What Do You Do?

Twenty minutes before school started I heard Eva come upstairs to tell me that Mally got something stuck in her hair. By the time I went downstairs to help Mally she reassured me not to worry because she already pulled it out. I asked her what was stuck and she held up a sticky mouse trap. Luckily, the trap was empty and not with a dead mouse. I then asked her how it got there. She told me that she was playing in the pantry and she pulled out the flour and sugar buckets from under the bottom shelf and laid down on the ground. She managed to put her head in the deepest, darkest corner of pantry and right in the trap.
Her hair had a knotty mess of sticky poisonous residue in it. I thought it best to just cut it out of her hair and not chance exposing her to the poison.

I thought she would throw a fit about getting her hair cut. She seemed to understand why it needed to happen and she was a good sport. She was so pleased with the cut that when we said her prayer before going to school she expressed her thanks for cute short hair. Luckily for her she was blessed with a naturally beautiful face, to compensate for a crummy hair cut, because she wasn't blessed with a mother who knows how to cut hair.

The Seven Year Itch and Itching for More

I began this post by writing our love story of how we meet, fell in love and got married. But, that was taking far too much time and would be far too boring for you to read. So, here is the short version:

Boy and girl met. Boy was interested in girl. Girl was interested in another boy. Boy was persistent and girl and boy became good friends. Girl realized that this boy was better than the other boy. Boy and girl became boyfriend girlfriend. Boy and girl soon after decided they wanted to be husband and wife. They got married and this husband and wife have been happy ever since.Happy Anniversary Stephen!!!

Happy Birthday Eva

We celebrated Eva's birthday with a visit from the Birthday Fairy, candles on pancakes, a box of pink helium balloons, a pink pig cake (at her request) and pink peppermint ice cream.

We love you Eva. You sure are a fun and energetic part of our family.

California Dreaming

Coming this summer we are packing our bags for a summer in Redwood City, CA (40 minutes south of San Francisco). Stephen got offered a summer internship at DreamWorks Animation. This is a great career opportunity that fell into Stephen’s lap. DreamWorks contacted his academic advisor asking if he could recommend anyone for this position. He recommended Stephen. Stephen interviewed, answered a bunch of nerdy technical questions correctly and got the job.

Although this is a great opportunity, the thought of it has brought me a few days of great stress. See, Stephen was already offered a teaching position at the U this summer. The pay was good but it was just a job and not in the field of computer graphics Stephen wants a career in. In my mind I was planning on him teaching this summer and us living our regular lives in Utah.

Then this opportunity with DreamWorks came along. This position is in the exact field and type of company Stephen wants to work for when he graduates. The experience and contacts are priceless, but the pay is not so good. And since the cost of rent is sooooo high there, nearly all of his income will go toward rent. That’s the part that brings me the most stress.

Psychologically, I have to tell myself that we are going for the experience, contacts, and a fun summer in gorgeous California, “all expenses paid.” We won’t come home rich in money, but rich in experiences, new friends, and fun.

California here we come.

P.S. Anyone want to rent our house for the summer? Anyone know of someone in the Redwood City area with an inexpensive apartment to rent? If so, let us know.

Here Be Giggles

One day when Jeana wasn't home, the girls and I had fun with the webcam.  Warning: it may make you laugh.

From D.I. to Dream Kitchen

A few months ago “Mrs. Claus” was reading this blog and saw how to turn an old wood entertainment cabinet into a play kitchen. She fell in love with the idea and knew Mallory and Eva would love it too. She knew they already had a little play kitchen and really didn’t have room for a bigger one. Plus, it would be a lot of work. So it didn’t really make sense to make one. But common sense rarely stops “Mrs. Claus” from doing anything. She told herself that if on one of her random trips to the D.I. she came across an ideal entertainment cabinet at the right price she would know it was meant to be and she would buy it. And sure enough, on one of those trips she came across this one. It was $15, so it was meant to be.

Before

She didn’t know how she would get it to her “workshop” since her “sleigh” wasn’t big enough and Mallory and Eva were with her. Luckily, a friend let her borrow their “sleigh” and she was able to pick it up that night.

When she brought it into the “workshop” and “Santa” saw it, he gave her the biggest roll-of-the-eyes she has ever seen from him. All he could think about was how heavy it was and how big it was and if it was going to fit in the girls’ play area.

So, after nights and nights of hard work and with borrowing power tools from elf-like friends, “Mrs. Claus” was able to turn the old entertainment cabinet into this:

After

“Mrs. Claus” was right the girls loved it.

Here Comes Suzy Snowflake

I began teaching my daughters dance. I figured I knew enough about dance to teach them. It has really worked out great. My niece Julianne even joined the class. We have class once a week in our basement. We have a 30 minute dance class followed by 30 minutes of play time. It has been fun for all of us. For Christmas I taught them a dance to "Suzy Snowflake."
My girls were good sports about performing it twice on Christmas Eve for both sides of the family. I would love to post the video of their performance, but blogger is being dumb and won't upload it.