St. George Escapade

Ta da!!! I'm back to the blogging world. I have so much to catch up on, but I'm too tired to do it all in one sitting. So tonight I will focus on the St. George trip to Tuachan with the Relief Society sisters (go Somerset ward!). We went to see Les Mis with a little shopping on the side beforehand. I got to ride along with Kellie and Leslie -- fun, entertaining conversations were had by all. And remember ladies, what is said in Kellie's car, stays in Kellie's car. :) Actually, in all honesty, we're pretty un-Vegas-like. Disappointing, I know -- nothing too salacious to confess. :)

Les Mis was wonderful!!! The setting at Tuachan made it perfect. I've seen the traveling Broadway show twice, but this version was far superior. First off, let me tell you that I've been known as a rock -- someone who never cries. I was the one girl at girl's camp who never wept during testimony meeting (all four years!). I rarely showed emotion. Now I have to take it all back -- I'm not sure if it's because I'm a mom, or aging makes me more sentimental, but I was so emotional during the production. I was just amazed at the vocal talent, and of course, the story line was powerful. I've decided that I'm glad I wasn't blessed with an amazing singing voice. If I had to perform, I would cry the whole time thinking, "My voice is so beautiful . . . I'm too moved by my gift!" Fortunately I was a spectator, so only the girls around me noticed my sniffling (thanks to Tricia and Kellie for not openly mocking :) ). I had a blast, and I'm looking foward to other girl jaunts in the future (Wicked, perhaps?).



The whole gang


Julie, Karin, Kristina, Kellie, Tricia, Leslie, and Moi

Busy, busy, busy!!!

Okay, my posts have been so lame as of late, but my level of life insanity has reached its peak. First off, I went to St. George on Saturday with the Relief Society to see "Les Mis" at Tuachan. Oh, my goodness! What a production! We were gone the entire day and didn't get home until 1 a.m. I'll post more on that later. Sunday was crazy . . . Church, Alyssa's birthday party (she turns 2 on Thursday, but we celebrated with Jer's parents on Sunday), and then I had to interview a family for a newspaper article. "Huh?" you ask. Every year an LDS group puts out a Family Week insert into the Las Vegas Review Journal. With my BYU Public Relations connections, I volunteered to write an article -- at the time thinking it was no big deal. I thought, "Hey, I was a big shot reporter for the BYU Daily Universe, so of course I'm capable of one silly article!!" (okay, I wasn't a big shot, but I wanted to stress my confidence level). However, what the HECK was I thinking? That was ten years ago!!!! I've started writing, and I'm utterly perplexed. How do I attribute? Where's the flow? What about the transitional sentence at the beginning of each paragraph? Seriously, I'm a mess trying to remember those days when I actually knew something. Forgive my venting. Anyway, any computer time needs to be spent on that (since the deadline is in a few days), so blog postings will have to be suspended for now. Please don't cry -- I will return. On top of all this madness, my house needs a major overhaul and we're going to Disneyland this weekend. No rest for the weary.

Stay tuned for these future posts: St. George trip, the Pumpkin Patch, and Alyssa' birthday party. I'm actually writing this to remind myself.

I've been tagged!

Here's the deal --
Look in your computer picture files. Choose the fourth folder, fourth picture and then TALK about it...



This was taken when Jayce was about four or five months-old. I was camera crazy back then, so this same shot was repeated over and over again. As baby-ish as he looked, I always thought he had wise eyes. I think I bought that sleeper at Old Navy. I'm also guessing that the family room (where he was posing) was clean -- that was the back in the day when Jayce was harmless as far as disasters went. I miss those days. Anyone want to come and clean my family room? After Tornado Alyssa this afternoon, I need help! :)

I tag Tricia, Holli, Jennifer, David, and Kellie (and anyone else, for that matter)

Playhouse Disney

On Saturday, Jayce and I were able to go to Playhouse Disney with Tricia, Shane, and Trevor (thanks, guys -- and Julie!). I had taken Jayce last year by myself, but this year was much better with his buddy, Shane. I guess I'm not cool enough.


Okay, $27!!! (There was a pretzel in there as well, but seriously?). I swear, Disney doesn't make a killing from ticket sales . . . it's all merchandising. The refreshments were only slightly outrageous ($4 for the drink, $3 for the pretzel), but $20 for the wand thingy? Robbery! I was a willing victim, I guess. But how could I deny Jayce . . .


. . . a chance to play "swords" with Shane? Throughout the show they were having duels. As much as Jayce loved the show, I think he liked the sword fight better. Just leave it to our boys to imagine weaponry. By the way, how cool are those sunglasses hanging off his shirt? He takes after his dad. He's too cool to be my son.


Here's a very happy camper!



And here's a shot of Mom and Jayce. I'm providing proof that I did take him somewhere that he actually appreciated.

Okay, I was trying to be all sneaky and illegal by taking a picture of the characters. So what does this picture say? It says I need a new camera! Jer? Guess I deserved it -- no photos allowed. :(

Apple Orchard Adventures

I'm behind on posting, but this is actually pretty significant. On September 13, 2007, my blog was born (sniff, sniff). My very first post had to do with our apple orchard playgroup. Well, here we go again. The circle of life!
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Well, this year's trip wasn't as successful as last time, due to the dramatic, tear-filled tirades by my daughter. I think she was a bit under the weather, so she was having no part in the apple picking fun. Jayce was tired of walking through the rows of inedible vegetables (besides a couple of squash, we were unsuccessful in scoring great finds). Anyway, since my children are more independent now, they don't "go with the flow" as easily. They're opinionated little people who express their disapproval. By the end of our adventure, they were more than ready to leave. Fortunately, the company of Kellie, Tricia, and Leslie kept me sane. Despite my grumpy kids, they still wore smiles on their faces. Thanks, girls!


