a blended life

After a few years of sitting in my UFO (unfinished object) pile, I finally finished this sewing project. I first saw it at a close friend's house, who had it sitting on her table and it looked so cute.  I had to try. Because who wouldn't want a quilted carrot? (that's a rhetorical question, Jacob)

I'm addressing something here that I know many, many parents are dealing with. And it's called, Picky Eating. I think all kids go through a phase of being a bit finicky. Leah certainly did, though she's growing out of that and is willing to try most things now. Hannah--in all her stubborn, independent glory--takes picky eating to a new level. A week or so ago, my mom made a highly delicious homemade stew and rolls meal. Hannah walked up to the table and started screaming "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME EAT THAT!!" over and over. I said, "Hannah, no one is making you eat. But you're ruining our dinner by screaming at everyone." She started shaking her finger at us and announced "I'm making my own dinner! I'm going to eat whatever I want!" And she did. She scooted a chair around the kitchen and made herself a peanut butter sandwich, carrots and ranch dip. She cut the sandwich in fourths and ate her own meal. Some people find this behavior ...

Okay, so technically the vernal equinox was yesterday but Hannah thought it was today, so we got in the mood for spring! In 40 degree weather! *shivers* This is my latest stitchery. It's what I do to relief stress and escape, so I'm basically doing it all the time. I should post more pictures of it, now that I think about it. We made some flower-shaped sugar cookies today. Leah was asking me about frosting and somehow misunderstood me--she thought I was going to give her a whole bowl of frosting to eat with a spoon. I still don't know where she got that idea, and no, I didn't give it to her. She starts swimming tomorrow and is SO EXCITED. Hannah put on two pounds of sprinkles on her flowers. Yum! These are actually from St Patrick's Day. Last year for kindergarten, Leah didn't wear any green because 1)she didn't understand the event and 2)she didn't own anything green. She brought it up several times this year about how much she wanted to wear...

No one has offered to take the tortoise off my hands. I thought we were friends, folks! In other news, my dad gave a lecture at BYU and my sister and her kids came down for it. Here's dad with the Dean of Family Life. I forgot his name. My dad was awarded...something. It was for being a good scholar. Wow, I am really not giving this the justice it deserves. Must be that fatigue again. Relief that it's over!! The next day, my mom took the kids bowling while me, Jen and Rachel went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art. It was amazing, and I don't even love art all that much. Hannah takes independence to a level that no one has experienced. she had to pick up her own ball and put it on the ramp BY. HER. SELF. Leah does a victory dance: Cousins are all about silliness! Rachel and Leah belt out the "Enchanted" soundtrack on the way home: I'm sad that this pic didn't turn out well because it shows the neuroticism of my turtle. Sam ...

...Or How I Nearly Caused a House Fire Today. Here's Shelly, our pet tortoise. We adopted her two days before Christmas. My cousin was keeping her in his car because she got kicked out of campus housing. I felt bad for the frozen thing, so I offered to keep her here and feed her lots of yummy lettuce. I bought a tank and some lamps and other turtle essentials. It was fun and different to have a reptile, sort of a novelty to watch such an ancient creature waddle around. I was really glad I took her on until about a month later when she POOPED. It smells worse than a toddler diaper. Even worse was a few days ago when I found some of it in my favorite slippers--AFTER I put my foot it in. This is important to the story, I promise. Yesterday I moved the 55 gallon tank--by myself--out of my room and into the bonus room because of the stench. Plus, she spends all night burrowing around and scratching. It's no life. I could spend another post talking about how mentally ill this tu...

You can't make me get out of bed.

So, I'm not really sure what's going on with me... About two weeks ago I woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck (left side). By Saturday of that week, the pain hadn't gone away, so I got a massage. It made everything worse and the pain shifted to the right side. Tuesday morning of this week, I woke up with stomach flu-the sleep on the bathroom floor kind-combined with the pain in my back and neck, which has now traveled to mid-back. Now the stomach flu is under control (I can keep down a piece of toast and some jello) but the the pain is worse. Plus I've missed a lot of work with illnesses lately and it's stressing me out. *feels grumpy* In other news, the girls are doing really well. We finished our little ice skating experiment a few weeks ago.  Leah started Jump Rope Club at school with mixed results. I stayed and watched on her first day and it was another reminder to me that she just learns differently than other kids. The other first graders were running a...