Welcome to harmony's Roundeo.

For some resaon, I have realized that that has become a common expression of mine. And at the moment it is what comes to mind. Holy Cow...moving across the globe is pretty tough and pretty dang exhausting!! I really have SO MUCH to do, not even close to getting out from under the mountain of tasks before us and the chaos that surrounds us, but it is so important to me that I at least attempt to record at least a bit of what is going on around this significant change and event in our lives.

Here's how it went: First we spent the month of June preparing and saying goodbye. We squoze in quite a bit of fun, dinners and playdates with friends, a party for the kids, all the end of the year school fun. I wrapped things up with my calling as YW president and said goodbye to my sweet girls. We gave our talks on Sunday 26th, the ward gave us a beautiful goodbye book with pics of everyone and notes from everyone. My girls threw me a surprise goodbye party and also made me a book. In the end we were able to sell or give away almost everything. The ward and friends were super duper helpful. They came over and brought meals, helped watch kids and cleaned, helped me pack my bags, gave me hugs and we cried together, and showed me their love in a myriad of ways. Switzerland was such a wonderful experience and 4 of the best years of my life! We grew and learned so much as individuals and as a family and I made friends that I will keep forever and who changed me for the better. Parting was definitely bittersweet, though at times it felt quite bitter. I am crying writing this!

Geneve has had a hard time with all of the moving. We left our empty apartment in Geneva about 5 days before our departure, to go to a hotel, a "fancy" hotel according to the kids. (It was pretty fancy looking, but really quite normal and small.) Upon entering it for the first time Geneve announced with cheer, "We made it! We're at California!" it was so cute! I guess she had picked up on and understood more than I realized. The next day we headed back to the apartment to finish packing up and cleaning and when Geneve realized we were approaching she started protesting and screaming, "No! not the home! I wanna go back hotel!!" She was very upset. I think it is because the apartment hadn't really felt like home for weeks. For weeks we had been steadily clearing it of everything, to the point that they had no beds and hardly any toys, and she was ready to be done with it. It was hard for her to see her stuff going and giving it away. So the hotel had offered relief. She had a dread of the apartment and mentioned it often, "not going house, i wanna go hotel!" 

The day before leaving Switzerland, we were all feeling pretty down. In the morning Paisley suddenly said to me, "I like it here. Why do we  have to go?" I got emotional, she was voicing my thoughts. I said, "I like it here too, we don't have to go, it was a choice and a decision your Dad and I made and felt good about." But in my head I was thinking, Why? I don't even remember why we felt it was time! She said, "Why?" I just said, "I don't know Paisley." and hugged her. She and I had had a little crying breakdown together a day or two before amidst the chaos too. It was interesting to see how it affected her because she had always been the stalwart American girl who couldn't wait to move! She would say, I'm not from this world", and "I want to live in America." etc. Cado also had a little breakdown. All seemed fine, until Spencer took his bed out to the curb. He came in crying and screaming. I finally got him calm enough to figure out why. I guess seeing his bed go out to the curb made it a reality and it also made him feel like his stuff wasn't important or special, that it was just trash.  

We were shown so much love and regret for our leaving, it really touched us. A ward member, Francesco Volpicelli took us to the airport early on Sunday morning, and waiting at the airport was the adorable Sister Rimli. She just had to see us off. She was so cute, saying she wished she could come with us. We met and formed friendships with so many wonderful, neat, special people. We really hope we can stay in touch.

Despite the setback and elongation of an already really long trip, because of the plane having technical difficulties and having to wait a few hours for a different plane, the flight went really well. The kids were excellent. It is the best flight I can remember as far as their behavior went. It was freezing though! I was shivering the whole time, and my pregnant body didn't feel great. But in any case, what seems like it will never end, always does eventually and we got through it all, at times not knowing how and feeling like zombies. All of our luggage intact and present. We went out to the curb and waited for Grami and Pop-pop.

They came in our cars to LAX and picked us up, all smiles and big hugs and kisses.

Okay now I have to summarize and get speedy, the day is passing too quickly! I am now just going to explain why this move on this end has been hard! (and it was really hard on the other end too!)

So Sunday night: stay at my parents house and chill, Monday 4th of July: check into our hotel and do 4th stuff with family and friends. Tuesday morning Spencer and help bring everything over from our storage unit. Tuesday evening the ward (like at least 30 men!) bring everything in from the moving van (storage). In this time we have needed stuff out of our bags and needed to do laundry (we did do some at my parents house) but neither has been easy or possible. Our stuff is divided among our several bags and vacuum packed and not easy to find. Our shoes were thrown everywhere and toys and books and other random stuff pours out of every bag! Our washer and dryer needed major repairs and were missing parts. We had left quite a bit of toiletries in Switzerland because we didn't want to waste weight on stuff we could just buy, but I only got around to buying most of it yesterday. We stayed at a hotel until Thursday (had it through Sunday). One of the problems is that the bag I packed for us to "live out of" during all this craziness wasn't very complete. I only had a few things for everyone and when they got dirty we were stuck (or we had to dig through and make a mess of the other bags), and not a lot of the toiletries (toothpaste, lotion, conditioner, medicines, bandaids, etc).

