The Big Purple Coat

(the tree I picked the other day)

Last year I contemplated this post – it could be in my journals somewhere for all I know… but I had hoped not to post it until I could grace you with a beautiful “before” and “after” shot of the new, updated and hopefully fashionable coat. But alas there is no new coat, and yet the story begs to be told.

Years ago, when I was 14 and shopping in the mall with my Mom and sister (most likely walking a few feet either behind or in front of them – annoyingly I was that kind of teenager), we happened upon a store that was going out of business and clearing out all of their winter wear. My “jacket” was going on a two or three years of wearing and was starting to climb up my wrists. Mom generously offered to buy both of us our own brand spankin’ new coats – I think I even got a hat and mitts to go with it. The coat was, in the early 90’s totally “in” with the aqua stripe to match all the aqua mini-vans that were coming out. Anyways, the coat is seriously the warmest thing on the planet. I never shiver where the coat covers and am always the warmest Canadian around (after living in Hawaii that was a difficult title to re-claim). Another 14 years have passed and that silly coat just won’t fade, rip, or become tattered in any shape or form (except in my mind’s eye). I am desperate for a new coat, as the big purple Barney coat is anything but flattering or fashionable… but I just can’t spend money on a new winter coat when I have a perfectly good, I mean, warm one.

Oh I’ve tried. I’ve shopped clearance sales, determined not to have to undergo another embarrassing winter wearing the coat of death. But I’m so picky as to the fit (I have abnormally LONG arms), I need pockets for kleenexes, extra mittens, chapstick, etc., I hate the kind that have in inner and outer layer , and of course it MUST be warm – and I just can’t find anything comparable to that factor that is within my budget (which really is non-existent for the time being!)

This year I’d had it. I’ve basically frozen walking around wearing the green fleece or other skimpy jackets, so mortified am I to be seen in “The Big Purple Coat”… but the cold has come and my pride has withered away and it seems another winter (my last, I swear) of this horrid coat has commenced.

So should you see me walking around (trust me, I can’t be missed) just know that I may look like Barney, but I’m not feeling any ounce of cold – except for my feet (cause don’t let me start about the aqua boots I got to match the coat that year!)

BFF

I love listening to my daughter and her best friend interact. Always a treat. I try not to post anything incriminating on here... but this was too funny.

J: I am so excited for Thanksgiving! It's going to be, like, so fun.
E: Yeah. Hey, did you know that David Archuleta is going to be in the parade.
J: What?! You have got to be kidding me.
E: No. I'm not.
J: Well, I know you're not. Why's he going to be in the parade?
E: Because he's a famous singer, silly.
J: I know that.
E: And he's rich.
J: He is?
E: Didn't you know that?
J: No. How did he get rich?
E: All great singers are rich.
J: Not all singers are rich.
E: Pretty much.
J: I'm not rich.
E: Well yeah. And I'm a great singer too, but I'm not rich.
J: Well, not yet.
E: No. We're like the only ones.
J: But if we marry David we'll be rich.
E: Ooooh. Good idea.

Muggling

We’ve hit a huge “Harry Potter” hype over here. We read the book together a couple of years ago, and so I thought it would be fun to listen to in the car. Huge hit. We’ve been measuring out wands (which are definitely my weapon of choice), practicing gibberish spells and playing quidditch (not the safest indoor sport, I’m finding). For movie night I let the kids watch the first movie, and they loved it – and we’ve only had a few nightmares since. I’m often having to get into character and be whichever teacher at Hogwarts I’m told to be. Quite fun, especially when I’ve been feeling not at all magical and mostly like a Muggle.

