Wow, I can't stop posting poitical views...

I support Campaign For Liberty. I believe the American people have the right to know where our tax money is being spent.

If you agree:

(Contact your representative and senators and urge them to cosponsor HR 1207/S 604 if they have not yet done so. If they have already signed on, tell them it is imperative that Audit the Fed receive a standalone, up or down vote on its own merits. Full transparency in our nation's monetary system is too important to be a minor footnote in yet another massive Washington bill.)

I also believe that the health care "reform" Obama is suggesting doesn't give enough incentive for anyone to become a doctor. It takes away so many freedoms a doctor has. Doctors are the only profession in the United States whose salaries have steadily declined for decades. Interest rates on medical student loans are rising and spots for training programs are decreasing as well as funding for the training. Taxes for higher income earners are 40% and rising. Those who earn a higher income will have to pay for health insurance for the lower class through taxes AND health insurance for themselves. If the government mandates exactly how a doctor can practice and how much money he/she can make, where is the incentive? This is NOT capitalism and not American in my opinion. I think if we want to change the high costs of health care we need to start with Tort reform and make people more responsible for their own health. Sorry if that sounds selfish. I want to help people. I want to take care of the sick and the needy, but I don't think making the doctors the main martyrs is going to increase the quality of health care. Isn't quality of health care all about the quality of the providers?

I get so worked up and passionate about this stuff, sometimes I need a breather... :)

Ahh. ...

Oh what do you do in the wintertime?

That's been on my mind a lot this summer. How am I going to keep these boys entertained this winter when I can't take them to the park everyday??
Solution:

Insist.. with just a little bit of prodding.. that my handy hunky husband make us an indoor play structure. He had his good reasons for resisting.. ie; we're hopefully moving to a house sometime soon, it's a tiny room, we don't have the right tools.. etc. But in the end, he is the king, and made it happen. Thanks to our friend Rick who provided all the awesome equipment, even if the kitchen did turn into the tool shop/ garage. We do what we have to do don't we.

The first night we had one ladder built, do you think we could keep the boys off of it? No WAy! It's too fun!
I can't wait to get it all installed and show you the final result. I'm hoping it will relieve a lot of the dreaded winter blues.
Thanks Paul. You Rock!

Garden Party

This week I co-hosted a Garden Party for our Relief Society. The day of the party the forecast said 100% chance of rain with scattered showers predicted all evening. We had planned to have the party in the breathtaking backyard of my dear friend Charyce. It rained and poured ALL day long. I held my breath, prayed and had faith that it would clear up. Everyone kept telling me we needed to change the location to the church. I held on. At 4:30, it was pouring rain. I moved the 5 long tables from the garage to the overhung porch and said a prayer. At 5:30 the rain had turned to a drizzle. At 5:45 I moved the tables to the soaking grass and set them up. The drizzle stopped. I layed out the table cloths, the clouds seemed a little less ominous. By 6:20, the sun was peaking through and as people started to arrive the weather was lovely. People kept saying, "you're sure taking a chance having it outside." It still looked like it might rain again, but we had faith.
The dinner was lovely, the games and prizes and spiritual lesson were wonderful. We had 45 women and the socializing was the best since girls at a tea party can't help but have fun. I wore my blond hair extensions and pearls. Kit wore this fabulous hat and looked amazing as always.

Erin even came in a boa. Charyce let us use her loads of vintage tablecloths, pitchers and gorgeous china. It was a night to remember. AND... it didn't rain a single drop. Thank you Heavenly Father. It was nothing less than a miracle.

I love these ladies!

50 lbs of tomatoes

This week I learned that 50 lbs of tomatoes may look like just one big box full, but it feels a lot more like a giant vat of tomatoes that you are drowning in. All I wanted to do was can some tomato soup, but this "small" task totally consumed me this week. Luckily my friend and partner in all things crafty (Kit) called to see if they could come to town this week. I said, "of course" as I secretly laughed my wicked mischievous laugh. Little did she know but that she would be helping me can a giant vat of tomatoes that night. She was a lifesaver and my hero for the week. When I was about to quit, she pressed forward. I think every dish, pan, pot, bowl, strainer, spoon and utensil in the kitchen was dirty at the end of our labors. Every cupbourd, counter, and wall was splattered. It was an immense mess, and for what?? About 40 jars of soup and salsa.

