The Momsicles

Riding the Snowy Trails

2009-03-15T18:25:00.002-06:00

We took a fanastic weekend trip to snowmobile up to Warren, Idaho with our good friends the Labaus. We have made this trip once before with them and it is definitely a family favorite! Warren is a hundred year old mountain town that can only be accessed by plane or snowmobile in the winter. It takes a few hours to reach, but at the half way point there is a wonderful old hotsprings and small log lodge to warm up and change in. The hotsprings is like a large log enclosed swimming pool. We were raisins by the time we forced ourselves out of the luscious warm water.

Lunch was another highlight in at the Warren Winter Inn...the only gig in town. It was classic country diner food at its best! After we stuffed ourselves silly, we were back on the machines for the ride home. Heather and I (pictured above) jammed out to our ipods...a very enjoyable way to speed through the mountains. Ben and Bridger are pictured above catching some air. My jumps and speed were so impressive that Heather just couldn't catch me on film. (I think it was all the Mario cart warm up the night before...I was ripping up the trails!)

Be A Fan

2009-03-13T12:02:00.007-06:00

BE A FAN of courage.

BE A FAN of determination.

BE A FAN of hope.

BE A FAN of joy.

BE A FAN OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS!

(Special Olympics Motto)

We're a fan of Jan Hingstman!!! Jan, our athlete from the Netherlands, called us yesterday. What a treat to hear his voice! He had just participated in the Netherland's Winter Special Olympics and proudly shared the details of his FIRST PLACE finish. He also shared updates on other members of the Netherland's Delegation that we were so anxious to hear about. As you look through the pictures above, you may notice all the blue and white scarves. There is an amazing story behind those beautiful scarves! Several months ago, some local folks thought it would be nice to wrap each athlete in a blue and white hand-knit scarf when they arrived in Idaho for the games. They figured that they would need about 5,000 scarves for the athletes, and their coaches. Somehow the idea ended up on a few knitter's blogs, then websites, then magazines...by the start of the Special Olympics over 55,000 hand-knit scarves had arrived in Boise from all over the country. The stories of kindness and love that accompanied these scarves were so moving. One woman was dying of cancer and only wished to finish the scarf before she passed away. She desperately wanted to serve someone else as all those around her were serving her. She died two days after its completion. One young girl that didn't know how to knit had learned so she could send a scarf to an athlete in rememberance of a dear friend with downs syndrome that had died just a year ago. Another 82 year old woman in Florida knit over 200 scarves herself. When Reed went to pick up our athletes, the organizers handed him a scarf for each of member of our family. When I went to open the zip lock bags that each of them were packaged in, little individual notes came falling out with the scarves. The notes were from the knitters of the scarves and said things like, "Do your very best. I'm rooting for you!" "You are special! You are loved! You can do it!" "I knit this especially for you while you are competing in America! Welcome!" I was so touched by these loving gestures. Who knew that the goodness of humanity could be expressed in the kind hands of knitters across the country. As thousands of fans, coaches, and athletes from every country around the world waved their individual scarves above their heads during the Opening Ceremonies, we were a united world.

So You Think You Can Dance...Liv Can!

2009-03-06T09:05:00.005-07:00

Girl's weekend in Seattle! Hooray!! Actually, it was a dance competition and convention weekend for Olivia, her first with her new Youth Company team, but it involved enough good food, great shopping, and late night talking to be called a "Girls' Weekend!" We had a ball with the other moms and girls. We stayed right up the street from Pike's Place market in downtown Seattle. An added bonus was seeing Grandma Patty, as well! Grandma treated us to a lovely brunch at Etta's at Pike's Place on Sunday morning before we flew out. We also had a great time wandering the market and watching the "fish guys" fling a few fish with her.

However, the best part really was seeing Liv's dance team "wow" the judges and enthusiastic audience with their dances. They took home two golds! With my classical ballet training, I was not familiar with the competition dance world and didn't really know what to expect. But the girls had such a positive experience, and worked so hard over the weekend, I was really impressed! We were so proud of them. This is such a fun group of girls (and moms!) and we are looking forward to more trips and competitions with them.