Thanks, Tricia, for this great pic of Jayce. He was quite pleased with his apples and loved eating them the following week.



And, Kellie, thanks for the pictures of Alyssa. They provided the perfect description of our day. If Alyssa wasn't listless in the stroller (see above), she was crying (see below).




You know, I try to make an effort to do fun things with the kids, but sometimes it's a bust. However, all I can do is keep trying and maybe someday they'll appreciate my efforts. Or maybe not. And that's okay. :)

Sunday Night Musings

What a poor poster I've been! No pictures, no excitement -- nothing. And, to continue my trend, I am going to write a few things weighing on my mind.

I think I've traumatized Jayce. Lately his prayers include, "Please bless Mommy that she won't be mean to me." This initial request stemmed from a day that was a particularly bad for me in the patience department. Despite my pleadings, he had darted into a busy parking lot as I was retrieving Alyssa from the library. Yes, I got mad. Later on that night he had gone to time out for some transgression, and as I came to get him he asked, "What happened to my nice Mom?" Okay . . . ouch!

I am so sick of the upcoming presidential election. For one thing, I'm not impressed with either candidate, so I'm voting for the lesser of two evils (an option I detest!). Because I live in a swing state, I'm surrounded by political ads and activists. Please stop trying to convince me! I'm done with the pandering! I'm mourning Mitt Romney. I feel like he would have been an invaluable leader in this financial crisis.

Chocolate chip cookies are divine, but I like the dough better.

Jeremy is working on a Sunday night, and he probably won't be home until after 11. What is wrong with the owner? Couldn't a financial statement meeting wait until tomorrow? My poor husband is tired and overworked.

BYU is ranked #7 in the AP poll and #8 in USA Today. The following lyrics come to mind: "Celebrate good times, come on!" Okay, how fun is it to be a BYU fan right now?

Monday is tomorrow. What happened to my weekend? Life is a blur!

Over and Out.

All About Jayce

After my trip last weekend, my week has been rather ho-hum. So, in an effort to find blog material, I will now list eight unique characteristics of Jayce (I did this for Alyssa a few months back, so for posterity I should probably write something about my son as well).

1. He is very detail oriented -- bordering on scary! The other day he saw the famous lifeguard scene from "Sandlot." The whole kissing part kind of went over his head, but the rescue didn't. He was able to recreate the scene for me a couple of days later . . . including details such as taking the whistle off first and then the sunglasses -- then the dive, then the CPR steps she took, etc. Whenever he acts things out, he brings out specifics of scenes that I've never noticed before. Also, when he creates his own scenes (such as a police chase), he adds so many facets that I think so many people gloss over (like talking into a radio, waiting for a response, opening the car door, closing the car door, adjusting his imaginary handcuffs just so, etc.). I'm glad he's so observant to a point, but then I worry that he's watching ME. I need to tread carefully with this one.
2. He has an amazing memory, which I think goes along with his detailed observation. The song "I'm yours" by Jason Mraz came on the radio, and he kept telling me it was from a movie. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about, but then I finally realized he was recalling a pre-show we had seen more than two months before (it was at one of those kid freebie movies at the theater). He then told me how Jason was wearing a black shirt. Okay, freaky. I didn't think kids paid attention to the pre-show . . . that was popcorn eating time. I have impressive recall abilities, so I'll credit that to me (although, admittedly, my memory has failed many times as well).
3. He will not go to bed by himself -- Jer or I have to lay by him. We get awfully frustrated because this takes up a lot of precious evening time, but he seems so fearful at night that we cave in to his demands.
4. Jayce has MAJOR separation anxiety issues, as I'm sure you could tell by my preschool post. He loves to stick close to me during the day and has major fits at church when he has to go to Sunbeams. I feel like preschool has helped, but he still has a long way to go.
5. His favorite song is "Heaven is a Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle (long story) -- a song he loves to sing loudly at awkward times in public places.
6. He is very obedient, polite, and good-natured with other adults and kids. At home he can be sassy, however, and rather defiant. But even when he gives me looks of disgust, he can't hide his underlying sweetness.
7. Jer and I commonly refer to him as "The Enforcer." He's a stickler for rules. For instance, if Jer says anything like "idiot" or "dang it" (usually as he's driving), I'll hear about it when they get home. Or if I don't turn off a light and leave the room (he hates wasting electricity), Jer will hear about it when he gets home. Man, we can't get away with anything!!! And other kids, playing with Jayce, can't get away with anything either. What a killjoy! :) (He also likes to send us to timeout -- something Jer and I are happy to do for him).
8. He loves Alyssa, and we're so glad!

Actually, I remembered a few more I wanted to document, but please stop reading before I bore you to tears (remember . . . it's for posterity :) ).

- Jayce has become my budding astronomer and is very interested in knowing his place in the universe. Fortunately I kept my astronomy book from college, so we've been going over the planets, the sun, solar system, and galaxies. He even wants me to go over complex diagrams like the birth of a star or black holes. I'm finding it very tricky to answer his questions.
- He loves the science museum! We go there contantly and he's fascinated by the demonstrations. The other day we learned about the human body and he loved holding the different organs (fake ones, of course). He's a big fan of his bones and muscles.
- Jayce is very aware of food content and asks me "what's in this?" for every meal. He's especially concerned about sugar bugs since we've taken him to the dentist. I need to brush up on my food knowledge because he even wants to know the specific vitamins for the foods he eats. I'm glad he's so good . . . I love the idea of having a little health nut.