Random Questions

Lest anyone think I know everything there is to know about everything (haha).... Here are some random questions floating around in my brain. Might as well let them float around in the dark abyss of my blog instead:

1. While unpacking my food storage I came to wonder when "Best by" dates become "if you eat this you will turn into a mutant from the half life radioactivity and then DIE"
2. What vegetables can grow with little sunlight so I can plant them under fruit trees and thereby avoid wasting garden space?
3. Can I spray paint all the projects I have pending in the 40º temperature of my garage? The can says it should be at least 50º, but what difference is 10 lousy degrees, and who follows directions anyway? I'm really into spray paint lately, don't worry, no sniffing is involved, however, I really have a lot of painting to do...
4. How do people get their little girls' hair to stay so cute and smooth ALL day? My girls look like they've stuck their fingers in a light socket after 10 min.
5. Is there some home improvement gene I missed out on or is it just that Murphy and his dumb law dog my every attempt to tackle a project. I keep trying to lower my expectations but they can't get much lower lately. Nothing EVER works the first time or even the second or third! Ahhhh!!
6. How do I teach my kids family loyalty? How do I inspire them to side with their sibling rather than treating them like something they found on the bottom of their shoe every time a friend comes around? I guess they don't do it every time, but enough to make me wonder if they are being selectively possessed when friends come over. They are really quite good friends if there isn't anyone else around.
7. Is there a hearing aid for children with selective hearing? How do I get their attention when they don't want to listen? I have tried everything I have heard of, especially with Emma, she is a pro! She could work in government.
8. Why is it that when I eat 1 piece of pie I gain 5 pounds but when I work out for 5 weeks I can't drop one?
9. How is it that my children can go through more rolls of toilet paper in a week than pairs of underwear?
10. Why is it that when given a stack of book orders with many choices for quality reading experiences, my kids choose the Pokémon book?

This is in no way even remotely a complete documentation of my confusion. I am sure there will be more to come. Any enlightenment you have to offer on these subjects will result in something close to adoration on my part. Otherwise, they will forever float in cyberspace because as you know, anything you put on the internet is eternal.

It's been how many years?!!?

Well, come June it will have been 20 years since Paul and I graduated from High School. If you can't read that number you must be as old as we are. In an effort to.... um.... uh.... honestly, I'm sitting here and can't think of a reason why, Paul and I have looked up our Alma maters and determined when our reunions are. I was relieved to know I have until August to shed 20 lbs. and 20 years, minus the big hair. No seriously, they posted our graduation pictures on the website and I almost reverted to the fetal position. Wowza! The only consolation I have is that there are plenty of photos on there of people with bigger hair than mine.
Anyway, I didn't go to my 5th because I was in Guatemala on my mission. I didn't go to my 10th because I had a 5 month old baby, the baby fat to go with it, and a husband and that was MIA because he was still in Puerto Rico. Yeah, that wasn't happening. So, this is it. Time to overcome those high school insecurities that still I carry somewhere deep inside the grown-up I've become. Tee hee hee (Sorry, can't help it, I don't think I'll ever be truly grown up!)
I wouldn't describe my self as being shy, I just didn't think anyone knew who I was. This was confirmed in college when I went to a Halloween dance and, forgive the arrogance, I looked good. It was an Elvira type costume without quite so much cleavage. Anyway, a guy I knew from junior high and high school who incidentally, I had a crush on at one point, came up and started hitting on me. He gave me a fake name and when I called him on it and told him a little of what I knew about him, I could see in his eyes that he still didn't quite remember me. I really felt forgetable then! His friend remembered me though, he even knew my name. Nice guy.
Since returning to my old stomping grounds, Davis County, after 12 years or so, I have run into many people from high school, some of whom I didn't remember or recognize. This has caused me to realize that all those people who seemed so "all that" and confident were just trying to get through the best they could. Just like the rest of us.
I've often thought that I would like to go back to high school with the knowledge I have now. Just for a little while, I certainly wouldn't want to go through it ALL over again. Ugggh! For a little while though, I could have a lot of fun!
For what it's worth, in August I will be facing my misconceptions and biases. I think it will be interesting and enlightening. Eliptical, don't fail me now! Six and a half months and counting!

