100th Post!

I read somewhere that it is proper blog etiquette to make a list of 100 things on your 100th post. So here are 100 little known or perhaps even common-known facts about me. Enjoy!

1. I watched the entire Twin Peaks Series up to the resolution of who killed Laura Palmer in 7-10 minute increments on YouTube last year (2007.) I had a friend in high school who loved it and a college roommate who got me hooked on the music from Twin Peaks by Julee Cruz. It has always intrigued me. I am so glad I watched it. Now I know what I was missing.
2. I am the youngest of 7 children.
3. I have lived on 3 continents. (North America, Europe & Africa)
4. I got a BA in Art Education from BYU—graduated in 1997. I was pregnant with my first child when I graduated. There were no boring speeches at my graduation ceremony. We got to watch student films and the MDT students perform a little number.
5. Have I mentioned that I LOVED being an art major?
6. My favorite medium is watercolor.
7. I have eaten frog legs
8. I have eaten horse
9. The first time I had oysters was as a grocery store sample in Lille, France—why don’t they do those kinds of samples in the US?
10. I have eaten escargot.
11. I LOVE frogs legs and horse ( I know completely un-American) , but I don’t care for the oysters and escargot.
12. I have tasted champagne. . .once. . .I was a missionary. . .my mom was sitting right next to me.
13. I have five children. The age difference between my oldest and youngest is 5 years, 3 months!
14. Right now, my favorite color is pink.
15. I met my husband in France.
16. In high school, I ate a Twix bar with lunch every day. I was trying to win some contest. I can’t remember what the prize was.
17. I didn’t win the Twix contest, but I am a very lucky person. I win things all the time. I read somewhere that people who think they’re lucky tend to actually be lucky and people who don’t think they’re lucky aren’t. So I’m all for the odds being in my favor on attitude alone!
18. I took piano lessons for 7 years and have nothing to show for it. Oh sure I can plunk out a tune S-l-o-w-l-y and I am teaching my kids to play. But please don’t expect me to play well. I have a goal of trying to become better in this area.
19. I really want to learn how to play the guitar.
20. I took an underwater basket weaving class at BYU.
21. I tried out for cheerleading and poms every year since 8th Grade. I never made it. In hind site I am SO glad that I didn’t.
22. When I was little I always wanted to break a bone. I finally accomplished that at age 34 and it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.
23. I used to be barefoot virtually all the time, now that I’ve broken my foot, I wear shoes most of the time and have purchased multiple pairs of 3 inch heels. Is there something wrong with me? I think I’m going for a twisted ankle next!
24. I love crème fraiche and wish I could find a place that sold it in the USA.
25. I wish we could find an excuse to move to France and live there for a few years.
26. When I was in High School I had the entire movie of “Some Kind of Wonderful” memorized. (I can still pretty much quote the good parts from memory)
27. I used to crawl out my bedroom window and read books on the roof of my house as a teenager.
28. I am scared to death to climb on the roof of the house I live in now.
29. I was an unwilling accessory to an unsolved firecracker incident one year at youth conference.
30. My 4th year, I tiptoed around girls camp in nothing but a towel in the middle of the night.
31. I have canoed the boundary waters.
32. By the time you finish reading this you will know everything about me because I am already starting to run out of material!
33. I have been rappelling and rock climbing. I loved them both.
34. I have lived in Utah for a total of 17 years (this includes college!) How did I end up here for SO long?
35. I have only been down hill skiing once.
36. I made a reproduction Tiffany stained glass lamp. I started it my senior year in high school and finished it about 3 years later.
37. I went to 4 different elementary schools, 2 different Jr. Highs, and 1 High School.
38. I dislike sewing.
39. I love fruit smoothies.
40. I believe in fairytale romance.
41. I have dined in the presence of a real princess.
42. I love the ocean in Winter.
43. I really would love to live back East somewhere.
44. As a child, I took tap, jazz, ballet and gymnastics but never stuck with any of them.
45. When I was 8 or 9, I really wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader!
