Happy first day of Spring!!

Yes, happy first day of Spring. Nebraska has had an incredibly mild winter, but she's not ending it that way. This is only our 3rd real snowstorm of the whole year, so I can't really complain. It started snowing Sunday night and hasn't really stopped yet! Monday, Whitney stood at the door a lot of the day checking it all out. She gave the door a good cleaning by licking it too. Hey, gotta start those chores at an early age right? State Farm sent everyone home early yesterday andMatt doesn't have to go in today until 10 am, so he took the kiddos sledding over at the elementary school hill yesterday, and I bundled up Whitney to take some pictures outside. It is a really pretty snow, the snow is pretty heavy so it makes for great snowballs and snowmen, and not so bad driving. One thing I do love about the snow is that we all hunker down and play games and snuggle up inside. We've made cookies and even went out to deliver them to the new neighbor that shoveled everyones sidewalks last night. So I guess we'll stay in (the car has an awful lot of snow), and enjoy the Spring season. Here's to tulip wishes and baby bunny dreams.

Sign me up for Summer School

I need help. I need to sign up for Summer School (with Chainsaw and Dave. . ."Please take your seats. . .Where shall we take 'em?" and say it with me Lisa, "I'm Chainsaw, and I'm Dave and we'll see you, at the movies. . .) I felt like I was losing my mind for a second during sacrament meeting this morning. No, it wasn't an embarassing testimony meeting, my oldest asked me for some help writing cursive. She's at the age that she thinks writing cursive is so cool. So she asked me to help her write a letter to her teacher. She wanted to say I like you. I swear I had a total brain lapse and could not for the life of me rememeber how to make a cursive Capital "I". Seriously. What was wrong with my brain? It was not working correctly. It took me several doodles on the page before I remembered. Oh my goodness, Mrs. Claussen would be so upset. I can see in my head the border above the chalkboard with the scripted letters. . .the horror of learning the cursive letters was all coming back. I guess it's been quite a while since I've used my penmanship skills. I tested my knowledge and grabbed a paper from her bag and tried out all the letters. I had the most trouble with I, Q, and Z. It took Matt and I together to remember the Z. Matt got it right. Has my brain gone to so much mush that I can't even remember my basic writing skills? So, I'm signing up for remedial penmanship. Anyone join me? Here, click this and sharpen up your favorite #2 pencil to get started.

Calling all Chocoholics. . .

The best $2.29 you can spend. . .or $4.58, or $6.87, or $9.16. . .

Whitney takes the cake!

We celebrated sweet Whitney's birthday on Sunday with Matt's family! Like everyone says, that went fast! Cliche, I know, but it's so true. It seemed like the first 6 months were so long, but the next 6 flew by! Here are the classic 1st birthday pictures. . . Hmm. . .this looks interesting. . .
Smells good too. . .maybe I'll just eat the bottom part

I'm coming to get you. . .ah. .ah. . ahAll done!
Oh wait, not until I do my hair. . .

Happy birthday babe!!

The feral child

Whitney must be getting ready to walk. She's opted to forget the actual bi-ped walking and go for the quad-ped (is that even a word?) walk. We've taken to calling this her "Mowgli" walk. Maybe she's secretly sneaking out at night to be raised by wolves?? Or maybe her knees are just rebelling against our hardwood floors??

Holy Nastiness Batman!

Ever been awakened by the dreaded. . ."mom, mom, mom, MOM!!"? Matt's been on his vacation since Tuesday (I can't complain, I'm the one that sent him). It has gone swimmingly well. The girls have been realatively happy, healthy and obedient (kind of.) I knew I had one more night to go until he was home Saturday afternoon. Since things had gone so well we headed to rent some movies and I even made Oreo shakes once Whitney was snoozing. I think that's where things went wrong but I'm still not sure what the evil was. From here on out, it ain't pretty, so read at your own risk, or your gag-reflexes own risk.

