Forgot My Camera-UGH!

We went to a wedding last night- well the reception part. It was for a girl that Steve has played volleyball with since at least 5yrs ago when we started dating. It was so fun to see her in something other than sweats & t-shirt or bikini & shorts :) Kinda funny to think I'd never seen her in anything else hahaha. I didn't take my camera, which I am kicking myself for now because for dinner she stayed in her wedding dress which was so gorgeous I could cry just thinking about it- tears of sadness for how much she probably spent on it, but it was SO worth it. After dinner, for the speeches Thuy (pronounced like tie or Thai) changed into a traditional red outfit. It was SO pretty, and the headdress was this bound fabric that is apparently super heavy. I wish we could've stayed to see what other outfits she changed into throughout the night. Moving on...
We were seated at a table with a bunch of the others that Steve plays volleyball with, Gwen is Asian and hysterical. Favorite convo from the night:
Gwen: Wow this wedding is so on-time, like down to the minute.
Steve: Wasn't your wedding on-time?
Gwen: No, I'm not that Asian. Everything is just so perfect.
Steve: Yeah, this food is awesome, do all you Asians do food like this?
Gwen: I guess, but ours was a 10 course served sit-down meal.
Steve: Oh, totally not on-time or anything?
Gwen: No, it was, it was just a big party. It was New Years, so it was just crazy.
Steve: So you're not that Asian at all huh, Gwen?
Gwen: *evil eye to Steve*
Laughed my butt off. I love how Asians compare themselves to each other so much- I can say this because I experienced it first-hand. It's so funny to me. I guess we all do it, but the way they do it is so funny, they're just so brutally honest with their opinions, and then they laugh and continue the conversation like they never said anything that sounded even remotely rude?!
On another note, Thuy made us bring our kids. Um, yeah never doing that again, unless it's a family wedding, our children should not be present. Here is my list of why we won't bring them again.
1. Bryn is too mobile to stay in one spot without being restrained in her carseat or sat on someone's lap. So, I didn't even finish all my yummy Asian food and I def didn't get to try any of the desserts- that's crazy right there.
2. Kalea is in the middle of figuring out the whole potty thing. Kind've embarassing when she stands on her chair, grabs her diaper and says "Pooooooooo pooooooooo!" until one of us notices. But on the bright side, she went potty in a public bathroom for the first time!
3. Kalea is too curious. She found the box with all the extra favors in them. Yeah, needless to say, we came home with quite a few extra's.
4. Um grossest part of the night was realizing that Kalea's diaper was leaking a substance of particular grossness onto my white skirt. Which in turn brought our swift and early exit from Thuy's reception.
And that boys and girls is what causes people to question having children and why we do not bring our children to "non-family" weddings :D

A Good Night

I meant to blog about this earlier in the week but neglected because I didn't want to sound like too much of a teenager... Ha! I don't think the effects of our night out have worn off at all. This was basically the most fun Steve and I have had at a concert since we saw Tim Magraw, when we were dating 5yrs ago. We were thoroughly entertained all night and it made the big price-tag of the tickets SO WORTH IT. I bought the tickets at a time when I probably shouldn't have even thought about it, since we weren't in the best financial situation. But I figured we'd make back to money and be fine and since the concert was near the end of the summer, we would be in definite need of a night out after all our weeks apart/hardly any date nights. I'm so glad I bought those tickets! Steve even forgot his cellphone- this is unheard of he practically sleeps with that thing. It took a while for me to be okay with the fact we didn't have the phone on us- as if we would've noticed it ringing? The bass was so loud you could feel the thumping in your chest, and I mean that quite literally. It was LOUD. I haven't listened to anything that loud in so long for fear of destroying my kids' ears. It was awesome. So awesome that if we ever get the chance to go again, we will, and next time we will get our tix for the party pit so we can dance and scream and shout with all those crazy kids and not have "old" people looking at us funny.
PS Joe whoever you are, that is running for mayor, last time I checked you didn't pay to advertise at their concert, so keep your stupid balloons to yourself. You irritated the heck out of us with the play-by-play of where they were being tossed around before the show. We were thrilled when the security guards sat on and further popped your balloons and we will not be voting for you.

