Luma Solem

Larry's 4th Birthday

2012-01-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

My little boy has been on my mind today. He's just so loving and adorable... and by the way, he had a birthday last month. (poor middle child...)

Although there are some down sides to having a Christmas birthday, one positive aspect is having so many aunts, uncles, and cousins around almost every year! He had the largest and most diverse group this year with cousins from BOTH sides of the family there to sing to him!

In addition, we had the Amazing opportunity to have Aunt Karla make him a specialized birthday cake. It was Incredible! No other words can describe it. Incredible! See for yourself:

Understandably, by the time we got around to eating the cake, there were a couple little finger pokes in the top and side... not to mention some skid marks from Lightning McQueen and Holly... but hey, it's his birthday cake...

He loved it from start to finish! After his birthday, he asked for cake for every meal (seriously, breakfast, lunch, and dinner) until it was gone. And if that wasn't enough, when we were making plates (drawing on the paper part that gets sent in), he said, "Mommy, draw a track, like on my cake!" I don't think any other cake in History has had so much love and reverence.

Thank you, THANK YOU, Aunt Karla! Try as I may, I know my baby boy gets lost amongst his sisters sometimes and deserves more attention, but without a doubt, he knew on his fourth birthday, that this cake was special for HIM!

Dad's book club: Anne of Green Gables

2012-01-08T00:26:00.001-08:00

Finally, after 27 years of life and a hundred times watching the movie, I read the book.

All in all, I loved it. It is sweet and sincere and fun. It is not an action-packed story, not even necessarily exciting. The story just ambles on at a lazy, comfortable pace... Much like a summer in Avonlea. Actually, it was so relaxing that I actually fell asleep reading it a time or two. But honestly, that only added to its charm.

This isn't the first time I've tried to read this book... I was unsuccessful in elementary school and high school: never made it past the first few chapters. But I'm old. I finally can appreciate the easy steadiness in the tempo. Not to mention, I can finally understand all the lavish descriptions Anne gives.

Lucy Montgomery is really quite an artist with words. I was considerably taken by this passage, describing a simple fire:

"Anne was curled up Turk-fashion on the hearthrug, gazing into that joyous glow where the sunshine of a hundred summers was being distilled from the maple cordwood."

I mean...WOW!!! Just go back and read that again...wow.

On the more sentimental side, Montgomery is spot on as well. Marilla's internal reverie on Anne brought me to tears...three times! Moms are just mushy that way, I guess.

The story doesn't grip you and pin you down like a Harry Potter or Twilight or Hunger Games does. Rather, it waits patiently for you to come, like an old friend who was always there for you,something which you took for granted... For 27 years.

Bottom line, I loved it...when I came to it in my own due time.

Dabbling on in sewing again...

2012-01-05T23:34:00.001-08:00

What is this thing?

It's a crayon roll! ... Sort of...

That was the original pattern anyway... I made a slight modification with the slanted seam so all the bells would sit evenly at the top...

I needed some way to store my bell pipes that also provided easy and organized access to them. Easy out, easy in... No loud bell clanking involved! Yay!

Thanks to the Pleated Poppy for the great tutorial! It always feels good to have a useful, one-evening sewing project! There's my adventurous sewing exploits for the week!

Happy Birthday?

2011-12-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

So, it's the wrong time of year for this, but Dawna has been determined to teach Xochitl this song...

By interpretation: "...Happy Birthday dear Xochitl, Happy birthday dear Xochitl, happy birthday dear Xochilt..." and on and on forever...

Now if only we could get her to sing it to Larry, we'd be set for Christmas...

Addendum...

2011-11-15T13:40:00.001-08:00

Apparently, I need to be more general when I make rules...

Yesterday, I told Dawna to stop drawing on Larry's face. She was very good about sticking to it... But now I'm seeing my mistake...

Today I had to say, "Dawna, you're not supposed to draw on ANYBODY's face!" when I saw a butterfly-faced Dawna and a "Harry Potter"-Xochitl...

Figures...

I thought Dawna was taking good care of Larry...

2011-11-14T15:13:00.001-08:00

But really she was drawing a giant bat across his face...cute.

Halloween Preview

2011-10-30T21:58:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is Halloween! Lots of fun coming tomorrow, but we’ve been enjoying Halloween fun all month long! For example…

Picking out costumes: It’s true, I’m kind of a cheap-skate. So, when deciding on Halloween costumes for the kids, I got out our costume suitcase, opened it, and said, “Ok, pick something that fits you!” Didn’t turn out too bad, especially since we usually reap Halloween hand-me-downs after the holiday… so Dawna is dressed up courtesy of Sydney Wightman, Xochitl is dressed up courtesy of Mimi Fang, and Larry is dressed up courtesy of Dawna (she was that ghost two years ago)

Making apple bites! The idea came from Mom’s Halloween present for us. We also made Ghost Toast. These mostly-healthy treats have been requested several times since…See, the teeth are made out of marshmellows

Witch’s Brew: “Stirring and stirring and stirring the BREW!!!!!!” Another classic Mom Severson tradition! She made witch’s brew with my kids with the “ingredients” found around the house and yard and after carefully simmering the brew, we had a delicious drink ! Awesome!

Not Pictured, but still cute: Larry reciting “Five Little Pumpkins” while sitting on the potty. We’ve read it and said it a hundred times or more this month.

Carving Pumpkins: We grew these humungous beauties in our own backyard! When we were planting, Dawna picked out these “Veggie Tales” pumpkin seeds and they grew and grew and grew!

The vine produced 3 pumpkins (perfect!), the last and smallest of which we picked tonight. Weston came down to help us with the carving:

First, intense preparation… poking little holes to outline the pattern…

Requiring intense focus and concentration…

Scooping out the innards (sorry, Xochitl is not modest):

And proudly displaying! (though the people pictured with the pumpkins did the least work on them!)

I’m pretty sure these are the fanciest pumpkins we’ve ever carved… Dawna chose a witch cooking brew. Larry chose a ghost in front of a tombstone, and Xochitl got a creepy kitty! Jon carved the hardest one. Wes and I carved the easier ones! But I like them all!

“Two Shoes go…” Along with the “Five Little Pumpkins” book, I’ve also had to read “The Little Old Lady who was Not Afraid of Anything” at least twice each day… The result? An 18-month-old who can recite parts of the story… so so so cute!

In case you can’t tell what she’s saying, it goes like this:

“Two shoes go CLOMP, CLOP. One pair of pants go WIGGLE, WIGGLE. One shirt go SHAKE, SHAKE. Two gloves go CLAP, CLAP. One hat go NOD, NOD. And one scary pumpkin head go BOO! BOO!”

It’s a way fun book, highly recommended!

Still to come tomorrow are Dawna’s school parade and our ward Trunk or Treat. But, even so, we’ve had an October full of Halloween Fun!

What I love about Sundays

2011-08-30T08:41:00.001-07:00

I love seeing my two cuties play well together! They are actually SHARING the cars! Only happens on Sunday…

I Love seeing Dawna give Jon a piano lesson. “Now you have to count while you play, daddy!” and “You can earn a crystal if you play it right.”

Then it’s “Now, you play the note that I’m pointing to.” OH FOR CUTE! But the other awesome part about this was that Dawna knew all the stuff that she was “teaching” to daddy!

What happens in Idaho...

2011-08-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

...will be remembered and reminisced about for years to come. We had lots and lots of good times, including by not limited to:

Having a very pleasant 16-hour drive to Idaho. I know, weird... but we just decided that this was vacation, after all, and we needn't be in a hurry. So everybody got a full night's rest, we got up, packed the car, and headed out. We stopped at Cabela's to get a new fishing pole for Dawna (since her Dora pole broke, it now has been handed down to Xochitl), ate at McDonald's, watched movies and read books. We did arrive in the middle of the night and sacked out immediately in our room in the basement (thanks to whoever set up the bed for us so we COULD do that!)

Watching all the girls make "grass beds" in the yard. Dawna loving it, then freaking out about ticks, then loving it again.
Jon's many fishing trips with my brothers. Look at my man bringing home the bacon... or trout... Emily, Aaron, Jon, and I really enjoyed eating all the fish that came in... and some others in the family tasted it, too :)
Everybody trying to get on this girl's good side... she can be a bit of a stinker... good thing she's cute...
Origins.
A "Horse of a Different Color" Refers to:

a) Horse traders would use the coloration to determine if it was a purebred.

b) Black horses, as everyone knows, are the most valuable. Every hero has a black horse: Zorro, Batman, and the X-Men, to name a few. Also, I think the football team on Friday Night Lights adopted one as their mascot. Anyway, to try to get the most money for their stock, horse sellers would roll their horses in soot to make them all black, you know, like the dalmatians did in the one movie. But really, it was a horse of a different color.

c)What farmers say when a horse is born out of wedlock.

d)A horse's color is part of its registration information. Registration is transferred to a new owner upon sale. If the color on the registration isn't the color of the horse being sold, there's a problem.

e)Horses only come in so many different colors. Some are brown, black, white, reddish, green if they're sick. But if you see a blue horse then you know, like, man, that is something entirely different. Maybe if you were watching a cartoon, then maybe it could be a horse. Like if I were watching the Smurfs, you might expect to see a blue horse, but really who watches the Smurfs anymore? I heard that they are coming out with a new Smurf movie, but it's probably going to suck. That's all.

(Yes, one of those is the correct answer... and sorry that I couldn't track down all the response papers... obviously, after midnight, the object of the game changed from "who gets the most points" to "who can make Heather laugh hard enough to pee her pants." Also, it's best if Aaron reads this aloud to you. It's not as funny just written here, but it HAD to be preserved for posterity)

Changing Charlie's diaper and listening to his discourse-style explanation of how he and Eli can both be two and a half. I'm not sure I understood most of it... for a small moment, I almost pictured Ben trying to explain how particles fall all over each other... hmmm... too deep for me.

Watching Dawna and Larry bond with Great Grandma Severson.
Isaac bringing me a chair while I was braiding my hair sitting on the deck outside. He may appear crazy on the outside, but he's a gentleman at heart.

Levi and Hannah walking around giving back rubs... ahhhhh...

Sunday testimony meeting. I'm sure grandma and grandpa have told those stories before, but I wasn't paying enough attention before. They are amazing. Our family is incredibly blessed to have all of our brothers and sisters be our brothers and sisters in the gospel as well.

Seeing the Milky Way across the sky and seeing so many more constellations than I can see at home.

Jon roundin' up the chilluns. Jon painting little girl toenails. Jon pretending to be a snake to help Larry not be afraid of the water. Jon fishing with my brothers. Jon climbing to the top of the waterfall. Jon beating Levi at chess.

Xochitl hiking the whole way up to the waterfall.

Playing Risk on an iPad with Levi and Jon.

Having NO internet access for a whole week! It's really quite refreshing.

Walking an eight-mile loop with Cami and Heather. Whew!

My kids all obsessing over their ditty bags. They all had to sleep with them every night and have them in the morning. Xochitl especially loved putting it over her shoulder like a purse. For CUTE!

Ok, that's all for now... I might edit and this post and add more later... but Jon informs me that it's time for bed :)

...And Adele saying "Make me a Bone Head" while carving soap :)

Swim Lesson Blast from the Past...

2011-07-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

Way back in 2003, just after my freshman year at BYU, I took a job in Newark, CA teaching the summer school GATE class. My mom and I directed an operetta (in traditional Grandma Wightman style) of "Safety Kids." We did a parachute dance with them, taught them to play the recorder (or tonette, if you prefer) and made them all super stars... sigh... good times...

Last week Larry started swim lessons. He didn't show much fear of the water once I pointed to his teacher and said, "Larry, this is your teacher. She'll swim with you." That's all it took. No crying, no whining, not even his ever famous, "No. No thank you." I was very proud of him. His teacher's name is Bree.

Dawna has continued to enjoy swim lessons. She's learning to use her arms and kick at the same time. She has become a star ring-diver and jumper. She's gained a lot of confidence (almost too much, as she learned last week as she tried to take Larry for a dolphin ride in the pool... not the brightest idea ever...) Her teacher's name is Ahalya and she's awesome!

Ahalya... not a very common name. I only knew one other Ahalya. She was in my summer school music class back in 2003 in Newark... she was in 4th grade then... which means she'd be 16 or 17 now... wait a second.... !!!!!!!!

I looked at Dawna's swim teacher again and then I realized... I don't know any OTHER Ahalya's... IT'S THE SAME ONE!!! Woah! Small world... ok, so it's not THAT surprising since it's actually in the same tiny town... but still, it was fun to look and see her all grown up... and doing good things... maybe the Safety Kids had an effect? Eh, probably not, but ya know...

4th of July Fun!

2011-07-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Our fun Fourth of July actually started on July 2 with the A's game, complete with tailgate party and fireworks. Xochitl continues to be our bravest kid--even without earplugs, she didn't even flinch at the loud bangs and booms of the fireworks. She even "Oohed" and "wowed" and pointed. Actually, it was the most still and quiet she was for that whole night. During the game, she liked to climb over and back onto Nana and Papa and then back to mom and dad... over and over again...

Then, after church on the 3rd, we headed up to Sacramento to visit Uncle Weston. He had steak and potatoes waiting to be grilled when we got there (so awesome!). We relaxed and played games all evening.

The next morning, we went to a parade. Larry loved all the cool cars and fire trucks. Dawna loved collecting candy from the various groups represented in the parade. Then we came home and I remembered to get my camera out for the first time all weekend...

Weston turned on his sprinklers and let his niece and nephew run wild in his backyard. They also enjoyed feeding the squirrels out there by leaving peanuts in the plant pot.
In this picture, they are all pretending to be alligators... as in... they are all about to chomp down with their big jaws... I think Weston is the best alligator.

Then Uncle Lynn joined us! Yay! I pushed Weston into making his house a little less bachelor-pad-esque by requiring him to purchase baking soda and vanilla extract. Jon and I wanted to make donuts in our deep fryer. They turned out perfectly delicious! and very beautiful!

We didn't actually have a donut cutter, and they don't carry them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond either (go figure...) so we improvised with a giant mug and a baby bottle. Seemed to work out very well...

The yummy food continued throughout the day with another barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner followed by pie for dessert! Jon is cooking in the background, the kids are playing in the dirt... I know... appetizing...
And of course, the fireworks! We got a pretty late start on them, but they were lots of fun! Naomi seemed a little more wary of these close-up fireworks... she actually cried a bit, but overall I think she liked them... as long as Lynn or Mom or Dad was holding her...

We got home very late... or early, depending on how you look at it... but we still had 9 hours before swim lessons started! But that is another story for another time...

End of Part II of blog ketchup.

Upon arrival home...

2011-07-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

So, about a month ago, we went on this fabulous vacation (which I will blog about later... I promise!) and upon arrival home, we had a couple adventures... namely...

Pre-K Testing!

It has been determined that Dawna is ready for Kindergarten (no surprise there...) I thought I'd pass along some of her "creative" answers...