You know how it is. The day to day grind. The “just trying to get a few things done off my to-do list” while my toddler climbs up the piano or swings from my curtains while throwing some sort of dried up nasty food bits at my head. I’m not blaming my fourth child on anything: I love him to pieces, we all do. The age he is kicks my butt, but it’s not just that either. It seems that since I gave birth, or even since I was pregnant I’ve just been kind of muddling along. There were the excuses for why I couldn’t get in gear beyond the day to day – “bedrest”, “just gave birth”, “exhaustion”, etc. But while I am quite sure I will always be a little bit tired for the rest of my life, I’ve lost that extra umph somewhere and keep thinking it will be just around the corner when “I’m no longer Primary President”, “Mr. Man has a job”, “I have my own little house”… and yet, I know that’s just gibberish. I used to plan all sorts of fun things, and now I feel like the holidays and events that used to cause me to plan and party just sort of pass by pleasantly. I’m must muddling through… or muggling I suppose.

Maybe it will get better. Perhaps there are parties and projects in my future or perhaps that’s just a part of my past. Either way, I feel happy muggling. Though ordinary, I’m content and satisfied. It makes the moments of magic that much better. The moments where time stops and you realize just how adorable that little smile is, how significant a sentence spoken seems, and how incredibly loved you can feel to have someone special wash all the dishes after a long month of applications. I’m thankful to be a Muggle. But in the meantime, I’m off pretending to be Professor McGonagle.

I AM AMERICAN

Deep breath. It’s done. I did it. It was a big hoopla for a sweet little piece of paper that now unites our family – we are all dual citizens now. I suppose that may make me a Canarican, but that sounds too close to canary and as my daughter verified today that “Mommy, you really can’t sing can you?” as I belted out some song with the radio, we’ll just stick to the term “dual citizen”.

I went for my oath on Friday. We decided to make it a family event and also a day of being in our State’s capital. I got to pick out everyone’s outfits and it was to be a nice event. Strangely enough I was invited to be part of the oath at the “International Festival” where we stood in line for hours just to register and then had a makeshift courtroom rolled in so that we could be sworn in “officially”. There were 260 people being naturalized, and we represented 77 different countries; mine being the most un-exotic of them all. We had to stand when our country was called, and the most represented were India and Mexico. Realizing how many nationalities were there was pretty awe-inspiring, and imagining their lives and stories was invigorating. The rest was long and boring. We had to do our oath twice because the first time was “practice” since the judge’s assistant forgot to ask us to raise our right hand. Then, because it was an international festival, every committee and their mother had to give a speech, read a letter from their superior and congratulate us.

I was to be there at 1pm and so we imagined it would take about an hour, after which we would go to the Children’s Museum around the corner before dropping Mr. Man off at the airport. When I was still at the back of the long line a little before two, I told Mr. Man to take the kids… and really he wins Father of the Year for taking all four children by himself to the Children’s Museum. They had a fun time and returned exhausted and done close to four. Though I am regularly quite a lucky person, when it came time to draw a number for when I would go up to receive my certificate of citizenship, I drew #258 – the third last person to be called up. The kids were a wreck by that point, the camera left in the car and our special family ceremony was sort of a flop. And after about four hours of it all, I really could have cared less. One small blessing was that when were had to find our numbers for our seats, which were in narrow long rows, I was on an end. Helping my claustrophobia and making it easier to be with my family when they arrived.

I made friends with several individuals – mostly the ones who had children who weren’t fortunate enough to leave and go to a fun museum. It was enjoyable to entertain their children, and speak with their parents. And, for the record, nose picking in young children is absolutely a world-wide phenomenon (not just North American). One small child even made a meal of it.
We barely got Mr. Man to the airport on time and then regrettably had to stop for McDonalds for dinner. I suppose we really are American now!

One cute side note: When the kids arrived, Miss J asked if I was an American yet, I told her I was and just needed my certificate to prove it. She looked at my face earnestly for a few moments and then remarked, “You look different now.” Maybe it’s the foot softening lotion!

One more side note: Of course I brought no reading material!!! I was so bummed. A girl a few seats down from me pretty much read ALL of "Pride and Prejudice" while we waited!

These are a Few of My Favourite Things

There are a multitude of blogs and websites dedicated to this, along with certain TV personalities. But I did want to share a few of my random favourite things in the hopes that I may pass on a bit of my “old Mom” wisdom, suggest a few last-minute (yes, it’s already considered last-minute) Christmas shopping ideas, or at the very least give you more pictures and less writing to look at on my blog.