Party People

This is a lot of pictures... Kalea woke up on her bday to find that the birthday fairies had come and decorated a little bit for her- she was very impressed with their ribbon curling skillzzzzzz. We got dressed and headed to Cora's for breakfast-good choice Steve! She freaked out when they brought out the apple chicken with the sparkler- all she said was "Fire! Fire!" and burrowed into my shoulder- hence no photo of that one. She was very happy that she got so much attention- the birthday button was a great helper! Brynlee was such a trouper all day long and put up with the craziness of the day rather well, although as you can see, at some point she had had enough! Grandma and Grandpa came back from their vacay early so they could join in the festivities, and we all had a great night together. Kalea sure was spoiled this year! She really enjoyed her party on Saturday with all her little friends, and we are so glad that Oma and Grandpa let us use their backyard- it was a little chilly to be at the lake that morning :( Oh well, it was still really fun & we all were able to relax and enjoy the day. We came home and opened another present and then lit the bday sparklers- Kalea was more than excited to hold them on her own, and I was impressed that she didn't burn herself or anyone else, although she did come close to sticking one down Steve's plumber's crack, hehehe, totally unassisted I swear! It was a great weekend.

Two Years Ago

The most outrageous/difficult/rewarding job of my life began!
On that morning I was so uncomfortable that I thought I would be delivering a baby out of my mouth- she never dropped until they broke my water, how pleasant.
On that morning we drove to the hospital while it was still dark and hit no red lights.
On that morning we rode to the hospital in our fancy Japanese, right hand drive Aristo.
On that morning I learned that all nurses are NOT created equal.
On that morning we met KALEA and consequently fell in love.
She made the parental transition really easy on us.
Thanks baby girl, we love you!

Elbow Falls 2010 in Pictures

Dear Family,
This is the perfect day that you all missed out on at the reunion last summer. Bummer! Here are some pix so you can see what it would be like if the weather had cooperated!

Un-Skooling???

*POST EDIT* Thanks guys, I love the feedback/discussion. I am all for the "enriching activities" that are available to our kids. To be honest I remember swimming lessons & summer camp with a lot more fondness than I do anything else, although I never passed maroon... One thing I know for sure, my kids will definitely be going to school AT school. Until then I guess I'm responsible for them EEEEEEK! LOL

I just read an article in a parenting magazine... I don't really know what my true feelings are about it, but let's just discuss.
Apparently this is the new "stick it to the man" thing, where mom's stay home with their kids, let them do whatever they want and then expect them to, at some point, enter society and be able to contribute. There are things I like about it, but then again, isn't that basically just doing what I already do? Would I really want to do this for the next 18yrs instead of sending my kids to school 5 days a week? There are varying methods, ie. complete abstinence from textbooks and structured learning or using structure for math&science only.... But then what about the actual socialization aspect of school? Sure you can take your kids to the park, but isn't it kind've strange for your 12yr old when he/she is the biggest kid in the park everyday? I didn't totally love school and I didn't have very many close friends in elementary really, but how do you replicate the "group" atmosphere/dynamic at home so that your kid learns to work well with others, and isn't completely sheltered from having to deal with kids who might not like them, etc... Wouldn't you totally miss out on a million teaching opportunities that way? Is it in the best interest of a child to say, "Well since you don't like math we don't have to learn anything about it"? I just don't know!
Another article in the magazine was about preschool and finding a good fit for your child, or creating your own preschool at home... Which is something that a bunch of us mom's have considered I'm sure. I think preschool is great mostly because I went to such an awesome one and remember it being so much fun. But circa 2010 it is COSTLY and depending on the one you find, sometimes they don't really do much for your kid. All this to say that I'm going to look into getting one of the kits that this lady mentioned because it sounds like it'd be something nice to have hanging around the house. Kalea is starting to be much more interested in sitting with me and reading and things like that, so maybe that'll help her get used to a bit more structure. Ha! I can dream, right?
So what does everyone else think about this stuff? Anyone tried/failed/succeeded at any of this stuff?

