Thursday, January 31, 2008

... Halloween costumes.

Rachael was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. I paid regular price for the costume - ouch! - including the super cute yellow shoes. But here we are almost four months after Halloween and she still likes to dress up and be Minnie Mouse around the house.


Money well spent!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

... good friends.

Today I went to lunch with my next door neightbor. This is not unusual; we go almost once a week.

I was reflecting, however, on how wonderful it is to have good friends. I dearly love my husband but there's just something about gabbing with the girls that does my heart good. To all my friends, thanks!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

... rain.

Actually it was quite a storm we had today... rain most of the day. But you can't beat rain in January, it's awesome! Probably because it should be snow.

And having lived through a number of drought years, I love it when it rains.

Monday, January 28, 2008

... President Hinckley.


Our dear prophet and leader passed away last night, and he will be sorely missed. Most of all I will miss his charming sense of humor. My thoughts and prayers will be with his family and with the leaders of the church.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

... church.

I really am grateful for the opportunity to go to church every Sunday and recharge my spiritual batteries. Even on the Sundays I have to play the organ!

Our Relief Society lesson was on President Eyring's talk - the same one that inspired this blog - and it was a good reminder to focus not only on what I am grateful for but also the Lord's hand in everything I do.

And I still like to drink hot chocolate.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

... hot chocolate.


I had to run a couple of errands this afternoon, and thanks to my husband for watching Rachael, I got to do them all by myself. To celebrate, I got a hot chocolate from Starbuck with cinnamon. Yum!

I notice I have frequently been grateful for food; I should probably start digging a little deeper...

Friday, January 25, 2008

... pizza delivery.

Tonight Ryan and I were suppose to go on a date. Unfortunately our babysitter didn't make it over (she called later and apologized; she fell asleep... she's a high school senior with early morning seminary, I sympathize!). Anyway, the date has been postponed.

Since we were suppose to go out to dinner, we decided to order pizza. Yummy!

(No Chinese delivery. Since Ryan spent two weeks in China, he's had all the authentic Chinese he wants for quite a while!)

Thursday, January 24, 2008

... little kisses.

Rachael leaned over and gave me a little kiss today, for no particular reason. She's not really an overly affectionate child, so I treasure these spontaneous outbursts. I love when she drops a little kiss or wraps her little arms around my neck. One day she will outgrow all this so I'll revel in these moments while I have them.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

... Rachaelisms.

Some of Rachael's funny words & phrases:

finger: still pronounced as "bigger" (as in sticky biggers and the stuck bigger song)
open: even though she can say open, she still says "o-ten"
strawberry: until very recently was a "straw-ber-berry" (one of my favorites!)
potato: "pee-tay-toe"
banana: "bee-na-na"
pajamas: "pee-jammies"
blanket: "banquet"
ice cream: "ham scream" (another favorite, how silly is that?) We call Dairy Queen the "ham cream store"

When she wants some chapstick she says, "I want some yips (lips) on." This also applies to anyone wearing lipstick, "She have some yips on."

She's a little bit of a southern belle; most of the time she calls me "momma."

And here we are three weeks past Christmas and she still says "thank you for my pony castle" and "thank you for my dollhouse" in her evening prayers. I love that she thought of those all on her own - I didn't prompt it in her prayers.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

... and playtime with Daddy.


I really like that Daddy takes some time every day to play with Rachael when he gets home from work. I usually make good use of the time and fix dinner. It's a pretty good system. And we're glad Daddy has no reservations about playing with girls toys.

... my piano.

I have loved my piano since we bought it over 10 years ago. I love to sit down and play when I have time; it's great for stress relief.

The last few years it has taken on a new purpose, too: it has entertained virtually every small child that has been to our house. Our little friend Alex came over for a play date today; here are Alex and Rachael hammering away. (Alex is just about 13 months old. Rachael will be 3 years old next month. Because of the angle of the picture, he looks bigger than her!)

Monday, January 21, 2008

... horseradish mustard.


