The auctions are still up - keep bidding!

But in other news, have you heard about Sarah Palin? This lady is awesome! Can only strengthen McCain's ticket...

Plus, I mean, her name is

Sara(h) and all.

For biography info click here.

And the NieNie Day online silent auctions are still up and running; see yesterday's post for details and KEEP BIDDING!!

Today's the Big Day!

Hello Readers,

Most of you know about this darling family and the recent events that have befallen them.

In a nutshell, Christian and Stephanie Nielson (the parents pictured above) were in a plane crash on August 16th. There was a 3rd person on board who died, but miraculously the Nielson's survived. They are at the Maricopa County Burn Unit with severe burns and have several months of recovery ahead of them, Stephanie's burns covering 70-80% of her body. Their four adorable children have moved up to Utah to live with aunts and uncles. For updates on their recovery and general information about their wonderful extended family, click on Stephanie's sister's blog, cjanerun. (Note: all of the pink words are links! Click on them!)

I started reading Stephanie's blog (the NieNieDialogues) last year and have been so inspired by her, as have hundred or maybe even thousands of others. She makes me want to be a better wife and mother. Although I have never met her in person, she has made a difference in my life and so many others.

So many people have asked their family what they can do to help. They have set up a couple of funds for people to donate to, with the money going towards their hospital bills and household expenses. Click here for more information.

For a really fun way to help,

THIS THURSDAY AUGUST 28th

has been declared NieNie Day, with hundreds of silent auctions going on at the same time throughout the wonderful blog world! I am not auctioning anything myself but am so excited to browse through everything listed because there are some great items that I know I'll want, and it's all for a great cause.

DesignMom, who had the original idea for NieNie Day, will have links and information to over 100 bloggers with auctions going on.

A Room Somewhere has over 40 items (some super cute stuff)!

Emily in Japan has some great Japanese items for auction!

A friend told me about a photographer in Utah auctioning off a photo session.

Tara in Texas is auctioning the creation of a personal slideshow/video with music!

The Jet Set has a list of links with some new items!

For non-auction sales, many Etsy members have created special hand-made items just for this purpose. If you go to Etsy and do a search for NieNie, you will find several of these items whose proceeds will go directly to the Recovery Fund.

If you just feel like giving a little cash via Paypal, click on the blue "donate to NieNie" button on the upper right.

It has been amazing, just as an interested observer, to see how many people obviously care about this family and how many people are coming together to help in any way they can.

I will add more links & information as I hear of them!

A review of what was I think my 25th trip to Lake Powell but only the 2nd that I've blogged about

Glen Canyon Dam with Lake Powell behind it and the Colorado River in front of it. Oh yeah, and my four sillies are there too!

This year's campsite: in Davis Gulch, a lovely tributary of the Escalante River.

In keeping with "things I've learned on trips with my in-laws" tradition, here's a list for this trip. Unfortunately most of the good pictures are on Jake's or Tom's camera and I only have a few, but here goes anyway!


1. Two words: Su Doku. By chance I brought a Sudoku book and it turned out to be quite a hit! I had never done it before, and I wouldn't say that I'm "hooked" but I definitely find it enjoyable. One evening after the kids had gone to bed the grown-ups sat around doing Sudoku puzzles late into the night, instead of playing card games together. What a buncha nerds. Here's the problem, I am the absolute worst at it. Yes, yes, most of the others had prior Sudoku experience. But I CAN NOT accept the fact that it takes me twice as long as the next slowest person to complete a puzzle! For some reason I feel like I should be really good at it, and I'm not, so this is a new source of frustration for me.


2. My sisters-in-law are awesome. Tiffany's been part of the family for almost 3 years now, but only seeing someone a couple times a year makes it hard to get to know a person. But the more I get to know her, the more I like her. Way to go Jake; you sure found yourself an awesome girl! And Emily my dear, I bow to your Sudoku prowess.

3. Even triple-bagging garbage that contains dirty diapers and raw meat will not prevent it from completely stinking up the joint. Ew, that trash was rank those last couple of days!


4. Noah and Molly can tear it up on the kneeboard! I'll post some video when I can. I'm super proud of them both.

5. Waterskiing uses approximately 95% of the muscles in one's body. Only doing one ski run a year is not enough to keep those muscles in shape. In other words: I'm sore. (But skiing is still tons o' fun.)

This was 3 years ago; I don't have the pictures of myself skiing from this year. But I was, like, way skinnier 3 years ago so this picture is probably better anyway.

