More Digital Layouts

Halloween is one of those holidays that I don't care about as much as others.

Okay, I don't care that much about very many of the holidays.

Part of getting divorced  always living far from family is that holidays aren't something you get to celebrate as a family every year. People can start to feel that holidays can be ruined when they don't have their expectations met, so I have always kept my expectations pretty low.

All I care is that wherever they are, the kids are having a good time and making good memories.

You don't always get your kids on holidays. That's part of the price of getting divorced.  Some years, holidays are just ordinary days.

I'm fine with that.

I have always let the trick or treating go to my exes, it matters to them and helps them feel connected and important to the kids. It helps them to put their face with the kids so that the kids can show off their bio dad. The last time I went trick or treating with my kids was in 1996.

We were able to take Matt's kids one time - ten years later in 2006 and based on the way the calendar gets written up, that will be the only time we have his kids on Halloween.

So be it. It's not the end of the world.

I am glad there are some holidays that my kids can associate just with their father and they feel safe and supported in their relationships. They never had the crazy crap my step kids deal with because there were boundaries and everyone was willing to make sacrifices to help the kids have happiness and peace. 

So, aside from our Olson Halloween party last week, it was a really low key holiday for Matt and I and we liked it a lot.

Grey and Roe's dad flew in this weekend, as he always does, and took them trick or treating in the cold weather. They got a lot of stuff and called it a night pretty early

. Matt and I ran errands, visited and did lunch with the Olson parents and saw two movies. Movies don't hurt my back, so we saw The Social Network and Red. Red was a great movie, just the kind I enjoy most. The Social Network was good, but Red was more fun. The movie theater in Jordan Landing has great popcorn, the theater here in Taylorsville has stale crap with butter flavor that tastes rancid. Yuck.

I also broke a tooth.

Bad words were said. It doesn't hurt so I'll try and hold off on seeing Dr. Bradley until Tuesday since I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for my back.

Yes, readers, that means you'll get another post about my back tomorrow.

So exciting.

Halloween is officially over in Utah, we all do it on Saturday and a Halloween Sunday is just another day to watch football, only you get to eat funsize candy bars you swiped and Tootsie Rolls with a bite out of them during the game.

Happy Haunting to the rest of you!

Bed Day

Today was a really bad back day.

It was a crying in bed with pain kind of day.

I don't know if it's the cold weather making it worse or what, but I had a hard time even getting out of my car today when I took the kids to school.

So I spent much of the day in bed watching Nick Jr Tv shows until my brain exploded with Rori.

I called a new spine clinic to see if there isn't more that can be done or to arrange another round of those horrible steroid shots. I can't live like this. It's too much.

So, besides crying out to the heavens asking WHY Dora has to repeat everything three times,  I got some indexing done- I'm up to 4,000 names now.

I also did a few digital layouts.

The first of Mr. Man, Nathan

I haven't ever seen "Cars" so I don't know the scene he kept quoting, but it was cute how he kept laughing and yelling at everyone "We quit, Mister One Man Show!"

Happy first Halloween, Big Guy.

The second layout is showing off one of Matt's more prominent physical traits....

Snow Day with Rori

Yesterday we went and got raspberry sundaes for the kids after school. Roe and Parker were feeling sick and stayed home from school and Mom was a bit tired by the end of the day. When I picked up Grey, we swung by Arctic Circle and got a treat. Rori loved it, mostly she just ate the berries and wasted the ice cream, but it was still super yummy.

As I mentioned before, Brother Palmer challenged out older kids to help with indexing and Zane has really taken to it. He completed his 500th name yesterday and has a pretty good eye for reading messy handwriting. I'm proud of him.

It snowed pretty heavily last night and Rori was begging me to let her go and play in the snow, so we spent the mornng making snow angels and frezzing to death.

Yeah, she's still in her PJ's buy she's not use to getting up so early and there's nothing wrong with warm footie pajamas all day on a cold winter day.

We're now all snugglied up in bed watching Disney cartoons, eating Goldfish and apple juice.

I've got an apple pie baking in the oven and a heating pad on my stupid aching back.

We're watching the Princess and the Frog.

"We may not have always had what we wanted, but we had what we needed."

You said it, Frog Girl.

I Whine, Therefore, I Am....

We're still enjoying spending time with Miss Rori.

Yesterday we made a rainbow cake, watched a mind numbing torture Barbie DVD that she talked me into buying and we did finger painting.

After the kids came home, we took Romy out to the Golden Living Center where the Primary girls were doing a talent show for achievement days.

