Ouch!

Good thing we've got a chiropractor in the family.

To my brothers Ari and Eric:

Remember when we used to always make these houses? I still like to make them. I made this one with Ben the other day.

Ben made that cool wheel chair all by himself.

Watching a little television by the fire pit that Ben built. The tall gray and yellow thing is a light fixture made by Ben also.

Oh look, Obi Wan is hungry. Hope he can find something in the fridge to munch on.

Young Anakin can choose whichever room he wants. Upstairs room,

or downstairs. The downstairs is a little cooler though.

And finally, you can't forget this room for when nature calls.

Does this girl look 32?

Don't answer that! It's just strange. Really strange. But it's true.
Post script: does anyone else have to do math to figure out how old you are these days? I can never remember.

Biology minute

Did you know that yawning is your body's way of getting rid of extra carbon dioxide? (At least that's one theory that a high school teacher shared with us.) If you think about it, during a yawn, you bring in lots of oxygen and then breathe out as far as you can. When you are bored or tired you are breathing more shallow and so you don't rid yourself of enough carbon dioxide. When you fall asleep, you breathe deeply and so... no more yawning. Also, when you are up doing things and/or talking you are breathing deeply. So next time you can't stop yawning try breathing deep. Especially the breathing out part.

Isn't it weird that you can make yourself yawn though? Like when your ears get plugged during ascending and descending. When I read books to my kids and the character yawns, I can make the perfect sound effect with a (real) yawn of my own. And isn't it weird that yawning is contagious? I think so.

The 4th

We drove up to Jackson Hole for the 4th of July weekend. It is such a pretty drive. We met up with my brother Eric and his wife Tagen and all of her family and my sister Sinika and her husband Adam and camped in a campground in Alpine, Wy.
These are pics of Brian's sister's family cabin in Star Valley. I tried to move them to the end of the post but it wouldn't let me for some reason.

Here are the camping pictures. Right when we got there there was a downpour of rain. We thought it was a precursor to the whole weekend, but it cleared up.

A little game of throwy-golf-ball-on-a-rope anyone?

Ben got to have a fun ride on the 4-wheeler with Tagen's cousin Dallin.

Aww, it looks like they are all happily asleep. I wish they really were by that time but they are just posing. Actually, Elli and Ben were very good at going to sleep. It was little Addie that had to crawl all over everyone 500 times before she decided to sleep.

Elli got to ride this horse. Isn't she a beauty? That's why her name is Beauty. She has one brown eye and one blue eye. When we got home Elli made this likeness of her out of some game pieces.

I rode a horse too, (for a short ride) but there will be no pictures of me riding on here due to the reasons given in the previous post. The muffin was extra risen and the pants were threatening rippance.

The typical Jackson Hole picture.

Fun with glow sticks.

The most important part of the trip (according to my husband) : meeting our cow. Yep. We are the proud owners of a cow. His name is Jerky. Beef Jerky. Who knows, maybe this will be the thing that turns me into a vegetarian. It is a life long dream of my husbands to own a cow. His other dream would be for it to live close enough to us that he could milk it every day and have fresh milk. But alas, he is too far away from us. Plus he is a male cow. He is living in Wyoming on some family's-family's land.

Speaking of ripping pants...

I like food. Alright, I LOVE food. And food loves me. That must be why it likes to hang around me. (Mostly my middle section.)

I do love food that's good for me. I love vegetables and fruit. I like whole wheat bread and I eat meat sparingly. I love freshly made juices, orange being my favorite and carrot-apple coming in a close second.

But I also love anything with cream (ice, whipped, or sour)... or butter... or sugar. And don't even think about giving me any of the light crap. I know, I know. Not the best things for a body. So that's why I have about 20 extra pounds on my short self. I just can't go without the delectable deliciousness of bad/good food. (Bad being bad for me, good being sooooo yummy.) So I guess I just need to get comfy with how I am.

I do go jogging 3 times a week. I could definitely push myself a little harder while jogging. But I'd hate to think what I would look like if I did no jogging at all.

I'm just sayin'. That's why. If you were wondering why I have major muffin top, full face and tottering triceps. That's why.

The mind of a 6 year old

Ben heard someone say on a commercial: "That is what is called creating a diversion." Always thinking of what he's going to make when he's a grown up roboticist he said: "Maybe when I grow up I will create a diversion. I really hope I can create a diversion."

And then as we were driving home a few days ago he asked: "When are we ever going to get to our village?"

It happened...

And it's never happened before. At least that I can remember. It happened while I was crouching down, sweeping up under the baby's eating area. I heard it. A terrible sound, really. A sound of many bonds breaking. It made me gasp and freeze.

I had ripped my pants.

Guess it's time to lay off the chocolate enrobed macadamia clusters.

Smells like teen spirit

I just got some new deodorant. It is Dove wild rose or something like that. And it really smells like teen spirit. Did you ever use that kind of deodorant when you were a teenager? I did. I loved all the fruity and fresh flavors (or scents). At church the other day someone walked past me and I thought, ooh, they smell good. And then I realized, hey, that's me that smells like that. It always takes me a while to get used to a new deodorant. Next time you see me you should smell my armpits. They really do smell like Teen Spirit.

