Paddock Place

A Traditional Easter Day

2010-05-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

Easter is always a welcomed holiday in our family, I think partly because of the traditions our family has set in place. Sometimes our traditions have to be a little flexible, but the main idea is there.

We usually like to decorate our hard boiled eggs Easter Sunday morning, but since we have church at 9AM this year, we performed our "Egg Beautification" on Saturday night. Carter picked Star Wars stuff and Lydia picked Disney Princess doodads.

Another tradition we have is taking a picture with the same special little stuffed bunnies every Easter to show how much the kids have grown that year. I usually like them to be in their new Easter church clothes, but this year, because of the SNOW we had Easter morning, the kids didn't hunt around in their nice Sunday clothes, but in some back-up outfits. The back-up outfits were still pretty cute though.

Carter's bunny was a gift from his Grandma Carolyn. She gave it to him when he was about a month old and he has taken a picture with it every year since.

Lydia's pink and green bunny was given to her by her Great Grandma Millie (we call her Gaga - a little nickname I gave her when I was little because I couldn't say "grandma"). Lydia also got her middle name from this same Great Grandma.

Last, but not least, we always go to our family's home to have a nice potluck meal and a hunt for toys and treats. The Easter Bunny made the hunt more difficult this year for the older kids, which made the fun last even longer. After the hunt is over, the moms always separate everything out so the kids get equal shares.

Such a fun and peaceful holiday! Unfortunately, another thing that happens every year is missing Easter when it's over.

8 Years And Counting

2010-04-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

Carter, our baby boy, turned 8 years old! It just isn't possible!

He's supposed to be our little Mr. C.

To celebrate this day, he chose to go to Classic Family Fun Center for his birthday party. He was allowed to invite 4 friends and he chose: Jack, Daniel, Zack and Colton, all buddies from school. Of course the family came too.

Carter and Lydia brought the new scooters they had gotten from Santa this year. Ray brought the roller blades his loving wife gave him for Christmas. Almost everyone got a chance to scoot or skate around the floor to funky music and flashing lights.

After awhile everyone came in for a pit stop. We had pizza, chips and dip, and veggies and dip to munch on. Then we sang to Carter and he blew out his entire 8 candles. He chose rice krispie cupcakes this year in lieu of the regular cake kind.

After opening presents, it was back to scooting and skating.

Lydia really liked it when Daddy became her motor!

The Luangsawadis on wheels!

Taking a break...

Carter had a little accident and needed some soothing from Grandma and Dad.

It's nice to know that even though he's a big boy, he still wants our cuddles and hugs.

Tea Party Princess

2010-04-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

Lydia got to dress up as a princess and go to a tea (birthday) party for her friend, Makenna.

She wore a dress that Aunt Amy bought her and a crown that Aunt Lily bought her for Christmas...

...and of course she had to wear her sparkly pink shoes!

We love our pretty princess!

Paddock Girls Only!

2010-04-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

As a little Valentine gift to ourselves, the Paddock girls spent a day getting pampered together.

First was a yummy lunch at Olive Garden.

Even the littlest Paddock girls got to come. Pretty obvious they're cousins.

Then it was off to get pedis and manis. Awww... this is the life!

Lydia was surprisingly patient waiting for her turn. She chose her favorite color - purple!

It was just too fun not to do again... and again... and again...

Let's see... what's next? St. Patrick's Day?

To Heck With Bikinis...

2010-02-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

Lydia was so excited when she found these footed fleece polka-dotted jammies stuffed into the deep recesses of her closet. She is such a pajama lover. She likes to change out of her regular clothes and into a wide assortment of her pajamas all day long. So, to find some new ones in her closet was really something to celebrate!

And it just so happened that Lydia's Mommy recently purchased some fleece polka-dotted jammies (unfortunately, they aren't the footed kind) for her very own.

***(sing to the tune of "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" song)***

Theeeeey worrrrre their snuggy wuggy comfy cozy fleecy polka dot PJs...

And We Call It... "Puppy Love"

2010-01-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

Piper and Lydia are the best of buddies. Lydia has put herself in charge of taking care of Piper, from making sure the water dish is full (in which Lydia will often kindly sacrifice the water in her own sippy cup) to letting Piper outside to go potty.

Lydia holds whole conversations with Piper. She shares her favorite lovey (Dog-Dog) with her and keeps Piper nice and toasty by spreading all of her (8) blankets on her at once. Lydia's favorite part of Piper = her fun floppy ears.

When Lydia first wakes up in the morning, Piper is the one she wants to hug. Who cares about dog hair or dog smell or dog breath when you've got a love this sweet...

...or dog slobber.

And that's why we call it "Puppy Love."

The Living Aquarium

2010-01-15T10:33:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas some very good friends of ours (Thank You Bachs!) presented us with some gift certificates to The Living Aquarium, a large indoor exhibit featuring fish and other sea creatures found all over the planet. It's located close-by in Sandy and is really an amazing place. We had never been there before so we decided to make it a family adventure while both Ray and Carter had some time off from work and school.

In this room, we got to touch a huge hissing cockroach and an even huger snake. We were also able to get up close and personal with a scorpion and tarantula. Carter and Lydia were both pretty nervous in this room...still can't figure out why...

The wall murals in the place are really well done.

Another photo op....in a canoe. The Aquarium specializes in South American life and culture.

The manta ray tank....you can bend down and feel their fins as they swim around. Both of the kids were too scared to do it, and I think Ray even had to work up the nerve to do it himself. We saw an octopus have lunch. We watched an electric eel try to zap itself some food. We saw a mini alligator snap onto a turtle...and TONS and TONS of fish!

They had a model of a boat that you could walk onto and drive. It shook like it was actually moving and then you watch the screen and steer the boat. It also taught you about different types of fishing.

This was such an awesome place that we upgraded our gift certificates into year passes...so now we can go back and hold snakes and pet manta rays all we want. And if that doesn't end up happening, we'll at least have lots of cute mural pictures, and definitely some good family times.

The Longer Scoop (Our Christmas Postcard)

2009-12-17T19:29:00.001-08:00

This year for our Christmas card, we sent out a postcard to family and friends featuring lots of pictures of the Paddocks in 2009. Since the card was small and the pictures were even smaller, we thought we'd add a little info on here about each postcard picture.

January 2009

Carter went skiing with Ray for his very first time. Ray has become an avid skier and loves when it snows in our lovely Utah mountains. This trip went nicely for the first few minutes, until Carter decided that skiing is cold. Then it was off to the ski lodge for hot cocoa and warm foot rubs by the fire. Ray said he'll wait a little longer to take Carter out on the mountain again.

February 2009

My buddy, Trina, and I flew to Vegas for a weekend trip. No kids, no husband, no need to wake up early, no hurrying to get dressed, no changing diapers or pull ups, no cleaning up any messes...it was heaven for two stay-at-home moms. We walked the strip, had yummy food, saw some shows, hung out with my friend Roxanne, went shopping... We can't wait to go back!

March 2009

Carter had a Jedi Training Camp birthday party to celebrate turning 7 this year. The kids dressed up in their padawan clothes, practiced using their light sabers, built some Lego star ships, learned how to use The Force...and fought Darth Vader. They looked so adorable in their obi-tartans, don't you think?

March/April 2009

Ray began (again) on the basement. One day it will get completed...about the time we are ready to move out. But hey, at least the tile is down, new doors have been hung, and there's a back splash behind the washer and dryer. Sacred Chinese fortune cookie say 2010 is good year for finished basement, yes good year...

April 2009

Ray and I took a decent picture together...a rare and memorable occasion.

Our very own Easter bunnies. The kids decorated eggs Easter morning. Later that day, we went over to Aunt Melissa and Uncle Brian's for an egg hunt and dinner. Carter is an expert hunter and has learned to set up a drop off station in the corner of the yard to allow him maximum speed during the hunt. Lydia was hesitant, found one plastic egg and carried it around in her basket.

May 2009

The birth of my new business - Up in the Night Scrapbooking Kits. My buddy, Jaime, and I love to scrapbook. We thought it might be fun, challenging and interesting to make scrapbook kits and sell them. It took some brain drain, late nights and finger grease but we think we're on a roll now. We mostly sell on Etsy (www.upinthenight.etsy.com) , but participate in occasional local boutiques, as well. We've ventured into creating other types of paper good products as well, but scrap kits still come first in our book, quite literally.

May 2009

Carter played his first team sport, t-ball. It was a hoot watching all the kids take off after the ball and wrestle each other to the ground. He had a lot of fun, especially when other family members came to watch and cheer him on.

June 2009

Ray and his Arctic Cat 4-wheeler went on a week long adventure following the Piute Trail. He and his friend, Jason, had tons of fun bumping along the trail looking at the beautiful Utah scenery and camping out under the stars. It was a nice long taste of 4-wheeling for him, one he will have to cherish, since he sold his Arctic Cat and old Chevy truck later this year, and used the money to buy a Honda Ridgeline - his dream truck.

July 2009

The hot tub makes a great summer pond for Carter and Lydia every year. The sun heats up the water while the kids float and splash around. Carter got brave and even practiced his under-water breath holding.

August 2009

Classic Skate and Water Park was a hang out of ours this summer. I took the kids over a couple of times a week so they could play in the kiddie pool and slide down the water slides. Ray joined us, too, for a day of family fun. Looking at this picture right now is making me summer-sick!!! Boo to you, Winter.

August 2009

Lydia turned 3 this year! We had to throw a big party and invite everyone...including Bubbles the Clown. We had a fun carnival in the backyard and all of Lydia's little friends came with their moms (and a few dads). Ray's side of the family and some of my friends helped work the different booths. After the kids cashed in their carnival passes, they decorated a prize bag and then went straight into playing the carnival games: shootin' hoops, bowl-a-rama, ring toss, can slam etc... We had snacks like cotton candy, carnival mix, lollipops and popsicles. Face painting and balloon animals were highlights, but the best part of all was BUBBLES! She told jokes, brought Lydia a birthday hat, danced with the kids and blew bubbles. It was so much fun, but thank goodness birthdays are only once a year. I still need a few more months of recovery.

September 2009

Lydia started preschool this year and Carter went into 2nd Grade. Lydia was so excited, mostly about her new backpack. She wouldn't take it off the entire first day of school. Carter picked out this Lego shirt so he would look "too cool for school". Both kids love school!

October 2009

We took a little family hike to the hot springs. It was about 6 miles up and back. I'm not really much of a hiker, but it was actually really fun. Carter saw some moss covering the side of the trail and said, "Now THIS is nature." We wore our swim suits under our clothes so we could just hop into the hot springs once we got there. I felt so granola.

Our dog, Piper, came too. We bought a little 2 year old mixed breed this summer. She had just had puppies and the family who owned her had about 5 other big dogs, plus they wanted to keep a puppy so they were more than happy when we wanted to take her off their hands. She is a really loving dog...I'm still getting used to the whole hair-comes-off-and-sticks-to-our-clothes thing, but we love her and she thinks Ray is the coolest thing on the planet.

October 2009

Halloween -- Boba Fett (Star Wars) and Ariel (The Little Mermaid) came to live at our house for a while. Carter is totally into Star Wars and Boba Fett is definitely his favorite character because of the jet pack he wears. Lydia is crazy for princesses and goes back and forth between which one is her favorite.

That's it for the postcard pics. There are so many more pics we took this year that I haven't blogged. You'll never guess what my New Year's resolution is -- TO BLOG! I'm really gonna do it! So, check back every once in a while and I'll try to have something new for you to read and see. We love you all and sincerely wish you a wonderful year full of good times and great memories.

Scootin'

2009-08-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

In June, Lydia got brave and tried out her brother's old scooter.

It was a good day.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2009-08-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

Ray procured a broken tiller from a guy at work.

It needed a new wheel. The guy traded us for our

broken jet ski. It needed a new motor.

We think we got the better deal.

The kids agree. Carter really thought he was

BIG STUFF

when he was allowed to till the soil for our garden this year.

1st Grade Star Student

2009-08-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

In May, Carter received the Star Student Award

from his first grade teacher, Mrs. Fiskell.

His teacher called to let me know about the award

and when it would be given to him.

