Blog Challenge day 14

A picture of you and your family:

Blog Challenge day 13

A letter to someone who has hurt you recently:

Dear Walmart,

I really don't appreciate buying potatoes from you and opening the pantry to a putrid smell less than a week later. It's not just the rotting potatoes. It's the fact that this is the second time this has happened.
Can you work on that for me?

Sincerely,

Cheryl (the girl who wasn't able to make baked potatoes tonight.)

Blog Challenge day 12

how you found out about blogger and why you have a blog:

In the spring of 2008 I was shopping at Woodmans for groceries. I saw Tanya there. She was a friend from church that has since moved away.
We were chatting for a minute and she told me that I should start a blog. She said they were great and she knew I would love blogging.
A couple of weeks later I hosted a girls night at our house and the topic of blogs came up again. A few of the girls from the ward mentioned having one so I got their blog addresses and looked them up.
I thought they were all really cute and realized it would be a great way to let our families back in Utah see pictures of Abi and see what we were doing out here.
Up until that point I had been emailing pictures constantly to everyone which took forever and , honestly, I wasn't sure that everyone really cared to see them.
I thought a lot about it and realized that if I started a blog I could put all the pictures on it and then whomever wanted to see them could and anyone who didn't care didn't have to look at it.
I didn't realize at the time how big blogging would become for me.
First, I set up the blog. Then I started doing little posts here and there about Abi and crafts and holidays.
Then I started exploring. I would look at one persons blog and then follow the links to their friends blogs to get ideas and find new blogs that were fun and interesting to read. I actually found a few old friends this way which was kind of funny.
Pretty soon, I was using the blog as our family journal as well as a place for family to see us.
I continue to blog for many reasons. First, it helps me remember all the little things that I quickly type up and forget about a month later. I love looking back at my archives.
It has become a really great and easy way to keep in touch with family. Many of them now have blogs as well and I am so glad to be able to keep up with their lives too.
This is the same for friends. I mean, most of them are on facebook as well but on there you just get little snippets.
I also have been so inspired over the years by other bloggers. I have become much more interested in crafting and DIY because so many blogs have great tutorials.
I have made friends through blogs... people I have never met but I feel like they are old friends.
Recently, I have been able to use the blogs to review products and take part in really cool things like the bloggers brunch in Chicago. I really like that my hobby has been somewhat lucrative.
And finally, I feel like I can be myself so much easier on my blog. It's easier to type up how you feel than to tell someone in person and so anyone who reads my blog knows me much better than they would if I didn't have one and I feel like I know people better as well.
I love blogging. I truly do. And I love reading all of your blogs!

Blog Challenge Day 11

Picture of your high school friends that meant the most to you:

 I've mentioned many times how much I loved high school. Alta was such a fun place and I will always look back fondly at my high school, my hometown Sandy, Utah, and all the friends I had there.
I had a lot of fun looking through my high school yearbook trying to decide which pictures to scan but worried about whether I was adding too many or not.
So, I have eliminated some pictures and tried to keep the ones that were my best friends and most influential friends throughout those three years.

These pictures are from my scrapbooks so most will have borders and other pictures with them. Also, they are in very random order.

First up: 

Right before my sophomore year we moved into a new house (still in Sandy) and I was now on the border of boundaries between Brighton and Alta. I decided on Alta High School so I could get away from my junior high friends and start over somewhere that people wouldn't have pre-conceived notions of who I was. I knew no one. 

I was scared but it turned out to be such a good thing. 

That year some of the most important people were Shannon and Steve. Shannon was one of my best friends for many years. She was in my new ward and was one of my two friends that got me going to early morning seminary which really helped me a lot to get back on track.

Steve was my first boyfriend my parents approved of. He was a great guy and one of the few people I have actually seen a few times since high school since he lives in Chicago and runs the Reptile Fest every year.

Ryan J. (Shannon's date) was also a good friend.

Ryan N. (in blue shirt) and Rusty: Ryan was older than me and since my older brother was on a mission at the time he kind of took on an older brother role. My mom loved him. She even wrote to him on his mission more than I did! 

I worked for Rusty's mom a few hours a week in their home and got to know him better that way. He was funny and fun loving and just fun to be around.

This is another picture of Shannon. This was Halloween sophomore year and it is one of my favorite pictures. We had so much fun that night. I was a blade of grass. The red spot is a ladybug.

LORA! You may remember my post about my favorite cousin. Lora and I were together all the time. Along with my friend Jenny we were inseparable. The funny thing was that none of us went to the same school. Lora went to Payson High and Jenny went to Brighton. 

