A little pebble in the ocean

Dear blog readers,

How are you? Have you had a good day? Did you make anyone smile? Did you do something uplifting for your mind, such as read a book or have an intelligent discussion with a friend or loved one? I sometimes like to evaluate my day with questions like these... at least today anyway. I made my primary children smile today when I brought them a treat for following directions. Our lesson was on obedience today and they were good examples of this important attribute. I also read my scriptures today and that was quite intellectually uplifting. Anyway, I would love to hear what some of you have done today to make it a pleasant one.

On another subject, Emma is now in a big girl bed. Her crib is officially put away and is now sleeping in a twin size bed. We had initially planned on getting her a toddler bed, but instead found a lovely antique twin bed that we couldn't pass up. The real story is that we thought it was the width of a toddler bed, but when we got it home and actually measured it, we discovered that it was about 12 inches wider than that. So, we changed our plans and just decided to have Emma sleep in this bigger bed. We found a great thin, but comfortable foam mattress at IKEA. Since it isn't as thick as a regular mattress (and it is without box springs), it keeps the bed quite low to the ground and will hopefully prevent any injuries as a result of rolling off the bed in the night. So far, Emma's new bed experiences have been successful. She's taken good long naps and slept through the night without falling off. She's also been quite good at not getting out of bed when it's time to go to sleep. She's learning quickly that she needs to stay in bed when we put her there and it isn't a time to get up and play with toys. We are very proud of our big girl... but I tell you, she looks quite small in this bed... a little pebble in the ocean. ;)

Days of the Week

So, today is Saturday. I don't know what to think about Saturday. I used to really love Saturday, because Ben and I would go out and do fun things on Saturday. It usually consisted of shopping and eating out. Nowadays, though, Ben has either been busy studying for school or needing to work at the hospital. So, lately, I haven't been able to form an opinion on what I think about Saturdays. It basically just turns into any other day of the week. Since Ben is often gone, Emma and I try to stick with our regular routine, so we don't go crazy. Anyway, since in the last post, I was blabbed about how I loved Mondays, I thought I would create a quick poll for what everyone's favorite day of the week is. The poll creator only let me have five answers, so I just put other to include Tuesday-Thursday. I'd be interested to find out if anyone's favorite day of the week is actually one of those. Especially if you select "other", be sure to explain your choice in a comment. Oh, and I voted Friday as my favorite day of the week. I like it the most because I still have routines for the day, but I usually have something to look forward to for the evening, since Ben and I have tried to set apart Friday evenings as "Ben and Susan time". It's usually a simple activity like watching a movie at home with some ice cream, but I enjoy it just the same.



The past couple of days, Emily has been in Tucson inspecting schools. So, we've had Adam at our place during the day. It's been very eventful and busy. On Thursday morning, we spent some time over at the apartment playground. I thought they were pretty funny to watch, so I took a short video:

While watching this video afterwords, I was rather surprised to notice that I actually giggled after Emma took a face-plant off the slide. I guess she didn't get hurt, but you'd think I would run to her aid or something. Good grief. Who gave me permision to be a mother, eh? ;)

Fishing for Family Time

Happy Monday everyone! I enjoy Mondays. I haven't always, but recently I've really appreciated each new week. It's like a new start. One of my goals for today was to do something fun with Emma, so I took her to a new squirt park I discovered that's relatively close to the house (about 10-15 minutes away). It was great! It was small, but new, nice, and fun. Emma enjoyed herself. She always likes to get wet. I haven't taken any Emma pictures for a while, so I've posted a couple from our squirt park experience.