46. I got to do a flapper dance in a stake performance.
47. Please don’t call it exercise or I won’t want to do it! I prefer “bike ride” or “dancing.”
48. One of my fondest childhood memories were one-on-one outings with my dad. I wish we had done more. I make my husband do more, because they mean so much to me and the kids!
49. My Mom can do everything (including speaking French!) I always thought I was just like my mom, but I am nowhere near as amazing.
50. I only applied to ONE college—BYU. I am so lucky I got in.
51. A foreign exchange student from France was living with us the summer before my mission—I refused to speak French with her (despite the fact that I had taken 7 years of French in school.) She came back to live with us the summer AFTER my mission. I refused to speak English to her.
52. I served in the Belgium Brussels (French speaking) Mission.
53. I was an Indian Brave in a 5th grade production of “Peter Pan.” My line was “Uga Wugga Wig Wam.”
54. I really wanted to be Wendy.
55. I was in a singing group in 5th grade called “Kadence Kids”
56. I participated in Mural Club in High school.
57. One of my favorite foods is homemade beef stew. mmm
58. I miss Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbeque in Hoffman Estates, IL. I wonder if it still exists.
59. One of my college room mates and I would have loud “fake fights” with the windows open so that our neighbors could hear us. Then we’d roll on our beds and laugh. It was very cathartic.
60. I ditched High School as a freshman. It was boring. Nothing remotely close to Ferris Bueller’s Day off!
61. The last time I took a math class was Algebra II as a junior in High School. I got a D+ (my teacher liked me-that’s why I got the plus.)
62. When my sister and I went out dancing, people would ask us if we practiced at home because we were so good (and humble too.)
63. I work from home and I love that flexibility.
64. I am married to a sensitive new age man. He is totally romantic and ideal for me.
65. It is awesome being married to someone who is such a good friend!
66. In the winter I used to go out with my hair wet and it would freeze because it was so cold!
67. I learned to drive on a stick shift.
68. Crunchy Peanut Butter, Please
69. I love Ferraro Rochers
70. When I was about 3 years old, I got lost in St. Peter’s Square in Italy.
71. I miss dancing in the warm Chicago rains.
72. I asked my husband to help me with this list—He said to add that I am babe-a-licious!
73. I am glad that he still thinks that 13 years and 5 kids later!
74. I traded entire my entire closet of clothes for my best friend’s closet for about a week or so while I was in college! It was awesome to have all new clothes even if for a short time.
75. My family had pet snakes when we lived in Louisiana
76. I had a French Lop rabbit named Dolli.
77. We currently have a pet frog named Darth Sidious.
78. I love music
79. I love buying music on iTunes
80. I rely on music to remind me of various stages of my life.
81. I feel calm and comfort whenever I am near my husband.
82. Motherhood is more difficult than I expected.
83. Whether I am filling up the sink full of soapy water to wash the dishes or only have one dish to wash, I use the same amount of dishwashing liquid!
84. Before I had children I was certain I would never let the TV be a babysitter to my children.
85. Ha! Ha! Ha! Then I had children and needed to take showers!
86. I breastfed all my children.
87. I finally figured out how to do it without any painful adjustment period on my last one!
88. I was an EFY counselor.
89. I am much more comfortable with small intimate gatherings than large parties with lots of people.
90. I would rather go on a vacation where we visited one spot and relaxed and enjoyed that one place than tried to see EVERYTHING and feel spent by the end.
91. I saw the Lion King for the first time in French at a theater in Valenciennes, France.
92. I bought my husband a DSLR camera for Christmas and I use it more than he has!
93. I love learning how to use the camera and taking pictures of my kids!
94. I am loving digital scrapbooking.
95. I love blogging, because I am documenting our family events finally!
96. I also love it because I have reconnected with long lost friends!
97. My favorite seasons are Spring and Fall.
98. I am currently a huge LOST fan!
99. I also love the Twilight series—even though I am totally embarrassed about it because it seriously overtook my thoughts for about 3 months and I re-read the books over and over and over! Pathetic!
100. I love my life!

