Monday, March 31, 2008

Petite update

So. For now, no buying a house, no moving. Just sitting tight. I actually feel very peaceful about it. We're just going to keep going with our credit-cleaning endeavors (we actually have someone helping us with that), and we're going to save, save, save. There's something that feels comforting about saving and repairing and waiting....so for now, for this moment, no house-buying, no moving to St.George.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Gourmet house

I AM TRIUMPHANT!

Let me explain. We have an ant problem. Not a little ant problem, a gargantuan ant problem. And they seem to be drawn to anything--even cat food. No matter how scrupulously clean I keep our floors, they're back, time and time again the second a crumb drops. And we all know that if you're human and you eat, a crumb will surely drop from time to time. And since we have three humans in particular who do eat very messily, the ants love us. We're like Thanksgiving every day. We tried a few ant traps, but we were at our wits' end, because those actually attracted more, and I don't really want a gets-better-before-it-gets-worse solution. It became even more painfully urgent this morning, though, when I discovered Savvy happily lying under the table, contemplating (with her fingers and mouth) the HERD of ants converging on some of her potato leftovers. I very nearly screamed, it was so disgusting. (It's good they aren't fire ants, or the neighbors would've heard a madwoman on the loose, screaming bloody murder while she beats at the side of her house uselessly with a broom.) So I googled "getting rid of ants", and wouldn't you know, a page with about 15 possible remedies popped up! It also mentioned that different ants like different tastes. Hm. Ours probably like ANYTHING, seeing
how EVERYTHING is dropped on the floor by our three sweeties in the beginning stages of cleanliness and eating. (Reed is quite clean for a five-year-old, but simply filthy for a swarm of hungry ants.)

So I've used a couple of remedies right away, and we'll see how well they work--I'm just happy that I have several different ideas to choose from, and the majority of them are cheap and not dangerous to kids (or at least minimally). The first thing I did was to dump the rest of our white vinegar
outside where the baseboards are that they use for entry. The second thing I did was to sprinkle freshly-ground pepper in that same site and in the house all around the baseboards and under Savanna's high chair and Jaxon's booster seat. It sounds like I'm making a meal of my house, doesn't it? "Once you've doused the baseboards in vinegar, sprinkle them generously with freshly-ground pepper, then let bake in the sun at 65 degrees for twelve hours." Delicious.

We will probably put some caulk under the baseboards tonight, too, just to really trap the ants in their vinegar & pepper prison.

P.S.-Neighbors, please don't mind the strong and weird smell by our front door when and if you decide to visit. It's just our meal of gourmet house.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Need a good laugh?

Want to hear a funny story? This lady got in her car in her garage, tuned the radio to the station she wanted, and opened the garage door. Then she backed out, and heard an awful crunching grinding sound. So she realized she had hit something, pulled back into the garage a ways, and parked the car. Upon alighting from the car, she discovered that she had opened the garage door and backed out--as opposed to opening the garage door, giving it sufficient time to open all the way, and then backing out. Very minimal damage to the car and to the door--tiny half-inch gouge on the car and a bit of a dent in the bottom of the garage door. Everyone in the car was just fine, even the silly driver.

Yeah, that silly driver?....That was me.
Definitely feeling a little sheepish.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter photos

I was actually pretty annoyed with the turnout of our Easter photos, although I thought my babies looked darling. My background was SO not what I hoped it would be, they boycotted when I tried to sit them all together, and half the time they weren't looking the right direction, and I was trying not to be Crazy Mom: "Look this way! Now! Hold it!", but also trying to keep their attention, and then the boys of course went behind the backdrop and thought it was hilarious fun to pull it down....it was quite the fiasco, and put a damper on my photographic hopes. However! I got some relatively good photos of them, good enough that I figured they're worth sharing. What am I saying? Of course they're worth sharing! My kiddos are too darn cute! (Pardon my pride.)