First, they had her write her own name (which they don't usually do, but she informed them that they had spelled her name wrong--not Donna, DAWNA). Then she counted to 20, named some letters, and then came the more conceptual questions and the "reading comprehension" section...

Ms. G: Dawna, what's the difference between a mouse and a cow?

D: Well.... a mouse... like... it drinks milk, but a cow... a cow HAS milk.

Ms.G: ok.... Now I'm going to read you a sentence and then ask you some questions about it.

D: ok.

Ms G.: The cat slept in the park yesterday. (repeated twice). Dawna, where did the cat sleep?

D: hmmm... probably... I think... on the slide.

Ms. G: The slide? Ohhhh.... ok. Dawna, when did the cat sleep?

D: hmmm... after all the kids left and it was all quiet and dark.

Ms. G.: Ok...

Is it bad that she misses the obvious answer or good that she thinks outside the box?
I thought they were pretty creative answers...

Out with the old, Yay for the new!

While I was attempting to wash all our nasty camping clothes, I noticed a large puddle forming under the washing machine... drat... I hate puddles in the garage! But, bless you Rob and Jon, for moving the washer and dryer to the garage so that this did NOT happen in the hall closet... It was a bit annoying, but to be honest, I was pretty excited to have the excuse to get a new washer... and then my darling husband said that we might as well get the matching dryer, since the start button never worked on our old dryer (we just turned the dial past the starting point and shut the door to start it... ghetto...) But Now, I have these beauties:

I LOVE them! They are LG top load, no agitator and very big! Awesome! We got them for a good price, but not the absolute lowest price because we wanted them the next day... but it was totally worth it! AND, since there's a window in the top of the washer and the door of the dryer, we certainly don't need to buy a TV!
The first day we had them, they literally were out there for the entire 2 hours that it took to wash and dry the load... followed by chants of, "Mom, can we do more laundry?" Not to mention the excitement over the two giant boxes that they get to play in now! Score!

Oh, and did I mention that they sing to me when the load is finished? It's awesome!

End of Part I of blog catch up.

First Piano recital!

2011-05-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Dawna played in her first piano recital. She played one of the "Variations on a theme by Mozart," also known as Twinkle Twinkle little star. She memorized a little speech and played so wonderfully! As a reward for her practicing and work, she earned a stuffed Rapunzel doll. I was very proud of her. Obviously this recording is before the recital, since we had the recital in the chapel. Dawna was amazing! Quite the musician!

Top 10 Memories from Easter in Utah.

2011-05-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

10. Moses and Kaylee!

I havn't had many opportunities in my life to meet celebrities, so when I saw Moses and Kaylee at the reception... woah... I became totally star-struck! Completely incoherent, googly-eyed, and silly... yes, that's how I met Moses and Kaylee... I adore them. But in spite of my goofy behavior, Moses was very gracious and Kaylee very sweet and I have even more admiration for them after meeting them in person than I did before, which is something that I don't think I could say about many super-stars. But here it is, a picture with me and MOSES and KAYLEE!!! WooHoo!

9. Lehi Legacy Center

On Monday, Heather took me down to the Lehi Legacy center, which is a lovely community place complete with pool, track, weight room, and yoga class! I paid $5 for me and Dawna (thanks for a BoGo coupon) for a whole day of exercise and fun! Heather and I ran a 5k on the track in the morning, then Mom and Dad met up with us and the kids for a swim. We had a couple minutes in the weight room, and then in the evening, Rob volunteered to put the kids in bed so Heather and I could go to the 8pm Yoga class. And that was AWESOME! I discovered I really like Yoga... and may find a way to get into a class around home...

8. Old friends, new places
Throughout the week, Sarah Jean, Edwin, and Leeland accompanied us on several outings, including the Lehi Legacy Center, BYU campus, and she even invited us to the Easter egg hunt she was putting on for her "music-makers"-like class in her ward. As always, she added life, energy, and fun to our trip, not to mention beauty :) But Sarah wasn't the only old friend we found in Utah... We also got to hang out with Stephanie, Kora, and Brighton! We were quite the sight at the swimming pool... all these California girls swimming in the middle of snowy a Utah spring... it was almost a full joyschool reunion, but unfortunately, we missed seeing Angela and Talmage :( darn kindergarten got in the way! Next time though... because there will always be another trip to Utah... there's just too many things to do and too many people to see for one week... this one was the "friend" trip... in July we're coming out for the "family" trip...

7. Attached at the hip...
This would describe Larry and Isaac most of the time, but Hannah and Dawna every waking second of the day... and even some of the sleeping seconds of the day as well. From dress-up to restaurant to Queen and servant even unto trips to the potty, they didn't ever leave each other. Side by side they vacationed, up to the last night, when the two of them amazingly slept in the same twin size bed, side by side. They were the best of playmates and incredibly cute! The boys echoed the fun with their twin "I dig dirt"s in the yard, wrestling on the trampoline, and casting their new fishing poles (courtesy of Papa Severson) over the back lawn and down the stairs to the basement.

6. Down by the river side
For FHE, we all trekked down to the river to throw rocks and try out the new fishing poles. We had a really fun time, even though we nearly lost several of the plastic fish that were tied to the poles... all were recovered though, thanks to the fine efforts of Abbie, Emma, and Heather, who braved getting wet to save the items floating downstream. Only one unlucky person had wet feet by the end of the evening... and we will leave his identity undisclosed.

NOTE: No Emmas were harmed in the making of this picture :)

5. 11 Years ago...
On Sunday we celebrated Abbie's 11th birthday... 11... Really, Abbie? I mean REALLY?????? sheesh... her birthday was complete with angel food cake, roller blades and a new CD player. I got to reflect on my sophomore year of high school, when I was visiting Utah during spring break and Abbie was born. At the beginning of the week, Rob was talking to a tummy and by the end of the week, we were talking to the baby... it was crazy how quickly things changed, I thought. Abbie was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen (I am partial, however, since she was my sister's baby). But she's never ceased bringing a quiet dignified beauty to her home, her friends, and her whole life! Love you, Abbie girl!

4. That was Emma?
And just like that, Emma grew up. "That was Emma?" was my comment upon hearing her practice piano. She plays the piano extremely well, she plays with her little cousins extremely well, and does pretty much everything extremely well. Emma let me do her hair almost every day for school and I had a great time with that! Her hair reminds me of mine-- I love it long and braided. I'll probably be begging to play with her hair once my goes all gray and frizzy... it will make me feel young again... wait a second... I think I just saw a movie about that! Aaahhhh!!!

Anyway, look out world, Emma is coming!

3. Old companions, new babies!
Oh good old Sis. Boren... or Groneman... or whoever... I'm so glad she had her baby early so I could come see little miss Lindy and her new mama! I must admit that I was a little nervous driving up to her place; it's been a long time since I've seen Katie and I can be a little socially inept sometimes... but as soon as I walked in, I remembered why I love Sis. Boren so much: she just makes everyone feel good about themselves, no matter what! Such an amazing example to me! I had a wonderful visit and got to hold the baby and everything! Such a cute little strawberry blondie! So So So good to see them both!

2. Quilting marathon with my sister

Can you believe I kept Heather -- HEATHER -- up till one in the morning, TWO nights in a row, working on a beautiful quilt! This was a serious quilting marathon, which included two days of piecing the top and one day where we borrowed quilting frames, mounted the quilt, tied the quilt, took it off the frame and did the binding... WHEW! It was a piece of work... and it generated a piece of art, containing the pants of Rob, Abbie, Emma, Danielle, Jon... and various unknown others...

Yes... Heather was up veeeeerry late... (that was at the Discovery Gateway, by the way... yet another fun stop along the way... ) but she was a master on the sewing machine by the time we were done! No project too big to take on!

1. Bro. and Sis. Evans!!

Of course the best part of the trip was what we came there to do: see Brooke and Jon sealed for time and eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos temple. We have been the lucky observers of this relationship from day one-- literally-- when Brooke came home and said, "I met this guy, Jon, actually.. .haha! He was pretty cool... maybe he has some cute friends he can introduce me to..." to the "We're in a relationship on Facebook" to the "I love you" to the "Will you marry me?" and right up to the sealing room! (and hopefully we'll continue to be the close followers for many years to come!)

Being re-united with all our Riviera 15 roommates is of course the fortunate side effect of such a wedding. Brooke faithfully attended all of our weddings, and now was the time to return the favor! Sydney and Dawna had a lot of fun, too :) Thanks for getting married, Brooke and Jonny, so we could have such a fun trip!

New carpet and floors (sorry for the delay)

2011-04-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Time to continue the "Mom's house Remodel" Saga! Sorry for the time lag... there's a lot that's happened since the last episode... including...

New Living Room carpet!

Out with the old: Because of the addition to the living and dining room, wood floors were (sadly) not an option here. The front part of the room does have the same wood underneath, though. I must admit, I was a Little tempted to keep a swath of the old carpet as a relic of my childhood... I don't think this color carpet exists anymore.

In with the New! "Joust" is the color of the carpet. It is squishy soft (because of a very nice pad underneath) but still sturdy feeling on top. Clearly, we're all enjoying it! All piano students must now observe a strict "Stocking Foot" rule upon entry.

Refinished Floors!

The Floor guy did an INCREDIBLE job! He replaced the damaged pieces of floor board (there was some water damage by the hall bathroom), sanded everything down, and then re-stained. They just look Beautiful! So beautiful, in fact, that mom is sad that she might have to cover some of it up with area rugs! So advice to all: bring warm socks or slippers to mom's next time you come; you Will need them.We all unanimously agreed on the darkest color stain when given the options. We're all very happy about how the floors turned out. When Joe (the floor guy) was sanding, he wasn't sure how all the damage in mom's room would turn out, but everything was perfect!

Next up: Curtains and drapes! AND... recovering the goldenrod dining room chairs!!!
Stay tuned...

Crown Molding and Base Boards

2011-03-21T10:55:00.001-07:00

The living room paint is now complete! Blue and tan (well, the real color names are much more fancy, but I can't remember them right now...) on the walls with white crown molding and base boards.Here's a close-up of the color contrast on the walls. Looking from the front hall, the two opposite walls in the living room and dining room are blue and the two adjacent walls are tan... if that makes any sense... it's a cool effect :)

The kitchen paint is also all done. I think the color is Home and Hearth Sunflower Yellow or something like that...

Next up is refinishing the hardwood floors throughout the bedroom area. It's a larger task than it seems simply because All of the closets at that end of the house have to be empty (all of them have hardwood floor in them). Mom and dad are currently staying in the family room... but at least they still have access to the kitchen. More to come :)

Demolition!

2011-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

As many of you have heard, the Lansing Court house is undergoing an extensive makeover, including new paint, new carpet, new drapes, and maybe a few other things... I thought it my job to chronicle the momentous occasion!

Step one: removal of all wall hangings and furniture. For those of you that know the mantle above mom and dad's fireplace, you know this was no easy task. Taking down the family pictures was itself an all-day affair!
But where'd all the furniture go?? Down the hall and to the right as demonstrated by Larry:
Step 2: Removal of wallpaper... what a job! Just think... all those months Dawna and Adele were getting in trouble for picking at the wallpaper... come on, Nana, they were just getting a head start on what they knew would be a long and arduous task!
And the kitchen is complete!

The Hallway was extremely NO FUN! In this picture, it looks great... however, that was just the top layer of paper... under that was more paper; under that, a painted sealant; under THAT, really old thick wallpaper... all of it had to go and it required the use of water sprayers and several mean-looking tools:

Step 3: Carpet removal! Say a fond farewell to lime green shag! Look how beautiful the hardwood floors are! Mom and dad are still taking votes on whether to keep it or cover it with carpet:

Step 4: Painting prep: baseboards removed, piano covered, etc:

Mom says she likes the chandelier better all covered in plastic...shows how much she's liked it over the years...

And now... the first steps of reconstruction:

First, the hallway walls re-textured and painted (I think the wood floor looks particularly beautiful in this picture):
Second, living room walls are starting to get color! I LOVE the blue/gray color! Can't wait to see what it looks like Without the green carpet...
So that's the update so far... every day something else happens. I think today is crown molding day... I'll try to get as many step-by-step pictures as I can... even though my camera isn't the best! It's gonna be gorgeous, guys!

Brooke and Jon Dance Party!

2011-02-28T12:13:00.001-08:00

We've got an engaged child living at our house... so in the wake of wedding planning, we reap certain benefits, such as participating in dance lessons :)

Here's the Koberstein/Evans Living room dance party:

I particularly love Larry's little booty shake! Brooke said we had to get that on film before he grows out of it--here we have success!

"You want results, they're not coming for free!"

2011-02-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

Dawna likes to say that, which is a quote from the good ol' Jillian's 30 day shred...

Last week when I was watching my friend's kids, the big girls decided they wanted to do a workout, and to my delighted surprise, all four kids (the youngest under 2) jumped in and watched the movie and started working out together... it was Adorable!

PS: Sorry my filming isn't fantastic...

Day 9

2011-02-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

So... some of you may have noticed a bit of a pattern forming here :) Since the 6th, we've celebrated the following:

Day 7: Sparkling cider in champagne flutes and stuffed mushroom day!

Day 8: The most awesome heart attack ever day!

and now... Day 9... which many of you have predicted...

Xochitl Loves Daddy because Day!

Sorry... those of you who know me well have probably figured that some cheesy poetry was coming at some point... Xochitl has to take the rap for it, though :) hehe...

oops... here's take 2... Dawna was very upset because I forgot to put a heart at the end like the other two had... so we had to fix that... sorry for the delay...

Day Six.

2011-02-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

To catch you up on the action you missed since Day Three:

Day 4: Post-It note Puzzle Day

Day 5: Deeb-babysits-and-cleans-the-bathroom-while-Jon-SCUBA-Dives Day

Day 6 (drumroll please...)

Larry Loves Daddy Because Day!

Enjoy!

Day Three

2011-02-03T14:44:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Day Three of the "Fourteen Days of Valentines" Series! To catch you all up on the action so far:

Day 1: Love note in your work email inbox day

Day 2: Reese's peanut putter cup hearts on your dashboard day

Day 3 (TODAY!) is.....

"Dawna Loves Daddy Because" Day!

Enjoy the show :)

PS: Merry Christmas!

