Jazzy

So, a lot of you know that I'm not 100% sold on living in Utah County, especially Springville. There are so many things about living here that I'm not crazy about. I still can't get over seeing a woman at Jumpin' Jacks studying her Sunday School lesson, or seeing garments peeking out anytime someone bends over. Damon has gone from a school that was very diverse (63% black, 23% white) to a school that is 98% white, most everyone LDS. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but I definitely think the kids could do with some more diversity.

There are times, though, that I am reminded that living here really isn't so bad. There are so many good people here, and honesty is the norm. In November, one of my BFF from high school got married and it took me almost a month to get her a gift (Target gift card) in the mail with my Christmas card. I didn't think about it again, until one day a couple of weeks ago, a lady called for me on my in-laws phone upstairs. She told me that she had found the letter in her yard, covered with snow, and brought it in to see if it was anything important. She said it hadn't been postmarked, and wondered if maybe it had fallen out of the mail truck when the mailman was delivering on her street (I'm not exactly clear how far she lived from my friend, but I don't think it was very close. Somewhere in SLC, where my friend is, but not withing walking distance or anything). She said when she saw the Christmas card and gift card, she was so worried and wanted to make sure that she got it. She asked if the address was correct and told me she would be happy to get it back in the mail.

A few days later, I talked to her again. She said she had gone out to meet the mailman, explained what happened, and gave him the letter. The next day, in her mailbox, postmarked this time, was my Christmas card again. Strange. She asked if I wanted her to try again, and I said, "please do. If it comes back to you again, maybe you are meant to have it!" Long story short, third time was the charm, and my friend finally received the card, a month after I sent it. She said it was a little beat up, but it made it.

I have to say, I was so impressed with this good woman. She really went well out of her way to find my phone number, and to resend the card TWICE. I was so appreciative of all she did, and I had to comment to Jeff that I wonder how many people would have just kept the gift card for themselves instead of making sure it got to the right person. I know that this could happen anywhere, but I believe that it was MUCH more likely to happen here in Utah. Don't burst my bubble if you disagree, I'm trying to tell myself that it is great to live here.

I also love living here because we are close to family. My SIL next door helps me out a ton with her kids (I hope I help her a lot, too), and helped us out the other night when Jeff got some tickets to the Jazz game last minute. Jeff and his brothers have really great seats to the Jazz games, and 5 or 6 times a season, Jeff takes a dentist to enjoy a game. This particular night, an oral surgeon that they share the tickets with couldn't go, and called Jeff to see if he wanted to take me to the game. He's always told me he would take me one day, but honestly, I never thought I would actually make it. I just don't refer enough patients to him. :)

The game was an awesome experience. We got to go into the VIP area before the game for a delicious dinner, then found our seats three rows behind the visitor's bench (the Spurs for this game). It was amazing being that close to the action. I was literally close enough to razz Tim Duncan, and I considered telling him that he whines more than my 18 month old, but I held back.


I was close enough to inspect the bandage on Greg Popavich's head (the coach), wondering if he had recently had a mole removed.


And I was close enough to see that Oberto looked as though he had spent a month in wilderness, with a full beard that did nothing for his appearance (believe me, you are glad there's no pic for this one).

Unfortunately, the Jazz lost and Carlos Loozer didn't play AGAIN. We've got to get rid of him. But we need him to come back and play really well so we can trade him for someone good. I'm sure none of you care. But it was a lot of fun, and something we couldn't have done if we were still in Ohio or Florida. So, there's lots of good things about being here.

January post

So, it's been a while. I've been busy trying to get my last three years of blogging published (Blurb was finally working for blogger, which is great!). It's been fun to read through the last three years of our lives, but it was a lot of work. I am happy with the final result (3 books-one for each year), though, and hope we will enjoy them for many years to come.

We are surviving the winter here, but not particularly enjoying it. The recent warm spell was lost on me. We still had ugly, dirty snow everywhere, which meant we couldn't go outside and enjoy the "warm" weather, but Damon couldn't go out and play because the snow was just a big, icy mess. So we've been trapped inside wondering whether or not we should be grateful for warmer weather.