Lora and I had these pictures taken at the mall the summer between 10th and 11th grade.

Speaking of Jenny! Jenny and I went to different schools but lived just a few blocks away from each other so we were together whenever we weren't in school. She was so goofy and fun. My mom took this picture of us outside my house in the same summer.

Jenny and Lora really showed me that you could have fun while being good.

As you can see on the title of this scrapbook page these guys were my lunch buddies. Every day for almost all three years I sat on the steps in one corner of the lunchroom. Every day there were different people that sat with us but the the four of us were almost always together at lunch in that corner.

They were great guys. 

Wes S. and Matt P. were in my German class and Jason T. I met in gym class on my 16th birthday.
Jason and I also dated off and on for about 3 years.

Jason S. was the other friend that got me going to early morning seminary. He was also in my new ward. We 'dated' for a second but that never really went anywhere... turns out he is gay. He was so much fun and such a great person. He called my parents mom and dad and was at my house so much that no one was ever surprised to see him. I love this scrapbook layout because he told us he was going to wear the same shirt every year for his picture and he really did.

Jen Orgill- she was my first best friend at Alta. We were always together sophomore year but then she transferred to another school for the rest of high school. Meanie. She was so funny and super tough. She pierced her own belly button once.

James - he and I shared a love of Georgia. We bonded over the fact that we had both lived there and made plans to go on a road trip to Georgia in his purple jeep wrangler after graduation. But, he was struggling with a lot of things that none of us knew about and took his own life. It was the hardest moment for me in those three years.

This page is full of pictures from the last day of school my senior year. The top left picture has Kevin, Doug (yes, my husband) and Danny. The top right is Wes again. 

The middle left is Jason T. again.

The bottom picture has Brent J. who was so wacky and funny, Hilary, and Doug.

Hilary was so cool. She was a ballerina and so funny. She was my best friend at Alta senior year and was a part of a large group of friends I hung out with that year that were really wacky. We did strange and funny things. 

And of course, Doug is my husband.

Throughout it all, Jenny and Lora were my best friends. Here is another picture of us.

This picture has Karen and Lora again amongst other good friends through the years. The middle picture is Bryan C. He was one of my best friends through school and for a few years after.

The top right picture and the bottom left picture include Bret P. He was also a friend throughout all of school. He was a great influence on me and we had a lot of fun together. The picture in the middle is Shannon, Karen, and I on a river rafting trip.

My 17th birthday- Karen, Jenny, Lora, and I

My junior year Austin was one of my best friends- right up there with the girls. He was hilarious and so much fun and I still miss the friendship I had with him. I screwed it up and we never really talked again after junior year.

Last but not least... the 90210 group. This was the summer of 1993 between my sophomore and junior years. I was always with this group. It consisted of myself, my boyfriend Matt ( the one with socks and sandals! we must remember that was hip back then.), Jenny, Chuck, Lora, Rusty, Taylor (not pictured), and Shannon (not pictured here).  Jenny, Rusty, Shannon, and myself were from Sandy. Lora was from Payson. And Chuck, Taylor, and Matt were from Provo.

Why do we refer to it as the 90210 group? Because we were all good friends that seemed to date among each other for a long time.

As it says on the page: 

Lora dated Matt. Then I dated Matt. Jenny dated Chuck. Then I kind of dated Chuck for a second a few years later. Lora dated Rusty. Shannon dated Taylor. Then Lora dated Taylor. Anyway, it was fun group of kids,

There you have it. I would love to see all of these people again someday. Through the greatness of facebook I am still in contact with more of them than I used to be but a lot of them I have lost contact with completely.

Did you enjoy high school?

Are you still friends with your high school friends?

Blog Challenge Day 10

Songs you listen to when you're bored, happy, sad, mad, hyped:

Post edit: I have removed the playlists because I was told it was slowing down and messing with the blog a bit and I noticed that on my end as well. 


Most of you know I love music and I really do get in moods based on what I listen to. Some of these are songs I listen to if I am already feeling this way and some I listen to if I want to change my mood.

The first list is my 

Happy List

These are the songs I listen to when I am cranky and want to feel happy or I am in a kind of happy bubbly mood.

It's got some Owl City, The Killers, Vampire Weekend, Muse, The Hush Sound, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Neil Diamond (yes, I did say that) and Alphabeat.

The next list is my

Edgy List

It's really not that edgy but it is the kind of music I listen to when I want to feel like more than just the 'mom'. It's what I listen to when I want to feel like me. The girl that may be a mom and may be pretty conservative but still rocks the black nail polish and wishes I could get away with wearing a tutu and combat boots and pink streaks in my hair.  

