The Great Gobble Wobble II

The FUN

Sledding behind a many-horse-enclosed-sleigh HEY!

(What you do if all of the sleds are occupied and you need a winter exfoliation treatment.)

Dashing through the sand.

Jack, Aunt Lisa and DJ

Oh what fun it is to ride....

even for Jaaaarrrraaa

Enough chopped up Jingle Bells.

Here is my tribute to me and Wendy's super, warm matchy coats that we realized we've had for over 11 years! They are very durable and are worn in extreme weather conditions, such as the chill 40-something of the desert, Canon beach, and snow, the true purpose of the coat. (Well in Wendy's case, I avoid snow activities and not because I don't like to be cold, but because I make red snow.)

FOOD

Yay for kids table!

Yay for Jack eating olives and turkey snuck into bites of pie!

Yay for Jara who ate roll and "one piece of corn mom."

FAMILY

Kids watching movies in the grandma and grandpa hideout, i.e. the garage. The hideout is complete with a toasty heater, bedding and direct TV. I want one.

For me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

With Gratitude

Due to the fact that it was recently the holiday we take time to reflect on our gratitude, I feel it necessary to record a few thoughts. This list does not contain the obvious most important things in my life but rather the things that I need to think about more often.

• Where we live, even if it it way toooo hot. I'm safe. I'm near family. The air is clean. It's rural and away from the restrictions of city life. My kids will find happiness in simple things, for example, dirt.
• My husband has a job in a state with an unemployment rate of 14% and it decreased in October for the first time in 5 years.
• My new BFF, my vacuum. It has changed my life and is slowly improving my allergies. I can't believe I didn't blow up the old vacuum sooner and actually felt bad when it happened. My shaggy, neutral with camouflaging specs carpet cannot hide anything now!
• Zumba and my zumbi guru, (that's you Annie) I have never consistently worked out in my life, to me its pure drudgery. However, zumba is FUN, I am always surprised when it is over and I'm a little sad. I sweat like I never have in my life and yet I don't feel like I am going to pass out from over-exertion.
• My sister teaching me tricks of ancient cultures. I can't tell you or you know...
• Mr. Hyde, my big, fat, lazy, worthless, loving cat. I've missed having pets.
• Education-most importantly my husband is done with his.
• Kindness-someone saving my cell phone from the clutches of the library, someone watching my children voluntarily so I could frantically search for a missing purse, the bag lady who carefully arranges my groceries so the bread and eggs won't get mashed, friends who ignore my tactlessness, police officers who only give warnings, strangers who acknowledge when my children are displaying good behavior, and old men who hold the door at the Post Office. There are many random acts of daily kindness to be grateful for.
• Humor-I always appreciate when someone or something can make me laugh. Jara playing jump rope with the cat, preschoolers, Jack yelling "dee, dee, dee GOOO!!!" Jed doing the "fish" at the lake, it never gets old, and our late night conversations that may or may not occur after we have gone to sleep.
• Beauty-not the runway model kind, the beauty that is around us (forgive me for waxing poetical) Leaves changing on trees, horses grazing in pastures, mountains, hills, variations in dirt color, you get the idea.

Hopefully my acknowlegment of my many grateful blessings, that I have been neglecting, will banish my bad luck of late. One can only hope, not expect. hehe

Annual Photo Shoot

So every year a week or so within range of my children's birthdays I like to commemorate the special occasions by making myself crazy lining up a photo session. Matching outfits, hair-bows for Jara, layers for Jack, perfect location or photo op, back-drops, props etc. I wonder why I do this? No one likes it. This year we went a little bit more low-key. I hired CSS photo documentary (aka-Jed, he gave me a special rate) only did one outfit per child, non-matching, and tied some tulle in Jara's hair. The best part was, I promised the children if they were cooperative they could obtain the mighty reward of rolling in the sand and digging! Woohoo! And yes I know Red Rock is a little cliche around here but Jara requested it and it was a key part of the reward, plus I never get sick of the beauty and colors.

All three faces of Jack, the model two-year-0ld (By "model" I mean, grumpy, obstinate, happy and delightful all in one!)

Reaction face, surprise, oooo

Happy, cooperative child and his alter-ego


Jara the fearless rock climber. Four is a magically, happy, brave inquisitive year as you can see.


She can be serious and crazy all at once.

These pictures have not been edited yet, I'm toying the idea of just letting them be, it takes away from the "professional" look but it is so candid and just how they are. Plus the lighting was great that day. Doesn't that bright blue sky make living in the desert worth it?

