Where did that come from?!

Just mixed up some from-scratch cornbread for breakfast for the kids, and while I waited for the oven to preheat I did some cinnamon honey butter to spread on it.

When the oven was warm I...

...opened it to find three loaves of wheat bread I made yesterday and put in a slightly warm oven to let rise and forgot about and never baked and *headdesky headdesk*.

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Now playing: Radiohead - street spirit [fade out]
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Party ANIMALS

I really want to make the long breaks we take from school fun, instead of just lounging about doing nothing day after day (which is, alas, our usual M.O.). I think we've done pretty well this break. :) Of course we had the great trip to the cabin for Christmas, and last weekend we went ice skating at a rink in Provo (a 2002 Olympic hockey venue! *fanfare*). Last night we had Emma's local school friends—not the boarding students, who are still at home for the holiday—here for a night of games. It was nonstop laughter and soda and pizza and they had a great time. And today we're going to SLC to my sister's house to play with her kids, their Christmas presents, and their Wii. Tomorrow we'll go with sister's family to an indoor swim park, the kind that has a current pool and indoor water slides and all those things kids turn on and off and spray each other.

Next Tuesday it's back to the regularly scheduled program, but for now we're still living it up. And I think we've had a great vacation. :)

Emma's birthday was Monday. She had probably the best birthday a 15YO can possibly have. Her main (only?) gift was a new cell phone. It's way nicer than mine! And she loved it. Then later in the day her cute little used laptop that we bought used to try to get her through the school year finally, after several pricey repairs, had something go wrong we weren't willing to pay to fix, so we ordered her a brand spankin' new MacBook for school. It arrived yesterday. Can you imagine a 15YO girl more electronically blessed? Neither can I.

I'm off now to pack my little bag and drag my swimsuit out of the cobwebby corners of the bottom drawer, so I can have another adventure this weekend. *waves*

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Now playing: Sia - Breathe Me
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Favorites

To start off 2009 quirkily, I've decided to give you a list of some of my favorites. Just, you know, because.

Colors: pinks and browns

These are both things I actually own :-/
Car: if I could buy a car today, and if it didn't have to fit seven children, it would be a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. And I would have it painted a lovely pastel pink, as long as I'm dreaming. And I'd go topless as many months of the year as I could.

Game: Couch of Power. Fun, fun, fun, and the more you play it (in a single sitting) the more difficult it gets. :)
Pizza toppings: onion, green pepper, pineapple, olives. Sometimes, I admit it, I miss pepperoni.
Restaurant: P.F. Chang's China Bistro. Could eat here every day. Vegetarian lettuce wraps! Ma po tofu! Yum.
Dessert: iced sugar cookies. Chocolate's good, but it is nothing to iced sugar cookies.

Vegetable: red bell pepper
Movies: While You Were Sleeping, Muppet Treasure Island, The Matrix, too many Jane Austen adaptations to list
Books I read last year: To Kill a Mockingbird, Stargirl
Thing to wear: A brown lawn shirt I got from Eddie Bauer for my 40th birthday.
Band: Muse. :) I know, what a surprise!

Song: at the moment, discounting my Muse favorites, Pride by Syntax. Afterglow by INXS is a close second.
Dream that might not come true: being able to take my children on vacation to Hawaii.
Thing I'm working on: getting out of debt. I can get so fired up on this, and also so bummed when we have to increase our debt for something really needful.
Television show: I watch Bones faithfully via hulu.com, but Firefly is still my favorite show of all time.
Season: summer
Wish list items: remodeling bathrooms, new kitchen floor, general prettying up the house. Seeing Muse live in concert. :)

Ringing out the old

Here we stand, almost at the very edge of 2008, and how quickly it has passed. In some of my resolutions so determinedly made last January I made great strides, and in some not at all. In a few things the landscape looks about the same as always, and in some so different. But this year has been very good to me. Here are a few of the things that I consider the great blessings of 2008.

• My husband and children. Always they top the list. It is my highest honor and blessing to be mother and wife to this crew of amazing people.
  
• Emma's entry into the academy. I honestly thought I'd homeschool forever! Despite my initial reticence, it has turned out to be one of the best decisions we've made, and she is doing better than I would have dared to dream.
• Our fabulous Christmas at the cabin in Idaho, and our other wonderful trips to Zion National Park and Kodachrome State Park.
• Paying off two car loans in entirety.
• Having a really good group of friends here in Fairview, people that we care about and have fun with.
• Despite the economy, Blaine's company is doing terrific business right now and his job is as secure as it can be.
• Getting out of diapers completely and totally.
• My strength training program—it rocks given that I work out at home with only eight-pound hand weights.
  
• Finding Eat Stop Eat, which has changed my perspective, my motivation, and my hope.

Yes, I'm another year older. Yes, I have a few regrets, but more things I pat my own back over. It's been a lovely year, and I go into 2009 with my arms wide and a smile on my face.

Tomorrow when I flip the calendar page, I'll probably also take down all the beautiful Christmas cards we received. So here is a blurry photo of the calendar and card door, before I have to make it bare again. Happy 2009, everyone!



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Now playing: Syntax - Pride
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It's really the little things

The kids are playing some game involving a blanket, lying down, fake sleeping, and I'm not sure what else. It's Kyrie's turn to fake sleep, and Macklin thinks it's his turn to wake her up. All of that was in the background while I was trying to catch up on friends/family blogs, and I didn't even notice until I heard his little, "Tocka wocka woo. Tocka wocka woo." K sounds are still Ts for him, so that's the current version of cock a doodle doo, and it makes me smile like crazy.

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Now playing: Inspiral Carpets - This Is How It Feels
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