Summer Reading!

Every summer my kids and I get involved in various summer reading programs. We always do the local library's program, cause they do activities every week and the kids get prizes like free ice cream cones for reading. Last year we were introduced to Barnes and Noble's Summer reading program! Which means no matter where you live you can participate. It is for 1st - 6th graders. After your child reads 8 books they get to go in and "trade" their reading list for a book. They aren't cheap-o books either! They are books that your kids (and you) will want to read. And they span reading levels from simple to advanced. (We got lots of great books last year but for some reason the only one that sticks out in my head head is one we didn't get "Princess Academy" by Shannon Hale--I kept trying to talk one of my kids into it and they didn't want it, but I did!) Last year they let us do it 3 times. I'm not sure what the rule is this year. Any way my kids and I LOVED it and we will be doing it again this year. Going into a bookstore with my children can be very dangerous. We spend hours there! But it makes me happy that they want to spend so much time looking at books!

Saturday Afternoon

Kielle was dying to mow the lawn. She did so awesome! She did the back half where the playground is. It is the first time it has been mowed this year so there was a LOT to mow! I stayed with her in case she needed help, but mostly took pictures. So while she mowed I was playing with Aaron's camera and took these photos:



I might have to get Aaron another camera so he actually gets to use it!

1st night in the camper!

The kids were so excited about having the camper that they wanted to test it out right away! So we let them sleep in it last night since they have no school today. They dragged in their stufed animals and favorite blankets and pillows and got all settled in. They were so giddy and excited, it was difficult for them to settle down. Nathan lasted a couple of hours, but the rest of them stuck it out through the night. It even rained last night! Kielle mentioned it got a little chilly--We had turned down the heater because it was really hot. So we'll have to work on getting that balance right. I think it is cool that there is a heater! And we even plugged a night light in for them so that they wouldn't get too scared. They had very easy access to the house. The door to the camper was about 5 steps from our back door. I thought it was cute how they were so excited and ready for camping!

Walk to Mapleton

At school, starting in 3rd grade the kids participate in a program called running club. They run laps in the afternoons and over the course of the school year if they run 100 miles they get to walk to the Mapleton City Park! They then play and have games at the park and walk back. Friday was miserable and cold and rainy, but they made the walk anyway and apparently even had fun. The tradition when they come back is the firemen hose them them down with a firehose because it is usually so hot and a great and fun way to cool down after a long hot day. They came despite the chilly weather and hosed those kids down. Nathan stayed mostly out of the water, but Kielle was drenched! And loved it! They both got hot baths and hot chocolate when they got home. Fun days!

What are you doing with your economic stimulus check?

We had several ideas for what to do. We wanted to do something fun, that the whole family would enjoy. We talked about Disneyland and Season Passes to 7 Peaks. We also talked about getting a camper trailer (we've wanted one for several years.) We thought that all of these things would be fun to do so we brought it to the kids and got a unanimous vote on the trailer! What is so exciting is that we love to camp and this will just make the experience all the more pleasurable and it is in great condition and will last us for many years! So we can have multiple family vacation memories instead of just one big one. Aaron is driving home with it now! I think we will be camping soon. . .

Hectic!

That would be how I described Wednesday. A good portion of that hecticity (is that a word?) was due to procrastination and the rest due to too many things being scheduled for one day. Luckily, i didn't have to worry about YW because my very wonderful and capable counselors had that taken care of for me! Thank you! I knew that on Wednesday, we would be helping make a catapult for Kielle's simple machine project for school, I knew that I had to come up with a Junie B. Jones costume for Ada's wax museum book report. I knew that I had kindergarten graduation that evening and needed to be to the school no later than 5:40pm. I didn't know that Nathan had a major portion of a group project that he still had to research and write up. I tried to help them all as best as I could, and I understand the procrastinating--I did it all the time in school and if there weren't all the other things to be done--it might not have been so stressful. Wait, I forgot to add that Aaron had a major project for school that HE had due which just added to the whole stress of the day! Oh yeah! AND Kielle had softball practice. This day was obviously scheduled by outsiders because I never would have knowingly given myself this many things to try to accomplish in one afternoon. We did it all by the way. It is totally doable--we even had a homemade dinner (at 8pm). I just don't enjoy having that many things to do at one time. I am not a multi tasker. I prefer to enjoy things and take it easy. This day is probably just shades of things to come as these kids get to be teenagers and start going in many many different directions, so I guess I should just suck it up and get used to it.