For my LDS friends:

Love these books for ALL my kids – the pictures are fun, the stories are real and there are even Family Home Evening Lessons ready-made at the end of each “chapter”.

We have volumes 1-4 and recently acquired this one (Thanks Grandma)!These are our “Sunday” toys, but are usually out all week long. Hours of fun to be had.
Great stocking stuffers. They're on sale at Desert Book now, but are usually cheaper at Seagull Books. We also love these:
We have a girl set and a boy set who are lovingly named Elder E, Elder T, Sister J and Sister E (after Miss J's best friend).

I’m often asked where I bought my little red stroller. I didn’t. I traded it from my mother-in-law because I loved it so much. It was bought at Zellers in Canada, but I have recently found that Wal-Mart.com sells it, a bit upgraded (this one appears to have a larger underneath basket and also reclines to a better sleeping position than mine). I love this stroller because it is sleek, lightweight and easy to zip up and down, has a five point harness, seems to be comfortable for babe, and has super tall and comfortable handles – a necessity in our family. My only qualm with it is that the shade/visor doesn’t come down far enough to do much shading for smaller infants. It's also extremely affordable when comparison shopping. Love this for displaying my kids’ artwork. I’ve had lots of little kids’ kitchens – all from yard sales or second hand stores. But this is here to stay. (I can't find it at Target.com, but we bought it at a Target store.) We love this little kitchen and it is well used by all. We also have the tool bench (which is also really cute, but I can't find anywhere online), though I admit our tools are still used on my own kitchen table more than on the tool bench.
I’ve posted this before, but we use this several times every day. I admit, I too have used this ridiculous contraption. Saves on dishes, eases thirst. And it's only $2.99.

That's it for now. Enjoy.

This Morning Came Way Too Early

It was only when I was about to rub acne cream on my feet that I realized I'd just washed my face with softening foot lotion. Why is it that when it's cold my body is even less likely to want to get up in the morning, and my eyes refuse to open until long after the shower ends?

Give Thanks

Today I am thankful for...
-many wonderful friends, without whom we couldn't have gotten through last week
-my parents who came and shared good times and bad
-a roof over my head, a floor beneath my feet and a home to call my own
-medicine and sleep which are slowly healing all the ailments in our home
-soup and smoothies
-Mr. Man's first upcoming job interview (will him to be better in time)
-having all of my homeschooling books and supplies again
-my telephone and internet
-my own bed... which I shall fall into shortly
- each of my beautiful children (who are thankfully almost all asleep!)
- my poor sick husband... truly I am even more grateful now for what he does when he is well
-my scriptures: even just sitting for 20 minutes to read (my goal this week) brings such peace, comfort and reprieve

Strep Throat

I'll be glad when this week is over... so far I'm the only one who isn't sick. Wish me luck! Yeah for soup, popsicles, candy canes and laying around in a hotel watching Star Wars! The kids think this is great. Our second time in fairy tale land, living in a castle!

I never liked my kitchen anyways...

Finally a moment online... I will post details later. Our "adventure" has now taken us to a hotel and we hope to return home this weekend.

Election Year

Truth be told I was hoping to be able to vote this year. This was such a fantastic election, and I would have loved to have been a part of history. Several weeks ago I took and passed my citizenship test, but only just received the date of which I will say my oath and be officially sworn in. Afterwhich I will be a naturalized citizen of the United States - fair and square; it has cost me hundreds and hundreds of dollars, time and stress. And in four years, I'll be able to vote for my first time ever... oh, and I'll also be over 30.

To compensate, we're running our own mini-election here at home. The position at stake: Sunday night's dinner. Each family member has nominated a fruit, vegetable, main dish and dessert. (We even had a couple of duplicates.) The tension in our home has risen as each person, supporting "candidates", begins campaigning. Posters, speeches, even bribes have ensued. And hurt feelings too. We'll see how this goes, as we may have some sad losers. Suddenly, even though beef stroganof has always been a family favourite, the boys are adament that it is inherantly evil and horribly tasting, while Miss J fights frantically to convince them of the benefits of electing this main dish. Thankfully my parents will be here to add a few more votes. I saw this idea, very much elaborated, in some parenting magazine in a doctor's office. If it goes well, it may become a new November tradition.