So in one room we have all our stuff from Switzerland, and in the rest of the house boxes from the storage. We have no idea what is in those boxes! It's weird to put stuff in storage 4 years ago and then get it out. We labeled but not super well, and apparently we did it all at the last second because it is pretty random and I didn't get rid of anything! So you have all these boxes and you don't know exactly what's in them, and you don't know what room or in/on what piece of furniture they should go. And so there's also a lot of sorting (throw away, give away, keep) that goes on every time a box is opened. Then there's the fact that our family has changed quite a bit in the last 4 years. Normally your stuff grows with your family, but in 4 years our stuff has not grown, updated, been removed or gone through any changes, while our kids have gone from 3 and 1.5 to 7, 5.5 and one added who is 2.5 and one coming! So our stuff doesn't match our needs and there's a lot of time that goes into figuring out and buying what we need.

Also, the kitchen had to be fixed up before I would put anything into it. The insides of the cupboards were gross, they were sticky and a super dark brown (the outside of them is white). First I thought just contact paper but it wouldn't even stick because are were particle board and rough and just fell apart. So then I thought we'd have to paint. So my friend and my mom helped but it took us a couple of days, because we had to buy paint and brushes and paint the insides (sides, bottom, top of every shelf/cupboard) of everything. We then still put contact paper down because it was still rough and not pleasant to slide things in and out of. So as you can see this was a big project. And I'm pregnant so I couldn't really help with the painting. Finally we finished it and could unload our kitchen stuff but everything is overwhelming because of what I said, it being random, or dirty or because I saved everything.

Our furniture is not sufficient for our needs anymore, but we don't just want to run out and buy stuff because we want to know what we have and be sure we're getting the right thing for the right price, etc. So we're in this circular problem of we have to know what we have before we can buy but we have to buy in order to have a place to put the stuff and really see what we have, because we don't just want to unload the boxes and have all the stuff out and nowhere to put it! And buying stuff takes time away from settling in and getting out of the boxes! It just feels like progress is very slow.

Also, it is summer and it is hot! And our air conditioning does not work upstairs! It has been unbearable for me. So I had to buy/need to buy fans. And with all of this buying you have my husband who is very money-conscious and wants every purchase to be the best deal and bang for the buck possible, and a true need, everything is questioned! which I'm not disagreeing with, but sometimes can be frustrating! Being pregnant and coming from across the world means I have been very tired. All the other stuff means my brain is tired! One of my strengths is not making sense of unorganized matter! I like order and need order but I am not good at tackling and making sense of chaos!

The positive things are: KMPG pays for a hotel, which has a pool, and a food allowance every day. So grateful for that. We already had our vehicles and house ready to go. Our family and and a few friends and the ward have been very helpful. Even the neighborhood. That's been a major plus and comfort. We're on a cul-de-sac which is wonderful, and this is the friendliest neighborhood with lots of kids I've ever lived in as a mother. The kids play together outside a lot and go to each other's houses and the moms have said, let us know how we can help, etc. The backyard has been a huge help. the kids content themselves with the water hose and blowup pool, and all the toys we found in storage. Spencer only went back to work yesterday and he is extremely handy and helpful. He repaired the washer/dryer, purchased and set up phones, tv, computer, all electronics, and deals with all the stuff I don't even know exists or think of! He stays up late and gets things done and has more energy and feels less overwhelmed than I do.
 
But it's going to be tricky not spending too much time on this moving stuff to the neglect of summer fun with the kids/fam. Coming back in summer is great and also a bit hard because they're all around all the time and as we know there's a lot of driving to do in America. They're not used to driving and coming with me for all the errands and they want to play all the time. Of course they are learning to deal with it! They are certainly not being mistreated or neglected as I've reminded them. But the moving from apartment, to hotel, to Grami's to hotel to home, and back and forth between many of those places has been confusing and troubling for Geneve. She is finally feeling a bit of security now that we've been in the house for half a week. It's hard to have such a jolt in routine, and not be able to really start summer off on the right schedule. I was hoping to do "mom" school and chores every morning and then go out and play every afternoon. But I was obviously being overly idealistic because I guess I thought moving in would only take a week, and it is clearly going to take a long time, probably the whole summer! So, some things will have to give. And family reunions and swim lessons will also take up a lot of time, so reality has set in that this is going to be a long process!

Anyway, pictures of the house are probably not going to happen for awhile. I suppose I could or should in the state its in now anyway, then you can see the transformation! So, maybe I will. But any extra thing seems like too much right now! so we'll see!

Something I"ve been feeling mournful about is how I want to record everything going on surrounding this significant event in our lives, but haven't had the energy or time. There's so much more to say and so much I'm sure I've already forgotten! But for now, at least this is something!

This is long, so you probably won't read it, but all these thoughts came into my head over the course of my night, and I decided I needed to write them down and they were worth sharing. I can justify the time this took, because it has helped me prepare for the talk I am giving this Sunday!

I read an article about Mitt Romney online which mentioned nothing about his religion, and then I looked at the comments and a large amount focused on his religion. I read or skimmed, and regretted it, many of them, and one man in particular posted paragraphs and paragraphs of “Mormon myths” and pulled out all his artillery and every obscure thing he could find about why Mormons have it wrong and are lost or crazy or even of the Devil. I’ve always found it interesting that many Christians have put so much time and energy into studying our religion and our history, but not in the way one studies to find truth or understanding, but like a prosecution lawyer studies to condemn. I used to tell my evangelical Christian friends when they would tell me all the things their preacher told them about me, “that’s interesting that you study my religion at your church, at my church we study our religion.”

