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Showing posts from March, 2010

I ♥ Faces Photo

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There's this blog iheartfaces.blogspot.com that has weekly photo challenges and such. I don't know much about it, nor do I actually know how I bumped into the blog but one of the challenges was 'Angles' and I thought to myself... I have a picture that fits perfectly into that theme! I figured I'd try and enter the contest, just for fun--except... The contest was already closed. Dang, there goes my one chance at greatness. Then I got an email from a blogging buddy who is having a link party. Theme: Posts You Didn't Get Up In Time/ Old News. Perfect. So here is my entry for 'Angles' (that I'm sure most of you have seen): Beautiful Remewin discovering a 'friend' in the mirror. What do you think? I totally should have won, huh?   What would I do without blogging prompts? P.S. Want to know how I made the ♥ ? If you are on a laptop you push function+alt+L (which is the function #3) all at the same time and voila ♥ -

Prompt: Write About a Blue Colored Object

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Yesterday Vicbowin had a friend over to play. Consequently it was necessary to use the car (instead of the truck) to take the friend home--more seats. I don't use the car very often anymore. It gets better gas mileage than the truck so Ralexwin typically uses it when he has to commute. This means the kids are rarely in the car either. Factor into this the bit of car-junk rearrangement and what you come out with is a 7 year old child sitting in the back seat and exclaiming, "I've been looking for this everywhere!" "Looking for what, dear?" "My water bottle that Dad gave me." I risked a glance behind me and saw a small blue water cooler--and the smiling face of Albowin. When we got back to the house he happily brought the container inside with him, where it was placed reverently onto the counter... and promptly forgotten about. Fast forward an hour or two and you would find me and Ralexwin in the living room. Ralexwin is reading scripture

Blah.

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(Albowin as a baby and a skinny me--I loved that shirt) The house of the ill today. Including my computer that took 4 restarts to get it to decide to work... maybe it has a fever too. More ramblings tomorrow.

Psycho-analized

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Vicbowin came home from school crying. She was a very sad little girl with a problem that I honestly couldn't help her with. Friends fighting over her. Have you ever had friends fight over the time they get to spend with you? I haven't! I had no idea what to tell her. She informed me that that was okay, because after Guidance yesterday she had stayed after to ask the school counselor what she should do. She told me she had an appointment to talk with her more about it today. Oh. Umm, okay. My little 8 year old is at it again. Her precociousness getting the better of me. Shocking me into remembering that she isn't likely to sit around in life. Nope. She hits the world head on and asks questions later. How I wish I was more like her. She gives me something to work towards. I can understand why people fight for her attention.

Joseph Smith

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At the age of 14 Joseph Smith Jr. began an endeavor that would change not only his life, but the lives of millions of people that would live after him. It started with a simple question "Which church should I join?"--and an equally simple Biblical verse: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5 So Joseph Smith decided to pray about it and on a fine spring day he walked into the forest beyond his families homestead and knelt down to ask God. God's answer was far beyond what a 14 year old Joseph Smith had expected: "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This i

Who is the Brother of Jared?

The story of the Brother of Jared can be found in the book of Ether which is in the Book of Mormon .  During the time of the Tower of Babel and the confounding of languages, there was a man named Jared whose brother was greatly favored of God. When everything becomes chaos and God is scattering the people to the winds Jared begs his brother to go to God and ask that their family be spared.  Jared's brother does so and is granted, by God, his desires. Through further prayer and supplication Jared's brother and their family are led by God toward a safe haven, or promised land, where they could shelter from the chaos that was around them.  There's one problem...to get there, they have to cross the ocean. Jared's brother is given specific instructions on how to create a sea-worthy vessel that they will survive in until they can reach the promised land, but once the ships are built it becomes obvious that there will be no light inside of them. The brother of Jared goes