It consists of Paramore, 30 Seconds to Mars, Avril Lavigne, No Doubt,  Pink, and Evanescence.

This next one is my 

Stressed List

This is the music I listen to when I am feeling really laid back or I want to calm down because I am stressed or anxious.

It has Enya, Owl City, Emmy Rossum, A Fine Frenzy, Patrick Swayze, Christopher Cross, and 311. It would have Yanni but they don't have him on their site that I could find. My favorite Yanni song is Acroyali/ Standing in Motion.

Here we have my 

Happy Bored List

This is the happy list that I would listen to if I'm already happy and just want to sing along to some fun songs. 

It has Avril Lavigne, One Republic, Mumford and Sons, and Paramore and would also include some of the slower songs of Alphabeat if they would have had them. Also I really like Pink's song "Also known as Less than perfect" - I won't write down the real title. But, I like the cover Julia Sheer did of it without the swears.

When I'm feeling 

Nostalgic

I listen to old eighties and early nineties songs. Pretty much anything from then can make me feel happy but I love Aha's Take on me. I also added Taylor Swifts Back to December because it takes me back to high school.

And finally when I just want to 

Dance

and I don't really care about singing ability or depth of the song I go for a little Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kesha, and Miley Cyrus(only her Party in the USA song because my girls love it).

What are your favorite songs/ artists???

Dance class

This post is mainly for the grandparents! Here are some videos of some of last night. 
You can see in the free dance part (at the end of the last video) how much Abi gets into this!

Dance pictures

Abi must have been feeling like a real princess last night when we went to her dance presentation class. After I put her hair up in the bun she wanted to wear her tiara. She also wanted to have one of the sparkly cheek decorations from Disney World on. I thought she looked so cute.

She was just so excited while we waited for the class to start. Only about half of the girls showed up but I could tell it was so much fun for the ones that came to show us parents what they had been learning. Maddy liked running around while we waited for it to start.

Valentines Day

I love Valentines Day and usually go all out for it. Unfortunately this year I wasn't really in the spirit and didn't even decorate. We did have a little family dinner with gifts that night.

Maddy got a little sock monkey she was pretty excited about...

Abi got some chocolates, some Airheads, and a Lollaloopsy mini doll. She was so excited!

For dinner we had tomato soup and heart shaped bread.

Blog Challenge Day 9

something you're proud of in the past few days:

Last night was Abi's last ballet class. Because she took classes at a gym setting rather than a dance studio there wasn't a recital but the parents were allowed to stay for the last class to watch a typical class. 
It was so much fun to watch. 

This has been the first thing Abi has ever done like this. She really has seemed to love it but I wondered what she was like in class.
It was so fun to watch her because she listened to the teacher consistently, she did everything so well, and she was having so much fun. She was so happy. As I watched her I just felt proud. 

I am hard on Abi. We are a lot alike and we butt heads all the time. Sometimes I feel like I utterly fail her because I am so strict with her and I get so frustrated with her. I want so badly to be better at just letting her be who she is and give her more freedom. As I sat there watching her dance around I realized that in that moment she was being completely true to her spirit. She was full of joy. 

She can be high energy, she can be obstinate, she can be so stubborn; but she is so much fun. She is funny. She is joyful. She is creative. She is who she is and I am so proud of her.

Blog Challenge Day 8

Short term goals for this month and when you'll accomplish them:

There are only a few more days to this month so I am thinking of what my goals are for March.

I have been working really hard on losing the weight I gained while pregnant with Maddy. Of course I have the worlds slowest metabolism and have lost a total of ten pounds since September- of course I did gain back and re- lose a few over the holidays. The funny thing was that I didn't lose or gain anything while at Disney World because although I was consuming more calories than normal we were so active that it kept it even. But then over the next few weeks of holidays and post holiday snacking I did gain some back.

Now I am back on track. I work out almost every day and am keeping my calories below 1200 hoping that in the next month I can lose at least 5 pounds. The problem with my body is that diet and exercise usually just maintain weight unless I go a little overboard. So here's to a month of being hungry.

 

Other goals that I should be able to accomplish in the next few weeks are: 

Organizing my school closet

Organizing my closet

Cleaning the basement

Organizing the kids clothes to get ready for the next season

Be happy.

Blog Challenge Day 7

A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you:

 Easy Answer again.

My girls.

I think I've had some big challenges and some amazing and beautiful moments so far in this life but nothing comes close to being as challenging and as rewarding as being a mom.

