Back to my roots?

I decided to go a little darker.  I have felt like my blond was too blond-ish.  It was getting brassy and feeling greasy.  I did not like how it was looking or making me feel, so I decided to go darker.  Closer to my own roots with a little strawberry mixed in.  I have naturally dark blond hair.  It is mossy and boring and not shiny... just dull. So I decided that I wanted to spice things up a little. Justin put his two cents in. He wanted me to go as red as Joan from Mad Men.  But, I wasn't quite ready for that yet. Maybe next time. This is a little more strawberry blond, but I feel like my hair is a little shinier and a little healthier and I feel like I am shade-appropriate for the winter weather.

Does it feel the same way to you as it does to me, that as soon as Christmas is over, that winter should be over as well?  I must tell you that I love the winter.  I love the snow.  I love the cold.  I love bundling up in a blanket and reading a book or watching my shows during the day, when it is a little dark outside from the cloud cover.  I always worry when it is January and the temperatures start to rise... even just a couple of degrees above freezing.  My thoughts say, "No!  We haven't had enough winter yet!"  I know I am in the minority in these thoughts, but what can I say?  The winter makes me happy!  Some people love the hot sun shining and wearing shorts and going to the lake and swimming in the pool all day long.  I guess, I love those things too... but I would much rather be inside looking out the window at the snow flakes falling... guessing how many inches we will get this time. 

So when winter comes, I want my hair to be a little darker, like the sky outside, like my rooms inside my home, like my thoughts...  Give me a good zombie thriller, or murder mystery to read in the winter and I am good for at least an afternoon... 

Yes, a New Post!!!!

I know, it has been way too long.  I have been much too busy!  But it is now a new year, and I have nothing to do... so I will update you with all of the boring little details of our lives in this tiny town we call home.

Let's see, the semester is over.  I finished teaching my class and managed not to fail anyone.  I was supposed to teach again this semester and then again in the Spring, but due to budget cuts, they will not be offering my class for a while so I have a break!  I don't know if I want to teach again...  it might be more trouble than it is worth, but for now, I am happy just not teaching. 

This semester I am back to working in the ticket office, which I love!!!  It is so fun for me to work among people and to get to boss people around and tell them where to go and what to do and pretend I know more than them...  it makes me happy!

I have found that I have way too many interests.  There are so many things that I would like to learn to do and then when I do learn to do them, I find that I really like doing them so it means I have tons of hobbies and not enough time in which to do them all.  I guess I have the time, but I just don't have the initiative to figure out which are the most important to me at the time and choose a specific one to do so I end up doing nothing...  well, not nothing... but not as much as I would like.  But I did put together a quilt for Lorelai!  I will post a picture of it later...  but I still have to do the binding on it.  She kind of stole it before it was all finished.  She loves it.  It is made of scraps of that minki material which is super-soft.  Lorelai likes soft things.  Who doesn't, right?  But I think hers is more than the average obsession.  She likes to have soft things against her skin and is very particular about the things she wears.  She will only wear one dress to church.  She has several, but unless I want an all out war, I have to let her wear her red velvet twirl dress with the bow.  It is the only one she will wear.  She absolutely will not wear jeans.  Refuses!!!  She won't even wear pants.  She will only wear leggings.  This presents a problem in cold Idaho.  But we have learned to get past it.  She loves velour leggings the most, so I try to indulge her when possible.  Although why she cares what she is wearing is beyond me since she usually ends up in a tutu or her Repunzel costume minutes after she gets dressed anyway...  But they have to be worn over her clothes so that the costume doesn't touch her skin.  My child is normal...  right?

Okay, I have to end this post, but I will continue my rant later...  you have not heard the last from me, my friends!

I shouldn't complain.  So I won't say anything at all.