Romy performed a song she composed herself and she did a really good job. The girls enjoyed meeting with the residents and we even had a song performed by one of them men who live there. He sang a touching rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and reminded the girls that they are never alone.

It is always so rewarding to go and visit there.

(This one is blurry but it's what I'm sticking with for now.)

My back has really been bad lately, I wonder if the cold weather is the reason it has been so bad. Sunnie says I need to work more on my core exercises and getting healthy food in my body. That has always been a struggle with me, everyone knows I eat like a four year old and I always have. I am not a foodie. Ick. She sent me some lists of foods that will help me build muscle and I need to start making more of an effort to do this, because my back is deteriorating fast.

I shouldn't whine while my poor father in law is recovering from a pretty invasive back surgery- his problems make mine look like a walk in the park.

Who am I kidding?

I'll whine about anything, anytime.

In other news, I'm thinking about starting a big new sewing project.

That's going to make for some wicked interesting posts.

Also, we're going to be messing around with some settings on the blog over the next little while, so if you come here and it's all jacked up, please shoot me a message so I know about issues I can't see from my own system.



Rori Layout

We're loving having my niece, Rori, here at the house with us while her Mommy is off on her honeymoon.

I've stocked up on juice boxes, Go-gurts and Unscrustables and dusted off some of the old DVD's we haven't watched in years.

I have to admit I'm starting to get sick of Barbie movies, but Rori is having such a fun time, I can't say no to her.

At the party on Saturday her cousin was pretending to be a dragon with Nathan and Little Rori decided to make him stop by kicking him.

Bad choice.

She got a consequence and had to sit in time out for a few minutes.

It's hard to get upset at such a cute kid though and she was adorable even in the naughty seat.

The Party

The Olson Clan had a great time at our Halloween party.

We ended up giving Sunnie a call and inviting her at the last minute, since she wasn't doing anything.

Dylan was spiderman and his suit had built in muscles in the chest and he was very proud of his "Spider Man boobs."

Nathan was a SWAT team officer who kept pretending he was Toothless the Dragon and he though Auntie Chris wearing vampire teeth was hilarious.

He did NOT think his Mommy in a costume was funny though, he hated it and yelled and cried when Lori put on her costume.

Abbie was Snow White and made her Daddy a cookie with about 1/4 cup of hand smooshed sprinkles on top. Yum Yum.

For the record, Caleb disagrees with me about thin sugar cookies.  Thankfully my reputation was saved by having plenty of Oreo happiness.

Four people in our family had Doctor Who costumes that nobody else understood, but that's okay, we were happy with them.

The inspiration:

 The Olsons:

Matt was the 9th Doctor, I was Rose Tyler, Grey was a Dalek and Jane was a Cyberman.

Yeah, we're nerds.

We're okay with that.

The little ones frosted cookies and did a small art project.

Our treasure hunt got rained out and I forgot to pick up the pinata I planned on, but I think we had plenty of activities for the kids.

We passed out some nerdy awards at the end and Lori won for best all around costume.

(You should be able to click on the collage and it will be bigger- if not, most of the pictures are on my facebook.)

Mobster Parker

Redneck Bride Emma

 Drunk Santa Zane

 Bunny Romy

\

Ninja Kate

Thanks, everyone for coming and we hope you all have safe Trick or Treating this weekend!

Feelin' Spooky

Today we're having the Olson Family over for a Halloweenie Party.

The decorations are up, treats are made and the kids are checking the time every two minutes to see if it is party time yet.......

Great Expectations

This blog post is for myself.
I reserve the right to do that every so often. :)
We will resume our regularly scheduled boring Momblog crap tomorrow.
 