Every decision I make every day in some way comes back to these two. From the moment I wake up I am trying to make the day happy and fun for them. I teach them, I play with them (even though, honestly, I don't really enjoy playing. I'd rather be doing something while they play.)

I agonize over what a horrible mother I think I am, I feel guilty if I don't do everything right, if I lose my temper, if I say or do something that I think I shouldn't have. I wonder if I am teaching them enough. I wonder if they know how much I love them. I wonder if they are going to hate me when they grow up. 

At night when I finally have them in bed asleep and the house is quiet and I finally get time to just relax, I look back over the day and feel bad that I may have not done my best. 

But, on the other hand, I am so proud of the accomplishments they have, the things they can do and know, the way they show affection so readily, the joy they seem to possess, and the feeling that I am doing at least something right if not everything. 

I will be honest and say that sometimes I want to take off for a day or two (or a week) but when I get past the stress and self doubt and sadness I find happiness and fulfillment in them and I am so grateful to be their mom.

Blog Challenge Day 6

Who is my favorite super hero and why?

Easy.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I saw the movie with Kristy Swanson as Buffy first and thought it was hilarious in that 'so dumb it's funny' kind of way. When I heard they were making a tv show about it I thought, "That's stupid. How can they make a tv show about that?" Boy was I wrong!

The show was on for a few seasons before I started watching. A lady I worked with asked me one day if I liked Buffy. I told her I hadn't watched it. She was surprised because she said I dressed like Buffy, had hair like her, and talked like her. I was intrigued because I was pretty sure I was nothing like the movie version. 

I looked it up online and saw that re runs were playing of the first season. I was able to start watching at almost the beginning and watch an episode every night after work.

I was hooked from the first time I watched.

From that point on I watched all the re runs plus started tuning in every Tuesday night to watch my favorite 'Scoobies' kill the bad guys and look good and say funny things while doing it.

Buffy was just cool.

She was pretty and stylish but also just tough. Sarah Michelle Gellar really pulled it off as being a skinny little girl that could kick butt.

Of course I also loved everyone else on the show especially Xander ( I would totally name a son that) Oz, and Spike. 

I was a little thrown when Willow changed her orientation because it didn't seem to fit the Willow of the early years ... but so be it.

I cried in what I thought was the last episode when Buffy died and rejoiced when I found out there would be another season and it rocked.

I own all seven seasons on DVD as well as all 3 Watcher Guides and the Sunnydale Yearbook.

Yep, I'm a geek.

I'm pretty sure that being a super fan of Buffy is what opened my mind to Twilight and all vampire/ werewolf/ supernatural lore. 

"He's some kind of demon looking for an all-powerful thingimibob and I've got to stop him before unholy havoc's unleashed and it's another Tuesday night in Sunnydale."

"If the Apocalypse comes, beep me."


However, I may have to change my answer when the next Superman movie comes out now that 
Henry Cavill 
has been cast as Superman!!

Blog Challenge Day 5

A picture of somewhere I've been:

It took me a while to decide what picture I wanted to blog about today. I feel blessed to have visited a lot of places that I have loved and have such great memories of. The quick one would have been blogging about Disney world but since I'm still finishing that up on the other blog I didn't want to do that one. 

The next obvious is to blog about my most favorite place I've ever been:

Prince Edward Island in Canada

I have been there twice now. Both times I went with my mom. The second time my dad was there as well. That time we stayed at the above lighthouse one night. 

I think it is one of the coolest things I've ever done, sleeping in a lighthouse. 

My mom was just telling me this morning that my dad was asking her when they were going to PEI again. I think we are all due a trip! 

I have thought a lot about it but I think I want to go again when the girls are a little older. 

When you are on Prince Edward Island there is just a feeling of peace and harmony and the scenery is just amazing. Everything looked as if it had been painted with the most vibrant colors God has. 

I remember sitting around a bonfire with my mom on the first trip sipping cocoa on the lawn of Green Gables filled with the most surreal feeling of being in the Anne books. 

If you haven't ever been there it is one of the places you should see!

Just say no to Gnomeo

Last week I learned something about myself.. I think I need to stick to only Disney movies when going to an animated film. I though Gnomeo and Juliet was terrible.

Growl

Just before lunch Abi's tummy was growling.
She asked me, "Mom, how can my tummy growl when it's not even a lion?"

Mickey Ears!

There is another post over on the disney blog....

