Father's Day 2010

Our girls are good at planning things secretly and never letting the recipient know they were ever remembered. It's like they don't realize there needs to be a "reveal." For all the "ta-da!" that goes on around here, they cannot muster a "Happy Father's Day" to save their lives. They were so excited to sing in church to their father and they were sure that he'd forgotten they were doing it, since he's not been in Primary for nearly three weeks. Sunday morning Scott said, "Somebody is going to be sung to today..." Alex was devastated. "He remembered! It was going to be a surprise! Now it's ruined."

Scott was actually talking about the twins being sung to for their birthday, but the devastation was so emotionally taxing that he never got to explain that.

They planned his Father's Day dinner, but were so engrossed in the secret menu that they never told him it was for him especially. It's a good thing we had a few tangible gifts.

The obligatory shirts since he won't shop for himself and hates it when I do...

And the Kenwood KDC-MP345U CD Receiver for his car. His "great on gas mileage" Honda has a terrific aftermarket stereo in it sans face plate. Difficult to use with no buttons, so we're taking it out and installing the new Kenwood. (Insert endorsement here: I love Crutchfield! I got on the website looking for a radio and after a couple of minutes thought "I have no idea what I'm doing." So I called them. Faster than greased lightning I had the perfect car stereo purchased and on it's way to Scott. They have great products and amazing customer service. For all your electronics needs, call Crutchfield.) When the Honda dies, the Kenwood will come out of it.

Scott is a terrific father, great provider and his children love him. So does their mom. Happy Father's Day, Scott!

First Day of Summer

Because every day in "morning meeting" we mention the season, we have been waiting a long time for summer. And because winter lasts well into spring around here, it seems like a really long wait. We were excited for the official start of summer and decided to celebrate by visiting a local farmer's market. This particular market is new and this particular part of the country doesn't get produce until the end of July, but we had high hopes. We were also using this as a math lesson and each child would spend $1 on their choice of fruit or vegetable.

Our celebratory event had to be moved to the grocery store across the street as there were no fruits or vegetables to be found. It was more like a flea market. A couple of ladies had garden plants, but that's as close as we got to the farming concept. Still, a nice afternoon out. At the grocery store, Katie bought 3 kiwi for $1, which she enjoyed. Alex bought 2 apricots for just less than her $1. She didn't appreciate their flavor at all, but Mom enjoyed them very much. Caroline bought 1 plum for about 47 cents. Of this experience Caroline said, "I didn't like it so I threw it in the trash."

We're looking for all new ways to waste 3 dollars again for autumnal equinox. Submit your ideas here...

Feet

Caroline to Katie: "What are you doing with your feet on the counter? I would never put my feet on the counter."

Katie to Caroline: "That's because your feet are disgusting."

Twin Birthdays!

June 16th is such a great day to have two birthdays! We began the day with star-shaped sticky notes with fun messages from Mom stuck on their beds. At least Mom thought they were fun. The girls all thought it was weird. (Mom=Weird) Cartoons before breakfast lets you know that it was a day off from everything normal. When they finally got hungry, Mom began fulfilling the Birthday Plan as ordered by Birthday Twins Caroline & Katie. These girls are planners! and they had the entire day organized down to the very last white chocolate chip.

Breakfast: McScotts (toast, eggs and bacon made into yummy sandwich...named after its creator, Daddy.)

Lunch: Classic PB&J with fruit and friends

Dinner: Chicken Fajitas with guacamole & chips

Cake: Round, with a pattern of strawberry, strawberry, blueberry on top surrounding a circle of white chocolate chips in the center. Originally a chocolate cake, Mom asked that we have white instead to go with the fruit of choice. They agreed.

Activity: A day at the beach!

Party: at night with Daddy and presents

Twin 1, aka "CareBear," arrived at 5:58 AM on June 16th, 2004 in Marietta, Georgia. A creative girl who can be found most any time with a crayon in hand. Loves sweets, movie time and getting up early. "I'm hungry," is the battle cry from CareBear. She's always hungry.

Twin 2, aka "Katie," arrived at 5:59 AM on June 16th, 2004 in Marietta, Georgia. She will say the answer to the question before you will. Every time. And 99.8% of the time, she's right. She's logical and methodical. Likes to read, play with babies and help. She is a peacemaker and she loves sleeping.

Present Time! Present Time! Open your presents and see what's inside!

Happy Birthday Caroline & Katie!

We love you and hope all your birthday wishes come true.

Still not over me yet

It is clear that when you marry your girlfriend of NINE years in the governor's mansion of your old girlfriend's home state, officiated by the governor of your old girlfriend's home state, you are not over your old girlfriend. Nine years. I have been married and out of his life for nine years. Sadly, once I was out of the picture he picked up the first bimbo to spill wine on his suit. And then it took another nine years to get the courage to marry her - in my house. Harrison, sweetie. You have to let go. If your third marriage is going to work, you have to give it all you've got. I'm gone. Forget me. Go and be happy. Good luck, baby.