The next day the last thing I wanted to hear was the first thing I heard: "But mom, I hate tomato soup and salsa!" Of course, I didn't can it for the kids, it was for me. And, yes, I can go to the grocery store and buy perfectly good tomato soup and the salsa I like is only $1/ qt. at Aldi. So why go to the trouble? That is a good question I asked myself many times. And the answer is this. I feel really great that now I know how to can. I can preserve many foods now without intimidation. Knowing how makes me feel more self reliant, and prepared. There's something rewarding about strapping on an apron and doing what my grandma's have done for decades. In a way I am continuing tradition, doing a little bit to carry on a legacy. There's something earthy and good for the soul about the whole process.. even though I was about to tear my hair out through half of it. I do hope these beautiful jars will be comfort food this winter (even if it is only me that will eat it.)

I took the canner and the remaining jars to the storage unit this morning. I need some time to forget how hard the process was before I get ready for peaches or applesauce or anything. Again, I ask myself, is it really worth it? Maybe I will wait until I get my garden and orchard.

Celebrity Look-a-like?

We were flipping channels and came across Samantha Brown's awesome travel show. I have long admired her. I think she's charming, funny, great style and of course a great host. So when Eirik said "mom is that you?" was I flattered? Yes, very much so.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

This weekend we decided to go explore the wild outdoors. To us, this means camping. I had one night under the stars in mind, while Paul thought one night was not nearly enough, so we went for 2 nights.

(unfortunately Mom didn't charge the camera, so we got three precious shots .. not that great of shots either. Oh well.. )

On our first evening we made successful tinfoil dinners for us, hot dogs for the boys, and yummy s'mores. Then we went on a walk to the lake. The boys got to wade in the water and hold a frog and see bats. On the walk home it got dark. As we walked down a long dirt road with a thick canopy of trees in the dark watching the lightning bugs sparkle, the boys thought it was super cool and kind of spooky. On my shoulders Joren kept saying "Dark, dark" over and over again. When we had finally snuggled into our sleeping bags Eirik said, "I can't imagine what ever I would do wifout camping! This is so fun!"
In the middle of the night I woke up to check on the boys. I couldn't find Joren. I started to panic and wonder if he could possibly have unzipped the tent while I slept! As I looked through all the blankets again I finally realized that Joren had rolled over into Eirk so tight that it looked like just one kid! My boys spooned most of the night. (unintentionally).

The next morning we ate eggs and bacon and then went out fishing. Eirik got to reel in his first Blue Gill with his little Spider Man fishing pole. He's not very big into touching slimy things, but Joren is. Joren also couldn't get enough of the worms either.

After fishing we went to this farm called the Brighton Recreation Horse stables (or something like that). It's a great little place. We all got to go in the stalls and feed the sheep, goats, bunnies and tiny ponies. The sheep was as tall as Eirik and freaked him out, but we all had a fun time.
Then Eirik and I got to ride 2 horses on a 2 mile walk through the woods. Eirik was a sure fire cowboy. He kept a full on conversation going with our guide. I forgot how fun it is to ride horses. I committed to make sure our family gets to go on an overnight campout where you ride horses way up a mountain as soon as all the kids are old enough to go. Wouldn't that be fun!?
Paul got to lead Joren on a horse on a shorter ride. Joren loved it! He kept saying, "horse", "I horse now please!" "Helmet!" "Ride!" He freaked out when Eirik and I rode off on our horses without him and when he had to get off his horse he freaked out again screaming, "I horse now!!! nooooo, I helmet now!!!!! In saddle!!!" He was so sad. The tour guide said, "I have to admit, it's sort of freakish to see someone so little talk so well." Leaving the farm Eirik asked us in about 5 different ways if he could have his very own horse. While I am writing this (1 1/2 days later) Eirik just asked Paul if he can get his own horse when he is 17. I don't think this horse obsession will end any time soon. (I love it.)

That afternoon we drove around Brighton and stopped at a few garage sales and gawked at the beautiful homes. This is one I especially fell in love with because of the old world styling and because it was probably the most unique house we saw. I am not a cookie cutter, Mcmansion fan. I want an old farmhouse I can renovate, but I would love to give it some of this rounded roof (reminiscent of straw roof) craftsmen stone look. I love the huge timber entrance too.

Next we went on a little 2 mile hike through the beautiful woods. We carried the boys most of the way since they really don't get the concept of walking from one point to the next without stopping and rolling in the dirt or eating a leaf every few steps. It was a lot like pulling teeth, but really fun nonetheless.

That night we ate corn on the cob from the fire and sushi. (yes, sushi. My husband doesn't think a vacation is vacation (even camping) without eating out and spending money at a restaurant. Am I the weird one?)

In our tent that night Eirik helped Joren say the prayer. It was so cute. Eirk says one word, then Joren repeats it. Part of it went like this: "please (pees) help (hep) all (aw) my (my) brothers (broers) and sisters (sisers) to apologize (jize) to (to) thier (their) sins (sins). Please (pees) help (hep) all (aw) the (the) deer (deer) to (to) not (not) get (get) shot (shot).