The label says it's good with smoked sausage, but I have found it's good with just about everything. It has a lot of kick! An excellent substitute for mayonaise.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

... Ryan.

Ryan is home from China today!

'Nuf said.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

... patience.

Rachael's favorite phrase lately is "No, I don't want to." (You have to imagine this with a healthy dose of toddler whine, "No, I don't WANT to!!!). Most times I am glad I have enough patience to answer her calmly and rationally.

When we're both irrational, it's probably bedtime.

Friday, January 18, 2008

... shopping.

Hi, my name is Kristin and I'm a shopaholic. I admit, I love shopping. I especially love a bargain.

Today's deal of the day was at Strasburg Children, a clothing store I love to browse but rarely purchase at because it's fairly cost prohibitive. (Some dresses are over $100!). Right now all their clearance items are an additional 30% off. I snagged a darling light purple jumper (the official color is orchid), original price $50, total price after all discounts, $13. Awesome! And Rachael will look so darling in it.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

... snow and service.


This morning we woke to a light dusting of snow on the ground. It reminded me how much I like winter here... it snows just often enough to remind us that it is winter, and make the hills look pretty, but it usually melts by mid-morning. School was, of course, cancelled today. (No joke!)

We also had a chance to visit with our friends at Active Day, an adult day care center for disabled adults. We have been there once a month for about four months now, and it has been lots of fun. We are getting to know some of the clients there and we love to sing songs with them.

And I'm grateful that my husband usually takes out the trash! I'm on my second week now of doing it myself, which is OK, but I am grateful that he usually handles this task and I don't have to think about it.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

... and sisters.


Happy Birthday Lesley!

... Rachael's friends.



Yesterday our friend Alex came over, and today our friend Camilla came to visit. I'm so glad Rachael has had someone else to play with besides me! This is Rachael and Camilla having some popcorn and watching a show. They were pretty into it!





Tuesday, January 15, 2008

... Book Club.

I truly enjoy being a member of a Book Club. It is so great to have an excuse to just sit down and read at least once a month. It seems like so many other things compete for my time. And it's great to get together with the girls once in awhile.

This month we read The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I really enjoyed it; I had never read it before. It's not a casual read but parts of it are really funny. Sometimes it's nice to read something you really have to pay attention to!

Monday, January 14, 2008

... and firelogs.

It's cold here! So I bought some firelogs for the fireplace... mmmm... toasty.





... my warm car.

Today I watched a guy driving one of those motorized chairs - like a Jazzy or a Rascal - as he drove across a busy intersection and on to his destination. It's about 30 degrees outside here today. Whatever else I have going on, and least I'm not riding around freezing my backside off!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

... my stylish tote.


I love my Coldwater Creek (http://www.coldwatercreek.com/) croc-embossed tote. It's just the right size for all of my Relief Society junk and it looks so much more fashionable than the canvas bags I usually schlep around. It doesn't keep me any more organized, but at least I look cool. Plus I got a great deal on it, and I love a bargain. Original price was $59, and I got it for $9.99. If you're in the market, it's currently listed for $7.99.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

... prayers.

All this week Rachael and I have been adding "please bless Daddy in China" to our prayers. Today I'm so glad we did! He was in a car accident Saturday morning. He's OK, but he decided to skip the trip to Shanghai. We'll keep praying for him until he gets home.

Friday, January 11, 2008

... exercise.

Today I finally made it over to the gym for the first time since Christmas. Cathy and I went swimming.

I don't know why it's so hard to drag myself out of the house. I like to swim and I know that excercising first thing in the morning not only makes me feel good, it makes the rest of the day more productive. I guess I will just have to conquer my laziness!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

... my little sidekick.

Rachael is almost three years old (her birthday is in five short weeks!) and she is so much fun to be with. I miss the baby days, but I really love having a shopping companion that can talk. We had some errands to run today and she was very entertaining. We even decided to go to Dairy Queen for a treat tonight because we had such a fun day.