Aaron is taking an instructional design class right now and they were asked to improve a design for a heart model. So he has been working very hard on that.

Nathan and I planned a 7 day trip down to Emery County. His portion of the assignment was to create an itinerary. During the course of looking up attractions in Emery county I learned that we actually had a budget of $600! So we decided to not stay in a hotel but to stay at Millsite State Park. There is a lake with a beach and you can fish and swim there and it is not far from the city of Emery where the Emery County Fair takes place--which was a destination on this fictitious trip, I tried making Nathan make the phone calls to all the museums and hotels and campgrounds to get info for his trip. I even wrote him a script but he was scared and froze and wouldn't talk when someone answered the other line. Maybe next time. . . We also added a trip to the Emery County Pioneer Museum. This trip was supposed to include fun, history and nature. We made sure to hit it all and by our calculations we were well over $200 under budget so we could go have more fun with that money. It was a fun assignment to work on, I just wish we had had more time to work on it!

Aaron worked with Kielle to get her catapult made. It had to be an invention made with 3 different types of simple machines. Hers included a lever, wheel and axle and screw. They came up with the plans for it a while ago but we've always had other projects pushing it to the side. Last night Aaron helped her finish it.




And Ryan had Kindergarten Graduation. He was so animated up on the stage. There was one song where all the kids were supposed to mimic guitar playing. Most of the kids looked like they were playing a ukelele, just really subdued and sweet. Not my Ryan. He stood off to the side and swung his arm around in a full circle before every stroke of his air guitar playing. He is such a trip!





I love these graduation caps they made out of laminated cardstock and plastic bowls!

Spring fix-ups

The kids have been pretty good helpers with our fix-up jobs. I only have photos of Ada and Ryan helping but they all have pitched in.

Last week after my shower I turned off the water only it didn't turn off! Hot water kept pouring out! The valve seal had eroded. I had to turn off the hot water for the day and then went and got the part so Aaron could fix it when he got home. (I am nowhere near as handy at fixing things as my Moseley cousins are!) Ryan helped Aaron with this project. He was such a good little helper and I love seeing them working side by side!



Our other project was to get the swamp cooler up and running. We descaled all the panels--a loooong and tedious process-- and Aaron painted them and the actually swamp cooler unit. Today he asked me to put the cooler pads in if I had time and my work would permit it. Well, by mid-day when I was dying of heat (It got up to 88 degrees outside today) and getting a headache, I decided that work would HAVE to wait! I was all over doing anything I could to get that swamp cooler up and running today! (Only if it involved being on the ground though, I don't lke climbing on our roof!)

Here's Ada helping Aaron descale a panel! What a great little worker!

What would you have done?

Today was a hard day as a mom. My son had a swimming field trip and he has been looking forward to it, but this morning he woke up feeling like he shouldn't go. He couldn't produce a reason. He just didn't want to go anymore. I felt like it was important for him to go on this field trip, because sometimes we have to do things we think we don't want to do. I was really praying for guidance because he was so adamant about not going. And amazingly enough I stayed calm through it all to gently but firmly tell him that he needed to go. I got told how unfair it was and how I just wanted him to be bored for 2 hours at the pool and then he threatened not to take his swimming clothes to the pool. Like, "I'll show you Mom I'll make myself be miserable and then you'll be sorry!" I felt like I had done the right thing by not giving in to his demands for me to come pick him up from school, but I was dreading the fallout if he did have a bad time, you know how I'm ruining his life and everything. I had to call my husband a couple of times for him to reassure me that I did the right thing by making him go even though he didn't want to.