On this trip Eirik picked up the phrase, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" This is really cute and unexpected from a 3 year old. Eirik has also been saying, "I do declare!" and "You are breaking my heart."
(What's really funny is that Paul's mom likes to tell about how Paul used to say that when he was a little kid. Paul remembers that as a child if he said, "stop guys, you're breaking my heart." it would work every time. ) I have to admit, I have little power when he says, "you're breaking my heart." It works on me. :)

Question of the day: How DOES a mosquito bite you through jeans!!??

Detroit Zoo

This Saturday we ventured to the Detroit Zoo to check out the new dinosaur exhibit. It was an extra $3 per person, but it was so worth it. These giant moving dinosaurs were so cool! I was expecting to see life size statues of dinosaurs in a big building like a museum. NO, these were outside in the jungle, moving and roaring and spitting water at you!
Cool!!
At first Eirik was having a great time, and then after a while he said, "I don't' like dinosaurs anymore. This is too scary!"
Joren loved it the whole time, but kept asking me to hug him. He was so cute.

Later that afternoon, out of the blue Eirik said, "MOM!!! Do you know what is even better than a striped mongoose?!!! Grandma's and Grandpa's and Aunts and Uncles!!"

Another funny thing that happened was while we were watching the meteor shower the other day before the kids went to bed. Eirik suddenly said,
"Mom, I'm scared of the meat-eater shower!"

Joren is talking like crazy and is so physical. He seems older because he is so mobile, so fast and such a great climber. His balance is remarkable. I think he'll be really good at sports. He loves balls and loves to throw things. He is coordinated in many ways. He could sword fight as soon as he could stand up and now he is actually quite skilled. He started talking in sentences yesterday. Guess what his first sentence was? "I need a knife." Nice.
I wonder where he learned that? (Eirik sleeps with a fancy butter knife under his pillow every night. He calls it his secret knife of warriors.)

On another topic, I got new contacts this week. I haven't worn contacts for 10 years. I got to wear sunglasses at the zoo for the first time in 10 years. I'm not used to them yet and kind of hate how hard they are to wear. I guess my prescription for an astigmatism is pretty severe and if my toric lenses rotate 10 degrees it's totally blurry so every time I blink it's blurry, focused, blurry, focused, but I geuss it's better than having broken glasses or having Joren rip them off my face every 5 seconds. I know you are all on the edge of your seats, so I will keep you informed about how it goes. :)

Joren 21 Months

Isn't he delicious?

Black snakes?

Does this look like a picky eater?

Yes this is my child who will only eat 3 out of every 100 things I offer or suggest, yet he will always eat..... duh duh duh.. Roman Noodles with blue or black food coloring in them. Don't ask me why. He will also never turn down beef jerky, hot dog or sausage. (yuk) I would love to be that mom who only feeds her kids organic healthy food, but I think my Eirik would starve himself to death. (I know.. kids won't do that, but please, he would seriously go days without eating.) What's a mom to do? Well, I just serve black noodles. Problem solved.

One of the best talks I have ever heard

If you're looking for something inspiring, this is one of the best talks about so many subjects of the gospel that I have ever heard.

Deseret Book Talk
Famous Last Words
Sister Sherrie Dew
(From the Deseret Book Audio Library)

I just posted a link on my sidebar to the new Mormon Channel that plays inspirational music and talks all day. I love putting it on while I cook or clean.

Family time

We've had lots of great family time lately. We rode our bikes to get Subway for dinner last night and then rode through this really nice wooded trail. We saw our friends on their bikes on the way and we all hung out for a while. Tonight we went to a thrift store before dinner and found this awesome huge wooden castle building kit for the boys with knights and dragons and all kinds of accessories for $7. We bought that and a power rangers movie, came home and had dinner together and then played. Family time is great. It's so fun.. especially when everyone is in a good mood.
Joren has started saying "no way" and "I try" and "I'm cute". He cracks us up. Eirik woke me up this morning and said, "mom, I want to play chess." So I got the chess board out which we haven't done for over a year and I showed him the rules as we went. He REALLY has a knack for it and is quite good at it. I won't be surprised if he can beat me every time by the time he is 6.
Eirik said to me today, "mom, say that thing again when you were really excited. That was adorable." Is that normal for a 3 year old to be so grown up? You should hear him say adorable.
I bought a pair of designer jeans at the thrift store tonight for $5 without trying them on (no dressing room) and when I got home to try them, I couldn't believe that they fit like a glove. They are perfect. What luck!
I'm painting, designing, doing projects for friends, and working on photobooks. Today, life is really good.

