Before and After

I finished the bed skirt today and then finally put our bed together. Don't laugh too hard at the before picture.

Before

After

Picture of the Day

Jay

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

This is so bizarre. When I first looked at it, it was turning clockwise. After I read the instructions on the left, I looked again and it was turning counter clockwise. No matter how hard I concentrated I couldn't get it to go clockwise again until I relaxed and just watched it. Then it just randomly switched back and forth. Eventually I could control which way she turned depending on which part of the body or angles I observed. Also when I really relaxed and just watched her she went clockwise. But if I calculated math problems in my head she would turn counter clockwise until I broke focus.

Are you a right brain or a left brain?

This is even more interesting if two people look at it at the same time. One may see it turn clockwise at the exact same time the other person sees it turning counter clockwise.

For Those of You Who Have Been Tagged . . .

For those of you who have been tagged for a meme, please check out the blog post below titled Another Meme, posted on October 28th. Your tag is at the bottom of the blog post.

Hairspray

I finally got to see the movie Hairspray.

I loved it!

I loved the music!

I smiled through almost the whole movie. And even burst out laughing once in the scene with the bed made of woopie cushions.

This is definitely a movie I want in my DVD collection.

Another Meme

Random Meme

Name the last person who made you laugh. Justin

What were you doing at 8:00?
8:00 last night? Meal Planning
8:00 this morning? Sleeping
8:00 tonight? Talking to Lynette on the phone


What were you doing thirty minutes ago? Blogging

What happened to you in 2006? Niko came to our home

What was the last thing that you said out loud? Yes, he's going to bed.

How many beverages and what kind did you have today? 12 + glasses of water

What color is your hairbrush or comb? Blue Comb

What was the last thing that you paid for? Watch Battery

Where were you last night? At home

What color is your front door? Stained Wood

Where do you keep your change? Some in my purse, some in the car, some in a quart jar in my closet

What's the weather like today? Warm fall day

What's the best ice cream flavor? I'm not a big ice cream fan but I love strawberry banana malts from arctic circle

Do you want to cut your hair? Some days yes and some days no

Do you talk a lot? No

Who is the first person on your received call list? Tracy

Do you chew on your straw? Not normally

Where's the next place you are gonna go? To bed

What was the last thing you ate? Cottage Cheese

What was the best movie you have seen in the past two weeks? Transformers

When was the last time you did the dishes? Before dinner


And I tag . . .
Angela
Delsa
Jenn
Kim
Jeff
Rachel

Copy this meme to your blog and change my answers for yours. I look forward to reading your answers.

More Justin

As I was preparing dinner tonight, Kim comes over to me and says, "Justin just asked all the kids to pray for him."

"What for?" I asked.

"To get all of his assignments done so Mom wouldn't see bad grades on his report card."

Memories

As I looked through Justin's Friday Folder from school he had done an "All About Me" project. On it he needed to complete a timeline of his life.

Let me preface his timeline by saying that out of all of our adopted children, he was the oldest, 3 years old, almost four, when he came to our home. He remembers being in other homes besides ours. The other children don't.

Here is his timeline:

1998 I was born in August.
1999 I found my brother.
2000 I was dropped off and locked up.
2001 I was kicked out the door.
2002 Me and my brother came to our last stop.
2003 We stayed there.

I had a little conversation with him to find out why he wrote what he did. I will not share the details with you all. I hope to leave that memory behind and I hope some day he too will forget.

I am so glad he came to be part of our family.

Bye

Okay, I guess I was making up for lost time. 6 blog posts in one day. That must be a new record. I have been sitting at this computer for over an hour. I really should go fix dinner. Bye for now.

Pictures of the Day

We just down loaded the pictures from the camera onto the computer. Here are some fun ones I found.

Grandma and Grandpa brought us a treasure of costumes. Here is Marie sporting 3 aprons at once.


Kim and Tom were sitting on the stairs chatting and Niko just slipped himself right in the middle.

A view from the back of our home after a rain storm.

To My Friend, Jeni Murphy

(and Steve too)

Congratulations on your new baby. She is absolutely beautiful. I am so glad you got to experience the joy of pregnancy and birth.

I hope to see you soon.

Back to Life

I have been away from the computer for a few days. I haven't even checked my email since Tuesday. I had forgotten how much work a newborn was. Although he was still sleeping quite a bit, the amount of time for changing, feeding, burping, and snuggling left me with little time to get any more than the basics done.