Chez Bruderer

Every once in a while my hubby has dinner meetings or continuing education classes and isn't here for the evening. When that happens, I don't feel like fixing a big dinner but I don't want mac & cheese either. I have recently discovered a way to cook multiple kinds of pre-prepared foods at the same time! Enter heavy duty, wide aluminum foil. I cover a cookie sheet with the foil, folding it to make "walls" between entrees. I then bake it all together. The kids and I each get a variety of choices, just like going to a restaurant without the hassle. The best part... no pans to wash, just clean up the foil!

Tonight I had broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken, Jordan and the girls had Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets, and Christian chose meatloaf balls (pre-frozen from last week). We all enjoyed Costco's Sweet Potato fries with brown sugar and chili powder. Now just so you don't think we eat this kind of food all the time I must say I have made 5 home cooked, balanced meals in the last week and 7 the week before. A night of battered pressed foods doesn't hurt every once in a while. Everyone cleaned their plates without complaint, and with very little clean up we had time for a movie night with popcorn ON A SCHOOL NIGHT! I was a fun Mom for a night without the nagging. It works for me!

Crazy, fluky accident

On Wednesday, we got a very urgent, disconcerting phone call. It was Paul's day off, and we were enjoying the day when we got the call saying that a man had just run his car into Paul's office!! Apparently, he had given blood and then stopped at the smoke shop across the street. As he was waiting to turn onto 39th South (a VERY busy street) he passed out and his foot hit the gas pedal. He shot across the street (It was a miracle he wasn't hit by oncoming traffic!) and the sidewalk and grass and straight into the back workroom! As you can see, most of the wall was floor to ceiling windows with metal posts in between. Needless to say there is a lot of glass to clean up! There was also a lot of oil on the floor so it smells like a car garage, and the wall between the workroom and his exam room is bowed out and cracked. There will be work to do for a long time!

Fortunately, no one was hurt. Anna, Paul's optician was in the room a few seconds earlier adjusting some glasses. She had just walked out of the room. The driver walked away without a scratch. We are also fortunate that it was the workroom rather than Paul's exam room or the optical. He lost some equipment that will have to be replaced but he could have lost a lot more equipment or his display cases and hundreds of frames. He will still be able to keep the office open while repairs are made. The driver is insured as well as the building which Paul leases from, and we have insurance so financially we should be covered. It's just the pain of sorting out all the claims and waiting for the work to be done! Although, we would have been more fortunate if it had not happened at all, we have to look for the blessings.

What a weird, fluky thing to happen!

Choice mother moment

I just found myself in an interesting position. I don't know if I can adequately describe the somewhat out of body experience as I consider the indignity of my present condition. I am dressed in sweat pants crawling on my hands and knees feeling for a "wet" spot on the carpet as my toddler yells "Giddy-up horsey" from my back. I happen to be on the floor searching for that elusive "wet" spot because my preschooler just informed me she "had an accident" on the carpet but can't remember where because she was too busy watching Dora fend off swiper with those canonized words (at least at our house), "Swiper, no swiping".
I am both happy and chagrined to hear the buzzer on the dryer signaling the end of the drying cycle of the jeans. This means I can get out of these unflattering sweat pants that make me feel 10 lbs heavier than I already am. I need my motherhood uniform, jeans and a slightly stained t-shirt. Even though I have 3 pairs of jeans and do laundry twice a week, I can't seem to ever have a clean pair come laundry day. Go figure! However, my chagrin comes at the realization that the wet jeans my sweet daughter just threw in the laundry basket missed the batch. It always seems to happen that way.
Having found the spot (yes with my bare hands) and cleaned it, I move on to mop the wet footprints she tracked through the house to tell me all about what had happened. In the process unseating an unhappy cowgirl whose greatest wish at the moment is to ride off into a distant sunset.
"The out of body part?" you may ask. The feeling of deja-vu. The feeling that somehow I have done this many, many, many times before, so many in fact, it really doesn't bother me so much anymore.