My other goal for today is to have a decent Family Home Evening. I started to prepare some things last night (which is great, especially considering if we even do an FHE at all, I usually won't pull something together until 5 mintues before). Yesterday, Emma had done some coloring in nursery of some "Obedience fish". Each fish has a simple statement that needs to be followed, such as "Sing 'I Am a Child of God'", or "Put your hand on your head". So, I cut each fish out and put some magnets on each of them. I just need to fashion myself a small fishing pole. Hopefully Emma will have fun with it. Anyway, our Family Home Evening will be on Obedience, so I also found a good Conference article on Obedience, in which I'll pull out a few thoughts for Ben and my sake. This is the first time I've ever even tried to really include Emma in our Family Home Evening. We usually do something in the late evening, after she's gone to sleep. But, especially now that she is starting nursery, I really think she'd enjoy some FHE activities we can do as a family... such as fishing for obedience fish. I'll let you know if we are successful. I welcome any suggestions for fun lesson ideas or activities to do with young children in a Family Home Evening.

Pioneer Day?

I really don't have time to be doing this right now... but here I am anyway. What does that tell you about me? Well, to begin, I am often a procrastinator. I know others that are worse procrastinators than me, however, because they never seem to get worried about stuff until the very last possible second, or even until it's too late. I start to get a sense of looming doom as due dates come near, so I start dealing with stuff soon enough that I can take care of it, but still not as soon as I would like. Maybe good advice would be that if I'm feeling a sense of doom upon me, I've already procrastinated longer than I should have. I would prefer to be so on top of things, that sense of "doom" would never arise. Anyway, second of all, I am not great at prioritizing. Otherwise, I would be planning my tutoring for this afternoon, or paying bills, or cleaning my house... instead of blogging.

So, now that I've given you a peak into my inner flaws, let me continue with other more cheery issues. Yesterday was Pioneer Day! I had several interesting convesations yesterday regarding this most obscure of holidays. First of all, I would never have thought of it as "obscure" until I moved out of Utah. In Utah, Pioneer Day is a state event. Businesses close, people have barbeques, and parades and fireworks ensue. I even called a bank in Utah, whom we still have an account through, to pay a bill and they were closed in honor of treasured Pioneer Day! It is a lovely holiday. In fact, it has always been like a second 4th of July for me. But now that I am in Arizona, I have learned that Pioneer Day is obscure indeed. Even most the church members don't even give it a second thought. It's quite a change in perspective. However, I had my own "inner" Pioneer Day celebration yesterday. I wished many people, "Happy Pioneer Day!" and reminisced of my Pioneer Day childhood memories. So, yesterday was a lovely "private" holiday for me, despite the lack of fireworks, parades, or barbeques.

Well, I will now go back to dealing with my errands, tasks, and chores. In parting, I wish you all a lovely belated Pioneer Day!

Living like a Queen....

So, this past week (since Sunday night) I've been down in Tucson, AZ, working and playing. I had to visit several school districts to do inspections in the area, and there was also an AASBO (Arizona Association of School Business Officials) Conference going on in Tucson as well. Because of the Conference, we were able to stay at a great resort during the week! We stayed at the Marriot Starr Pass Resort. It was a lovely place, with a great pool! We all spent a lot of time swimming. Above is a picture of me looking lovely in my white swimsuit. ;) Also, Emma really showed off her daredevil acts, jumping off ledges and dunking herself repeatedly, giggling all the while. Anyway, our only real parking option was valet, so I got really used to driving up to the front and giving up the car to someone else to park for me. I felt rather spoiled, always having someone at the front to open the door, welcome me back, and help me with my luggage. I also reaped the benefits of room service, something I wouldn't mind having at home as well. What a joy to call for a variety of meals, from breakfast to dessert, and have someone deliver it to your very room! Anyway, now I have to figure out how to find food for myself as a lowly commoner. Oh, if only I were the Queen of France, with people serving me at every call! I wonder if I would tire of such a life. I may never know. :)

My brother is home!