50 Words

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A year ago a friend of mine suggested I try writing a story in 50 words . It was a lot of fun to do. The other day another friend of mine told me she had to write a short story for her creative writing class. I was intrigued, she was overwhelmed. "That's so easy!" I exclaimed. "It has to be 500 words long." She moaned. "Oh, that would be difficult... I don't think I could keep it that short." She didn't find that humorous, "The professor expects us to have a realistic plot line! In 500 words... that's impossible." I chuckled and recalled my 50 word story. So I showed her. "See, if I can do it in 50 words you can do it in 500." I don't know what she wrote or what grade she got on the assignment, but it got my creative juices a flowing and I decided I wanted to do another 50 word story. So here goes: Dust and cobwebs covered the attic. Adelaide sneezed before pulling away the ragged tarp and dropping

Bugged

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I'm being bugged by the mere presence of humanity today. I guess that means I'm in a bad mood. Don't you ever get that way? Like you would just like five minutes with no other human being for a hundred miles. Five minutes... that's all. I wonder if I'd make a good hermit? Probably not, I like to talk to much. Plus I think a hermit is required to give up the internet... it's in the 'code of hermit ethics.' Right after--live in a cave you've burrowed out of the mountain yourself. Isn't that how you imagine hermits? I do. Except for once I read a book that described one character (a hermit) as hiding away in his house with his books, away from civilization and wishing only to remain that way till he died. I'm more inclined to that sort of hermit-ness. But since I'm not a hermit, and I don't have the opportunity to remove myself from others I suppose I'll just have to wash my grumpiness off in a hot shower. I HEART hot showers.

Skiving Off

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On Friday night I recieved a whopping 5 hours of sleep. This was completely and unequivocally the result of a certain mischevious three year old who crawled into bed with us and tossed and turned all night. I finally retreated to the couch, only to be woken by the baby at 4:30AM--at which point my night was over. I was tired on Saturday, as you can imagine, but Saturday was Ralexwin's birthday so I had a lot to accomplish... including baking a cake, wrapping presents, wrangling kids, cooking a special dinner and--believe it or not--going to book club. I fell into bed on Saturday night at around 11:00PM and swore I wasn't going to ever wake up again. Remewin had other plans. She woke at 1:00 AM and insisted on staying up until 2:00AM. When I finally got her back down I returned to the my sanctuary to discover it had again been overtaken by that same three year old. I tried to convince Ralexwin to move him but he just mumbled something incoherent about shoving the kid in

33!

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Happy Birthday to the best and greatest man I've ever known in my life. I can't believe it's been ten years since I met you! I love you.

Funny Kids Funny Words

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 (cute as ever) Body Parts /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/  (interaction between me and the Irish Twins) Vicbowin: Mom! He called me a bumper. Me to Albowin: You can't go around calling people bumpers...that is a bad word! Translation: Bumper is butt. ------- Me: Baby, where did you put that paper? The Mischievite: Ober dere (over there). Me: Over where? The Mischievite: In your bum. Me: Not funny. The Mischievite (giggling): Yes, it i-i-is. ----- The Mischievite: Me put my feet in the mud? Me: Sure if you want, just don't come onto the carpet after. The Mischievite: Me can? And my hands? Me: Sure. The Mischievite: And my shirt?! ---- The what of who I am  /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Vicbowin: You know, I'm not going to act like a girly girl anymore. I'm just gonna act like myself. Me: How do girly girls act? Vicbowin: They chase boys and I don't like to chase boys... except for G. because he chases me back. ---- (After winning a raffle prize) Albowin: I thin

Hidden in the Family Tree

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~List ten family legends. First I'll define legend as something that may or may not be true but people like the story so much they keep it alive. (Which means I don't know how many of these are really true). Let's see: 1. Supposedly there were three things my ancestors were known for--1) they always lied 2) they had horrible tempers 3) they didn't abide by anyone harassing their family.--that's my dad's side of the family 2. My grandfather's family was chased out of town after they lit a hay wagon on fire and it rolled into town and burnt everything down. 3. We are descendants of Henry VIII. This is actually a family myth because Henry VIII doesn't have any descendants left. 4. We are descended from Richard the Lion Heart. 5. We are descended from King John. Famous for signing the Magna Carta. 6. The last time my grandfather ever saw his mother was after he had jumped onto a train and it passed the house... she was outside hanging laun