I had just fallen asleep when Molly appears in the hallway saying the words I so did not want to hear in the tone of voice I didn't want to hear. After I can focus my eyes, she's standing kind of funny with a tissue in her hand. As a mom I think I've trained myself to go from 0-60 pretty fast so I start the barrage of questioning. "Are you ok?" Yeah. "Are you going to throw up?" No. "Did you have an accident?" Yes. Ok, this hasn't happened in forever but ok. As I get out of bed the smell hits me over the head. WOW! What happened and what the heck is that smell? Oh, no, that is not good. As I lift her dainty nightgown something has indeed gone wrong. That's right kids. . ."When you're sliding into first and you feel a sudden burst. .. " That's right, your enemy and mine. . .Dia-flippin-rrhea! I stood there not even knowing what to do or where to start. Ok, into the tub to contain the beast. I managed to get the nightgown off with only a little of it being slimed. The nastiness has gone all the way down her legs. Poor thing, she is shaking and cold and still half asleep and just as stunned as I am. I toss the underwear, no chance of those Barbie puppy underwear being saved, Molly is sad. It's ok, I would pay $1000 not to have to clean those suckers out. I figure all of the mess can go right down the drain for all I care so I grab the cup and clean everything off without having to touch it. Next, the Lysol disinfecting wipes. I think I used the whole container, and a whole bottle of Purell anti bacterial. Ok, Molly, supermom is figuring this out. Out of the tub and stand here while I douse it with Clorox cleaner. Tub is now clean, you get back in and enjoy a nice warm bath. By the way, PLEASE make sure and jump out if this is going to happen again. Amazingly she says she and her tummy feel fine. Ok, wait, this happened in bed? Did you get any on your bed? "I don't know Mom."

I step around the corner and cannot help but laugh. There are little turd puddles all the way from her bed to the bathroom. Nice. No chance on saving this carpet right now. I grab the wipes and scrub away at all the puddles. The sheets have mostly avoided being tainted. I decided I can proably wash them and not toss them ( I was more than prepared to.) Her adorable bedspread has also managed to only catch a little of the mess and I grab it and the sheets and head downstairs to a boiling hot (ok, just regular hot) washing machine. I ran them through twice last night and again this morning. While doing that I thought of an idea, does anyone make an antibacterial detergent? Well, I'm here to say, they SHOULD!!

So, after work this morning, I'm spending the day rewashing the sheets, and praying there is some product out there to help my poor, poor carpet. Matt, I think I've got a job for you, hurry home!!

p.s. since you're already reading about this gross stuff, head over to Tales from the Crib and read my buddy Kage's latest post. Good times.

Just a reminder. . .

My mom forwarded this link to me this morning. Usually I watch these and delete, but this one is one that tugged at my heart a little. The background music, "Homeward Bound" is provided by a BYU group. I think in my everyday going-ons I've been forgetting about those families that have military service members and the ache and fear that they have everyday. No matter how you feel about what is happening halfway across the world, I hope we are all grateful to the service and sacrifice that they give. So to all of those families and their loved ones, Thank you and I hope all are homeward bound soon.

Please click here, then click the "Until we meet again" link. (I couldn't get the direct link to work)

So, a mormon girl walks into a bar. . .

Ok, no, I haven't gone off the deep end. Matt is out of town for a few days but it's not driving me to the corner bar (yet. . .) But I think you and I have missed out on something. It's not the drunken stupor of not knowing what you were doing or why you're standing in some strange place in the middle of the night (parenthood has brought me enough of that). You know what you may have missed out on? Your "bar name". One of the other faculty members at the Dental College was out at some bars for Mardi Gras. Anyway, as part of her story she was telling, she casually said that her friend gave this guy her "bar name, Rachel." I said "what?" She explained, you know the name you'd give if you're not really sure you like this guy or want him to know your actual name. So, let's have a little fun. Here's some bar names I came up with for me. . .

Meg
Liz
Milani
Jade
Jacinda

So. . .what's your bar name?

To Whitney

Dear Whitney (my babe that seems to put everything she can find into her mouth these days),
Thank you for not eating my wedding ring and anniversary band that I forgot and left on the floor right in front of you after I put your lotion on. Thanks. I really didn't want to have to look for those in your diaper.
Love, Mom

It wasn't me

Ok, I know you all were just biting your nails wondering. Was it Wendy? Sorry to disappoint but there will be no huge, overpriced Christmas presents this year. No trips to Hawaii, no SUV's. Sorry. I wasn't the one that bought the powerball ticket here in Lincoln. It was a group of 8 employees from a local factory/plant called ConAgra (3 of which actually worked their shift last night and came to the news conference from there.) So, you'll just have to be happy with the general Christmas card and picture this year.