Once again I look forward to getting my house cleaned up and getting back to my sewing machine.

Before I start on my apron project I am going to make a bed skirt. We got some new items to make up our bed including a duvet cover, new sheets, blankets, and pillows. I couldn't find a white bed skirt that I liked (at least in my price range) so I am going to make one.

Leo is Gone

What a short time it was with such a precious little boy. I so enjoyed the feeding, burping, and even changing diapers. But most of all I enjoyed the snuggling and kissing his head and tiny little cheeks.

OCD

Evens or odds?

Being a little artsy and crafty in my past and even working in a floral shop I know that visually most things look better in odd numbers . . . 1, 3, 5, 7 . . .

But deep down inside I am an even number person.

When watching TV, I have to have the volume set on an even number.

When I buy groceries, if I buy more than one of any item, it has to be an even number of that item.

When I touch the inside of my teeth with my tongue, I always count to make sure I touch the same amount of teeth on both sides of my mouth.

OCD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. No, I don't think I have it. I just prefer evens over odds.

REM Sleep

I must admit that bringing a baby home from the hospital when you haven't gone through the birth is much easier.

We have been getting up several times a night to take care of the baby. I know I am sleeping enough. But without 4 straight hours of REM sleep, I feel so tired all the time.

Hey, Justin!

So . . .

Jay balances a Lego box on top of his head. He turns to Justin and says, "Hey, Justin! Try and knock this box off my head!"

Justin was more than happy to comply. He swung his scriptures around at Jay's head. His aim was a little off.

And of coarse today was the primary program.

I Brought a Baby Home From the Hospital

I never thought I'd say those words again.

Isn't Leo cute? And the hair?

We said . . .

When Niko left, Todd and I decided we would not take another child in for a while.

Yesterday, Health and Welfare called and asked us if we could take a newborn baby straight from the hospital. It would only be temporary, less than a month.

We said yes.

Fabric Store

Yes, I made it to the fabric store. Yea!

Here's what I came up with for the apron. The pattern is the same as the Christmas one I wear all year long. I love that you just pull it over your head and stick your arms through with no ties. It covers everything and has big pockets. I can hardly wait to get started.

Cravings

A few days ago I saw a picture of a Greek salad. I just couldn't get it out of my head. So I made it for dinner last night with some baked salmon and goat cheese biscuits. The salad was so yummy that I had leftovers for breakfast. It was full of vegetables . . . romaine lettuce, orange, red and green peppers, olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Then I topped it with a bunch of feta cheese and a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is and I just had some. Yum, yum!

The Skirt

Here's the skirt I made for Marie on Monday. Just simple denim, straight with an elastic waist, and a small slit in the back. She was so excited to wear a skirt to school.

This second picture is all blurry. My camera died and I couldn't take another to replace it.

Oh! I love to sew! I'm going to go to the fabric store again today. This time I think I'll make an apron. The one I wear all the time is a Christmas apron and I wear it all year round. I picture in my head a blue apron with chocolate brown trim. I just love those colors together! But who knows what fabric might catch my eye when I get to the fabric store.

Marie and Her Mary Janes

Marie is inseparable from her Mary Janes (shoes). She wears them everywhere she goes . . . church, school, outside to play. I've even seen her come upstairs first thing in the morning wearing her pajamas and her Mary Janes.

She wants to wear dresses to school but most of her Sunday dresses are a little too frilly and nice for school. So I decided to make her and Erica each a straight denim skirt to wear to school with a cute top, winter tights, and of coarse . . . Mary Janes.

A Small Treasure

I found this card in a bottom of a box as I was dejunking my bedroom closet.

Front

Inside Left

Inside Right

We Are Sad

How many people have cried at our house in the last 24 hours? Almost everyone. Yes, even the big tall guy. Some were little tears. Some were giant sobs. We are all very sad.

All of a sudden the judge decided to send Niko home for a trial run. We had to hurry and get all of his things together and say goodbye.

My heart aches.

Disregard

I totally disregarded the manufacturer's cleaning instructions on the tag: Dry clean only. I called the dry cleaners to see how much it would cost to dry clean a king size down comforter. $42.50! I walked right over to my washing machine and popped the comforter in. Wash, dry, fluff, and a little linen spray. It turned out great!

Jay Tales

I frequently get calls from the school about my children. 9 times out of 10 the call will be about Jay.

A couple of weeks ago we got a call from the nurse saying they had been looking all over the school for Jay and they found him in the outside bathroom as far away from his classroom as possible trying to poop where no one could hear him.

A couple of days ago the nurse called to tell me that Jay came in saying he burnt the wart on his finger with a magnifying glass in the sun. He had the wart frozen off at the doctors office a week ago so it was already looking bad.

Yesterday Jay was sobbing down the hallway at school because he lost his pet spider. When he got home from school I talked to him about it. He had caught a spider at school and put it in a glass jar and left it outside. The spider had run away. He was so sad. After it ran away he put a note on the bottle that said 'friends forever.'

There is never a dull moment with Jay.

Jeans

There are several clothing items that I hate shopping for (for myself). Swimsuits, bras, and jeans. Although the first two are definitely higher on the scale, jeans seems to be climbing the ladder.

When I buy jeans I "get" to see in actual print what size I wear. And then I have to admit that I have to buy petite length. That means short to all you men. I have always thought of myself as average height. Yes, I know I am on the low side of average. But when I have to buy jeans that tell me I short, it's almost too much.

Fleeting Baby Years

Children grow up so fast. Toddlers begin being independent so quickly. They want to feed themselves, dress themselves, and sit in a big chair. For me those baby years are fleeting. But today I had one more glance. As Niko pulled me over to the table by the hand telling me, "Help, Mom!" He sat on my lap and wanted me to feed him his cereal. And I did. Although I had a bunch of things to do, I just sat there and soaked in every minute of it, in case I didn't ever have a moment like that again.

72 Hour Kits

Today we worked on the food portion of our 72 hour kits.

First we organized the food by days and which meal/snack it was and placed them into Ziploc bags.

Then we put each individual days food into larger Ziploc bags.

And lastly, Todd put them into our backpacks which hang in the food storage room.

We still have a way to go to get our packs ready, but it sure does feel good to get started.

Japanese Food and Thomas

Lately I have been trying some Japanese recipes, along with my sidekick, Thomas.

A couple of weeks ago we made onigiri, Japanese rice balls. They are basically about a half a cup of rice formed into a ball or triangle with a center of tuna, salmon, pickled plum, etc. They have a strip of nori (seaweed) around the outside. Yummy! Thomas and I both loved them. Everyone else picked the seaweed off the outside and then loved them.

A couple of days ago we made a dish that I have no idea what it is called. We first tried it at our dinner group. In a baking dish I spread a layer of rice. Then added a layer of chopped crab (imitation) mixed with mayonnaise. To eat it you scoop up a little and place it in a square of nori and enjoy. Yummy too! Thomas and I enjoyed it together.

Today Thomas and I flash boiled some bok choy and then topped it with a little oyster sauce. It was so good!!!

It is really great having a son who enjoys trying new and different food with me. Thank you, Thomas!

What Did You Wear to Church?

Oh, yeah! We totally listened to the first part of General Conference this morning in the hot tub! I know we all joke about "attending" church in our jeans or pajamas on General Conference weekend, but I think this may be the first time I actually "attended" in my swimsuit. Hee, hee, hee!

Cell Phones

We try to give our children many opportunities and some modern conveniences without spoiling them too much. Sometimes there is a fine line.

Kim did not get a cell phone until she was sixteen. It seemed like a logical choice since she is involved in many extra curricular activities and is spending more time with friends. We really value being able to get a hold of her when we need to.

Somehow Thomas has convinced us that he also needs a cell phone now that he is in high school. Seeing the convenience from Kim, we caved.

So as I sat down at the computer to check my email, my cell phone rings. I am sure it is Kim calling because she is not at home. But . . . no . . . it is Thomas calling me to ask a simple question. He was downstairs!

A Problem

From the other room I hear Todd say, "I think I have a problem."

I glance over my shoulder to see what is going on. "Wait right there! I'll help you," I say as I grab the camera.

Come Anytime!

I awoke this morning to see my husband grinning from ear to ear as he put on his freshly ironed shirt. No, I did not iron it for him. Ironing is something I just don't do very often.

I am the proud recipient of a laundry room full of nicely folded clothes and a rack of hanging, freshly ironed shirts.

Thank you, Mom. You are welcome at our house anytime (even when I'm not behind on my laundry).