Living In The Woods

Things that are not so great about living in the woods...

There is always a bug on me or someone near me.

Tom has to set and get rid of these regularly. Thank heavens for him. Remember when mom was in Oregon and I was in Pleasant Grove and I called her screaming about a mouse under my bed? I don't remember what happened to the mouse, but I do remember thinking that I wasn't getting off my bed until she got home.

Stepping in coyote poop.
(This is dried coyote poop, so it's not as bad)

You'll have to enlarge this picture to see it, but there are scratches on the panels of the house. This happened in the middle of the night, and is just below one of my bedroom windows. It was scarier than when the mouse was under my bed.
I live so far away that it costs me a million dollars a month just to drive Addison to school. The fact that gas is almost $4 a gallon here doesn't help.

And then there are the noises that keep me up at night. In addition to wild animals scratching my house, there are coyotes howling, wild turkeys gobbling, and owls that sound like demon children laughing (that's even scarier than wild animals scratching under my window).

What I love about living in the woods...

This is where Addison gets to go when I say...

"Why don't you play outside for a while?"

My New Slippers

Steph W. and Erin sent me a pattern for some slippers that they were making in December when I was there for Christmas. Knowing me and my inability to follow patterns (or recipes), I wasn't sure how they would work. But here they are and I'm in love with them. They were actually really easy... the first one at least. I breezed through the first one without any problems. It was my Saturday Conference Session Project. The second one was the biggest pain. I think that because the first one was so simple, I didn't pay as much attention when I was making the second, and I ended up knitting it (or portions of it) 4 times!
Tom wants a pair next, so tomorrow we're going to my favorite yarn store in Pacific Grove.

This is what they looked like before felting. They were huge. Anyone who saw me working on them would ask "who are you making those for?". They were even too big for Tom and he's a bigfoot.

This is after they have been felted. They're still a little wet in this picture.

Sea Otter Classic

Every little boy should have been in Monterey on Saturday.
We went to the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca (which is just across the mountain from us and hosts lots of car races, bike races, and other events). I didn't realize what a big deal it was... It was a huge event. www.seaotterclassic.com
Addison was in heaven. There were bike races, crazy people doing crazy tricks on crazy courses, and LOTS AND LOTS of things for kids to do. There was a small bike course for kids that was so much fun. Addison could have spent the whole day there.
The whole area is really just an enormous dirt field. It was so windy that day. We left covered in dust. I'm still trying to get it out of my ears. The wind was super cold, too. I kept asking Addison if he was ready to leave as his dusty little body shivered in the cold. He wouldn't have it. I lost count of how many times he asked if we could come back next year!

Addison's ready to ride! Behind that big speaker that is in back of Addison, you can see a biker riding down off a ramp. Just beyond that there was a an obstacle course that these guys were doing unbelievable tricks on. Unfortunately, my batteries died just before I went to take pictures of them. They were selling batteries in one of the merchandise tents (which I actually got for free because the guy didn't have change - yay for large bills!). By the time we got back around to checking the course out again, everyone was done. But, I promise it was cool.
Addison did the EuroBungy. Quote: "I've never had that much fun in all of my entire whole life."

Addison sliding down the innocent looking blow up slide.
About 5 seconds after Addison got off this slide, it blew end-over-end and landed on its side. He was the last one to ride it before it went flying. There was a little girl in it at the time. I have never heard anyone scream like her mother (understandably). The little girl was fine and all of the kids games were taken down. While I love blow up jump houses and the like, I will never, ever put Addison in one again if there is the slightest breeze.
One handed!!

Spring is Here!!!

Ellen wants to know where spring is... It's here!
I walked around my house today and took pictures of all of the wild flowers and blossoms that were growing.

At Amy's Request

Amy wanted me to post the picture of her family where they are actually ready for the picture that is being taken. I am happy to oblige. I think this is such a good picture of Dean. He's so handsome (...just like his reward posters).

Thunder Cake

Addison's class read the book "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco. I had never read this, but I love some of her other stories (The Keeping Quilt, Betty Doll). The story is about a young girl who is afraid when a thunder storm rolls in, but her "Grandma insists that this is Thunder Cake baking weather and the two are soon scrambling to gather the ingredients to make the cake--and get it into the oven before the storm arrives".

There is a recipe for Thunder Cake in the book which calls for pureed tomatoes! We had to try it. Addison and I baked it last night and took it into his class today. The kids loved it, and no one complained about eating a tomato!
http://www.recipezaar.com/171669
(This recipe has a link to a chocolate buttercream frosting that we also made that was delicious!!)