XOXOXO Be Mine XOXOXO

Dear Valentine,
We're coming up on 17 years together! SEVENTEEN!! Sometimes I look on our 15/16 year old selves and think we were nuts. Yep, we were, but look where we are now. That road has definitely not been easy. Not that I thought it would be easy, but we've hit some big speedbumps. I was thinking about that today. I think each of those speedbumps was there to slow us down. Slow us down and force us to get to the core of what "we" are. We are in love. We are companions, friends, help-meets, partners, parental units, and lovers. A lot of what runs us over those speedbumps is frivilous junk. It's emotions and anger and selfishness. I know we have to go through it, even if it hurts. I'm amazed at the spirit that we share together. We have persevered and been able to rise above it. Thank you. Thank you for being a fabulous father of three beautiful girls. Thank you for tolerating the pink, the barbies, the tiny polly pocket shoes, and the gymboree and target bags that come home. Thank you for using your artistic abilities to paint their fingernails. Thank you for working ridulous shifts at work so you can be home with them while I'm at work. Thank you for putting up with my nagging and teasing about your perfectionistic side. Thank you for loving to play games with my family until the wee hours of the morning. Thank you for making sure I was welcomed into all your families activities from day one of us dating. Thank you for being patient with me and with all my little (and big) attitudes that I'm sure drive you crazy. Most of all thank you for loving me. So what do you say? Wanna be my valentine? And let's meet on the playground for a little kiss. (The kids can push themselves on the swings!)

Whaaa?

Did we move through some warp in the universe that I missed out on??

The perfectionist

Matt and I were wrapping up crab rangoon and wontons for part of "family dinner" at our house tomorrow. I glanced at my pan,


then looked at his


Which pan would be yours?

Beaten by a four year old--Tic-Tac-DOH!!

We took the girls out to celebrate their upcoming birthdays this week. We had free kids meal coupons come in the mail so we headed to Famous Daves. Molly went straight to work on her coloring workbook while we waited. Wanna play tic-tac-toe? Alrighty. Ok, the first game (on the top) I wasn't really paying attention, but come on, how hard is tic-tac-toe? So, Molly beat me on the first game. She was pretty excited, and I started paying attention. My brain must be on overload right? Yep, Molly won game two. Now she was laughing at me. Time to get serious. I thought I had her but oops! Every time she caught me in the trap of being able to win in two places. So, I lost again. Maybe she really is magic. (See this recent post), or maybe she's playing too much of the Merlin game that Madison got for Christmas. (Did that picture bring back any memories?)

Can I get a AMEN??

I take the same route to work every Friday morning. I happen to pass by this church, I'm not sure what type of church, but I always check out what their little sign out front has on it. I'm guaranteed to get a laugh out of it for the rest of the ride to work. I'd been meaning to blog about all the sayings I've seen, and after seeing Phreads latest blog, I was inspired! Here's what I can see on any given Friday. . .

This one was up this summer, during a nasty tree mite infestation. . .yuck, don't ask.

No screening calls anymore.

Extreme Makeover: Church Edition anyone?

hmmm, looks like it's working to me.

This one could be construed a little differently. Hmm.

This may get some takers in the month of August.

And yes, I did save the best for last. . .

Introducing MAGIC MOLLY

"Mom, pick a card ok? Pick a card and it has to be an ace ok? Ok, just pick any card and it has to be an ace ok?

"Is THIS your card Mom?"
"Wow, you're MAGIC Molly!!"
"I know."

Just a normal trip to the supermarket

So, I guess one would assume that a nice family of mice live at the local supermarket. Perhaps they could just stay hidden and not make themselves known WHILE I'M SHOPPING!! I was getting some babyfood for Whitney, and I guess the 4th sweet potatoes jar was too much for one hand. I dropped it and it crashed on the ground. I knelt down to push some of the glass shards out the way and a little mouse ran out from under the aisle shelving to investigate and quickly ran back in. . . maybe he wanted to try the sweet potatoes. EWWW. Smokey. . . want to go shopping with me next time? If there is a next time???

It ain't pretty. . .

Ok, it's official. I'm addicted. To the new INXS song "Pretty Vegas". I caught the last few episodes of Rock Star and was voting for JD Fortune (nice rock star name. . . ) all the way. And I loved the song he wrote for the show, and the other band members must have loved it too, since it's on their album. You can check it out at http://www.inxs.com/switch/ and select track 2. It was the first download to my new ipod (which also made finishing the Book of Mormon (yesterday!!!) much easier!) So enjoy, and it's one of those songs that must be played loud!!!

