someone face to face.

Second, I will have to admit that I have had health issues for a very long time. And I really don't want to be a person with health issues.

Third, it's just so darn CLICHE! It's the "it" thing, just a rung in a hierarchy of food snobs. And who wants to be a snob?

But fourth, what's happened to me is so life-changing that I have to believe this might help someone else.

Hi, I'm Myrnie, and I've been depressed for a very, very long time.

I won't describe it for you, because it's not pretty, but there it is.

Anyway, it was really bad in high school, and then kind of manageable for a long time. Meeting my husband changed my life for so many years- he made me so happy. His pragmatic, level-headed, unchanging approach to life is amazing. But, after our third child was born, things were kind of hard. No different than when the second came, really.

Then when my menstrual cycle started again when the baby was nine months old (that's 18 months without a cycle, everybody) I simply could not handle it. The hormone swings. Oh my gosh, the swings. The days I would yell at my kids, and I NEVER yelled at my kids until now. I'm serious. The feeling of just being so tired. My husband would ask me in concern "What is wrong?" All I could say was that I was just tired. Tired of trying so hard to be good, and tired of failing every day. Tired of hating myself. I just couldn't get this right, I was so tired of failing. My body was tired. I haven't slept properly in about 8 years. I would pray at night to my Heavenly Father "Please forgive me for losing my temper again, and please help me be nicer!"

Failing every day at something I wanted so badly made my self-esteem plummet. What kind of person can't even keep herself from yelling at three beautiful children? I've been doing Zumba once a week with my sister, and gained 5 pounds in the process. My belly looks 5 months pregnant. It seemed like I was giving all I had to give, and just didn't have enough in me. Whatever I had simply wasn't enough, so I must be just not trying hard enough, and the thought of trying harder was crushing.

Finally, one day at church, I realized I had to get help. I was missing something- I didn't know what it was, or how to get it, but there was something I needed. I wasn't worth helping, because apparently I was too stupid to get it right, but the kids deserved better. Knowing that the only options (I could think of) were hormone therapy and counseling was pretty depressing. I don't trust hormone therapy (hormonal birth control scares the bejeebies out of me) and having a counselor give me exercises to learn how to try harder to be happy.....oh man. I just was so tired. But I texted my husband, who was home with a sick kid, and he was ecstatic. He'd been praying for three months that I would figure out I needed help. HE didn't want to be the one to tell me, because who wants to be told they're broken?

I was fairly certain my doctor would go the anti-depressant/counseling route. I've worked with her for 15 years, I know what she offers. If I had a pain, she prescribed a numbing cream. If I wanted birth control, she prescribed hormone patches. I adore her, but I didn't want those things unless they were a last resort. Plus, she's on a six-month sabbatical.

I knew an acquaintance had a medical practice nearby, and she's trained in western-style medicine AND stays up to date on "Functional Medicine." She's more likely to prescribe vitamins and apples than something from the pharmacy. Plus, she's actually in town. I made an appointment with her the next day.

I went to my appointment nervous- I look fine to most people. I didn't want to try and convince her that I really DID need help. But she listened to me, listened to my problems, and said "Alright, cut gluten out of your diet."

Ummm...what? "Oh, and you probably have a B12 deficiency, and a D deficiency, and add at least 3 Tbsp of plant fat like avocados and coconut and nuts to your diet every day. Try to cut out dairy, too." She went on about a methylation process, sent me home with some monster vitamins, and set up an appointment for a blood draw to check my levels. (I've been researching all this since then, and NOW it makes total sense. It didn't that day.)

That night, I told my husband my face felt funny. It felt goofy. "Well, what does it feel like?" he asked. "It feels like smiling!" So I did. For the first time in years, I had hope.