2011-01-12T15:10:00.001-08:00

Most of the family has seen or has a copy of this picture now, but just to make it official, yes, Christmas did come for the Kobersteins this year. Xochitl really enjoyed the wrapping paper, Dawna and Larry love their new tunnel and tent combo. All three of them have enjoyed their new Christmas outfits from Nana Severson. My kids inform me that the goose is a member of the family also, so he found his way into the pictue :)

Dad's Book Club: The Help

2011-01-12T15:05:00.001-08:00

In the tradition of Dad's greatness, he gave this book to me for Christmas, it having been recommended by JoAnn and Co. Historical Fiction is not usually my favorite, but this book masterfully portrayed vernacular speech (and attitude) and told a very engaging story (not to mention, one of the main characters does what I've always dreamed of doing—[and I was going to write it here, but realized that would spoil most of the book])

In a point-of-view-shifting first person account, I found myself intensely wrapped up in a part of history —and believe me, keeping my attention and interest on historical events is a Herculean feat, so well done, Kathryn Stockett! Instead of dryly discussing the events and feelings about desegregation in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi, Stockett places us in the shoes of Aibileen, Minny, and Miss Skeeter. Aibileen's motherly love for seventeen white babies (plus one boy of her own) that she raised gives strength to her resolve to...make the teacups stop rattling? Yes, that's right. And Minny, who has broken every rule of proper behavior to the white lady begins to discover that those very rules she thought forced upon her by the white ladies may only have force because of her own self-perception. Finally, Miss Skeeter...a true to life, true to herself lady out, at first, to make a name for herself decides that giving a voice to the voiceless (to use a cliché), may best be done anonymously.

Unfortunately, because of the subject matter, there are incidents of violence, hatred, and fear; nonetheless, Stockett handles them well—producing the desired disdain for the acts with minimal gore. I think even mom could handle it. :) What a beautiful piece of work! I was very moved and even found myself a little teary-eyed at the end. A must read for all adults in the family (but proceed with caution for younger readers). Excellent pick for Dad's Book Club!

Dad's Book Club: The Mysterious Benedict Society

2011-01-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

This book was recommended by a junior high school teacher friend of mine. Apparently it's all the rage for seventh and eighth graders. (I think Levi would like it a lot--if he hasn't already read it) It looks to be the start of a series, but I believe this is the only one currently published.

The book is an enjoyable light read, definitely adolescent literature genre. Sticky, Constance, Kate, and Reynie, despite their unfortunate upbringing with no reasonable families to speak of, are all children of remarkable skill and intelligence. They all must pass tests and prove their unique abilities in order to take on a challenge to save the world. The beginning of the book is particularly fun to read. As the kids are presented with riddles and questions, the author doesn't reveal the answer, leaving the reader to try to figure it all out before the kids do. After a fun opening, it turns a little hokey and apocalyptic... “If you fail in this quest, All is LOST!” explains Mr. Benedict as they are embarking... no pressure... Once the kids are in the process of working on their quest, the books reads a little like molasses: slow going and not exactly sweet to the taste. However, in spite of a slow middle development of plot, the ending pulls through to be interesting and fun once more— thanks to the Gemini and three candles. Clever.

Overall, I'd give it a high recommendation for youth readers, and a middle recommendation for adult readers. Relaxing, delightful read, but don't plan to be particularly moved or inspired to save the world... especially since you have to be an orphan genius to do so. Too late for me.

a month late...

2010-11-21T14:49:00.000-08:00

Now that Xochitl is 7 months old, I thought I should maybe post a couple of her 6-month snapshots that I took. To celebrate her 1/2 birthday, I broke out a new 6-9 month outfit from our friends Becca & Isaac. I love the color on her! My beautiful baby is getting so big!

Thanks "auntie" Becca!

Time for a Video blog!

2010-10-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today's blog will feature a clip of each of the kids doing something cute, new, and exciting for them. So, here we go in age order:

Brooke and I have been working out each morning... or evening... with Jillian's 30-day Shred work out video. Dawna has watched us from time to time, and then when she got these new "Jumping Bean" shoes, she decided she wanted to do the workout with us. I was really quite impressed. She stuck with us through the whole 20-minute workout--of course doing her own modifications of the exercises. She learned how to do jumping jacks really well, though. (PS: Jon did the filming on this one, so sorry Brooke and I are in there all sweaty-like and ridiculous...I told him to just get her!)

Larry's new thing is letters... well, to be more specific, the letter H. His love affair with this letter began when we brought home our Odyssey and he discovered that there is a letter H on the front, the back, and each wheel! And then, to add to his excitement, he found H's on the little white car, too! What can I say, we are a Honda family! He has subsequently been happy to discover H's on Papa's Jeep cHerokee and Nana's plymoutH voyager. He does know his other letters, but H is by far his favorite...

And Xochitl... really? Is this baby only FIVE months old??? She was really early rolling over, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that she is already dabbling with some crawling skills... (ok, so it's not THAT early to be crawling, but she outstrips both her siblings by a good month or more). Really, it's more like a push-pull scoot along, but this child can get where she wants to go... faster than I want her to get there usually!

And that is the video update of the Koberstein family!

SCUBA Report

2010-09-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jon arranged a wonderful Scuba outing. The diving conditions were absolutely PERFECT! And luckily for me, Alex brought a camera so I could finally see some of the things the boys always talk about when they come back from their expeditions.

I decided to join them and enjoy the beach with my kids. I was a little nervous about being on the beach while they were diving all by myself with 3 babies, but we all ended up having a great time!

First, they went to Breakwater, which is known for its easy diving; a great place for beginning divers. Here's the boys gearing up:
We were particularly excited to have Joe here and share his first Ocean dive with him :) Apparently there's not much coast around Oklahoma...
Larry... always out to find another uncle...

At Breakwater, they saw some jellyfish and lots of sea stars:

Dawna really enjoyed watching Daddy swim out and disappear beneath the surface. She did get a little anxious when he didn't come back for so long, but I assured her that he was ok.

Here's our little encampment on the shores of breakwater:

After Breakwater, we had lunch at Lover's Point ("I wonder why there's so many weddings going on here..." DUH!) Then they explored a new place off shore. Since their first dive went so well, they were all apparently feeling a little more relaxed and goofy-like:
Above the water...

And Below...

And Jon... I'm pretty sure that's not what they taught you to do in diving class! Diving 101 says: to breathe under water, leave the tube IN your mouth! Fortunately for him, I didn't see the pictures until After the dive was safely over...
And some other cool wildlife pictures from Lover's Point: the giant enormous humongous crab, the many many many armed sea star, and one rockin' awesome jelly.

While the divers were under at Lover's Point, the kids and I took a walk along the trail above the rocky coast. In previous visits to Monterrey, the breakers were crashing on the rocks and up above the retaining walls, but last Saturday, the water had only little lapping waves, gentle and benign.

After Lover's Point, the divers finished the day with a more complicated dive at Monestary (nicknamed Mortuary) beach... yeah, I'm always a little nervous when they want to go there, especially since there's been a little trouble in the past at that location, but everything went perfectly for our boys last Saturday there. Unfortunately, the camera didn't make the dive with them, so we still only get to imagine what it must be like down there...

In any case, you know it's been a great day when the ride home looks like this:

Yay for a fabulous weekend in Monterrey!

I'm a Hurricane!

2010-08-24T13:45:00.001-07:00

Hurricane Danielle

See See See!!!! Hopefully I'm not doomed to be as infamous as every Katrina in the world, but Danielle is looking pretty benign. :)

Look how pretty!

"If I look different, it's because I got baptized"

2010-08-21T00:48:00.001-07:00

That's what Emma said to one of her friends a few days after her baptism. I thought it was awfully cute :)

While we were in Utah, we had the pleasure of attending Emma's baptism. Emma was very brave and let me French braid her hair for her special day. I also got to take a lot of fun pictures the day before. My only regret is that her Aunt Sarah wasn't there to make them really sharp... good thing Emma is cute no matter who takes the picture!

I started the photo shoot much the same way as I did Abbie a couple years ago... only to realize that Abbie and Emma, though they are sisters, are quite different. Emma didn't actually enjoy the photo shoot until she got to show her own style a bit more:
She is quite an agile little lady, even if she is wearing lace. It made for some fun pictures...
She's standing on a fence in this picture...
And lounging on top of a play house in this one. That's how you do pictures Emma Style :) Love you babe!

Old friends, New places!

2010-08-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

So, while we were in Utah, we made a quick stop in Coalville... Why? This is why:
Yeah, I miss Angela quite a bit. I wish she could still live just a mile away so we could make our weekly trips to the library or Costco together... it's just a bit more endurable to do a long shopping trip when you have someone to giggle with :) However, I do have to admit that the place they live is a WAY nicer home than where they lived here... bummer that you can never have it all, ya know?

I was very glad to know that her kids hadn't forgotten me. I hadn't been there five minutes when Talmage started calling, "Dawna's Mom, I just need to show you one thing..." and then he would pull me to a new part of the house for a demonstration!
Thanks for letting us drop by for lunch, Annie!

In search of the Golden Trout

2010-08-17T20:50:00.001-07:00

Over this past weekend, Jon went on a backpacking trip with a couple brothers, nephews, cousins, and one father-in-law. They headed to the Mount Whitney and Cottonwood Lakes area. Their Quest: To Land the Golden Trout! The Golden Trout is the California state fish and can only be found in these freshwater lakes above 10,000 feet. It's a beautiful fish, but rarely seen because it's so hard to get to. Of course, my dad, being the master fisherman that he is, couldn't die happy if he hadn't mastered the Golden Trout. Last year for his birthday, he took this trek in one day and did indeed capture his Golden Trout. This year, he invited any who wanted to take the challenge on a 4-day trek in search of the Golden Trout. Here's some highlights from the trip, but for all the details, you'll need to get a report from Jon. Here's Jon at the trail head. Poor Jon arrived at base camp around 1:30am the day the hike began... I can't imagine he slept well in the car... but there he is, raring to go :)

That day, six of the fifteen hikers headed to the summit of Mt. Langley, a lofty 14,026. Here's Jon at the summit and the survey marker:
And the whole group that made it to the top:
The next day, Jon took a crack at the Golden Trout... and did in fact land FOUR! Woah baby!
Isn't it a beautiful fish!?! Really a very golden colour. Unfortunately, since the Golden Trout is the state fish and in fact quite rare, you can't keep or eat any of them, so I made sure Jon took our camera to get some good pictures. I must admit that I was very impressed with the pictures he took--AND he didn't even lose the camera.
Such a beautiful place! Here's the whole group: Rob, Jon, Chris, Matt, Joe, Dad, Ben, Allen, JD, Blake, Michael, Calder, Luke, Levi, and the lonely lovely little lady Abbie. Quite the crew.

Here's hoping I'll get to go next time! What a fun adventure! I really haven't done it justice on this blog; this is just a little tantalizing sample of what Jon and everyone could tell you about the trek. You really should ask them... or just maybe Jon might take an interest in blogging, just this once, and favor us all with a story or two :)

And back on the home front the day after the hike, Xochitl spent some quality time getting to know uncle Ben :)

Ease back into life...

2010-08-15T00:20:00.000-07:00

So, yes, as some of you may have noticed, it's a bit harder to blog--or go shopping, or clean house, or pretty much do anything--with 3 kids... but I think with Naomi starting to sleep through Some nights, I'll hopefully be back into my normal swing of things...

Just a quick post tonight to ease back into blogging...

A favorite moment from our recent vacation to everywhere in the western United States:

All my family at the bottom of the 328-step Uncle Tom's trail at Yellowstone National Park. Larry and Dawna both walked down and up all those stairs all by themselves! I love my family!

Dawna is FOUR!

2010-06-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I have a FOUR year old??? Holy moly...

As I was thinking about birthday party ideas, I was saddened to realize that since her "Teddy Bear Picnic" party last year, all but one of the friends that came to her party have moved away... and the last one is moving away in August... so so sad... But then I remembered we were going to be at Burney Falls for the three days before her birthday. I put the idea into her head to have her birthday party at Burney Falls so some of her cousins could come to her party. She went for it and was totally excited and told all kinds of people about her upcoming party at Burney... including, but not limited to, the hard core biker woman who was standing in front of us in line for the bathroom at some random gas station between here and Burney Falls... she was very nice to Dawna and even offered her some French Onion Sun Chips :)

Anyway, Dawna has been really into the "Go Diego Go" show, wherein Diego finds some kind of animal in trouble and then goes on an elaborate adventure to rescue said animal while learning about that animal's habitat, diet, predators, etc. So by the end of the show, not only have you rescued the animal, but you also know all about that animal!

So, for her party at Burney Falls, Dawna led a Diego-style baby lizard rescue! It began with baby lizards who had somehow gotten trapped inside birthday balloons. Each kid had to pop a balloon to get the baby lizard out.
(Not so easy to get miniature lizard figurines into balloons, by the way... Emily is a super-star lizard stuffer!) So, once the baby lizards were free of the balloons, they had to find their mommy and daddy, who were going to meet them at Dawna's birthday party. We had to follow the lizard prints to get to the party...
(This is all the 4-year old kids with their baby lizards -- and of course Larry can't be left out of anything Dawna is doing).

First, they had to identify which tracks were lizard tracks... I had printed out pictures of quail, raccoon, and snake tracks as well... they totally got it right... such smart kiddies!

So the kids swished their lizard tails over to a tree where they found more lizard tracks.
From there, the baby lizards were cold, so they wanted to go sit on a rock in the sun:
Then, a hawk was swooping overhead, so the baby lizards ran and hid under a picnic table:
All that running made them hungry, so they went to look for bugs under a log (for some reason, our group seemed to grow as we kept following the lizard tracks):

Then they used their lizard claws to walk across the log, scared away a raccoon with Diego horns, and then followed mommy lizard to Dawna's birthday party...
...where we sang happy birthday, blew out candles, and enjoyed pre-made angel-food cake :)

Here's the party guests: Hannah, Adele, Dawna, and Nathan... with a couple little brother tag-alongs and mommy helpers :)

But, just so you know she wasn't slighted on her REAL birthday... we saved her big present until we got home!

Dawna loved riding her bike for a couple minutes today... before she came down with a fever and threw up twice... sad way to spend her 4th birthday... but at least she got to enjoy a party and presents and cake all before she got sick... I really hope she'll be better tomorrow...

Book Review: The Cuckoo's Egg

2010-05-22T21:56:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite things about having a nursing baby is that I suddenly find myself taking 25 minutes of silent reading time about every four hours :)

The first book on my list was "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Cliff Stoll. Jon bought this as a text book for his computer ethics course at BYU. Kind of a strange class, but at least he got a good book out of it.

When I first picked it up, I didn't think I would like it, mostly because I am utterly backwards and incompetent when it comes to a lot of techy computer jargon. However, Stoll actually does a great job keeping the "layman" interested and explaining--sort of--how he went about finding the hacker. I still don't know exactly what a Gnu-emacs hole is, but I know that someone can exploit it to gain system manager privileges on a Unix-4 machine. Anyway, it's a great read, but you must remember that it follows a true story... so the disappointments and moments when the hacker escapes are much more numerous than the successes. Still, Stoll laces the often repetitive narrative ("... and by the time I got to the lab, the hacker had logged out... again...") with wit and entertaining verisimilitude... like his description of what happens when you put tennis shoes in the microwave to dry off...

So, if you don't mind a little dinosaur aged computer terminology and a slightly "Ender-esque" finale, this is a great book! High recommendation.

Backyard fun in the sun :)

2010-05-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

We got sidewalk chalk for Easter! So, I drew Dawna and Larry a hop-scotch course. Dawna does really well with the numbers forward... but backwards... well... in the video, she says, "10...6...7,8,6,4,5,3,2,1." Almost, Dawna... I guess we'll have to work on that a little bit... I also just love how Larry says, "One, Two, Weeeee!!!" and then runs the rest of the way!

While Dawna and Nana and Papa were at the A's game last Friday night, I slipped over to Redwood City to get this little slide off Craig's list. It's a little small for Dawna, but perfect for Larry... still, Dawna gets a kick out of it. This video is just Larry playing on it for the first time. Dawna was still gone, so he got to rule the roost for a little while. I thought it was awfully cute :)

In her first week on earth...

2010-04-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

In her first week on Earth...

Naomi met Nana and Papa Severson and Uncle Weston.

Daddy and Dawna had too much fun with the camera.

Naomi had her first bath.

Naomi's bassinet was commandeered by her big brother. "I did it!" he proudly exclaimed...notice my kitchen step-stool next to the bassinet.

Dawna and Naomi spent quality sister bonding time.
Lawrence and Naomi spent quality brother/sister bonding time.

Larry expressed that he was tired of getting up in the middle of the night with the baby :)

Naomi opened her pretty little eyes more every day! Welcome to the world, baby!

Introducing...

2010-04-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

Introducing:

Naomi Xochitl Koberstein
April 19 at 3:07am
Weighing in at 8lb. 7oz and 22 inches

"Naomi" is pleasant in Hebrew. "Xochitl" is flower in Aztec. (For help pronouncing that, in the Americanized form or the Original Aztec/Nahuatl, click away)

That's the essential information... I'll now go into a more detailed account of her arrival... feel free to be excused at this point if you are one of those squeemish men out there... really, though, it's not at all a bad birth story.

So, I started tracking labor pains about 9pm on Sunday. Jon and I and the kids had gone for a lovely walk around the block followed by a drive down by the bay and some rock-throwing. We had just put Larry and Dawna down for the night and poor Larry had a low fever. I found it getting increasingly hard to ignore the contractions that were coming about every 10 minutes or so. We started timing them and by 11:15, they were about 5 minutes apart and 30+ seconds long. I couldn't really stand while they were happening because they hurt so bad... and that's when we decided we better go to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 11:45... and the first little while in the hospital was the worst! It felt like they took FOREVER to check me in and get me on the initial monitors to see IF I was in labor. I had little doubt in my mind that I was, but that didn't get admissions or the nurses to move any faster... I was getting a little frustrated with each passing contraction... each growing stronger... I was dilated to a 5 at this point.

For some reason, these contractions felt so much more powerful and painful than what I remembered in previous labors. I don't know if it was just because is was the middle of the night and I was already tired or if I actually had back labor this time, but something was definitely different and much more acutely painful. So, as soon as they actually got me to a labor and delivery room, I asked to talk to the anesthesiologist. I was still terrified of an epidural, but I was really at the end of my endurance. The anesthesiologist was amazing! She talked me through every step of what she was doing and I felt mostly comforted the whole time. It was all done around 2:15am, and they checked dilation again: 8.

Let me tell you, an epidural is a really weird sensation. It felt like labor was going backwards, but the monitor insisted the contractions were getting stronger. Even the super intense transition contractions felt just like Braxton Hicks. I knew my legs could still move, but it was like I couldn't remember how to coordinate the muscles. It kind of made me laugh.

So this went on for a few minutes and my water broke at 2:35am. So they checked me again, and the L&D nurse just said, "Ok, when you feel like you want to push, let me know and I'll get the midwife." Around 3:00 I felt like I wanted to push, so they adjusted the bed, brought in the midwife, I pushed three times, and Naomi was born. 3:07am. I could still feel every bit of it, but I almost couldn't believe it! It was the easiest pushing ever! I've heard that about subsequent births, but didn't experience it with Larry. Naomi made up for Larry's hard labor :)

So here we are, around 3:30 in the morning and we're all smiling and happy. She is such a beauty! And the best part... she has black hair! (at least for now... I'm well aware it may all fall out and come in blond, but let it be known that I finally produced a dark-haired child!)

Such an interesting experience it is to compare "natural" childbirth to the epidural experience. I've come up with the following observations:

Advantages of the epidural:

Once it's in and placed, there's very little pain.
MUCH easier to stay relaxed, cheerful, and smiling through the whole experience--even at 3am.
In my case, I think it helped my muscles relax and dilate faster, but that's just a MAYBE.
Did I mention it made the actual birth almost pain-free??? SO WEIRD!

Disadvantages of the epidural:

It is a little disconcerting and freaky to know you're just letting someone stick something in your spine. It does hurt a bit going in. It looks like a guitar string.
After labor and delivery, there was a spot in my back that felt pretty bruised. The back pain still isn't quite all the way gone, and I feel it with the postpartum contractions that happen while nursing. It's nothing unmanageable, but uncomfortable.
The thing I missed most with the epidural was the unmistakable emotional/hormonal high you get with a "natural" delivery. I almost felt cheated of the excitement of seeing her for the first time--just because it almost didn't feel real to me.

Was it worth it? Will I get an epidural next time? I don't know...

Anyway, that was kind of just a side-bar... Naomi is so beautiful and already (just like Dawna) is very good-natured. Even the nurses at the hospital commented on her good temperament. since we both were doing so well, we decided to go home from the hospital on Monday night, almost exactly 18 hours after arriving at the hospital. My mom brought Dawna over to visit, but Larry couldn't come because he still had a fever.

Jon's girls!

Then Becca and Aiden came by to visit also... we joke about these two being betrothed :)
My sweet baby girl--so peaceful in the little bassinet! She's perfect She's a beauty...and she's mine!

Welcome home!

2010-04-17T14:36:00.001-07:00

Finally... FINALLY!!! She came home! I have my car back! I've been missing her for almost exactly a month now... but she's back and purring like a kitten!

If you remember, we ran over a moving dolly on the way home from Oregon on March 12 and my Quest baby has been stuck in Redding, undergoing massive surgeries... In the words of the repair order:

"Vehicle towed in, found large hole in oil pan. After inspection found engine damaged beyond repair. Removed and replaced engine with used engine. After we installed the used engine, we found it would not pass our cooling system test and it had early signs of head gasket failing. We removed the engine again, had cylinder heads checked, replaced all top end gaskets and reinstalled engine. All systems passed inspection after our work was completed. No charge to customer-engine supplier paid all warranty repairs."

Pretty much every sentence of that paragraph took a week of waiting for parts, insurance, warranties, installing, and testing... But... it's all done now!

On a more personal note, I feel so grateful for my sweet dad and husband who left this morning at 6am to drive and pick up my car. They met the mechanic at a gas station in Corning, signed all the paperwork, and then turned around and drove home again. THAT is definitely love. I don't know that I've ever done such a lengthy favor for either of them, but they did this for me without any hesitation or complaining. I love these men! Thank you sooooooo much!

Sis.

2010-04-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Oh, it's been so long since I got together with my sis! I saw her almost two years ago at her baby shower, and before that, I hadn't seen her since my wedding (I think...). But, here our paths crossed again!

Tina came down to Fremont to see her mom sealed and help out with the reception/open house at the church. She is an exquisite decorator and reception planner, by the way... in case some of you may be in the market, I can highly recommend her services.

Anyway, Tina and I have a long history dating back to junior primary and Mrs. Gentry's dance class. Our story continued through high school, including early morning seminary complete with hot chocolate and breakfast and boys... lots and lots of boys...

And through it all, Tina has been there--more than just a friend... my sis. :) it makes me so happy to see her perfect little family, complete with house and baby... It was beyond fun to be pregnant with her at the same time and both have boys just a couple months apart. So, of course, when we got together for dinner last Friday night, we had to take a couple pictures!

Here's Lawrence and Wesley doing their thing experimenting with pool cue chalk:

And the boys with their mommies... not the greatest pictures of all time, but I had to include both because Larry really was happy to play with Wesley, he just didn't smile for the first picture...
And even that isn't a REAL Larry smile, but it's pretty close...

Anyway... here's hoping it's not another two years before I see her again... Yeah, I know... get my lazy booty in the car and drive to see her... Yes, I will!

Easter Fun

2010-04-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Our Easter holiday lasted all week long. It started on the Sunday before Easter. The Wightmans came to Fremont for dinner and piano lessons. Marisa is particularly great with my kids. They had a great time hiding empty Easter eggs in the back yard and then looking for them... over and over and over again. Balaine had a new lens he was experimenting with on his camera. I think he called it a "fish-eye"? I know there's a lot of photography people out there that would really know... It produced some pretty awesome pictures of all the backyard pre-Easter fun:
On Monday, Nana and Papa prepared an Easter FHE with a new "Easter Walk" book and the 12 Easter eggs that follow the story of the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. After the lesson, they prepared an Easter egg hunt with actual candy in the eggs this time! This is really the first year that Lawrence could enjoy finding the eggs and he was such a crack-up to watch! Great expressions of elation upon finding each egg. To make it fair, Dawna and Larry had separate colors to look for--so Larry found all the yellow eggs while Dawna found all the pink eggs. But... our Easter fun didn't end there...

For Conference/Easter weekend, we went to visit our Antioch family. Grandma and Grandpa were only around for Friday night and Saturday morning, but uncles provided ample entertainment even after the grandparents had flown away to Philadelphia. Larry was particularly taken with Grandma's chickens on this visit. He chased the big black hen all around the back yard:

On Sunday, Daddy and uncles worked together to boil and dye some eggs! There was shrink wrap designs in the egg-coloring kit! I'd never seen that before and thought it was so cool! Unfortunately, Weston and Jon had bought extra large jumbo huge eggs... so the shrink wrap decor didn't fit around the girth of the eggs... Fortunately, Grandma's hens had laid a couple eggs that WERE small enough for it... so we got to see the coolness in action... shrink wrap wrapped around the egg, then dipped in boiling water, and SHALOOP! it skinnied all up to the shape of the egg! So cool! There was also the standard food coloring and stickers... I also just love watching Jon play with the kids! It's so cute!

A week of no pictures

2010-03-28T23:34:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, all I have for this week is a narrative. The eventful moments of the week were either not picture-worthy, or I just forgot my camera.

The week started out fairly plainly... I made lunch for mom and dad and taught my piano lessons on Monday.

Tuesday was a big house cleaning day since Dawna's Joyschool was canceled. Wednesday I walked to music makers with my kids, then came home and did some more cleaning... ooh yay... My poor kids by Wednesday evening were pretty fed up with their mom... I just wanted all the living space to be clean and of course that's where they wanted to play all day... their own rooms just weren't going to cut it for some reason... but I kept trying to herd them out of the living room and into their own rooms where the train table, the play kitchen, the bookshelf and the toy box/slide are. You'd think all those things would keep them out of my "clean" areas, but not so much...

Anyway, Thursday was exciting. I got the kids up earlier than usual and drove them over to Glenmoor Elementary to see the school play. I had a couple piano students in the play along with some young friends from Glenmoor ward. They performed "The Fairy Tale of Sleeping Beauty." It was pretty much exactly what you'd expect if you've seen the Disney version, but with different names. Dawna Loved seeing all the "beautiful dresses" for the costumes and enjoyed the singing and Dancing. Lawrence did quite well considering how long the play was. Overall it was fairly cute, but I totally rolled my eyes when they presented the "moral" of the story: "Be careful who you DON'T invite to your party!" (Since, you know, the witch put the spell on Sleeping Beauty in the first place because she was angry about not being invited to her birthday celebration... duh... )

After the play, we came home, ate lunch... and then... Larry Pooped on the Potty! Woo hoo! (sorry I don't have a picture of THIS! haha...) I'm pretty sure it was just a lucky moment that I found him when he was trying to hide in a corner to do his business, but still, it put me in a good mood for the rest of the day... In fact, I was in such a good mood that while I took the car to get the tires rotated, I walked Dawna and Larry to Wendy's for french fries. After the fries, we walked to visit Becca and baby Aiden while we waited for the car to be done.

Later in the evening, I drove over to San Carlos to pick up Jon from work (he had taken the bus in the morning). Pogo had provided lunch and there were enough leftovers for us to enjoy dinner as well :) We got to meet a couple of Jon's co-workers who were also there late and see Jon's cubicle and everything! I realized he's been working there almost a year, and I haven't been up to see his office. We've met a couple times for lunch on the campus over there, but I had never seen his office or anything... pretty lame... I'm pretty sure I should take a more active interest in his work... maybe...

Friday we stayed up late watching a lot of West Wing with Brooke... we had arrived at the end of Season 1, and for all of you West Wing fans out there, you know you can't stop at the last episode of season 1... you have to start season 2 right away so as not to be driven crazy by the cliffhanger...

Saturday my visiting teacher, Allisen, threw me a baby shower. I thought it was awfully nice of her considering that this is my third child... We got a new carseat (the one we had for Dawna and Larry was in horrible shape, so we threw it out after Larry moved to forward facing), lots of diapers and wipes (always useful!) and a few new pink outfits! And there was such good food! Pasta salad, Caesar salad, Chinese chicken salad, home-made rolls, deviled eggs, shortcake... yum! It's always good when the Relief Society sisters are cooking :) Both grandmas were able to make it to the shower along with lots of friends from Bayside and Glenmoor Centerville wards. Unfortunately... no pictures... my mother-in-law and Becca both got good pictures... I"ll have to get some from them...

After the shower, Jon and I started a long and painfully disappointing journey that ended with yet another week of no car :(. It was SO NOT FUN to get almost there and then get a call saying something had gone wrong and the car wasn't going to be drivable for another couple days... yuck... On the up-side, I got to spend a bit of much needed one-on-one time with my best friend. We listened to NPR and commented on the stories; we chatted and joked and held hands... our friend Sarah was already watching the kids for the afternoon and evening, so then we went shopping together, too. Amazing! It was like having no kids for a day! Woah! Almost forgot what that feels like...

and then there was Sunday... the choir did the Easter presentation today, which was awesome! I got to play flute with a couple songs and Dawna sang with the primary in Sacrament meeting for her fist time! She's a true Severson when it comes to singing... she belts out and almost yells every word she knows... and a few she's unsure of... and then basks in the glory of the compliments from the primary chorister :) After church was dinner with Nana and Papa and the Wightmans, and now it's off to bed...

Unfortunately... I'm having a hard time sleeping with this 36-week belly here... not that I'm not tired... it's just pretty impossible to get comfy in any position at all... that's probably why I'm making this picture-less blog go on for so long... putting off going to bed just to toss and turn for a while when I wish I could sleep... oh... poor me :) Any veteran moms out there know any late-pregnancy sleeping tricks? Probably reading this post from start to finish will put me to sleep... I'll give that a try :)

Springtime!

2010-03-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, it's been warm and toasty outside! The sun has been shining almost every day this week and many exciting and fun things indicate that spring is there!

