Yes, I really am that good.

This was Tim's birthday delicacy this year.  Two layers of chocolate cheesecake sandwiched together by a layer of peanut butter goodness topped by chocolate mousse/ganache and peanuts (with a cookie crust).  It took two days to assemble.  After 11 years of whipping up non-traditional desserts for Tim's birthday, I must say, I'm getting rather good at it.  Even though the creations tempt and disgust me simultaneously.

I was not about to let all this yumminess go to waste on my waist.  So we invited a few friends over for cake and games.  And a late-night discussion of politics...

24 hours later, we still had almost half the cake left so we invited our neighbors over to share the spoils.  Leftover birthday cake has become a bit of a tradition between our families.
And phew!  It was gone.  But the birthday wasn't over.  His presents came late, so, all told, Tim had about 5 days of birthday.  Happy 34th, my dear!

Why preschoolers trump teenagers.

I had a conversation just after the start of school with a few friends about which is more enjoyable, parenting older children/teenagers or parenting young children.  In contrast to my friends, I chose young children.  I can't be entirely sure what has led to my adoration of preschoolers, after all, I was not the teenage girl who, at church, begged the moms in my ward to let me babysit their little'uns.  Somehow, these 9 1/2 years of parenting has bred in me a love for all things toddler.  I think it may have something to do with Joy School.

My mom did Joy School with my younger sister while I was a teenager.  Even though I was typically self-absorbed at the time, I remember clearly the Joy School theme song, I've Got Joy.  This family-centeredness motivated me to rope a few moms into teaching our kids preschool when Anna was just three.  I've been doing it ever since.  Miraculously, I manage to find 4-5 other moms willing to do fingerplays, make messy art projects, sing silly songs, and play with puppets for an entire year.  In all honestly, the first few years were rough.  I like to think that the kids in that group were rotten, but I'm sure the fact that I was not a seasoned preschool teacher had more to do with it.  Still, I stuck with it and my confidence in teaching children has grown leaps and bounds.

Toddlers/preschoolers are the most adorable things.  I love their boundless energy, the way every step has a bounce to it.  They say the darnedest things.  They absorb everything.  They are so innocent it makes them easy to love, even when they are throwing a tantrum over the fact that their hot dog bun broke apart.  I mean, you can't help but giggle inside while you envelope them in your arms over the tragedy.  So stinkin' easy to love.  I just might keep teaching Joy School long after all my kids have graduated onto elementary.

Eh.  Maybe not.

                                        I mean, look at those faces.  Just look at them!

Camping, so much better with friends...

I'm a planner.  I always reserve our campsites at least a week in advance, partly to ensure that we are motivated to make it up into the woods, but mostly because I can't stand the thought of spending my entire day preparing for a camping trip only to drive around looking for a dumb site.

Problem is, the so-called "reservation fee" they tack on when you reserve a campsite online is almost as much as the campsite fee.  So the planner in me pretty much doubles the cost of a campsite.  Well, Tim has appealed to the cheapskate in me and shamed me into heading up into the woods on a wing and a prayer in hopes of finding the perfect campsite last minute (but at a 50% discount).  Over Labor Day we had the added pleasure of having invited a few friends to join us on our camping trip.  We left at 3:45, drove about an hour into the mountains straight to our destination, and found a double campsite to fit our three families comfortably.  Yay!

Eve and James (her best buddy) were in absolute heaven.

 So was everyone else.  Lily even found a friend from school in an adjacent campsite to pal around with.

 Splashing around in the creek, playing with bugs, using a vault toilet, playing with fire, letting mom and dad do all the work, subsisting on marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers - what's not to love?

Thanks to our friends for adding that extra bit of fun factor to our excursion.  And building that early morning campfire before I even slipped out of the tent.

Motherhood, not for the faint-hearted.

My kids were all out on the roof the other night.  It wasn't the first time.  And it likely won't be the last.  Even more recently, I found one of my children tapping on her sisters' window while perched on the roof line just beneath the second floor windows.  Now, I think some things warrant punishment - but some things are just so outrageous that a mere warning should suffice in the persuasion department.  Warning:  Kids who play on roofs may fall and crack their heads open (or worse).  You would think that the threat of death (and hooray, I wouldn't even have to inflict it in this case) would be enough of a deterrent.  Nope.  Not my kids.  Apparently, the thrill is worth it.  And obedience is optional, which, technically, it is, but I certainly don't want them to know that!