Special Olympics Idaho-Style

2009-02-25T16:53:00.006-07:00

“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”— Special Olympics Athlete Oath

Our family had the incredible opportunity to host two members of the Dutch delegation to the World Special Olympic Winter Games being held here in Idaho a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to Olivia and the sensitivity and organization of her fellow student council members and advisor, our school decided to be a host community, allowing 10 or so families to have athletes and coaches stay with us before the games began.

Jan Hingstman was our athlete, a speed skater from Assen, Netherlands, and Frits Spiering, was a coach, and father of another speed skater, Rick, who stayed with another family. In the several days that we spent with the coaches and athletes of the Netherlands, we came to love and admire these dedicated, warm, gifted individuals. The Dutch spirit was totally contagious! They were such a funloving group of athletes and coaches! We had a great time cheering on the speed skaters as they gracefully glided to several team victories.

We took Frits and Jan to see the "sights" of our little town...the historical museum, top of our tallest building (a mere 20 stories), the Olympic Village, a meeting with the Mayor, and a real favorite, the behemoth Cabela's outdoor outfitters store! Jan ate his first taco at a little Mexican place down the street, and enjoyed playing games with the kids. NaNa particularly liked Frits and his bright orange hat. (Imagine, on day one of their visit, I, in all my ethnocentricity, thought that the Dutch team were wearing their orange and royal blue sweat outfits in honor of our local college football team, BSU! Hmmm. I quickly learned that orange is the color that represents the royal family, and red, white and blue are the colors of the flag. I donned my orange sweater to support the Dutch!)

Splitz for Pizza

2009-02-09T13:32:00.005-07:00

I knew there was NO telling this story without PROOF! So please, take a closer look...that is MEEEEEE doing the splitz for the best FREEEEEE pizza on the face of the planet! (Okay, that may be a stretch (no pun intended). It is definitely the best pizza in Boise.

The Flying Pie Pizzeria (30 year history in Boise) posts a name on their bill board every day. If its your name, and if you are one of the first 20 "Bobs," or "Adams" or "Penelopes" in the joint, you are invited back to the kitchen to put on a crazy hat and apron and join the cook to in making your very own pizza. Last week, the name sign read "Anyone who can do the splitz!" Meredith came home nearly jumping for joy...."Mom, you can finally make a pizza!" (We've been watching the sign for years hoping for "Gayann.") One small little problem-o...I hadn't done the splitz in about 15 years! I had exactly 24 hours to get my splitz back...oh, the agony. There was just a tinsy bit of pressure here. You see, every year on my mother's birthday, she insists in proving her physical prowess by dropping into a full split. So, you can imagine the pressure..."Mom, if Gramma Lynne can do it," they all chimed.

Well, the proof is in the pudding, or rather pizza, so after a fair bit of pain, and more pressure than one should have to endure from one's children, off we went to prove ourselves. It was a glorious moment met with cheers from the onlooking patrons when I hit the ground for a fraction of a second in grinning Cougarette style. Oh, the glory days...and what I won't do for the love of food.

Move Over Norma

2009-01-25T22:14:00.003-07:00

Yes, this is my first recipe post...could call it "Yummy Tummy Sunday" in honor of my cute sister-in-law, Melissa, who posted this AMAZING recipe on her equally amazing blog on her very clever "Yummy Tummy Tuesdays"! I think that the few (oh, so very few) readers (thanks for all the encouragement...I literally giggle with delight every time I see comments...I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy!) that occasionally take a gander at my blog will all appreciate when I say, "This recipe is WORTHY OF NORMA'S!!" Yes, the one in NYC! (Am I overstating Mel?) All I can say is hurry up and find a good excuse to treat yourself to these yummy wonders! We enjoyed them this very Sabbath morn and were all the more edified for it!