So, I feel like I've died and now come back to life. It's been quite a while since I've posted anything, or checked the computer at all; now I feel like I have at least 10 posts worth of material to share. So much has gone on in the last few weeks. First of all, my brother came home! Elder Szymanski is now Aaron and we are so glad to have him back with the family. Emma and I flew up to Utah on June 28th to get ready for Aaron's return. We made silly banners and signs throughout the neighborhood and decorated the house up real nice and tacky like. :) We even made him a cake shaped like Wisconsin with little flags marking all of his areas. So, on June 30th we went to the airport and picked up our lovely brother. He was smiling, but quiet. After a couple of days though, he was rather normalized and seemed to be happy in familiar surroundings. We had a great couple of weeks together as a family. We visited grandparents, did fireworks in the driveway, played some disc golf (Aaron's new passion that he picked up on his mission), geocached, watched movies, played games, and went to Disneyland!! Disneyland was wonderful... it is my absolute favorite place! Ben drove up from Arizona to meet us in Anaheim. Sadly I wasn't the greatest at taking pictures while we were there. I was too excited and busy to bother. ;) But I did take a couple...

To the left is Aaron, Mom, and Dad in line for the newly remodled Pirates of the Carribean. The classic ride is now sporting several appearances of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. There were also a couple other special effects changes. I found the differences to be subtle but quite pleasing.
Below is the family taking a break while at California Adventure. This was taken on the second Disneyland day; as you can see, we look pretty worn out. ;)

So, we had two days at Disneyland and then on the third day we spent the morning at Newport Beach. It was busy but beautiful. It was nice to be able to sit and and enjoy the ocean breeze. Emma really appreciated the big waves as well. Aaron also dug a hole for Emma. We put her in it, but she didn't like that very much.
After the beach we started our long drive home. Luckily we opted to stop about halfway to spend the night in Prim, Nevada... about 30 minutes outside of Las Vegas. We stayed at the Buffalo Bills Hotel and rode on the scariest roller coaster ever! Good grief... it was an experience of a lifetime I tell you. Apparently in 1996, "the Desperado" was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. Well, I believe them, because it was the craziest ride I've ever been on. I was giggling, and crying, and screaming all at the same time, if you can imagine. So, the next day, we drove the rest of the way home and I was then able to spend a couple more days with the family before flying home on July 12th. My birthday was on the 11th. I turned 24! I had a nice day... Mom took Emma and I to a new aquarium that opened up nearby. We saw sharks, and stingrays, and octopus, and jellyfish! It was very educational and entertaining. I also did a little birthday shopping, and went geocaching and disc golfing with Aaron, Dad, and Sarah. Mom was so nice as to babysit Emma for me while I got to get out for a while.

On Wednesday morning I flew home with Emma and Ben had a few birthday surprises as well. He had cleaned the apartment top to bottom (even dusted!), and made me a romantic gormet dinner. I feel like I have a chef for a husband. I thought the meal looked so nice, I took a picture of it. Yes, I don't take any great Disneyland pictures, but I was sure to take one of my dinner. :) He also got me some beautiful flowers and a cute trifle bowl from Crate and Barrel.

Today, I'm trying to get back into my responsiblities... figuring out our finances, putting away Emma's vacation stuff, tutoring, and visit teaching. Next week, Emily and I will be traveling to Tucson to inspect schools for the week. Oh, if only we could be on vacation every week.... but then, I guess they would no longer be vacations.

Midsummer Night Eve

Did you know that today is a holiday? Today is Midsummer Night Eve! Traditionally summer solstice celebrations occur on the 24th of June, making the 23rd the Eve of the longest day of the year. Apparently, the 24th is no longer the longest day of the year. Over time, it has moved to now be the 21st of June. Nonetheless, summer solstice celebrations are often celebrated on the 23rd and 24th, and from reading Wikipedia, I learned that a variety of countries have midsummer celebrations, most of which involve bonfires. In Latvia, it is a national holiday and almost as important as Christmas! So, I bring all this up because Ben's family has always had a Midsummer Night Eve celebration themselves. Since much of the family was going to be out of town this weekend, we celebrated last Sunday, while we were together for Father's Day. Their tradition is to 'float a cake', while singing songs and taking turns reading a favorite poem or piece of literature. Here's a video of our cake float; we sang a few songs, including "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home" in honor of our wonderful fathers. The best part is then getting to eat the cake!