Springtime is when we often celebrate new life. I had a chance to do just that with my good friend Becca, who had her baby last Saturday. He has perfect skin just like his mama and makes the perfect addition to their family and our "Riviera 15" group of roommate kids :) She let us come see her in the hospital on Sunday... when we got there we realized we were just one in a line of many visitors she had. Hopefully it wasn't too tiring to have so many people come visit...
On Thursday, my WHS friend Ginger and her daughter Izzy came by for lunch. We ate and enjoyed... and then she brought out something very special for the girls: painting crafts! I'm not as crafty as a lot of moms, so it's a special treat for my kids to be able to paint. Dawna and Larry and Izzy had a great time painting butterflies, birdhouses, shirts... and themselves...

Consequently, they had a "run through the sprinklers" session after completing their painting projects (notice Larry's conspicuous absence... he's still no fan of water flying in his face):Yesterday, with the continuation of good weather, we headed over to Birch Grove park and with the slight breeze, let out kites fly high! Dawna has been dying to do this for a really long time! Jon won the prize for keeping his kite up the longest...

...but Dawna won the prize for having the most fun! She flew her kite sitting, standing, and walking around!

Larry wins the prize for flying a kite without even looking at it :)
And I win the prize for being the least likely to be carried away by a kite:
This is week 34... as of today, I'm at week 35! So close! Hey! Nesting is yet another springtime activity! Sweet! Has spring sprung anywhere else in the country? Or are most of my siblings still deep in snow?? :)

Oregon ups (and downs)

2010-03-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

This last week my friend Sarah and I went to visit Aaron and Emily! It was a blast! All three kids were great in the car the whole time and we loved seeing their cute little townhome. Dawna and Adele enjoyed a very happy reunion filled with lots of dress-ups and pretending to be puppies and being loud at the dinner table... I brought some matching clothes for Dawna and Adele (and actually their cousin Hannah has a matching outfit, too)

On Thursday, we took a short road trip up to Union Creek to let the kids play in the snow. This was definitely the highlight of the trip for Dawna. In Joyschool, we talked about nature and season and weather. She's been wanting to see the snow SO badly and even asks if we can move to a place like Hannah's house (where they get snow in the backyard-I guess she remembers from last April...)

So, upon arrival in the snow, we bundled her up (thanks to many generous friends who let us borrow snow clothes) and she immediately began to eat the snow ("It turns into water in your tummy!" she says) Then we walked to the meadow/pavilion/amphitheater place and Dawna (with some instruction from her snow-experienced cousin Adele) plopped down and made several snow angels:
Then, as per so many stories and songs she knows, we built a little snowman. Dawna and Adele had a good time finding leaves and sticks for eyes and arms and then (Emily was so prepared) they added a carrot stick for a nose! So perfect!

Most of the time, Larry preferred staying under cover and climbing on the picnic tables.
...but we did get him to sled down the little hill a couple of times with me or Dawna. I know he'd never admit it, but I know he was having fun doing this!
I like this picture of Lawrence and me because you can't EVEN tell I'm 34 weeks pregnant! And see??? He's standing in the snow and smiling at the same time :)
And Dawna and I getting ready to go down the hill:
She didn't want to take a picture, she just wanted to GO!

Later that day, Em and I went to Costco to drop off a car for Aaron. He had a minute and gave me an eye exam! It was so cool! Aaron... I mean... Dr. Severson clearly is one of the best in his field. Confident and kind and very knowledgeable. It was seriously awesome! And I have 20/20 vision :)

The three girls ate out both nights--Chinese food in Ashland one night and pizza and ice cream the next night. Hey--we're all pregnant, we can eat what we want!

Unfortunately the drive home was not so.... uneventful... Apparently, somebody left a moving dolly (aka hand truck) in the middle of I-5 and unfortunately, we ran over it... those don't go smoothly under cars going 65 mph, in case you needed to know... so after a call to CHP, a tow truck, and a rental car, we finally got home... but our car is still in Redding getting fixed... and we should be able to ride up with mom and dad this weekend (as they are going to visit them) to pick it up... yay... not the most fun ending to our trip, but we made it...

Still, I'm so glad we went and we all had a great time! Thanks Aaron and Em for being such good hosts!

Chores for a toddler.

2010-03-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

Since Larry is two, he has two jobs to do: Put his own dirty clothes in his hamper and put the silverware away. He seems to really enjoy both of them; however, only the latter is cute to watch. He's loved doing the silverware for a while now... my sister says since he's good at sorting forks, knives, and spoons, he'll be a good reader! Let's hope so :)

My man wears Old Spice!

2010-02-27T00:04:00.000-08:00

This commercial made me laugh SO hard!

This is for Jon, who does wear Old Spice and does NOT use ladies' scented body wash... and I know I have at least a couple brothers who use Old Spice in some form or another.

Anyway, I hope it makes you laugh a little... because I guffawed pretty hard at this...

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

My favorite line: "I'm on a Horse."

THIS is a Date!

2010-02-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, Jon and I went to "LDS Family Night" at the Warriors vs. Jazz game! No kids... just me and my cutie! It was awesome! I thought it was funny that they had missionaries sing the national anthem at the beginning... And the Jazz won 100-89... although I'm still not quite sure who I was rooting for... In my heart, I'm a Golden State girl, but I came to like the Jazz in our 5 years living in Utah... It was fun to cheer for the Jazz in this particular setting because they were clearly not the favorites...

I got spoiled the whole night... from in-seat Hot Dog and soda service (Thanks to Jon and Lynn) to yummy garlic fries (Thanks to Dad K) to good babysitting (Thanks to Mom & Dad S). I even had a good time riding BART to and from the game. I got to curl up next to Jon in the big empty underutilized public transportation system and reminisce about all the times he rode BART down to Fremont see me while we were dating! < <> > It was a great night!

(Yes, I know I'm wearing a hockey shirt... it's the only maternity sports shirt I have... over the belly it says "Future San Jose Sharks Fan")

Captain who?

2010-02-09T22:46:00.001-08:00

Since Jon got so much amusement out of our date last Saturday, I thought it only fair to post about it... especially since Jon gets no end to my teasing on my blog.

He checked out the new Star Trek movie for us to watch and we settled in with snacks and pillows to enjoy the show. I had warned him that I knew NOTHING about Star Trek... seriously nothing... well... I knew two things: First, they flew on a ship called the Enterprise (and I only knew that because I've heard the nerdy argument about the Millennium Falcon vs. the Enterprise). Second, I knew that those alien guys with weird looking foreheads (Klingons I guess?-Jon just told me) obtained their extra-ordinary features by placing their heads in the microwave. (FYI-that second piece of Star Trek knowledge came from my brother Caleb)

Notwithstanding my lack of knowledge about Star Trek and my previous shunning of it, Jon assured me that I would understand the movie, and he told me that he could explain it all if I got too confused :) Such a sweet patient husband ;) Little did I know how much my comments on the movie would amuse him... Now, remember that I had TOLD him, in no uncertain terms, that this was the FIRST Star Trek movie (or even TV episode) that I'd watched start to finish... and yet, he did the following:

Jon snickered when I said, "I'll bet Spok and that James Kirk guy end up working together."

Jon shook his head and rolled his eyes when I asked, "Wait! Do Star Trek people come from EARTH!?!"

Jon laughed out loud when I commented, "Ohhhhh!!! so that's where "Live long and prosper" comes from!"

Like I said, I'd never seen a Star Trek start to finish... so all of the above things actually surprised me. I felt very educated by the end of the movie! And, much to the film-maker's credit... I DID actually understand the plot, even though I had no previous knowledge of the characters or the pretense. It's actually a pretty dang good movie! Whoever thought of this whole Star Trek thing might have something going for him! I wouldn't be surprised if some kind of Star Trek fan club pops up one of these days. Let me know if you hear about one!

New pattern :) "Messenger Bag"

2010-02-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

So here's a new pattern to add to my sewing repertoire... thanks to the "mmmCrafts" blog. Mine doesn't look quite as professional as hers do, but hey, it's a start! I learned several new tricks making this project... for example... I always knew that, in theory, it's easiest to sew things "wrong" side up and then flip it... but I couldn't figure out how to apply that to my purse making... so now I'm excited to be in better control of the seam on future projects :) Also, I love the "flap" thing over the bag, and this pattern makes it simple and perfect!

So, here's a picture of my first "Messenger Bag." I'm sure there will be more to come! I like the way it turned out... The only change I made to the pattern was making the strap adjustable in length by adding two D-rings... unfortunately, the student I made it for is so short that it barely hangs short enough when it's cinched all the way tight... all well... I guess she'll grow into it :)

Addendum: My second messenger bag...
My student wanted all three colors on the bag, so I tried my hand at artfully piecing fabric together. I rather like the way this one turned out. I learned how to make a button hole and I learned that those "pinch" buckles are actually called "parachute buckles," in case you're ever looking for one in a fabric store or something.

Locks of Love

2010-02-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

So, I've always been too small to donate blood, too much of a pansy to donate plasma, and nobody has ever asked me to donate a kidney... but... I'm very good at growing long locks of hair. Over Christmas, I cut my hair and sent it to Locks of Love. I know most of you who view my blog have already seen me with my short hair, but just for the record of it, here's how it happened:

Before: Really really long hair that Lawrence could reach up and grab... not the most comfortable feeling to have your hair pulled by a 2-year-old... kinda yanked my head backwards sometimes. (I don't have a copy of the official "before" picture, but this one will do for now. My hair was Really really long.)

After: MUCH MUCH shorter hair! Let me tell you, it feels refreshing and light--and much less like a Tarzan vine for Lawrence. (it's not the most flattering picture of me...I think I sorta look like a hunchback...all well... )
The Leftovers: "Get that dead rat out of here!" Jon shares his love and support :)
Don't worry... it's gone... on its way to Florida! Yay for short hair!

Christmas highlights... a month later...

2010-01-27T22:01:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas season was filled with a lot of fun and craziness. The ENTIRE Severson clan was here... first time we've all been together in five years...and our family has grown quite a bit since then... Regardless of the size of the crowd, my amazing mom had activities and outings and innings (?) perfectly planned to a tee. Such activities include (feel free to be impressed when you consider that for these activities, up to 39 people were involved, and occasionally, babysitters for 21 kids were required):

Christmas Caroling around the neighborhood
Christmas day opening presents and Christmas dinner all together
Actually... dinner together pretty much every night (each family took a turn cooking)
Temple session in Oakland.
Musical number in Sacrament Meeting
Primary Program with all the grandkids
Trip to Sunset Beach
Couples date to Riverdance in San Jose
Family portrait in the backyard
Extended (well, more extended) cousins Christmas party and trivia game
New years eve under 5 and over 5 kids parties.

Only Cheryl Severson could pull it off and still have all the cousins, in-laws, and siblings like each other :) You're amazing, Mom!

For beautiful, pristine, pictures of most of these adventures, you'll have to visit my sibling's blogs... our camera is not the cleverest of electronic equipment, and didn't always flash at the appropriate time, but here's a few snapshots of our Christmastime fun:

Dawna's mom and dad presents: New Christmas dress, heirloom kitty necklace, and her very own REAL digital camera! The 100-picture capacity was filled in about 15 minutes... and Samuel, looking on from behind with his usual smile :)
Larry's Christmas was filled with "Vroom-Vrooms" (aka cars). From his Lightning McQueen Slippers to matchbox cars to this new remote control car... he loves EVERY one of his cars...and trains, I might add.
Dawna wrestling with Uncle Matt from San Diego:
Oh yeah... and Larry turned two somewhere in the middle of the Christmas day fun and excitement... he enjoyed a personal sized carrot cake and... you guessed it... more cars and trucks from both grandparents :) Seriously, though, he can't get enough of them...
Playing with Aunt Elizabeth and cousin Sofia from Texas (and that's Eli turned around there):

Lansing court Crew Re-United: Adele and Dawna and Lawrence and Samuel at Sunset Beach
Getting to know cousins that lived a little farther away than across the hall: Lawrence and Eli were cracking each other up! Really, this is a disgraceful representation of the cuteness they displayed... See Sarah's blog for WAY better pictures!

Dawna waiting for the Under 5 New Year (which apparently comes around 9pm... shhh... don't tell!) Jon and Deeb go Irish! Riverdance was awesome!
And slumber parties with cousins! Yeah... Hannah and Dawna ALMOST went to bed at bedtime! HA!

Can you believe it! All the Seversons together... This photo will be valid for about... four months... until grandbaby #22 is born in mid-April... Whew! What a Holiday!

Behold How Cute...

2009-12-07T23:18:00.000-08:00

This last Friday and Saturday Jon and Dawna and I were in the dance production "Behold the Light." Jon's brother Lynn got us in since we actually missed auditions :)

Jon and I got to do a couple dances together, but since he's a man--a very rare commodity in the dance company--he got to do a couple other dances, too... we finished up just in time, though... it was starting to get a little difficult to leap around and be all high energy with this baby belly in the way...

Dawna got to be in the "Little stars" dance. I didn't get a clip of her actually performing on stage, but this is her and a couple of her little friends practicing. The Little Stars dance consisted of: 1) Dancing to your place on stage. 2) making a shape with your arms and legs. 3) taking a turn dancing with the star lady, and 4) Getting a little light from the star and dancing off stage again. Simple, yes, but it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen. Dawna really got into it the first night. She was the last kid to dance off the stage and just took her sweet time twirling and taking it all in... the other performances she blended in a bit better with her colleagues, but still so cute!

This is Dawna with the "Christmas Star," the major character in the production... she's sparkly... (we all laughed because she came to the show with an Edward Cullen shirt on that said "REAL men Sparkle")
Here's all the men in the show... the one on the left technically just gave the opening prayer every night... but still, he was important!

Me and my cute husband being a very good sport about his drag queen stage make-up :) Anyone who has ever worn stage make-up understands... not so fun...
Our family in the opening and finale costumes! Nana Severson brought Dawna a flower and she hugged it the rest of the night... she's sleeping with it by her bed as we speak and changes the water in the vase about 5 times a day... Nice belly there, huh???
It was an absolute BLAST to dance with my family... I don't know if we'll get a chance to do it again, but it was soooo much fun! It's such a beautifully written show... it follows the light of Christ as represented by the Christmas star--which shares the light with those little light cubes (I'm holding one in the last picture).

In the words of the ultrasound tech...

2009-12-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

"It looks like a ... hmmm... well... hmmm... the legs there aren't really helping... I think... well, from what I can see... and for lack of [specific evidence indicating it's a boy--using language inappropriate for blog :)] probably a girl?"

I get to have another ultrasound in a couple weeks because she was so wiggly and hyper the tech couldn't get all the measurements needed... but for now, we're going with GIRL! Dawna is super excited and really wants to name her "Princess Fiona..." But Sorry, Dawna, mom and dad Both veto that one...

Coming up...

2009-11-29T21:51:00.001-08:00

Ultrasound on Wednesday!!!