Ol' St. Patty

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It's the day for green. My friend Melissa would like everyone to know that you can also wear orange since the colors on the Irish flag are green, orange and white. She informs me that orange is worn as often as green on this great day in Ireland. It is also my step-mom's birthday today. Happy Birthday to her! I have no idea how old she is. I like St. Patrick's Day. Except for the ten minutes or so in the morning before I manage to find green. Ralexwin thinks it's a hilarious way to get me out of bed. I don't so much. I even considered drawing some green onto me last night, so as to avoid the inevitable morning ritual, but I was to lazy. This morning I raced around the room trying to find green while he tried to pinch me as hard as he could. It's not one of those sweet loving pinches either... no, it's the full on sibling sort of pinch, the kind that HURT. Maybe next year I'll remember to draw green on myself. So how about heritage? Do you have any

Pretty Girl, Pretty Girl

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(Remewin) I love cute babies and all their chub. They take the best pictures with all that iridescent skin. So when I see mine doing cute things I do my darndest to capture it. Like when Remewin falls asleep in the middle of the living room.  No wonder cherubs are painted as babies. I've never understood why people don't want children. It makes no sense to me. A person hasn't experienced life until they've loved a child completely. Why would you want to pass on that? I'm so lucky I didn't. P.S. Tomorrow's the big day! I'm the guest blogger over at MormonMommyBlogs ! Hooray.

Daylight/Standard Time

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Spring break is finally over and I'm left feeling as if I've lost an hour of sleep. Oh, wait. I have! I am so sluggish, my brain feels congealed inside my head. I've been floating around looking for blogging prompts thinking they would kick start my mind, but nope. I'm like a cold-blooded animal on a dreary, cloudy day. I think I should go take a long hot shower, that probably will help. Some time this week I'm going to write an essay for you all. I'm sure your excited. But for today, this is the best your going to get. Sorry. I'm regretting it already, but what can I do, take my brain out and shake it? Hehehe --Cannwin P.S. The curtains are done. Huzzah for me! Please excuse the mess.

Lucky Me!

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Last night I had to run down to Wal-Mart for some nails. I didn't really want to go so I said to Vicbowin, "Hey, will you run down to the store and get me some nails?" "Okay." She said and began to find her shoes. I didn't say anything more so I'm sure she was uncertain, especially since she kept glancing up at me. Finally she exclaimed, "Mom, are you serious?" I chuckled. "How were you going to get there?" "On my bike." "How about you just come with me instead?" Here's where the mis-communication starts. When I said--why don't you just come with me, she heard--on our bikes at 7PM in the dark in 35* weather. She flew out the door while I went to get my coat (still unaware of the word confusion). You can imagine my surprise when I saw her at the end of the driveway sitting on her bike waiting (in snow boots and winter coat no less). "No, we're driving." "But you said we c

Spring Break Day 5 (The End Is NEAR!)

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Post SubTitle: Crafting and Men I've finally started making curtains for the front room of our house--a year and a half later. I do have a good excuse though... curtains are pricey! and we have six (yes, 6) windows in our living room. So Wal-Mart has some extra long sheet sets on clearance for $5. Total score in the way of white fabric. I bought some for the purpose of making curtains. One curtain down... five to go. I'm sure my house looks weird from the outside right now. You see, I've run into a little problem. I need strips of wood for the tops and bottoms of the curtain (to secure it to the window) I've got the wood, but have you ever tried to saw BY HAND twelve strips of  3/4in. x 19 1/2in. wood strips? It's not fun. I asked Ralexwin if he'd go get them cut for me, but he gracefully avoided the question by saying something along the lines of "Is dinner ready!?" He wants me to do it myself. I understand that. He doesn't want to