So, I started a new job this past week as a playground/premise inspector for the Arizona School Risk Retention Trust (also known simply as "The Trust"). They are basically an insurance company for Arizona schools. It's an interesting, but great summer job. I'm coordinating Emma watching with Ben and Emily (who is working as an inspector as well!). I inspected my first schools this morning. I woke up at 4:30 and was out the door at 5:00. I went to three schools near downtown Phoenix area. It was pretty quick, but it should become even smoother as I visit more schools. It was actually pretty fun! I just take pictures of safety violations and jot down notes and sketches of the playgrounds, in addition to filling out some checklists. I also check janitor closets and locker rooms for water damage and mold. Yipee... mold! :) After inspecting the schools I have to put together reports. That is what apparently takes the most time. There's a lot of forms that need to be filled out and pictures to organize. The good part is that I can do it on my own time, like after Emma goes to sleep. I'm grateful to have found a flexible, decent paying job to get us through the summer!

Happy Father's Day!

Hooray! It is Father's Day. Don't we all just love our dads?! It's fun to have a day to celebrate their greatness. This post won't be long, because most of what I have to say I've recorded as an audio clip. In it I recite a Father's Day poem, entitled, "My Dad" (not a very clever title, but hopefully the poem will make up for it). This poem can be listened to by all, but it was written and recorded specifically with my own "Dadoo" in mind. :)


To view in a written form, click here.

Happy Father's Day!

Flag Day

So, yesterday (June 14th) was Flag Day. Flag Day celebrates the "birthday" of the American flag. It actually didn't become an official holiday until 1949, but was unofficially celebrated for many years prior. It was on June 14, 1777, that the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act, as a means of officially establishing a flag for the United States. Anyway, the tradition in Ben's family was to make a flag cake on Flag Day. So, I did. It was officially my first time making such a cake. Technically, I guess you should use blueberries, but I used blackberries for the corner... because I don't really like blueberries. This was Emily's suggestion, as she doesn't enjoy blueberries either.

I've started work on a new website, entitled Thoughts for the Home. You are welcome to browse it (through the link on the side), but be warned, it is very incomplete. Many links lead to nowhere. ;) I discovered Google Page Creator and I just had to come up with a reason to use it, so take a look. I have a large portion of the "cooking" section complete, but not much else.

As a side note, Emma swam in her pool this morning, and as you can see she had a lovely time!

Practical living

So, since I've been out of town for the last couple of weeks, I've gotten out of my routines. Yesterday, I decided to get back on track, so Emma and I were up and ready for our walk at 6:30 - stroller, water, snacks, keys, tennis shoes - the works. We stepped outside and... YUCK! HOT!... we quickly came back inside. I jumped onto weather.com and discovered that it was 85 degrees outside at 6:30 in the morning!! The high was to be 109!! Oh good grief.... so much for my morning walk routine, which I had proudly done for the last few weeks (before going out of town). I was quite distressed about this yesterday, but was soon rejuvinated from Enrichment last night. We had dinner and then classes focussed on organization, cleaning, and time management. It was very informative. I even learned how to make my own laundry detergent (powder and liquid)! During the time management class, we talked briefly about fitting exercise into our schedules. As part of the discussion, I shared my woes in trying to go walking that morning... many sisters excitedly shared their ideas, the best being 'mall walking'. I remembered Emily had mentioned she had been doing this recently. Apparently, our nearby mall (as well as most others, I am sure) opens at 6:00 am, even though most stores stay closed till 10. So, you can walk the halls of what I thought would be a deserted mall. This morning, I tried it out - it takes about 10 minutes to get there, but it was very worthwhile. I loved it because it was air conditioned, and Emma loved it because of the music being played over the loud speaker (she danced in her stroller much of the way). We were there from about 7:30-8:15 this morning. There were a couple of things open... Mervyns, and Paradise Cafe. I was mostly surprised at how many people were there walking - it was mostly old women, but also a handful of stroller pushers, couples, and lone walkers with their headphones on. It was quite pleasant. And the children's play area was even open for use, so next time I think I'll leave 30 minutes earlier so there is more time for Emma to play (and get her exercise) as well!