Well, guess who decided to bring his swimming suit and guess who had so much of a good time that all he could do was talk about all the fun things he did on his field trip to the pool!? So, now I am glad that I stuck to my guns and made him go cause there were several times I was ready to just have him come home, but I felt it was important to make him follow through. So I guess every once in a while I get this whole parenting thing right. But it sure ain't easy!

Dinner at a Gourmet "Restaurant"

I hope that everyone had as great of a mother's day as I did! It was simple enough yet extremely meaningful.

I started off the day with a phone call to MY mom who is serving in the Switzerland Geneva Mission. All of us took turns talking to her. It was great to talk to her and see how she was doing. She is such a wonderful woman! And the most amazing mother. I wish I could be half as good of a mother as she was and is.

All of my kids have done something nice for me at some point or another. Nathan made me a couple of cards and on one he wrote a poem:

"I want to eat a chocolate flavored bug,

but more I want to give you a hug!"

You have no idea how completely "Nathan" that poem is!

The 3rd grade put on a mother's day program earlier in the week where they sang and danced for us. It was so much fun. Kielle gave me a book mark with her photo on it, which I am currently using to hold my place in Fablehaven 3. She also wrote me the reasons she loves me:

"Mother I love you because:

You take me to softball

You play with me

You let us play video games

Love, Kielle"

Ada brought me home flowers that I will plant in the front and a drawing of the 2 of us.

Ryan made a book in Kindergarten that has all of his "perceptions" of me. He put me down as 6ft tall and 100 pounds! I'll take that 100 pounds today please.

Tessa has made sure to say Happy Mother's Day several times today. She made these devoine cookies at preschool and then yesterday she wrote me a song. I wish I had a recording of her singing--it was soo sweet!

Mommy Tessa Song

Mother Dear, I love you so

I love you ten and

Mommy loves me

and I love her.

I love you dear mom.

Mommy is sweet

and I love you tweet tweet.

I will give you flowers

and I love you twenty

and I am 5 and you are 35.

You look like a flower dearly.

Today she decided that I look like a monkey instead of a flower. I am not sure whether that is a compliment or not since her self-dubbed nickname is Monkey.

Aaron made me a four course gourmet meal today. We were eating from about 3pm til 9pm. It reminded me of New Years Eve in France--you just sit at the table and eat and talk as each course comes along and the time passes so quickly! He is such a talented cook. Whenever he "creates" it is always out of this world. A couple days before Mother's Day I said, "So, what are you going to make me and your mom for Mother's day dinner?" Half joking/half serious. And he took it and ran with it. He was so excited about making this meal and having it come in courses! It was so thoughtful and delicious! I was also impressed because at church I heard that some of the young men were eager to get home to watch the NBA Playoff game--which normally Aaron would be extremely interested in. He didn't turn the TV on once! Not even to check the score! I was amazed and impressed. I wouldn't have cared if he did check the score, but the fact that he didn't showed how much he was trying to make the day special for ME. He is the most AWESOME husband ever! I love him so much and I just loved his mother's day gift to me.

Click on the menu to see what glorious delights Aaron made

I am a winner!

Many of you may know that I am a lucky person. I was just thinking to myself that it has been a little while since I've won anything (5 months--I guess it is not that long) but I was seriously thinking that to myself the other day. Then I got this email in my inbox last night:"You are one of the winners in the 2 Weeks of Toys giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom. Congrats! " I checked their blog to make sure it was true and that I had really won and there was my name in black and white! So Cool! If you have noticed, I have had the 2 weeks for toys banner on my sidebar this past month

and I won one of their myriad of prizes This is what I won:

My Little Pony Ponyville Rollerskate Party Cake

Transformer Robot Heroes


These will be fun gifts to give to friends for birthdays or for my children as their birthdays approach. I know Ada is a big My Little Pony fan! Anyway I thought it was fun to win something again. I always get so excited!