Spring Break Day 4

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Well Spring Break is turning out to be okay. Yesterday was the crowning day. I recieved a full ten dollars ("Ten whole dollars!") in the mail for my time spent as a prospective juror, I got an email telling me that a blog I submitted was going to be used (yay for me!) and I got my blog swap package in the mail. Definitely the best part of the day. The kids have been waiting for it too. They saw me making my package and sending it off so they knew one was coming. So what did I get? A totally cool craft magazine that I'm now considering getting a subscription to. Chocolates Some seriously nice lotion. Hot Chocolate A little journal Bath salts And one supremely delicious smelling candle. The chocolate's are all gone. The candle has already been used once. The lotion has already been slathered onto one adult body and four munchkin bodies, and I nearly told Ralexwin I would rather look at my magazine than read last night. Thanks so much to my swap

Spring Break Day 3

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(the only flowers to be seen this spring break) So I stumbled across a list of questions the other day--the self-discovery type--and one of them was--"If your house was burning down what 3 things would you save?" Well, my first response was 'my children' but obviously that's like asking whose your favorite person in the Bible. Saying 'my kids' doesn't count. So I've decided on my movie projector instead. :) The other night we had a bunch of the single kids (kids as in 18-30 year old singles... how did they become kids?) from church over and I asked them the same question. One of the guys had a pretty good answer: "My car keys." Oooh. Hadn't thought of that. That's a good one. I added it to my list. Another girl chimed in, "My insurance policy." I liked that one, but I think maybe just the entire 'vital records' file would have to come. Funny how some people think so rationally and others so emotionally.

Spring Break Day 2

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The loudest thing I've said so far today: "For heaven's sake, he said 'stop!'" Vicbowin keeps shouting for me from the other room, and although I have told her that my hollaring back scares the baby, she continues to shout. Other interesting tidbits of my day. The Mischievite is yet again in a dress. He's also running around shouting ' By the power of Gray-Skull! ' while his older brother chases him and growls like a tiger or perhaps a bear... or maybe just a rabid dog. I read a great poem last night. Vicbowin, bless her little intelligent heart, wasn't to pleased with it and shouted, "MOM!" in the middle of my reading it aloud. She didn't like the content. Invictus by William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance

Spring Break Day 1

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Aw, yes, Spring Break is upon us once again. Never mind that it's not even spring yet and that there is still several inches of snow on the ground. Never mind that I can't actually tell my kids to go outside without piling the clothes on. Never mind that we have about 8 snow days to make up this year. NOPE, they had to have spring break right now. I have to tell you when I realized (last Thursday) that spring break was this week I nearly cried. Did I not just deal with an entire month of 4 day weekends? I swear they've spent more of their winter in the house than at school. Not only that, but of course I have a million errands to run. Shall I list them? 1. Completely out of diapers, so off to the store I go. 2. Post office for some much needed shipping. 3. Vital information to vital places (much overdo) 4. Dr. office, what's a little vacation without a little sickness? 5. Cell phone shop (my phone is completely nuts, it has absolutely gone off the deep e

Mommies Anonymous

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I've decided a few things this last week, mainly concerning motherhood...or more appropriately my motherhood. We as women are raised to believe that we are all natural mothers. It's in our nature to just know how to do this. It's in our nature to be good at it. Well... I've got something to say on that matter. I AM NOT GOOD AT THIS! In fact, I find it ridiculous to assume that because I'm a woman I should be good at this. I'm a bit perturbed at the notion that I was born to change poopy diapers. I'm angry that anyone would assume I was born to clean up after others. Furthermore men are taught that if a woman loves them they show it by having a clean house and clean children. Ha! I rarely have a clean house and am less likely to have clean kids. My bathroom smells like pee. My bedroom smells like dirty diapers. My baby is more likely to eat a wrapper off the floor than she is to eat a cheerio off her high chair tray. Dinner is rarely serv