(Did Kurt Cobain name his song after the deodorant? Or did the deodorant name themselves after the song? Or is it just a huge coincidence and they have nothing to do with each other? I'll never know.)

Kids + squirting water = pure joy

Air show

We went to the Air Force air show on Saturday. After the hour walk into the base, it was quite fascinating. I have such a respect for the Air Force. I mean, I love all of our military, but when I see one of the Air Force pilots, I am just awe struck. They have to work so hard and they are so smart and they fly those planes so amazingly. And it's all to protect our country. That's all I could think about the whole time I was there. It was very cool to see. It was the most perfect weather. Sunny with a nice cool breeze.

Of course I didn't get any good pictures.

Here is a plane flying away.

I tried to get one of it coming back again but it was landing then.

I'm not so good with taking pictures when I only have a small window of opportunity to get a good shot. For example:
Here is Ben walking away after posing with his preschool teacher. (I had my camera set on video.) - May 2008

My brother Eric receiving his Doctor of Chiropractic diploma - Dec 2008

Elli receiving her trophy for participating in a play - May 2009

I guess I wouldn't be a good professional photographer.

While I was at the air show, my tan turned into a golden bronze. It looks really good. Unfortunately, it's in the shape of a shirt:

(above - not a real picture of me)

But my legs got nothing. I don't know what it is. My legs never get ANY color. I look like I have two different people's skins. And it stays like that the entire summer. What the heck?! I do wear shorts people. And sometimes a swimsuit.

Color on the left: my arm. Color on the right: my leg. Scary, I know.

True story:

She's just irresistable to strangers. Ha! Just kidding.

I went to a bakery in the next town over and there was an old man in the line in front of me chatting like crazy to the person behind the counter. I was holding Addie so when he turned around he said to her:

Well hello little girl! You are a cutie! Why don't you pick out a treat. I'll buy it for you.

I said: Oh, no. It's okay. She doesn't need anything. (I had gone there to buy treats.)

Old man: No really. Ask her (pointing to the lady behind the counter).

Lady: Yeah, if there are ever any kids in here when he's here, he buys them all treats.

Realizing that he wasn't going to take "no" for an answer I said: Okay, maybe that pink frosted cookie there. Thank you. That's very nice of you.

Old man: So where do you live?

I told him and he said: So you're one of the people who comes through my town are you? What color is your car so I can throw rocks at you as you drive by?

He he. Okay. Bye old man.

Extreme kindness and profuse hostility all in under 5 minutes.

Imagine that

My kids pretend to have imaginary friends. Is that statement contradictory? They don't really have them but they wish they did and so they have made some up. Their names have caused a lot of confusion in our house though. Elli's imaginary friend is Self. She always tells me:

Self can fly.
Who?
Self.
Who is Seff?
My imaginary friend!
Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting.

or

I got in a fight with Self today.
Who did you get in a fight with? Someone at school?
No. With Self.
Oh.

And so Ben must copy but still be different, so his friend's name is Me. Even more confusing than Self.

Me isn't hungry.
You're not hungry?
No, Me isn't hungry.
Mee?
Yeah, Me. My imaginary friend.
Oh yeah.

I have to be reminded about once a day per child about imaginary friends' names and then I can just respond for the rest of the day with feigned interest.

When I'm rich, I'm gonna see all the shows

Willkommen
Bienvenue
Welcome

fremde
etranger
stranger

glücklich zu sehen
je suis enchante
happy to see you

bleibe!
reste!
stay!

Willkommen
Bienvenue
Welcome

im Cabaret
au Cabaret
to Cabaret

Ahhh. I've loved that song ever since I first heard it on the showtunes channel in an airplane flying over the Atlantic 10 years ago. Since I've studied German, I've dabbled in French, and I know a thing or two about English, it's right up my alley. When I got home I researched and found out which show it was from. Turns out: Cabaret. You were never going to guess, were you. (I realize that is a question but I don't want it to read like one.) I borrowed the CD from the library way back when and learned to love all of the songs but I've still never actually seen it. (Live or in movie form.) If anyone sees it ever playing in town, let me know. And come with me! Except it may or may not be about a few risqué topics. That might change your mind about whether you want to see it or not.

(I hope I spelled everything right.)

A title

Some people use their blogs as a journal/scrapbook. Some people use it to write down their crazy thoughts. Some use it to record their past. I do it for all of those reasons. But I admit I have been lacking in the day to day journaling bit. Here are a few things that have happened in the past 2 months:

Elli was baptized. And it was good.Easter egg hunts. They were good too.

(Why, yes. We are trying to grow grass in our flower beds, thanks for noticing. We've worked long and hard to get that to happen. It's really starting to take hold and flourish.)

We've eaten lots of chocolate.

Ben made a playdoh Yoda.

Rachel, Lindsay, Sini, me, Naoma - I'm the shorty of the group

I "ran" the Race for the Cure.

Michelle, Anikka, me, Sini - Ha ha, not so short now eh? He he. Alright fine, she's a child.

Elli performed in "Enchanted"

She did such a good job. We're so proud of her.

And last and least, a little playing in the sprinklers. White trash style. (I couldn't find our sprinkler head.) (And they are not in their swimsuits.) This was the best we could do.