Apron Strings

I am embedding this song on my blog for entirely selfish reasons. I just want to be able to hear this song whenever I want and I can't find it on iTunes and just haven't been to the store to buy it . So until I do, I am putting it here. It is a song by Everything But the Girl and was on the "She's having a Baby" soundtrack. I hope my children are happy wrapped in my Apron Strings.

See Robyn Run. Run Robyn Run.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I HATE running. It is just not something that I do, but yesterday I did it-on a whim! I went to visit a very dear friend who I haven't seen as often as I'd like to or should. I t was so great to see her. While we were visiting, her sister who is equally as dear and wonderful came over and said "it's time to run!" They were like, "Robyn, you're coming too, right?" So I borrowed some running clothes and shoes from her and we went running on this quaint little path that surrounds a pond and cattle in Salem. It was actually enjoyable because of the company and I felt good about myself because I exercised! Who knew!?

Let them eat cake!

This week our YW activity was learning to decorate cakes.  We had a big 12x18 half sheet cake for demonstration and practice and then individual cupcakes for the girls to decorate and take home.  It was a fun activity and all the girls went home with their individual cupcakes and I was stuck with this ENORMOUS cake!  So the kids and I decided to have a cake party and invite as many people as we could from around our block and neighborhood and share our cake.  Yesterday the weather was a bit too chilly but today it warmed up a bit so I sent the kids out to invite our friends and neighbors.  How could you not be intrigued by a "cake party?" What does one DO at a cake party? Well, you eat cake and go home when you want! At first we had a few kids trickle in and then we had quite a lot.  Unfortunately not everyone who they tried to invite was home or able to come but we had about 25 people plus my kids show up and we had kids playing and eating cake from about 3:30pm to 5:30pm.  It was a lot of fun. Even a couple moms showed up, so that I had some friends to "play" with too!  Our next door neighbor Julie said that this was the "most exciting thing that has happened in our neighborhood for years!"  I reminded her about a lawn party her family had just last summer and she said that this was different because it was just a spur of the moment thing!  It was a lot of fun and everyone who came had a good time.  Maybe we'll do it again this summer with ice cream. . .

As you can see though, my plan worked and all the cake was eaten and it was a fun way to bring the neighborhood together.

Gribouilline

At what age is it reasonable to expect your children to NOT write on the walls, floors, etc.? I kind of thought that since my youngest is five that I would be past all that. Amazingly enough, it is not my 5 year old who is the current offender. A few days ago my 6 year old proudly showed me his artwork on the wall next to his bed. I was not pleased. Today, an enormous red crayon circle was found drawn on the floor of my oldest daughter's room--it turns out my 7 year old did it! I got quite upset over this incident too. What possesses these children to leave their mark everywhere? They have TONS of paper accessible to them, chalkboards, dry-erase boards,etc. So why on my floors and walls? I know, it is like this huge blank canvas waiting to be filled. I actually do understand it. I think the coolest bedroom I had ever been in as a teenager was Lisa Eaton's. She was my friend Brandy's big sister and a punk-rock girl and I thought she was SO cool! Her wall was decorated with artwork and poetry that she and her friends had created. I longed to add my mark to her wall. I wished for a wall of my own like hers. Maybe there is no reasonable age to expect them not to do it. I wanted to do it! But I don't want my kids to do it! Maybe I will have to dust off the copy of the french book Gribouilline that my parents gave me when I was young. It is about a girl named Christine who draws on all the walls and fences and even the Bakers window, the mailbox and the furniture coming out of a moving van! Mais Non, Gribouilline! She was naughty and had to clean up all her inappropriately placed artwork on a Saturday when everyone else got to play! And then her parents got her paint brushes and a pad of paper so she lost her nickname of Gribouilline and became toute simplement, Christine! Poor Christine didn't have Mr Clean Magic Erasers and A miniature Bissel to clean up the mess. Tomorrow mes petits Gribouillines will be cleaning up their own messes--OR maybe I should wait til Saturday!