Anyone care to venture a guess?

Projects I'm proud of :)

2009-11-24T20:53:00.000-08:00

Since mom got me a new sewing machine for my birthday, I've been putting it to good use. Piano students, Joyschool, and Behold Dance Collective have all seen some sewing from me...

For "B" day in Dawna's Joyschool, I had the kids count beans and make a bean bag... they really aren't that exciting to look at, just your basic square bag... but the kids had a great time with them!

Piano student #1 wanted a purple pillow for her complete practice chart. I got REALLY lucky at FabMo to find the dark purple background AND a matching Polka dot fuzzy purple piece. Dawna picked out the purple lady bugs and I put it all together--embroidery and all!
Student #2 wanted an "aqua" pillow... I had to do a little searching to even figure out what that color is supposed to be... in the end, I think it's still just a lightish blue and turquoise... but she said it matches her bed perfectly, so that's all that matters!
I sorta wish the blue star had another something to balance out the three white buttons, but I was working with what I had... I love the fabric on the back, even though you can't see it... it's light blue velvet with silver glitter in it... so so cute!

Student #3 wanted a music bag, and she picked out the pink and green plaid patterned fabric. The brown and blue bag I just made because I was bored one night and I liked the way the fabrics went together... not sure what I'm going to use it for yet...
And finally... the biggest and hardest project I've tackled yet... a dress for Dawna. She needed a white dress for the "Little Stars" dance in Behold the Light, so I braved up and bought a pattern, some material, and some ribbon to complete the project. That was the first time ever I've sewn something start to finish by myself with a pattern. I did spend a bit of time on the Simplicity web site defining the terms and such, but it all came together almost perfectly. It's good enough for Dawna to wear for the show and she loves it... Mission Accomplished!

SCUBA Daddy!

2009-11-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

Jon and I had a deal about his owning his own SCUBA gear... and, lucky him, things worked out to his advantage... so he has all his gear and is ready to go!!!

Anybody else SCUBA dive??? (Not counting siblings of mine who may or may not have done so without requisite certification... not that I'm pointing fingers or anything) Jon got his brother Weston to get certified, so they took a trip to Monterrey last weekend... and, being the boys that they are, only took one picture:
Sure...beautiful scenery above and below water... interesting and almost hilarious incidents getting in and out of the water... and the picture they come home with is Jon laying on the hotel room bed talking to me on the phone... geez... I guess I'll have to be the SCUBA photographer when my turn comes...

Late Halloween pictures

2009-11-20T23:25:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, Larry got to be a Bear-thanks to a friend from our ward. She made this costume for her son last year, and it is the softest, cuddliest, warmest costume ever!! Dawna still calls him "Lare-Bear."

Dawna insisted on being a ghost...so I was going to make her the classic white sheet type costume... but then I saw this "Fuzzy ghost" costume at Food Maxx (of all places...after looking at JoAnns, Costco, and Target for a basic ghost costume) for ten bucks and I couldn't resist the prospect of NOT making a costume :)

Halloween Saturday was filled with festivities... we carved our pumpkin in the morning...

...and in the evening enjoyed Glenmoor's Trunk-or-Treat!--which of course included many of our favorite games. In honor of Adele: "Daaaawna wants another DOUGH-nut."

Thanks Brookie!

2009-10-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

On the very day the tropical storm did its worst to our fence (as noted in the previous post), we got a knock on the door early in the afternoon and the mailman handed us a soggy, weather-beaten box from Broken Arrow... which could only mean one thing... BROOKE!

Thanks, Brooke, for all the late birthday and early Christmas goodies (No, I didn't open the Christmas present, don't worry). It was the perfect unexpected arrival on a rainy day! Lots of new books to look at and read! Dawna and Larry had a great time! I think Dawna's favorite is the visit to the aquarium book... Jon loves the robot book... Brookie is such a good surrogate auntie!

Oh the joys of homeownership...

2009-10-28T21:58:00.001-07:00

When you own your own home, and a rare, random tropical storm comes raging through... and does this to your fence:
revealing the tracks behind your house... it's YOUR job to fix it... oh goodie... fortunately, only the boards fell... the post, surprisingly, didn't budge an inch, so it wasn't that bad of a fix--just a little time consuming to nail everything back into place... one slat at a time... Although I must admit I enjoyed it a little... something about pounding nails into posts really relieves the stresses of motherhood :)

Babbling baby

2009-09-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Larry is in such a cute almost-talking stage. He tries to say everything, but nothing really makes sense. For example, tonight he really wanted to say family prayer, so I was helping him... and it sounded something like this:

Me: Thank you for this day
Larry: Uh Bah Do Di Bah.
Me: Bless the food
Larry: Ooh num yah do.

And et cetera. But it was sooooo cute how he was so determined to try to repeat everything. So here's a little video of his attempts at saying a few things... and Dawna's subsequent attempt to get some attention...some of them sorta sound like what they are supposed to be... sorry for Dawna's shaky videography... perhaps it might be best to avoid motion sickness to minimize the window and just listen :)

True Love is...

2009-09-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

True love is a husband who cleans out the fridge and does the dishes while I take a nap :)

What has True love done for you this week?

Ode to a Quest!

2009-09-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

To Joe and Cami:
You're the best! I love you!
Hope you like your cheesy poem :)

Ode to a Quest

A sense of Freedom shown
Coming from the north
And with it brought forth
A Quest for us to own.

Love and Luck have given
seven seats and more--
AC, Sliding Door,
Happily be driven.

"Too Tired" yes, I whine
"Stuck inside our home
Let me out to roam,
Four-tired car of mine!"

Our Civic cannot fit
Three car seats in tow--
Add another row;
We'll need it in a bit.

A sister and brother
care enough for real
Thank you! Now I feel...
Like a whole new mother!

Oh my Happy Wedding Day!

2009-09-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

August 29, 2009: such a happy day!

Daniel and Karla Koberstein were married in the San Diego temple! I have to admit that it was the best party I've been to in 4 years and 8 months--extra points to anyone who can figure out why :)

It was a rather warm day... although I don't know what other kind of day there is in August in San Diego...
Gwen and Mike, the native Arizonans, were the only ones with the foresight to bring chilled bottled water... and thankfully they brought enough to share... Really, I was just glad I didn't have to be dressed like this poor fellow.... Way too many layers...
The two of them were positively glowing with joy all day. It's such an inspiring sight to see a temple sealing of two wonderful and righteous people! And so, the number of Kobersteins in the world continues to grow... LOOK OUT WORLD!

Congratulations to the newest Bro. and Sis. Koberstein! I'm sooooooo excited to have another sister in the family! We may yet be able to stand up to the army of computer geeks!

Piano Facelift!

2009-08-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

So, I've finally finished the long and arduous task of "re-keying" my piano... It was quite the adventure--some things were easier then expected, and some things were harder than expected, but with the help of a sweet husband and good kids that went to bed on time, I got it all done!

Here's how it went:

First I had to take off the Fall Board and key lock and any other wood pieces that restricted access to the keys (you can see a couple of the broken and chipped key tops that are responsible for inspiring this project in the first place).

Then, key by key, using a razor blade knife thing, I peeled the plastic top off of every key.

Some of the tops came off easily and all in one piece... I really appreciated those ones...

However, there were a couple of them that were very stubborn and had to be chiseled of one little piece at a time... less fun:
After all the key TOPS were off, we also had to remove the key fronts... this was a pain in the rear!!! It took at least twice as long to get the little square piece on the front of the key off as it did to get the entire key top off... why? who knows... So I did that part one octave at a time.
Then, after the key front was off, I glued the new key top on. It was easiest to take the key out of the piano entirely to do that part, which also gave me the chance to vacuum out all the little dust bunnies that had coagulated in there over the course of my piano's life:
And so it went, key by key, octave by octave, until it was all done. If any of YOU are planning on re-keying a piano any time in the future, here's some advice I have for you based on my experiences:

Drape a towel or cloth over the open top of the piano while taking off the tops. I didn't figure this one out until about halfway through, so I know there's a few little plastic key top shards stuck somewhere between the sounding board and the pedals...
As mom used to always say: Don't pound on my piano!-- and now I know why... Dawna or Lawrence hit one of the keys too hard and cracked a lever underneath. I had to take apart the bottom of the piano to fix that one. It wasn't a difficult piece to remove, just heavy and awkward (you can see the one drooping broken key--the one that isn't in line with the rest of them).

And now I have a beautiful looking piano! What fun! I really enjoyed learning how it all is put together and figuring it out... it might be the first time I've taken something apart and successfully put it back together again! I love my piano! Many thanks to Pete Summer's web site that provided the materials and instructions!
(And I hope I made my Grandma Severson proud! I did it myself!)

Time lapse photography

2009-07-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Poor Larry has had a hard time adjusting to the new house, so we decided to get him something special, just for him. We set it up after he went to bed, and this first picture sums up his first reaction:

9:00 am: Sheer ecstasy! I love the look on his face

9:42 am: still going strong...

10:16 am: "Larry, I need a friend!" (that's what Dawna says when she's bored)

11:05 am: Nothing else would interest him still... (Dawna's feet in the background... "Seeya, Larry")

11:30 am: "Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" (Dawna made a run around in a circle game out of it"

We went to Nana and Papa's house after lunch... and then the best best best part about the train came out... we came home and opened the garage door and Larry saw his trains again... and for the first time ever, he smiled and laughed coming into our house. Finally! It felt great to see him happily come home instead of being wary and nervous in our house. Hopefully he's getting used to the new place... thanks to the trains!

Yay for Haircuts!

2009-07-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

Larry had his second haircut in his life on Wednesday, which took this:

And made it a much more manageable this:

Many thanks once again to Camille, our wonderful sister-in-law who gave us hair clippers for our wedding... being a beautician and all, she picked out a set that is very quiet and gentle and Larry hardly noticed his hair being cut! I didn't even need to have Dawna "help" me keep him under control :) He's a cute kid, though, huh?

A few Dawna-isms, and the interpretations thereof.

2009-07-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

If you ever hear Dawna say....

"Up Glass Slippers"
"It Amen-ed"
"Old McDonald's had a slide" and "fry fries"
"Fun Do Panda"
"The Door opened and uncle Lynn was dancing on the cupboards!"

What she means is...

High-heeled shoes
The End
McDonald's with a play place and French Fries
Kung-Fu Panda
The curtains opened and Uncle Lynn was dancing on the stage

There's not much in this world that's cuter than three.

Yay for Pianos!

2009-07-16T20:35:00.001-07:00

Last Friday I got together an army of eight able-bodied men and we moved MY piano in! I got it off Craig's List for under $200! It's a great brand, but some of the key tops are cracked and chipped, which is why it was so cheap... but no worries! My re-key-ing kit is already on the way and I'm pretty excited for the project... who knew... pianos get face lifts too :)

Of course, I'm starting Dawna early... she's pretty good at finding Middle C... and more importantly the note next door, which is "D for Dawna"... not just D.

And after all was said and done and moved in, my army of piano movers got treated to home made chocolate zucchini cake and banana chocolate chip muffins! And now I have my very own PIANO!!! Woo Hoo!!!

A few select pictures...

2009-07-06T20:59:00.001-07:00

Here's just a few pictures of the house... not perfect, but at least it's something...

The front of the house... this is what you can see from the sidewalk. What's missing is our lemon tree on the left and a little yellow rose bush on the right. I particularly like the palm tree silhouette reflected in the kitchen window in this picture--so typically California!
The master bathroom! This is part of what made me first fall in love with the house :) Plenty of space, two shower heads and a walk-in closet to the right (but no jacuzzi tub, unfortunately)... still--a master suite anyone could love :)
MY kitchen! I love the granite counter tops and am starting to adjust to cooking with gas. There's quite a bit of "tall person" space--as in, I can't reach the top shelves in the cupboards without a stool... but that's ok... there's room to make everyone happy :)
This is the "play room" and "guest room," but technically speaking, it's the "second master" since there's a bathroom attached to this room as well. Sorry, folks, Joe and Cami have already claimed this room for Christmas vacation, but we're taking reservations for other seasons of the year :) Of course, they may relinquish their reservation now that they see that there's not a real bed in there yet... hehe... yeah... that room looks very plain without anything on the walls... I guess I know my project for tomorrow!

And this is the western half of the backyard... the "shed" as they call it... it has a full foundation, two rooms, and attic, and carpet... nicest "shed" I've ever seen... For now it's storage space, but has the potential to become a play house or home for my kids' garage band :)
So there's some basics... the living/dining room area is still too full of boxes and stuff and all the bedrooms look very plain still... but we're making a little more progress every day. Despite all the mess and all its little quirks, we love our house :)

We've moved!

2009-07-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true, we moved into our new house last Saturday. It's very exciting and fun, and it's still a huge mess... I promise pictures to come once the place looks halfway decent. Our house is in Newark right by the Dumbarton Bridge; ten minutes from Nana and Papa's house and 20 minutes from Jon's work. We have four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a loft!--plenty of room for visitors!--We love our house!

Dawna adjusted easily--she was looking forward to having her own room and a "real" bed! Lawrence is a little harder to convince... he's a little uncertain about sleeping in his own room... probably because he can't open doors yet, so he feels a little trapped unless his bedroom door is propped open. I hope he'll start feeling like our house is "home" soon... it's hard to see him look so lost... poor baby...

Many thanks to the Elders Quarums of Bayside and Glenmoor wards for help in moving, and thanks to all the friends and family who have helped us out--be it fixing bathroom faucets, bringing us treats, or cleaning out the refrigerator!

Bostonians come west!

2009-06-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

Jon's old mission/BYU roommate and his family flew out a couple weeks ago. We had a marathon sight-seeing weekend with them! Check this out...

Friday we saw:

Jon's EA office
Elephant seals in Ano Nuevo: A bit more of a hike than we expected... I was glad Lee was willing to help carry Dawna part of the way, but she was quite a trooper! Lawrence rode well on my shoulders, unless the path was paved with gravel--then he tried to jump off my shoulders in search of rocks to throw.
Authentic Mexican restaurant: My favorite quote was from Lee "I just think it's awesome that I spoke to three different people in Spanish in the last five minutes!" Why did that make me laugh? I'm not sure, but it did :)

Golden Gate Bridge
"Secret beach" in the Marin Headlands: Lee and Kristin and Jon and Dawna waded in the waves... but Larry... you guessed it... kept working on his pitching muscles by throwing all the rocks he could get his hands on
Lombard--the windiest street in America!
Artichokes! Farm fresh and purchased at a road-side stand!

There was a lot of time in the car, but still all in all it was a blast!

Saturday we meant to continue the lightning tour, but were brought back to a human pace when baby Kaela got a fever. This baby is seriously stunningly beautiful. For those of you familiar with Twilight, she is, in my minds eye, Reneesme. Anyway, instead of trekking back across the bay, we just biked to central park and enjoyed the playground there.