On turning five

Our little Emma turned five years old on December 30th. Time is flying away from me! My little one will be going to Kindergarten in the fall and she is sooo ready. She would go to preschool twice a day rather than twice a week. Sometimes it gives me a complex to see how independent and adventurous she is. A mom likes to be needed sometimes. This year was her year to choose an activity for a "family party". She wanted to go to Kangaroo Zoo, have shrimp for dinner, and then to for ice cream. She walked up to each adult at Kangaroo Zoo and informed them that it was her birthday and that she turned 5. She has never been shy!




We got one chance to take a picture of her with the Kangaroo and this is what we got! Oh well, she was thrilled anyway. She got to tell him it was her birthday and that she turned 5.














She got a pack of Disney Princess Barbies and plays with them all day everyday! Mom also made a hooded butterfly towel for her, the boys gave her a Tinkerbell action figure set and Jenna gave her some dress ups. Overall, she was one happy little princess!


Our Emma is a very special part of our family. She is fun loving, caring, good at sharing and eager to live life to the fullest. Whether it is keeping up with the boys as they climb "just one more step up" in the never ending quest to attain flight into the Love sac or playing princess with Jenna making sure they have just the right accessories, she does it all with her whole heart and enthusiasm. She loves to see if she can give the longest kisses and tightest hugs before bed. She makes up the most amazing songs about everyday things and is always singing. She also draws the most fantastic stories. I am continually amazed at her imagination and creativity. We all love and appreciate Emma so much. I am grateful for the chance to ponder all the things I love about her.

Decorating January blues away

I love Christmas. I love everything about my house at Christmas, the reds and golds and greens, the nostalgia, the smells, the traditions.... I could go on and on. We usually take our deorations down on Jan 1st or 2nd. I do not like January much. It is hazy, gray, with icy dirty snow and my house feels empty. My house feels especially empty because we have very few things on the walls and most of my decorative things are still in the basement waiting for us to find just the right home for them. This year I wanted to decorate some of the empty blahs away with some winter stuff, most of which I found at 75% off clearances and dollar stores. I am enjoying having a little sparkle around.

I'm joining up with The Inspired Room, A Soft Place to Land, Works for Me Wednesday, and Today's Creative Blog, and The Stories of AtoZ check out what others are doing!

P.S. Finally just finished the wreath I've had in mind for a couple of weeks. I think it adds just the right finishing touch.

Sorry about the lighting and the camera case left on the table. It's late!

Nativity at the Christmas party

We had fun doing a very simple nativity with the kids at the Huntington Family Christmas party. They were so cute and had a great time putting on costumes. This nativity was a little different because it began with the prophesies of Samuel the Lamanite and Nephi from the Book of Mormon. The highlight was little Ben who was playing Nephi. He walked right in knelt down and without direction, clasped his hands in front of his chest and looked to the heavens. We could almost hear Nephi's petitions to God. He is quite the little actor!

Need your ideas...

Over at We are THAT Family she is having a backwards WFMW where we put our most pressing, perplexing, mind-numbingly difficult problems, out into cyberspace and people use their great mind powers to solve them for us. Now this isn't one of those questions but has been bugging me none-the-less. What type of window covering should I use for my kitchen window?

All of the other windows have shutters but I wanted to be able to watch the children blissfully playing out my window while I lovingly wash each dish until it sparkles in the sun. Did I mention the window is slightly rose colored? However, in the afternoon, the sun shines in so mercilessly that I can't even see if my dishes are sparkling. Yep, that's my excuse as to why they have spots and small crusted amounts of food still on them. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

The wall space on either side is too narrow to allow side curtains, I'm not too fond of traditional window toppers, so you can see my dilemma. I am thinking some type of roman shade? If I do, how can I get one to match my decor? I would love to have something functional that adds to the pretty of my kitchen and draws the eye from the stack of dirty dishes waiting to be polished to a glorious sheen.

So, for the health and safety of my family and my eyesight, please give me any ideas you may have!