Speaking of election year and November traditions, we seem to have a nasty one in our house. Four years ago, our hot water heater was leaking and apparently had completely deteriorated the drywall of two of the walls in our home so that they were collapsing. Days before hosting a household of people for Thanksgiving, I had maintenance come in and tear down, dry out, and rebuild the walls. A horrible time. Four years later... on Tuesday we were running a small load of wash when a few gallons of water started leaking out of our utility closet. We called maintenance (yeah for not owning our own house yet) and they decided something was clogged and brought in the snake. We went to the park and returned to a find a note requiring us to NOT use our washer and CONTACT the office IMMEDIATELY. I picked up to call right when maintenance returned to my door to share the dreaded news. They had broken a pipe. Now they are going to have to jackhammer up all of my floor and basically we have to leave our house for at least three days while they work. At least this year I'm NOT hosting Thanksgiving. And thankfully we have wonderful friends who are letting us camp out and have an "adventure" as we're calling it. Originally the work was to begin yesterday (my parents arrive for a few days today), but thankfully we won't be kicked out of our home until early Monday morning. The plan is that we can sleep back in our own beds Wednesday night. Time will tell.

Well I best go and make a cute poster suggesting you all vote for lasagna. Actually, I'm thinking stickers may go over well here.

So, what's wrong with THIS family picture?

And... the realization...

And a Jar Full of Spiders

We have a plethora of costumes at our house. So many so, that it takes a lot of begging for me to actually buy anything new (or used) for Halloween. However, the begging ensued, Mr. Man budged and I gave in. When Halloween actually came and two of the “new to us” costumes weren’t being worn, Little E comforted me by insisting, “Don’t worry Mommy, I’m going to wear that one for Easter.” Well at least my Easter shopping is done now. Hopefully nobody at church minds too much when he’s dressed as a power ranger.

My sleepy lion
Peter Pan... by the way, the dagger is missing, if anyone's seen it!

Annakin Skywalker - from episode something or other
A Vampire Princess or "just a princess" once the teeth go missing

It’s been a busy fall at our house, and our pumpkin didn’t actually get carved until the day before Halloween. Miss J had a half day at school and so the boys planned a little party for when she returned. We had fun, and even Baby J enjoyed coloring some decorations.

We made “trick or treat” sushi for a dinner party we attended – thanks Stephanie for the great idea. The boys did it all and were thrilled to trick everyone:

Our family was split for Halloween since Miss J was invited to a birthday party. Mr. Man went trick or treating with her and I took the boys on a much shorter route! We all had fun, but missed being together. Here's some of our group we were with:


I found this idea on somebody else’s blog (sorry, I can’t remember whose)Mr. T enjoyed painting it with his feet and fists, and it hung on our door fading from the hot sun… it has been crazy weather here again:
Probably the most lasting impression of this Halloween season has been the jar full of spiders that have haunted me day and night. We made applesauce last month and gave a few jars to friends. One friend, who shall remain nameless, thought it would be fun to return the jar full of spiders. And really it was a cute idea. And no, they weren’t real… but still. One in particular is quite large and disgusting looking and is hiding somewhere in my house right now or else I would take a picture of it for you. Anyways, I have great fear and trepidation of spiders, and I’m pretty sure every person in my town knows this for my screams. The boys (and Mr. Man) have hidden this huge spider in random places ever since it made its way into our home. I have woken up with it on my face, gone to bed to find it between my sheets, seen it in the dishwasher, on the sink, on my seat in the van… you name it. Not knowing where it is, is the worst possible feeling. It’s only slightly better than when my boys owned a rubber snake. Ugh.

I'm glad Halloween is now a whole year away. I'm ready for Christmas music.