Sunday we enjoyed church and the afternoon at a leisurely pace... unfortunately and all too soon, our dear friends had to go back across the country to Boston... we hope their trip out here--with all the sleep depriving, fever inducing fun-- didn't diminish their desire to make the Bay Area a permanent residence for them :) It could happen... especially if we could get away with arranging a certain marriage... hehehehe < insert evil chuckle here >
For more information about our exciting weekend, see Lee and Kristin's Blog--link in the right margin of our blog :)

Teddy Bear Picnic

2009-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a little behind in my blogging...

Dawna's birthday party this year was a "Teddy Bear Picnic." She had six friends from nursery and primary. Each brought along a stuffed furry friend to enjoy the party. I even got creative and designed invitations on GIMP.

We all enjoyed a variety of activities including:

Taking our teddies for a ride on a parachute
Playing "musical bears" to the "Teddy Bear Picnic" Song
Sack race... aka: put your teddy in a pillowcase and run around the cones...
Decorating bear cookies
And the treasure hunt... which requires some explanation...

Before decorating cookies, I had the kids put their teddies down for a "nap" and covered them all with a blanket. Then we all went to the kitchen. While Emily, Jessie, Sarah, and mom helped the kids decorate, I took the teddies out from under the blanket and put them in the "forest" in our backyard. I put them on a checkered picnic blanket and next to each teddy was a little bag of gummy bears... So, after the cookie decorating was done, I took the kids to wake up the bears... but --POOF!!-- there were NO BEARS under the blanket where they left them for a nap... but there were bear footprints with clues such as, "tiptoe down the path," and "skip across the lawn to the swing." The footprints led the kids to their teddies who were having a picnic of their own in the woods! It was really cute! It was the best executed party activity--some of the others required a little more prodding on my part...

Jon helped me make the cake, which was actually a rice crispy treat bear... Which we actually ended up eating after the party for Family Home Evening that night
I really had a lot of fun with this and I hope Dawna will have good memories of her first "friends" birthday party!

All-American Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-27T22:16:00.001-07:00

I spent this Memorial Day weekend in celebration of great All-American experiences. I thought it a fitting tribute on this holiday :)

On Thursday and Friday, I enjoyed spending time with my nephews from Oregon. Family is, quite possibly, the best thing this country (and this world) has to offer us; and I love playing with my family! I got to watch an entire "cowboys and Indians" marble battle... I saw Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker play baseball in the back yard... AND learned how to make machine gun sound effects--all without leaving my house! Awesome. I love my blondie boys.

On Saturday, my brother was officially dubbed "Dr. Severson" in Berkeley. It made me very proud. I loved being at the ceremony with all the graduates. The electric excitement just flows at graduations, it's thick in the air and rings through your whole being! I love it! Of course, after listening to a couple professors jabber about their doctorate students, it wears off a little, but still, where else but America can you get the means and the opportunity to enjoy such an education?
Saturday evening, we enjoyed the great American past time with the Oakland A's! Unfortunately, after eleven innings and chilling wind, we lost... but at least we got to witness Giambi's 400th career home run!

And after the LONG game, we thoroughly loved the pyro-spectacular set to some of our favorite show tunes! Dawna was very good about wearing ear plugs... in fact, she wore them from the eighth inning through the end of the show... this was her favorite firework because "it looks like a butterfly!"
But the weekend fun didn't stop there... no no no... Monday the All American celebration continued with a classic hamburger and hot dog barbecue followed by a hike to beautiful little Yosemite. Our country is so rich with man-made and natural wonders.
Woah there Lawrence... easy on the watermelon...
(Technically, this was his enjoying of the barbecue leftovers, but look how cute that is!!!)

Last of all, my All-American Memorial Day weekend wouldn't be complete without mentioning my favorite veteren: my dad. He gave years in the prime of his life to serve our country, and continues to serve in his own way. I am impressed with him daily as he helps his clients live within the laws and let the laws help them live successfully. And I am grateful to him for showing us how fortunate we are to have been born in such a land. I hope he knows that I'm doing my best to appreciate all the opportunites that are mine here. Love you, my All-American dad!

Silver Award Photo Shoot

2009-05-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

So, those of you who are familiar with Girl Scouts will recognize the title...

A Young Woman in our ward was earning her Silver Award for Girl Scouts and decided to give a free photo shoot--complete with all the pictures on CD AND Costco muffins while you wait :). I thought it was great fun, and Jon was a very good sport considering how much he loves taking pictures... hehe...

Here's a few of my favorites:

Our Family! Lawrence had just woken up from a nap, so his expression is a little dazed, but still cute!

The Lansing Court Cousins!
And me and my sweetheart! I know, I know, corny mushiness... honestly, though, don't you wish you were this much in love :) ?

Great Grandparents

2009-05-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

My grandparents were visiting for my cousin's daughters' baptisms. They are the most amazing 80+ (I won't reveal their actual age) couple I've ever known! I loved that Dawna and Adele got to see them! I enjoyed showing Grandpa my garden and sharing knitting patterns with Grandma! I sure love them!

Piano Prizes

2009-05-13T11:53:00.000-07:00

So, as many of you know, I teach piano lessons. In an attempt to get my students to practice, I give them "stars" for completing assignments or let them count up their practice minutes to earn prizes. I decided to offer a new prize: a piano bag or purse created from the free fabric we get :) My girls were particularly excited. Here's my first two Piano prize creations:

This student wanted a "teal and brown" piano music bag. She picked out the stripe pattern, and I made her this bag. I really like the way this one turned out:

This student wanted a "purple purse." Purple is a more difficult color to come by, but she found a couple pieces she liked... and then as a perk, I decided to embroider Tinkerbell. She's crazy about Tinkerbell. This was really my first time embroidering, and I think it turned out pretty good. Emily showed me how to do this very simple back stitch. I was glad they both liked their prizes!

Trip to Utah

2009-04-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

Last week I took the kids and went to Utah! It was a great trip filled with friends and family and fun! A great break from California for a little while!

The Airplane:

This was the part I was most nervous about, but my kids, as always, were perfect angels. On both plane trips, Dawna watched The Incredibles and had orange juice. Life just doesn't get much better than that I guess. I was glad that neither flight was all the way full, so I had three seats all to myself. Lawrence enjoyed cruising across the seats and making faces at the people behind us and occasionally watched the movie. He also enjoyed taking ice out of one cup and putting it in the other--over and over again until his fingers were blue from the cold! But, it kept him well entertained. I realized that the general airport populace in Oakland is a little kinder towards moms alone with kids than the SLC. Maybe it's because the sight of a mom traveling alone with two babies is more unusual and endearing in Oakland? I don't know, but I was escorted past the security line in Oakland and ushered to the elevator, whereas in SLC, I had to wait in the "green circle" line--created for all the slow travelers, like moms with kids. Business travelers or people with no carry-ons get to go in the "blue square" or "black diamond" lines which move a lot faster. I love how even the airport in Utah has allusions to skiing.

Roommate Reunion!

Monday through Wednesday I spent with Valerie and Becca! We had lots of fun, even though the weather wasn't the best. On Monday, we enjoyed shopping and Valerie's famous enchiladas. Then we played Wii games after the kids went to bed... well, mostly... Lawrence didn't really go to sleep, so he got up and used a tube of desitin as a Wii remote. It was pretty hilarious.

On Tuesday, we played bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and play doh. Then, on to the Museum of Art at BYU. They had a great "Games and Gizmos" display with all of Walter Wick's art. It was so fun to look at and enjoy. Then we went to the Skyroom Cafe for Yummy Lunch Day! A little disappointing that they don't make "High in the Sky" anymore and only do buffet style meals, but it was still pretty good.
After delicious Root Beer & BBQ beef sandwiches for dinner, we all stayed up late--like, way later than I've stayed up in a long time--talking and reminiscing and laughing. On Wednesday, we tried to do a driving temple tour, but our plans were interrupted by the biggest snow storm of the season! It was crazy! So, we only got to the Provo and Mt. Timpanogus temples. Then we took pictures, Becca went to the airport, and I went to Lehi.

Sister Sister!

Wednesday night through Saturday I spent with Heather and family in Lehi. May I just say that my big sister is the best. I always leave feeling inspired and uplifted. After the huge snow storm Wednesday night, the kids enjoyed playing outside and making snow angels and building snow castles and just digging around. Dawna's favorite thing about the snow was, "When you eat the snow, it turns into water in your tummy!"
And the next day, here's Dawna standing in almost exactly the same place in the backyard. All the snow was gone, the sun was shining, and Abbie had make a "bag kite" to fly in all the wind. Amazing how the weather changes so quickly out there.
We took a visit to Great Grandma Wightman's. We visited with her and took a walk around the Charlston. Lawrence loved riding on the front of GG's walker while we toured the new additions to the complex.
I really enjoyed watching Heather home school her kids. And she let me participate one day, too! After math lessons and homework were done, I did a "Dr. Booth fruit lecture" for Abbie and Emma. We enjoyed dissecting ten different fruits: Tomato, Avacado, Mango, Blackberries, Strawberries, Pears, Honeydew, Pineapple, Tangelos, and Kiwi. The girls did a wonderful job identifying the exocarp, mesocarp, endocarp, and seeds of each fruit. They also were amazed to learn that maybe, just maybe, a cucumber, a pumpkin, and almonds might also be considered fruit... woah... And the girls were very good sports about doing a writing assignment about their fruit experience.
On Saturday, we all enjoyed going to Discovery Park, aptly named "The castle park" by the girls.
Dawna and Lawrence particularly enjoyed the giant spinny spinner. I think this park was very well designed--the high places were very safe and there were lots of low mazes where toddlers could crawl around.
After a nice picnic there, Heather drove me out to the brand new Draper temple and we walked around the grounds there.
And then, a lovely Spaghetti dinner with fresh salad topped with lentil sprouts (so yummy). And then off to the airport and home again! It was an awesome fun week! Thanks to all who made it possible! Becca--for giving me a side job to pay for the trip, Jon-- for picking me up, dropping me off, and doing all the laundry and "honey do's" I left for you :) Valerie and Heather for letting me stay in your homes. Now, all y'alls come visit me!

... and then on Monday...

2009-04-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

We all took a bike ride to Sunol and saw the Little Yosemite, which had a decent amount of water! It was beautiful there! I always forget just how close we are to fun places like this! Emily already posted pictures on her blog from this trip, so I'll just post a couple here:

Those boys, doing their thing... what one does, the other does. They are rarely apart from each other if they are both awake and fed. The boys enjoyed playing in the rocks and sand, but avoided the water. In fact, after getting residual splash on him from Daddy throwing rocks, he wasn't so sure he wanted to participate in that activity anymore...

Dawna... my little beauty... but still not quite enough hair to make a real ponytail. Dawna loved climbing around on the rocks... and I actually didn't feel super paranoid about her falling...weird. Here she is pictured imagining something with a crust of peanut butter sandwich and a banana peel... I really have no idea what she was picturing, but it was pretty cute...

Me and my sweetheart... isn't he adorable?? He was getting me all wet after his little dip in the pool.

And the four of us... I love it when Emily comes because she really appreciates the importance of taking family pictures on outings like this! Plus, she packed us all lunch! Thanks for a fun day, Em!

Fabulous weekend

2009-03-31T21:54:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Jon's graduation, we spent a whole weekend--kid free!--snowboarding in Tahoe. Thursday was a pretty rough day for me since it was basically my first time boarding. I almost didn't even want to go back on Friday because of all the bumps and bruises I suffered... But, Jon got me to go the second day and I'm glad I did because it was SOOOO much better! And then by Saturday, it was actually, like, FUN!

So, my advice to up and coming snowboarders in the family: give yourself at least three days to get the hang of it. it's pretty tricky business cutting back and forth, switching edges without catching and throwing yourself face first or rear-end first into the snow... but you feel so accomplished once you do!

So this is me, actually Snowboarding!
And this is Jon doing his thing... looking so much more suave and confident! (He's pretty small in the picture, but it IS him)
And this is the cabin we rented for the weekend (some Stanford, et al friends met us up there Friday night, thus warranting the four-bedroom cabin):
And this is cousin Chelsea, Aunt Charlene, and me. Lee and Charlene were awesome enough to get us a good deal on lift tickets AND invite us over on Friday night for a barbecue!

And here we are in all our glory going up Patsy's lift at Heavenly Resort... with NO kids! It was like our third--or fourth?--honeymoon! (We've lost count :) )

It's Official!

2009-03-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Jon is DONE with school!

Lawrence is a walker!

Yay.

If you don't have a tractor...

2009-03-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

As a young kid, I remember visiting Grandpa's farm and taking rides in his tractor. Well, my parent's don't exactly own a tractor or live on a farm, although their lot IS big for the area. So, my dad, being the clever and witty man that he is, improvised:

Dawna and Lawrence loved riding around in it. Papa even took them over to our orange tree and they each got to pick out an orange. It was so so cute!

Family Portrait

2009-02-27T22:05:00.000-08:00

We had a young, aspiring artist create a portrait of our family! I think she did a great job, considering she's only had 2 1/2 years of training :) Left to Right (in case you can't tell): Lawrence, wearing a shirt, Mommy, wearing a triangle dress, Daddy, wearing pants, and Dawna, wearing a BEAUTIFUL dress.

Larry was getting a "hands on" experience with the artwork.

Book Review: Outliers

2009-02-18T20:48:00.000-08:00

After finishing "The Shack," Dad traded with me for one of his books. One of my siblings has this one, but Dad can't remember who (probably Aaron, he says). But this particular copy came from Dad's law partner, Mike, who read it and loved it and gave it back. Now dad has read it and loved it and passed it to me... and I read it and... well, here's my review:
When my dad tells a story, he goes all out. Hands, facial expressions, body language, all mixed in with impressive rhetoric. It's a captivating experience. This book felt like my dad telling a story to me. The writing was absolutely captivating. I would call Gladwell a natural-born storyteller, but I know now from reading this book that nobody is a "natural-born" anything.

"Outliers" takes the stories of irregular people, events, and communities and explains them. Bill Gates, for example, wasn't born talking in C++ code. He is NOT a computer genius in the traditional sense of the word. He, like all the other outliers in the book, had an extraordinary mix of luck, circumstance, and 10,000 hours of practice to become what he is. There are many people who could have been Bill Gates if they had the same opportunities. I appreciate that Gladwell sees so much potential in the human race--unfortunately, much of it is wasted because of seemingly trivial things like being born in the wrong month or the wrong zip code.

In addition to the discussion of individual success, Gladwell discusses cultural differences that explain a range of behaviors from solving a math problem to landing (or crashing) airplanes. Suddenly I found myself humbled. When I was at BYU, I took a class called Multicultural Education. The class taught us that as teachers, we must not treat our students according simply to racial stereotypes, and then the professor went on to explain how our Asian students would think differently than our Mexican students, who would respond to authority differently than our black students. It seemed oxymoronic to me. If they wanted us to ignore the stereotypes, why were they telling us what they are? Reading Gladwell's thoughts and research on the topic has really opened my eyes to what my professor was trying to tell me. Multicultural Education means that as a teacher, you must recognize and take the idea of "cultural legacies" seriously. You can read more about what that means in the book :)

I HIGHLY recommend this book if you can get your hands on it. If you like listening to my dad tell stories, or if you've ever wondered why hockey players are all born in January, or if you've ever wanted to be as good as the Asain kids are in math, this is a must-read.