Damon has spent many hours making snowflakes and hanging them from his ceiling. He started karate last week (a class at Springville High School that lasts 6 weeks) and seemed to really enjoy it. It's sort of like dance, which he loves, but his dad approves, which he also loves. He also started a basketball clinic last night with the rest of the 1st grade boys. There were probably 40 boys there and only two or three that were wearing #11. Damon was one of them, purely by coincidence, and when I told him that was my number, he couldn't have been happier. It's too early to say whether or not he possesses any talent, but I'm so proud of him for actually trying. He's really grown up a lot.

Damon is also in charge of feeding the dog and rabbits (neither of which are ours, by the way) every morning. He earns 50 cents a day doing this (from grandpa) and has saved a lot of money (a lot of money for a 6 year old is more than $20. That's a lot of money for me, come to think of it.). He used his savings to buy a gun--a pistol that shoots out rubber ammo. Jeff couldn't be happier!

Damon working on his homework. You can see a paper for snowflakes on the dresser.


Allie loves Barbie movies. Every week when we go to the library she picks one out and watches it every day during Kyla's nap. Her favorites are Princess and the Pauper (which came with a bonus cd to listen to, which was plenty of fun for the rest of us in the house), The Diamond Castle and Mermaidia. If you haven't ever seen them, they are chick flicks for little girls. Barbie plays a variety of characters and always ends up with a cute boy (confessing love, but never kissing). It's good clean fun and I don't mind how much she enjoys them.

She still changes her clothes several times a day, but I try not to be too bugged. As long as she keeps shoving things back in her drawer instead of throwing it in the dirty laundry, I don't say anything. A funny story from last month--we were at Target and looking at leggings (one of Allie's favorite things). She started shimmying out of her pants to try them on, right there in the middle of the store. I quickly told her that she couldn't do that, that there were people all around that could see her. Before we knew it, we spotted Allie under a shelf of clothes, pants off, trying to slip the leggings on. At least it was semi-private. Tara and I laughed so hard, that is just so Allie.

Kyla suddenly is so big. She is a full grown person in a little body, and I am constantly reminded that she is no longer a baby. She climbs out of her bed several times at both nap time and bed time, but she doesn't cry. She'll knock on the door and sit and wait patiently until I come in to put her back to bed. She loves to copy Damon and Allie and started telling knock-knock jokes. Well, she tells one knock-knock joke and I made the mistake of laughing one time, so now she thinks it's so hilarious. It goes like this:

knock-knock
who's there?
banana
banana who?
apple

I laughed because I knew she had heard Damon tell the "orange you glad I didn't say banana" joke one too many times and thought she understood why it was funny. She grins so big when she says "apple," like she just came up with the best punchline ever.

She also started singing (chanting really) a song she learned in nursery. It goes like this, "a doo doo, a doo doo, blub blub blub. Oh NO!" We didn't know what she was singing until Allie informed us that she was doing "Slippery fish, slippery fish, swimming in the water. Glub, glub, glub. OH NO! He got eaten by a great white shark...etc." We thought that was pretty funny, which of course only encouraged her and now she does that all the time, too.

Kyla has also started this very endearing thing of pronouncing her words with emphasis on the second syllable, like she's mad or frustrated: "mom-MEE, dad-DEE, al-LIE, ma-MON," you get the point. It's funny for about two minutes and then it gets annoying.

A very common sight at breakfast time--Kyla won't sit unless strapped in, with two bowls of cereal. She is our finisher and likes to eat whatever Damon and Allie leave behind.


Jeff and I are doing well, too. We just finished season 4 of Alias and will start season 5 (the final season) when he gets back from his hiking trip. I asked him what we're going to do when we're done, and he said, "you can go back to going to bed at nine and sleeping your life away." Truthfully, I never go to bed at nine, but before we started our Alias frenzy I did go to be before him and usually get up after him. I try to tell him that most nights I am up at least once to coax a child (usually Allie) back into bed, but he didn't accept that as a valid excuse. So, if any of you have any good suggestions for tv series on dvd that we could start, it would be much appreciated. We've thought about 24, because my SIL said we HAVE to watch it. Any thoughts?