This is just one example of the ways my kids like to satisfy their curiosity, or get their thrills, or defy my instructions (a thrill in and of itself, apparently).  I'd love to get inside their little brains and figure out how all of this seems to make sense in there, when it is so obviously a bad idea (understatement). 

It takes grit to put all one's energy into the raising of children day in and day out.  Most of the time I'm inspired by the cause, confident that my efforts are paying off in eternal dividends, even though my kids some days don't give me a shred of evidence that they're gonna turn out all right.  And other days I lay back and dream about the wonderful people my children will become (and are becoming). 

I sat down recently to make Rachel's birthday book for kindergarten - basically a book of pictures of her at different stages of life with captions beneath each snapshot.  I found some gems like this:

And this:

And then this(which is actually Eve, so it didn't turn up in the book):

I could literally feel those years wash over me, the fatigue of sleepless nights followed by endless days, the complete bewilderment at the constant mess and the untimely tantrums, the wondering if I was going to be stuck in this phase forever.  And ever.  And, in the same breath, the adoration of tiny toes, and chubby cheeks, and sweet-smelling necks to nuzzle.  The unreserved affection, the peals of baby giggles, the comfort of a constant companion.

And all of sudden I'm not in that phase anymore.  And it breaks my heart just a little.  What a roller-coaster this whole motherhood thing is.  Just when you get something down, you've graduated to the next phase, not fully able to bask in the glory of it all.  Perhaps the speed at which children graduate from one stage to the next is a bit of a blessing, one that lends perspective, and paints those moments of being in the trenches in a lovely rose-colored hue, reminding us to soak in each and every experience before it passes.  

(P.S. I wrote most of this post earlier, unable to finish and now that it's days later, my desired conclusion is gone from me, so I'm just going to leave it at that.)

Love my kids.  Love motherhood.

Okay, it's time to get political.

I am voting for Mitt Romney.   I usually keep for whom I am voting a relative secret, because I typically feel I am choosing the lesser of two evils and often don't decide for sure until sometime in the weeks leading up to the election.  I am NOT a straight-ticket voter, although it's safe to say that I  lean to the side of being a conservative, which does not necessarily mean Republican anymore, in my view.  See my post about the Republican Party from a few years back.  This year, however, I am wholeheartedly voting for Mitt Romney.

To be sure, I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of a member of my faith running for such a high-profile office.  Though I feel the publicity the church has encountered because of Governor Romney's bid for the presidency has been largely positive,  I think the media (and the American public) are brutal, and so many attach the failings of an individual to his/her most prominent characteristics - in Mitt's case that he's rich and he's Mormon.  That kind of public scrutiny makes me nervous.  What I don't get is why on earth anyone would want to run for president - it's a constant slugfest out there.  Perhaps I'm a bit naive, but I believe that Mitt is running for the right reasons.

I regularly read articles about the election - and I often scroll down through the comments sections to get my jollies.  I'm not sure they're an accurate reflection of what the general public thinks/believes, but I have discovered a few consistent criticisms of Mitt Romney and his potential (or lack thereof) as a future president of the United States.  Let me address these separately.

#1  People love to bemoan the fact that Mitt is rich.  Why is this a problem?  They think he was silver-spoon-fed and that he's trampled on the backs of the average worker to make millions.  Gosh, the bitterness is truly astounding.  I'm not rich (at least by American standards, which, let's be honest, are wealthy compared to much of the world) but I have no problem with others being rich, especially if:
a.  They worked their tails off to make their money (minus the lying, stealing and cheating that some people indulge in to get there).
b.  They are generous with their earnings.
and c.  they are grounded by a sense that money isn't everything.
Based on what I've read and heard, Mitt fits the bill.  And all three of those attributes will make him a good president, particularly with regards to the economy.

