Peer Pressure...the good kind!

Lately Oscar has been coming up with really funny things...For example he no longer likes his name "Oscar" and would rather go by the name of "Austin"(his favorite friend).
This same friend, who dose happen to be a pretty good kid, does have some quirks...for one he doesn't like girls. Therefore, Oscar no longer likes his girl friends in Austin's presence. Together they also become this very voluminous bunch of superheros when ever they are together. I find myself constantly saying "tone it down boys". Overall they always play very well together. Even though Austin is about 2 years older than O'.
This afternoon I have been watching Austin, and he happened to be staying for dinner. Oscar who recently has become the dinner boycott champion, decided that he would eat his dinner, and that since Austin LOVES carrots, Oscar wanted extra carrots on his stir-fry too.
This is the kind of peer-pressure I can handle!

Other notes of interest...

Jen posted a very kind birthday tribute to me...Thanks Jen, it was just what a girl who hasn't been running needed to hear! This year my birthday has been great...it has been an all month long celebration (I guess if Thanksgiving can count). I really feel blessed to have sooooooo many great friends and family who really care about me. I'm very blessed!

Secondly, I have created a new blog...not incredibly exciting, but if you wanna check it out it is Spin and Run. I will basically post all of my exercise stuff (or lack there of) on there...(that will mean less spandex pictures on this blog).

Blogger Hiatus!

Turkey day presentation at the school...Oscar shook his cute little tail feathers and made me some tasty stone soup instead of turkey. Poppy and Oscar had our pumpkin pie eaten before the program and the soup was served. His teacher then filled his pie plate with whip cream!
We journeyed to Utah for the Edge family Thanksgiving week. We had a great time with tons of great food and family. Our kids are STILL going through grandparent withdrawal...Poppy at 3am the last 3 nights wakes up crying for Grandma!
Grandma made sure to have plenty of activities for us. WE took a little walk up the canyon on some slippery, icy trails. Oscar had a great time "ice boarding".
This pretty much wraps up the kids week in a picture...stories, toys, cousins, dress-up, treats, and anything their hearts desired...grandma was certain to cater to their every whim...(grandpa did his share too...Poppy still keeps asking about grandpa!)
Thanksgiving day, uncle Carvel brought over a slackline for all of us to play on. It was a lot of fun and Oscar really liked it! I may have to get one for Ricky's Christmas...he has really good balance! Uncle Carvel was impressive with his slacklining abilities!

There is so much I have thought about posting and yet, I really have had no gumption to put it all down. So, here were the foot notes, and I will post some more later....

One year ago...

(Here's a picture from last year's Thanksgiving)

One year ago today we arrived here in Utah and surprised Rick's family for an earlier-than expected Thanksgiving visit.

Yesterday, we arrived just in time to see auntie Natalie swim in her UOU swim meet. It was really fun to watch, and she is so fast!

This past week was so full of many different things...Every day was so full that I didn't have any time to blog. It was a week that made me start to think of all the things I'm going to eliminate from the following week when we return.

Some of the highlights were really fun! Oscar performed a fun Thanksgiving feast and program for us parents. Poppy and Oscar ate their pumpkin pie first before eating our "stone soup". He made a great Turkey with his very cute turkey mask on.

Friday after Rick was home from work, we made our way to Boise. We had a hotel and stayed the night which made it really great to get a few hours of sleep before finishing out the journey.

Poppy decided she would rather sleep in the bed with us however, so even though we had a place to sleep...sleep was not as great as it usually is.

After driving in the car for a long time it is always so nice to go for a nice long run...(that is typically). Earlier this week I was advised to not do any running for a while...(let the whimpering and whining begin). The PT said I could ride but not run for a while. Therefore Ricky took a very fast 4.something run while I tootled along on the mountain bike. I never really got my heart rate up until he asked me to race him around the park.

I would say my quality of exercises has been quite lacking! I find myself more impatient and grumpy! I suppose I need my daily dose of endorphins to make me into a better mommy.

