Try Something New: Weeks 20 and 21

Lack of blog motivation lately. Hence the two week absence. I will try to be better.

Here are the past two weeks of my Try Something New journal. It's only been five months and I'm already kind of tired of documenting all this. BUT...I set a goal, and I will stick to it! (Because maybe this ONE will make up for the many others I flake out on every single year.)


May 13 -- Found this video on YouTube. LOVE IT. Especially the weird guy on the right who chimes in every few bars. Why wasn't I invited to participate in this?!



May 14 -- Bought a sweet new cruiser bike on Craigslist. Actually it's very old and there is duct tape where the handles should be, but I'm excited about it. Josh was riding in the driveway that day and told me he really wished I had a bike so I could ride with him. I'd been wanting one anyway so I could pull the kids in a trailer around the neighborhood, and Craigslist came through for me.

May 15 -- Sent out a bunch of invitations for my first Pampered Chef party. I had no idea putting these parties together was so much work! Won't be doing it again soon. It was a fun party, but I'd rather enjoy it as a guest than a host.

May 16 -- Bought a used dresser for our closet. (Craigslist again.) We're going to try a new system of organization in there. Remember how Jude likes to crawl into my closet, pull all my jewelry onto the floor, and tangle it into unrecognizable blobs? I had enough of that. Ten bucks later, and my jewelry stand now lives atop a high dresser, undisturbed. Ahhhhh.

May 17 -- Saw this video on my friend's Facebook page. I am mildly obsessed with Pentatonix, the A Capella group that won the Sing Off this year. The music they can make out of five young voices will blow your mind. Here is a video where they combined with LMFAO.




May 18 -- Made a new paper mache recipe on the stove. I was trying this idea for a treble clef clock I wanted, but the paper mache look didn't end up working for me.

May 19 -- Mowed the lawn! I had never done this before. Not once in my whole life! We have riding mower now, so it was kind of cheating I guess, but I'm still proud. There are not many moments in life where I have felt like a real Miss Priss, but the day my husband learned that I had never mowed a lawn was one of them. No more mocking! It is finally done!

May 20 -- Tried a recipe by Bobby Flay. Matt discovered it, of course. It's this amazing sauce for chicken wings. We only used the sauce part of the recipe, but based on how delicious that was, I definitely want to try the rest of the steps next time.   Chipotle-Honey–Glazed Chicken Wings with Toasted Sesame Seeds and Green Onion. My mouth is watering.

May 21 -- Went to a work dinner with Matt and tried a Chocolate Charlotte for dessert at The H Hotel. Not great.

May 22 -- Made a stand to hang our Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter on. Actually Matt made it, but it was new. It's up in the backyard now and is growing much better. This is also the day I made a necklace hanger for my closet. I used an old scrap of wood and some decorative nails that I saved from an old project -- totally free, and it makes me happy every time I see it.

May 23 -- Went to a friend's house for dinner and saw their beautiful home and yard. Envied their finished landscaping, swing set, porch, etc. -- all projects that seem like we will never complete at our house.  Also, not sure if this counts, but I thought it was interesting. I read Jude's diaper box for the first time. Did you know there are directions on there? For how to use diapers? Apparently, I've been doing it all wrong. You're actually instructed to flush the solid waste down a toilet before you fold up the dirty diaper and trash it. Raise your hand if you've ever done this before with disposable diapers. Am I killing our planet?

May 24 -- Hosted my first Pampered Chef party. I really love kitcheny stuff. It was a fun evening. Lots of wonderful friends came over and ate and chatted. I felt very loved.

May 25 -- What can I say about this day? I didn't really actively try to do something new, I'll admit it. But we did have a guy come over to price out a deck for our backyard, which is something new we might add to our house. And Josh did have his first sleepover here, so maybe that counts? It was a crazy week. I'm not too concerned.

May 26 -- Used a jigsaw. Totally awesome! What is it about power tools that makes a woman feel so...powerful?? It's a whole new way to express creativity, and I really enjoyed it. I will be thinking of more projects soon just so I have an excuse to use it again. This one was the second version of my treble clock idea. We used reject pieces of our wood floor that I literally dug out of the dumpster in our driveway during construction. It's not sanded or painted yet, but I think it will turn out nice. Perfect for my piano room.

Try Something New: Weeks 18-19

I realize this is really really late, but that's the kind of month it has been so far. Here are the new things I've tried over that last two weeks. Enjoy.