I'm looking forward to her being old enough for preschool because I think she will love it, but I know I'll miss having her to do things with during the day. So I'll try to treasure these few months. Besides, I still have naptime to myself!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

... fun food.

Tonight I fixed pancakes for dinner. (Thus ends the no cooking strike. Three days - pretty good!) In an attempt to get Rachael to eat more pancakes than she usually does, I made a Mickey Mouse-shaped pancake for her, complete with chocolate chips for a face.

This was not the most entertaining moment of the evening, though. First, you need to know that Rachael calls her fingers "biggers." Then, you need to know that a few weeks ago we had pancakes with syrup, and she made a sticky mess of her fingers. (Which was totally expected and no problem.) While waiting for me to clean her up, she started singing a song called the "Sticky Bigger Song," which has since evolved to the "Stuck Bigger Song." Future songwriter. But I digress.

The best part was when she asked what we were having for dinner and I told her pancakes with syrup. She said "Oh no! That will make my stickers biggie!" (This just goes to show that you don't have to be old to be verbally dyslexic.)

Long live the Stuck Bigger Song and Stickers Biggie.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

... leftovers.

With Ryan out of town, I'm not really doing a lot of cooking. Like almost none so far. We still had some leftover Little Smokies from our Christmas celebration, so we wrapped them in some crescent rolls with a little cheese and baked them for dinner.

So... when Rachael eats a hamburger, she whips off the bun and just eats the meat and the cheese. So it should have come as no surprise to me that she picked all the bread off and just ate the sausage. Silly kid!

Monday, January 7, 2008

... the internet.

I'm grateful we have the ability to keep in touch with people over great distances and in different time zones, say, in Shanghai for instance. And that we can track flights. And that we can email whenever we want.

I expect to be grateful for the internet again sometime. Probably soon.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

... medicine.

Today Rachael and I got up early early to take Ryan to the airport. I don't think it had any bearing on the rest of the day, but you never know.

Rachael had a cough in the morning that developed into a full blown cold about halfway through sacrament meeting. She even fell asleep on my lap during the meeting; that hasn't happened in I can't remember how long. We went home after sacrament meeting was over.

I'm grateful for children's medicine in those dissolving strips - so easy and no mess! - to help her feel better faster. It's another one of those days I'm glad we didn't have to suffer through this 100 years ago or more.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

... family time.


Ryan leaves tomorrow for China. I'm grateful that we had the entire day today to spend some time together as a family. And I'm grateful our family room is a cozy place ton watch a movie, so we don't have to leave the house if we don't want to.

Friday, January 4, 2008

... after Christmas shopping

I love Christmas and Christmas shopping and Christmas traffic. OK, maybe just the first two. But I also love that the stores empty out after the holidays and the prices drop significantly. It's awesome!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

... PF Changs!

This was going to be a post about how grateful I am for good friends and a husband who is willing to let me have a night to myself. All good things. But then I went and left my camera at PF Changs, and I didn't remember I had left it until I got all the way home. I called them, fearing the worst, and fortunately they had found it. They also offered to keep it in the safe overnight so I could wait until the next day to pick it up. So thanks to the staff at PF Changs!

And thanks for good friends and a good husband.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

... my own bed.

Nothing like two weeks of traveling to make you supremely grateful for how comfortable your own bed feels. Mmmmmm. I might never leave again.

... the magic of Santa Claus, again.


Because we traveled to Utah and Idaho for Christmas, we decided we needed to have Christmas again at our house. This was mostly to save us the trouble of hauling all the things home that Santa would bring. We put in our request, and Santa graciously agreed to visit us both in Idaho on Christmas Eve and at home on New Year's Eve.

Rachael loved Christmas twice! Santa brought the My Little Pony castle that she asked for and she's had a great time with it.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

... suggestions.

I recently read President Henry B. Eyring's talk about remembering kindness, and I have been struggling for a way to journal since then. I'm terrible about committing things to paper so I hope that by blogging, I can keep a journal of at least the little thinks I am thankful for. Here's hoping!

Thanks to my mother for the idea of a gratitude journal!