It's a small world

She's

Alli's Nursery teacher . . .

She's Simon's

Sunbeam teacher . . .

And Together they're my Visiting Teachers!!!!!

Our family loves these two ladies soooo much!

It's Tag Time!

So I was so flattered about a week ago to be tagged by my friend Ginger . . . and then it went like it usually did when I played tag as a kid. I wasn't fast enough and I got surrounded by taggers and lost miserably. So here's my belated attempt to respond to all the tags (thanks Audrey and Korrin); I had a lot of fun with this. I imagine it's somewhat like the kids in our Primary feel like when they're finally the Spotlight.

What was I doing ten years ago? I was 17 and hmmm, what was I doing . . . there was a good chance I was going to summer school P.E. so I could take orchestra and seminary. Not practicing my viola enough and feeling guilty about it--playing quartet gigs at random events. Making some small cash filing at a plastic surgeon's office. I'll have to check my journal for more details. I know I was in love with no one but I had some great buds I ran around wearing thrift store clothes with. Rocking out at SNDs (Saturday Night Dances) of course . . .


What was I doing one year ago? Watching Alli's hair grow back from the headband they shaved for her surgery. Enjoying Mark because his job and double-major were finished and he was not in school til fall--thinking it may be the last time I saw him since the PhD was going to start up soon. Stashing cardboard boxes in our bathroom like some kind of rodent.


Five snacks I enjoy:


anything with fresh basil. duplex cookies . . . the cheaper the better. fresh fruit. unsalted nuts. popsicles and tostino's 99cent pizza. I alternate between gourmet/health and utterly processed yumminess.

oh, and hello!, BLUE BELL ICE CREAM!!! i think "enjoy" is too light of a verb for that one . . .

Five songs I know all the words to:


I'm terrible at this. I'm lucky if I know who sings a song or what it's called. that's what i have mark for. oh, but being primary chorister, of course i have all of this year's new program songs memo-d. And for the nusery set: slippery fish, the wheels on the bus, tiny tim the turtle. Hey, somehow I know "I love you. always forever. near and far" that one. and "i'm on top of the world" by karen carpenter. ooooooo, HEY, i do know a bunch of songs--mark made me a mix tape right before his mission and oh baby do i have that one memorized--i'll post about it later


Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1. make an extended family travel fund so we could get together more than once a year and without emptying someone's savings.


2. get a house with character and nooks and crannies and that is somewhat small and simple but has trees.


3. take my family to zimbabwe and stay for a few weeks and take them on all the paths i dreamed of taking them on when i was a single dreamer


4. get everyone in my family a new car with a lifetime warranty


5. ship books and art supplies to schools in developing countries

this is a hard one, because we've "built a lot of character" without 2 and 4.

Five of my Many bad habits:

• often not finishing things i start, from a glass of water to a crocheted hat to a letter.
• not praying in the morning.
• not wanting to be corrected.
• letting my kids watch tv while i do dumb stuff instead of playing with them.
• letting clean laundry sit in a basket unfolded until most of the clothes have been taken out and worn and never folded.

Five things I like doing: watching documentaries, playing in quartets, nursing, holding mark's hand, the zoo, listening to A Prarie Home Companion .

Five things I will never wear again:
my dad's shirts, jellies, rolled socks ( a different color on the inside), long boy shorts (hooray capris), East Jr. High Hornets reflective orange 'B" bball uniform.

Five of my Favorite toys: high speed internet, dishwasher, library books, bike trailer/stroller, piano; still working on acquiring the last two!

I tag Jennefer (though I doubt she'll know it) and Tara B, and Audrey/Korrin (hah--got you back!)

Now for the next set . . .

Tagged again!