She said it is more fun for the kids if it is a surprise.

So here I am...hiding behind two rows of parents,

taking pictures of Carter and his class before the assembly.

When Principal Ichimura announced Carter's name,

he was either chatting with his buddies or zoning out

because it took some prodding from his classmates

to get up him up and moving to the podium for his award.

He was feeling...well...

ECSTATIC

about this unexpected turn of events.

"We're #1! We're #1!"

Checkin' out the loot...

He got a certificate from his teacher for

having "great enthusiasm and willingness to learn."

A couple of restaurants gave him coupons for free meals and treats.

He also got the coveted "star pen".

For the rest of the day, all we heard from Carter was:

"I'm a Star Student!

I can't believe I'm a Star Student!"

This kid's a STAR in our book, with or without

his special paper and pen.

Spring T-Ball

2009-08-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

Spring T-ball 2009 will go down in history as Carter's first team sport. He had to bundle up under his team shirt because it was FREEZING for the first month of Spring in Utah this year. But the excitement of playing kept him as bouncy and energetic as always.

At the first team meeting with his Coach (in the blue coat), he got his t-shirt and cap. The kids decided to call themselves "The Yellow Bees." Seems a logical choice, doesn't it?

He was so nervous. As we walked to the field on the first game day, he kept asking us, "What if I mess up? What if I can't hit the ball? What if I don't do good, Mom?" We tried to calm his fears while showing him how to hold a mitt.

EVERY time someone on the other team hit the ball, EVERY kid on our team would run after it...sometimes wrestling each other to the ground to get it. T-Ball, Wrestling, Football...all in one.

And then it was Carter's turn at bat. I'm not gonna lie. Mama said a little prayer in Carter's behalf...hoping for a good experience. It was a base hit!

Standing on first.

Where to next?

Whew!

Made it to second in the nick of time!

Yippee!!!

Third base means almost there!

Safe and sound and waiting to bat again.

With time, the weather warmed up and Carter's confidence grew. He really got the hang of the game...and even let his coach pitch to him. One time, he hit the ball into far right field. Most importantly, Carter felt super special knowing that his family was there to watch and cheer for him -- especially when Aunt Cristie, Tayla, Aunt Melissa, Drew and Grandma Lynette came to watch and shout, "Go Carter Go!"

Just add BOOTS and a HEAD BAND.

2009-07-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

Lydia's two newest loves:

her pink "sprinkle" (sparkle) HEAD BAND and

her pink rain BOOTS.

She insists on wearing her BOOTS no matter the weather.

The HEAD BAND has to be placed just so..."like a princess."

Whirling and twirling should only be attempted in the proper attire.

Work it girl...

A face well-deserving of all the BOOTS

and HEAD BANDS in the world.

Fillin' Groovy

2009-07-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

In May, Carter received his first

(and - if he didn't get his mom's teeth - his last) filling.

Dr. Martin, our soft-spoken, kind dentist,

knew just exactly how to calm a little boy's nerves...

The look says it all - "Mom... I think I've figured out

why you visit Dr. Martin so often. The dentist's

office is the greatest place on Earth...

if we're still on Earth, that is."

He didn't move a muscle during the entire procedure.

Ya think Carter would go for 5 minutes alone

with the nitrous oxide as a reward for no

cavities on his next check up?

"The World Song" by Lydia

2009-06-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Lydia loves to sing. Her mother, although a huge music fan, has never been much of a singer. Every night Lydia wants Mommy to sing to her before bed. It hasn't been easy for Mom to come up with new (and good sounding) songs, but she keeps trying. This is a song Lydia's Mommy remembers singing in Primary when she was a little girl. After singing it to Lydia once, it quickly became a favorite.

A MommyandDaughter Day in May

2009-06-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

I'm writing to say that one day in May,

Lydia and I wanted to play...

so we got in the car and said "good day"

to Carter P. and his father, Ray.

Ok..that's enough rhyming...doncha say?

But it does tell the story...in a whole different way. HELP!

Obviously, I have been out of the blog-writing business for a while.

So, back to the story --

I took Lydia on our first day of mommy-and-daughter pampering.

We started out with a trip to Fantastic Sam's for hair cuts.

After greeting her stylist, Jen, Lydia was so excited

to be a big girl and hop into her tall black chair...

and then she happily hopped out of it

so she could hop on over to get her hair washed.

Do you think she liked it?

She's getting so big, but she still has those yummy baby cheeks.

Time for the cut! Lots of layers to play up her natural curl.

Checking herself out in the mirror...

Add a little hair gel...and...

TA DAAAA!

Mommy's turn now. "I want lots of layers to play up my natural curl."

Sounds familiar...

We grabbed some Wendy's for lunch and headed home

to dry and fluff our "natural curl"...and of course

take pics of our new do's together.

Squeeze me this tight...sweet baby girl...

even when your yummy baby cheeks are no more.

An Easter Day

2009-05-03T21:53:00.000-07:00

Our church meeting time this year is 1PM, so we were able

to spend our Easter morning eating rollercoasters (German pancakes)

and decorating Easter eggs.
Everyone had a job to do:

Mommy cooked, cleaned, prepared the project and took pictures,

Daddy woke up earlier than he wanted and dyed the eggs,

Carter and Lydia colored stickers and created

egg masterpieces that any hen would be proud to call her own.

A Pink Girl Bunny

A Blue Boy Bunny
Carter wasn't too hip on taking pictures wearing his bunny ears
this year until I said, "Carter likes chicks."
This is the face I got.
Our baby bunnies
Nana sent her grandkids an egg-stra special Easter package
filled with holiday candy, toys, books and clothes.
They had a blast opening it up before it was time to
get ready for church.
Lydia got to pick out her own Easter dress (our new tradition).
I brought 5 dresses into the dressing room,
and when she put this shiny, white, polka-dotted dress on
she twirled around and around in front of the mirror,
swishing it back and forth, and said,
"Look Mommy. My (I'm) a Easter Princess."

Every Easter, the kids take a picture with the same stuffed bunny

to measure how much they have grown that year.
This cute pink and green one was given to Lydia

last year by Gaga (her great grandma).

She fell in love with it instantly so we knew it had
to be "the one."

This year, Lydia was dying to wear the Easter hat

I made to match her dress, which was a welcome

change from last year's hat battle.

Carter got his bunny from Ray's mom when he was only

a month old, so they have been life-long friends.

The Bunny Check Results are in:

this boy has grown way too much for his mommy's liking!

Even his teeth have changed this year!

One last bunny shot before church

Ray and I are some of the lucky ducks

who work in the nursery at church,

so we got to play "Easter-fun-time"

with the kids there, too. After they wiggled

through a 4 minute lesson on Jesus' Resurrection,

they decorated an Egg-On-A-Stick and then

hunted around for plastic yellow chicks filled

with treats.

No matter the occasion,

you just can't go wrong with animal-shaped balloons

and bunches of bubbles.

When it was all over, we hopped on home to change out of our

church duds and into our huntin' gear. This year,

we enjoyed a family dinner and egg hunt at

Ray's sister's house. It's always fun when the

cousins can be together.

"Oh look, kids. The Easter Bunny just happened to hop

on over after dinner and during your walk around

the cul-de-sac with Uncle Ray!"

Carter and Lydia approached the hunt quite differently.

Carter came tearing out into the backyard, basket flying,

ears flapping, screaming "Thank You Easter Bunny" as he

grabbed all the loot he could find.

Lydia, on the other hand, walked to the edge of the deck

holding her fluffy lamb basket, and peered around the yard

as if to say,

"However did such objects get here?

They weren't here before dinner.

I shall bend down and investigate this

tri-colored doo-dad in front of me."

"I have discovered yet another one! Magnificent!"

All the while, Carter ran around,

collecting and gathering everything that he could find.

He even created a stock pile in the corner of the yard,

which he would come back to in order to deposit

his next load of goodies before heading out for more.

Finally, when the last peanut-butter cup was found,

the mothers re-distributed the wealth, filling each kid's basket

with the same number of eggs and toys.

Everyone went home with too much candy

and plenty of happy Easter memories.

Paddock & Son Construction Inc.

2009-04-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

The Project:

Finish Basement (FINALLY!)

The Orders:

Sheetrock walls,

Rip out and discard old linoleum,

Tile floor, backsplash and shelf,

Install new trim,

Paint trim, walls and new doors

The Progress:

Walls sheetrocked,

Linoleum gone,

Tile currently being placed...

(HALF WAY THERE!)

The Workers:
Daddy Ray

Carter Ray

You can't trust this type of job to just anyone...you've gotta have the best.

Work boots and gloves required (blue preferrably).

It's grueling, demanding work with no pay

but ALL the benefits...

Project updates to follow.

Family Tea Time

2009-04-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

One night for FHE, we played "Candyland" per Carter's request.

As we were cleaning up the game, out walked little Lydia with her

Cinderella tea party set her Uncle Brian and Aunt Melissa had

given to her for her birthday last year.

"My turn. I want to play tea party with you Daddy."

A request no loving daddy can refuse, so Ray poured the tea

as Carter passed out the cookies and Lydia set the table.

"Ooooh La La... This sure is a fine cuppa tea, darlin'.

Please pass the suga..."

Lydia is still learning how to pretend.

At first, she would just look inside her cup

wondering just exactly what Daddy was drinking...

...but then she decided to just go along with these crazy people.

"More please..."

"May our cups and our hearts be forever full... Cheers!"

Toad-ally Awesome

2009-04-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

The University of Utah's Museum of Natural History features a
"Toad-ally Awesome" exhibit all about frogs and toads. Carter got a frog terrarium for Christmas so we thought we would go check out all the frogs to help him learn more about his future pet. It's packed with touch-and-feel activities, great for little busy hands and minds.

This one's called "Toadzilla"...are you surprised?

The handlers put the frogs into these plastic bins and let the kids feed them worms and crickets. Lydia was fascinated.

There is a glass-enclosed pond with the center cut out to let you get up close and personal with the frogs as they swim around.

SOOOO many frogs croaking and ribbiting...

They had this spooky witch scene with cut-out faces featuring frogs being used to make potions. "Boil, bubble, toil and trouble...."

The kids enjoyed watching a short play in which these two frog friends, Hipper and Hopper, describe different kinds of frogs, what they eat, where they live and how to protect our froggie friends from harm and extinction.

Awww...Ray's holding the froggie's hand...how special.

The Frog Prince...Lydia said she wanted to become a Frog Princess...but when she kissed it, nothing happened. So she was content to stay Princess Lydia.

Stick your hand in here, little ones. Come on. It's only a slimy, warty frog waiting to lick you with it's sticky, buggy tongue. Actually, it was a rubber toy frog, but it felt very very real!

Inside these bottles were big plastic vitamins. We learned that frogs are full of vitamins and some even provide pain relief and help fight AIDS. There is also a frog with poisonous skin that you can use to make death darts...just in case you need some of those.

Turning on the frog light...would this make the greatest night light in a kid's room or what?

Kiss me, you fool!

This is the frog phone booth. You can make long distance or local calls, all to frogs and toads. When they answer your call, you hear all kinds of different ribbits, croaks and clicks.

"Hello? Hi, I'd like to place an order for some frog legs... I hear they taste like chicken."

Taking a break from their frog lessons.

The moral of the story: Frogs Are People Too!

Happy (Star Wars) Birthday Carter!

2009-04-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

As hooked on Star Wars as Carter is,
there was no surprise here when he announced
that he wanted a Star Wars themed birthday party this year.
He chose two of his favorite school buddies (Zack, Colton),
two of his favorite church buddies (Taelyr, Lizzy),
and his long-time playdate buddy (Lilly)
to join him in celebrating his 7th birthday.
I made the invitations with a picture of Yoda on the front,
and the text inside read:

Star Wars VII

Not so long ago
in a galaxy not so far away,
a boy strong in The Force was born.
For the last seven years he has waited
and now it is time to begin his training. The
Council requests that you join Carter and other
younglings in a quest to become Jedi,

defenders of all things that are right.

The Jedi training was to take place
on Saturday, March 21st from 10 AM-11:30 AM
at the Paddock Jedi Temple.