Easter Lendon

Remember Lendon the veteran? (If not, click here) He is without fail at the McDonald's around holidays, so this morning, he was there, with his little McDonald's sandwich box open and filled with the mini chocolate bars he gives out (every holiday). He waved us over, and gave the boys a little chocolate bar each, and then (again) said what a nice family I have. He said: "Oh, this is such a nice family you have! You're lucky." Then he looked at Jaxon's eyes and remarked with surprise, "Hey, this one has brown eyes like me!" And I smiled and said, "They all do." Then he smiled at me and said, "You are lucky to have this family. You keep them close." And of course I thanked him and just grinned (trying not to laugh, too, because I love that he tells me this every time I see him), and then he ended our short little visit by saying, "You keep smiling. And don't cut your hair."

I was happy to see him today. He hadn't come for a long time, and I was beginning to wonder. I still do wonder sometimes if he's got all his faculties about him, but most of the time, I don't care. Everything he says is so sweet, so positive, that every conversation with him makes my day a little happier. Today, when he was telling me how great my family was, I felt a little ache for him, just because it appears his family is not nearby. It reminded me of the lesson we had in Young Women yesterday, which was about strengthening ties with our extended relatives. I feel, in a way, like I have several extended relatives who aren't related to me by blood, but to whom I feel drawn to because of their spirits. I always get the feeling that just as we are meant to be with our families, there are friends we are meant to have. It makes loneliness scarce.

I love you, friends!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I just wanted to add something from my latest non-portrait project. A few somethings. Happy Easter (Early)! I think that tomorrow I'll do photos of the kiddos.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Sayonara!

While Cedar City probably has a couple more snowstorms up her sleeves, I don't care because today is the last official day of winter! I'm looking forward to not waking up in darkness, and my step will lighten with the promise of better weather ahead. Goodbye, winter! Goodbye, sweaters and heaps of blankets and insanely high heating bills and cold feet and wet pant cuffs! Hello, air conditioning, sunny mornings, late light nights, spring and summer produce, sprinklers, warm mud, sweat, shorts, and festivals in the park! (Wooo.....can't tell I'm really excited, can you?)

And a Reed Quotable from this morning, when Jax was in front of the cartoons: "Jaxon, would you please move? You're in the way. Your head is an oval."

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Another project

Remember this? I thought it might be fun to make something pretty and useful to store Savanna's bows (the bows that go on this headband). It wasn't that necessary, really, but the bows were just lying around, and I was sort of inspired by my necklace project. So I made this:
The bows clip onto the slips of ribbon that are just laced through the fabric, which is glued onto some cardboard and glued inside the frame. I like it in a frame, because it's kind of like some kooky art or something.

I also had to post these pictures of Savanna's armoire. Yes, she has an armoire. But it's not like we bought it especially for her! It was our entertainment center, and when we got a TV stand, we re-purposed this to her room. Man, she really is spoiled. Who am I kidding? :) Anyway, I got a kick out of how many dresses were hanging and how many pairs of shoes are there. Keep in mind that most of this stuff was given to me! The last two dresses on the right are from Ross, and I got them for a killer deal! (Third from the left is from Wallyworld, and it'll probably be her Easter dress. Or maybe I'll just stop pretending I'm not all-out girly and spoil us with photos of her in all three....)

Saturday, March 15, 2008

This could probably be a good ad for Ross Dress For Less....

Totals of our shopping quest:

2 Cute dresses for Savanna

1 Reversible king-size taupe/black synthetic down comforter

1 Queen sheet set with improved thread count

2 Soft but strong pillows for our aching necks

1 Very happy Mama

-and-

2 Tired, cranky boys

1 Tired, cranky girl

2 Nevertheless happy parents

-and one last one for good measure-

3 pairs of pants in need of washing due to 5 projectile-style vomitings in the last 3 days....but we're all better now.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Playing tag (again)

4 Jobs I have had:
*Kmart cashier (I was the quickest one!)

*Go-to-girl for some Army lady (Summer Hire program in Belgium, my first job ever, 15 years old, and mostly all I did was email friends and listen to U2 and read silly Mary Higgins Clark books. I loved it.)