Banana and Pecan Pancakes with Maple Butter
Ingredients for pancakes: (Makes 14 pancakes...you need at least 2-3 per stack/person)
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and finely ground (not chopped)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 bananas, peeled and sliced in 1/4-inch circles
Directions:Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.In a large mixing bowl whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla together so they are well combined. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and sugar. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry and stir with a spoon to get rid of the lumps. Fold in the pecans, most of the melted butter and whisk until batter is smooth. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium low heat and swirl around a little melted butter to keep the pancakes from sticking. Using a ladle pour the batter into the pan.Cook the pancakes on 1 side until they are set and then lightly press the bananas into the batter. When small bubbles appear on the uncooked surface, flip the pancakes and cook until golden on both sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pancakes to a warming plate in the oven while you make the rest.
Ingredients for Maple Butter:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons honey1 piece parchment or greaseproof paper
Directions:In a mixing bowl, using a spatula mash the butter with the maple syrup and honey until well blended. Roll it up in the paper, like a tube and twist the ends. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.To serve, slice the maple-honey butter, layer it between the stack of pancakes and place in the oven to melt for 1 1/2 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and candied pecans.
Candied Pecans: The easiest way I know to have fool-proof candied pecans is to put equal amounts of pecans and white sugar in a non-stick saute pan. Saute over medium heat tossing frequently. When the sugar just starts to turn to liquid remove pan from heat and continue to stir. Cool on parchment.

Birthday Guy Wants a Break

2009-01-22T13:00:00.006-07:00

Okay, friends, I do realize the irony here...one post since Matthew's last birthday but...

It's Matthew's birthday....again! Oh, how I wish they'd stop. Really. He has been such a delightful 6 year old. I really have issues with my kids growing up. I'd like them to just stay little for a whole lot longer! Couldn't they stay 4 and 5 and 6 for two or three years each...then maybe 13 and 14 for maybe just half a year, or less. It makes so much more sense.

Matthew has been planning his party for, well, about 364 days now. Not sure how a SOCCER PARTY INSIDE is going to work! Its supposed to snow tomorrow for his party! So much for the soccer obstacle course and pinata and races.

Upon his request, he was treated to breakfast in bed this morning with waffles topped with bananas, strawberries and whipped cream--he's awfully specific about these things. Meredith picked him up in the middle of the day to take him out to lunch--another tradition that continues--or a nice ruse for my teenagers to skip school. And NaNa has offered to do all Matthew's jobs form him. All one of them. When I tried to hurry Matthew along this morning to avoid a tardy at school, NaNa corrected me, "Mom, you have to talk very nice to the Birthday Guy!"

On the way to school as Olivia and I were discussing the afterschool schedule...ballet, Kumon, friend's going away party, achievement days, etc., Matthew said, "Why are you guys doing things on my Birthday? I don't know why they don't just give everyone a vacation on your birthday?" Wish I knew who "they" were, and wish "they" would schedule that birthday-vacation!

I'm on my way to do "Art Mom" in the "Birthday Guy's" classroom...

Still Christmas

2009-01-08T09:01:00.012-07:00

So its a week into January and I still have not taken one decoration down! Usually I have it all packed up by now, but I'm procrastinating...and recovering from an emergency root canal...and, well, still revelling in the Christmas magic that we enjoyed over the holidays.

Since bits of my Christmas have been described on two dear friends' blogs, I thought I might add some of my own musings on the season to the blogosphere...

Did I mention magical???

Christmas eve began with a chorus or two at our assisted living center. The Neymans (see "Christmas at El Sauzel Orphanage) joined us as we sang, played with our chimes (thanks, Mom!) and acted out the Nativity to Geoff Neyman's beautiful accompaniment. Marge, Jack, Ruby and the gang were an enthusiastic audience to our less than angelic performance.

We then joined our dear friends the Andrews and Robbins, for carolling, cocoa, and a long winter's walk through a snowy white storm at the edge of the Boise River in the neighborhood. As we were strolling along, breaking into song, and dodging Ben's snow balls, we ran right into Santa himself. If I could freeze time at a given moment, it might have to be the moment we came upon Santa "looking for his reindeer who were taking a break to graze along the river." The kids were so surprised they didn't know what to do with themselves. The Jolly Old Elf, in cahoots with Janet, had treats for all. The moment could be summed up in the words of our twenty-year-old, Bekah, "My eyes literally filled with tears when I saw Santa standing in the falling snow. I was as excited as any kid there." It was simply magical.

The cocoa and visit from the Magi (a.k.a. Mark Robbins) to read the Christmas story was a treat as well.

The Neymans

Snow Mania

2008-12-30T21:38:00.002-07:00

We not only had a White Christmas, but the wonderful white stuff stuck around for just about the entire Holidays. This is NOT typical Boise weather! We like to think we live in Camelot...it may snow 3 or 4 days a year, but it always melts by noon (We didn't own a snow shovel until this year!). Normally we have to drive 30 or 40 minutes to the sledding hills...NOT this year! We had an awesome sledding hill right in the neighborhood. The kids had been going over there for hours every day before Christmas, but it is tucked away in some trees so Reed and I had not fully comprehended just how good it was. The day after Christmas we bundled up for some serious fun!