Spinning was nice on Friday, and I'm looking forward to utilizing my Father in laws spin bike while we are here in Utah.

Meanwhile, Oscar and daddy are out in the back yard chasing the chickens, Poppy is napping and we are here in sunny Utah enjoying the warmer weather.

Leaves, Birds, and Bees

(This is 1/4 of the pile that was previously here...the leaves were piled so high that they were as tall as Oscar and if he wanted, could hide and it was a lot of digging to find him.)
For the past month the giant leaf piles in our yard have been the greatest toys ever invented. Oscar daily would spend hours out side swimming in the leaves (mingled with super hero play).
(Here are the leaves that are up the hill from our driveway, from our yard...notice the neighbors piles, not the large expanding pile as ours.)
As of Friday we hauled the last of them(except the apple tree that is still dropping) to the curb for pickup tomorrow. Sigh...I'm really going to miss such a fun activity in my own back yard.
(Here is the pile, down the hill from our driveway. The kids still like playing in the leaves, even if they are in the street)

Birds and Bees-(for the uncomfortable people reading you can end now)

Yesterday, while Oscar was helping me with the staining of the kid room chairs, he asked me what the bump was on the back of my shirt.
I said "oh, that is my bra".
He then asked "what is a bra for?".
I responded "remember how girls have breasts?"
"What are breasts mom?"
"They are the bumps on women, you know, what we use to feed babies."
"oh yeah, I remember"
"Yeah, well, bras help to hold up the breasts so that womens backs don't get tired."
"Mom, what is different about girls and boys?"
"Do you know what the difference is between boys and girls?"
"Boys have pieces"
"Do you mean a penis?"
"Yes that what I meant. What is it called that girls have?"
"Do you mean a vagina?"
"Yeah, that is it...is it like a bum?"
"Basically yes...Boys and girls have different bodies for different things. Like, girls can have babies and boys can't."
"Yeah, will poppy be able to have babies?"
"Yes, when she gets bigger and gets married."
This is where Poppy comes in and disrupts conversation and Oscar leaves to play.

Later in the evening when I leave to get the babysitter for our stake conference adult meeting, Oscar decides to stay at the house with dad. (Dad later asked if I "put him up to staying home") While away and Dad is getting ready to leave, changing clothes and such, Oscar asks "Dad what is the difference between boys and girls?" Obviously, I have failed at filling his curiosity. Ricky being the more uncomfortable in these situations, told Oscar we would talk about it later.

This afternoon while Poppy was napping I pulled out my old anatomy coloring book with very basic illustrations of the human body. We looked at muscles, circulatory systems, and boys and girls insides. I showed him how they are different. NOT pictures of nudity per-se but the actual internal organs. Like how women have a uterus that the baby grows in it and a picture of a baby inside a mothers stomach. It was really cool for him to see illustrated the basic beginning of human life. He asked me how small he was when he began to grow. I then showed him a human cell and we looked at the different systems. We didn't actually discuss "how" a baby is made, we shall leave that to a later date.
Although I can't believe that I'm discussing these things with my five year old, I'm not surprised. This is my boy who has always wanted to know what was "real" and how everything works. Truth be told, I'm really relived to be discussing openly these things with him. It makes me feel as though I can fill his need to "know" without him having to discover it incorrectly from someone else. It feels a little empowering to know that I can openly share with him the miracles of life. We discussed how God really must have been really smart to develop so many wonderful humans. He did say that the book didn't contain animals and asked if they were like us humans.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience...next time we'll get Daddy in on the fun!
If any of our wonderful bolggy readers have any better advice on how to address this great but difficult question, feel free to share the information!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