April 29 -- Used a new hair product my hairdresser sister gave me called Hair Play Sea Salt Spray. It's supposed to make my hair look all wavy and beach-y, but it definitely did not work right. Sorry to everyone at church who had to see that! I understand if you laughed a little behind my back.

April 30 -- Met a really cool new gal. (Gal??? Using the word gal makes me feel old, but what else do you call a new friend? Woman and lady sound too old, but girl is too young. Let's go with female peer.) Anyway... I get to visit teach her now, so we chatted for a bit while my kids tried to tear her living room apart. She's a keeper.

May 1 --Went to women-only Tuesday volleyball for the first time. So much fun. Great work out. It motivates me to get in better shape so I can play longer without getting tired.

May 2 -- Listened to a new song called "Home" by Dierks Bentley. New to me, not new to the world. As requested, I wrote out an easy piano version on staff paper so one of my students could play it. I love when kids get excited about the music they're learning!

May 3 -- Flew into Lake Jackson, Texas. It was so green! Matt saw wild pigs, and we almost hit a real turtle sitting in the middle of the road! I love seeing new places.

Not my photo, but seriously this is a thing.

May 4 -- Visited Amber's house in Houston for the first time.

May 5 -- Visited Lindsey's house in Tomball for the first time.

May 6 -- Devoured Lindsey's sweet corn tamale pie. Mmmm...so good.

May 7 -- Created a Pinterest account! Can you believe it?! I finally gave in! My friend Amber emailed me a recipe that day for homemade fudgsicles made with Nutella. Can you even imagine?! That's when I decided that if Pinterest could bring wonderful things like Nutella fudge pops into my life, it would be worth all the hours spent pinning.

May 8 -- Attended my first preschool board meeting. I volunteered to be the social chairperson for next year, so we'll see if I can pull it off. I was given the award for "Most Likely to be PTA President" by my dorm-mates as a BYU freshman. (Ha! They were so wrong!)

May 9 -- Made a new recipe: chicken and artichoke casserole. Can you believe that it was surprisingly delicious, even though it came from a very Mormon cookbook?

May 10 -- Met two ridiculously nice women in random locations at different parts of the day. This is not usual for me. I'm kind of shy in real life, and tend to keep to myself around new people. Whenever we move, I have to give myself a big pep talk before going to church and whatnot so I can summon the energy to be sociable and make new friends. So reaching out to have full conversations with strangers twice in one day was a notable experience for me. Comfort zone expanded!

Not tempting in any way...
Maybe I'm not American?

May 11 -- Ate a turkey bratwurst. A bratwurst. Seriously, I did! Part of one, anyway. Our neighbors had us over for dinner and, among the really delicious array of side dishes, the main course choices were hot dogs, turkey brats, or chicken sausages. These are three "meats" I have always steered clear of, along with pretty much anything else you can put in a long skinny bun. Certain foods easily gross me out because I'm a weirdo. BUT, I faced a fear that night! I ate half of my turkey brat, and didn't even gag once. In secret, Matt whisper-exclaimed, "I don't even know you anymore!" All for the sake of appearing to be a considerate dinner guest.

May 12 -- Shopped at Off Saks with my hubs. It was surprisingly pleasant! I didn't look at one thing for myself, but got to dress up my Matt in fancy suits without any children pulling on me or interrupting. I'm not a big shopper by any means, but that outlet mall could be a LOT of fun. Matt and I spent a couple hours buying work clothes for him on our way to the Detroit Temple that day, hence the lack of kids. I will be definitely be going back.

Houston Hotties

I know a few of them.

Last Thursday, our little family caught the Dow air shuttle to Houston. Matt was going for meetings, and I was missing my girly friends terribly, so we all went together and enjoyed 3.5 days of hot, humid fun. Each of the four nights was spent in a different place, so while it was a little hard on the Judebaby, it was worth playing musical mattresses for a weekend.

First stop, THIS GIRL.

Amber is my good good friend from Chicago times, when our husbands were getting their MBAs. Her family actually spent that first summer in Midland living in our neighborhood, because her hubs was interning here as well. I can't get enough of her! We spent a wonderful 24 hours catching up and wrangling little ones and chatting like old times. It was such a tease! Just made me realize what kind of friend I'm missing every day!

Jude and William have developed a love-hate relationship. Sometimes they would play together fine, exploring each other's faces with their hands. But Jude, not understanding that there are other creatures in the world who are his same size AND crawl really ridiculously fast, screamed bloody freaking murder every time William crawled toward him in excitement. He was so scared! It was the same as his reaction to dogs! What a weird kid, that Juder.