Ben and his buddy Bridger had built a couple jumps that sent us soaring on the sleds. Mere and Liv made a snow fort just in time for a crazy snow ball fight. Bekah brought Jake (collegiate baseball player) who never missed a target. Matthew and NaNa came up with the idea of pelting the sledders as they went down the hill. They actually enjoyed getting hit by the snowballs.

Christmas 2008 Bests

2008-12-26T20:42:00.001-07:00

Best Homemade Gift: Matthew's prolific homemade gifts...not only to his secret exchange, Bekah, which included a bulletin board for her apt., a picture of himself, a frame for the picture, and a BYU Bank made out of a tissue box...Matthew also gave just about everyone in our family as well as friends homemade gifts as well. A homemade wallet for NaNa (NaNa had made him one, too, and put his birthday dollar in in), bookmarks, cards, ornaments, a car (out of paper), and other very useful items.

Best Surprise Gift: Ben's i-pod from his siblings (His parents had refused to get him one as he as put two through the washer and dryer! And his siblings seem to be more flush with the dough anyway! See photo above.) Close second could be that I finally finished Meredith's homemade stocking--it took having her as my exchage name two years!!

Best Unwrapper: NaNa's tower of gifts was twice as tall has he was. And I don't mean pile, I mean verticle footage--he stacked them singly all the way up the wall.

Best Christmas Dish: Reed's gorgeous standing lamb chops interwoven and almost too artistic to eat. The Robbin's chocolate moose cups with an almond in one dish and a present for the lucky eater was a close second! (Okay, I admit, there is some defective characteristic called indecisiveness in my make-up that contributes to all these "close seconds.")

Best "Oops" Moment: After travelling for the last three Christmases, we literally forgot some of our time honored traditions...the little boys didn't remember to line up at the bottom of the stairs, claimed they had no idea what we were talking about. And Reed and I woke up Christmas morning to NO Christmas Kringle (one of the best DeMordaunt traditions!). We both had completely forgotten! Boo hoo! We'll make it for Valentine's Day...

Best Christmas Day Game: DS Brain Age--obsessed! We passed the DS around non-stop (Can I really still get smarter? Oh, pleeeeaase let it be true!) Late, late night rounds of Nerts, a close second (we could have used Aunts Claudia, Chochi, and the Neymans!)

Best, best, best Christmas Day Moment: Serving cookies at the Boise Rescue Mission for the Homeless.

Matthew's First Date

2008-12-05T13:11:00.002-07:00

For my birthday Matthew gave me a gift that kept on giving. It was a gift certificate for a date with him to our favorite sweet shop in the world--Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Park City. He enclosed a $5 bill to pay for the date (to be redeemed when we were at Park City for Thanksgiving). He was so very official about the whole business. We could hardly wait to get to Park City and start consuming our daily allowance of apple pie flavored, white chocolate carmel apples. I surprised Matthew and threw in a quick trip down the Alpine Coaster (my favorite!), too. Matthew loved "treating" me and insisted on handing over the money and giving me the biggest half of the apple. It was a gift that will long be treasured.

Okay, lighter note...I was a completely spoiled birthday girl this year. I won't bore you with the details, but one can never go wrong when one gets to purchase their own gifts, right girls?! But Reed cannot stand to not surprise me. He takes gift-giving so serious. Really. So, on my actual birthday (mind you, I had already received all the "gifts" prior to my birthday), Reed made a big production about gathering all the kids in the family room to "open Mom's presents." I was totally perplexed, thinking there couldn't possibly be more (Okay, maybe I had overdone it a bit in the self-purchasing/giving department, so I was having a flash of GUILT, too, but I was just trying to make his life easier.) The kids were looking a bit surprised, as well. They were mumbling to eachother, "Did you get something for mom?" "No, did you?" Reed had a huge pile of wrapped gifts in the family room for me. As the kids and I sat down, he handed me the first one. The tag read, "To Mom, From Ben. You can use this to make your life easier." (We have a long tradition of goofy gift tags on our presents.) Ben, again, was looking at me like, "I don't know what the heck is going on, but I'm trying to play along." Curiously, the note was typed. I opened it. It was a digital remote meat thermometer. Just the one Reed had been eyeing in the Williams Sonoma catalogue. And so it went...typed notes, a gift for me from every kid, and Reed's pile of treats for himself grew and grew. I was laughing so hard the tears were rolling by the end. Touche, mon ami!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