Anyhoo, that is my story. Today, I don't have a whole lot planned. I need to make a meal plan for the week. I may even try making a monthly meal plan - it was one of the suggestions at Enrichment last night from the time management class. I've already made a list of our favorite meals; now I may try putting it into a calendar. Oh, the joys of motherhood and of being a wife... I'm always surprised at the things I find to make mundane tasks new and interesting. It's definitely important to keep busy. Speaking of busy, I have a new tutoring student that I've started working with a couple times a week. I'm helping his mom prep him for Kindergarten in the fall. I also start training next week for a summer playground inspection job. So, I'll be plenty busy this summer!

Oh, here are some of the cleaning solution recipes I received last night:

Powdered Laundry Detergent-
1 cup grated soap
1/2 cup washing soda (can find this in laundry isle, and comes in a 55 oz yellow box, made by Arm & Hammer, but very different from baking soda)
1/2 cup borax
Put ingredients in a container and shake up. Apparently you only need to use a Tablespoon of this detergent for a light load and 2 T for a large or heavily soiled load.

Laundry Softener-
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups baking soda
4 cups water
Combine slowly and carefully over sink. The baking soda and vinegar will fizz. Pour into plastic bottle, cover, and shake.

All Purpose Cleaner and Disinfectant-
1 teaspoon borax
1/2 teaspoon washing soda
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
In a spray bottle that will hold at least a pint, combine the ingredients. Add 1 cup very hot wather and shake well, mixing and dissolving the dry ingredients. To use, simply spray and wipe. This can be used indefinitely.

Automatic Dishwasher Soap-
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
Mix the washing soda and the borax and store in a plastic covered container. To use, add 2 tablespoons to the dishwasher soap compartment. If you have hard water, add 1 to 1 1/2 cups white vinegar to the rinse compartment (in place of Jet Dry) before washing.

This is just a handfull of the cleaning recipes I gathered last night. I was amazed at how they all basically use the same set of ingredients, so this would be very cost effective! I haven't tried any of it myself yet, but the lady who taught this portion swears it all works wonders (just as good or better than store bought products). Let me know if any of you have a different cleaning recipe or advice or thoughts on any of the ones listed above.

Guatemala!

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Above are all of the pictures that Ben took while in Guatemala. To view the pictures individually just click on the slideshow or the link under "Pictures" on the sidebar.



Ben finally returned from Guatemala last night. His plane was delayed, so Emma and I had a late night; we picked him up from the airport at 10:00 pm. It was a very happy reunion, for we haven't been together as a family for a week and half. That can be a long time. Anyway, Ben came bearing gifts of curious workmanship. I received several necklaces, one of which is pink quartz with matching earings from a well known jade factory in Antigua. It is my early birthday present. Ben is so thoughtful. He also got Emma a cute summer dress, himself some sandals, and a couple Mayan masks and a set of weights that use the same system as described in the Book of Mormon; Guatemala still uses this system of weight and volume today. Very interesting, eh?

So, I'll post some of my favorite pictures taken from Ben's trip with this post. My favorite pictures he took are of the people in the areas he visited. He says that they all (even the poor) wear the bright colored clothing. It is quite striking, especially with a large crowd.



This picture to the right shows the crowd that was in line one morning to see the doctors Ben was with at the clinic. He said that it was a contant line of people. This picture was taken at the clinic in San Antonio Polopo. Ben said that this area was the worst regarding the health of the people they saw. They were the most malnourished of the places they went. They spent two days in San Antonio and two days in Chuacruz, serving in the medical clinics. The other few days they spent touring in Panajachel and Antigua.