Good Mail Mickey Edition

Blog Challenge Day 4

A habit you wish you didn't have:

Wow. I went around with this one for a few hours before sitting down to write.
I have many, many habits that I wish I didn't have. I am sure most of us do.
Then a few minutes ago it hit me. I was just telling Doug that I was thinking of taking down our 'classroom' in the dining room. Abi is working so independently now with her school that all I really need is her desk and our supplies. It would clear up a lot of clutter. Then I was telling him that when I do this I want to re organize the supply center so that I could put all of our art supplies in it and have it off limits. That way when Abi wants to get creative (which happens a million times a day) I could get out whatever she needs. In a way this makes her more dependent on me which I don't want but it keeps little Madeline hands from getting into the colored pencils, markers, coloring books, paper, scissors, stamps, etc and spreading them all over the house all day long. 
Doug said, " I know you want to do it but don't. Don't do it today."
I knew that he was saying this because he knew, just by the fact that I mentioned it, that if he didn't then I would be doing it within the hour. He also knew that it had been a rough morning around here and wanted me to take some time to myself during rest time to read. He's great eh?
So I didn't do it. But I'm still thinking about it.
This habit of mine is that I am never satisfied with our home. I re-arrange, I re-organize, I re-do all the time. I can never get things the way I want them or a way that works. I long so much to move so that I can pack up all the essentials, get rid of stuff I don't want to move, and start over in a new place. I love packing and unpacking because it allows me to start over.
I find it so hard sometimes to just let things be. I guess that is the habit I wish I didn't have. I wish I knew how to relax a little and just let things be the way they are for now.

Raising Accountable Kids

I have tried many chore systems over the past few years. Most of them I have made myself and have helped a lot but over the past few months I have been really looking for something new... something different that would work better for our family and our needs. 

At the beginning of the year when I was thinking about this constantly I decided to visit our church book store in Illinois. It is really far away so I don't get there often but that day we were trying to find things to do until Doug got off work so we could drive him home. I decided it was a great time to go visit. 

While browsing I found a book called Accountable Kids by Scott and Traci Heaton.

There was also a chore system that went with the book but since it was a little more than I wanted to blindly spend on something I chose to spend the money on just the book to see what it was all about. 

I spent the next few days immersed in this book knowing that it was something I wanted to try.

I went online and found the website for the Accountable Kids Program and ordered the kit. 

So what is the Accountable Kids Program?

It is a parenting program to teach not only responsibility in the home through the chores but also accountability. It gives children control in a system where they learn to balance their choices and consequences. 

The Accountable Kids Program includes a book ( I got mine separate but it is more cost effective to buy it as a kit), the Quick Start DVD, Progress Board, 50 reminder Cards, 3 Blank Reminder Cards, 10 Tickets, 10 Bonus Bucks, 3 Special Date Cards, 4 Best Behavior Cards, 2 Privilege Passes, and 2 sticker sheets. 

I also bought an Accountable Kids Mini Board to hang over Abi's board so that I would have a convenient location to store the Reminder Cards, Best Behavior Cards, Privilege Passes, and Date Cards. I bought some extra tickets and date cards too. 

This program is introduced over the course of four weeks implementing steps each week so it is not too overwhelming. 

The first week I let Abi decorate her board and we hung up the boards near the kitchen.

That night we held a Family Home Evening and introduced Step one.

In Step One children learn to take care of personal responsibilities without constant direction. The first peg on the board holds Abi's 'core' chores- the chores that she is responsible for every day. These are broken up into morning chores (to be done before 10am), afternoon chores (to be done before dinner/ 5pm), and evening chores to be done before bedtime. 

As soon as she is done with a chore she turns it over onto the finished peg. I don't have to follow her around making sure she is doing her chores. She is responsible for seeing what needs to be done and doing it. As soon as her chores for a time period are done she receives a ticket. Each ticket can be redeemed for something she likes to do like watching television or playing on the computer. During this week TV and computer time were reintroduced as a privilege that needs to be earned rather than a right. 

These tickets also provide a form of discipline as I can take one away for bad behavior. Occasionally she won't have any tickets on her peg to take away and for these situations we have created a list of things that get taken away if there is no ticket (movie night, mid week movie afternoon, etc). 

In Step Two we introduced the Privilege Pass. This is to eliminate certain negative behavior. It helps children to predict consequences and follow rules. 

We also introduced the Special Date Card.  This Card allows children to work for future rewards while also enhancing parent/child relationships.

 We use the Privilege Pass for bedtime. Abi was having issues going to bed. She would come out of her room pretending she was sleepwalking or yell for us to come up which would sometimes wake up Maddy. Also, we made a new rule that she needed to stay in her room until 7am so that she could wake up as early as she does but she would have to play nicely in her room until 7. This allowed me some extra time in the morning that I really needed. To earn the Privilege Pass every day she has to go to bed and stay in bed  and then stay in her room until 7am.