For the last several years, we have found that gathering with family and friends in the mountains, near the slopes, arriving in a car packed to the gills with turkey & trimmings, skis & snow gear is our definition of a perfect Thanksgiving week. (Explanatory note: Most of our kids are out of school the entire week of Thanksgiving due to the foresight of Mr. Reedo himself in setting the charter school's vacation schedule as an initial member of the board of directors. Well done, Honey!) We've enjoyed several years in the Rockies with Craig and Chris, but this year we headed to nearby Park City to celebrate with my family. We had just enjoyed a long weekend in Park City the first week of October and it had actually started snowing while we were there. We were totally pumped for an awesome Thanksgiving week of skiing! Which was never to come...

When we arrived, the mountainsides of Park City were no more white than...well, let's just say there was NO SNOW, like, anywhere! What to do for a week in a ski-in ski-out condo with NO SNOW???!

Never ones to give in to the elements...we went to movies (lots of them!), we met Melissa and Lucas at the Children's Museum, we went to more movies, we played LOTs of games, and, my personal favorite, (If you can't race down the hill on skis, why not tracks?) we went down the Alpine Coaster (not to be confused with the Alpine Sleds, which are for sissies!). My mom was a demon on the coaster--she probably topped out at 5 mph! Travis and Scott played some crazy, okay, sometimes, violent, rounds of Nerts us, and we stuffed ourselves silly. Yummy Food, always at the forefront of any DeMordaunt fun, was at an all time high at the tres chic Park City fave, Shabu, where we indulged in our old Japanese favorite, shabu, shabu.

Oh, did I leave out the part about a little thing known as the Thanksgiving Feast...nothing lacking there. Mom brought up scrumptious pies and rolls. Reed did an amazing Turkey breast with a spicey sauce. And Bekah and I pulled out some pretty decent appetizers and sides. Bekah created a great new stuffed mushroom recipe that might just win her world acclaim.

The day after Thanksgiving, we had our traditional night of games, cookie decorating, and serious hours in the hot tubs with the Judds! Alex was an artistic master with the gingerbread cookie decorating. We all used a picture of her plate of cookies for our phone screens for the rest of the Holidays. And Paul was in rare form as he regalled us with his crazy stories of skiing way too fast (Grandpa, did you really get kicked off the mountain with your speed demon grandson?), snowmobile mishaps (or rather missing!), and...well, it starts to be very dicey here. I'll leave the rest for Paul.

Finally, our week would not have been complete without an evening with some of our favorite people in the world, the Haglunds. With Karli home from New York, and Heidi well into her reshman year in the Com. classes with Bekah, there was no end to conversation, or good food, or, well, shopping! How did we fit it all in?! Syd had not only put out a gorgeous spread complete with homemade Italian bread, but we also got to join the entire family in a Haglund tradition, making salt-dough ornaments. I think our family, alone, made about 39 colorful dough ornaments that Syd, then, dipped in some shiney hard stuff and carefully wrapped to send to Boise. When they were full enough, and found just the right football game, us girlies slipped out to visit Utah's cutest boutique, Dear Lizzy! This place was amazing...and Karli and Heidi were Holiday employees, so we enjoyed late shopping and price dropping! So fun! Can you say "party skirt," "red patent leather," and "perfume for your toilet bowl?!"

And did I mention movies...we're on our fourth viewing of "Twilight."

Theme song for the Thanksgiving week (How I wish I could say it was "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."): "Electric Feel."

Sea of Estrogen Wins the Race

2008-09-30T12:52:00.000-06:00

We did it AGAIN!!! Yes, it was yet another successfully completed St. Luke's Women's Celebration 5K run for the DeMordaunts (this is our 7th year)! However, the odds were certainly against us this year. It was an absolute downpour! Imagine, 10,000 women running in torrential rains--okay, let's not call this running. It was a sea of estrogen moving like a huge sodden slug to the finish line. Even the usually fabulous berry, yogart, granola breakfast at the end was a soggy, unappetizing glob. But, as you can see from the photos, our spirits were not dampened (oh, the puns are killing me today!). Liv D., Liv A., Elaina, Estelle, and Jessica were troopers in their ponchos and smiles. And Bekah (who had driven up from Provo for the race) was showing off her still summer tanned legs for the whole world to see (what were we thinking???). Janet and I just kept herding our part of the slug along. And to think Janet begged me to sign her up in the highly competitive "elite/timed division" this year...