Plinky Prompt: Name a food that reminds you of someone

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My senior year of high school my best friend and I would go down to this shop every Wednesday night and have cheese fries and Lime-Rickies (the Utah sort). To this day I can't take a bite of a cheese fry without thinking of Kazia . We had great times together back then. Like the time I let our other friend Hilary drive my brothers car. Hil was really short so she had to push the drivers seat up and we forgot to push it back when we got home. This might have been overseen except for the fact that my brother came rushing out of the house and climbed into the drivers seat. "Jeez, why do you sit so close!? How do you even get in here?" Or when Kazia and I ditched school to go shopping. The plan was to put all the clothes I bought into my closet before my brother got home, therefore keeping it on the down low that I'd been sluffing. It didn't go as planned. Moments after we pulled into the driveway (which was after school had gotten out) Kazia spotted my brother d

Superstitious Me

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I used to be a bit superstitious. I used to be a bit OCD about it actually. I don't know when it started, sometime during my childhood, but I imagine it might have had something to do with being able to control something in my life. I was a fanatic about finger crossing. I never walked under a ladder and I was totally paranoid about umbrellas opening indoors (I'll admit this only once... I still have a hard time with the umbrella's). However, we did have a black cat growing up. He was like my anti-luck charm and he was named, appropriately, Lucky. Yes, the more I think about it, the more I'm coming to realize I was pretty obsessive back then. I used have to run my hand all the way down the railing from top to bottom. If for some reason I was distracted and took my hand off I would go to the top of the stairs and start over again. To me it was like a paintbrush stopped in mid-stroke. I couldn't stand it. Perdidle 's were the same way. I remember screami

Monthly Theme: I'm So Lucky!

Since it's March I figured I'd do a theme about Luck. Since it's been a while since I explained what my monthly themes are all about, I figured I'd do that too. When I started this blog I immediately discovered that coming up with something to write about every day was a little harder than I had thought (just a little...like on those days when I haven't brushed my teeth or showered and it's nearly 10 AM i.e. today). To combat this infrequent, but annoying, writers block I started poking around to see what other people did. Some bloggers do certain themes on certain days. Some bloggers devote entire blogs to prompts for others (I love these). I did my research and decided to go with my own version--a monthly theme. Now, just to clarify, this isn't what I write about all month, but a fall-back option for those days when I don't really have something to say (and can't find a prompt). It also gets my mind working in a certain direction and helps sp

Bibliophiliacs Anonymous

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Have you ever noticed how blogging has a life of it's own? Have you ever noticed that, like piercing your ears, one time is never enough. My sister called me about a month ago to announce that she had this great idea and she wanted my involvement. Thus began our newest venture in the world of web logging. (I made this!) The Literary Soundtrack (I wanted to call it Bibliophiliacs Anonymous to which my sister announced that I was a nerd) is a blog devoted to literature and music. More appropriately the influence that these two aspects of art and culture have on one another. Have you ever heard a song and thought of how it reminded you of a book? Have you ever heard a song and made up a story to go with it? Have you ever connected the two in your head? I bet you have. That's why many writer's questionnaires ask what type of music you listen to when you write. Music inspires all of us bibliophiliacs, in some form or another. My sister and I have decided that

From The Mouths of Babes

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(Laura Ingalls Wilder Day... believe it or not she was excited about this ) Vicbowin last night: "Please! I'm so hungry. Why don't you care? I just want some food. Anything, except vegetables, rice or meatballs!" ----------------------- Albowin saying prayer (last night): "Please help that we can eat something that I like." ------------------------ Iyawin: "Nuh-Uh." Me: "Yuh-Huh." Iyawin: "Nuh-Uh." Me: "Yuh-Huh." Iyawin: "Nuh-Uh." Me: "Yuh-Huh." Iyawin: "Nuh-Uh." Me: "Nuh-Uh." Iyawin: "Yuh-Huh. . ." Giggles, "Silly Mommy!" --------------------- Vicbowin: "730 minutes, that's all? But that's not enough, I'm not gonna win now. How come I don't have 1000 like last week?" Me: "Honey, 730 minutes is 12 hours, that's half a day..." Vicbowin: "But I read 1000 minutes last week!" Me: &q