The Special date card has 10 squares on it and Abi gets a star for each day that she has earned all 3 tickets, meaning she has done all of her core chores that day. When she fills up the card with 10 squares she gets a special date with one of us.

In Step Three we introduced Extra Chores. These are chores that are not her responsibility every day but are things she can do to earn money. We give her a bonus buck for each chore and then at the end of the week we give her a quarter in exchange for each bonus buck. She loves this because it gives her the power to save up for things she wants that I say no to. This gives children the chance to learn how to save and manage their resources. 

In Step Four we introduced a Family Forum and Quiet Time. We actually already did both of these but we discussed why and what we would get out of them. Our Family Forum is our Family Home Evening every Monday night. It is a time to discuss goals , problems, and accomplishments as a family as well as have some fun together. 

Abi was so excited to do her chores every day. She loved getting her tickets and I was amazed at how she would really think through how she was going to use them. There were times when she wanted to watch a TV show but also wanted to play on the computer so she would have me split the time or days when she would say that she wanted to watch 15 minutes now and then save the rest for later. I really enjoyed seeing her plan out her time this way.
When we introduced the Privilege pass she wasn't too excited but she followed the rules most days because she wanted that Pass that could be used the same as a ticket.
She quickly earned all the stars on her first Special Date Card so that she could have me take her to get ice cream.

We are still working out all the details and tweaking the system to fit our needs but this system has really given Abi a tangible way to take control of her rewards and consequences. 

It has also allowed me a way to get her to do what she is supposed to be doing without losing my temper. 

In the book they state that your child will probably try to test the system at some point and we have been dealing with that this week. 

There have been a few days that Abi just doesn't do her chores. I have had to do what the book tells you to do and let her fail. She won't do her chores and then she will want to watch a show and I have to tell her no because she doesn't have a ticket. I'm pretty sure that after a few more days of this she will go back to happily doing her chores every day!

The book also states that a lot of families decide to have a free day. A free day is a day where a child still needs to do their core chores but doesn't have to pay tickets for the things they usually do. We loved this idea feeling that kids need that. So on Saturdays she gets to have as much television or computer time as she wants without having to use tickets. This makes her so happy and yet we have noticed that she spends more time on her free days not watching TV then she used to. She will watch for a while and then go off to do something else and come back later. I love this. 

So, what is my rating of this program? On a scale of 1-5 I would rate it a 4. I think it is a great program and have seen it work over the past month.

I was tempted to try to make up my own system after reading this book so I wouldn't have to pay for it but I realized that it was so worth it to have the package with all the cards delivered to me all ready for use. It would have been so much more work to make it myself. 

If you would like to check out the system for yourself there website has a lot of information and videos to watch as well. 

Check it out here.Accountable Kids

You can also check them out on facebook.

Blog challenge day 3

What makes you different from everybody else?

I could answer this easier with what makes me the same as everyone else... it would be a shorter answer. 

Honestly, it is a trick question.

All of us are different from everyone else. I believe everyone is very unique. But....I do think there is a commonality to most people particular to their religion, sex, where they live, etc. That said, 

I have always felt like I was very different. 

I've always felt like I think differently and look at things differently than most people.

I sometimes think of my mind like a kaleidoscope....

When others may look at something and see one thing, one sure thing in black or white, I see a menagerie of colors and images and ideas.

At the risk of being cheesy I am going to mention Twilight. The first time I read it I really related to the fact that the main character felt like her mind was so different from those around her. Of course you later find out that it is and she has the cool shield she can place out around her. I wonder if I have that? Okay, joking, but when I read that I thought, "That's how I feel."

I always have looked around me at what everyone else was doing and talking about and wondered why it was so different from what I cared about. 

I find that I sometimes have a really hard time relating to girls. While my closest friends as a teenager were girls, the majority of my friends were boys. This has stayed true my entire life. I could hang out at the house Doug lived in when we were dating with all the boys and be totally comfortable and outgoing but get me in a room of girls and I shut off and don't know what to talk about. 

When Doug and I were first married and living in his brothers basement I did not make one connection in our ward. I would go to things and not be interested in anything the girls were doing/ talking about. I just didn't care about that stuff.

Since having children there has been an entirely new side of me that has emerged- the crafty girly girl. I now do love crafts and sewing and doing cutesy things that I wouldn't have cared about six years ago... but I still feel that wall. 

While I can appreciate a cute purse or shoes or jewelry, I don't care about them. I would never spend money on any of those things when I could go get tons of books for the same price.

