Sleep-over #2

Kaiya and I had another sleepover on Friday night, which thankfully went much better than the first attempt. We went to the store, and then watched a movie, and didn't make it to bed until 11:00. Saturday morning we went to get the oil changed in my car, and then to the library. By that time, it was time for Steph & Mickel to bring Teague over while they went to their soccer game (which they won). The day went by pretty fast!

Chicken Noodle Soup

This weekend, in addition to my regular visit with Kaiya and Teague while Steph and Mickel participate in their soccer league, I made my home-made chicken noodle soup. This soup has quite the following, although I'm not sure how much is due to the quality of the soup, and how much is due to the fact that I actually cooked something (there's been so little of that going on lately ...). But, whatever the case, I like it! So if no one wants to eat it, then all the more for me. It must have turned out okay, though, because I only ended up with one small bowl of left-overs. The secret - or at least the secret of why I like it - is that I make home-made noodles, and I make them on the thick side. Kind of a cross between noodles and dumplings. As Mr. Campbell says, "Mmmm good!"

Teague may be Mama's Little Man, but he likes his Daddy okay too.

Kaiya had a good time "helping" with the dishes.

We were just sorry that Kris and Sterling couldn't join us. We're praying that whoever finds the money does the right thing ...

She's The Apple of My Eye

This is perhaps a small conceit on my part - since I think our darling Kaiya is the most beautiful girl around - but I do think there's definitely a family resemblance ... what do you think?

Gymnastics

Kaiya is signed up for a gymnastics class, so Steph decided to take her to a Ute's meet to show her what it's all about, and very kindly invited me along. First we met Mickel at The Pie for dinner, after a bit of confusion about the location since The Pie actually has two locations, one right around the corner from the other. Great pizza - but VERY crowded and noisy! You know - typical college hang-out. Teague sure liked it. Then we went to the Utah/Arizona State meet, where it was very apparent that the Lady Utes would dominate the night. They are FANTASTIC! Kaiya was very intrigued by what they were doing, although I'm not sure she quite made the connection to what she does in her gymnastics class. And she didn't want me to clap ... not sure what that was about.

However, I think she was a bit more entertained by the people around us, the stairs, the seats, and Grandma's camera. In case you can't tell, the picture below is a self-portrait of Kaiya's legs, by photographer Kaiya Jane.

When we were driving back to Steph & Mickel's house, along 1300 East, we could see an orange glow. As we got closer, it was apparent that it was a HUGE fire. A house right on 1300 East was FULLY engulfed in flames, and apparently it had just happened because there were no fire crews there yet. We stopped to look (and Mickel had already called it in - he was in front of us in the Mazda). The heat was so intesnse we could feel it in the truck. The flames were so high, the trees in the neighboring yard were begining to catch fire. It just looked like one huge fireball. We were so dumbfounded, I didn't have the presense of mind to to take a picture, and it was starting to freak out Kaiya so we had to leave. But I was in the neighborhood again today so I thought I'd take one of what it looks like now.

This isn't the best picture, but if you can zoom in you might be able to see that there is absolutely nothing left of the inside - it's just a shell. What I don't understand, though, is why it appears white and clean on the outside. I mean, those flames last night engulfed everything - why isn't it charred-looking? At any rate, it was sobering to realize how fast it got to that point, and how deadly fire can be.

Rascal Flatts

On Thursday night, Steph and I went to the Rascal Flatts concert (with opening act of Jessica Simpson, wearing Daisy Dukes shorts). It was a ton of fun, especially since we were in a suite (although I would have traded tickets with anyone on the floor). Steph lamented the quality of her photos, so I'm posting my own versions to reassure her that her photography skills do not suck as much as mine. The first photos are hers; the version following is mine. In my defense, my phone camera offers no focus control, and very minimal zoom control. She was smart enough to bring a real camera. :-)

SLEEP-OVER AT GRANDMA'S

Kaiya just left after a much-anticipated (by both of us) sleepover with Grandma. However, it didn't quite turn out as planned. I went over to Steph and Mickel's last night and watched the kids while they went to an Ultimate Fight event (yes, a little bit strange, but Mickel's cousin was one of the main attractions). Then I took Kaiya home with me when they returned. She was a little out of sorts last night and didn't want to go to sleep (even though we didn't get home until 12:30). So I let her watch A Bug's Life, thinking she'd fall asleep right away. But no ... Grandma fell asleep and she watched the whole thing through to the end. So by now it's 2:30 a.m., and I'm thinking okay, surely now she'll go to sleep. No. After a minor melt-down, she finally agreed to go to bed and went right to sleep. When she woke up at about 8:00, she was raging hot. She didn't want to eat, she didn't want to do anything, she didn't even want the cookie I offered her for breakfast (sorry Mom - what happens at Grandma's usually stays at Grandma's ...). She threw up twice, and was just a generally miserable little girl. Mom and Dad arrived to drop off Teague while they went to their soccer game, but prepared to forego the game if Kaiya wanted to go home. Brave little trouper that she is, she wanted to stay with Grandma. So they gave her some medicine and left for their game. Luckily, she improved greatly by the time they returned, and - bless her heart - still wanted to stay with Grandma. And I'm very happy to report that Teague seems to be pretty well past the "missing Mom with heartbroken passion" stage, and actually had a good time at Grandma's as well.

HOWEVER ...

I'm now exhausted, the house is a mess, the laundry isn't done, the groceries did not magically appear ... and I'm not going to do anything about any of it. For today anyway. This is why having babies is best left to young people.

February Odds and Ends

Well, first of all, adieu to Valentine's Day. Kaiya and Teague (with a bit of help from mom) made me this great card ...

and Jerry thoughtfully sent me some flowers, and though they didn't recover from the cold quite as well this time, they made my heart smile.

Also this past week I won the "Biggest Losers" contest for a second time. However, it's hard to feel too excited about that, since my loss for the week was only 0.3 pounds (obviously, everyone had a bad week). Five more weeks to go - I've got to get it in gear!

Finally, I will be able to put "no" to the "corrective lenses" line on my driver's license for the first time in my life: I had Lasik surgery on my left eye and can now see without aid. I now have what is called "mono-vision," where one eye (left for me, which is my dominant eye) is for distance and the other is for close range. It is not as dizzying as it sounds - the vision adjusts fairly seamlessly for whatever is needed. What a treat to be able to see the alarm clock, to be able to run in the morning without glasses, to be able to swim without thought, to be able to endure a long distance flight without worrying about contacts vs. glasses. Who would have believed that having cataracts would make all this possible? Crazy.