4 Jobs I've held:

1. Dress Barn salesgal


2. PowerBar factory minion


3. American Heritage Teaching Assistant (at BYU)


4. Aide to apt of non-verbal developmentally delayed guys

Movies I Can Watch Over & Over:

1. It's a Wonderful Life


2. Pride and Predjudice (the long/BBC/A&E one)


3. While you were sleeping (every couple years)


4. Mary Poppins


5. Napoleon Dynamite

Places I Have Lived:

1. Idaho


2. Utah


3. Zimbabwe


4. Pennsylvania


5. Texas

T.V. Shows I Enjoy Watching:

1. Jeopardy (rarely get to)


2. Caillou (i thought he was a really weird looking kid before i had kids . . . he still is a bald 4 year old, but he's got a good show)


3. Sesame Street


4. Nature


5. any suggestions???

Places I have Been on Vacation:

Grand Canyon, Utah (over and over), McCall Idaho and various ID woods, Missouri, California, Seattle, Banff Canada, Arkansas (when I was two).

Favorite Foods

I can't do this. I really like foods. I want to be a foodie when I grow up. I don't love meat so much. When I was in high school I got an aptitude test back that said I would like being in the culinary arts and I was offended because it didn't seem academic . . . but now, I know they were right--good thing it's somewhat in my job description now!

Websites I visit (almost daily)

Blogs, NYTimes, Hotmail, see my sidebar for ones I like but hit less often.

Places I'd Rather Be right now:

• Ethiopian highlands (saw some monkeys there last night) wow wow wow google it!


• my parents' house and raspberry patch


• an Idaho lake


• at a Springville bbq

Hey Ginger, you're it!

A table instead of a T.V.

There was too much t.v. going on in our house so I banished it into the spare room one night. It's been a month or two and I like it. Of course, I can't internet/blog as much because Simon likes to start watching a dvd on my computer while I put Alli down for a nap. For a while, the kids fought less because control of the t.v. was their main struggle--now they've just found other things to fight over, though they share mildly better lately.

A Father's Day meal . . .

Well, this, and a 24 oz steak. I was so nervous about ruining the steak (being formerly and nearly vegetarian) all I had an appetite for was a sweet potato. Luckily the day was about Mark and he worked himself into a happy carne-coma.

There's a beach an hour from here????

Since the kiddos finally saw the ocean in San Diego, now I can take them down south without Mark missing a major milestone. Of course, it's always better with him, because he's fun and has crab ESP among other skills. After lots of weekends with meetings, moves, work, and other schedule-grabbers we PROTECTED this one as a full-on family day. YAY!

The water was over 80 degrees!!!

Simon's CA cousins taught him the "No Fear" mantra, so he attacked the water--a relief from his more timid moments.
For all the West Coast readers out there, yes, it looks overcast, but in TX that's a good thing.
We took turns with Alli out in the dry sand and she promptly jabbed a sandy finger in the eye of the available parent as soon as the other one was out of earshot. YOUCH!!! But, she's cute. . . . once you can see again.

ZOOBILEE

A free event for zoo members that keeps the Zoo open late and gives the kids canvas bags and no suckers??? Yah, we're all about that. Mark got to talk to a toucan for 10 minutes--very important for him developmentally. Also, zoo members seem more inclined to read the signs and not call the anteater a fox--creates a nice climate. Then Mark's not gritting his teeth and muttering under his breath "It's not a toucan, it's a hornbill!"

We're good for the earth. . .

This morning Mark figured out why we've been hearing a lot of cooing each morning from our porch. I have this hanging pot that's supposed to hold a plant that's been empty for almost a year; turns out there is a pair of morning doves nesting in it. We feel pretty good about that. Especially since most of my plants have been dying since I abandoned them without a thought and spent a week in CA. I thought this would be my year to learn to help plants grow and have a successful garden, since everything's green and warm and frequently rained on here. The garden was plugging along pretty well and had produced 5 tomatoes (2.5 taken by squirrels); the tomatoes are so sad now it deserves a picture (coming soon). I got blisters digging out the turf grass for a teeeny plot--should I weed it for the pittance of vegetables I have left? Anyway, it seems that the barren pot I felt most guilty about will end up being the one most likely to produce new life.

