Musical Memories

You know how you can hear a song and it evokes a memory. As I was putting together my playlist I found "Lost in your Eyes" and as it played I was transported back to one seventh grade after school dance and my first broken heart (I say this with a smile). I'll admit I was a very dramatic teenager and it wasn't my only heartbreak, but it was the first, so therefore memorable. Don't worry, my heart has since healed and I am thankful that I had those moments to feel. I think if I never had the drama of the sadness I would never have enjoyed the delights of a passing hello, or the excitement of being asked to dance, etc. I'm also glad I can still remember how tragic it felt at the time so when my dramatic 3 year old hits these years I won't forget how real it is.
Ah, good old Debbie Gibson! Isn't it funny how powerful music can be.

Star Trek!

I don't speak Klingon, I have not attended any Star Trek conventions and I have never dressed up as a Star Trek character for Halloween or any other event, but, I must admit that I am in fact a closet Trekkie. If you are now rolling your eyes, go right ahead, Scott may join you. Ever since I was a kid, I have been almost as fascinated with Star Trek as my brother Jon.
Yesterday I saw a picture of who they will have play Captain Kirk in the new movie - it brought back great memories, so don't be surprised when I tell you I'm EXCITED!! I was going to post the picture but as I've established before, I'm challenged, when it comes to the computer, so you'll just have to imagine.
Anyway, my two favorite Trek characters are Seven of Nine and Captain Janeway from Star Trek Voyager and I'll admit I remember having a little crush on Captain Kirk when I was little (I also vaguely remember having crushes on characters from Battlestar Galactica and the A-Team).
One of the fascinating things about fantasy and science fiction is that things don't have to make sense, like how time travel affects the past and the present and how on one Voyager episode(I think)they discovered alternate realities that were created each time a choice was made. (It's kind of like how in Harry Potter Ron has to wear those awful dress robes, couldn't his mother do something about that, she's a witch after all) It's AWESOME!!
Okay, I'm feeling a little silly but it's great to have a little nostalgia in your life, right?
(Besides, Isabelle broke my camera, so I can't post pictures of my family, so this is what you get when I try to get creative!)

Christmas carols

I have a little songbird at my house. Isabelle sings all the time with creative words and creative volume (loud and high). Sometimes (in the car) it is a painful habit, but other times it is delightful!!

She has loved the Christmas carols, here are two of my favorites:

"Deck the halls with bells and holly..."

and

"All I want for Christmas is my two fine teeth..."

I'm confident there are others, but I can't remember them. By the way, she is adamant that she is the right one and it infuriates Ryan that she thinks he is wrong. Good times!

Oh yeah, two other favorites tunes are:

"Yo, ho, yo, ho, a life is not to be" (not a Christmas carol but equally entertaining).
and

"Sweet, sweet Mightingale, Sweet, sweet Mightingale..."

I'm hoping that I can catch her on video when she is singing to herself. She sings with a very pronounced vibrato. She is too much like me, it's hilarious!

This week our kitty had surgery and has been recovering. To help keep her confined we got down our old dog kennel to have her sleep in. She wasn't the only one to make use of it...

By the way, I did disinfect it before anyone played inside!

Bad Hair Days

Here at our house Izzy and I have frequent bad hair days, but don't be fooled, what most people consider a bad hair day is what we consider a walk in the park. Our bad hair days consist of me trying to do something special to Izzy's hair and Izzy throwing fits about it.

Just before Christmas I was inspired by my sisters, my mom and others (who's children always looks like they've been to the hairstylist), and a load of guilt to try to do something real to Izzy's hair every day. So, the next morning I sat her in front of the mirror and tried to be a little creative. I did a french braid across the top over to the side and swept it back into a ponytail. It actually turned out really cute and I was quite pleased with myself until Izzy realized her hair looked different than she requested and the unreal fit began. She screamed for an hour (no exaggeration) until Scott finally calmed her down and I took her to Annie's while I had a dentist appointment. When I got back to the kids and we headed home she remembered again and we had more sadness! At least she is consistent, right?

This is the painful hairdo (after she pulled the braid out).

This is her preferred hairdo, two side ponytails with a bow in the middle (it's black and hard to see). She requests this hairdo every Sunday, so I'll be honest, I'm proud when she has her hair combed with a clip in it - I take my small victories.

Christmas Break

Correction:

Scott's surgery did not consist of fixing a torn femur (I swear that's what the doctor said) but it was the tendon that was attached to it (now Scott says he can't remember either, it was either the tendon or the cartilage - go ahead and laugh at our lack of knowledge). I don't know why Scott's doctors always think that I'll just remember the things they tell me, I can barely remember what day it is.