Family Fringe Benefits

OK, I've got an awesome family and I married into another one. . . we've got some big time fringe benefits!

Here are just a couple of my favorites!!

Matt's sister Tiff is a photographer. Not just a photographer, but an awesome, amazing photographer! Pretty much any great pictures you see of me or my kids was taken by her. . . see our Christmas card above! Not only does she take great pictures but she's a pro at using photoshop so she can take the bags out from under my eyes, wax my eyebrows (like I really have any!) and whiten my teeth all from her little computer. Bless you photoshop! She can also make children smile that weren't before. In the original above photo Molly wasn't smiling, so she just took a picture that she was smiling in and moved her face!!
P.S. you can check out her website at http://www.photographybytiffanie.com. Hey, for as many pictures she does for us, I can do a little publicity. . .

Another of Matt's sisters, Amber, has worked for a store as a cake decorator for almost 10 years, Check out these awesome cakes she has made for my kids for birthdays


Madison's princess castle cake. . .

As opposed to the cake I made. . .

Just kidding that's one she got to make at preschool in the ez bake oven!

And Molly's favorite doggy cake. . .

I'm hoping she can make some awesome ones in about a month. January 31st is Madisons birthday, and February 1st is Mollys!!

Thanks to the fam!! Love ya!

You're it!!

Ok, I've been tagged by my buddy Christy for this 24 hour thingy. You list something significant, or not so significant that occurred at each hour at some time in your life.

12:00 (midnight)--at this hour, I'm most likely finally getting to bed and I'm usually up (for the first time, not the last) to check on which kid was doing that weird cough

1:00 --I'm usually up again. I don't think I've slept "through the night" since Madison was born.

2:00 --hmm. Hopefully I've been able to sleep maybe a full hour without the kids coughing, sneezing, making strange breathing sounds, or with Matt accosting me from the other side of the bed. . . sorry, you probably didn't want to read that, but hey, I'm here to give the facts.

3:00 --this is the hour with all of my preganacies that I was up to go to the bathroom

4:00 --this is the hour that my family usually is up 'til when we get together. We stay up all night playing games, cards, etc. Sometimes we fall asleep between turns. . .

5:00 --I've probably been up a few times in a panic that I've overslept

6:00--on February 1, 2001 Molly Sue entered the world at 6:50am. She was about 5 days late, but when it was time, she came fast and furious.

7:00--just two years and 1 day earlier, Madison Mary Jill Mar entered our world at 7:56. She was 2 weeks early and caught everyone by surprise.

8:00--I'm a dental hygienist and also a faculty member at the UNMC College of Dentistry, this is the hour that clinic begins, hmm, do I want to be a nice instructor today???

9:00 --Madison starts school at this hour. I think 8 am is WAY too early for school to begin. I'm a product of afternoon kindergarten and I like it that way.

10:00--everyday this is when my stomach starts growling. Time for a little snack.

11:00--Whitney Afton Carolyn Mar came along just this past March 14th at 11:43.

12:00 (noon) --umm, anyone want to go out to lunch??

1:00--Matt and I were married almost 11 years ago at the Salt Lake City Temple during this hour.

2:00 --time to catch up on the laundry and see what's going on in the celebrity world with EXTRA! (Ok, it's yesterday's show, so I guess I'm a day late on the news.)

3:00--the attack of the kids. Molly is done with preschool and Madison is done at 3:38 (an odd time, I know) from her day of 1st grade.

4:00--If I missed Oprah at 3pm, I can watch it again!!

5:00 --No clue what to fix for dinner. Deciding what to have is one of my least favorite things to do. . .

6:00--hopefully by now the kids have been fed something.

7:00--Ah, that blessed hour of the beginning of prime-time!!

8:00--during the school year this is the hour that hopefully my kids are headed to bed (if I'm lucky!)

9:00--on the nights that Matt works late, this is when he supposed to be heading home

10:00--many nights, this is when Matt finally gets home. This hour is usually busy since the kiddos are asleep and I can run around and get all my things done. Matt and I catch up on the day, and watch some tv.

11:00--hopefully by now I'm headed to sleep, usually one of the kids has been fussing up or by now, but hopefully is back to bed for the night.

Ugh, that made me tired. I've been tagged by Lisa for another little ditty, so I'll get around to that maybe tomorrow. Good night my blog friends.