After skimming through a lot of this stuff, an icky feeling crept into my heart, and doubts. This has happened to me before, and I have always followed the same procedure, I turn to my Father in Heaven in prayer. I prayed to feel peace and know truth. The thought came to me that I needed to open the scriptures, and that in general I need to study them more, and more often. It was a gentle and loving chastisement, one for which I am grateful.

I went to my room and opened my scriptures, and was drawn to Exodus where I saw this in all caps: “HOLINESS TO THE LORD.” This may seem like nothing to others, but it struck me with force and with peace. That is what is posted above every door of every temple. Temples. One of the blessings of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One of the reasons why I know I am where I should be and that the Church is true.

This made me think of all of the other things I love about being a member of the church and what makes it special, why regardless of the detractors and persecutors I will cherish and be firm in my faith. Here are some of those reasons:

The Body of Christ: I love that in the church we are all just regular folk who believe and who desire to serve and offer ourselves to God’s kingdom. We are called through inspiration and revelation by those who have also been called to a position to receive that inspiration, and we know that in accepting a call to serve we are accepting a call from the Lord and receiving an opportunity to grow, learn, bless and be blessed. Talks in church are given by all the same regular folk who are asked to study and pray about a topic and share what they learn and are inspired to share. Youth are asked to give talks, and every 1st Sunday of the month we fast together and have a testimony meeting where anyone can share their personal testimony and experiences and strengthen one another. There is no performing or rehearsing or entertaining. We get together and share what we learn and study and we sing together. It is simple, humble and to me it is beautiful. We all truly feel a part of the Body of Christ, and are humbled as we serve and are stretched in ways we didn’t know possible.

Organization of the Church. The Church is extremely organized and orderly. You can attend a church service anywhere in the world and know what to expect. The church provides welfare and service throughout the world, and missionaries are called and trained and sent all over the world, all in an orderly and organized manner. Things run smoothly and there is a harmony, unity and consistency across languages and borders. The church website www.lds.org, magazines, talks, scriptures translated into many languages and available all over the world. Church schools run and managed. Each ward, branch and stake all conducted in the same manner. Tithing money and offerings faithfully given provide the financial means for all of this to function, and all things are done through prayer and revelation.

Temple and Eternal Family. The temple. People who don’t understand can say what they will about our “secret handshakes” and our “special underwear.” That is fine. What they don’t understand is the incredible peace one feels inside the temple walls, the way the distance between heaven and earth is diminished, and the strength that making and keeping covenants with the Lord brings to one’s life and faith. Family is forever. Because we believe that marriage is an essential part of our Father in Heaven’s plan for his children, we also believe in chastity, that sex is the means whereby a husband and wife become one and provide physical bodies for God’s spirit children, and we do not tarry in getting married. We believe that man and woman were created to complement and refine one another, marriage being a great school to becoming more than we can alone, that we learn and grow together and do not need to fear or avoid this higher learning. We focus and put a lot of energy into building, sustaining and supporting strong Christ-centered families. We believe this is an important way for us to learn, grow, experience love, and understand more about our Heavenly parents.

The priesthood: Every worthy male from 12 up can hold the priesthood. This means that he has authority to administer in the name of Jesus Christ. This helps young men and men to strive for excellence and maturity, and be responsible and remain worthy. This means that every Father can hold the priesthood and bless his family through it. They can give blessings when someone is sick or afflicted. My children after their birth have each received a blessing from their father. A priesthood blessing is used to set people apart when they have been called to a calling in the church. A patriarch is called in each stake and gives special patriarchal blessings to all who desire to have one. This blessing is recorded and written down and given to the recipient and becomes like personal scripture. I have received many priesthood blessings and my patriarchal blessing, and every time the Spirit has been present and has testified that the words the worthy priesthood holder speaks are coming from the Lord. The person becomes an instrument in the Lord’s hands. I see that because my husband strives to be a worthy priesthood holder, he is motivated to become more as a man and a father and to lead his family in righteousness.

The Book of Mormon: I have read and prayed about this book and I love it and know it is the word of God. Every time I read it I am blessed by its wisdom and its clarity and the Spirit testifies of its truthfulness to me. I’m so grateful to have more of God’s word and for the complement this testament of Christ is to the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. It is easy for me to believe that God’s people were in other parts of the world at the time of the Bible and that Jesus Christ would visit those people after his resurrection. It is a beautiful account and testament of Christ’s love.

