Adventures in Space and At Home

Recently overheard in NASA training:
"Mission Control? This is Roger. Ready for take off!"
Both of the costumes said "commander" but we designated one the captain and one the commander to keep them happy.

"I see the earth! We're going to crash!"

"I'd better go fix the satellite. I'll take my oxygen with me for I can breathe out of the ship."

"Astronauts sleep standing up, Mom!" Maybe I should try that one at home, eh?
I didn't know they made such sweet astronauts!

Last Saturday we went to the Discovery Museum to see the new space exhibit. The boys played with that gear for about 45 minutes before the planetarium show. They've been excited to go since they turned 4 and can now be admitted! Michael especially loves stars, planets, and all things space. He knows the names of the planets, what color they are, that Mars has no atmosphere, that some are made out of rock and others gas. He wants to be an astronaut and a knight when he grows up. Weekend outings are so much fun.

Then we enter weekday life. Today I had to break out the bubbly. I like to keep a little fancy stuff on hand for emergencies and today was such an emergency. Grown up soda in a goblet always lifts the spirits and reminds me of life beyond the mess on the floor (and counter tops, and table tops, and in the bathroom, and . . . )
Maybe it's because I was away for bedtime last night at Relief Society and the boys missed me. Maybe it's because Anna was woken up 10 minutes into her morning nap and didn't go back to sleep for a couple of hours. This combined with a short night's sleep for me led to one of those moments when I think "Are these words really coming out of my mouth?" After yelling because the glass of water I had been asking someone to drink for three hours spilled all over the craft project on the table, I gave myself a time out. I ran upstairs and prayed out loud, alone in my room, and came back with resolve to get the boys' to a friend's house for the afternoon or to get out of the house together.
I put Anna down again and put on a movie for the boys to watch. Since we canceled our cable in October or November I keep forgetting that I can still put on movies to give us all a little rest. I took a nap for about half an hour and felt much better when I woke up. I fed the boys dino- nuggets, applesauce and milk and made myself a concoction with the above: Fresh Herb Salad with cilantro and parsley already in it, avocado, homemade croutons, grape tomatoes and entire can of tuna (26 grams of protein always helps my bad moods), topped off with some killer french vinaigrette.
Then Anna woke up and ate it with me. She loved the tuna and I loved her.

Then we took a deep breath and got out of the house for haircuts and frozen yogurt. We also stocked up on the sparkling water, just in case! Onward and upward. Bring on tomorrow.

I Love Clearance Sales

I coerced the boys to go to preschool today and took Anna to Pier 1 in my arms. I used to love going there in high school and dream about how I would decorate my kitchen when I was married. I haven't been inside for so long and had a lot of fun looking around with Anna. She was dancing and "aaah" -ing along with the world music playing inside. I never could have gone in there with Michael and Sam but Anna like looking at the pretty things with me and it was very relaxing! I might have to go again. They said they have new mark downs to clearance every Wednesday.

Here is what we got, for $12.00.

I got the bowl and plate to use as serving dishes, not at the same meal, I know.
But, what do I put on that bird plate? All I can imagine is California roll sushi, which I don't make, or petit fours, which I also don't make. I guess a simple salad would work. Suggestions???
The ornament was $2.50 at 75% off. It says 2010 so I thought I'd give it to Anna for her first Christmas. Maybe I'll get her one every year on clearance and when she gets a Christmas tree of her own, she'll have a nice start on her ornaments.

Baby Anna

Wonderful, wonderful Georgianna pretty, sweet baby of mine! You are mine today, let's say hip-hip-horray! For our Georgianna! Wonderful, wonderful, Georgianna divine! The day before she was born I listened to an LDS Conference talk about mothers and daughters and I knew I was in for a special experience with this girl. It's only just begun. We can't get enough of her. We are all smitten. She lights up this place. When Josh talks about her his voice goes higher. When I talk about her I get a far away look in my eyes. Michael loves to stroke her cheeks. He prays for her teething pains in every prayer and this morning Sam said, "I just can't stop loving Anna! She's so cute!" We can't resist her. She is at high risk of being utterly spoiled.

Can you blame us? She smiles when she sees us. She claps when we talk to her. She laughs when we play with her. She plays peek-a-boo with a blanket and gives herself the giggles when she pulls it from her eyes. Incidentally, those eyes are about the same color blue as that dress. Gorgeous!
She was given this dress as a Christmas present from my sister in law and we couldn't wait to put it on her. She actually clapped and giggled when I pulled it over her head and it made a crinkiling sound.
Anna isn't in a hurry. She does get impatient to be dressed so she can go play with her brothers, but she enjoys spending time with us and looks into our eyes a lot more than the boys did. Every night when she's ready for bed I "blow" out the lamp and she buries her face in my shoulder. I feed her in the rocking chair and if she doesn't fall asleep nursing, she starts to say a soft "Ahh, ahh." I know that means she wants me to sing to her and I love it. I want time to stand still except that I know I will continue to love her even more as she grows! What a gift she is!
She is becoming a social butterfly. At church today she looked at every person who came into the mothers' room and had to have a little chat with them before she'd go back to nursing. She enjoys playing with the other babies and crawling through the tunnel of chair legs in the classrooms. She is such a lady. We named her little stuffed bunny Lady. It's always in her crib and I've watched Anna crawl to her and snuggle up when she falls asleep. Anna is so dainty. She helps us dress her by putting an arm through a sleeve and loves to have her teeth and gums brushed.

Here she is with her friend who came over to play last week. They are two weeks apart and her mom is my good friend. Anna kept trying to eat the polka dots off of her shirt! When she saw her today at church she squealed and crawled over to her as fast as she could. We're glad they get along because her brother is friends with Sam and Michael too and we love to get together to play.We're looking forward to more fun and giggles from this sweet girl! She's teaching us all, even me, about womanhood. Somehow I feel more special seeing how special she is. We are all respecting women and motherhood more with her in the home and it's a sweet lesson. She will indeed have two very protective brothers to watch out for her and she will teach them a lot about love. We are so very grateful to have her in our family.

Snow Angels

On New Year's Eve we drove the kids up to the mountains to see the snow. It never snows at our house and they didn't remember ever seeing it or playing in it. I rummaged through some yet unorganized bags in their closet and found some mittens and hats that mostly fit!
It was about 65 miles away. Michael kept asking if we were there yet. Things got very exciting when we started seeing cars with a foot of snow on them driving toward us, coming from the mountains. They wanted to have a snowball fight so we all teamed up against poor Daddy who took it all in the right attitude and pretended to be hurt and surprised by every teeny tiny ball of snow they threw.

Here I told them to make snow angels but I didn't tell them how. They figured it out all on their own. Maybe they've seen it on TV.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And the Littlest Snow Angel. Anna in her knit hat that is getting too small for her.

And, to end the year, I sprained my ankle when I slipped on the snow. I'll spare you a picture. That's why I don't like the stuff! We haven't missed it but it was beautiful in the mountains. I like being able to get in the car and drive away from it. I've spent a lot of the year sick and hope the injuries will end along with 2010.