Rock on, friends, rock on

2008-02-24T11:01:00.003-07:00

Matthew has been obsessed with rock stars lately. I'm baffled. Is it one too many episodes of Hannah Montana? Is it the ipod ear buds hanging out of Meredith and Ben's ears and their frequent exchanges of who to download from itunes next? Or is it just in his blood? Was it inevitable given that his Dad, Reed, STILL bombs the ski hills with Def Leopard and Rush rocking his brains out? Whatever the reason, I find it an odd obsession considering that he is barely 6 years old, and that I am a music-nazi! Honestly, he has not even heard REAL rock music. (Even now, we have Vivaldi ringing through the house as I write!) Last month, for his birthday party, he insisted on a Rock Star theme...guitar invitations, electric guitar pinata, games involving a blow up electric guitar, and guitar themed party bags (I dare you to try to find guitar pencils!). Believe me, I was just a tad worried that the Kindergarten moms who didn't know me might "xnay on the rockpartynay!" (Hmmm, maybe I should've worried that those who actually KNOW me, might be the ones to decline.) And finally, last night, he wrote his first "rock song," lyrics are featured above. The words of the song go something like this:

I am a rock star,

Let's rock and roll on my stage.

There's no hurry.

Now we can rock, rock, rock, rock, rock.

Rock on friends, rock on!

Star Gazing

2008-02-20T22:22:00.001-07:00

One of my absolute favorite things right now is to snuggle at bedtime with my two little guys. If I could really be done for the day at 7:30 p.m. and snuggle down for the rest of the night in between these two, I would be in heaven. (Imagine...bedtime before 11 p.m.--yahoo!!!) Of course, the boys love to huddle together reading stories under the covers on our big bed before the actual "snuggle." Then we turn off the lights, except for Mr. Turtle--our nightlight that reflects constellations onto the ceiling. They love to name the stars. We each take turns choosing a star somewhere on the ceiling and giving it an appropriate name, "Baby Star," "Sloppy Star," Grandma Star," and even "All-Star." Finally, my blissful moment comes as these two rambunctious, "full-speed-ahead" little boys drift to sleep in my arms. Sadly, the moment is much too short. If I'm lucky I get to "doze" for a 20 minute catnap while they settle into sleep. However, most often I'm called out of my reverie to sign school notices, help with homework problems, or make a late dance school pick up for my older, former "snugglers"--the after-9 bedtime crowd. Sigh.

2008-02-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

After a long weekend with nothing to show for it but a lousy head cold, I revelled in pulling up my Christmas Day beach photos. I need some SUNSHINE and fresh air. My only solace between cold meds and shuffling around in my PJs has been the great excuse to curl up and read. Sniff, sniff.