A living prophet and apostles and revelation: I am so grateful for a living prophet and apostles. Every time I have been in the presence of one of these men, or listened to or read a talk by them, the Spirit, sometimes in an overwhelming way, says to me, “This is a prophet or apostle of God.” It makes sense to me that as Christ has always called prophets and he had 12 apostles while he was on the earth, that he would not leave us without such now. Why would prophets and apostles be needed then but not now? This doesn’t seem logical. These men do not seek this calling, just like every other calling in the church, they are called by Jesus Christ through the priesthood. They leave whatever career they have and dedicate the rest of their life to the Lord and church service. They live to be inspired and receive revelation to guide and direct the kingdom of God in the Latter Days. They go around the world sharing the gospel. We believe in a living church, with Christ at the head who directs the church through his called servants, through the priesthood and through revelation. I receive personal revelation, through prayer, through studying the words of God, through fasting, in the temple, for my job as a mother, in my personal life and in whatever calling I have. I never feel alone, and I have such peace in knowing that God loves me and wants me to be successful and guide my life. The word of wisdom is a good example of continuing revelation that blesses my life. I am so grateful for the code of health wherein I avoid being addicted to or reliant on any substances, this helps me be healthy and happy and in control of my decisions.
Accountability: We believe in making good choices and avoiding bad ones, and that both have consequences for which we must be accountable. In order to enter the temple or to hold a calling, we must live our life in accordance with the commandments, we must be pure and chaste. We know what God wants for us and that his commandments are not a way to hold us back but a manifestation of his love, and that in obeying commandments and striving to live closer to God and his will, we are blessed and happy, our lives are simpler and better. When we fall short, and we do and will, Christ’s love and atonement make us whole. We repent and we bring our lives back into accordance with his will.

Learning and Knowledge: We believe that all the knowledge and intelligence we gain in this life will come with us and serve us in the hereafter. We believe in seeking out truth and light. If there is anything virtuous, lovely or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. We seek learning by knowledge and also by faith. We are encouraged to learn all we can, to develop skills and knowledge and always improve. We are becoming, we are progressing. We believe God has a lot in store for us, that he believes in our potential to become like him and that all knowledge and truth come from Him.

Understanding of my relationship with the Godhead: I know that I have a Father in Heaven, he is the creator of all and the creator of my Spirit. I owe life and everything in it to him. He loves me and knows me. As a loving father, he wants a lot for me. He didn’t create me so that I could worship him forever, but so that I could experience life, have joy, grow and progress and so that he can eventually give me all that he has. I will never be equal to him because I owe everything to him, but I can become like him. John 10: 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” Jesus Christ was from the beginning, he is a god, he assisted in the creation, he is God the Father’s beloved son, he offered himself as a sacrifice for sin so that the Father’s children could return to him and despite their mistakes be perfected in him. Jesus Christ lives and is my friend, my Savior, my example. He is full of love and compassion and power to bless and heal lives. Both the Father and the Son have bodies of flesh and blood. We were created in the image of God. The Holy Ghost testifies of the Father and the Son, and all truth. Before my baptism I could feel and be touched by the Holy Ghost, but after my baptism I received the gift of the Holy Ghost, which means that he can constantly be with me. This gift means that it is easy for me to know if I am going off course.

The mercy and justice of God’s plan: I think it is interesting that while as Latter Day Saints we believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, that this is Christ’s church restored after a time of apostasy, the true church of Jesus Christ; we are also very accepting of others’ faith and beliefs and religion. “let them worship how, where, or what they may.” We desire to share what we have and know because it blesses our lives now and forever, and because Jesus asks us to share and invite others to come unto him, but we do not fear or worry about others’ beliefs. We stand for what we believe in and we share it with others, but we would never seek to destroy someone’s faith. This is partly because we believe in a Heaven of different glories. Because of modern revelation through prophets we understand that Cor. 15:40 speaks of this, “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” We belive that God doesn’t intend to save only a few of his children. No good human being is going to suffer in Hell forevermore. We believe that there is one level of glory in which eternal progression is possible, but that the others are all levels of glory. More is required for each level of glory, but even then his plan is full of mercy as not all had or will have the opportunity to receive or accept Christ’s gospel when they are alive, we believe that in the Spirit World missionary work is still going on and we perform ordinances and work in temples for the dead who can no longer perform these for themselves, so they can choose to accept these for themselves as spirits. We believe that God’s judgment for everyone is merciful and just and that every one of his children will have the same opportunity to accept his plan and gospel and achieve the highest glory and eternal progression.

There are so many more reasons, but the main reason I remain faithful is because each time I am at church or church conference, at the temple, reading the scriptures or a church magazine or talk, and every time I pray, even with questions and doubts, the Holy Ghost touches me, and confers or confirms truths with the feeling of peace, light and joy I cannot doubt. How grateful I am for that special gift of the Holy Ghost. Without it I could know nothing of God, I could not believe, but through it we can know the truth of all things.

I think it is sad that some Christians are so focused on “saving” us and on all of our differences and the things they don’t like about our doctrines or our history, that they can’t or won’t focus on what we have in common or see us for who we really are and our fruits. The way some of these talk about our religion, it is as if they are truly scared of us. And yet I don’t know of any great evil we are doing in the world; on the contrary we are doing and have done good things. We try to follow Christ and believe in strong families and doing good unto our fellow men. It is as Christ said, also in John 10: “37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” Believe our works, they are good. You do not have to accept or agree with our doctrine or like our history, but perhaps you could accept us as Christians who are dedicated to our faith and are doing good things.

Being pregnant for the first few months is anything but fun. One of the most un-fun things about it is eating. This is because you feel like you are painfully starving all the time, yet hardly any food, or only very specific ones, sound good, and even after you eat you don't really feel better...now you just have digestion and gas pains. Lovely eh?  So food basically sounds, smells and looks repulsive but without constantly eating it you feel like you are going to puke and your stomach feels like its been on empty for days. After you eat it you only feel marginally better, or sometimes you feel just as bad only in a different way. So, I put out a cry for help on FB recently and am happy to say with the help of some friends, I discovered a few good things that I now share with you, whoever you may be (hopefully someone)!