Daily Constitutionals

It all started in January of 2006. For Christmas I received the most rambunctious, chewing, bundle of puppy energy EVER. We had no yard and the only way to live with the little beast was to take her on very long, long walks. This was life before children and Jed was gone a lot so the dog and I walked and walked and walked. I lost 5 pounds of Christmas See's chocolates and the dog stopped yapping all night. Everyone is a winner! Most importantly I started to love walking again. When I was growing up it seemed like there was always a dog around the house to take on walks and write bad poetry in my head or vent to. After I had Jara, I discovered walks were as calming to a baby as they had been to a puppy. Except this time, I was losing baby weight AND Christmas See's chocolates, (do you see a pattern here) and the baby slept snuggled in a five point harness during the walk, unlike a crazy puppy who needs a leash! Ever since then, the walking has continued. It is one of the few times I get to just think and think and no one expects commentary or entertainment. We have used many different modes of transportation...

• a hand-me-down first jogging stroller ever made, we used to live on a dirt road and it was the only way I could push my baby amongst giant rocks and blow-sand
• the above mentioned stroller and a baby carrier zipped into my jacket, I looked like a kangaroo and felt like a pack mule
• a mall stroller, when I was a new mom and had to have things match with cutey patterns
• a cozy coupe with one kid in and one kid on top, thankfully we were never pulled over for reckless driving
• my Cadillac giant double boat jog stroller that needs an oversize load sticker
• the stroller with cats in tow
• and our latest mode of transportation this oldie but goodie...

The classic wagon.
Since I rescued this one from the silver state disposal system, we have since upgraded (thanks Gma and Gpa A) to a very lovely shiny, new wagon complete with some sort of amazing ball bearing system, off-road tires and shocks. And of course the cat thinks he needs to ride with the children, half-way into the ride he comes to his senses and bails, after Jack has given him a few friendly eye gouges and Jara has squeezed the breath out of him with Elmiraesque hugs (Does anyone else remember the little tiny-toon girl Elmira?)

Me pulling the wagon, but the camera man forgot to get the wagon in the picture. Minor detail. But you still get to see the joy and that's whats most important. Right?

The Crash

Every now and then Jed calls me from one of his adventures and tells me "I wrecked" or "I busted_______" or "Don't be mad but_______."

I don't like these phone calls and he always does it to see what my reaction will be and then he says "just kidding."

So, when he called me Monday night and said "I wrecked," I didn't believe him. Then he kept talking and elaborating on his situation and I realized when your husband tells you he is "somewhere in the desert with a broken collarbone and you need to come get me" it is no joke.

Jed has been practicing for a quad race in a few weeks and wrecked out in the desert Monday night. We feel blessed he only broke his collarbone. Thank goodness for helmets and the lucky star my crazy husband was born under. I never worry about him because the man is truly amazing and can pull off all kinds of wild stunts, I've witnessed many,

paragliding off of mountains

jumping 50 foot jumps on his 4/wheeler

investigating mines and coming out with dynamite (yeah, I know)

attempting back flips on the wakeboard

driving a giant rock truck (this wouldn't be too crazy, but given Jed's record with backing up...)

lighting numerous things on fire with a can of gas in one hand and hairspray in the other

I'm married to a regular Evel Knievel/superman hybrid

However, this little mishap proves he really is mortal.

Now for the strange thoughts/occurrences/and dialog that happened this ER trip, because if you remember the time of the wisdom teeth, you'll know this wasn't our first rodeo.

#1

"Here talk to this nice lady" says a relieved girl after depositing her senile old man at my feet in the waiting room and then running to "get pizza." He was mad as a hatter and pissed as a feral cat. Try calming that down with nothing but pretzels and a Newsweek and a gentle reminder not to take the Lord's name in vain.

#2

Good thing it's his left side that's messed up, because there are some things I really don't want to take care of.

#3

Thank goodness for the necessary evil of cell phones because I never would have found him if he wouldn't have called me. Maybe I should get him micro-chipped. haha

#4

I'm going to be flying solo on diaper duty and dish washing for a long time.

#5

Asking the Dr. if the family "wants him buried or cremated" around the OTHER patient's wife is NOT cool.

#6

My husband is turning green Dr. I think that means he needs to sit down and you need to quit trying to help a man, who is a foot taller than you, put on a sling standing up!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST...

I'm so glad that we said our prayers this morning and Jed was being watched over because I love him and really want him to be around for a long, long time. We both feel very grateful and blessed nothing else happened.

One Year Older

Baby Jara

Baby Jack

From that to this...

4 years old

2 years old

and yes, he is licking the cake

It's Official

Things have gone to h-e-double-hockey-sticks




That's what happens when you teach lil' devils how to play the piano.