(Here we have some of the delightful gifts given to me by my sweet friends and family. Flowers from Merilee, Family photos on a CD from Betina, chocolate from Jori, skirt from Kelly, Fun hand made card/present from my sweet in-laws, and a jar of our freshly canned (yesterday) black beans.)
I have had a bit of a progressive Birthday, it began last Saturday with a fun trip to Coure 'de lane with Betina, Jori, and Kelly. We went thrift store shopping went out to dinner. The ladies were great company on our outing and it was really a lot of fun searching through all the junk. Typically I really have a hard time enduring the thrift store junk but, I actually came home with some treasures.
I love birthday's especially my own. It is the day when if my children are being ornery or whiny I can just say "Sorry no whining today because it is my birthday!" or i can walk around the house singing "happy birthday to me...". But the best part is all of the fun cards, phone calls, visits, and dates of people who are so kind in remembering that today was my special day.
I also have been quite spoiled in getting our treadmill and some new-to-us bedroom furniture. Ricky also took me out to one of our favorite restaurants around here called Nectar. I seriously had such a great meal and over-stuffed myself that I had to undo my top button (maybe it was because I was trying to wear my sexy jeans...) It was a really nice date, especially it was nice to get out of the house since our house was filled with the aroma of Beans!!!

(notice how we are both standing...too funny)
Here is my kindred spirit Betina (who frequently gets confused as my sister) who came to my house with Jori (another kindred spirit, taking picture) to can beans. It was a great time and I never knew just how easy it is to can dry beans! It is even easier than the soak-overnight process! We jsut had to get over the fear of the pressure cookers exploding.
Basically it is 1 cup dry beans, 1tsp salt, fill quart jar to neck with warm water put on lid/ring and pressure cook for 60 mins at 15lbs of pressure.
For my Birthday feast tonight I made (to Oscar's dislike), black beans and rice. One of my truly favorite foods. It was delicious, and even more so because they were my own beans.
After dinner we had my pumpkin chocolate chip birthday cake. I didn't quite cook it long enough but it was yummy anyway.
Overall it was a great day and I even got a 5mi run in on my new treadmill. So, here's to my 28th birthday!!

Isn't he handsome!

Thanks to my great friend Betina, being willing to undergo the task of taking some family photos for us (to be posted later). She captured this great picture of my very handsome husband. Typically I get the photos of him giving me a scowl and/or putting his nose up in the air so that all I really get a picture of is his neck. This picture however catches the very handsome, sweet and loving husband that I married! This is what he actually looks like most of the time.
Yah, I'm pretty blessed with such a great guy!
And yes, I know that as soon as he sees this post I will get the a for mentioned scowl...but well worth it!

Who Needs Squirrels???

What you ask, is in their bulging pockets???
Why the acorns they gathered during our Sunday walk. Frequently I do the wash and find these little nutty treasures stashed away in the pockets of my two boys! They also use them as ammunition against each other and me!
You may think because they are small, harmless and that they do very little damage...but a couple of weeks ago I noticed I had these little dime size bruises on my legs and arm. Then it dawned on me that it was from the acorns....Boys will be Boys (or squirrels).

Musing of the Non-Conforntational

I'm a non-confrontational type of girl (who was born to a mother who loves to barter, this could be the reason for my stance)...Yes, we often hear that "nice people never get ahead" but I want to let the blog world know that yesterday I did!
We were buying a treadmill (woo hoo) that had been gently used and she was offering a rice of $600. After some research I decided that yes, it was a good price, but it would be even better if it were $550. Instead of bartering with the other "nice" lady. I offered her this email:
Barb,
We would like to purchase the treadmill. I'm not very good at bartering so If you wanted to sell it for $550 we would love it, but if you still want $600 that's fine we'll take it. I like it when both sides get what they want and a great deal.
Just give me a call later when you get a chance to look for the manual and we can set a time to pick it up.
Thanks,

Her reply was:
$550.00 is fine.

This my friends, is the way I would would like to do business more often. You say what you want but there isn't the nasty little edge of "if you don't' like my price I won't take it" I love it when both people win.

Now, as of last night we now own a treadmill. I am very grateful for Ricky consenting to buying it because it means I can exercise in the afternoon while Poppy is sleeping (especially in the winter) rather than waking up at 6am to run in the freezing cold, dark morning!

I do love to run outside, but that's when the sun is shining and I can see the ground I am running on.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes...