April Book Review

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin:

"Here in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything- even die."
Haji Ali

I only managed to read one book this month and it was "Three Cups of Tea." This is a must read for everyone! Even those slacker book clubs *cough*Lisa*cough*. It was so inspiring to see what one man has done in Pakistan and in Afghanistan to promote peace. "If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else, then we will be no safer than we were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs." (Greg Mortenson)

Greg Mortenson was trying to summit K2 but due to circumstances was unable to. He gets lost on his way down the mountain and finds himself in a small village, Korphe. They nurse him back to health and he makes a promise to build a school for the village. The book follows Greg's amazing story of how he keeps his promise to build a school for Korphe and many other schools- especially for girls. It's really amazing what he has accomplished.

6 out of 5 stars! *It's on sale at Costco in case anyone is wondering :)

The Nose Knows

Today started off like any other Monday. I made the 5:45 class at the gym and was ready for the girls when they woke up at 7:30. From there it was wrap a baby gift, send some pictures to Costco, get our errand snacks together (things I should have done the night before), feed the girls, discuss some Nursery things with my Primary President on the phone before her meeting, get the girls dressed and be out the door by 8:30 to make it to Abby's speech.

Everything was good and we were on schedule until it came time to get into the car. Abby was in, ready to go. Kaitlyn was refusing to get her shoes on and was walking out in some of Abby's shoes. This is where it went downhill. Kaitlyn trips, falls, and SLAMS her nose into the car foot board. She is now screaming at the top of her lungs and I rush her inside to see what is wrong. I thought she just hit the top of her head. It was her nose and a big bump started showing up immediately. My first thought was that she broke it because of the big bump.

I tried calming Kaitlyn down to no avail. I got her in the car and called the Dr.'s and told them what happened and that we were on our way to get it checked out. They were so nice and saw us right away. Their first thought when they saw her was that it was broken and we should x-ray it. However, there was no blood gathering in her nose and Kaitlyn didn't wince when the Dr. squeezed and pinched the bridge. Good signs. The Dr. gave me two choices- wait and see what the swelling does or go and get a x-ray. We are now doing the wait and see game and it's only 9:00 A.M. Maybe I'm just an over reactive mother - I have seen kids with worse. What a morning it's been.

Field Trip

Abby's class minus the 2 boys who refused to get in the picture

This past Friday we went on a field trip with Abby's pre-school class to the zoo. Our favorite animals this time were the otters. They came right up to the window where we were standing. The girls just stood there forever.

The have made a lot of changes to the zoo and had a new part for the "Children's zoo". It has a nice playground, a petting zoo, and a water fountain that the kids can play in. Once my girls saw the water, that was it. Soaking wet but lots of fun. Kaitlyn was young enough I just stripped her down into her diaper and boy was she mad when we left. We ended the fun day with a stop at McDonald's for lunch.

The Water Fountain

Kaitlyn saw older kids laying down in the water so she wanted to try it too.

Notice the very wet pants. She commented that she wanted to just run around in her underwear like Kaitlyn.

Karaoke

Your Karaoke Theme Song is "YMCA"

You're the type of person who can't have fun unless everyone else is right there with you having a blast. You have an amazing knack for figuring out what people want, and you don't mind going the extra mile to make them happy. The spotlight is something you enjoy on occasion, but you prefer that not all the attention is on you. If you've gotten people to sing or dance along with you, then you're song is a success. You might also sing: "Macarena," "Hot, Hot, Hot" or "Stayin' Alive" Stay away from people who sing: "The Greatest Love of All"

What's Your Karaoke Theme Song?

Talking

Kaitlyn is starting to talk a little more so we thought we'd capture a few words on film. She was doing puzzles while we were filming so in some cases she was more interested in them.

-Shaking her head

Shaking the head from sassy momma on Vimeo.

-Making Faces

Faces from sassy momma on Vimeo.

-Words and animal sounds

Kaitlyn saying words and animal sounds from sassy momma on Vimeo.

Truck Rodeo

Every year our library hosts a "Truck Rodeo" for all the kids. The city brings in many of their vehicles from fire trucks and ambulances to mowers and bulldozers. The kids love it because they can climb up in the driver seats, honk horns, try on helmets, and just have fun. Abby fell out of the first truck - a good 2 foot fall and landed on her back. She was tough and didn't cry even though I know she would have had we been alone. She took a little while to warm up to getting back into one of the trucks but finally did. And Kaitlyn refused to get in any driver seat. Besides that, and a little rain, we really enjoyed ourselves. Really. The fire truck was the overall favorite for our family. The were able to do the most exploring on that truck.

Some of the trucks

Bulldozer (I couldn't get them ever to look at me the same time AND smile)

Driving the fire truck

Operating a crane

Year of the House- Feb and March

So I wasn't as productive these past two months- darn TV! However, I was able to update our 72 hour kit and sell about 50 things on Ebay. But, my biggest accomplishment was getting Abby's room done with the painting - I add scallops to her wall. I also repainted a brass bed for her room. We moved our full size bed from the guest room to her room. I'm really happy with how Abby's room has turned out and Abby is so happy to be in a big bed!

The Brass bed before:

Bed and scallops finished!

31 Random Things

So these are some facts about me (I stole this from a few blogs I've seen):

1. I taught school for 6 years (2nd, 3rd, and ESL)
2. I was the Color Guard captain at BYU
3. I was an EFY counselor for 5 years
4. I like to bake
5. I like to decorate cakes
6. I hate to run
7. I'm currently training to run a 5K
8. I tore my ACL skiing
9. I like to read
10. I Love children's books
11. I have a LARGE collection of children's books
12. My favorite children's book is "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
13. I procrastinate
14. I work better with deadlines and feeling the pressure
15. My first date with Todd was at a Ranger's baseball game
16. I met Todd at the Galleria Ice Skating Rink
17. I've gone SCUBA diving in Cozumel and the Great Barrier Reef - I now want to get certified
18. While river rafting in Switzerland, I got knocked out and the guide had to pull me in
19. I'm pretty good at puzzles
20. Been on a cruise to Alaska
21. I talk in my sleep
22. I'm half German thanks to my mom
23. I can only speak a handful of German words (my parents are both fluent)
24. I was a bartender for Chili's at 18
25. I play the flute
26. I played 2nd base on my softball team when I was in HS
27. There are 4 kids in my family. I'm #3
28. I have a "magic" show
29. I'm allergic to penicillin
30. I was in a play in Junior High and in High School
31. I can never sneeze just once- always multiple times. The most being 13 times in a row.