Josh and Avi love each other and get along beautifully, as usual. Here he's teaching her how to play his LeapPad. I can't believe how much they have both grown since they met!

We even got to see a little of this busy Mark man.

That night we went to the park to eat our yummy Mexican take out. Jude did NOT like the pokey grass on his hands and legs when he crawled -- so much that it motivated him to walk! He took his first few steps in Houston! 

Here is the video:

Funny enough, Josh took his first steps at about the same age (14 months) only because he didn't like crawling in the bark on the playground in Chicago. Yet more proof that those two are the same baby reincarnated.

Josh and Aiden had non-stop boy-fun once Aiden got home from school. He is three years older than Josh, but is so good to play with him. Josh was in heaven. I understand, buddy -- I always wanted an older brother too!

It was nearly impossible to get Josh to stop running around for a picture. There were tears and refusals, but we eventually made it work. 

Just look at those red cheeks! That's the sign of a good time!

After a fun little sleepover, and delicious crepes the next morning, we drove up north to Tomball.

That's where we saw THIS GIRL.

Sarah grew up in my hometown and home stake. She actually babysat me once, because she's a few years older. Somehow we have become closer with distance. We keep up with each other's blogs and I am obsessed with her adorable children. We haven't seen each other in real life for years...maybe since Provo days? But she and her family met up with us for Texas BBQ Saturday night and we had a lovely little time. 

The night wouldn't be complete without Josh spilling pink lemonade all over my legs and feet, eating all the bread in the restaurant, and leaving a path of destruction for the bus boys. And, of course, this level of fun always involves forcing our kids to take pictures with us. And with each other.

Last stop, THIS GIRL.

Lindsey was my roommate for two years at BYU. Then we both got married. To roommates! Matt introduced her to his mission buddy/roommate Johnny that second year, and they've been together ever since.

Lindz was my best friend that first year in college. We went through a lot together. She is one of the only people who has seen the entire Mimi-Matt relationship from its juvenile beginnings. We shared classes, clothes, cars, and even crushes a little bit. (I didn't intend for all those to start with "c", by the way. Let's throw "food" in there too, to break the alliteration.)

Lindz and I have kept in touch even while we've lived far apart these last six years. When we get together, it's like nothing has changed and no time has passed. There are many moments when we revert to our college selves, and I LOVE it. We're talking belly-aching, face-hurting laughter over things that should not be funny. I was way overdue for some of that.

"I'm thankful for my hands!!"

Like that. Why was that moment so funny to us?!? 

Speaking of overdue...my Lindsey is pregnant!! Due in October! We are so flipping excited for her! She and Johnny are going to be such amazing parents.

At Lindz and Johnny's house, Josh learned how to walk a dog. I wish you could see his face better in these pictures because he LOVED it! He was giggling the whole time, loving his chance to  be in charge of someone smaller than him. It was adorable. I would say totes adorbs, but I know you're already thinking that.

Matt and Johnny, mission buddies.

Johnny was so good at entertaining our boys. He played Life and Legos with Josh, and carried Jude around (who was too afraid to be on the floor with the nice dogs). Matt and I actually didn't even have to deal with kids the first hour of church because our friends kept them quiet and happy. Like I said, they are going to be amazing parents!

And here we are, yet again, forcing Josh to pose for the camera. His shirt was just too handsome that day. Had to show my mom. This will be her reward if she actually reads my blog this month.

On the way home, the boys were completely wiped out from all the fun. Josh fell asleep while putting a goldfish in his mouth. It stayed that way until he woke up an hour later. Not joking.

We miss you, Houston friends! Please come visit us when your summer gets too hot to bear!

April makes kids grow too fast...

JOSH is growing up so fast lately. I can't believe he'll be four years old soon! Here is what he's been up to...

Josh started playing on a soccer team a few weeks ago. Most days he likes it. He listens to Coach Tam really well, and is one of the only players who "freezes like a snowman" when the ball goes out of bounds (a challenge at this age, when most kids just want to keep kicking and chasing the ball into other fields and puddles and parking lots). He has scored a few goals, but says his favorite part about soccer is "when I kick the ball away from the other kids". Hmm...social-aggressive much? Usually he just runs around the field staying tight in the pack of kids, stopping every once in a while to roll around in the grass or practice his ninja punches against the wind.

 Remember how he likes to make up his own exclamations? His cuss word of the week has been "BARN!" I have to fight the urge to make animal sounds whenever he says it.