I have a lot more, but this is getting very long so I will stop for now. Here is one more pic of Jeff's mom's new dog, Tina (she was the dog of a patient of Nancy's that died and needed a home, so she came here). She spends a lot of time down here with the kids and she loves watching "doggie tv," which is actually Jeff's lizards in their cages. I doubt it's as good as Alias, but whatever.

January

I know I haven't posted pictures forever. We just haven't taken that many, and the few times I have tried to post them here, it has taken way too long and I gave up. Now, though, I finally got the pics I wanted on here, so no more boring pictureless posts.

Allie likes to help me do the dishes. Although, usually she starts washing dishes and ends up washing her baby dolls instead. Still, I pretend like she's actually helping and let her do it. There is a limit to the number of dishes I like to wash a day...

She also likes to dress herself, and has been reminding me more and more of Punky Brewster lately. I actually let her leave the house the other day looking like this:

Her "rose dress," which she wears at least five days a week, leggings because I reminded her it was cold outside, her new socks and shoes, and a hoodie, because she doesn't like any other jackets that she has. She's standing in front of Kyla's pack n play in the store room, AKA Kyla's room. Kyla proved to us all yesterday that she can climb out of both the crib and the pack n play (she succumbed to our repeated chants of "show us!") , which could make for a very interesting nap time today.

Kyla also has started this funny facial expression when you say, "show me your smile!"

I don't know exactly what she thinks she's doing, but we find it quite hilarious. She also does it when she is embarrassed and wants to disappear.

Allie emptied out Damon's tool box one day and filled it with her own "tools."

I laughed too hard to be upset. Besides, I haven't had much use for these lately, anyway. My body is still trying to figure out that I'm not pregnant anymore, and I'm patiently waiting to have another period so we can assume that everything is working properly. Maybe I should keep the tool box around just in case...

The kids have also been enjoying the snow, although we really need a fresh layer of powder if we want to play in it again. We went sledding one day and found a kid's snowboard on the side of the road. Damon impressed us all by learning to ride down the hill without crashing. It only took him a few tries and now he proudly announces, "I am the only person in my family who knows how to snowboard." He can't wait to go again, but all the good snow is gone.

Damon can play out in the snow for hours. He wears his bibs and boots to school every day so he will be ready for recess. Kyla can stay outside a long time, too, and doesn't seem to mind the cold. Allie, on the other hand, can last about 20 minutes. Then she has had enough. Jeff and I giggle every time we get KyKy dressed up in her snow suit. There is just something that screams A Christmas Story ("wait up guys!")

Damon, in what has become his "school uniform."

Seven Things

Suzanne tagged me quite a while back, but I haven't done it until now. Basically, the tag was to tell 7 things about yourself, either quirky or interesting. Don't kid yourself by thinking that I waited so long to do it because I was coming up with really interesting stuff. You'll be sorely disappointed. But, here are 7 things about me that you maybe didn't already know.

1. I can't do food like jell-o's, yogurts, ice creams, etc with any chunks in them. It grosses me out. Even looking at yogurt with chunks of fruit in it makes me gag a little.

2. When the battery on my cell phone shows only one bar, it makes me anxious. I have to plug it in immediately.

3. I watch a lot of tv. But I also read a lot, so I try to convince myself that it balances out. I go to the library at least once a week, but usually more than once. Whoever invented public libraries was a genius. My goal is to always be reading something, so that at any time if someone asks, "what are you reading right now?" I will have an answer.

4. Playing sports in high school, I was never uncomfortable being seen in my bra and underwear (I never wore "panties." The sexiest thing I owned were bikini style Hanes). But, unlike boys, girls don't get naked in front of each other and I would have been very embarrassed to be seen naked, even by my best friends who saw me in bra and undies all the time. There was only one time when things got a little crazy and we got naked (Suzanne, you know what's coming. Serves you right for tagging me!). We were swimming at Brooke Bailey's pool, and three of us (Suzanne, Jess (BJ) and myself) decided that skinny dipping sounded pretty good. Laughing embarrassedly, we all peeled off our suits and swam around in the warm water. We even went so far as to venture out of the pool, only to streak across the way to the jacuzzi. Fun times.

5. I do my best thinking in the shower. I've never been one to sing much while showering, but I find that some of my best ideas occur while lathering up.