The case of the lost remote.

So it's 9:30 Sunday night... 30 minutes before Design Star * Challenge #2 and I still have not found our missing remote control. It has been MIA for 4 days. Where could it be? So Paul says, "say a prayer". he he he, and what do I have to lose, so I ask the Lord, "Where is my remote control? Please help me find it." As soon as I finish my prayer I think, "I bet our neighbor will let me use his remote control to turn it on at least. So, I walk to our buddy John's house next door and he says.. "you know what? I found a remote control in my gutter 4 days ago. Where did I put that? Here it is. Look, it still works!" (My boys think it is their fossil finder from Dinosaur Cove, so it was in Eirik's backpack sometime about 4 days ago.)
What?? Is that AMAZING? Thanks John; thanks God. Now I can watch my silly show. Laugh if you want. God works in mysterious ways.

Brothers

Thanks to my wonderufully talented Emily for editing this photo and giving me some tips so that I could do the others below. I love how my boys are learning to love each other. Eirik looks out for Joren and helps him all the time. He loves to teach Joren new words one syllable at a time. Joren's vocabulary is expolding. He has trouble with a few sounds like L and R. Consequently he says Flag, Fork, and Frog and they all come out exactly the same.... and not the word you want your kid repeating over and over again! Joren is so physical. He LOVES to climb and nothing intimidates him. He's so brave and if he falls of something very high, he cries and then wants to immediately try it again until he gets it. He loves to get on the highest thing he can and straddle it and say horse. In fact "high" is one of his first words. He's really cute when he dances. He's a very confident runner. He's very independant. He calls his binkie "ma mank" who knows why. He loves dinosaurs and shoes and books. He's always bringing me my shoes, and guests are surprised when he brings them their shoes when it's time for them to go home. He throws himself in my lap the minute I sit down and insists that I read to him. He'll hit me over the head with a book until I read. He loves to wrestle and he will just clobber me. He tries to eat my face and I'm telling you, the kid is all slobber! He has a cute sense of humor. He says the cutest prayers. Thank you is EE OO. I should get it on video.

"Mom, you called me Eirik again! I'm not Eirik, I'm Luke!" (or any other superhero at any given moment...but never Eirik.)

He may be dressed to kill, but he is also dressed to "go out" in his words. What does a mother do when this is what he insists he must wear to the grocery store. I can't tell you how many people have commented on how I need to just put the moon boots away for the summer. What they don't know is that without his Spiderman boots, he can't eat, sleep, walk, talk, play, or even live. All he can do is cry reeealy reeeally loud about it.
Although I hate the Spider man boots, at least they fit. I have been planning this photo for a long time. I bought these boots when Eirik was 18m for his cowboy halloween costume. I got them for $1 at a thrift store. They were black and for girls, but I spray painted them brown which I thought made them look pretty manly and Eirik loved them so much, he wore them until he was 3 and 2 months, which was the point when I insisted that they had to be put away. The zippers won't zip, you can see the spray paint is almost completely worn off, and they were way too small. So it's not just women that put their feet through pain for fashion. These treasured boots are still the subject of frequent mini break-downs, but luckily we replaced them with big, hot, winter moon boots that have velcro and SPIDERMAN!! (hideous and gracious hand-me down from our cousins)
To the blessed cowboy boots of yesteryear: we miss you, and will hold you dear in our hearts forever.

I do love Eirik's never ending creativity and imagination. Lately I have been wishing that we didn't eat sleep and breath Star Wars at our house. {Luke} tells me 18 times a day about how he fought the emperor and he cut off his arm and he lost his light saber. I asked him today how often he thinks about the movie Star Wars. He said, "28 minutes, 28 out of 28 minutes, actually 38 minutes!" (What he really meant by that was every minute of the day.)
Eirik needs to be in the middle of every conversation. He needs to understand 100% of the things going on around him. If Paul and I are having a private conversation, or just one that doesn't involve him, he will come right between us and say, "I agree! I agree! intermittently just so he isn't left out.
We have been reading these chapter books from the library called Dinosaur Cove books about two boys who discover a land of real dinosaurs. Their names are Jamie and Tom. If I'm not being princess Leah, I am definitely being Jamie or Tom and we are on some extravagant adventure. I usually have to wear the backpack with the fossil finder in it. This morning Eirik said : "My mom loves and loves to spit." I said, "hmmmm. I must not know her." He said, "Her name starts with an L. It's Allard. We live in a dark cave by dinosaur cove. My name is Jamie Morgan."
And, that's how our days go.. pretend all day long.