It happened on the occasion of this visit that some sharp words arose between Estella and Miss Havisham. It was the first time I had ever seen them opposed. We were seated by the fire as just now described and Miss Havisham still had Estella's arm drawn through her own and still clutched Estella's hand in hers when Estella gradually began to detach herself. She had shown a proud impatience more than once before and had rather endured that fierce affection than accepted or returned it.
"What?" said Miss Havisham flashing her eyes upon her, "are you tired of me?"
 "Only a little tired of myself," replied Estella, disengaging her arm and moving to the great chimney piece where she stood looking down at the fire.
 "Speak the truth, you ingrate!" cried Miss Havisham passionately striking her stick upon the floor; "you are tired of me!"
 Estella looked at her with perfect composure and again looked down at the fire. Her graceful figure and her beautiful face expressed a self possessed indifference to the wild heat of the other that was almost cruel. 
 "You stock and stone!" exclaimed Miss Havisham. "You cold, cold heart!"
"What?" said Estella, preserving her attitude of indifference as she leaned against the great chimney piece and only moving her eyes ""do you reproach me for being cold? You?"
" Are you not?" was the fierce retort.
" You should know," said Estella. "I am what you have made me. Take all the praise take all the blame, take all the success, take all the failure, in short take me"
" Oh look at her, look at her," cried Miss Havisham, bitterly. "Look at her, so hard and thankless on the hearth where she was reared. Where I took her into this wretched breast when it was first bleeding from its stabs and where I have lavished years of tenderness upon her."
" At least I was no party to the compact" said Estella, "for if I could walk and speak when it was made it was as much as I could do. But what would you have? You have been very good to me and I owe everything to you. What would you have?"
" Love" replied the other.
" You have it."
" I have not" said Miss Havisham.
" Mother by adoption," retorted Estella, never departing from the easy grace of her attitude never raising her voice as the other did never yielding either to anger or tenderness. "Mother by adoption. I have said that I owe everything to you. All I possess is freely yours. All that you have given me is at your command to have again. Beyond that I have nothing. And if you ask me to give you what you never gave me my gratitude and duty cannot do impossibilities."
" Did I never give her love?" cried Miss Havisham, turning wildly to me. "Did I never give her a burning love inseparable from jealousy at all times and from sharp pain while she speaks thus to me? Let her call me mad, let her call me mad!"
" Why should I call you mad?" returned Estella. "I ,of all people? Does any one live who knows what set purposes you have half as well as I do? Does any one live who knows what a steady memory you have half as well as I do? I who have sat on this same hearth on the little stool that is even now beside you there learning your lessons and looking up into your face when your face was strange and frightened me."
" Soon forgotten," moaned Miss Havisham. "Times soon forgotten."
" No, not forgotten," retorted Estella. "Not forgotten but treasured up in my memory. When have you found me false to your teaching? When have you found me unmindful of your lessons? When have you found me giving admission here?" she touched her bosom with her hand "to anything that you excluded? Be just to me."
" So proud, so proud!" moaned Miss Havisham, pushing away her gray hair with both her hands.
" Who taught me to be proud?" returned Estella. "Who praised me when I learned my lesson ?"
"So hard, so hard!" moaned Miss Havisham with her former action.
" Who taught me to be hard?" returned Estella. "Who praised me when I learned my lesson?"
" But to be proud and hard to me!" Miss Havisham quite shrieked as she stretched out her arms. "Estella, Estella, Estella, to be proud and hard to me!"

 Estella looked at her for a moment with a kind of calm wonder but was not otherwise disturbed when the moment was past she looked down at the fire again.
" I cannot think," said Estella ,raising her eyes after a silence "why you should be so unreasonable when I come to see you after a separation. I have never forgotten your wrongs and their causes. I have never been unfaithful to you or your schooling. I have never shown any weakness that I can charge myself with."
" Would it be weakness to return my love?" exclaimed Miss Havisham. "But yes, yes she would call it so!"
" I begin to think," said Estella, in a musing way after another moment of calm wonder, " that I almost understand how this comes about. If you had brought up your adopted daughter wholly in the dark confinement of these rooms and had never let her know that there was such a thing as the daylight, by which she has never once seen your face, if you had done that and then for a purpose had wanted her to understand the daylight and know all about it, you would have been disappointed and angry."
 Miss Havisham with her head in her hands sat making a low moaning and swaying herself on her chair but gave no answer.
" Or," said Estella "which is a nearer case if you had taught her from the dawn of her intelligence with your utmost energy and might that there was such a thing as daylight but that it was made to be her enemy and destroyer, and she must always turn against it for it had blighted you and would else blight her, if you had done this and then for a purpose had wanted her to take naturally to the daylight and she could not do it you would have been disappointed and angry."
 Miss Havisham sat listening (or it seemed so for I could not see her face) but still made no answer.
" So," said Estella "I must be taken as I have been made. The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me ."

Cookie Wisdom

It's been busy around the Olson House.

We're getting ready for Halloween, putting away summer clothes and bringing out the sweaters and sweatpants (Yay! Sweatpants!)

It's cool enough to cook without making the house too hot and the season for kids and Matt coming home to baked goodness that I made during the day.

Yesterday, it was sugar cookies and homemade garlic bread.
9 dozen sugar cookies from the dough I made with Jane over the weekend.
Sugar cookies are not my favorite to make, they are messy and take forever, but they are so very good.
I've heard a pencil is good if you put enough frosting on it, however, cookies are a much better frosting delivery system.