6. I can't stand being late. I get really anxious when it is apparent that we're going to be late, or even cutting it close. It is also more than slightly annoying that certain members of Jeff's family are habitually 30+ minutes late.

7. Remember before when I said I watch a lot of tv? I also get way too involved with the shows I watch. I stopped watching Gilmore Girls for a while during the Lorelai/Christopher marriage phase because it made me so sad. I dreamed about Izzie and Alex last week, even though I haven't watched Gray's Anatomy at all this season. And sometimes when I'm trying to fall asleep, I imagine scenarios of how my favorite couples would get back together.

Thanks everyone for humoring me a while back and voting for your favorite couples. Here are my top five (combined with your votes).

5. Sydney and Vaughn. I know no one voted for them, so this is purely my opinion. But Jeff and I have been watching Alias (we're up through season 3) and they have to be one of the best couples.

4. JD and Elliott. Again, no votes other than my own. But trust me, they are one of those "meant to be" couples. And they got together again last night (on Scrubs, if you aren't aware), and hopefully will have one last magical season together too!

3. Jim and Pam. They have got to be my favorite couple on tv right now, and that whole first season of denying their attraction was awesome!

2. Ross and Rachel. I was a huge Friends fan and watched their first kiss over and over and over. Love them! May there always be reruns!

1. Zack and Kelly. I doubt there could be a bigger Saved by the Bell fan than I was (okay, maybe Kellee Jacobsen. She and I were probably equal on that one). I was bummed that College Years was only one season, and I would probably still be watching it today if it had continued. But yay for happy endings, even if we had to endure the strangest Vegas wedding ever!

Date Night

You know the song Hot n Cold by Katy Perry (not to be confused with her other big hit that no one in my house is allowed to listen to)? That is the perfect song for Allie. In fact, if you listen closely, you will hear her name. She sings, "You change your mind, like Allie changes clothes." What? That's not what it says? Oh, well, it should. Because she does change her mind as often as she changes clothes. She is either the most pleasant, happy girl or she is a monster in a dress. Or skirt with leggings. Or pjs. Or just her undies...

Honestly, Allie is "cold" a lot more than she is "hot." Don't get me wrong, I love her. Usually, though, I love her just as much as is required by law. Jeff commented the other day, "she makes our other kids seem like a breeze," and it's true. She constantly reminds us that she is going to do what she wants to do.

Wednesday we had scheduled "Mom and Allie Date Night" in an attempt to get back to our goal of spending one night a month with one of the kids. We hadn't planned anything specific, but she knew the night was going to be just for her and me and was looking forward to it. Wednesday morning she had made a big mess, by dumping out her drawer full of dishes/food and a bucket of wooden "gingerbread men," neither of which she played with for more than a few minutes. I told her that she needed to have them all put away before she could have lunch, to which I was greeted with the usual whines and complaints. "It's too hard," "I need help," and "I'm not doing it" were the excuses I heard most. I gently told her that she would not be able to eat until they were cleaned up, and I didn't think it was asking too much for her to clean up a small portion of the mess she had made.

Well, I knew she was stubborn, but I had no idea just how stubborn she could be. She informed me that she wasn't hungry and would clean up while I made dinner. This after she had claimed to be STARVING at 10:00 am when she asked if it was lunchtime. I told her that was fine, but that she wouldn't be getting anything to eat, not a bite, until dinner if the toys weren't cleaned up by 2:25(two and a half hours later), when we needed to go pick up Damon. Guess what? They weren't. So, she didn't eat.

Three hours later, I was making dinner, and I told her that if she didn't get the toys cleaned up, she wouldn't be eating dinner. "That's fine, I don't want dinner," she said. "Oh, and we won't be able to go on our date night, either." I had her. She was willing to give up food for the day, but she couldn't give up date night. Secretly, I was hoping she wouldn't clean them up, because I was in no mood to go anywhere with her. But, she had a sudden change of heart, and in 15 minutes, all the toys (which were now scattered throughout the house, not just in the spots she had dumped them out) were cleaned up. And she did it ALL BY HERSELF. She did try to coerce both Damon and KyKy into helping, but they weren't having any of it, and she had to do it alone.