This is of Ben and Jim, the doctor he translated for during the week. He is in his 40's and has kids Ben's age. He is LDS, attended BYU, and is now an ER doctor in Washington. Ben says they had a good time working together and he was glad for their similarities, since they had to room together as well. This picture was taken in Chuacruz.

This is the hotel that the group stayed in during most of the week. It is located in Panajachel, which is is about 30 minutes from San Antonio and 45 minutes from Chuacruz. They spent the nights here and would drive out to the areas they would do medical work in. He says the hotel was nice and they were quite comfortable during their stay.

The picture at the top of the post was taken in Antigua, a tourist city that hundreds of years ago was the capital of Guatemala. Guatemala City is now the capital, and it wasn't until 50-100 years ago that Antigua was restored and remade into the beautiful city it is today. Ben and his group spent a couple days at the end of their trip touring and shopping Antigua. I love the bright colored buildings! Below is a picture of the majority of Ben's group after hiking to a hill overlooking Antigua. Ben says the group he was with were all wonderful and great to work with. He was really glad for this experience and chance to visit Guatemala again after serving his mission there.

Past the long necks and over the rivers that burn.....

So, I've been gone the past week and a half to play in Utah. I got to spend a lot of time with family, which was especially nice. While I've been in Utah, Ben has been galavanting around in Guatemala, performing medical service and providing translating help. What a good young man he is! He gets home tomorrow and I just can't wait to see him! He got priority to take the camera, since he was off to a much more interesting place, so sadly I have no pictures from my Utah visit. However, Monday I will post some pictures from Ben's trip to tropical Central America. I'm sure they will be culturally uplifting!

So, I did some fun things this past week, while playing with family. For one thing, I visited the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. It was a great place! It was especially fantastic for the kids. They had some very impressive exhibits and activities for young ones to do (and I had fun with them as well!). To play some silly dinosaur games, click here. Later in the week, we rode on the Heber Creeper up Provo Canyon and back. I don't remember ever having rode on a real train before. It was very fun, but also made me thankful that we now have cars, because they sure are a slow and bumpy way to travel!

Oh, Dadoo just emailed me some pictures taken while visiting the Hogle Zoo, one of the many fun outings I had while in Utah. And I forgot to mention, that I also visited Wheeler Farm! Emma thought the chickens were the greatest. By the way, the picture to the right was taken while aboard the zoo train. Sarah kept busy by taking documentary footage of our travels.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well! I'll post again soon...

Ice Man

So, the holiday weekend is over... but the beauty of summer is that is like a very long holiday. In a way, I feel like my holiday is just beginning! So, we had a good weekend. I particularly enjoyed X-Men 3. It wasn't quite as great as the first two, but I was very entertained - it was very suspenseful and surprising as well. The tone of the movie was a little different than the first two, but I enjoyed the plethera of new mutants and their intriguing powers. I think if I could have any power, I would want to be like the Ice man. Then, I could always have a cold drink, and make it snow at Christmas. :)

I know I've posted a lot of pictures of Emma playing in the water, but that is practically all she does lately with the hot weather. So, here are some more pictures taken at Ben's parents house on Memorial Day. We had a barbeque and played outside; it was a lovely day! Oh, and we also watched "Nanny McPhee" and it was great! I recommend it - it's currently available for rent and purchase.

Sunbathing

Hooray for Summer! With the heat, summer just wouldn't be fun without lots of water! We took the kids to the Tempe Splash Playground this afternoon. It was really fun. We went there last summer, but Emma was still so small, she couldn't really enjoy like she can now. As you see from the pictures (and be sure to check the Flickr badge for more), Adam and Emma both enjoyed themselves. Emma particularly enjoyed "sunbathing". She is such a girl... already trying to get a tan. :)

So, we are no longer planning on camping since we didn't try to find reservations till a couple of days ago. Apparently, lots of people like to camp on Memorial Day weekend, because all the campgrounds we called around to were all booked up. Instead, we will be hanging around town with family and watching movies. Tomorrow we are planning on having an X-Men marathon. We're going to watch the first two at home, and then go to the theatre and see X-Men 3. I'm quite excited, especially since we have a babysitter coming to watch the kiddies (Emma and Adam). That always makes for an especially fun evening... not that I don't enjoy the babies around... they are cute and real blessing... but not so much at the movie theatre ;)

I hope you all have a happy holiday weekend! Be sure to celebrate by eating some watermelon and playing in the sprinklers because summer is here!