I know cookies are a matter of personal preference and growing up, we kids were always given the cookie rejects, so as an adult, I tend to like my cookies crisp and slightly overcooked.

I realize everyone has their own way of enjoying cookies, but I will never understand those who make sugar cookies and roll them out thick.  I've had sugrr cookies that were a goof half-inch thick or more after being baked.

Gag.

For me, they key to a good sugar cookie involves two things, the first is to use either shortening or lard and not butter. It makes for a flakier, lighter cookie that isn't weighed down by the butter. Some claim the butter flavor is better, but you smother the cookie in icing anyway, I do not believe the slight taste of butter makes an ounce of difference and it makes the cookie more heavy in texture.

The other key is to roll the cookies out thin. I'm telling you, it's better that way. It's harder to move the shapes onto the cookie sheet, but again, you have a lighter cookie that tastes great.

That's my sugar cookie wisdom.

 I only make sugar cookies about once every three years, so eat 'em while you can, Family.

Here's the garlic bread, no preaching for this one, just the picture.

On Sunday, we were issued the challenge to get our teenagers to start doing indexing and we had a Family Home Evening lesson on why it is important to people of all faiths to locate their ancestors and how this work helps others.
We set up accounts for the kids and got them started.

Parker did 20 names, Kate and Emma each did about 30 names and Zane has done over 100 names. The kids are allowed extra computer time if they index and Zane has been doing a little every day.

Great job, kids.

I did a census record yesterday from Texas that just about made me go blind, I swear some of those census takers could not actually read or write, but I got through it.

I'm working on marriage licenses now, but I wish there were draft cards available right now, those are easy to get through and the handwriting is usually really clear.

For those of you who pray, please keep my father in law in your prayers.

 He had surgery this week and while the surgery itself went well, the recovery is not going as well and he's having a hard time.

Hang in there, Dad.

Celebrate!!!

Today is National Chocolate Cupcake Day!!!

To celebrate, I made these yummy chocolate pretzel crunch brownie cupcakes.

They are so good and easy to make.

I'm a decent enough cook, but these turned out amazing and even blew me away.

Holy Yum.

To make them, you whip up a box of brownie mix and put into well a greased cupcake pan, that way everyone gets edges.

Sprinkle some crushed pretzels on the top, add a dash of coarse sea salt on top and then, the magic secret ingredient is to sprinkle the top with a good amount of caramel popcorn seasoning. (It's at the grocery store next to the popcorn and is super yum.)

Bake for about 25 minutes and your husband will give you extra smooches for making them.

Happy National Chocolate Cupcake Day!!!!

My Little Sister's Wedding

Saturday was the wedding of my sister, Lisa. She and Erik are a great couple, they really seem to make one another happy. I have never seen her happier in all of my life to be totally honest.

Erik is good for her, she is good for him.

That whole finding your soul mate thing makes everything better, I should know.

Her daughter, Rori, was as cute as can be and it was good to see some family I hadn't seen in many years.

I also had some mostly personal but important changes for myself, ones that have been coming for some time and made peace with some issues that I realized were not my issues, but those assigned to me by someone else. I did some letting go of past hurts and just moved to a better place.

I'm still processing it but it's good processing.

This has certainly been a year of healing for me and of more certainty about who I am and who God wants me to be. It's good to learn new things, to realize I was wrong about some things and some people and to let go, let go, let go.

I have the most adorable nieces and nephews, on both sides and my sister looked radiant and so very happy.

Aside from a few mega autistic meltdowns, it was a wonderful fall break.

Life is good.

UEA Weekend Part 1

The first day of UEA weekend we spent sleeping in and making the girls clean their nasty bedroom. When they are asked to clean it, all 4 of them simply shove junk under beds and in shelves and they got busted for it this weekend.

Sheets were changed, trash cans were emptied, whining was present.

To reward the kids for the whining, we also had them work on the family room. We went through all of our VHS tapes and got rid of most of them. I don't think we've watched a single video since we got married, so we kept the Disney tapes and church videos and the rest went to goodwill.

We unloaded about 100 VHS tapes on Big Brothers Big Sisters.

After the kids helped with that, we did some fall cooking, we made cookie dough, pumpkin granola and caramel apples.

Day 2 did not involve chores, we did our work on Thursday so that we could play on Friday. We went to the movies, and then to Sugarhouse Park.

 We finished off the day with a picnic out at Saltair. Instead of the typical picnic food, we had a cold cereal picnic while we watched the sunset together. The kids ran out to the lake and played in the salt flats. Everyone agreed that it was a really fun day with no stress and family.