A Tale of Two Bones

Last night as I was standing at the stove making dinner, Lorelai was screaming because she wanted chocolate pudding, I heard Hilton screaming outside and Caroline screaming at Hilton to stop screaming.  I posted this on my Facebook Status, "It is the witching hour."  I had no idea what I was in for.  The door bell rang and there was Hilton screaming at the top of his lungs that he broke his arm.  I looked at it and told him to go see his father.  One minute later Justin said, "Jenny, he broke his arm, we need to take him in and I have to get back to work."

Well, I got Caroline to babysit, took dinner off the stove, got in the car and proceeded to drive to the insta-care.  Or whatever they call it here.  We got right in and took an xray to discover BOTH bones in his arm were broken.  Right near the wrist.  They were so badly broken that they had to call in an orthopedic surgeon to put the bones back in place.  They gave Hilton an IV and some happy juice in that IV to make him happy so he would not remember when the doctor twisted his arm to all heck to get the bones back in place.  It worked!  He doesn't remember a thing!

He had just gotten the iv and it did not go well.  He has his mommy's veins, very wiggly and uncooperative.

 I told me to give me his scared face...  at this point he was feeling so good, he had no idea what he was in for.

This is right after the doctor had twisted his arm all up.  He had just gotten the white fluffy cotton stuff put on his arm and was saying how nice and cozy it felt...  man he was out of it!

All done!  What a trooper!  Just waiting for the cast to dry.  They did not have a lot of options for colors.  They had pink, purple, yellow and dark blue.  He said, I'm good with dark blue.

This is at home while I was helping him get his jammies on.  This thing is HUGE!  And very heavy.  He did not sleep well last night, but he is outside playing today!

Applesauce

I am up to my elbows in applesauce.  That is all I have time for right now.  No time to blog.  I have been making tons of applesauce, making tons of meals for friends who need it and for strangers who are in my ward who need it...  I have been slowing trying to transfer my clothes from summer to winter...  and I have been trying (and failing) to keep my house clean.  One of the things I do not like about the cooler weather is that the kids tend to stay inside a little more, therefore causing tons of messes.  And no matter how hard I try to train my kids to put their book sacks and jackets and shoes away as soon as they walk in the door, I fail.  They won't do it.  So what you have in this house is an overwhelmed mom whose home is a disaster and I would just like to sit down in the middle of the pile of stuff and cry.  But I have to make dinner.  I think we will have some applesauce.

Plum Jam

So, I made some plum jam a few weeks ago from some plums I shook from a tree.  My friend has a friend who wanted to get rid of them and I was happy to take them off of her hands.  So I made Cinnamon Plum Jam from a recipe that My friend Erin gave me and it is yummy!  Hope I am not spoiling the surprise, but if you live nearby, this is going to be your Christmas Gift!  Hope ya like it!

Cute skirt!

Check out these cute little skirts!  I want a free one for my baby girl, so I am posting about it on my blog!!!  It can't hurt, right?  http://penguinsgift.blogspot.com/2010/10/lylabug-creations-giveaway.html

Apple Pickin'

We went apple picking this morning.  We picked up Taylor and Tristan, the kids' friends, then we headed over to the apple orchard on campus.  For $.50 a pound, you pick your own apples... as many as you want.  The kids had a great time and I got 30 lbs of apples that I am going to do something with...  Who knows what?  I am not sure if I will make applesauce, or apple pie filling... or what.  But it was a great fall activity!  If I get through those apples pretty quickly, I might just go over there to get some more!  They have a trillion different  varieties and you just can't beat the price.  There were even some branches that were low enough for Lorelai to pick!  A lot of the really nice looking ones were way up on the top and none of us could reach them... (maybe Erin could :))  But we found plenty within our reach!

Karate

Since Hilton has started Karate, he could not be any happier.  He finally got his uniform...  I can't remember the official word for it...  But Karate is a great way to get him to do things.  We just threaten to not let him go and boy he straightens right up!  He just loves it!

Splits

Caroline has been working so hard on doing the splits!  She has finally gotten all the way down!  Her gymnastics is really coming along.  She loves it and practices everyday!  Lorelai just can't wait until we put her in gymnastics too.