While we waited for everyone to arrive,
the kids colored Star Wars pictures. In order to become Jedi,
they had to look and act like Jedi.
So, they put on their obitartans and belts.

Their first lesson was in the use of The Force,
the source of all Jedi power.
In this test, their sense of sight was taken away
and they had to rely only upon
their instinct and insight
...which sometimes failed them.
This is no easy skill to acquire.
Then, they were taught the importance
of following orders from the Jedi council.
In a test not unlike the Earth game "Simon Says,"
the Padawans were supposed to do ONLY
what Princess Leia told them to do.
If ONLY Princess Leia had planned out her orders
ahead of time... the house would have been
dust-free with sparkling clean windows
by the time this test was over.
A Jedi must be able to fly a starship with much skill,
but first he/she must have a starship to fly.
So, the younglings practiced by building
their own starship models (out of Legos).
Carter is no stranger to starship making.
We found it fascinating to see the various types
(and shapes) of ships that were being created.
Finally, it was lightsaber time.
It's important for every Jedi Knight
to learn the art of the saber,
but first it must look cute.
Carter found a nice place to stash his saber.
He practiced using The Force
while everyone finished up their lightsabers.
And then...it was time.

Great big asteroids were threatening
to destroy the planet. These Padawans had to work
very hard to keep us all safe.

They celebrated their victory with space cakes,
individual star-shaped cupcakes that they
frosted and decorated and devoured.

Presents were being ripped open,
when suddenly all ears perked to the dark melody of
"duh duh duh...duhdaduh...duhdaduh...duh duh duh...duhdaduh...duhdaduh."
Darth Vader, in all his glory, appeared with light saber in hand,
ready to destroy any "Jedi scum."
(Please excuse Princess Leia's bellowing...
she got a little too excited.)

The battle was intense. Some fell down wounded.
Some fell down laughing. Some worried
that their stickers were falling off.
But all were victorious...
...even Darth.
He decided it was more fun on the good side.
You get cake on the good side.
The most difficult part of the training was over,
but before these Padawans could truly rest,
they were sent down to the dark recesses
of the Jedi Temple wherein lies
a complex training device -- the X-Box.
They practiced the Jedi trait of "sharing"
and each one took a turn playing the Star Wars Legos game.
With goody bags and light sabers in hand,
they each took off for their home planets,
leaving Carter to be the guardian
of the Paddock Jedi Temple.

The Force remains strong with this young Padawan.

He is destined for greatness.

Scrapbook USA Expo 2009

2009-04-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Every 6 months, my fellow scrapbookers
(Jaime and Melissa) and I attend the Scrapbook USA Expo
at the Southe Towne Expo Center.
It's a huge affair dedicated to all things SCRAP.
A few booths sell girly things like clothing, jewelry and candles,
but most of them are stocked full of paper, ribbon, stickers,
stamps, glitter, chip board, pens, sheet protectors...you name it.
If you can stick it in a scrap book,
it's available for purchase at the Expo...
and for a pretty nice price.

This year we decided to go all day Friday, March 20th.
We got to the Expo that day around 9:30 AM
and joined the others waiting in the mile-long line.
At 10 AM, the doors opened and they started herding us all inside.
After purchasing our yellow wrist bands,
we high-tailed it hoping to find an empty table.

We couldn't resist hitting our favorite scrap booths first
to get in on the deals they were offering.
It takes major restraint not to drop
all the dough you brought for the day in the first booth,
but we managed to keep some from flying out our pockets.
After shopping for a few hours, we sat down
to eat our bag lunches and do a little scrapping.
We would hardly get our stuff out and organized,
when another crowd would form indicating a new deal going on...
so of course we had to run over
and see what treasures were being unboxed.

We actually did get a little work done midst all the mayhem.
Jaime and I worked on some baby and Easter pages...
while Melissa shopped (what she does best..haha)
and participated in a class.

We followed tradition and went across the street
to Spaghetti Mamas for dinner. Bread sticks, salad, pasta
and a little ice cream filled us to the brim...
and we were ready to head back and be productive...
until they announced that the DANCE COMPETITION
was about to start.

Melissa is our veteran competitor.
Every Expo, she shakes her booty til it's about to bust off
hoping to win a prize.
Jaime and I always stand on the side-lines,
taking pictures and pointing and laughing at everyone involved.
It's a good time. Usually, they have the competitors
do some sort of country line dance.
Last Expo it was "The Boot Scootin' Boogie."
But this year, as we're walking over to the competition area,
Jaime announced that she, too, wanted to dance.
You just never know when you might win a prize at the Expo.

Her heart started beating irradically
and her palms began dripping with sweat.
The nervousness really took over
the second she heard the people in charge
decide to change the country line dance
to regular club dancing!!!
How does a little mama in Utah go clubbin'?
I would have joined them, ya know,
but I had to hold the coats...
and take the blackmail pictures.

You can see they really got jiggy wit it.
They were tough competitors,
spinning and twirling and jiving all over the floor...
and then they strategically planted themselves
in front of the judge's table.
As soon as "Mambo #5" ended,
the judges began discussing technique, showmanship,
and costuming, making sure to review the tape
so they didn't miss anything important.
After much intense scrutinizing,
the judges chose 8 people to "wow" us in the final round
dancing to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce.
Jaime was one of them.
This is what "oh crap" looks like.

But, in the words of American Idol judge
Mr. Randy Jackson...

"She did her thing, dog. That was hot, yo."

"She really worked it out.
Jaime-dog is in the hoooouuuuse."

She even won 3rd place!
No one was more surprised than Jaime.
Any humiliation she had experienced
was forgotten (until this posting)
as soon as she was presented with a pink and brown tote bag,
some overlay pages and a detailing tool
I had already bought her for her birthday last year.

It was time for serious business
now that all that shopping, eating and dancing was over.
We had a good 3 hours left to get some layouts done...
and that's exactly what we did.
Midnight came too quickly for us though,
and we ended up being some of the last people
to leave the Expo Center, lugging our bags, and carts,
and purses out the door.

Diggin' Da Donut

2009-04-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

One day at the store, I let Lydia pick out a donut because she had been such a good girl while we were shopping...and because they looked so good and Mommy wanted a donut. She picked out a gooey chocolatey-topped one with green sprinkles (for St. Patrick's Day). I told her she had to wait until we got home to eat it because it would make her all messy. She made sure that that little white bag containing her prize was safe and secure in her lap until we got home. I put it on a plate for her and told her to dig in while I unloaded the groceries. I got so involved in what I was doing, I kinda forgot about Lydia and her donut. I would talk to her, but I never really looked at her until I finally did...and this is what I saw...

She ate her entire donut this way...using only her mouth! She knew Mommy didn't want her to get messy so she thought she had figured out the perfect solution.

Yeah...her hands are clean. But do you think she has any idea what her face looks like? When I asked her where her donut went she said, "Right here, Mom. (opening her mouth) Can I have a pink one? I won't make messes, K?"

Snow White For A Day

2009-03-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Lydia was so happy to go to her friend Shaden's 3 year birthday party on March 9th. The theme was "The Disney Channel"...so everyone was asked to wear something Disney-ish. We were in luck! Lydia's buddy, Makenna, had given her this Snow White dress-up outfit last year for her 2 year birthday. She loved clickity-clacking around in her plastic red heels.

I curled her hair for the very first time.

When we got to the party, the kids were busy coloring pictures of Disney characters.

The birthday boy, Shaden (in the right hand corner), dressed up as "Troy" from High School Musical. His second choice was "Cruella D' Vil" from 101 Dalmations and I would have done pretty much anything to be able to see that, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Makenna dressed up as "Cinderella"...or as she has called herself... "Kennarella."

So, Lydia jumped right in. Looks like she was in a hurry to get this picture done...both hands are scribbling away.

She kept peeking at all those yummy looking cupcakes lined up on the counter...and asked Shaden's mom for one about every 5 minutes.

Lydia had an awesome time being Snow White for the day. As she daintily waved goodbye, the birds started chirping, the bunnies started thumping, and if you listened closely you could hear...
"Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's off to NAP she go..."

The Ca(r)t(er) in The Hat

2009-03-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

The First Grade all walked out after school wearing the cutest hats. They were celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday so their teachers helped them make hats like the one worn by Dr. Seuss' most famous creation... The Cat in The Hat. Basically it's just the outter rim of a paper plate stapled to a piece of red construction paper. Two strips of white paper were glued to the top and bottom. This will have to be a memory only a photograph can show because this thing isn't gonna fit in any scrapbook I know of.

Carter was so proud of his creation, even though he is deathly afraid of The Cat in The Hat and we have had to hide anything and everything that pictures his goofy, furry face on it or he has nightmares galore.

It is fun to wear a hat

it you don't mind too much that

the bat living in your hat

uses your hair for a mat.

-- Leah Paddock, Dr. Seuss Under-Study

Vegas Baby!!!

2009-03-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

(This post has a lot of journaling...but I thought I would do it right since one day I want to print my blog into a scrapbook...Feel free to skip any and all parts that bore you.)

A very dear buddy and I were chatting on the phone one day in November last year. We were talking about how we need a vacation and never get to go anywhere without our kids. What happened to come to mind? A trip to Vegas...just us! So, we thought a good way to get the approval from the hubbies was by asking them to let it be our Christmas present this year, saving them all the trouble of thinking up, locating and wrapping an actual Christmas gift for the wife, a dreaded activity for most hubbies. Plus, we wouldn't want to take this one back, for sure!

So, Trina (who lives in California) and I decided to plan our adventure for the weekend of February 20-22. She flew to the Salt Lake airport from Fresno, and we both caught the next flight out to Vegas. We had hoped to sit together, but she got upgraded for free to First Class and I was stuck in the back with the rest of the cattle sitting next to two smokey old ladies who tried to fill me in on where to find the best all-you-can-eat buffets, cheap drinks, and the loosest jackpot slots in Vegas. I was only half-interested in the buffet talk, so I pulled out "Water For Elephants" that I had just purchased in the SLC airport bookstore before take-off. Their blabbering was muted as I got lost in the world of a Depression-era circus and a man who traveled around as its veterinarian.

We got off the plane in Vegas and found our luggage, as well as our ride. My sweet mission companion, Roxanne, who lives in Henderson, picked us up at the airport and took us to the hotel to check in. We chose the Monte Carlo for our stay because Trina had stayed there before and liked it, plus we got free Cirque tickets if we chose to stay there...and who wouldn't want free Cirque tickets? After checking in, we drove into Henderson and ate some under-cooked Chinese food and watched the movie "Push." We said "good night" to Roxanne as she dropped us off at the hotel, and we headed for the elevators to go UP, UP, UP to our room.

Then the realization hit us...tonight there would be no need to cajole, threaten or plead with any little ones to get into their jammies, brush their teeth, and sleep in their beds! We wouldn't need to walk around, picking things up and putting things away. We were going to get an uninterrupted night's sleep in our own queen-sized beds! We were going to get to sleep in as late as we wanted! In the morning, we could take as long a shower as our little hearts desired, and then actually do our make-up and hair to the point of feeling presentable! Who cares about slots when you can have sleep!

The next day, we eventually called Rox to come pick us up for breakfast, and while we were waiting in the hotel lobby, two guys wearing funky sunglasses (hiding their Friday-night-hangover eyes) came into the hotel. One of them said, "OH! Wait a second. Hold on here. I gotta have a group hug from you two." See what happens when you get the time to do your make-up and hair? We blessed him with a hug and sent him on his way. Rox got there before anything else too strange happened and we went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. We stuffed ourselves silly and bought a big box of muffins to take back to the hotel to snack on later. Then, we were off to go SHOPPING.

Most people have been to a Ross in their home towns, but you haven't gotten the full Ross experience until you go to the Ross in Henderson. It is packed with great finds at great prices. Our carts were spilling over...which made us realize again that we didn't have to make room for the diaper bag and a little one sitting in the cart asking for snacks and books and toys. We were actually going to be able to try on every single one of these clothing items, none of this "just-buy-it-and-try-it-on-at-home-cuz-my-kid-won't-be-good-long-enough-in-the-dressing-room" business. We bought shirts, and pants, and purses, and vests and skirts...and Roxanne even bought an apron. But we did NOT let ourselves shop in the kid department, because if we had, we would have found too many cute things for our kids that we just couldn't NOT buy and then it would be "bye-bye" to our own shirts, and pants, and purses, and vests and skirts. We had so much fun that we went on to shop at Marshall's and Nordstrom Rack. The trunk of Rox's car was overflowing after we were done.