So, I put on my happy face and asked her where she wanted to go for our date night. She chose to go to the mall and try on lip gloss. By the time we got there, she was her fun, happy self that I wish we saw a lot more often. We had a great time. She managed to come away from the arcade with a teddy bear from the machine with the claw that you position over the prizes and pretend not to be disappointed when it comes out empty. I was amazed. She got a new pair of shoes and six pair of socks for $3 at Famous Footwear (LOVE their $10 off $10 purchase rewards!). We tried on lipgloss, lotion and makeup at Bath and Bodyworks and Victoria's Secret. And then we ended the night by taking our photo in the photo booth. Mostly because I wanted to remember the uni-brow she had given herself with the eye shadow. Sorry, not a great quality scan, but you get the idea.



(I wish you could see the uni-brow better. Imagine the scene from A League of Their Own. "The eyebrows--thin and separate." Oh, and go ahead and recall the next part, with Marla Hooch--what a hitter. "What do you recommend?" "A lot of night games.")

When we walked in the door, I said, "Allie, thanks for a fun night."

She looked at me, and said, amazed, "It was a fun night!"

I hung our photos on the fridge, to remind myself that I do actually love her more than is required by law. A lot more. I just sometimes forget.

New Update

So, Pam Dana had an awesome idea that I am going to copy. For those of you who use Google Reader, I created an "update blog" that is public and you can add to your reader. Every time I post, I will also put it on the update and it will show up when you use your reader. This way, you won't have to keep checking to see if I have posted. If you want to do this, add

trapnellupdate.blogspot.com to your Google reader!

I know for me, I am about 10 times more likely to read the blogs that are in my Google Reader than I am to check the private ones. It's just so much easier. Hope this is helpful!

Temp Agency

If I worked at a Temp agency and my kids came in to ask me to get them a job, I don't think I would have too much trouble matching them to a career.

If Damon came in, I could choose from any number of jobs. He would be great at making greeting cards, as long as he has access to tape and ribbon, his two best friends. Of course, if High School Musical 52 is casting, I would send him right over there as a possible replacement to Zac Effron. Damon is a great innovator, and would be wonderful at coming up with great new products. Especially if the products include a lot of ribbon.

The first job I would offer to Allie would be food critic. She loves to taste everything, and is definitely the most adventurous at trying new things. She would be especially great at tasting things like mayonnaise, butter, or ranch dressing, all of which I have seen her drink out of a straw or eat with a spoon. If that didn't work out, Allie would also be a good radio show dj. She already knows who sings most of the songs on the radio, so she wouldn't require much training. And she could push the MUTE button so no one would hear her humming along, which she loves to do. She would have made a great telephone operator, if we lived in the 50's, but I don't think I could find much for her in that area today. Allie must not be considered for any type of manual labor, as she would call in sick every single day, so I wouldn't assign her anything in that area. Allie also won't be given any position in which she has to work with animals, as she still hasn't completely mastered the difference between a horse and a cow.

Kyla would be a great nurse in the nursery at the hospital, as she loves wrapping babies in blankets more than anything else. Of course, she would only be able to accept positions where verbal communication is not strictly required, unless everyone she works with is named, "Allie." Also, she will have to learn not to drop the babies on their heads quite so frequently. I would encourage her to train to be a professional boxer, or un Ultimate Fighter. The girl is tough and after seeing her fall, her face covered in blood, and barely crying at all, I believe she can take a punch. She could also be considered for positions where whining and complaining are not only accepted, but encouraged. I think I could find her a place on the San Antonio Spurs without too much trouble.

Smiling

Things that made me smile yesterday:

1. Kyla eating a buckeye with a spoon.
2. Allie telling me, "Kyla took the poo out of the bath tub!" It took me a minute to realize she was talking about the tub toy Pooh bear.
3. Allie quoting Nacho Libre, and using a high squeaky voice for Chancho. "Are you leaving us?" "I could never leave you, I just need to borrow some sweats."
4. Watching Hugh Jackman in Australia. Who would've thought an Australian cowboy could be so hot?
5. Remembering a conversation I had earlier this week with Damon.
D-"I felt the Holy Ghost yesterday."
K-"Oh yeah? What happened?"
D-"Some kids at church were being bad to me, so I said a prayer to have the Holy Ghost. Then, I just ignored them and they stopped!"