Going off gluten has changed everything. I'm not losing my temper. I'm not listless and tired. My brain isn't foggy. I'm not anxious and jittery. When I don't get enough sleep, I'm just tired. That's all. I'm calm and totally in control of myself. I'm wrestling with the kids, keeping the kitchen clean, and singing while I sweep. When I lose my temper, it's not like my mind is snapping, it's just...I got upset. I'm hopeful. I also lost two pounds the first week.

The test results will come back, and we'll see what they say about my vitamin and minerals etc. My sister offered me a piece of pie last night, and then clapped her hand over her mouth and gave me a stricken look. "I'm so sorry! I forgot!" Babe, I truly don't care. If it's a choice between eating that pie, and feeling awesome? I'll take awesome.

Things I Love: Rory's Story Cubes

2013-02-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

My kids has always loathed writing. First, it was forming the letters. Then, the spelling. Then, putting together paragraphs, stories, persuasive arguments...pretty much everything. Word smithing, not her thing.

I found this game I thought the kids would like, and might help her learn to put together stories- Rory's Story Cubes.

They are less than $8 on Amazon, and are eligible for free Prime shipping. SCORE.

It's 9 plastic dice, each with different pictures on each side. 54 pictures in all, over 10,000,000 possible combinations when you roll all nine.

Once you roll them, you use the pictures to make a story. Easy peasy! My girls picked it up, and took turns using all nine cubes before passing them to the next gal.

My family (me, my mom, my sister, her husband, HIS mother, my other sister, and I) sat around playing it on a Sunday evening. A few notable things:

1) My family NEVER plays games. Ever.

2) My sister's mother-in-law doesn't speak English.

3) My mom is a writer. You WANT to play this game with her, she's fabulous.

4) My contribution to the stories generally involved a giant stomping everything flat, or everyone disappearing down a dark hole. My fellow word-smiths didn't think it was very easy to pick up where I left it off. Ha.

With her son translating our stories to her, and her part of the story to us, we rolled the dice and took turns each adding one cube to the story.

We love this game, even *I* love this game and I don't like playing games. There's no score, there's no competing (except for laughs) and there's no set time. Game Wright, the folks who created this (and there are others out there, but this is what we bought) have other sets of dice you can add to this. One has verbs, and another is just nouns. We were scheming last night to get another set or two and have a MONSTER STORY CRAFTING event at our family reunion this summer.

Disclaimer: Just my opinions. Ain't nobody asking me to say this stuff.

The Second Hike in Sedona

2013-01-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

So, at this point in our story we've been in Sedona for a few hours. We're finishing a hike, the light is fading, but sunset is just barely starting. We want to get up to the lookout at the trail head to see what we can see.

First off, it's a pretty empty day on the trails. It's December, the temperature is in the 30's, and it was raining earlier in the day. I was expecting mud, but the air is so dry that while the ground looked like mud (gloopy, swirled) it was hard and...dry. So, so dry.

We met one couple, coming back from about where we turned around. We chatted for a few minutes about what was up ahead, and she (it was a man and woman) mentioned that she'd met a really nice man during their hikes that day. He gave her a rock carved into a heart! So fun. We parted ways, traveled on for a bit, and turned around.

Little pile of rocks shrine. There were lots of these, the closer we got to the look out

Coming back, we could hear a man talking somewhere up in the rocks, REALLY well. Like I said, the acoustics are amazing there. So as we're walking up to the lookout, and I hear the voice again. And of course I am going to stop him (and the woman with him) and congratulate him on projecting so well. Because I am so far away from home, and I haven't slept in years, and I'm hours from my kids, and I've been hiking, and I'm so pumped up on endorphins from all the hiking and sunshine and red rocks and being away from my kids it's not even funny.

And....he knows he projects well. He comes up here nearly every day to play his flute (EEP! It's the flute man!). He meditates up there. Well, then...are there any vortexes around here? Because I'm hiking in Sedona, and I would REALLY like to hike through a vortex.