Before going to dinner, we stopped at Roxie's house to visit with her hubby and son for a bit which is always entertaining. Scott made us watch some Japanese TV Games with him and we took the tour of little Shaw's bedroom. Rox is always decorating and re-decorating her house...and it always looks so cute. We decided we needed to start taking pictures of this great trip, so here's one of Trina, Roxanne and me.

We went to Claim Jumper for dinner, which was heavenly, and then Rox dropped us off at our hotel for the night. She was so great to cart us around and show us the town.

We saved our "sight-seeing" for the next day, Sunday. Here we are in front of the Monte Carlo.

I think it's mandatory for all Vegas tourists to take a picture of Green M&M in front of the M&M store. It's not every day that you see living, breathing chocolate.

We cheated a little bit. I mean...don't get me wrong. We walked our tooshies off (Trina had some major blisters that were big enough and painful enough for us to stop and buy her some flip flops on The Strip). But we weren't about to pass up taking the monorail every now and again.

As we were walking back to our room to change into our "night" clothes, two guys walked by carrying gallon-sized margaritas and offered us a sip. How kind of them to share. We said we hadn't eaten dinner yet, but thanks. One of the guys said, "It makes you lose weight. I've lost 10 pounds already." Although that made it really tempting, we resisted and headed for the buffet.

Sunday night, we cashed in the free tickets our hotel gave to us and saw the Cirque du Soliel show, "Love." The music of the Beatles is so timeless and you just couldn't keep yourself from singing and dancing in your seat. Of course, the Cirque performers were amazing, jumping and hanging and spinning all over the stage. Afterwards, we bought the show's soundtrack and took some Beatlesque pictures.

We strolled back to the hotel, checking out the Vegas night life along the way. We tried our best to ignore the young Mexican guys standing along the sidewalk offering free index cards of nearly, almost, basically naked women. I mean, seriously guys, I can see that every day in my mirror if I wanted to. Got any pics of Edward in that stack?

The next day, we packed and re-packed our suitcases, trying to shove everything in. We started to worry that it might be necessary for us to wear multiple layers of shirts, pants, purses, vests and skirts onto the plane, but Lady Luck was on our side and we were able to fit it all into our suitcases.

We ate the last of our Mimi's muffins, and hopped into a cab headed for the airport.

I started clicking away at the scenery as we passed by.

The Excalibur

The NY NY

Trina wasn't so special on the flight home, so she had to sit by me in the cheap seats...and an old guy...who was so happy she was sitting next to him looking so good that he couldn't help but wink at her. I told her this was her one last chance to make a Vegas memory, but she said she would rather not have that memory rotting inside her mind forever. So we watched Twilight on the laptop and let Edward fill us with beautiful vampire thoughts.

As we watched the sparkling lights of the Vegas Strip dim and fade into the night, we braced ourselves for the approaching reality of mom and wife duties. Our normal lives of diapers, dishes, dinner and discipline waited for us in all their beaming, bouncing mussy-haired glory. But we had filled ourselves with sleep and style and we were ready to take it all on. We didn't say "goodbye" to Las Vegas, we only said "till we meet again."

HOLY SHNIKIES -- IT'S BEEN OVER A MONTH?!?!

2009-03-23T18:13:00.001-07:00

Ok...This is a lame blog entry. But I wanted to say I am shocked and disgusted with myself for having not entered any posts since February 5?!?! What the.... I will be catching up big time in the next week so be watching for some Paddock Place posts coming your way. I know you won't be able to sleep until then, but do try.

10 Lydia-isms

2009-02-05T14:37:00.000-08:00

During the past few months, Lydia has entertained us with some
of her habits and sayings.

1. One day, she brought me a bag of cookies from the pantry
and said, "Only one cookie, OK?" After I gave her one, she walked
away munching on it, carrying the bag of cookies with her. A few
minutes later, she came back and said, "Only one cookie, OK?"

2. I was giving her lots of smooches one day when Lydia turned to me
and said, "Don't bother me fly."

3. Lydia can often be heard saying -- "Can I...?" Examples include:
"Can I have some chocolate... in my mouth... on my tongue?"
"Can I do it all by myself... just Lydia?"

4. It's pretty cute the way she is still figuring out sentence structure.
She has said -- "Don't be a weird, Carter." "That sounds like funny."

5. After watching one of her kid shows about the zoo,
she came up to me and said, "I need to hug a giraffe."

6. She is infatuated with spelling words. When we hear
"How do you spell...?" its an adventure waiting to hear
what new wild word she wants to know about. Words
we have already been asked to spell include: guacamole,
radar, zebra, every person's name in our whole extended family,
Darth Vader, annoying.

7. Lydia loves to sing. She knows all the words to
"I Am A Child Of God," "Families Can Be Together Forever,"
"The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "You Are My Sunshine." She is close
to mastering "(It's Too Late to) Apologize" by One Republic and
"Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay.

8. Because of her brother's love for Star Wars, she now knows
every character in it, so we hear things like --"That's Master Yoda.
He's a good guy." She sounds really cute trying to say
"Obi-wan Kenobi"... I can't even write how she says it.

9. She has about 10 stuffed animal doggies she sleeps with
every night. Of course, she has named all of them, like
"Spots Doggie," "Cat Doggie," and "Blue Doggie."
When she wakes up in the morning, she places them in a line
between the top of her crib railing and the wall,
so they can see what's going on in her room that day.

10. Every night, Lydia makes up her mind who is going to put
her to bed. Most of the time we hear, "It's Moooommy's tuuuurn."
Once in a while, she lets Daddy do it, but I guess we know who she
loves the best.

OH......ALRIGHT! She loves us both. " It's Daaaady's tuuuurn."

So Very Cute, So Little Time

2009-02-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

I wish I had known ahead of time that the kids

were going to look so cute and coordinated this day.

I would have left time in our pre-church schedule

to take more and better pictures of them,

posed all cute-like in fashion forward stances,

instead of, "Carter, drop your church bag. Get Lydia.

Go stand over there and say 'Cheesers'."

I guess I should count my two-picture blessing though.

Our own Frosty the Snowman

2009-02-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

This winter season, the snow was so powdery

that it was quite a while before we could build a snowman.

We had to wait for the sun to come out

and melt it so it would stick together.

After searching the backyard, we found suitable snowman attire.

With cookies for eyes and buttons, raisens for a mouth,

and a carrot for a nose, Frosty was looking good enough to eat.

At Carter's insistence, we stood in a circle around our creation,

held hands and sang "Frosty The Snowman."

He didn't come to life, but stood gaurd in our backyard

for a few days until his head fell off.

A Four-Wheeler, A Bungee Cord, A Sled

2009-02-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

Unlike some of you

(uuuhhh-uuummm...yeah, you, Californians over there),

our family didn't have to travel very far this December and January

in order to "play" in the snow. We just stuffed ourselves

into multiple layers of padding, snow boots and hats...

and walked outside our front door into a freakin' blizzard!

(Don't you love how I use the word "we"...

as if I were part of the insanity.)

All bundled up and lovin' it.

Carter and Lydia...Are you ready?

Get set!?!

GOOOOO!!!

After a few traffic delays, they were able to ride like the wind!

Lydia kept falling off. She couldn't hold on very well with two pairs of

gloves on, so Ray swooped her up to ride on the 4-wheeler with him.

Looks like they had a great time, and so did I

while snapping pics of them from the safe warm haven

of my wood-burning-stove-lit living room and fluffy slippers.

(Hey! What can I say? I'm a Californian.)

Christmasy Stuff

2009-01-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

So, since time flies so fast and Christmas '09

is practically around the corner,

and I haven't even posted Christmas '08, I decided the best plan

of attack for playing catch up is to just throw on a few photos

depicting some of the Christmasy activities we did and call it good.

Maybe later, if I feel up to it, I'll come back to this post

and garnish it with play-by-play photos and in-depth stories,

but for today...this is all I've got in me.

To start off the holiday season, our stockings were hung

on the wall with care,

because we actually like to use our wood-burning stove

without burning the house down.

Every year, Carter gets to decorate this little tree,

and he does a marvelous job

making it look lovingly lopsided. It was originally Ray's

bachelor Christmas tree and I made these felt ornaments

the first year we were married.

Ray's sister, Melissa, and her husband, Brian,

have it in real tight with Santa

so for the past few years Santa has paid a special

pre-Christmas visit to all the kids on Ray's side of the family.

He always brings some cute props for the kids

to wear and we sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Then he hauls in his big red sack and presents each kid

with a gift to tide them over until Christmas morning.

The kids always try very hard to catch him flying off

into the night on his sleigh, but he's just too fast...

probably magically invisible too...

or maybe they were busy looking out the wrong window

and not seeing him hop into his blue Chevy truck.

We watched Carter sing his little guts out

with the rest of the first graders at Heartland Elementary

during their Christmas program. They sang a few songs including

Feliz Navidad (Carter's favorite),

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

(a must-have for a group full of toothless grins),

and Rudolph.

This year, we stayed at home in Utah to celebrate Christmas,

a brand new thing, never before done in the history

of Ray and Leah Paddock's married life.

It has always been agreed upon that Thanksgiving

was to be with Ray's side of the family here in Utah

and Christmas was with my side in California.

However, the distance, cost and time of the whole trip

has worn out its welcome,

so now we have decided to travel every other year.

And although we REALLY missed our family and friends out there,

we had such a peaceful, stress-free Christmas in our own home.

Nothing beats waking up in your own bed on Christmas morning either.

I wonder how a king-size will look

balanced on the roof of our Stratus next year...

I love old family traditions, but since we were apart

from the "old family" this year,

we had to come up with some traditions of our own.

This isn't anything clever or different, but we are proud of ourselves

for finally decorating some sugar cookies on Christmas Eve

to leave out for Santa... you know,

...the whole bribery thing...

The kids were pretty sure Santa fell for it, too.

Carter was overjoyed to get lots of Star Wars stuff...

...and Lydia rode all over the place and back on her horsey.

She got exactly what she asked Santa for --

"a pink and purple present."

Besides the stuff Santa brought us, we were given many wonderful,

thoughtful gifts from our family and friends. We feel so blessed

to have such sweet and giving people in our lives.

Your love will always be the best gift...

...even if Carter did fall head-over-heels for the mega-sized box

of Star Wars Legos Nana sent him...

...and Lydia squealed with joy when she opened up

the lip gloss Aunt Tee-Tee gave her and

the apron with little pockets for crayons

that Gaga sent her.

We surely had a Merry Christmas

and pray heartily for a happy year.

As Tiny says, "God bless us, everyone!"

Paddock Family Pictures at Murray Park

2009-01-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

This year we attempted to take pictures with

Ray's side of the family at Murray Park.

This was the best take of the whole group

(check out Lydia's eyes...can we say "photoshop").

Second to the left is Ray's sister, Cristie,

with her daughter, Tayla (5), and her boyfriend, Rian.

Then our little family.

Next is Ray's mom, Carolyn.

And finally there is Melissa, Ray's other sister,

her son, Drew (2), and her husband, Brian.

Ray's idea for a group head shot of the kids...

Lydia loving the sunshine...

ONE... TWO... THREE....

GO!!!
Is Fall fun, or what?
Lydia and Drew helping each other climb up the hill.

Carter and Tayla have always been best buddies.
I love this little boy.
Me and my little man...
A Grandma and her grandkids...
Ray took this one of Lydia. He says it shows her curiosity and innocence.
To me, it looks like she is saying, "huh?" but it's still cute.
"Are we done yet?"
Yep...until next year...(whew)...

A Sweet and Spicy Sunday

2009-01-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

Here is our handsome,
SWEET,

and happy little boy before church.

Here is our "so pretty" and very spicy daughter on the same Sunday....

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!"

"I don't want to take a picture."

"I don't want to look so pretty."

"I need green binkie."

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!"