(Aimee, this is WAY better than "The Shack." Although if I know you, you could read both of these in a day and not even break a sweat :) What an inspiration to us all! I'm starting to wish I could read like that... I guess I could if I do it for 10,000 hours!--that's Gladwell's magic number)

Thanks Dad and Mike!

Book Review: The Shack

2009-02-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, dad gave us each a different "Bestseller" book to read. Our assignment was to create a "Serial Book club" of sorts--where we read the book and write a note telling why we like it or not, why it should be burned or not, why it should be a bestseller or not, and who else might like to read it. This post may get a little wordy, so I don't expect everyone to read all of it (except my dad). So you can skip to the end to see the bottom line...So here's my review of "The Shack," By, William P. Young:

I was a little unsure and wary as I began reading this book. I keep my faith and testimony pretty well guarded and really have a hard time opening my mind to other points of view. I know the truth; what's the point of reading other's perceptions of truth when I have the real thing? What I found is that despite our differences in religion, William Young was still able to help me understand truths I know a little better.

Young presents God as a very personable character. Mack walks and talks with God face to face. I was a little shocked by the initial visual of God as a big black woman who loves to cook. I like the implication that God is the ultimate servant of man, and the subtle message that God has a warm comforting presence, like the scent of fresh apple pie in the kitchen. That's lovely... but then, just as you're getting used the idea, God changes shape and form. While I know he's all powerful and probably can change his shape and looks on command, I like to think that he doesn't. Young dismisses the traditional look of God--fatherly, bearded, etc.--as just "reinforcing religious stereotypes" (Young 93). But shouldn't religion and churches BE the earthly authority on what God looks like? Instead of changing God, shouldn't man change to accept Him, to try to understand Him?

It's clear throughout the book that Young is not a huge fan of organized religion. After spending some time with God, Mack explains his new understanding of religion this way: "Not a bunch of exhausting work and long list of demands, and not the sitting in endless meetings staring at the back's of people's heads...Just sharing life" (178). That sounds simple. Just be nice to people and you're set? No need for church? I dunno... I'm not so sure about that idea. Yes, there is a sense of giving love and kindness and friendship, but there are also some more specific obligations and ordinances that must be done. Also, gathering together as a congregation and church might be the best way to share life, and it might prove most effective in helping others. One person can't provide disaster relief, but a church group can be rallied effectively to serve. I maintain that organized churches and religious groups are necessary help God's purposes as described by Young. Going to church will help us build relationships with other people and with God. Keeping all those commandments and rules gives us mere mortals a chance to approximate life as a divine being. Obviously, if church doesn't make you feel closer to God, it's pointless. But a church itself is not responsible for that. We're the ones on trial here, not the institution of the Church.

And Adam and Eve didn't mess up the whole plan behind the creation (99).

Ok, so much for the negative. On to things I liked about the book.

Without giving too much away... I'd like to say that the idea that most appealed to me was that "God cannot act...apart from love" (102). Even when tragic things happen, we are not to assume that God has forgotten us or abandon us because we are sinners. He permits us to use our agency, even though it often causes other pain. And yet, he can use our bad choices to help us return and find faith in Him. I liked the focus put on forgiveness--the idea that we ourselves cannot be whole if we don't forgive those who trespass against us. And the ultimate point (I think) of the book: The better way than simply being immune to or suffering pain and evil is to return our independence (that God gave us) back to Him in an attempt to live as He wants us to. Yes, we experience hardship, but if we try to see life through the eyes of the almighty, we can find a higher power, a better plan than what we come up with ourselves.

Or something to that effect. Probably if you read it, you'll get something a little different. THe bottom line is I enjoyed the book. There were some very moving passages that as a parent I think I appreciate more than I would have before. I would NOT recommend it to someone who doesn't understand my belief entirely--I wouldn't want the false ideas that are carnally appealing to eclipse the kernels of truth found in the book. In other words, read the Book of Mormon first, and once you have a testimony of that, you can read this. If you enjoyed "The Five People you Meet in Heaven," or "A Christmas Carol," you'll probably like this one too.

Thanks, dad!
Happy reading!

Sit and Spin

2009-02-10T21:46:00.000-08:00

The "Spinnie Spinner" is one of Dawna's absolute favorite activities. She'll sit and spin for HOURS! So, here's a sample of a typical spinning session :) Enjoy.

Happy 26th birthday!

2009-01-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Jon's birthday! We had a fun little party in the evening with some friends. First, I embarrassed Jon with an "All about Jon" Jeopardy game:

Then we opened presents and blew out candles on the delicious cheesecake! Dawna and Talmage helped blow out the candles.

The kids had a great time, but as you can tell, by the time it was all over, Lawrence was about to fall asleep mid-crawl. Dawna lasted the whole party and loved sporting her party hat all evening long!

Diet Plan Satire

2009-01-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

Introducing the DSK Diet program. Simple. Just follow these easy instructions:

1. Acquire the newly discovered Wightman-Severson gene, which gives canker sores to anyone who gets bonked in the mouth, bites their lip or tongue, consumes three or more potato chips or just one walnut.

2. Choose your canker-sore producing activity of choice. It can be anything as long as there is a certainty of bonking, biting, or walnuts.

3. Wait 2-3 days... and then the magic begins! Watch the pounds melt away!

Don't believe us?

Listen to what Danielle Koberstein of Fremont had to say:
" The DSK diet program helped me lose five pounds in seven days! After biting my lip while eating Christmas truffles, the Wightman-Severson gene went right to work, producing two high quality canker sores which completely obliterated my desire to eat anything at all! Thanks DSK diet!"

It's true, it's true, the DSK diet program can work for you!
Have you or a friend had experiences with canker sores? We'd love to hear your stories of success! :)

Family Pictures

2008-12-23T23:27:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to learn how very difficult it is to get my little family of four together to take pictures. All of us have to be dressed, awake, and happy. The more people you have in your family, the more rare is this occurrence.

So, during our time in Antioch today, we got Weston to take some pictures of us. Even though he denies it, we think he is an aspiring photographer... haha...

Anyway, here's the quiz: Where are we in this first picture??

(Actually, it's easier to tell in this picture than in the actual print we had made today...)

And the other thing that makes me laugh about this experience is Jon... Well, yes, he makes me laugh every day (much like the romantic Eliza and David from Legacy), but in this case, I refer to his uncanny ability to "accidentally" get awesome pictures of us. Our engagement picture and the one above were random "silly" moments that he came up with on the fly, but they end up being the pictures that best display our personality. Does that mean we are silly people? Probably...

Little visitor

2008-12-16T23:13:00.000-08:00

Joe came down for a training session in the Bay Area... and he brought Kaelan with him! KK got to stay with us for the day while Joe was busy, and as you can tell, we had a lot of fun.

Dawna and Adele were also very fond of him. The three of them played with Nana most of the day--inside and out, even though it was pretty cold and wet around here.

Thanksgiving Fun!

2008-12-10T21:50:00.000-08:00

As always, our Thanksgiving break was split between our two families. It's part of the blessing and curse of living close to both sets of parents...

Wednesday was a very wet trip to San Francisco. We walked from the Embarcadero BART station all the way to pier 39 and then up through China Town. We were soaked, but still had a blast. Matt and JoAnn and Co. enjoyed Ghiradelli Square and Alcatraz.

Thursday morning we played football with friends and family. Nobody got too hurt, amazingly...
After football, Jon and I drove out to Antioch for Thanksgiving dinner. Louis and Camille and Co., Dan and Karla, Weston, and Lynn were all there. All five brothers... together again...

All the food was amazing, of course, since Mom Luetta was cooking.

Friday we went to Rodeo Beach, where the surf was too high and the wind too cold to actually swim, but that didn't stop the Utah kids from trying anyway. Much to their parent's chagrin, they waded into the water. Kaylee tried rolling up her pants, but we all know it doens't take long to get them soaked anyway. Charles actually tried to strip down to his "trunks," and there ensued quite the little tussle between him and his dad trying to keep his jacket and shirt on... In any case, the beach had beautifully colorful pebbles, and romantic vistas :)
After the beach, it was back to San Francisco for a drier, more crowded view of the city. We enjoyed the aquarium, a driving tour of the Presidio, and clam chowder in bread bowls at Boudin's! Yum!

Friday and Saturday were kick back days as we dreaded the upcoming week and the hectic Christmas season to come... but so far, we're surviving! Jon is ALMOST done with the term... and after this term only ONE MORE! YAY!

And to conclude, we had a good Thanksgiving.

Hike at Castle Rock

2008-12-10T21:35:00.000-08:00

So, going back to the Tuesday before Thanksgiving...

Jon's brother Dan and his lovely girlfriend Karla drove down from Antioch to spend the afternoon with us. We were so excited that somebody actually wanted to come visit US!! It's easy for family from out of town to only make it as far as Antioch, so special thanks to Dan and Karla for making the extra trip :)

We went on a hike to find Castle Rock falls, but as it turned out, it was more like Castle Rock trickle. Dawna was very sad to discover the non-water fall... she was expecting Burney Falls, but all she got was a lousy drip of a waterfall. Jon and Dan and his friend Matt were all very studly as they maneuvered the bike trailer, with Dawna and Lawrence, over rocks, around trees, and over the edge where the trail wasn't wide enough for it to fit. I was a little nervous, but the boys did a spectacular job keeping my kiddies safe.

Matt took some fun pictures along the way:

Castle Rock itself was awesome fun to climb on, in, and around-- With lots of nooks and crannies and crags. and there was this one cave that looked like a brain... no picture of that though... This was an easier part of the trail... don't let it fool you though... there were places where the trail wasn't as wide as the trailer...
Mostly, this is just a cool picture. It captured Dawna's complaint very well: "Wanna get out!" Good job, Matt!

All caught up...

2008-11-13T22:58:00.000-08:00

I’ve started attending a regular exercise program, designed by my high school friend, Alana Ayers. She’s a great personal trainer. I know that because I’m sore every day, even though I only work out with her twice a week.

Both my kids are sick. Poor Lawrence has croup. We took him into Urgent care about 5am yesterday. He didn’t sleep more than and hour at a time on Tuesday night, and his breathing kept getting worse and worse. The doctor gave him Albuterol and some steroid that started with D… he’s been doing a little better since then, but still is very wheezy and raspy. Dawna has had a fever and stomach flu, which we inconveniently discovered at the dinner table yesterday. She threw up a little onto her plate. When I saw that, in one swift and fluid motion, I lunged for a bowl and reached around the table and literally Caught the rest of the puke before it hit the table and destroyed everybody else’s dinner. Ok, so that’s kind of a gross visual, but I just wanted to impress you all with my mommy reflexes, which have been fine tuned by said personal trainer, Ms. Ayers 

Jon got a package from EA. I was excited to think that it might be a job offer and/or some paperwork to fill out and file with them… but no. It was just a note to encourage him in school… and candy… and a Nerf dart gun… and a Video Game! Geez… talk about schmoozing… they KNOW how to get into my husband’s heart…

At a recruiting meeting for Amazon, Jon won a little Flip Video camcorder, which includes a “still capture” from any video you record. It was a welcome little surprise considering our camera just died. And so, all the pictures in this letter are brought to you by Flip Video, powered by Amazon.

And with that… I think we’re caught up…

What? Our other kid?

2008-11-13T22:50:00.001-08:00

Poor little Lawrene. I used to be a little bugged by the fact that I, child number eight, didn’t have a baby book done for me… all my older siblings at least had Something, but all I got was a blank, completely blank, baby book. Well, you see, I’m starting to understand a bit better now. I’m very grateful to my mom that I’m actually alive as kid number eight, and downright flabbergasted that I actually have a picture representing each year of my life. With my two kids, I hardly every get footage of the youngest. Usually what happens is: I get the camera out. Dawna sees the camera; Dawna Loves the camera; Dawna hogs the camera. I try to get Lawrence on the camera and then… well… see for yourself…

And then I have to drop the camera and save him before he gets squished by his very loving sister who enjoys the limelight. It’s not that she wouldn’t share with him, or doesn’t love him… she’s just bigger than he is and tries to give hugs with her whole body weight. And so, here is a little tribute to Lawrence, the younger one:

SCUBA with Weston: Nov. 8

2008-11-13T22:42:00.000-08:00

After months of intense training and certification, Jon and Weston finally got to go SCUBA diving together in Monterey! Um… really I don’t know a thing about SCUBA diving except that I’m patiently waiting my turn to get certified. They bought those underwater disposable cameras…and got a few cool pictures… You’ll have to call Jon or Weston yourself to get any more details than that.

Halloween!

2008-11-13T22:40:00.001-08:00

Thankfully, the Trunk or Treat earlier in the month justified a very laid-back Halloween for us. Early in the day, my mom took Dawna and Adele around the yard to make “witch’s brew.” They collected sticks and leaves, rocks and dirt, and put it all in a large plastic cauldron. Then, it was placed on the stove. They sang a song about stirring and stirring the brew, and then let it “simmer” while they read stories. When they came back to the kitchen, amazingly, amongst all the leaves and dirt appeared six mugs of steaming brew!—also known as hot chocolate.

In the evening, we did minimal trick or treating. It was a little wet out and we were all cold. We just went to the six houses around our court and called it good. Somehow, we still managed to get enough candy to fill up our bag. Dawna loved dressing up again, and this time she got to add a flashing wand to the ensemble. What a girlie girl she is… I love it!

Oct. 29: Adele's 3rd birthday party

2008-11-13T22:37:00.001-08:00

Oh man! This was the princess party to beat all princess parties! Emily went all out! Activities included: Decorating your own tiara, pin the dress on Ariel, Jasmine’s magic carpet musical chairs, Snow White’s poison apple (like hot potato) game, slaying Princess Aurora’s dragon piñata, and helping the fairy godmother turn a pumpkin into a Cinderella cake. It was HILARIOUS to see our two little girls and three little boys all playing princess games. Dawna’s favorite was the dragon. She still takes that little inflatable sword around the house hitting chairs and stuffed animals… and occasionally me… saying “Slay Dragon!”

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure she didn’t know that the party wasn’t for her… Let’s not tell her…

Autumn Fun: Oct. 25, 2008

2008-11-13T22:35:00.000-08:00

We raked leaves in the front yard. After making a huge pile, Jon threw Dawna in it. She didn’t like it very much. After getting out of the leaves, Dawna directed her dad to jump in them, which he promptly did to show her how to really enjoy it. I think in the end she’ll look back on this as a very culturally enlightening and educational experience.