I don't care that my husband plays video games all the time and actually am so thankful that his hobby is one that keeps him at home with us and doesn't involve sports or killing things. 

I don't understand when girls don't 'allow' their husbands to play games (if you are one of them... please don't get offended. This is just my opinion and you have many more on your side!) because I would be really mad if Doug told me I couldn't do something I loved. 

I have major authority issues. "Don't tell me what to do" is my  phrase.

There are also many social issues that I don't necessarily see the same way as many of my peers. I won't go into those here now. 

I am a 33 year old woman (almost 34!) but I love steam punk and young adult fantasy novels while loathing adult romances. I love a good action flick while hating most romantic comedies. 

I do enjoy Black Friday shopping, shopping at toy stores and book stores, but for the most part I hate shopping. 

I drive the speed limit.

I love going to movies by myself. I haven't done it in a while... I think I'm due.

I love nothing more than cuddling up with a good book. 

I don't care if my kids watch tv. We do have a new system that keeps it to a minimum but that's just so that Abi earns the privilege through chores (more on that in another post) and not because I don't want her watching it. I like tv, Doug likes tv, our kids are smart and creative- so why not?

This feels like a confession post which isn't really what it was supposed to be but I guess these are all reasons I walk around on a daily basis wondering why I think differently than everyone around me. 

I guess I am glad that I am different. I have never wanted to be like everybody else. But sometimes I see something in someone else and wish I had that quality or thought about things like that. 

So there you go.

Although I think I'm so different,  I'm probably more like you than I think!

Blog challenge day 2

What is the meaning behind our blog name?


It is our names! Back when I began the blog I didn't know what I was getting into. When it asked me for a blog name I went for the obvious and just used dougandcheryl. Now I sometimes think it would be fun to have some creative name for the blog but I don't want to change it at this point.

Blog Challenge Day 1

I am going to be doing a blog challenge I read on a blog I follow for the next 30 days. Follow along and consider yourself tagged to do the same thing on your blog!

Blog Challenge Day 1: 

Post a recent picture of yourself and list 15 interesting facts about yourself.

I don't have many recent pictures of just me so I will put up this one from our trip of all of us.

15 things.....

I 'm not sure how interesting they are but I'm trying to find some strange things here you may or may not have already known about me:

1. I like being alone. 

2. I get really grossed out when I see an open jar of peanut butter on the counter. Doug likes to have peanut butter on crackers and toast and will often leave out the jar with the knife on it until he is completely done. I find this completely disgusting and cannot look at the jar until it is closed.

3. I don't like eating apples without slicing them up because I am afraid I will accidentally bite into a worm. I have no memory of this ever happening to me or anyone I know but I worry about it anyway.

4. I have to hide the really big knife that I use to cut up meat. There is just something about knives that freaks me out and this one in particular drives me nuts so to get it out I have to stand on the step stool and move things out of the way. 

5. I am so done with being brunette. I want my platinum blond hair back. I change my hair way too much (as I do with lots of things!) but this time I have had a hard time getting a shade I love. It's probably because I don't fake bake anymore so I'm not tan at all. But, I feel more like myself when I am blond. It fits my personality better and I miss it.. so sometime in the next few months expect to see my blond hair back.

6. I am not affectionate. Well, I guess I am really affectionate with my kids and pretty affectionate with Doug although I am not at all a PDA girl but I am not touchy feely with anyone else. My family called it my 'private circle'. That sounds strange but it meant the area around myself that would keep people from getting too close to me. Because of this it annoys me to no end when I'm in a line and the person behind me gets too close to me. I mean, you won't lose your spot if you step back a few feet!

7. I can talk to my mom on the phone for an hour without noticing it but hesitate to call friends because I am 'phone shy'. I also hate calling customer service and especially people I don't know very well.

8. I would totally go back to high school and re- live it if I could. I think that's bad but I can't help it. High school was just so much fun.

9. I have always loved cold weather and winter but I am so over it this year. SO over it
.

10. I have always said I'm not ticklish but I think I am finally becoming ticklish.

11. I have missed church three weeks in a row now and they were all for different reasons. The first time Maddy was sick (turns out she was teething her molars), the second time I just didn't feel like going, and this past week I was very sick for the first time in forever. I don't mind missing church and I feel bad about that.

12. I slept with the closet light on for the entire last week while Doug was out of town. I don't think I'm afraid of the dark... but maybe I am.

13. I love Valentines Day but I don't think of it as a lovers holiday. I think of it as a holiday to tell everyone how much you love them and I think of it as a family holiday... I've never cared when I was single on Valentines Day.

14. I have a high IQ. I was tested once. so why do I feel so dumb sometimes and why do I feel like I come across that way?