Oh yes. See those rocks behind us? Where you're headed? THAT one is the warrior rock. THAT one is the kuchina rock. The vortex is where the energies meet. The warrior holds the masculine energy the kuchina holds the feminine. I want you two to go up there and just sit and meditate. Sit TOGETHER, OK? Just soak up all that energy from the rocks, and if you have any bad feelings or worries or troubles, let Mother Earth soak them in. Just let them flow out. OK?

And then he gave me a rock carved into a heart. "Oh!" I exclaim. "Did you make this?" He smiles reluctantly and indulgently at my incredibly inept question. "I helped it become what it is."

"Oh. It's beautiful. I promised my daughter I would bring her home a special rock, thank you!" At this he asks how many daughters I have and gives me two MORE, because this one was meant as a gift for you.

So now, I'm completely overwhelmed by all of this, and I'm still just buzzing with endorphins and I have Wonder Daddy so tight by the hand it's not even funny. So of course I offer him a gift. "No, no. I don't need a gift."

"Oh, but we're MUSICIANS. We sing! We can sing you a song!" So now the woman with him is kind of squealing and clapping and can't wait to hear our song and I give my husband my most adoring, PLEADING look, and we launch into Silent Night at sunset in the middle of a trail in Sedona, a week before Christmas, for two people who have just told us to talk to Mother Earth. Because that's the kind of thing I do. Apparently.

Kuchina Rock

Warrior Rock

Oh, and we walked up to the rocks. Wonder Daddy saw the warrior rock and said "LET'S CLIMB IT!" I declined and went and meditated at the Kuchina rock, and thought about all the women who had been there before. Who had touched this rock and tried to leave their worries here. They'd left behind trinkets-- shiny beads and figurines-- tucked among the rocks.

It was a beautiful evening.

Our Trip to Sedona (with lots of pictures)

2013-01-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

During our Christmas holidays in Arizona, the hubby and I took an overnight trip to Sedona to sleep/celebrate our anniversary/take some time away from the kiddos. (And sleep. Did I mention that? Because I slept 13 hours STRAIGHT that night, and it was amazing!)

This was our second time there, and we knew we wanted to get some hiking in. Sedona is amazing and gorgeous and very, very New Age. Folks that believe in reincarnation, spaceships, alien abduction, life forces, auras, mind reading....they gather there. There are 7 vortexes there, I believe. Some sort of swirling conglomeration of Energy. Supposed to be really great for you.

Anyway, we went hiking, it was gorgeous, and I took my camera.

We head over the mountains and go through a little town called Jerome. It's tiny, and it's literally perched on the side of a mountain. Kind of precariously.

Once we reached Sedona, we found our first hike. And our first Thing We Didn't Understand. This little clay fellow was perched at the trail head, slowly disintegrating. Why? Perhaps to show the ethereal nature of art. Or Life. Or maybe it's like a voodoo doll, and someone's life is slowly falling apart somewhere. Or maybe it's a worry doll, and as it gets taken apart by nature, the worries will just flow away. I don't know, but it's beautiful.

So we get into the hike, and hear flute music. Like a tribal flute music kind of thing. Wooden flute, incense type of music. There's a fellow on top of a rock formation a good ways away, playing a flute, then pausing to swing an incense ball, and then goes back to his flute. (The acoustics here are incredible.) And we pass a barefoot hiker (the temperature is in the 30's) who will walk and then pause. And listen. And walk a bit. Perhaps there's energy in the rocks?

The hike was amazing. I loved the agave plants.

The rock formations are just breathtaking. I can see why there are so many New Age folks here- you can't see this and not believe in SOMETHING. It just stirs it up.

This is about where we turned around- the light was going, and we did NOT walk to be on this trail in the dark!

MAN he is one good looking man. Sheesh.

OK, so after this hike we went on a tiny jaunt up to a lookout, because the sun was just starting to set. And it got weird, but it's a long story, so I'm going to break this story right here.

Garden Walk In the High Desert

2013-01-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

It was cold in Arizona. And dry. And windy.