6. Zoe's smaller-sized baby doll is named Janes. Not Jane, mind you, it's Janes. Janes received her name at the beginning of the trip and was omnipresent on the houseboat. Zoe's addiction, for sure.


7. A 50-gallon tank of potable water will run out if you're not careful. We weren't. And it did. And then we boiled lake water for dishwashing. (I blame myself; I think it was my children who left the water running during hand-washing and teeth-brushing.)

8. Molly created an entire royal grounds on the beach. There was a throne room, regular living quarters, a pool, a bathtub, a garden, a well, and other lovely buildings all bedazzled with seashells. She worked on this all week! What a cutie.

This royal courtyard was only part of it; there were several buildings not pictured here. The well is on the upper left, close to the water, surrounded by a wall of rocks. It was deep enough to reach the water, like a REAL well, of course!

Note the garden, my favorite feature.

9. If the swimsuits that you ordered two weeks prior have still not shipped and you're really mad about it because you wanted those swimsuits for this trip and there's no way they'd arrive in time going UPS ground so you ask the company to overnight them, chances are they just may do so and not charge you anything extra! It never hurts to ask. And now I have this adorable swimsuit; my new favorite.

(Not me. Sigh.)

10. Lake Powell has endless places to explore. The narrow canyons, hikes, rock formations, ancient ruins, arches; there is so much to see and do.

Noah and Molly with some honest-to-goodness petroglyphs.

Just look at that reflection! Beautiful.

It was a great trip, as usual! I just love that place; there are so many things to see and do that it never gets old. And, Hubs' family is just awesome and we all get along so well.

Ah, Lake Powell. See you next year!

Lately...

Taking a cue from Kate and Laurie (who should be giving birth any minute now... waiting for an announcement!!), I'll be a copy cat and tell you what's been going on with me...

Lately, I've been adjusting to the "school schedule," helping kids with homework, driving carpool, and trying to figure out the best use of my time.

Lately, I've been slightly obsessed with the Olympics but now that some of my favorite events are over, I look forward to getting some full nights of sleep again.

Lately, I've been back to a full schedule of piano students (14 right now) and they're all doing great! I really enjoy teaching.

Lately, I've been falling way behind on housework.

Lately, I've been feeling a little bit guilty for my happy life and my good health when some really, really great people are having some really, really hard times. It was all I thought about on Sunday night and all of yesterday. But then I realized that if all I did was dwell on others' suffering all the time, I would be missing out on my own life. So I just need to do what I can to help others and count my own blessings. And be happy.

Lately, Noah's been growing up! He started orchestra playing the cello, Tuesdays and Thursdays before school. He got his Bobcat at his first Pack Meeting last week (cub scouts). He rode on a kneeboard for a good 3 minutes at the lake on Saturday. He carries a heavy advanced-math textbook to and from school. He wears a tie tack to church. I'm just so proud of my firstborn; what a great kid.

Lately, I've been making mental lists and now paper lists: groceries to buy, things to do, food to cook & freeze, things to pack, and things NOT to forget as we get ready to leave town. Unlike last time, I don't have a list of posts all ready to go while I'm gone, so there will be a lull until we get back next week. We're not quite done with summer yet!! And we're going here. If you don't feel like clicking on that link, we're going to Lake Powell, and that's a link to my report from last year's trip. So... next week I'll be posting some very similar-looking pictures from this year's trip, but probably without the crazy waterfall. You should click on that link, it was crazy. Really.

Have a great week/weekend!

Senility at the ripe old age of 33

How many of you are ever alone? For me, this is a new thing. Last year was actually the first year of having one morning a week with no kids around, but I almost always spent that entire 2 hours catching up on grocery shopping, trips to Target, etc. I wasn't usually ALONE - in the house by myself. There is always SOMEONE else here with me, and even if they're upstairs and I can't hear them, I don't feel like I'm ALONE.

Backing up a few years... I went from living with my family to living with roommates. I went from living with roommates to living with Hubs. I never lived alone. Hubs never goes out of town for business (which I'm glad about) but even if he did, there are lots of kids running around here. Bottom line: I am never ALONE in my house.

This week was a new experience. Zoe and Lucy go to preschool on MWF mornings this year. On Mondays, I help at preschool. On Wednesday this week, I ran tons of errands the whole time they were gone. But on Friday morning, I only had one quick errand to run and spent the rest of the time at home... ALONE.

And I learned that when I'm in this situation, I talk to myself.

"Okay now, modbe clothing dot com, let's see if you've finally shipped my new swimsuits!" I said in a menacing tone as I strode towards the computer to log on and check my order status.