1. Salsa chicken: salsa, chicken, slow-pot, voila. Use as you want. I used it with ideas from this website:

2. Our best bites: I made a for-real Cafe Rio salad with the above chicken, homemade guac, pico de gallo, tortillas, and dressing. A lot of work, but when the craving hits you gotta have it. Look it all up at this site which I'm excited to use more often.

3. Calzones: I actually have craved these, though I have forgotten at times, since we had them in Venice a year or two ago. And my homemade ones did not dissapoint. Super easy, super convenient, kids loved them, so versatile, and most importantly yummy!

Here is what I did for my Calzones:

Store-bought pizza dough (you could easily make your own): roll out and cut into rectangles about 5-6 inches by 7-9 inches something like that. a bit bigger than hand-sized I suppose.

Made a little flavored olive oil by throwing a big crushed garlic glove in a bit of oil with Italian seasonings (basil, thyme, oregano, cayenne) brushed/drizzled this onto center of each rectangle.

Chopped up mozzarella, ham, pepperoni, tomatoes, and grated some zucchini and parmesan. Then I played with different combinations of the above to fill the calzones. Sprinkled the whole thing with salt and pepper.

Closed calzones by folding them (so they are longer than shorter) by taking one side and bringing to the other side and pressing/pinching them together.

Brushed cookie sheet with olive oil, and the tops of the calzones (or use butter). Cooked on 175-200 C for about 30 minutes. Just watch and pull them when they are golden.
They may leak out, not a big deal, let them cool a bit and YUM YUM. You can dip them in tomato sauce if you want. The kids loved them too, which is always exciting!

I realize this would be more interesting with pictures...too bad!

won't our blue van look great in that driveway? ;)

We're moving to Mission Viejo, California at the beginning of July! Found ourselves a great rental (good job Spencer!) Kids are so excited too. Living small for so long really helps one appreciate things, 4 bedrooms and a "garden" as Paisley calls a yard, sound so dreamy and grand! I hope I can keep this feeling of gratitude and not take things for granted. I feel so blessed with what Spencer found on his search and so quickly. It's 4 bedroom, 1900 sq. ft, 3 bathroom, 2 living areas, and a good-sized yard on a col-de-sac in an older neighborhood. It's only 7 miles from the office (yay!) and 20 min. from the beach (double yay!)  Paisley couldn't get over the "beautiful garden with our own trees!" :) happy. blessed. grateful. (but now that that's done I want my hubby back!) 

So last year, 2010, Paisley really wanted a Princess and the Frog birthday, as she had just seen the movie, but we had just gotten back from a huge trip to the states, and other stuff was going on and I just couldn’t make that happen. So this party has been in the works for a year! I knew that it might be a problem though because another princess movie would come out just before this birthday, but as I had already been thinking of the P&F party, I was able to successfully steer Paisley away from a Rapunzel party, now we’re just totally off schedule! We’ll be a year behind every time!

So, we had a Princess and the Frog princess sleepover party at Tiana’s palace restaurant. The princesses were invited to wear their princess best. Paisley got a new Tiana dress and I made some things for Cado so he could be Naveen. (have yet to get a good picture of them together! ) So we made Gumbo and cornbread, ate it, danced to the P&F music, played some games, ate cake, and made Tiana crowns. Then a couple of the girls were able to stay the night, and with my kids that made a party of 5, and they had a blast. We started with the movie, and as that didn’t put them to sleep, they stayed up until 11 or 11:30 giggling, getting out of bed for all sorts of reasons, and having a glorious time! They were actually really good and it was really cute! The next morning we made Beignets! Well, one little guest and I did! We ate them with smoothies. I think all the food was great, unfortunately kids being kids, they only enjoyed it minimally! Though, my kids did LOVE the beignets and smoothies. I thought the gumbo was quite good and really easy to make too.

We only had one crisis, where after the kiss the frog game, Paisley wasn’t the winner and had a cry over that, and thus is not in the picture with everyone else! Other than that everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoy themselves. Cado liked being Prince Naveen too (and the only boy!)

Overall I was pleased with the results, I gave it the best I had and I think Paisley was very happy with her party!

(One of these days I'd like to share about Paisley's personality, etc at 5 yrs, but not tonight!)

food links:

GUMBO 

BEIGNETS

So, January started off with the end of Christmas vacation.

We went ice skating at the awesome outdoor ice skating rink at Parc des Bastions a couple of times. The kids loved it! At first Cado was getting frustrated (which I understand well as I had the same problem of getting frustrated fairly quickly as a kid), and he was close to giving up, and Mommy saved the day! It was a good moment for me. I took his hands, and dangit, I don’t remember what I said, but it was awesome and it worked! I think it was something about if you give up you’ll never know how much you love it and how great you can be or something, and I made it fun and helped him loosen up. And it turned out the cool red helper thingy was not helpful for him and he was better with my hand, and pretty quickly all on his own! Its amazing the power of the mind, and with Cado and I its really important to stay positive in the head because the slightest negative thought can quickly defeat us! Especially the current Cado and the younger version of me! Paisley loved it and was so adorable with the red thing. Geneve also loved it. She’s amazing with her physical abilities and how tough and able she is. She keeps up with the big kids no problem. She wore skates that strapped on to her shoes and had a double blade and basically just ran and stomped around pushing the red thing! I enjoyed being on skates too. I love the feeling of flying around a rink and (looking ridiculous) trying to do spins. We brought daddy back for a second time.