The sky just burst open for the first time in a month--guess my garden's been pardoned!

Julianna marries new Uncle OOOOO-wen!!!

That's real CA lemonade! from the wedding luncheon . . .
I think he got her first--nice cake, huh!!!??!

Mr. and Mrs. S
all the N's and two S's

A very beloved Aunt!!!!!

We were worried about the kids getting into the swimming pool at the reception--the cousins (and Matt) got lost in the woods below instead.

The Big Five bros and their SISTER

anudder brudder!!!!!

Allianna, Charlie, and Simon

And how were we feeling at 10:30pm after a day of wedding???

Pretty great!




Thanks to Lindsay N and Meghan A for some of the photos!

Mission Beach--San Diego. The kids saw the ocean for the first time and their sand horizons were greatly expanded--previously the best sand they'd had was a 4ftx1ft plot under a rain gutter near our apartment that the maintenance crew filled with sand (and I have to clear the cigarette butts from). We tried to help Simon and Alli's quality of life catch up with their CA cousins by taking them to In-and-Out Burger as well.

Alli and Luke kickin back with some plastic beverages . . .

must be how they got the same chubby cheeks.

The Playhouse of DREAMS!!!

One of these things is not like the other . . .

They are all in Trinidad right now. They all like mangoes. They all have impressive wingspans. But only one catches the others; and only one I can't wait to have home in one and a half days!

All together now . . . huff and puff.

Mark had the kids join in on the Blowing out the Candle part--I guess he's getting old and needing all the young lung help he can get.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Why we did the chocolate cake after the kids had already had their bath and were in jammies??? I don't know; it was just one of those days. But it was a good day--newsflash: MARK AND EMILY NOLTE WENT ON A DATE!!!!

Alli states her name

17 months and can say her 4 syllable name. ;) Her first word was "bubble" and she also says "jesszzzusss" "ball" "quack" and uses some useful signs.

Screaming and hunger.

Kids begin to scream about 5pm because they are hungry. I offer various tide-them-over things to eat. Alli refuses those and continues to scream for most of the time that I am cooking. I pick her up when I can but have to put her down so i won't burn her with what i'm doing. more screaming. when i finally manage to put the food on the table one is screaming because he wants-and-can't-have: chocolate milk, a movie, anything but dinner. I try to put Alli in her chair, because all throughout this i have been racing the clock of her hunger, and what happens? She screams and goes rigid and will not go in her chair. So I tell her it's dinner or in her bed. She responds with screaming. When i return to the kitchen from putting her in her crib, Simon is screaming about something. So now (5:38) they are both in their room screaming and i am not eating the fabulous vitamin filled meal i concocted, but i am blogging and ignoring the childrens. Simon just came in and said "Mom, I think Alli's ready to be out." Okay . . .

They are good kids--they just get stuck on scream and whine. There were a few good moments during dinner prep when i put in the children's songbook cd to keep them from wrestling on the couches (a.k.a making alli scream every 30 seconds) and they started to look at library books. But it didn't last long enough to get us picture-perfect to the table. The report from Simon:
"Mom. I stopped crying."
A few minutes later,
"Mom, Alli didn't stop crying yet."

Guess I'll go serve them the dinner now. They don't like it warm anyway. ;)

It's a party on the aircraft carrier!

Simon is regularly spearheading a party on his aircraft carrier and expecting us all to join in. He entices us with promises of "pet stores, toy stores, Santa, dancing, food, lots of jets . . ." and in this video describes some of the food and people. (You have to push play twice).

Religious musings . . .

At lunch today, with no warning, we had this statement.
Simon: "Buuut, God says that you shouldn't feed horses while they're going poop." ???

I guess that's the final word.

Birds, Bugs, and Buds

Mark had a saturday off from DNA (see Fig. 1) and we went birding and bugging with the buds.