Criticism # 2 : He's out of touch with the average American.  Anyone who has served as, or had a family member serve as bishop of a Latter-day Saint congregation knows better.   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organizes itself into congregations based on geography.  In a typical ward (outside of Utah, in particular) this encompasses people from a broad demographic.  In the Boston area, where Mitt was a bishop, his congregation was likely made up of people from many different walks of life, including those in middle/lower socioeconomic classes.  He would have spent an inordinate amount of time with such individuals as their (unpaid) clergyman.  I find this a remarkable characteristic of Mormon wards - we rub shoulders with all types of people, people we wouldn't necessarily have met (or hit it off with, for that matter) except that we share the same faith.  Not only do we meet with them weekly at church, we serve with them, and we learn and grow from our associations.  With his millions, Mitt could be hanging only with those in the upper echelons of society, but he has his faith to ground him and he has the opportunity to recognize that getting food on the table is a real issue for some people, some of those with whom he meets every Sunday at church.

Criticism # 3:  Mitt Romney will line the pockets of his cronies, the 1%.  Oh please, if we want to whine about misspending in government, look no further than our current president.  This post isn't about Obama, but I believe "Ye shall know them by their fruits".   Most of Romney's experience is in the private sector, but in both instances where he was asked (or elected) to serve in a public role(head of 2002 Winter Olympics and Governor of Massachusetts), he took no salary.   That speaks volumes.  He respects taxpayers enough to cut his own salary, rather than living the high life on their tab.  We need more public servants like that.  It's so George Washington-esque.  Combine that with the fact that he donates 16% of his income to charity (shall we compare him with, say Joe Biden?) and I'm sold.

Criticism # 4:  Release those tax returns!  Really?  This one is getting so old.  Some people think he's got something to hide.  I think he's got better things to do.

Criticism # 5:  He's a blundering idiot, particularly with regard to foreign policy.  Okay, I'll cut you guys a little slack on this one.  His remarks have been, shall we say, less than tactful, at times.  The whole Libya thing kinda bothered me, not because I think he misspoke, but because I'm left to wonder why the heck Romney is making any sort of statement on the Libya situation.  He's a presidential candidate.  Not president, or even president-elect.  Who really cares what Romney said?  As a president, obviously he'll have to work on his diplomacy skills, but personally, I think that the truth is what should be spoken, instead of what everyone wants to hear.  I anticipate that Mr. Romney will speak the truth, even when it is unpopular.

Criticism #6 : He strapped his dog in its crate to the top of a car on family road trips.  It's a dog, people.  He let it out to go to the bathroom, heck, he took it on their family trips!  Surely, this was a beloved animal if they brought it along instead of sticking it in a kennel like many others do (not that I think that's a bad thing entirely, I'm just trying to make the point that the dog was regarded highly enough to be brought on the trip).  But, I say again, it is a dog.  A pet.  Yes, a living creature, but not entitled to the same rights and privileges as humans.  We are at the top of the food chain, and there is a reason for that.  Besides, can you explain the logic behind the fact that liberals are up in arms about how Mitt treated his family dog but feel that killing unborn fetuses (under any circumstances) qualifies as a woman's "right to control her body"?  What about Mitt's rights to include the dog on his trip?

Okay, I need to stop now, because it's just getting silly.

We've still got a couple of months until the general election - my opinions are aplenty, but I can't promise to keep 'em coming - I've got a household to run!  And other blog posts to catch up on.  But there's my two cents.  For now.

The token first day pictures.

     Fourth grade, here we come!

2nd grade and loving it!

                                               Kindergarten.  Three down and one to go!
                                            
                                                         All three elementary-schoolers.

Popsicles after school.

        First day of Joy School (one week after the others started)!  And yes, she dresses herself.

Anniversary #11.

A week after we got home from our family trip, Tim and I spent a 24-plus hour period without the kids for our 11th anniversary.  We had high hopes of spending some time biking the greenbelt downtown, or hiking in the foothills, but the smoke from nearby forest fires rendered that much less desireable.  So we ate.  And ate.  And ate.  Five pounds later, we hit up the latest Batman movie (and it wasn't even at the dollar-theater yet, what a splurge :).  We picked up a picnic dinner and basked in a relatively smokeless evening under the sky accompanied by the Boise Philharmonic playing a whole lotta Gershwin.  Ah.