Magical Christmas Break moments:

When I picture Isabelle in general, I don't picture her sitting still and being attentive to the talking adult. So, imagine my delight and surprise when she was Mary in the Johnson nativity and sat looking beautifully sweet through the whole program. To continue the delight, Ryan, who is very much the same temperment as his sister, also sat with quiet reverence. It was a truly a tender moment.

Some neighbors gave us a little baggy of reindeer food that in all the excitement we forgot to sprinkle on the lawn. I found it after Christmas and quietly tucked it under some things in Izzy's garbage. I should not have been surprised last night when she dug through the garbage (my kids like to make sure I'm not throwing away important things), found the baggie and dumped it on the porch. So there the little pile sits, getting tracked into the house and down the stairs, waiting for those reindeer to come back for a snack.

We went sledding at Rock Canyon Park with my friend Robyn and her children. We had a delightful time and no one got hurt!!

It was quite comical to try to take pictures of these kids, they just wanted to pose like they were models, so getting them to hold still at the same time was challenging.

Christmas Eve I realized a very important gift for Isabelle was missing. "Santa" only brings our kids one present so this was not one of those things that I could have just skated by without. So I was quite upset and searched for about an hour. At about 12:30 I found the missing gift and finished the evening preparations. I have all new appreciation for my mother and her organizational skills which include a new secret code every year so we wouldn't know which presents were ours to sneak open before Christmas.

Ryan made a list at school for Santa which included most of the things I told him he wouldn't be getting. Luckily Santa was able to find something on the list at the very last minute that he knew I would consider acceptable.

Anyway, to cap off this delightful holiday season I got the greatest birthday present. My brother Justin and his wife Wendy had their baby girl "Lilly Marie" today (I don't know how they will spell it). Hooray!!! Congrats, guys!

Scott's latest

Ever since the deer hunt in October Scott's been having pain in his knee. He finally decided to get it checked out considering the fact that we've had enough medical expenses this year that our deductible is paid for. So after a visit to Dr. Scott Jackson, we headed to the hosptital Monday afternoon for surgery to repair a torn meniscus.


The surgery went well, except for the expected time delay, but oddly enough, he didn't have a torn meniscus. He had a tear on the top of his femur which they shaved off.
The picture on the top right is the femur with the tear, the middle pictures are the femur after being shaved and I can't remember what the bottom ones are (I wish Doctors wouldn't trust me with so much information - Scott would probably remember better even when drugged).


He came out of the anesthesia well and was doing pretty good until we headed home and then the nausea started and continued through the night. I think that's pretty much under control now, but he's sore and hobbles around trying to be productive when he's supposed to be taking it easy. I don't think he's overdoing it, but he is a little determined, so hopefully the recovery goes smoothly from here on out.

While I was waiting for him I had the delightful opportunity of seeing Tami Barben and her adorable chubby little Elli. They are hoping she will be coming home soon. They just need to get her to eat, apparently when they clamped the valve in her heart they also clamped a nerve to her left vocal chords, so they are paralyzed (she will heal, but it will take a long time) so that complicates her swallowing. Anyway, she is beautiful and doing well and they are excited to have her home.


So that night after getting Scott settled I got the kids down to bed - well at least Ryan. Izzy fell asleep at Mom's while they were reading stories so she didn't want to go to sleep. She read and colored and snuck down to watch the end of the Lizzie Mcquire movie (I was crocheting and it was on Disney Channel). After that she helped me medicate Scott and then after I was all ready for bed (11:30) I climbed in bed with her. She tossed and turned and sang and laughed but then I heard her start to sing a new Primary song that she has been learning when her nursery class comes into singing time about Joseph Smith. I started to sing with her and she closed her eyes to listen. When I finished the song she whispered, "Again." I sang it again and then she whispered, "One more time." Sure enough as I finished it the third time she was out. Sweet girl. Kudos to primary music and primary music leaders (Deanne!).

Marshmallow World

It's a Marshmallow World in the winter, when the snow comes to cover the ground...(just in case you think I'm just being poetic, this is a song).

So to the delight of my family it snowed, snowed, snowed yesterday!! Scott was lamenting about the rain as we came home from a lunch with his brothers and sisters. Then we look out the window a few hours later and "WOW!"

They lost no time in getting into the snow gear (which I purchased during the previous snowstorm at Walmart - spending a pretty penny on boots, gloves and snow pants - Scott says I'm to shop at DI next year.)

I smiled as I dressed them all and herded them out the door with no intention of following (I don't love to be cold - I know I'm a spoilsport) until I remembered my friend Deanne's blog about sledding last week and I thought - I can do this, I am capable of having fun in the snow. So I put on my snow gear, took a few pictures of the snow and followed them to my parents where Scott was pulling the kids on sleds behind the 4-wheeler. I didn't last as long as everyone else, but we had a marvelous time and then came home to leftover soup (see previous post) and warm baths. It was a great night! (Thank Deanne!)