We also moved on to letter W! woohoo! (goal: finish the alphabet before end of the school year! 26 letters in 3 years! ) We had lots of fun and I feel so good when I’m doing organized activities with my kids! Why can’t I make that happen regularly!? And Geneve ever since, every time she sees a W (or an M) she says “a weuh!! I see a weuh!” (the sound W makes)

We also went to Ikea one day for lunch. It was the first time I’d gone since my purse was stolen there back in October. And this time…I stood in a very long line to get our food, got to checkout, and HAD NO MONEY! It was pretty ridiculous. So I left the perfectly good food to get tossed, got everyone back in the car, went home and got my wallet, came back, and the recompense was that it was now after 2 pm and it was much cheaper!  But we missed Judo that day. So silly.

This has been a very nice winter, and if appearances aren’t deceiving it’s OVER! In fact Fall and Winter have both been great and Spring looks promising! I’m very happy with the weather this year, too bad last summer wasn’t the best weather, but “you win some, you lose some!” Anyway, we’ve had quite a lot of sunshine, more than the norm for winter here in my opinion, and not nearly the extreme cold that we had last year, nor the crazy “bise” winds. So we played outside a bit too.

We also got to go to a fun ski weekend hosted by KPMG. This was a highlight of winter because we went “sledging” or “luging” and what this means is: take the ski lift all the way up the mountain, rent a sled (with runners and a higher area to sit on) and then go all the way down the mountain on switchbacks flying around the turns, screaming, giggling...It’s crazy fun! The kids didn’t like the times when their feet got caught or they had too much snow coming into their faces, but otherwise they loved it too. But I do think us adults enjoyed it even more. SO MUCH FUN! The kids feet were frozen afterward though! And Geneve had a major tired breakdown on our second run, so it ended in hilarity.

The KPMG dinner was really nice too, and it was fun to mingle with Spencer's co-workers and their significant others. The hotel was quite luxurious, so we got to pretend to be posh for a moment! I also very much appreciated some nice compliments on my French from Spencer's boss and co-workers!

We also celebrated Paisley's birthday, but it gets its own post!

Here's what's goin' down...a crack down! Not because of any major problems/crises/misbehavior, just because my kids need structure and purpose. They respond well to the proper incentives and it feels like we're getting to a good place with all of this! I share as a glimpse into our home, and also because I personally always appreciate the ideas of other moms and households.

ROUNDY SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE!

(REWARDS/CONSEQUENCES/ATTEMPTS AT ORDER!)

MARBLES

       Anything good and anything bad is recorded by the marbles. This system is very similar to Hogwarts “points”. At the end of the day if the jar is full they each get a small quantity (4-10) of gummi bears or other small candy (depending on sugar consumed that day, time of night, etc).This is where the kids are rewarded for morning/nighttime routine and promptness in getting to school, etc.

MEDIA REWARDS

       This system is to regulate the amount of shows/tv/movies, and computer/iphone games the kids are watching/playing. Each child has an amount of points they must achieve (through doing chores*/reading/homework) that then allows them an equivalent amount of time with media (up to 2 hrs a day, if chores*/homework/reading has been finished). If a minimum of 1 thing for girls and 3 things for Cado (homework/chore/reading) has been accomplished but they have not yet reached their point target, Mom may allow watching/playing something of her choosing, but reserves the right not to. If the point target is met, it’s their right to receive the reward and it’s kids’ choice.

*The chores are normally whatever mom assigns, but can include chores that are already on the star chart or kitchen duties.

STAR CHART

       Some chores are on this chart. Also for every day that ends with a full jar of marbles, a star is put on the chart. (Also considering, see if it is needed, adding a bonus star for every time we are on time, without stress to school). When this chart is full (35 stars) the kids will have the reward of watching a NEW show (like a rental in the olden days J), and receiving and/or spending their allowance money. (this means that NEW shows are reserved as rewards)

ALLOWANCE

       To be given when the star chart is complete and normally spent with consultation.    

SLEEP RULE CANDY

       If Sleep rules (close eyes, stay in bed, be quiet, go to sleep) are followed they receive a small pile (4-8) gummi bears/other small candies, in the morning. (given regardless: vitamins)

KITCHEN DUTY CHART

       This chart is to help keep track of and rotate kitchen duties. They receive marbles and media points for doing this.

The marble jar is in the kitchen. They each have a simple spreadsheet on the wall for the media points, the sleep rules are posted (with my hand-drawn images) in the bedrooms, the star chart is one I bought and hangs in the hallway, and the kitchen duty chart is on the fridge, also a simple spreadsheet, that says, "chef in training, setting the scene, swipin it clean, loadin the machine, unloadin the machine." And they each have a magnet that represents them and I move that at my will. Cado just recently finished his 40 sessions of 15 minutes of reading and received the ultimate Andy's Buzz Lightyear and is quite thrilled. lots more work to do and gotta keep him motivated!

That title may be quite outdated as we are now very well in the middle of winter, but it is, nevertheless, where I'm at in my web log and so it will be!

I kind of dread the writing part of my blog sometimes because it requires me to think and because I wish my writing were more interesting. But sometimes it's good to have the written word to go along with the photos so here we go.