I love spending time with my entire clan.  But our family started with just me and Tim.  And I sure do love the man I married.  What a relaxing way to celebrate 11 years of us.  Here's to many more.

Homeward bound.

We passed through the border of Montana into Idaho with glee.  We were almost home.  Our final stop was in Idaho Falls for the night to stay with some old friends.  They graciously hosted our crazy family and treated us to Bear World so we could get a real taste of what Yellowstone was like back in the old days - you know, when bears would climb up on your car and stuff.

                                                     The petting zoo was a nice touch.

                                                   And the rides, very Yellowstone-esque.

MTC buddies.

                                                   Aw.  Sweet little elk-killing predator.

  It's no wonder they make teddy bears - these creature are so adorable, I just wanted to reach out my window and pet them.  I didn't.

                              It was great to visit the Sloans.  Come to Boise sometime!

Scenery overload.

We made a late entrance to Yellowstone on our second day so the girls could have an authentic Wyoming cowboy (or girl, in this case) experience.  It was everything they hoped and dreamed.  I think.

                                      Then it was back to Yellowstone and the geysers.

We timed it perfectly and arrived at the Old Faithful parking lot with fifteen minutes to spare.  The seating around the geyser was packed, so we parked ourselves in the nosebleed seats (a log about 100 feet back) and waited for the action. 

Tim took a video for pretty much the entire minute and a half that it was erupting so this is the only still picture we've got to document our Old Faithful experience.   The kids were fascinated.

                                                       More beautiful hot springs.

                                                                   And more.

                                                           And then some.

                                                   

                                                    Our final family photo of the trip. Yellowstone encompasses so much - such a variety of landforms and attractions, acres and acres of scenery and wildlife... it makes me stand in awe at the majesty of the earth and its Creator.  We took countless pictures that could never capture the feeling of gratitude we had for the ability to experience such beauty.  What a place.

Yellowstone.

I bought a kid-friendly guidebook to study as we drove through Yellowstone and then quizzed the kids on what we had learned about its geology, wildlife, etc.  We made sure to skim over the fact that it is, in fact, an active super-volcano that could erupt at any given moment.  We don't need Rachel to endure another three months of volcano-related nightmares.  Sleep is too important.

We stayed just outside the eastern edge of the park in a cabin.  After several nights in hotels, the kids were a bit spoiled, which elicited another "poor people" comment from Anna.  Apparently elevators and free breakfast are the measuring stick for posh accommodations.  We should have stuck them with the bill.  Next year we're camping.

                                               Fishing Bridge in early morning.

Dragon's mouth - emitting sounds just as the name would suggest.

                                               The first of many bison.

                                                          Mammoth Hot Springs.

Lower Yellowstone Falls.  I remember going here 13 or so years ago with my family and staring in awe at the sheer amount of water tumbling over the edge (right in front of your face, not to mention).  It's breathtaking.  Literally.  Needless to say, my memory of this place stimulated more than my fair share of anxiety over bringing my young (devoid of a healthy fear of death) children here.  Lucky for me, they avoided their usual jerky movements and climbing antics so that we all could enjoy this must-see attraction at Yellowstone.

Second official family photo.  Thank you, kind stranger.  Isn't the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone gorgeous?

                                  Yellowstone Lake on the drive home, after a long, scenic day.

Nope, no aliens here. Only motorcycles.

We woke up bright and early the next morning to tackle the girls' first cave experience.  First we had to check and see if we qualified for the "Wild Cave Tour" - just your basic circumference check, and then we signed all six of us up for the not-so-wild 1 1/2 hour tour.

                                        Eve was clearly mesmerized by the formations.

Two out of our four children said that Jewel Cave was their favorite part of the entire trip and thanked us profusely for taking them there.  Definite win.

As for Devil's Tower, our next stop, it was definitely one of those places that makes you go, huh?  A giant cindercone in the middle of nowhere.  I'm sure Close Encounters of the Third Kind had nothing to do with the eerie sense of wonder we felt there.  We got our first whole-family picture of the trip.

Then bade goodbye to our biker friends (for the most part) to head west across Wyoming.