Four-Toed Giant Statue Leg

So, I've been occupying my time in ways other than blogging lately... which is probably a good thing: moderation in all things, I suppose. I cleaned the house a lot today and did some much needed grocery shopping. I hate running out of food. It kind of creeps up on you... you start out having plenty of things to eat (lots of unneccessary snacking items, plenty of lovely yellow bananas, etc)... then all of a sudden, you are eating leftover chocolate chips as an afternoon treat and the bananas are all covered in brown spots. Anyway, I remedied that this afternoon.

(Spoiler Alert!)So, LOST was unbelievable last night! We watched it with some friends; it was fun to all be gasping at the same parts and simulatenously shouting "obscenities" at Michael. That Michael... I kind of felt bad for him until he actually just left his friends like that... all tied up with those crazies about to take them away. And I thought Hurley was going to attack him when he found out it was him who shot Libby. I can't believe he kept his cool. And pressing the button is what's been keeping that huge magnet from bringing death and destruction to everything in its path!.... and it was Desmond's missed "button pressing" that caused the plane to crash! WO! That was a big piece of information, eh?! Anyway, in true Lost style, I came away from the season finale with way more questions than I had previously, but also very satified with my entertainment for the evening. Oh, and how could I forget?! What was up with the 4 toed giant statue leg?! And is Echo, Locke, and Desmond really dead?! And has Desmond's girlfriend actually located the island?! Holy cow!

Critical Critics

So, another week is coming to an end... I always thought of Sunday as the last day of the week and the Monday the beginning of the next; however, the calendar says otherwise. We had a pleasant evening last night with family visiting to eat dinner, play games, and eat ice cream. Emma and Adam are particularly entertaining together as Adam likes to play the big brother, and Emma likes to imitate what Adam does. They are funny pair (as is exhibited in the video above). "The other Ben" and I completed the final challenge of the DaVinci Code Quest in about 8 minutes. I am highly doubtful that will win us any fame and glory, but it was a fun challenge.

Les Mis on Friday was really great. The music was lovely and the performance was quite impressive. Also, the DaVinci Code movie was impressive as well. Despite its' poor reviews, I really enjoyed it. It followed the book well, and it was everything I hoped it would be. I'm not sure why the "critics" didn't like it. Honestly, I sometimes think movie critics have seen too many movies to be a good judge of what is entertaining any more. Is that a logical thing to say?

Well, have a nice Sunday evening! I hope the "end" of your week is relaxing and rejuvinating enough for the "beginning" of the next.

Lots of Entertainment!

Hello! So, Ben is just now taking his last med school final of his first year.... so when he returns he will officially be a second year medical student! I am so proud of him. He has done so well. I have such a smart hubby. :)

Emma has a doctors appointment this morning... for her 15 month well-baby check up. She is growing up so fast. After the appointment, Ben and I will be traveling across the valley to see The DaVinci Code with Emily and Ben. We even are going to have a babysitter for the kiddies. How pleasant. The reviews seem to be rather poor for the movie, but I am still too interested not to go see it. Oh, and this evening, I'll be going to see Les Miserables with Emily! What a fun day! I've never seen Les Mis; I guess I am kind of a cultural outcast to have never seen it. I'll be sure to let you know what I think.

I found this really amusing video clip. It's a real life Simpsons intro. I'm not sure where it came from, other than I picked it up off of "You Tube".



Oh, and I also found this really amazing video of some incredible machines. The show was made in Japan. Ben and I particularly liked the little Japanese jingle at the end of each machine demonstration. Anyway, just watch it and you'll see.