*Vector Marketing sales rep (Heard of Cutco knives? Yeah. I sold those. The knives are amazing, but I hated the job. I hate being aggressively sales-y, so I did horribly.)

*Pilates instructor @ Gold's Gym (saved my life when Phill was deployed and I was prego with Jax)

4 Movies I watch over and over
*Pride & Prejudice
*Sense & Sensibility
*Ever After
*The Princess Bride
(What does this say about me? I'm a silly romantic?)


4 Places I have lived:
Let's pick the coolest ones!

*Erbaut, Belgium
*Heidelberg, Germany

*Panama

*and.....Georgia. One of the coolest because it's where Phill and I met.


4 TV shows I watch

*House
*The Office
*Pushing Daisies
*Life


4 Places I have been

*London, England
*The Statue of Liberty
*Cannon Beach, Oregon
*Paris, France
*Berlin, Germany
(had to add that last extra one because I am unabashedly proud of my traveling/moving history)

4 People who email me regularly
*Camilla
*Kate
*Maddie
*Abby


4 Favorite things to eat

*Pasta, most anything Italian or carbo-loaded (No thank you, Atkins.)
*edamame
*chocolate
*cantaloupe


4 Places I would rather be

*Somewhere remote (yet safe) and beautiful with my family
*A house I own
*A photography studio set up exactly how I'd like it :)
*In a huge soft bed with a down comforter in a gorgeous little bungalow by the beach (with the windows open and the ocean air coming in through the window and some incredible breakfast nearby)

4 Things I look forward to this year
*The birth of Camille's baby (photo ops and more)
*The end of breastfeeding Savanna (bittersweet, that one)
*Knowing where we'll be moving--Salt Lake or St.George. Yep. I just broke big news in the most casual way on my blog. :)
*Phill getting his Associate's


4 People to tag

*Christine
*Abby
*Camilla
*Leslie

Yo, baby!

Lately I've been enjoying letting Savvy try new foods, and we recently found something she loves. Yo Baby yogurt! They're these cute little yogurts with fruit and cereal in the bottom, so I just dump it into a bowl, mix it up, and serve it to her slightly warmed. She opens her mouth wide for the bites and then smacks her lips and smiles, and she's eating it a lot more enthusiastically than almost anything I've given her thus far (Gerber guava dessert was a huge hit).

On another note, a gloriously happy operatic note, the night we came back from Rexburg, Savanna slept twelve hours straight through!!! I put her down in her crib at 9:30 that night, thinking that I'd probably have to go pick her up in an hour or so, only to wake up at 9:30 the next morning, thinking, "Why do I feel so good? Why do my eyes feel like they actually want to open? What is this strange feeling?" And then it hit me--Savvy was asleep, in her crib, and had been for the night! I couldn't believe my good fortune--actually my huge blessing. And it has just continued--she now sleeps 6-12 hours straight at night, which is incredibly wonderful, considering I was having a hard time keeping her asleep for even two hours at a time. There have been a couple nights that she has woken up and cried after three hours, but since I know she can do at least six hours in a row, I simply smile in my bed and roll over, and eventually she's back asleep. :) Yay! This is what I needed to be able to let her cry it out. I knew that it wouldn't hurt her....but I just needed her to show me that she could do it, I suppose. I'm feeling like my life has changed monumentally since all three of my babies are sleeping through the night (more or less)! And *ache* we've moved past that stage....on to 1-year birthdays and toddlerhood and sleep, sleep, sleep, with dreams of my babies when they were so tiny and I was not sleeping. (I'll miss it in the most odd way.)

Monday, March 10, 2008

Introducing.....

My newest nephew! Elias Anders Wahlquist was born March 1st, weighing 9 lbs 2 oz (nope, that's not a typo), measuring 19 inches. We were lucky enough to be able to go to Rexburg for a couple of days and see my sister, her husband, and their beautiful new boy. Her husband's family housed us in their enormous (and yet not at all ostentatious) home, which was comfortable and beautiful. So. Are you ready for some photos? :)