But, I found some color on a walk one day. All the yards are xeriscaped with different colors of rocks, but some intrepid souls hid water lines under those rocks to feed a few plants.

Trimmed witch hazel, I think?

No clue. But more red!

Another witch hazel?

OK, I'm stumped. Beauty berry? But isn't it pretty??

(One of my very least favorite things about traveling is that I have no idea what the plants are. Even if I've seen them at home, they always look a bit different in different environments. I figured this out when I spent a summer in Provo, UT and took daily walks and lamented every single day that I couldn't name anything. The weeds and grasses are the worst to identify, and I couldn't write home about the beautiful ....thing....because I couldn't name it! If anyone can recommend a REALLY GREAT plant ID app or book, I would be so grateful! I haven't found one yet that didn't seem extremely limited in scope. For example my "Weeds of the West" book that generally covers California. Helpful.)

IPhone Photos from a Christmas in Arizona

2013-01-25T14:18:00.001-08:00

How's that for a title? After a long Christmas vacation to visit Wonder Daddy's family, this is what I've got on my phone.

Man, I miss the sunshine.

Testing out a new piece of recording equipment. Like father, like son :)

Snow in the high desert. And sunshine. Sob.

In-N-Out burger. Double-double, animal style. Sadly...or thankfully...I prefer Five Guys now! Which is good, because In-N-Out doesn't operate in Washington.

Entertaining Cocoa with selfies. I love that my new phone has a camera on the screen side- Cocoa and I play this game a LOT :)

Met up with some old/new friends. I used to catch the school bus at the end of his driveway, back in 3/4/5th grade. He and his amazing wife live just a few miles from my husband's family now- small world!

More fun with Cocoa's face. I love his face.

Cousins, with their lovies- these two are just a few weeks apart in age. But not in size. But sakes alive, that little Cam-Man just hops everywhere, and talks up a storm. (No really- he hops all over the place, like a bunny. He weighs like 20 pounds, I'm sure. Cocoa is pushing 30+...hello MY STURDY GENES+DAD'S HEIGHT.)

Nothing to see here. Just chillaxin'.

Ow.

On the way to the airport. Blue skies. SOB. Nana, can we be snowbirds? We'll just buy an RV and camp in your driveway for January/February every year. I'm sure Wonder Daddy could figure out a way to telecommute....for 8 weeks straight...yeah.

My Guys

2013-01-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

I have two guys, and they are good guys to have! (My brother had guys too, when he was little, but they were imaginary. And he sent them to live with Grandma when we moved and he knew she needed some Guys to help her more than he did. We never heard from those Guys again.)

My two awesome guys.

(When you come back from returning a shopping cart, this generally isn't where you expect to find your son. But man, my guys look good in plaid!)

Buddies

2013-01-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

These two. They can be quite the buds sometime. My Mimi and Cocoa.

Of course, Cocoa is friends with absolutely everybody. Parking lots take a long time to walk through, because he stops and waves and calls "bye!" to every passing car, and he won't budge until they've waved back.

Happy New Year

2013-01-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting at my computer, with Ernie reading about Paul Revere and Abigail Adams next to me. School is going well, finally. What we've been doing is school Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Maybe Friday, but often not. It wasn't going well- she wanted to play with her siblings, and doing so many subjects a day was completely overwhelming for her (even if they'd only take 10 or 15 minutes if she would just SIT DOWN AND DO THEM. See how frustrated I am? Caps means frustrated.)

We've moved to a block schedule- I write out everything she needs to get done to get through five lessons. When she's done with our list, she's done for the week- she loves it! Last week she finished everything in two days, with no frustration or tears. They were long days (still shorter than her friends' school days), but the promise of freedom made it easier for her to swallow. Also, choosing what she does next is fun for her, and less pushing from me. This is perfect- I want to invite my kids to learn, instead of pushing facts down their throats. (So long as they continue to WANT to learn, this is perfect. They're going to learn their prescribed lessons whether they want to or not, so finding a way to make sure they keep WANTING to....)

She starts a P.E. class this week at our YMCA- one hour of games in the gym, one hour of swim lessons/free swim. I hope this is a good thing- I'm a little nervous, because I can't be with her. There is no child care available during the class hours, so I'm expected to drop her off and come back when class is over. She's never been in a locker room before, never used a lock before, and I don't know how closely these kids will be supervised. In my worst nightmare, she gets completely lost in the building, which is baloney- no one would let that happen. But still. The staff hasn't been getting back to me to answer questions, and the sign up system is a complete joke (between patrons AND staff.) Just nervous. As of right now, I've paid for the class through the next three months, and they can't find any record of her. We're off to a good start!

It feels good to be starting a new year. We've delivered a truck load to the dump and another truck load to the donation trailer in the next town over. My goal this year is to simplify and take care of what's important. Health is a big one. We need more activity, less sitting. (Guess what family is moving to a weekly Kinect-and-Pizza night, instead of Pizza-and-Movie night???) More doing for others, less moping. More fruits and vegetables, less toast. (I'm looking at YOU, Ernie!) More promise keeping, less excuses. We need to rely more on what we know is true, and less on what others think.

We have house goals- get the yard cleaned up, get our house projects finished. I want to get all the spackling and touch-up painting done, and then start budgeting and finding art and furniture that fits the space and makes this home feel complete. All of our marriage has been use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. I'm feeling materialistic, and want to start finding some things that are functional for our space. Oh, and get rid of EVERYTHING that is not either useful or beautiful. We're doing pretty good, in some spaces. There's a catch-all room downstairs that...catches everything :) However, I got rid of 95% of my fabric last week, and we're slowly making our way through. It WILL be a proper guest room. One that people would be happy to sleep in. So far there's a comfortable bed and an empty dresser. And a lot of stuff.

However, last week I set a list of 7 extra tasks to accomplish by the end of the week...and they happened! Let's see if this week can be a repeat.

1) Plant fall bulbs. (Yes, really. It will totally work, because this is the Pacific Northwest. And if it doesn't, I will reach my dream of having potted bulbs in my yard. Ones that I can drag to the side of the house when they start to look bad.)
2) Clean up spare bedroom- deliver donations and garbage to proper places.

And...I think that's enough for one week! Add in school activities, normal cleaning and cooking, and wiping bottoms...pretty full week.

No Stitches Today

2012-12-11T15:18:00.001-08:00

Today Cocoa had his first "That thump actually sounded dangerous, Mom is leaping down the stairs trying to get information from the kids as she runs, oh wow I think we need a towel" moment.

Ernie was my helper, getting medical supplies, telling me what happened, and getting herself and Mimi ready to go if we had to.

Thankfully, since he was not punctured, is not vomiting, is not spurting blood, and the wound is not gaping more than a quarter of an inch.... We get to treat it at home. I really thought we were going in for stitches- gaping is not a nice thing to see on a toddler's head! Near as I can tell, he was reaching into a cabinet, lost his balance, and hit his head. Top heavy toddlers.....oh man.

Two hours of rest and clear liquids, cold compress for any swelling, and later he can have medicine and food if he wants. He can nap, but should be checked on after two hours. He needs to keep that bandage on, and needs to sleep with an adult for two nights. (Well, THAT'S no problem, we do that already!).

So, Grandparents, THERE is your report on the intrepid Cocoa. He has a big, hard, head. He is also currently watching Mary Poppins, with socks on his hands. Best way I could think of to keep him quiet and bandaged for two hours!

I think I need a hug! That kid scared me!

Nativity Festival

2012-12-02T21:13:00.001-08:00

Every year a neighboring stake puts on a festival of the nativities. The entire church building is transformed- dozens of Christmas trees, hundreds of nativities on loan from local members, a room full of paintings of Christ, a room full of "children's" nativities, a photo room where your family can dress up as characters in the nativity and have a portrait taken, a room just for kids with coloring and books and toy nativities.