Under the Weather

Well we caught it... You know... That pesky summer bug that everyone has right now?! Pain in the butt! I hate having a stuffy head, but I especially hate that when the kids and I get it at the same time, it makes it a million times harder to be "fun mom". On the bright side, our grass is finally in and ready to play on, so if we're super bored inside we can go out back! Oh joy! LOL This is a huge big deal if you saw our yard before we ripped it apart. We're hoping to get some deck boards to finish half the deck before next payday. Ha, I asked Steve what we should get Kalea for her bday and he responded, "Um, I think I just got her a new backyard and we'll throw her a kick-A party". Can't really argue with him on that. We're so happy to have everything so close to done so we can just sit out there for what's left of our summer nights. Pictures will come when all is perfectly finished!
On a completely different note, our microwave decided to shoot sparks last week, so we "roughed it" while we hunted for something new & improved. Tonight Steve brought me home a beauty of a microwave. It's so quiet compared to our old hand-me-down. We're excited to be able to make our microwave popcorn and reheat food- Steve is especially grateful for that because heating things up in the oven/on the stove is such a tedious task :P Love love it!
Speaking of food, I made a home-cooked meal today! And I made it so it was ready at a normal meal-time! We sat down at the table and Steve looks at me and with a sense of awe and wonder says, "Alli, we're eating dinner at dinner time". Quite a momentous occassion on so many levels! I guess we both scored some brownie points today!
Last but not least, Brynlee. Gosh, where do I begin? She is just the freaking love of my life, besides Steve and Kalea obviously. I had her in the bath tonight while Steve and Kalea went out and she was kicking and splashing and just loving life, but her face is so serious when she's having fun! It was too funny! She looked angry at the water and was growling and had this crazy scowl on her face, but holy hannah did she not want to get out of that tub! An epic battle! But her bedtime routine went much better than usual- partly because she's sick and probably tired of seeing my puffy, red-nosed face. I wrapped her up and put her down with her bottle and as I said goodnight she stuck her little hand out of her crib and waved at me. MELT!!! Made me feel 100x better than my cold medicine did today!

Passing On

So our ward has been full of excitement this summer, and I guess I'm learning quite a bit about what it actually means to be a part of Relief Society. In case anyone's wondering, we've moved/helped clean for a TON of people and total meals prepped/delivered since July=32. Can you imagine?! It's been BUSY, but the best kind of busy there could be- what isn't there to love about serving others? It's truly a ward "family" in the best sense of the word.
We had a funeral today for Zelma Nish, who was such a sweetheart, and who I had grown to love through visiting teaching. She was always on the go, always had some great story to tell, and always had a blanket to crochet or a new painting to do. I am amazed at how much she could get done and I will miss her dearly. Her funeral was bittersweet, but mostly sweet. She and her husband had been married 67yrs, in the last few years they had come back to full activity in the church and a few months ago they were sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. That's sweet at it's finest. It was wonderful to see the chapel completely full and to hear stories and remember the kind things that she did for others. As I was in the kitchen getting food ready my mind was turned to all the sisters in my life who have served me or who I've observed serve others. It was strange to picture myself in this "new role". I really don't feel more than 18yrs old in my head, so to think that I was the one in the kitchen today was a really weird thing for me. But I'm glad it was me, because it gave me an opportunity to really feel the magnitude of Relief Society and what it means to be a member of such a wonderful organization.
Here's an example of why I love it so much:
Last minute the person who had agreed to help me set up etc... had to cancel which was okay. I had no idea what I was going to do given I have never done anything like this before, and the RS President wouldn't be there until just before the funeral started, but what else could I do? So I get to the church and another sister in our ward had shown up an hour early, thinking that the funeral started at noon?! I know without a doubt that that wasn't just a coincidence. I needed help and it was there, and how wonderful that she was prepared to say "Well I'm here, so what can I do to help?" I can't imagine not having her help, or how funerals go for people that don't have access to the willing hearts and hands of Relief Society sisters, but this one went beautifully and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father provided the help that I needed today.
Now I'll know what to do for the next funeral... on Saturday :) Yes that's right, another member of our ward passed away last night- I told you, our ward's exciting!