Oh, to be a cat. . .

Hey Smokey, how about YOU be the mom today, and I'll be the cat. . . .

Where have you been??

I can remember lots of things about my childhood growing up here in Nebraska.
Catching fireflies in the summer and keeping them in mason jars hoping they would be my nightlight.
Snow drifts taller than me.
Bundling up in all my snow gear to head to the hill to sled on "Snow days" off from school.
Decorating bikes for the 4th of July parade.
Staying out from dawn 'til dusk on my rad banana seat bike heading up to the cul-de-sac to hang out with all the neighborhood kids and play kick the can and jailbreak.

And of course, the sweet, sweet taste of Jello Pudding Pops. My favorite was the chocolate/vanilla swirl. Then sometime in the 80's they were snatched from existence. Where have you gone sweet, sweet pudding pops?? I wondered day after day. Once in a while as my kids and I snacked on Jello pudding I would excite them with stories of a wonderful concoction of frozen pudding with their eyes all aglow!! We even tried to make our own sad version by putting popsicle sticks into the pudding cups and freezing them. Yuck. Not even close!! Well, last night I was already heading to sleep (I've got a nasty cold) when my babe came home from a meeting and from stopping at the store to pick up formula for Miss Whitney. He said, "Close your eyes. . . " Dear Pudding Pops, where have you been??? I've missed you so.

Name them one by one. . .

Friday afternoon I received a disturbing phone call. The husband of a gal I grew up with here in Lincoln (she was just a couple years ahead of me in YW) had died. She is now a widow at the age of 33, with 6 kids. The details of what happened are still unknown. The autopsy was supposed to be happening today. The initial guess was perhaps a staph infection from a surgery he had on Tuesday to amputate a finger he had injured. My heart aches for her. Of course I tried to imagine myself in that situation. Her oldest is 13 I think. He is in a wheelchair from having cerebral palsy due to a premature birth. Her youngest is a girl just a few months older than my Whitney. Most of the day on Saturday as I played with my kids and watched Matt play with them, I was thinking of this poor family, completely broken apart.

As I pulled into the parking lot for 9am church, I noticed her getting out of her van. She's not in our ward, but her mother is, and I guess they all had stayed at her mom and dad's for the weekend. I don't know her very well, except for hellos here and there if we see each other, but as a mother and a wife I knew I had to try to do something. I had gone over in my head anything I could do for her. . . groceries, a meal, a package of diapers, babysitting, but it all just seemed useless. I needed to get inside to get some things done with my new calling, but that all would have to wait. I rushed over to her van, as she was helping unload her oldest son with his wheelchair. As I approached she asked how I was. Me?? I said I certainly didn't care how I was, how was she??? I hugged her for some time and told her to please tell me if there was anything I could do. She said "well, I don't even know what I'm doing." I hugged her again, and said it would probably be a while and that was ok. I picked up her sleeping baby from her carseat, grabbed a bag and headed inside with her, and her other children. I have no idea how she was even there that morning, or how she will make it through the funeral on Saturday, except for her relying on the strength and prayers of others.

All weekend I've been counting up my blesssings and I am loaded full, how about you?

Rocker babes and a princess

Ok, I'm way late, but here's some photos of the girls from Halloween. They all were so cute, but Whitney definitely stole the show as our little punk rocker (earring and all). She just looks like she's defying against everything doesn't she??

Whooooo are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?

At my job I usually have a different perspective of people. Usually upside down. Ok. Confused? Let me explain. I'm a dental hygienist, so through most of the appointment I'm looking at the patient as if they're upside down, or at least sideways. I also, thankfully, am usually looking at their mouth instead of their face so I usually just see this with my peripheral vision. To make a long story short (too late) people look much different when seen with just peripheral vision. Here's a list of the people I've seen in my office lately. Of course, when they really stand up and I get a face to face look at them, they usually look nothing like this person. . .


The head guy from CSI (the original) that plays Gil Grissom. I think his real name is William Anderson??
Rob Thomas from Matchbox Twenty
Shirley Jones---the Partridge Family Mom
An older version of my mom
My brother in law Sterlings twin (they say everyone has one.)
The red head Dr. from ER actor Scott Grimes, he plays Dr. Morris on the show.
Ewan McGregor--without the beard (ok, now I know you're jealous.)

I'll keep you posted on which actor/rock star/family member shows up next.