Mind Reader

So, I found another great blog gadget that I just couldn't resist. This particular one is called BubbleShare and would be especially fun to use for vacation pictures or something. And apparently it automatically brings up these bubbles that show people's thoughts... kind of creepy. ;) Anyway, I was more or less looking for a set of pictures to experiment with... so of coarse, I used some more Emma photos (because it's not like we ever take pictures of ourselves... or anyone other than Emma).... I guess you could say I am a new mom. To view the pictures at a larger size, click on the picture and you can then view them through BubbleShare. Let me know what you think. Like I've said before, the possibilities are endless in the life of a blogger!

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I'm a Finalist!

Hello! So, thanks to my brother-in-law, Ben (a.k.a. "the other Ben), he and I (among 9,998 others) are finalists in Google's DaVinci Code Quest! The first 10,000 people to complete all 24 puzzles were selected as a "finalist" and sent a cryptex in the mail. Well, I received my cryptex, much to my excitement. It is not often that I actually win anything. I had supposed that the Google people would email with a clue to determine the code to open the cryptex, however, I was soon directed to discover that the "mystery" to unlock the ancient artifact was merely written on the back of the box that it came in.... kind of diminishes the magic of it all, eh? By entering "GRAIL" into the dials, the cryptex unlocks... once again, I was anxious for bounteous treasures to spill out before me... but once again, it was a mere piece of paper directing me to view a specific website for further instruction. Oh well... I must say, I was pleased with the cryptex itself, despite its' having minimal mystique. It is constructed with a heavy material and is a fun keepsake. The next step, as a finalist, is to wait until the 19th (when, 'coincidentally', the movie is also released), when 5 new puzzles will be available through my personalized Google webpage. The person to complete these puzzles in the fastest time (from the time the person is logged in) will receive a multiplicity of riches! I'm already packing my bags! :)

Emma once again, enjoyed another dip in her little Emma-sized pool. She's taken a particular fancy to dunking herself with cupfulls of water and giggling each time. It is a fun game for her and entertaining for me to watch. Assuming the pool doesn't blow away or rip, I think it will bring Emma many Summer days of fun. In addition to the video below, be sure to click on the flickr icon for a couple new photos of Emma. And in case, you've never experimented with flickr, you can click on any of the mini-thumbnails on the icon on the right and it will bring up the particular picture you click on. You can then view all of the pictures by clicking on "susand's photostream" or viewing the pictures as a slideshow.
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Early Summer Pleasures

What a wonderful Mother's Day I had yesterday! I actually feel rejuvinated having had a day to really relax and not feel guilty about. Ben took really good care of me and Emma to ensure that I had a pleasant day. I woke up to a clean house and a wonderful breakfast and even a mother's greeting on power point (isn't that just like Ben?). The best part is I didn't have to change a diaper all day! Woohoo! Oh, and Emma was particularly good during Sacrament meeting. She didn't have to be taken out even once. What a day!

To backtrack, on Saturday afternoon Emma and I went to Target and purchased some fun outdoor items for her summer enjoyment: sidewalk chalk, a beach ball, and an inflatable baby pool. We tried out the pool right away when we got home. Since we don't have a hose, I had to fill it up in shifts of about 10 pitchers of water and it still wasn't that full, but enough for Emma to really enjoy herself. I think an expression of Emma's true feelings for her new pool are portrayed quite accurately in the picture above. We may try out the sidewalk chalk sometime today. We'll see if I have a budding artist on my hands.

So, Emma continues to improve her signing abilities. She can now officially do all of the signs on the first 3 DVD's of Signing Time. That's almost 80 signs! I really think signing is great for kids this age. I feel like she can communicate with me so much more than she would otherwise. I also think it will help her start to speak even sooner and more efficiently because she is starting early to make language connections and better understand communcation. It's very exciting! I've added a couple videos of Emma doing various signs: one below and another called "Signing Emma 3" on the sidebar.


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