Emergency Preparedness Fair

I've been working with our stake/ward preparedness coordinator for the last few months on the Stake Preparedness Fair. I don't mind telling you that I've lost plenty of sleep and had some pretty impressive stress over this thing. I'm glad it's over. However, it was an incredible event. Not worth the stress, but almost equal to it in success. Does that make sense?

The Preparedness Blog has lots of details about who was there and what they did, but since I had a personal stake in it, I wanted to include a post about it here. My booth was 72 Hour Kits. I think I've found my niche. I love preparedness! I love working on our 72 hour kit. I learn so much each time I rotate or research. Found out this time that beef jerky is a bad idea - all that sodium requires a whole lot more water for your body to digest it. At a minimum of one gallon per person per day, I don't have space for more water. And it's heavy too!

I always think that if we need to use our kit, we'll be in the car with it because my children won't make it to the end of the drive carrying this stuff. And there is too much of it to carry. Heck, I can barely pick up the suitcase of food. After researching 72 hour kit menus I also discovered that we didn't have enough food to survive for 3 days. I fixed that quick. We also bought one meal of MREs. We'll give those a try in October and see if it's worth getting more.

About those menus...I read an interesting take on 72 hour kit meals. The author, Jenny Smith, said that if you are using your kit, you are in a real emergency. You are doing things like clearing debris, setting up camp, searching for family, trying to contact out-of-state relatives/friends to let them know your circumstance, etc. You'll be burning some serious calories and a Pop Tart isn't going to get you through the experience with any clarity. You need some good carbs and great protein. Here are her sample menus for your perusal. I learned a lot!

These are all photos from my booth. I loved talking to people about their kits. We had people who are seriously preparing and others that were just learning about the need to prepare. It was a wonderful experience! I had a great time and felt like I was truly teaching people an important truth. I am so thankful for the confidence that comes with being prepared. The scriptures are true - If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear. (D&C 38:30)

Mom drove up from Ohio to take care of the children for me throughout the weekend. Scott had a final exam scheduled so he went to the Fair to give blood and then to school for the duration. I went in to give blood and was put on the "Indefinite Deferral" list. They don't want my blood - EVER. Who would have thought that time abroad would make people so cranky? Since there is no test for Mad Cow or Creutzfeldt Jakob diseases, I'm toast. Living in Great Britain put an end to my donations for good. They even gave me a letter. Cranky.

Mom brought the children to the Fair - after someone locked the basement door where we keep the majority of the food in our home and forced them to eat McDonald's for lunch! She manned my booth and did a great job of teaching attendees while I took the kids outside for the fun stuff. We went to the ambulance first where Tim did an incredible job of showing us the bus. He turned on the lights and sirens, he did a radio check, showed us the blood pressure cuff, his stethoscope and so much other stuff! And then he gave each of the children a mucho-cute teddy bear! I couldn't believe how kind and accommodating he was. Thank you, Tim!

Then we went to the fire truck and things got even better. Sparky the Remote Fire Dog was there. What a big hit he was with the kids. A talking dog, driving his own fire truck. He (and the operator in the nearby pickup truck) was awesome. We all got to sit inside the big fire truck and ask every question we could think of about being a fire fighter. Some amazing work they do in protecting all of us! We had a great time -and once again, the fire fighters were so kind to our children and so helpful to this mom. Thank you, Lapeer City Fire Department.

I've done my share of trade shows in my professional life and lots of conferences and events. This Emergency Preparedness Fair ranks at the top in 100% completely useful information. It was amazing and we had such great support from the community. The Red Cross met their goals - even with the 17 people they turned away - and everyone asked if they could come back next year. It was awesome. I'm grateful to have been a part of it and thankful for the commandment to be prepared.

Mother's Day 2010

I'm a little behind in...everything lately. This post is obviously tardy, but I wanted to record a little something about Mother's Day.

1. Scott was at school studying late on Saturday night prior to MD and I was doing the dishes. I thought, "I should call him and tell him not to buy me flowers on his way home. I don't need them and we could use the money elsewhere..." I didn't call and he brought these. They were gorgeous! So happy I didn't ruin his surprise. (This photo was taken about 15 days after MD. They were gorgeous for a really long time.)

2. Louise's MD gift is sitting next to the back door waiting to be taken to the post office. It's been in the car twice - one time it was delayed by a flat tire on the Suburban. Attempt #2 was the day of the Preparedness Fair, as if I were just going to drop by on the way home from the fair. As if. I fully intend to mail that package before the 4th of July.

3. My mother got her MD gift because she drove up here on the weekend of the Preparedness Fair to take care of the children. How sad that one would need to drive 5 hours to get one's own gift.

4. The children sang in SM on MD. "I Often Go Walking" was Alex's baby song so long ago. I remember sitting on my hospital bed and hearing her cry in the nursery. I went in and found no one with the babies and she was so sad. I changed her diaper and snuggled with her, scared to death that I'd get into trouble for holding my own baby. The next night 4 nights in the hospital she roomed with me. I would hold her and sing "I Often Go Walking...in meadows of clover..." The song comforted both of us as I was so scared in that place. I just wanted to go home. That song took us both home in our hearts and brought peace until we could be there physically. It will always be my favorite part of Mother's Day.