The festival goes four days, with live music in the evenings and half the day on Sunday. Of course, that was today. Nine different musical performances today, not including a capstone children's choir, and I was in four of them! Oofda, my book bag was heavy today :). My family sang Christmas carols, and I accompanied three other singers throughout the day. (Each musician was scheduled for a half hour slot.). A long day, a tiring day, but what an amazing day!

I love seeing the nativities from all over the world. I snapped pictures of some of my favorites. Really I was taking a lot of photos of my favorite Mary figurines.

Birthday

2012-12-01T23:06:00.001-08:00

Someone turned... Older :). Woot! Another year in the bag.

We met Daddy at a Chinese (Hong Kong comfort food) restaurant- yum! Deep fried tofu, beef and tendon soup with wide slippery rice noodles, and honey walnut prawns. (Deep fried and doused in a honey mayonnaise sauce? Yes please.).

Oddly enough, we recognized the family at the table next to us.... Since it was my sister's family! Twins. Geez. (Oh yes. Happy birthday Aunt LoLo!)

After dinner we went on our yearly trip through the city's public gardens, all lit up for the Holidays. Absolutely gorgeous!

Our chosen restaurant had an attached bakery, so a Swiss roll cake made its way home with us to celebrate. (A moment to reflect on my hands in that photo. I have earned those hands!!). Also, Ernie. Ernie is really into singing that Happy Birthday song.

I was absolutely spoiled with gifts- I'm a lucky girl. I'm also a very happy girl, because my husband bought me an electric blanket and a sunlight replacement lamp. It's like going to the beach... With out the swim suit :). If you've thought about getting a "happy light" do it! Seriously. Awesome.

A Better School Day

2012-11-26T15:24:00.001-08:00

School has been... Bad lately. Really, really, bad. Apparently it's super hard for a seven-year-old to concentrate with a holiday season that stretches from October to January 1st. (We also celebrate six family birthdays in that stretch, not including folks that don't live near us.).

Mimi has been begging me to do school with get, and loves her workbooks. It takes her about two days to finish a little twenty page book. Yikes. (She is also adamant that she is going to GO to school, not stay home with me. That would mean no kindergarten for her till after next year, because she turns five after the cut off. No kindergarten till two weeks before her sixth birthday. I don't think she's going to stick with that plan, do you??).

Anyway, Mims begged me to do a learning game with her, so we pulled down Chutes and Ladders while Cocoa slept. We played with new rules: if you can't answer the math problem I give you, you can't take a turn! Ernie was whipping through her double-digit, carry the one, addition problems. Mims added her piles of plastic jewels, AND did subtraction. Flawlessly.

A better day of school! We finished our current book, A Little Princess, and did a spelling test, a dictation exercise, and Ernie wrote an e-mail (what I am letting her so for composition, instead of writing papers. Helps with her typing, spelling, sentences, AND family relations. Winning!)

Christmas is Coming

2012-11-25T07:27:00.001-08:00

We put up our Christmas tree yesterday- after years of real trees from Ikea (can't beat the $10 price!) we picked up a plastic tree this year. No more dropped needles, no more nearly losing the tree on the freeway ( that would be me), no more fire hazard. No more wrapping lights on te tree. And no more good smell, but I'm going to make some swags this year!

Daddy and I put up the tree and the girls put up the ornaments. We aren't decorating much for Christmas this year- Cocoa is a wrecking ball, and a lot of things didn't meet my threshold of durability testing.

After we decorated, Wonder Daddy went out for errands and came back with a new light fixture for the kitchen- our fluorescent lights died a week or so ago and I've been cooking by table lamp light. Charming, but awkward :). We installed that, and we all had a movie night to watch Arthur Christmas- seriously great, sweet, movie. We all loved it!