A parent's life is so flavorful, isn't it?

By the way, you should see Lydia when I play this video back for her now. She shakes her head, scrunches up her face, stares with unbelieving eyes and says, "No more screaming."

Region Volleyball Winners -- That's US!

2008-12-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

(read in a sing-songy braggart's voice)

"Uh-huh.."

"Oh yeah."

"That's right."

"We won."

"We kicked booty."

Just a coupla volleyball gals who won regions ...
PS.... "We are the champions...We are the champions... NO time for losen, cuz we are the champions... of VOLLEYBALL!"
PPS..... We won.

Gaga's Impossible Pumpkin Pie ------------------------ The Crust-less Wonder

2008-11-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

Growing up in California, Thanksgiving was always celebrated at Gaga's (that's the nickname I gave my grandma when I was little). We would usually eat at 1PM and have some typical Thanksgiving foods...turkey, rolls, jello salad...

My Gaga is half Italian and half French, while

her hubby, Papa, is full Portuguese, so we also had things like torta, Portuguese beans, asparagus and my favorite... ravioli. For dessert, she would often serve biscotti and a wide assortment of homemade pies...apple, chocolate pudding, pecan, and of course...pumpkin.

After marrying Ray and moving to Utah 8 years ago, I have since spent Thanksgiving with Ray's side of the family. To go along with the turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes and rolls, they always serve a cranberry/orange salad.

I have to say, their Thanksgiving is pretty static. The same exact foods are expected to be on that table or some one's gonna pay. For example, I offered to bring drinks (along with other foods) this year and I was told, "We always just have water on Thanksgiving." It's a pretty tough crowd, but with some gentle persuasion, I have slowly started infiltrating their traditional foods with some of mine from growing up. I began by bringing Gaga's yams. After a few years of hearing, "What are these?" and "Where's the mashed potatoes and gravy?" I now hear, "You're bringing the yams, right?"

So, about 2 years ago, I presented Gaga's Impossible Pumpkin Pie to the Paddock clan and it went over quite well. It is the best pumpkin pie I, personally, have ever had. It's delicious in its simplicity. You pretty much toss all the ingredients into a blender, then pour that into a pie plate and bake it. No crust to roll out and cut. And, seriously, about half the people I know don't even like eating pie crust.

You should really try it. This is some dang good pie. Ray's family has even requested it this year, although I have been instructed that all pumpkin pie must be served with homemade whipped cream...so I'll be serving that along with it (although Gaga never did).

Check out who else really digs it:

Lydia and Carter posing with the Impossible Pumpkin Pie we took to Thanksgiving last year.
Any guesses as to what Lydia is thinking here? My thoughts are along the lines of..."This is all the pie I get?"

Impossible Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup Bisquick

2 Tbsp margarine

1 can (16 oz.) pumpkin

1 can evaporated milk

2 eggs

2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9-inch pie plate.

Put all ingredients in a blender and beat for 1 minute until smooth.

Pour into pie plate.

Bake until knife in center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.

The Twilight Premiere...It Came. We Saw. It Rocked.

2008-11-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

Last night, at midnight to be precise, the torturous wait ended.

Twilight, the movie, is finally here and I'm not gonna lie -

I wasn't patient in waiting for it to come.

Some friends (April, Melissa and Jaime) and I got tickets to go

see the midnight premiere in Theatre 10 at The District.

We were all so giddy to be there that you'd think it was Comedy Central, we giggled so much. Who says the story was merely created to entertain teenagers?

Immature moms in their thirties can obsess over it just as much, can't they?

"Eeeeeeedward...come dazzle me, Edward."

So, this is me with evil Victoria (really its just nice Nikki who bought out our theatre and filled it with her friends and friends of friends). If you hadn't paid for your $9.00 ticket, her eyes burned bright red (after she sucked out all your blood, of course). There were people dressed as other characters in the story as well...some Bellas, a few Alices and a great Edward.
Some gals even came wearing prom dresses in reverence to the story's prom scene.
I, myself, made this snazzy, sparkly, oh-so-pretty Twilight shirt. I had such sweet dreams last night...when I finally got to bed at 3 AM. But I have a bad case of Twilight Withdrawals today.
MUST... SEE ... AGAIN... NOW. I purposefully refrained from reading the book over and over until the movie had come out so that I didn't sit and compare the two the whole time I watched. There are a few improvements that could be made, but in my opinion, it was totally worth the viewing. Hmmmm.... Tonight sounds good.

Two Pint-Sized Homies Gettin' Jiggy Wit It

2008-11-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share a video clip I absolutely

LOVE that shows two of my favorite people

dancing in the kitchen. I LOVE Carter's smoooooth

basketball and boxing inspired moves.

I also LOVE Lydia's shuffle 2-step...her Dog-Dog

boppin' right along with her.

My 8 Thingamajigs

2008-11-15T19:15:00.000-08:00

My 8 Thingamajigs

(Tagged by Kay)

8 -- FAVORITE TV SHOWS

So You Think You Can Dance

American Idol

Scrubs

King of Queens

Project Runway

Top Design

Janice Dickensen Modeling Agency

8 -- FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

I seriously don't have any favorites and I know that is just sad. I'll try though...

Does McDonald's count? They have an indoor playland and kid's meals and dollar sundaes. Did you know that?

I do like Sweet Tomatoes.

I like Pier 49 pizza...sourdough crust.

The lasagna at Spaghetti Factory and at Johnny Carino's is good.

Once upon a time I used to like Ruby River Steakhouse but that was before MEAT became a nasty four letter word in our house when Ray became a vegetarian a few years ago.

Man...I'm up for any suggestions from you guys. This is pathetic.

8 -- THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

played 3 games of region volleyball

prepared our clothing for family pictures (taken today)

babysat my nephew Drewbug

dropped off and picked up Carter from school

made breakfast/cleaned up breakfast

made lunch/ cleaned up lunch

made dinner/ cleaned up dinner

did 3 loads of laundry...love that Ultra Downy smell

8 -- THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO

staying forever 29 (celebrating my static birthday this week)

Twilight movie... opening night

Christmas morning

Carter getting the priesthood

seeing my kids grow into being even more amazing people

meeting my grandkids and loving them...rotten!

going on a couples mission

getting my hair done (this needs to happen sooner rather than later)

8 -- THINGS ON MY WISHLIST

a trip to London to see "Les Mis"

a decent book... written by me

my scrapbooks all caught up

a nice dent made into my family history/temple work

our 10 year anniversary spent where we had our honeymoon...in Hawaii

a bigger nicer house (I mean...it doesn't get much better than this one, right?...)

a mouth of perfect teeth

A FREAKIN' BUTTLOAD OF MONEY IN THE BANK

8 -- PEOPLE I'M TAGGING (so sorry friends...if I'm allowed to still call you that)

Melissa S.

Becca B.

Kellie C.

Jaime C. (you know you want to)

Robin M.

Lorraine B.

Mollie F.

Cathi C.

Oh Blessed Broccoli Day!

2008-11-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

Oh Blessed Broccoli Day!

How thou hast shined thine bright beacon upon this fine abode

and delivered unto its inhabitants a green more precious than gold.

YES! That's right. Your eyes have not deceived you. My kids are EATING BROCCOLI! Lydia has always been a lover of the veggies..but Carter...not even close. Like corn-on-the-cob was pushin' it for Carter and vegetables. This past month, however, we visited with some friends whose son loves broccoli. Carter witnessed a kid who didn't need to be bribed, cajoled, begged, threatened or disciplined in order to get the green stuff in his mouth.

The craziness really started happening one night when Ray made a bowl of broccoli as an after dinner snack (yeah...yeah...me and my bowl of Rocky Road ice cream) and Carter asked, "What is that?" Ray said, "Just try some. Here's a little one." Carter ate it....and said....(are you ready for this?)...."YUMMY. Can I have some more?" He then proceeded to eat the rest. Then, the next day (Sunday), he asked for some for lunch. Then that night he asked for some for dinner. I figured that three broccoli meals in a row couldn't hurt too much, so I dug through a bag of Costco stir-fry and made what you see above....broccoli, mashed potatoes, and apples (seriously...check it out...not a chicken nugget, hot dog or bowl of mac-and-cheese in sight!)

Well, the next night, I decided to try my luck and offered him some snap peas and baby corns (also in the Costco stir-fry). He was hesitant, but at the end of our Monday night dinner the foreign foods were gone from his plate. Maybe I'm just livin' in dreamland and they are actually stuffed underneath his chairpad. I'm just too happy right now to burst the broccoli bubble.

Old Hallow's Eve '08

2008-11-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

A short time ago, in a galaxy close close by, a little girl and a big boy dressed up as...

Princess Leia and Darth Vader for Halloween.

After seeing Star Wars Part 4 for the first time a few months ago, Carter instantly fell in love with all things Star Wars. He knew that he HAD to be Darth Vader (or "Dark Laser" - what he thought the name was at first) for Halloween. He practiced his "coooooooooo-keeeeeeeee" breathing, "duh-duh-duh....duhdaduh-duhdaduh" tune and brushed up on his lightsaber (or "lifesaver" - what he thought it was called at first) skills.

I figure that this year will probably be the last time I get to pick out Lydia's costume so I went with the Star Wars theme as well. She didn't mind wearing the hair/hat, but she did sometimes slip and call herself "Princess Lydia."

After a short battle between the Dark and (sticky) Light side of the Force, we jumped aboard our spacecraft and flew off ...

...to a little Halloween gathering in a friend's backyard. When we landed, we were greeted by a ladybug, two rockets, a spider, a cowboy on his horse and a pirate princess.

Then, it was finally time to trick-or-treat.

We met up with Darth and Leia's cousins,

Hannah Montana (Tayla - 5) and Count Spider (Drew - 2).

It was every one's first time doing actual door-to-door trick-or-treating,

except for Tayla. They all caught on really fast though..imagine that.

The kids had so much fun sampling candy from every bowl in the neighborhood and our lightsabers really did save us from

stubbing our toes in the dark streets.

Well...another Halloween may have come and gone, but its sweet memories will live on and on...

hmm...just like the Force. So........May The Force Be With You.

You knew that was coming, right?

Heartland Halloween Parade and Party

2008-11-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Carter's school parade and class party was held

the day before Halloween.
Lydia and I dressed up as Funky Witch Sisters.

Ray's mom, Carolyn, joined us too. When we got to the school auditorium, we met up with Lydia's friend Brigette (and her mommy and daddy). Wacky witches were everywhere!

Then... in walked Darth Vader...not his usual scary self since he was mask-and-lightsaber-free...

... but as handsome as ever.

Carter's teacher, Mrs. Fiskell, asked me to organize the class party this year. I called a few students' moms who volunteered to help and others who offered to donate items.

The kids were split up into 4 groups and the room was split up into 4 stations with a different activity at each station. Every 15 minutes the groups would rotate. Carter loves decorating sugar cookies so he really liked this station.

Another big hit was Musical Chairs. Every kid got to pick a goody out of the prize bag when they "won" (or got kicked off a chair...they didn't know that wasn't really winning).

Halloween Bingo had its high points too, including getting to eat all the candy corn you used for marking your board. (The last station was Pin-the-Nose-on-the-Jack-O-Lantern...but in all the hubbub I forgot to get a picture of it. Just imagine it and...yep...

that's pretty much what it looked like.)

Finally, one last moment with Mrs. Fiskell before Halloween is over and it's back

to the tough grind of 1st Grade.

Lydia's First OFFICIAL Hair-Cut

2008-11-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

I took Lydia to get her first "big girl" hair-cut this month. I've cut her bangs (yes..that's why they look like that) but I'm too chicken to do much else. Carter liked his visit to Cookie Cutters kid salon so much I knew that would be the perfect place to take Lydia.

Enjoying the playland while we wait.

The chair/car that Lydia picked. She also chose to watch a Baby Einsteins video.

After a few "ahuggamamas," she realized I wasn't leaving her here in Reality Candyland and turned her attention to Tiffany, our friendly stylist. All that pickin' and choosin', however, didn't add up to much when it was time to start. She had to be bribed with a lollipop just to sit in the car. Then, she absolutely refused to put on the anti-itch bib thingy...no matter how hard Tiffany tried to make wearing it look like a SUPER FUN adventure.

I'm pretty sure Tiffany used every trick in the book to get this little girl's hair cut...."Let's do the ABC's"..."Do you want to look like a princess? Which princess is your favorite?"... "If you let me cut your hair, you can pick out a balloon"... "How's twenty bucks sound, kid?"

Oh... Happy Day! With balloon and lollipop in hand, we had time for one last trip down the slide before saying goodbye to our new friend. Don't worry though. We'll be ba-aaaaack...if we haven't been placed on the official kiddie salon blacklist... that is.

Raggedy Ann and The Little Girl Who Said "Uh-Uh"

2008-10-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the library for storytime children.

Today we have a special guest to help read our books. Look who it is! It's Raggedy Ann...that loveable soft rag doll with the happy smiley face. Her heart is even made of sweet sweet candy! Let's read some stories with our friend Raggedy Ann. Scoot up nice and close.

"Ahuggamama. No way. Uh-uh. No Ann," says Lydia.

"Won't you be my friend?" asks Raggedy Ann.

"UH-UH! Are you nuts? Have you seen yourself? You're a big freak with red string for hair! I'm gettin' far far away before you eat me," thought Lydia.

"See! Mommy likes me. Won't you be my friend too?"

pleads Raggedy Ann.

"Uh-uh," Lydia says...as she thinks, "Dream on sister."

So You Think You Can Dance...Dance...Dance...Dance...

2008-10-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

As a hugemungous fan of "So You Think You Can Dance," it was my pleasure to see the show on tour when it came to the E Center in September. Every dancer is so talented and brings their own flavor to the performances. This past season, 3 Utah dancers made it to the Top 12, so you can imagine the roaring applause that shook the theater every time they took the stage. The winner of the whole shebang was Joshua (a hip hop dancer from Texas). He and a contemporary dancer named Katee were my favorites, though I really enjoy them all. The tour helped to lessen the serious debilitating depression I enter at the end of every season. And now I can relive it all every time I look at my precious $5 tour keychain.

Some self-shot photos (like you can't tell) of Jen and I being dorks.

An unsuccessful attempt at taking a picture of Jen, Becca, Melissa and myself...but a good shot of the crazy kids sitting behind us. I'm thinking maybe Melissa will post some of her nice pics from our fun night (hint hint).

Hot Diggity Dog - He Lost Another One!

2008-09-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

Carter lost another tooth...which means four cute little baby teeth are gone now. I know I'm a sap but with each lost tooth I feel a bit of a loss too...like any baby part of him that's there is now being lost right before my eyes. Now big person teeth are going to grow in and maybe for a few years he will sport that cool look when your teeth are bigger than the rest of your face. In the meantime, his biggest challenge will be eating anything that requires biting....corn on the cob, apples, hot dogs... Gotta love those growing up years. Just wish I could slow them down a bit.

Tag -- I'm It!!!

2008-09-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

My good pal Melissa Stevens "tagged" me on her blog...which means I get to tag other people now...so watch out blogging friends! Pay close attention to the next little paragraph of rules since you might need to follow them yourself soon! :) The link to her blog is: http://snippetsofthestevens.blogspot.com...

Here are the rules:

1. Post a link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag a few blogging friends. Let each person you want to tag know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blog site under the latest posting.
5. Let your tagger know when you have posted the "6 random things about yourself" on your blog.

OK, here goes nothin' (seriously, I hate talking about myself on this thing):

1. I have a phone phobia. I am scared that when it rings, if I answer it, it is like a bomb and it will explode and kill my whole household of innocents. So...in order to save myself and all people who depend on me for their survival, I cannot answer the telephone. That sounds like a better reason for me not ever answering the phone than the real one..which is that I am too lazy to stop what I am doing and go get a ringing telephone. Talking on the phone can be so uncomfortable too. My outer ear starts hurting and my arm gets all pins and needly. My kids don't make it any easier for me to like it. Right when I get on the phone they desperately need to talk to me right this very second. So, pretty much if you want me, email. Or call and leave a message, and expect me to call you back after a while...it takes time to decide which wire to cut in order to stop the ticking countdown.

2. I am often stumped when asked to answer the question: "What is your home town?" Do I answer Utah or California? You see, I was born in Utah and lived here for the first 4 years of my life, moved to California and lived there for the next 13 years, went to college back here in Utah for 4 1/2 years, moved back to Cali for a year to teach Junior High and get married, came back to Utah and have lived here for over 8 years now. So, where am I really from? Am I a Utahn or Californian? When I am in Cali, people tease me about my slower speaking speed and slang words like "freakin'" and "sweet" and any word where I drop the -g ending, like "goin'" "thinkin'" and "drivin'" etc... Here in Utah, I've been corrected on the fact that a street cannot be called a "court" it is called a "cul de sac". And I'm quite a bit more ethnic looking than the majority of Utahns in all their blond and blue-eyed glory...which makes me laugh because when I'm back in Cali it's the total opposite! So, maybe I should just compromise and say I'm "Utornian" or from "Calitah".

3. I HATE BOOGERS. Seriously...gross. I can handle throw up, poop, pee, eye sleepies, toe jam, belly button lint, slobber, ear wax, dandruff...you name it. But green slimy gooey drippy hard crusty boogers are the worst of the worst. Especially, my husband's...which he knows and has incorporated into his favorite evil plan of torture.

4. I have big hopes of writing a book one day. I am really close to having it done too. All I need now is a plot, characters, storyline, to decide upon the target audience, the genre and a title. Keep your eye on the New York Times Bestseller list because you might see me on there any day now.

5. I love hip hop music. You might look at me and see a boring old LDS mommy, but when no one is looking I likes ta "shake that groove thang"..."drop it like it's hot"..."shorty gets low, low, low, low, low, low, low"....My pint-sized homies and I like to boogie in the kitchen every day, in the midst of doing dishes and cooking dinner...We turn the bass up on the overhead speakers, throw our "hands in the air, a, air, air, a , air" and "party like a rock star". I guess that explains well why, as a young Sunbeam, Carter requested to sing "Ice Ice Baby" during Primary singing time.

6. I dream of Jeanie. Seriously, wouldn't that be cool to have a genie to fulfill your every wish? My house would be spotless, my children perfectly behaved, and I'd be cruisin' down the block in a fully restored maroon and black '66 Ford Mustang. Oh...and I'd be the best chef on the planet.... Oh...and the richest woman in the world....And I'd never have to answer a telephone again in my life, would author a bestselling book, and boogers would be extinct. I think it's my way of saying that I'd like to live in a dreamy world where everything is just to my liking. I guess until I stumble upon an ancient brass lamp, I'll just have to keep attempting to clean, cook and raise the kids myself.

K, now it just might be your turn to spill the beans...

A Cheesecake That's Not Too Shabby

2008-09-17T20:20:00.001-07:00

pubcake 51: raspberry swirl cheesecake, originally uploaded by spidercamp.

I recently made raspberry cheesecake for a gal pal party that I had this past week. It turned out to be pretty tasty... the cheesecake and the party, I guess. In fact, I hope this cheesecake will stand out in the minds of my guests, maybe even shine as a beacon in their bright memories drowning out other particular memories they might be retaining from that night. :) Maybe if you make this for your significant other, your other might significantly thank you. (P.S. This picture only shows a similar cheesecake to the one in the recipe below...Sarah! haha...)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line 13x9 inch baking pan with foil (make handles on each side)
Mash a pack of honey graham crackers into crumbs.
Mix crumbs, 4 Tbsp. melted butter, 4 Tbsp. sugar together.
Press firmly onto bottom of pan.
Bake 10 minutes.

Beat together until VERY well blended: 5 (softened) 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp. flour, and 1 Tbsp. vanilla.
Add 1 cup sour cream and mix well.
Add 4 eggs, one at a time. Make sure to mix on low speed after each one is dropped in...just until blended.
Pour over crust.
Microwave 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam for 30 seconds.
Gently drop small spoonfuls of jam over batter.
Cut through batter several times with knife for swirl effect.

Bake for 40 minutes or until center is almost set.
Cool completely.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
Lift cheesecake from pan using foil handles.
Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

The School "Carmabowl"

2008-09-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

Friday was, what Carter called,
"The School Carmabowl".

They had about 5 themed bounce houses set
up for sliding and bouncing and a few carnival-style
games for the kids to play in hopes of earning a prize.

You can see the level of difficulty on the games was
pretty high. Carter won a caramel and a sticky green
spider web toy...
and felt like the champion of the world.

Ray noticed the new playground out back so he
and Lydia headed over to check it out while
Mom and Carter finished up with the games.

It is a pretty impressive get up. You can slide, climb, swing,
rock, bounce, balance and twist to your heart's content. It would
appeal to any kid...

...whether you're 2 or 6 or...... 31 1/2.

We played our little guts out and then headed home with a sticky green spider web in tow.

Chocolate Frosting: The Great Pacifier

2008-09-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

So... on Thursday, I'm cleaning the house, preparing my doodads and pictures and paper for scrapbooking...and also baking a cake for my good buddy's birthday (which we were celebrating that night at our weekly Scrap 'N Chat activity...Happy Bday again Jaime!) when the kids decide to become big pains in the bum and bicker, fight, pester and BUG each other until I was ready to go cookoo! That's when the chocolate frosting bowl became my best friend.

"Here, kids...step outside and go nuts."

Do you see any scratches or bruises? Anyone crying from hurt feelings? Nope...just two very happy messy best friends drunk on chocolate love. Aaaahhhhh...the power of chocolate.

Our Little Patch of...Heaven?

2008-09-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

This year, our little veggie patch looked like this...

Besides the tomatoes, Ray wanted to try growing some veggies
we've never grown before.

So, we ended up with some red cabbage (gross), artichokes (boooo),
green bell peppers (blah), and eggplant (gag). Seriously, could it
get much worse? Thank goodness for the tomatoes and crookneck squash.

Next year, I'm picking out what we plant.
In the mean time, artichokes anyone?

Tooth #3

2008-09-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

You-Know-Who lost another you-know-what.

First

2008-08-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

Carter's first day of First Grade was Tuesday, August 26th.

Sportin' a new hair cut, outfit and backpack...and an emphatic, "Let's do this!" Although, he was a little nervous about his new teacher, Mrs. Fiskell (a Texan on the larger side... in other words, she's big and loud), he was willing to try her on for size.

With a pajamied and bed-headed Lydia, we strolled the few blocks to Heartland Elementary School making sure to get there well before the 8 AM bell.

And who was waiting to greet us on the school playground? It was Carter's favorite playmate, Lizzie Harmon. She isn't in Carter's class (booooo), but they both know they can reunite every day after school in our backyard (yeaaaaaa).

One more smile for Mom to remember her little boy's face as she goes throughout her long day without him. Like Yoda probably said, "Mixed bag is growing up."

The bell rang. The line formed. The teacher came. And there went my first born trotting off behind Mrs. Fiskell and Zach and Sarah and Juan..."Let's do this!" Glad he's ready...am I?

After cleaning and worrying and emailing and wondering and babysitting and fretting....I arrived at the school promptly at 2:40 PM to see my official first grader bounding out the classroom door and running over with open arms...

...straight to his sister. He's a stupendous big brother that Carter!

Then it was my turn. "I missed you Mom! That was so fun!" he said. "Do you like Mrs. Fiskell?" I said. "Yeah! I gave her a hug," he said. "Was it fun eating with your friends? Did you eat all your lunch?" I said. "Well, only half my sandwich and my Capri Sun cuz everyone was looking at me and I didn't want them to see me eat." First day eating jitters, I guess.
One thing that has never been difficult for Carter is making friends, especially with the female variety. I was introduced to his new friend Genesis who wants to come over and play sometime.

Carter deeply missed his Legos and Spongebob Squarepants, so that's where he headed when we walked through the door. Lydia and I went downstairs to do some laundry. 30 minutes later, this is what had become of my big first grader.

Many more firsts are sure to come in Carter's life. He tackled his first day of First Grade with all the loving heart and courageous strength I knew he had in him. And he can rest assured that with every new first, Mom will be there cheering and praying for him every step of the way. Let's do this!

Spicy

2008-08-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

This video accurately depicts our little girl being "spicy" (the term we use for Lydia when she is being cranky, stubborn or opinionated). We believe she inherited a bit of her mother's temperament and a lot of her father's obstinance. Here is Lydia about to go down her favorite slide. However, just before this, we gently nudged her down a different slide (the "green one"), much to her utter dismay! Enjoy this peek at our spicy Lydia Millie Muffin.

With A Waddle and A Quack

2008-08-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

For Family Night this week, we grabbed all the stale bread out of the fridge, donned our most easy-to-wash shoes, and migrated over to the local duck park to visit our feathery friends before they fly South for the winter.

Naturally, Lydia was nervous to stick her hand out there for a duck to gnaw and nibble on so she mostly just stuck very close to her daddy and watched him feed and pet the very un-shy ducks and geese. Carter essentially used his bread in self-defense...pelting any duck who got too close to him. He was a very fair feeder saying, "Here's some for you...and some for you...and some for you over there."

"Quack...Quack...Quack," said the ducks (in case you didn't know).

With the last piece of bread, Lydia ventured over to Mom to see how she was surviving the "Attack of the Killer Ducks."

Having used all of his ammunition, Carter did the backwards shuffle and decided it was a good time to visit the play land area, while Lydia marched forward ready to join her new duck family. As the sun began to set, we gathered our little ones under our wings and flew home for the night.

Up and Down & Around and Around

2008-08-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last week, we went with some friends to Classic Skate to mourn the
end of Summer and to celebrate the beginning of the school year. It's

pretty much Kid Heaven as it offers them every imaginable activity,

including:

a water park, a bounce house, a climbing jungle, a skating rink,

video games, carnival-type games that let you win tickets for prizes,

and every junk food item known to... child.

This is Lydia going Up and then Down her favorite slide there.

Up and then Down. Up and then Down. It never got old for her going

Up and then Down. Oh, don't doubt that she stopped for a cherry Icee

and some popcorn. But then it was right back to going

Up and then Down.

Carter, on the other hand, enjoyed going Around and Around on

the scooter he brought. See the red shirt

in the very middle of the roller skating rink going

Around and Around? He stayed right there in the middle

of the floor just going Around and Around; even during the

slow songs when the girls are supposed to ask a boy to skate,

there was little Carter on his little scooter going Around and Around.

Who needs Halloween when you've got a...

2008-08-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

Pretty Pink Princess

and

Indiana Jones?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

2008-08-23T10:11:00.001-07:00

DSC_3978, originally uploaded by elzora.

Recently, I had to make a dessert for a Relief Society activity and while searching through my hodge-podge pile of recipes I found this one. Originally, a friend brought these to share with our family when we invited her over for dinner and, after gobbling them all up, I'm pretty sure we licked the pan clean. When I brought them to our recent RS activity, a friend there said they reminded her of the dessert the lunch ladies made in high school. They aren't TOO sweet like some of these can be. You can also use wheat flour for part or all of the flour requirement. This recipe fills the big 13x18 sized cookie sheet so it's great when you need to feed a lot of people. Anyway, maybe you will like them too...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Mix: 3/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups brown sugar
Mix into above: 2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter (not generic)
In separate bowl sift together: 2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
Add dry mixture to wet and mix.
Stir in: 2 cups quick oats
Press into a 13x18 cookie sheet.
Bake in pre-heated oven at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Let cool completely in pan.
Spread with a thin layer of peanut butter.
Spread with chocolate frosting.
Wait until chocolate has hardened a bit, then cut into squares.

A Treat! A Treat! A Treat!

2008-08-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

"Mama....................have a treat?" "A treat!!!!! A treat!!!!! A treat!!!!!"

"No pretzel... A treat!" "No cracker...A treat!"

"NO MAY MAMA! NO WANT TO!
AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHGHGHGHGH!!!"

Dear Tooth Fairy

2008-08-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Tooth Fairy: Tonight my dad was reading me some books before bed when I told him my bottom tooth was getting pretty loose. So, he thought it would be fun to see how loose it really was. He got some tissue, folded it around my tooth and yanked! TA-DA! It only bled for a second...down the front of my pajama top, but Mom won't care. I'm pretty sure she loves doing laundry. She's always in there squirting our clothes and rubbing them and mumbling under her breath at how much fun she's having. Anyway, Dad helped me write you this note and hopefully you didn't let my little baby tooth fall out of it cuz we folded it inside this paper too. I sure hope you bring me a nice chunk o' change tonight so I can buy this Star Wars Legos set I keep bugging my mom about.
Love, Carter
p.s... I was wondering if you are big or small and what you do with all these teeth. I asked my mom but all she said was that the tooth fairy is over-worked and under-paid and deserves a vacation.

A Beach-and-Buddies Birthday

2008-08-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

The sun...The sand...The surf...The friends! Lydia had her first friend-filled birthday party this year to celebrate turning 2 years old. We invited some of her nursery buddies, a play date pal and a favorite cousin, along with their mommies, to romp around and eat lunch in our backyard for a few hours. Saturday, August 9th was the sunny fun day...one day before her actual birthday. Early that morning, Lydia went with her Dad to pick up a dozen blue "bubbly" balloons. After tying them to the tiki torches in the backyard, Ray took off with Carter to hike the Mt. Timpenogas caves during the festivities.

Ray said Carter did great on the hike up to the caves. He didn't even want to stop and have a snack like he usually requests to do about 5 minutes into any activity. Once they were inside the caves, Carter kept asking when they were going to turn on the lights. It was fun for him to see some of the funky creations nature has to offer and to spend this one-on-one time with his dad, who he absolutely idolizes.

Meanwhile, back at the beach, the guests arrived and were greeted by Beach Boys music and the birthday girl in her "itsy bitsy teenie weenie pink polka-dot"... one-piece. Moms began lathering their kids with sunscreen lotion and slipping on little swimming suits. Two kiddie pools, our hot tub, the swing set and a sandbox were instantly alive with activity like a hive full of flitting, buzzing, busy bees.

The lunch bell rang and everyone came running for the weinie roast, chips and fruit kabobs. It's a good thing most of the guests preferred extremely WELL DONE hot dogs, because The BBQ and Leah are still getting to know one another.

Next,it was birthday (cup)cake time. Lydia helped sing the birthday song ("Happy Bervadaday YOOOOOOOOU! Happy Bervadaday YOOOOOOOOOU! Happy Bervadady Dia! Happy Bervadady YOOOOOOOU....AGAIN!") and the wind helped blow out her candles.
Suddenly, blue faces could be seen everwhere you looked...spread with lots of frosting and some smiles.

Anyone who's ever been to a 2-year-old's birthday party knows that the real craziness begins when the gifts start flyin'! Each friend who brought their gift over to Lydia was all too happy to help her open it. Good thing, too, because all Lydia had eyes for was her soggy melting cupcake.

With the exchange of goodie bags and hugs, each little beach bum caught a wave and surfed on home with their mommies to bathe, and nap and spend the rest of the day with with their families.

After cleaning up a bit and settling Lydia into bed for her nap, Leah took a nice, long, well-deserved shower and then planned to indulge in reading two hours straight of "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer. But the work and stress and energy the party required overtook her senses. As she slowly drifted off to sleep, she wondered for a moment if it was all worth it...
...and indeed it was.

Pink Tu-Tu'd Girl

2008-08-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dancing and prancing...a whirl and a twirl...
So easy to love this pink tu-tu'd girl.

"ACUPATEA"

2008-08-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

Don't ask us how or why or where she got it from because we are wondering too, but our little girl routinely requests "acupatea". This is the name Lydia has given to her sippy cup filled with water. Maybe she played tea party with someone once. Maybe she saw someone having a tea party in a book. We're just not sure, but if she ever asks you for "acupatea," don't head for the tea pot.

Tidbits of a Mr. C

2008-08-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Some random tidbits that have recently occurred in Carter's 6-year-old life include:
Playing with Legos....This has become his obsession since our California visit after his buddy, Corbin, showed him how to build some cool Star Wars spaceships.
Getting his eyes examined....This year he struggled more than usual identifying the letters or pictures on the eye chart tests he was given at school and at the pediatrician's office, so we took him in for "the real deal". The Doc said that he was ok for now but he might need glasses in a few years.
Dressing himself for church....He did pretty good with the shirt, pants and socks, but the tie, belt and shoes needed a bit more tweaking. Hopefully he can get it all figured out before his mission rolls around.

Going ALL THE WAY under water....Carter's finally interested in learning how to swim, so we told him to practice holding his breath and going under water in the hot tub. He'll be swimmin' around that hot tub before we know it!

Carter's Special Friend

2008-08-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

One day last week, I walked into the backyard to see Carter on the swing talking to nobody...at least that I could see. As I got closer, I could hear his conversation, so I quickly ran into the house to get the camera. The video pretty much tells it all...

It's Our Turn

2008-08-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Ray and I were recently called to be nursery workers in our ward. I'm not gonna lie...I wasn't too thrilled about the job at first, mainly because I already hang out and do blabbler talk all week with a 2 year old. Sundays were truly my "day of rest," especially the two hours after Sacrament when I attended Sunday School and Relief Society with the grown-ups. On the other hand, Ray's reaction to the call was along the lines of... "NICE! What's not to like about snacks and toys and little kids? Church is really looking up!" He loved the fact that Lydia would be in there with us too.

Every Sunday now Ray works really hard at stacking blocks, singing and blowing bubbles. After such a strenuous day at church he always needs a long afternoon nap.
As for me...I've decided it's really going to be fun to spend time with these sweet little ones. And I am happy to report that what I once feared to be the black hole of nursery is actually a bright and cheery place.

And come on, who doesn't love bubbles!?!?!

Dog-Dog Love

2008-07-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Lydia has a favorite lovey she calls "Dog-Dog". Her Nana gave it to her when she was first born. Dog-Dog is a pink and white stuffed doggie head attached to a little blanket. It comforts her when she is sad. It helps her fall asleep. I think she even has conversations with it. She thinks it's funny when we make Dog-Dog bark and dance and talk. We had a big scare a few months ago when Dog-Dog decided to wander off in Walmart and I didn't notice until we were about to check out. After searching the store, I made a poster for the Lost & Found describing Dog-Dog and begging for her to be returned to us. I swear I was about to post a reward for a stuffed animal! However, THE competent, capable and well-trained Walmart employee found her and gave us a call! I think her mommy shed more tears over the whole ordeal than Lydia did. And yes, since then, we have procured a back-up Dog-Dog just in case.

A silly thing Lydia likes to do lately with her Dog-Dog is to put it up to our noses and have us take a great big sniff. We say, "OOOOO!...Stinky Dog-Dog!...OOOOOO!" She laughs and laughs and then sniffs Dog-Dog herself and says, "MMMMMMMM...Dog-Dog smells good!"

A Trip Down Memory Lane

2008-07-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

I saw this on my friend's blog and thought it would be fun. (thanks Becca)

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot. Just leave a memory. It can be good or bad, but be nice in general.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see what memories people leave about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my blog comments.

Might be fun..might be weird. But hey, it's somethin'!

Ridin' Out to See the Reiders

2008-07-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

This month, the kids and I flew to Fresno, California to hang out with the Reider family for a week while Ray spent some time in the Grand Tetons. Once a year, our family takes separate vacations because Ray doesn't really enjoy visiting with people, and I don't really enjoy sleeping in the dirt with bugs. That way we both get to do what we like to do.
The kids were sooo good on the plane. Of course, the plethora of snacks, books, DVDs, and toys I squished into my bag helped keep them preoccupied for the hour flight. Lydia was happy to sit next to her brother on the seat. She also loved playing with the window shade and tray table. But at least she didn't walk around and say "Hi! Howeryou?" to everyone on board like I thought she would want to do.
Upon entering the Reider home, Lydia instantly fell in love with baby Chance (16 months old). We had to teach her to "pet baby Chance like a dog-dog" because she wanted to love him a little too much. Together, they pulled out every toy in the house and ate a few of them. They even created a game: Chance has his blankie in his hands and waves it around for Lydia to see, Lydia runs over and grabs the blankie out of his hands and takes off running with it, Chance squeals and points that his blankie has been stolen, a mommy returns the blankie to Chance, Chance waves his blankie at Lydia...and so on and so on... It was a fun game.

It worked out nicely for playtime that Carter(6) was born between Cayden(4)and Corbin(7). He enjoyed playing leggos with Corbin as much as he liked playing tea party with Cayden. And of course swimming in the pool was a big hit! They played some great pool games, including "AUUUUUGH...There's a Bee in the Pool" and "Stop Splashing Me" until they turned into big prunes.
Lydia thought the pool was a nice big "hot tub" until I pulled her into it with me. She hit and kicked and screamed for about 20 minutes saying, "NO MAMA...No hot tub..." and then all of a sudden she stopped crying, looked around, and said, "Hot tub...cool!" She spent the next hour playing on the pool steps, running her hands through the waterfalls, throwing pool toys around, and floating on her back. Then the reaction she had getting into the pool became the same one she had getting out of it.

Trina and I have been friends since we were teenie-boppers in high school. I even lived with her family for a short time. She has no biological sisters (only three brothers), so we have often said that I am the sister she never had. Growing up, we spent MANY MANY hours together, whether it was watching Saturday Night Live and Teen Witch, making up skits and dances for EFY and Girl's Camp, snacking on Junior Mints and Dots, or just plain being SILLY! And now, even though we have husbands and kids and houses and bills...and live 700 miles apart, we still talk to each other almost every day and see each other a couple times a year. The running joke has always been that if the other one were a hot guy we would have gotten married. Most likely, we wouldn't be who we are today without each other. She is a true friend and a marvelous person and I am super lucky to know her. (sniff, blink, sigh)

When we weren't in the pool, we were having dance contests, riding in the car to get take out for lunch, having water balloon fights and running through the sprinklers. Those activities were fun and all, but Trina and I were always pretty happy to see the 7:30 PM bedtime roll around. After tucking our five little buddies in for the night, we watched shows that didn't have anything to do with animated sponges or talking purple dinosaurs. We ate huge Coldstone sundaes (twice) and gobbled down lemonade cake and caramel popcorn. I introduced her to the Twilight book series (by the end of the week she was hooked and ready for book two) and to digital scrapping. Her husband, Jason, even offered(?) to watch the kids so we could get manicures and pedicures.

The plane trip back was as easy as pie and we had our favorite Dad/Husband waiting for us at the SLC airport to take us home. But we miss our friends terribly and I send curses to the state of Nevada for being so big, ugly and in the way! LOVE YOU REIDERS!!!

An FHE Made For 3

2008-07-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Family Home Evening, minus Dad who stayed at work "writing up a service ticket" for his own hooptie truck in need of repair. So, when I asked Carter what he would like to do for our activity tonight, this is what he chose...to be Spiderman and squirt everyone with his webbing.

I asked Lydia what she wanted to do and she said, "Bubbles...cool!" Carter and I took turns being the bubble maker, as Lydia ran around trying to catch them all.

It was a perfectly orchestrated and happy fun night until in a matter of seconds Carter falls off the swing trying to fly around on his webbing, and Lydia takes a nose dive reaching for some floating bubbles. That's when "Family Home Evening" became "Family! Home! Bathtime!"

Happy 1st of July!?!?!

2008-07-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the 4th of July a bit early this year...on the 1st. Ray's side of the family joined us at our pad for a bangin' bbq and some flashy fireworks. The party included his mom, Carolyn, his sister Cristie and her daughter Tayla, and his other sister Melissa with her husband Brian and son Drew. While we were waiting for dinner to start, Carter and Tayla romped around in the "hot" tub. Dinner was yummy: salmon, mussels (YUCK for everyone but Ray), chicken, hot dogs, watermelon, garlic bread, corn on the cob, spinach salad, and peanut butter bars for dessert. Each kid got a festive goody bag containing star glasses and necklaces, bubbles, poppers, and candy. As the sun started setting, we took some chairs to the driveway and marveled at our low budget fireworks display. Then, we enjoyed the cool night air as the kids drew designs in it with their sparklers. We had such a good time. It really stinks that we have to wait a whole year to do it again...Wait! We live in Utah! Pioneer Day on the 24th is right around the corner.

Carter and His Little Shadow

2008-07-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I looked out the kitchen window at my two kids playing together in the backyard. Carter walked over to get a beach towel and right behind him was his little sister, grabbing a beach towel too. Then he went over to the wagon to clean it and here comes little sis scrubbin' alongside him. Next he found some long grass to pull out and put into the wagon (to make carpet of course) and helping him yank out that grass was Carter's "Sista Yidia" (the name he gave her as a baby). As annoying as this might be to you and me (seriously), Carter just eats it up. It will be interesting to see what happens over time, but for now, Carter loves His Little Shadow.

Our Mommy-And-Son Movie Date

2008-06-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Since the very first time we saw the previews for the Disney movie "WALL-E", Carter and I have been looking forward to a movie date. I'm not a big fan of the full-price-in-the-real-theater movie, but I'll do it occasionally. This movie was worth it because it includes robots and Carter LOVES robots. He was a very dashing one for Halloween last year. So today, we waved goodbye to finishing-up-the-crown-molding-on-the-cabinets Pa and getting-in-the-way Lydia and took off for the Jordan Landing Cinemark theaters. After purchasing a small bag of rip-off popcorn and choosing our front-row-cuz-that's-all-that's-left-on-the-weekend-of-a-new-release-day seats, we snuggled in to watch a cute movie about WALL-E, the garbage-collecting-falling-in-love-saving-the-day robot.
I wanted to take a picture of my sweet-and-sensitive-yet-still-rough-n-tumble boy who covered his ears and eyes during the previews because they were so "loud" and "scary", but I didn't want to get Ju-Ju B's thrown in my hair for using the flash. During the movie Carter leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I love you the best Mom, but don't tell Pa." Hope Ray doesn't read this blog entry or I am in deep doo-doo. Carter just had to hold WALL-E's hand after seeing the movie. It was a nice-break-from-the-usual Saturday and a wonderful time with my son.

Goodbye "Yellow Kitchen"

2008-06-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

We remodeled our kitchen this Spring. It is finally almost kinda sorta finished. In order for Ray to get the tile work done, I took the kids on our first long distance road trip ALONE...all the way down to St. George, UT to stay with my Dad and step-mom and sister. It was a wonderful relaxing weekend. I should have soaked it up even more than I did cuz once we got back it was FULL FORCE kitchen work. We were up super late every night grouting, painting, and installing. We still have some crown molding to install on the cabinets and a bit of paint to touch up, but we are pretty proud of it, especially considering it was Ray's first tile work. Come check it out!

Gonna Go?

2008-06-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things that Lydia says can be heard when she asks to go somewhere. After bringing her "prippy shoes" to you, she will "sitabum" and wait for you to put them on. Then, she asks repeatedly, "AreEeeeeeGonnaGonnaGonnaGonnaGo?"

The Sweetheart of a Child

2008-06-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today, Carter lovingly looked into my eyes and said, "You look beautiful today, Mom. Your hair looks beautiful and it smells good....and your teeth are clean." Little girls are gonna be swooning over this kid one day. We might want to work on the line about having clean teeth, but then again... to a kid, having clean teeth is a pretty big deal cuz you would have had to BRUSH them to get them that way, not always a favorite activity for the younger crowd.

"I HUNGRY!!!"

2008-06-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I walked into the kitchen, I was greeted with... "I HUUUNGRY!!!" Lydia had climbed into her high chair and was trying to buckle the safety belt. She sat there looking at me like, "Ok. You always tell me to go to my chair when it's time to eat. So... here I am! What's there to eat around this place?"

The Caramel Popcorn of Champions

2008-06-24T13:32:00.001-07:00

Caramel Popcorn, originally uploaded by ryancouldrey.

Raise your hand if you love caramel popcorn. I see you there with that hand sky-high! This recipe is sooo good. It is pretty easy to make too. It doesn't stick to your teeth so you don't have to worry about losing that new crown. You don't even have to pop the kernals yourself. You can be a lazy sack like me and use already-popped-and-buttered popcorn that comes in those big bags sold at the grocery store. There are two downers to making this popcorn though. #1 You won't be able to stop yourself from eating it until every last sweet morsel has vanished...even the ones resting on the bottom of your oven, half-burnt. #2 Your friends and family will beg, pester, and offer to pay you to make them more. Can you handle all that? If so, here is The Caramel Popcorn of Champions:

Ingredients-
6 quarts popped popcorn (1 qt. = 32 oz.)
2 sticks margarine
2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions-
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine the margarine, sugar, syrup, and salt in a medium pot on medium temp. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and melting the margarine. Boil 5 minutes without stirring. (You know...Mama always says you better set the timer just in case...) While sauce is boiling, measure out the popcorn and evenly distribute it into two big bowls (ones large enough to mix the sauce in without popcorn spilling all over). When time is up, remove the sauce from heat and add soda and vanilla. Stir like crazy, scraping the bottom of the pot to make sure all ingredients are mixed well. It should look like the color of a brown paper sack and be much thicker now. Pour half of the sauce over each bowl of popcorn and stir to coat all pieces evenly. Pour each bowl of popcorn onto a cookie sheet (preferrably one with sides on it like a jelly roll pan). Put both pans in oven and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes. Make sure to turn popcorn every 15 minutes so that all pieces are covered with sauce and bake evenly. (What does Mama always say about timers?) Popcorn is done when there is minimal sticking. Let cool in pan for 15 min. Store in large lidded bowls, if it isn't gone yet!

"It's A Fun Day!"

2008-06-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

We installed our hot tub last year. Ray practically lives in it during the winter months, and now, it looks like Carter is going to make it his second home this summer. Here he is cooling off with his buddy, Lizzie. He must get his singing talent from his mama and the... ummm... fake tatoo...from Dad.

The Shampoohawk

2008-06-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

She's in. She's hip. She's got the look of now...
the shampoohawk. Her stylist... Daddy. Her product... Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo. Unfortunatly, this DO is a DON'T unless it's bathtime for reasons of practicality, not fashion.

Cookie Cutter Carter

2008-06-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Miracles do happen... This month (June) Carter actually sat through a hair cut without screaming and crying! Yes, that is the usual fuss we hear every month as I attempt to cut and trim and buzz Carter's hair into some semblance of a hair style. I got so sick of hearing all the hoopla that I decided to try out a kids' salon called Cookie Cutters. The pictures are proof of how it went over. Other than the "I'm scared" he squeaked out when we first walked through the doors, Carter never uttered a word. He just sat there smiling away at his pretty blonde stylist watching the Batman cartoon he picked out. After picking out a green balloon and waving goodbye, he piped up, "That was so fun. I love getting my hair cut! When can we go back?" So, even though they aren't free of charge like the hair cuts I can give him at home, Cookie Cutters will now be our monthly hang out. I just can't compete with the airplane chair, ya know?

How Many Times...?

2008-06-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

How many times in one day will I pick up the same toys and cups and shoes? How many times will I make hot dogs and noodles and PB&J's in my life time? How many times will I hear the same Brainy Baby dvd play? Questions like these enter my brain almost every day as I perform my mommy duties for these two little people. Seriously, sometimes I think I can actually hear my brain turning into a big glob of mush. And, quite honestly, I can't say that I've enjoyed every minute of my time spent at home with my kids, but I do recognize that there have been so many precious moments I would never have experienced if I had been working somewhere else... times that I wouldn't trade for all the power, influence or money the world can give. When I remember how lucky I am to have this opportunity to actually raise my kids, I find myself asking other questions... How many times will I get to make an owie all better with my magical mommy kiss? How many times will I get to hear "ahuggamama" and see a sweet little girl face looking up at me with outstretched arms? How many times will I get to wake up in the morning to a little snuggly boy who snuck into our bed? I know that there will come a day when all the shoes and toys are outgrown and discarded, and mealtimes will once again be enticing to me. The "many times" I have with my kids right now are trully numbered and I know that, over time, I will wish for them again. But, I hope that even as time marches on and my little ones grow up, I'll still have the ability to make things better for them with a kiss and a hug and a cuddle. I hope I never lose my mommy magic.