15. I don't care how often I hear people rave about sushi or how many people love it, I will never try it because I cannot fathom eating raw meat of any kind. Gross.

New Artists

I look forward to the Grammy Awards and Academy Awards the way others look forward to the Super Bowl.  I think this year the Grammys did not disappoint. There were so many awesome performances. Muse rocked like usual and once again I found myself so glad that Doug and I were able to see them back in the day in a small club where we could brush elbows with them before they were big in the US.
As usual, the awards show introduced us to some new artists that I had never heard of. I think our favorite of the night was Mumford and Sons. I had never heard of them or any of their music and we were both in love with them immediately. It is hard to describe their sound but Doug and I came up with folksy alternative rock.  I have no idea what they are really classified as but here is a taste of Mumford and sons...







Another favorite we had never heard of was The Avett Brothers. They have kind of a similar sound...

Little Cappie

I have recently been watching a tv series on Netflix called Greek. If you haven't seen it, it is about a bunch of kids in college and the sorority/ fraternity systems. There is one particular favorite character of mine that is kind of the goofy slacker guy. His name is Cappy.

This is Cappy.

A few days ago I was playing with Maddy and suddenly realized how much she looks like him. They have the same haircut with the little fly aways and they make so many of the same facial expressions... that may only be noticeable to me because of my being around Maddy all the time and the hours I have now spent watching this show over the past few weeks.

So, I have taken to calling her Little Cappie.

3...2...1... Blast off!!

This week we have been studying space in preschool so we went down to Chicago on Wednesday for a field trip to Adler Planetarium.
It was one of the only museums in Chicago we hadn't gone to yet so we were pretty excited. I really liked that it has its own parking lot right next to it so we didn't have to walk too far outside because it was FREEZING!
Also, it was a free day which was great. It wasn't crowded at all so that was really nice.
Here are the girls all bundled up out front...

Our first stop was to the kids section called 'Planet Explorers'. The girls had a lot of fun in there and although it is a small area we spent a lot of time playing.
Abi enjoyed crawling through these tunnels and sticking out her head on the moon.
Maddy wanted to stay outside of the tunnels but liked watching Abi run around inside...

The girls got to get in the virtual take off chairs. Abi didn't want to do it until she saw Madeline do it. They just push buttons until take off and then once they are in space they have to move the little joystick around to dock with the space station.

Of course whenever there is one of these things we have to take pictures....

these X Movers were pretty cool. The floor was covered in these foam moon rocks and the kids could scoop them up and move them around with the X movers. There was a wheel inside the mover and when you spun it you could really drive it around.

Both girls enjoyed taking some time to build...

and slide...

Then we went over to pretend to be astronauts. First the girls did some maintenance work on their ship...

then they loaded it with things they would need on their voyage...

Abi pointing at the different kinds of food...

trying out an Astronaut bed...

She was a little confused by the toilet.

Abi liked setting off the air rocket. She had to pump it full of air and then push the button. When it blasted off it kind of startled her!

At this point we took a break for lunch.

After lunch we spent time exploring the rest of the Planetarium.
Abi was checking out the giant sun!

You can see all the planets ...

It is a very interactive museum which is great for kids. Even in the normal areas I think it is more kid friendly because there are lots of experiments and games to increase their understanding of things. Abi really enjoyed putting together these puzzles..

a virtual planet landing. I think it was Mars. I can't remember.

After checking out all of the upstairs exhibits, the girls wanted to go back to the kids section to play for a little while. Abi made a friend and they played for a while in the campfire area.

This was the vegetable garden. It was full of these little rock like pellets which was much nicer than having sand to play in.

Maddy wasn't sure about it at first but then she dug her little hands in and was having the best time. She buried her legs in there.

You can see the tip of her little boot sticking out. She kept grabbing at it thinking it was a vegetable.

When they were done playing we went down to the lower level. We found the Atwood Sphere and found out we needed to go back and pay to go in it but Abi really wanted to so I went and got the tickets. They were only $3 each so it wasn't bad and this turned out to be our favorite thing so I'm glad we did it.
You get in a little metal seat thing and go up a track into the sphere. Then the door comes down so you are enclosed inside with the worker. Our guide was Hans.

This thing is 100 years old. They didn't have projection when they made it so all the stars are holes poked right through it so the light shines through. All the constellations are outlined and the guide tells you about them and asks questions.
He asked how to find the north star and I was so proud that Abi knew!
Maddy really liked this too so it was a fun time all around.

Another great day in Chicago! Living close to it is definitely our favorite thing about living out here.