"Seriously, Matt Lauer? Give me a small break," I said to the TV as I listened to Matt Lauer ask Ryan Lochte what would the American public have thought of him if he had beaten Michael Phelps in the men's 200 IM.

"Mmmm, this is gonna be tasty!" I said audibly as I dished myself up some fruit salad for breakfast.


Is this normal? Do YOU talk to yourself at home when nobody else is there? I think it's probably a healthy thing to do, I mean look at how Tom Hanks' character in CastAway was able to hang on to his sanity so well once he started talking to a volleyball.

Your thoughts?

A good deal for all the TV fans out there...

You read that right, you can get the complete series of Arrested Development (3 seasons) for only $45.60! That's cheaper than most single seasons of any show on DVD. It's a funny show. Check it out. I mean, once the Olympics are over, of course. I myself have been enjoying a few episodes a week while I run on my treadmill; it's great entertainment. And when when I say run I really mean jog. Or walk really fast.

First Day of School for the little kids

First day of preschool!

What, you didn't know I had triplets?

I would've always liked the Olympics anyway, but here's another reason

This has always been my biggest claim to fame.

Who saw the opening ceremonies last night?

Sweet Elixir

a.k.a. a dieting girl's new best friend

Speaking of food, I have just posted a couple more recipes on my recipe blog, and I have many more lined up to post. If you are nervous about making homemade rolls from scratch, check out my newly-posted picture-laden tutorial...

First day for the big kids

Molly: 1st grade

Noah: 3rd grade

Molly and Brooklyn get to be in the same class this year; fun!

Noah going to find his desk

Dropping them off for the first day was the least emotional yet, compared with years past; my voice barely cracked when I kissed Molly goodbye. I guess since this is Noah's third year at this school and Molly's second, they're pros and they didn't seem to be nervous or scared at all. They both know kids in their classes and they completely know their way around campus so tomorrow they will be fine when I drop them off without getting out of the car myself. We just love our school; it will be a great year. But seriously, I'm old enough to have a THIRD GRADER? What's going ON here?

Winding down...

School starts on Wednesday, so we spent this afternoon at Pamma's for lunch and one final summer swim with some of the cousins.

It has been a nice summer. We're ready for school to start, but I will miss the kids being around. At least, sometimes. This year, Noah and Molly will be in 3rd and 1st grade, all day. Zoe and Lucy will be in their 2nd year of preschool, Mon/Wed/Fri from 9-11:30am. I will help at preschool one morning a week, leaving TWO WHOLE MORNINGS EVERY WEEK where I am absolutely unencumbered! That will be fun, although I'm sure most of the time will be spent grocery shopping, visiting teaching, etc. and not taking trips to the spa or the movies :) Still, it will be nice.

Farewell, summer of 2008!

Summer of Star Wars

This summer the kids have been a little obsessed with Star Wars. They've watched all the movies multiple times (except Revenge of the Sith, since it's rated PG-13, but Noah is just SO anxious for the day he's allowed to watch that one too) and much to Noah's delight, his sisters have been just as into it as he has. No dollies for us this summer, no sir, it's all about THE FORCE.

Last month, Noah's new (used) Millennium Falcon, Tie-Fighter, and X-Wing finally arrived, 9 days after his birthday. I found them on Ebay and I knew he'd love them. I also knew they wouldn't be here in time for his actual birthday but I thought surely they'd be here in time for his party, four days later. Nope. In fact, they arrived SEVENTEEN days after the Ebay auctions ended. Let this be a warning to you: NEVER USE PARCEL POST. Luckily he did get plenty of other great presents on his actual birthday and at his party, so when the Ebay stuff came it was like another celebration all over.

The Summer of Star Wars has led to interesting get-ups like this:

And figuring out how to play the Star Wars themes on the piano (the good-guys theme and the Darth Vader theme). And making up silly songs about Yoda. And having endless light-saber fights. And playing Star Wars video games. And conversations like the following:


Zoe: Squirrel, squirrel, squirrel. A squirrel is a real animal, right Mom?
Me: Right.
Zoe: Not like an Ewok. They're not real.
Me: Right.


Even when they take a break from the movies for a week or so, they still "play Star Wars" all the time; the only problem being that I have 3 daughters and there aren't too many female characters for them to play so they all fight over who gets to be Leia and who gets to be Queen Amidala. I wonder if this phase will die out once school starts and they have other things to do? Not likely, considering this news.

And finally, for all you Star Wars nerds out there, this video is hilarious. There's minor language so you might want to preview before showing your kids.