Oh What do You do in the Summer-time?

We paint the deck with water and paintbrushes and pretend Obama's coming to our house so it has to be perfect. What, you say?

Let me explain: I've figured out a perfect formula to get my kids really involved in play.

1. Set them up with something creative, i.e. playdough, paint brushes and water, really just use your imagination.
2. Give them a task. In this case I said, "we've got to get the deck painted in an hour! And it has to be amazing! Obama's coming to visit and I want it to look nice." (I give it some urgency with the timeframe and the Obama. This hooks them every time.) Remember, we're painting with water.
3. I go do something different that I need to get done, i.e. make dinner, or edit photos, and check in on them frequently, adding new details to the game, i.e. "Obama just called. They are going to be 15 minutes early. We've gotta bust this one. You can totally do it. I believe in you, team. You're the best painters around."
4. Satisfied kids. Satisfied mom. I love it when I can get them in this mode. It's actually fun for me, too.

My sister, Susannah, came over to pick up her girls from a playdate while the painting was going on. They BEGGED to stay. She said, "why did I never know about painting the deck with water?" Probably because she didn't live next to my friend Jill in Davis, CA who taught me the beauty of painting bricks on her patio, with 2-year old Leah.

Esther was at it for 1.5 hours. No joke. She can really micro focus when she wants to. Yay, Esther!

Last time we did this, I gave Leah (age 9) 5 different colors of playdough (homemade, so I had a lot more than just the little mini tubs)---and told her and her friend (age 10) that the President of the US just called and he needed 150 tarts and cookies for a banquet. They were sold, and ran with it! Before I knew it, they had assembled lots of play dough pastries, had given the storyline a whole lot more detail (they were 22 year olds living in Paris, making pastries and sleeping in the shop at night so their dough could rise and they could attend to it perfectly. They even swept!) I checked in frequently with Obama updates, including upping the order or slightly tweaking things. We had this friend over the other day and she said, "Hey---we never finished Obama's pastries. Can I come back over so we can play?" It's been a few months since then, so I call that a success!

esther's one in a million, really she is!

This girl blows up water balloons for about 3 hours each day....minimum. It's therapy, it's fun, it keeps her going. She doesn't even care about popping them as much as she cares about filling them. Jon and I tie. She has brought us 5 filled water balloons at a time, pinching them off in between different fingers. Talk about talent! I wouldn't be able to do that if I tried. Then again, I haven't put in the time.


She came up one evening wearing this get-up: a shiny velvet thrift-store leotard with Jon's Halloween mullet wig. It was a winning combo. We busted up laughing. She wore it all through dinner.
The rear view. Literally.

Phoebe is a Silly Goose

And a darn cute one, too. I hope she always lets me dress her in these bright colors.

Spring, Chez Nous

Our new family member, Priscilla Daisy Shortcake Schutz! Happy Birthday to Leah Blue!


My way to survive a nasty winter? Plant cutting flower seedlings and pin all your hopes on them.


Rainbow and raindrops and lilacs and the Y from our dinner table.


Poppies abound! Thanks, Olga (rest in peace) for planting a virtual calendar of amazing perennials.


Portrait of our place. Soon to be a shade of grey. (Whether I have to get my own roller and spray machine or not....)

Lessons in Perspective, or something like that

Leah and cousin Josie scrambled to the top of this hill at Goblin Valley. It was impressive, equally in terms of their ascent, but also the colors and wide sky.

Goblin Valley, Capital Reef, etc....

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We took a quick jaunt to Goblin Valley and Capital Reef in April. Although I've been to the Reef, I've never seen the hoodoos at Goblin Valley. It was amazing and moon-like, really.

ALWAYS catching up....Easter!

Some Non-Fairy-ish Fairies

We got to go to the Fairy Tea Party at the Provo Library on Friday. Although I think the actual program leaves a lot to be desired, it is a great excuse to dress up and be girly and get together with cute girl cousins (and sisters and mom!). Somehow my girls ended up looking very un-fairy-like. No tulle or ruffles, really. Phoebe did wear some dollar store wings....I loved how they seemed a little uncharacteristic. Maybe we'll plan ahead of time next year, and do some pastel, glitter, ruffles....or maybe not.

Just a few of January...that's all...

Top: Leah with Fairy Fudge at cousin Eve's tea party
2nd: Esther came up from the dress-up closet with my Halloween wig.
3rd: A new fave photo of Phoebes.
4th: This girl's got personality and then some.

FYI

My personal manifesto was born from the fact that I have talked to endless women who say that reading blogs brings them down; they see posted perfection and feel like their own lives are less than. I've been there. I've done that. And it's all a farce.

While I think that blogs can be undeniably inspiring, I know the feelings of not measuring up to someone else and their portrayal of real life. Perfect isn't real. So I just wanted to put that out there, to keep it real. It's all true, and there are other creepy or undesirable things I could add about myself. (Not that you want to know. AND, I really hope I've never portrayed the perfection-variety of life. Those who really know me know that I'm a bit helpless and hopeless at times....)

So there. The closest thing to perfect that I experience each day is the laughter of my three girls. They bring more sunshine into my life than anything else. And since we're keepin' it real, I'll have it known that they also bring my greatest stress, sorrow, frustration, and anguish. I think it's the agony and the ecstasy that makes them the closest thing to perfect.

Personal Manifesto, 2011 or Coming Out

1. I don't iron or mend.
2. I don't really know how to clean, but I do love it when my house is clean.
3. I can cook a mean meal and do so often, but also have funks where nothing sounds good.
4. My toenails are overgrown and currently have remains from past paintings.
5. I am 40 pounds overweight. Bummer! Working on it....
6. I am a really good mom sometimes. Emphasis on sometimes.
7. I am not a perfect wife, lover, or friend, either.
8. I don't wear the right shoes with the right outfits---never have, actually. I hate the whole, "if you're wearing a trouser, you need to pair that with a pump," or whatever the rule is. I don't even know the rule! And while we're on footwear, let's just say that I really hate wearing socks. Half the time they don't match each other, which only becomes a problem when I go to a house with a "shoes off" policy.
9. After I get our crusty carpets cleaned, I'm instituting a "shoes off" policy at our house, too, which means I may or may not start caring about my socks matching. (Leaning toward NOT.)
10. If you hear my kids saying, "shiz," "crap," or anything else crusty, they learned it from me.
11. I might have borderline Tourettes. But never in public.
12. I take anti-depressants. Maybe (hopefully?) not for forever, but for now.
13. I love my children and husband like crazy cakes.
14. I don't think I'll ever get used to Utah winters again. Not for me. I'm considering renting a trailer in Phoenix for the winter.

Happiness and Cheer 2010

Christmas 2010 was joyful and delightful. It was the first year in our new/old home, and it felt just right. We had a cozy Christmas morning, and then invited my empty-nester parents over for breakfast. My mom made her famous Almond Croissants, which I jokingly told her is the reason I invited them. I whipped together a Spinach Artichoke Red Pepper frittata (with Greek Yogurt in it!)---my dad said it was the best frittata he'd ever eaten. Good. Because it's the only frittata I've ever made! We also had Fingerling Hash Browns---yum and beautiful. After, we headed to my mom's home for Christmas dinner with most of the family. (Sister Susannah and Brother Joe and families were notably absent.) My mom's buche de noel never disappoints. Kids loving cousins always makes me happy we moved to Utah.