He comes to volleyball with me once or twice a week and plays with this wonderful little herd of boys. Usually they race around the gym, but when they get tired of running, Josh pulls out my cell phone. This is when he feels really popular, because all the big boys will sit in a huddle with their heads together watching little Josh play video games. Don't know if I've posted this picture yet, but I love it so much I'm posting it again.

Last week, I dropped him off at Matt's work after lunch for Take-Your-Kid-To-Work Day. He was only there for a couple of hours, but they both loved it. He got to draw on a huge white board (pictured below), play on the Kindle, see the gym area where Daddy exercises, and race around the indoor track. It was so cute watching him walk through the security gate with Matt, wearing his little Transformers back pack, feeling grown up.

We've been working on reading together. This week he read a whole book all by himself! Not a big book, and not one with any hard words, but we are counting it! The book is called "Gus", and it's part of a series of great little books for brand new readers, focusing on one vowel sound at a time. Matt used these books when he was little, too. I highly recommend them. Here is a link to check them out.

We have started using a chore chart for Josh. He gets a star sticker any time he does a chore, then later we count stars and give him a prize or money. This has helped him learn to get excited about helping and having responsibilities. It's not a perfect system, but I think it's never too early to start learning how to work.

He has become very artistic in his coloring and painting. He draws with intent now, and colors in the lines. He's learning about mazes and dot-to-dots. He loves his activity/homework books.

Josh had his first visit to the dentist! This is a big deal. Josh HATES doctor visits and usually will not cooperate at all without threats and tears. I was surprised at how well he did for the dentist! He watched me get my teeth cleaned first, then slowly but surely allowed the hygienist to lean the chair back, offer him sunglasses for the light, explain all the dentist tools, and count his teeth. He didn't let her clean or polish them, but I'm just happy that he sat in the chair and opened his mouth without a freak out! He had been learning about the dentist in school, and we checked out a bunch of dentist books from the library earlier, so I think that helped.

We learned a special thing about our boy that day -- he has an EXTRA TOOTH. Kids his age should have twenty teeth, and he has twenty-one. There's an extra one right smack in the middle of his bottom row. It looks perfectly normal and straight, so much that his parents didn't even notice. We won't know if his permanent teeth are set up that way until Josh lets them take x-rays, but we'll have to wait on that until next time. Baby steps.

JUDE has been acting less babyish by the minute! 

He is almost 14 months old. Here are some new things he's been doing these days...

- Makes car sounds with his mouth while he plays.

- Unrolls the toilet paper and pretends to blow his nose.

- Fights with Josh over toys. I can't believe this starts so early!

- Stands up by himself all day, but is not great at taking steps yet.

- Stays entertained by the TV for short segments. (I'll take what I can get!)

The Princess and the Frog gets pretty serious sometimes.

- Taught himself how to draw on the walls.

- Throws a ball (and his food), often backwards.

- Follows Matt to the door every morning calling "Da-da-da!" and shrieks with sadness when he 

leaves.

- Will not eat any vegetables unless they are disguised in a smoothie, not even baby food anymore. He likes to practice feeding himself with a spoon.

Jude plotting how he will destroy this restaurant booth in the next three minutes!

- Looks up at me with a guilty face whenever he's about to do something sneaky, just to make sure he has an audience.

- Tries to sing along to songs, like the ABCs, Patty Cake, and Eensy Weensy Spider. Whatever I sing to him before bedtime, he rest his head on my shoulder and coos or sighs along with me. It is the sweetest thing. I swear he tries to sing "H-I-J-K" in this video. Check around 0:43 and 1:06.

- Knows some face parts: nose, eyes, tongue, ear, head.

- Says the words duck, eye, hi, go, mama, dada, nigh-nigh.

- Does the motions to "Patty Cake". I will catch it on video one of these days.

- Loves to read books and point. He makes fish sounds with his lips whenever we read about fish, and it is to die for.

- Also, he has the best laugh EVER. Watch this and try not to smile.

Lost my blog list...

Hi Everyone,

Over the weekend we re-did the blog template and messed some things up along the way. My old list of blogs was totally deleted! I managed to rebuild most of the list, thanks to Google Reader, but I lost all the private blog URLs. I still have the invites you all sent me, but I can't read your blogs because I don't know what URL to go to.

So if you are reading this, and you have a private blog that I am invited to, I would really appreciate if you would drop me an email or leave a comment with your blog site (________.blogspot.com). That way I can keep up with you wonderful people.

Thanks!

Mimi