I rewarded Eirik with a trip to ride some ponies if he could go 5 days without a tantrum. He did it and the ponies were a lot of fun. It was a big challenge for him, but he did very well.

Thanks to Ashley for these awesome photos of our trip to the Ann Arbor Arts Festival last weekend! It was so fun, and Ash's post about it cracked me up!

And, although this is totally unrelated, I just found this awesome kids table and chairs from peanutgallerygifts.com!

D and C

So this morning I am going to the hospital for a small procedure called a D and C (Dilation and curettage). I had a miscarriage. I was 15 weeks along when I found out, but the baby had only made it to 9 weeks. Which means that for about 6 weeks I was sick fruitlessly. I feel like it seems a little heartless to say it that way, but that's probably been the hardest part. I have found that during my first trimester I sort of shut down. I turn my life down to just the bare essentials and just get by. So, in a way I lost a lot of time just "getting by". I'm sad about that, bummed that the baby didn't make it, and my friend told me that now is not the hardest time. The hardest time is when several of my best friends that got pregnant at the same time as me will be having their babies at the end of this year. Yeah, she's right, that will be a bummer. But, I read a great quote last night about acceptance from one of my favorite books called Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach

"Acceptance is surrendering to what is: our circumstances, our feelings, our problems, our financial status, our work, our health, our relationships with other people,the delay of our dreams. Before we can change anything in our life we have to recognize that this is the way it's meant to be right now. .......... I have also learned that when I surrender to the reality of a particular situation- when I don't continue to resist, but accept - a softening in my soul occurs. Suddenly I am able to open up to receive all the goodness and abundance available to me because acceptance brings with it so much relief and release. What happens when we accept our circumstances? Well, first of all, we relax. Next we change our vibration, our energy pattern, and the rate of our heartbeat. Once again we're able to tap into the boundless positive energy of the Universe. ...... Today, let go of the struggle. Allow the healing process of change to begin. You're ready to move on."

(I skipped a lot of great things she wrote, and I highly recommend the book.)
Since I found out that the baby didn't make it, I have been a little concerned with myself because I have not been as sad as I would have expected. I wondered if I didn't connect or if I didn't really want this pregnancy, and that's not true. I was really excited. But when I read this quote I realized that I have already been in the mode of acceptance. I have learned that with these two boys I have, I have to accept that the days aren't going to be the way I imagine them, they are going to be the way the boys dictate, and I can fight it and be upset, or accept that this is the way of motherhood. It seems like such a tightrope between accepting and not losing our dreams and will, which are both essential for happiness in my opinion.
I know each miscarriage evokes new and different emotions. If this were my first pregnancy or my 2nd miscarriage (or 3rd or 4th) I know I would take it a lot harder. For the past 3 months I have been adjusting to the idea that I will have 3 children all younger than 4 years old. It was a big pill to swallow and I was ready, but I was letting myself sink so deep into acceptance that I was taking way fewer moments to come up for air where I remember my own will and dreams and my own soul. Motherhood is a lot of surrendering to every whim and want of your children, which is how it is supposed to be, but I think a little more time before child #3 will let me hold on to a little more of that fresh air of my authenticity a little stronger through this journey of motherhood. I've come to see my situation as a blessing. The Lord always knows what we need. I'm glad I know that for knowing that is the only way I can grasp hope in this life. And the future is bright.

And I have had such wonderful friends emailing and supporting me in all kinds of ways through this setback. Erin is watching my kids today for the procedure and Thursday, most of the day and I emailed her this yesterday:

"Erin, So what's the protocol on Thursday? If you babysit for me and I'm feeling ok, would it be totally wrong of me to go tanning or work out or go shopping? I would feel so guilty, but then again, the day is for me to recover right? Is tanning part of pregnancy fat recovery??? :)"
And here is her reply:

"Melody, Oh, didn't you know??! It is a known fact that tanning is a necessary part of the D&C recovery process, and same with working out, napping, going to the mall, reading, and painting your toenails. Of course, all the positive benefits of those activities are highly diminished when you have children with you (in other words, they are not beneficial at all). Seriously, that's all straight from the professionals. "

I included this because I never want to forget how wonderful my friends have been. Thank you all! XXOO

And just so I don't leave you with no images, here are some paintings I loved from my trip to the Coda Gallery in Park City. (a must see destination when visiting PC).

Tracey Lane
Tree Stories

Karen Tusinski
Poppy Bouquet in View

Spectacular Spectacular

4th of July:
Eirik: "I don't want to go to bed, I want to do something more spectacular than sleeping!"