I remember being so afraid of thunder and lightning when I was little. When a thunder storm would start, I would always head for the "down-downstairs" - an office below the lower level of our home. I couldn't hear any thunder or see any lightning down there. I remember midnight thunder storms that woke me in a panic and sent me running to my mom's bed. I remember being a 13-year-old cheerleader, hearing thunder boom, and running off the field to my mom. Somehow all of the reassurance she gave me must have conditioned me to feel happy and safe during a storm, because now I can think of few things that make me feel the way watching a storm does.

Addison, the chef.
This recipe called for shortening, which we don't usually have around. Addison wanted to taste it because, really, it does look like white frosting. I almost let him, (remember dad and the AlkaSeltzer/Sprite trick?... I do) but decided against it.
He was a little skeptical when the tomato puree was added to the mixture!
It turned out great! It was a little dry, but I attribute that to my poor baking skills and over cooking. I'll try it again, because it really did taste delicious!

His class loved it! I love the little girl sitting next to him. She is such a doll.

April Conference

Conference Sunday was great this year. Addison is old enough to actually watch and listen (pretty much) and I was able to knit on my slippers. Amy sent me the best conference packet ever. I loved this one because, not only did it have coloring pages, word finds, and bingo, but it had activities that were really geared toward helping kids listen to the talks... and they were actually fun! In one activity you colored a tie for each apostle that spoke to match the tie they were wearing. Then, there was a space for you to write what they talked about. The packet was really geared specifically for this conference, but there were plenty of things that could be used again.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2438115/April-2008-Conference-Packet1

Addison's Baptism

Addison was baptized in Utah on March 22. We were so lucky to be able to have so many people there for it. Jen and Brad came from Arizona. Doug and Shellie came from Montana, and everyone in Utah was able to come, too.
Addison's only concern about getting baptized was that water might go up his nose. He practiced plugging his nose quite a bit. Everything went smoothly - no water up anyone's nose. Uncle Dean and Aunt Andrea spoke. Emma sang "When I Am Baptized". Grandma Brenda bore her testimony, and Grandma Marge and Aunt Linda provided the music.
Afterward, we all went to Grandma Marge's house for lunch and more birthday.

Just before the big event. I love his toothless grin!

What a cute family! All of your kids are taller than you Shellie! (almost)

Grandma was so sweet to let us all invade her house.

We were so happy to see Matt, Cortnie, and Jack. We miss you guys!

Addison loves his Grandma and Grandpa.

... and his dad!

Ok. So there is another picture of Dean and Amy's family that I could have posted where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera, but this is so Eric. I love it!

And this...? Who took this? I am waving a knife... No one looks alarmed or surprised. Mom and Amy look like they are about to scold me and Linda looks like she's thinking..."here she goes again". I have no idea.

ChaCha Is The Best!

When Ellen and I were at Sundance, we learned about ChaCha, one of the sponsors of the festival. It's my new favorite thing. You text a question to ChaCha (242-242) and they send a text back with the answer. You can ask it anything! Movie times, recipes, basketball scores... anything. Today, after eating at Chili's, I texted to see how many calories were in the Quesadilla Explosion Salad (980 - yikes!). I also love it because Addison will keep himself occupied for long periods of time with it. He loves to send crazy questions and wait for the answers (of course I have to read all questions before they are sent). Check it out!

San Francisco with Dean and Amy

We spent a lot of time in San Francisco in March! Dean and Amy flew to San Francisco for a weekend and we met them on Saturday. We went to the aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, took a boat ride around the bay (and Alcatraz), walked down Lombard Street, and went to dinner. It was a lot of fun. Addison has become obsessed with Alcatraz. He sends text messages to Cha-Cha at least twice a day asking questions about it. Who was the first prisoner? Who was the last prisoner? How many guards were there? He's crazy about the place. Weird.
Anyway, we were glad Dean and Amy let us crash their vacation!

Addison and Aunt Amy rode the carousel on the pier because mom gets too sick. Good thing he's got Aunt Amy. She's good for lots of things, including Star Tours and merry-go-rounds!

Man, I wish I'd taken my sunglasses off.

Amy and I are buying this house on Lombard Street soon. If anyone wants to come visit, just let us know.

This is in the middle of Lombard Street. (Notice the Alcatraz bear in his hand.)