November was, surprise! BUSY! ha. That is just life isn't it. I loved Fall this year. It just seemed perfect. It was full of sunshine and colors and minus a few off-days the weather was warm and divine. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then at the end of November, right on schedule Winter made it's debut and we had tons of gorgeous white snow that we got to play in and look at. Snow is awesome. I love it. I don't love cold, but I love snow.

I took a really fun singing course on Monday nights with friends from church because the teacher is a friend from church and for fluke reasons was short students and needed to fill her class and contacted a bunch of people. We had so much fun. I love singing and performing. I miss it. I will do more of it someday.

My purse got stolen at Ikea at the end of October, so a lot of my November was taken up by the annoying things that have to be done after such an event: basically all the cancelling and replacing and insurance claiming, etc.

I was very involved in Young Women's stuff of course. That is a pretty constant responsibility. We had Young Women in Excellence night so that took up a good amount of time planning and preparing for it. I teach Sunday lessons every other week and then have the activity every Wednesday night, meetings almost weekly, stake events, other meetings, etc. It's wonderful, I love serving in this role, and these girls, but I couldn't do it without the Lord's help, and I can testify that every time I began to feel a bit overwhelmed or stressed, I would say I know God does not want me to feel this way, so I'd pray and immediately I would feel peace and a burden lifted everything would work out. I love callings. I love the church. I love the gospel! I love my Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ!!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our place. And I tried to do a bunch of crafts with the kids and on my own. It was good to do some things as I had been feeling like I hadn't done anything creative with my kids or self in a while. Stayed up really late making the owl on my door. And it was worth it! :) Yes, Spencer it really was! I love it! I pretty much just stick to recycled stuff and paper when doing crafts, nothin fancy.

Our Thanksgiving was really nice. Of course we don't get the day off, so we celebrated it the Sunday before which was stake conference Sunday so we were all out of church early enough to prep everything. We had a great time and a full house. We have to get creative with our space and accomadations. We used a blanket as a tablecloth, pulled my sewing desk over and jimmy-rigged it to the table, used our little living room table as a bench, and our computer desk as the buffet...but it worked! 

We had great time. The food was superb. We split up the tasks of course. I did the turkey and it was really good too! That's always exciting. I used a recipe where you put the seasonings under the skin. I had coloring pages for the kids to keep busy while some friends, Janet and Daniel Hausen, and us prepped our food. Then when the other guests got here, we had a simple toilet paper roll "corn" craft for the kids to do, which were also our napkin holders. We had the Hiatts, Hausens, sister and elder missionaries, and Tara and her family over. I asked all the guests (including kids) to choose a leaf or a few on the garland and write down somethings they are thankful for. After we had stuffed ourselves we all told what we had written on our leaves and expounded a bit. Then the sisters had come prepared with a message and a cute little turkey craft to give us to do with our families during the week. We had lots of yummy dessert, chilled some more, and ended up very happy and grateful!

Here are some recipes I used:

STUFFING:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/awesome-sausage-apple-and-cranberry-stuffing/detail.aspx

TURKEY:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Rosemary-Roasted-Turkey-2/Detail.aspx

MAPLE PUMPKIN PIE :

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Maple-Pie-Supreme/Detail.aspx

ARTICHOKE DIP:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simple-Artichoke-Dip/Detail.aspx

(I sprinkle the top with a little more cheese and paprika)

CRANBERRY SAUCE:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cranberry-Sauce-I/Detail.aspx

I also did quite a bit of photography. You can see what I did here (the link is always on the side of this page): http://photographybyharmony.blogspot.com

November was a good month, but it was so busy that I didn't have a second to think about December or Christmas until too late this year! But hopefully I'll get that all posted soon!

Geneve turned two on September 20th.

We celebrated with a dinner party here. Here are some recipes: one, two, three And on her actual birthday we celebrated too. She loved the cake and frosting, and the attention and all of her presents. We had a great time. On her actual birthday she started with her new Jessie costume and then we picked up the kids, had pancakes for lunch, played a game, took the kids back, naptime, picked the kids up with her shopping cart, had pizza and cake and opened presents. She got a new baby doll and stroller and high chair for the baby. She loves babies.

Geneve continues to have us all wrapped around her finger. She is a bit spoiled. And her personality takes in the best and worst of everyone! She is very sweet and cuddly and gives the best hugs and kisses, and yet moments later she'll be biting someone's head off or screaming at the top of her lungs over some minor offense or frustration. She is also quite particular. She is a bit Obsessive/compulsive! When we clean up, (which she does really well as long as there's some kind of treat on the other end!) she knows exactly where things go and makes sure they go there and no where else. Just this morning we were drinking hot chocolate and she came over to me and corrected the way I was holding my mug because I wasn't holding the handle! She knows what she wants and if things aren't going her way you'll know it, even if as is too often the case, you don't know what is wrong. She is very independent and capable. She wants to do absolutely everything herself. That can be difficult, but it's also pretty admirable. She wants to cut her own food, put on her own clothes and shoes, read her own books, etc. But then she also wants to set the table and does a good job of it, and she even puts herself down for a nap sometimes (or just poops out after I've given up because she's fighting it), and says her prayers, etc.. An example of her "ocd" is after prayer she makes sure we each give a hug and kiss to her. It's compulsory rather than emotional. It's like this is just what we do and she can't move on unless its done! She is also like that when we drop the kids off at school. And she loves going to pick them up and gives big hugs. She is still a copycat and follows what Cado and Paisley do which is cute and funny but can be annoying, when the older kids are doing things I don't want her to do.

She had a favorite color quite early. She started showing a preference for yellow quite a while ago. And the other day I gave her a pink straw, she refused it, chose a yellow one, pointed to herself and said, "me." She uses "me" a lot. She says for example, "I fall down, me." (if she just fell.) She says, "I don't like...,me." (when she doesn't like something). She really thinks she's in control of everything, or perhaps we have given her that impression too much, she's very convincing and even manipulative. She's quite clever, or in french I would say maline or coquine. She knows how to get what she wants. She puts on the charm, the soothing, sweet voice. She gently tugs becoming more and more forceful when she wants you to follow her. The other day, I said, "Geneve, you need to put on your jammies, okay?" And she said, "NOOOO!!!" screaming as loud as she could, and then added, "okay?" in exactly the sweet pleading way I had said it. We were cracking up.

Some cute things about Geneve. She has probably been the most of a Daddy's kid. She really gets excited when he comes home. And the moment he does, she is running to him and excitedly talking to him about her day or wants to show him something. She says, "show me." When she wants to show us something. She says, "I wan come with you, Dad" if he looks like he's going somewhere. She wishes she could go biking with him (it hasn't happened very much this year) and when he's getting ready to go, she pleads so sweetly, "come, me...bike." etc.  She doesn't like to be left out or left behind by anyone. To say yes, she usually says, "Huh!" in a very happy way. (like uh-huh without the uh).  The other day in the car on the radio, they said, "Geneve" (of course) and she gasped, pointed at herself and really excitedly said, "me! Neve!" It was cute. She refers to herself as Neve. Oh...and honey. The other day Spencer said, "come here baby." And she pulled away and pointed to herself and said, "I not baby, I honey." Spencer said, you're honey? and she said, "huh!" I pretty much can't handle how adorable she is and she gets smothered by everyone because she's too cute. She's really talking a lot more now and saying a lot of phrases. She understands french probably as well, or close to as well as English, but she usually speaks English, except with me, she does use French a bit more. I still try to only speak French to her. She mixes the languages sometimes, like "I want manger". (I want to eat). I asked her yesterday, "comment tu t'appelles?" (what's your name?) and she said, "Neve!" right away. She says, "I think so" or "I don't think so" now too. She also says, "Just a second," something she has heard too much from her mom. Recently I was having a rough morning, to say the least, and I was stressing out about stuff, and she picked up on that right away, and came over and patted my head and said, "is okay Mom...shhhhh...s'okay." She then searched for what I was looking for and tried to be so helpful. It was too sweet. She cheers us on. It's really cute. When I do something, even something minor, that she thinks deserves congratulations, she'll clap and say, "Bravo! Bravo mommy! You did it!" When she's really enthousiastic about something she'll say, "Yoohoo!!"  

She's super difficult about getting her hair combed or teeth brushed or doing anything she's not particularly disposed to be doing. And if she doesn't want to do it, oh man, so difficult. She and Paisley and their screaming is beginning to drive me batty. So we're trying to work on that. She can really make life difficult when she's decided to put her foot down, which seems to happen too often. And more commonly the problem is she's screaming and upset about something but we can't figure out what it is, and it seems the more we try to help the more she screams.

She loves to watch movies, a little too much. She likes Beauty and the Beast, princess movies, Jessie movies, and just watching anything at all. She's still obsessed with chocolate and asks for it much more than she gets it. She loves playing house. She loves horsies. She loves pretending to be a dog or take care of Cado and Paisley pretending to be dogs. They play that game a lot. She likes when Grandparents call on skype and gets really excited even if her attention span for it isn't very long. She loves playing at the park (she says "jouer" the french word for play) and swinging especially. It snowed recently and she is very fascinated wtih that and loving it. She loves to jump out and say, "Boo!" She "hides" sometimes just by turning herself around to face a wall! and then turns around and says, Boo!  She loves to play with friends. She knows the names of all of her friends and loves playing with her friends. Specifically I've heard her say, Clea, Asia, Evan, James, Hannah, Jaxon and Jonas. She loves to play, and can do so well solo or with others.

She is full of life and energy and is a very passionate child. She loves and dislikes fiercely. The other kids are honestly a bit abused by her, not the other way around. She learned early on, defend yourself or be smothered or mistreated and she's taken it too far the other way, all someone has to do is look at her wrong and, watch out! That doesn't stop Cado and Paisley from provoking her or being obnoxious though, so I guess she may have a point! 

I'm sure there is much I am leaving off about her fun, unique personality, but nothing else is coming to mind. I can't imagine life without Genève and her very large spirit that fills up our home and our hearts.

I just made this and it was so yummy!

few changes: I had fresh rosemary and thyme so I added some (sorry no measurement) at the beginning with the oil, I also used a teaspoon each at least of oregano and basi (dried). 

The other changes I made were I added zuchinni because I had some, and after it was all boiling I added bowtie pasta. I happened to have squash and carrot flavored bowtie pasta, and I do think it made it extra yummy.

Of course we ate it with yummy bread, butter and jam, and if we had had any we would have drank milk!

Enjoy!