Faces of El Sauzal Orphanage

2008-01-07T00:40:00.017-07:00

Click here for slide show
My Montage 1/6/08

St. Lukes Women's Run--Nation's Largest

2007-09-29T12:46:00.000-06:00

A whole lot of estrogen!
Liv and buddies
Liv and Mere

GIRL POWER!!! Once again, the girls and I joined thousands of women to run the annual St. Luke's 5K. I think this was our 6th year. This year the race became the largest 5K event in the nation--17,000 participants. That's a whole lot of estrogen in one place! Although it was a big year for the event, it was not my best year. That would have to go to my hmmm stellar race of 2005. That was the year that I WON the race-walk competition. Let me explain . . . two years ago I decided I was ready to participate in the St. Luke's race as a timed competitor. That meant that instead of just a number and a t-shirt, I was also given a race chip to be worn around my ankle to get an exact race time. I ran the race, and went merrily on my way. During the next few weeks I had scads of people congratulate me on the run. I thought it was odd that even casual aquaintances knew that I ran in the race. I certainly had not told anyone I was running the race. The local paper prints all of the names of the participants each year, but let's face it, who is going to notice my name among 10,000+ names. My vein surgeon went on and on about how fabulous it was that I did the race and what a feat it must have been and how he didn't realize how serious I was about competing. At this point, I was truly mystified. It just didn't seem like that big of a deal to run a simple 5K along with 10,000 other women. Half the women I know run it each year. Literally 3 weeks later I still had people congratulating me. Finally, when Dorothy, the florist, congratulated me she said, "I can't believe you actually won the thing!" "What?" I said, "Where did you hear that? I didn't win anything. I was kind of disappointed with my time." She explained that my name was posted in a special feature article in the paper as the winner of the race-walk division. Clearly someone had placed me in the wrong category with the wrong timing chip! When I got home I looked up the results on the event's website, and sure enough I was listed as the fastest race-walker. In fact, I beat the next fastest time by nearly 2 minutes (that should have raised some eyebrows!). Sadly, some poor woman who had actually trained for the race-walk category had her time shattered by little old me. Well, so much for basking in the winner's circle. I called and left a message for the organizers explaining the situation. I never heard back. I never got my winner's check in the mail either. Guess they must have recognized the mistake before the checks went out. (Darn.) Interestingly enough, the day before the race this year the paper did a front page spread on the upcoming event with only one large picture accompanying it. Under the picture of a female racer the caption read, "Kathy so-and-so, St. Luke's 2005 race-walk winner"--the picture was not me! Congratulations Kathy!

Empowering Embarassing Entertaining: All in a Day's Work

2007-05-28T23:25:00.000-06:00

What do I write about first??? My most embarassing moment of the week (or year, or decade), my most empowering moment of hmmmm, how often do I feel EMPOWERED, maybe annually, as well, or the most entertaining moment? Let's see . . . EMPOWERING! After convincing myself that I'm invincible, then maybe I'll have the courage to write about what a complete dork I am.

Most empowering . . . so last Saturday I RAN A HALF MARATHON!!! (Warning: this is a rather boring blog, skip to 'EMBARASSING," if you don't have the stomach to listen to me ramble on about impressing myself, and running a snails pace and thinking I'd just won a gold medal in the olympics.) Now, for those of you who are "runners," a "runner-wanna-be" story like mine is just going to sound sappy and completely unimpressive, but I impressed myself, and at the end of the day, if that is all I've done, I won't feel too shabby about that. I was not really even training for a half marathon, or anything for that matter. I had just increased my running by using Jeff Galloway's training method, which I had stumbled across about 6 weeks ago. The guy has changed my running! I started feeling so energized after my 6 mile runs. And I am NOT a runner. Really. But I started doing 6 mi., 2-3 X per week and then a long one (only 8-10). I had just done my first 10 miler when a friend of mine who has run 42 marathons said, "You ought to run the Great Potato Race this weekend." I was like, "No way!!!" But then I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I signed up for this marathon/half marathon event at 6:54 p.m. on Friday night. Six minutes before registration closed for the run at 7:00 a.m. the next morning. The crazy thing was, almost all of my family was out of town. I had no one to encourage me or cheer me on from the side lines.

Even though I had told myself that worse case scenario, I could walk the thing, I was nervous! Two miles into the race, I started running with two older gentlemen that said they were running a 10 minute/mile pace. I said, "There's no way I can keep up! I'm hoping to do this anywhere between 12-15!" They encourage me to just try the pace for awhile. As I was running with them I kept thinking that I would drop off their pace and run alone at the next mile, and then the next mile, and then the next. At about the 10th mile, one of them said, "You may just nail this in under 2 hours you know." I could not believe that I was almost there! These guys turned out to be coaches for the Boise Run Walk club. And, boy, did I get some incredible coaching all along the way. They had also spent 2 days training with Jeff Galloway about 3 months ago. It was like I was running with the master himself! I could not have found two runners on the course that were more different than me. (I smile just thinking about it!) They were seasoned marathoners in their late fifties, neither of them had had any kids, and they couldn't wait to get to their beer at the end of the run. And then there's me . . . Mormon mom of 6 on the marathon course for the first time. They were truly my angels of the course. In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined doing the 13 miles at a 10 min./mi. pace!! I know, I know, that's walking for you real runners, but for me, it was VICTORY! Now my night stand is stacked with books on how to train for a marathon.

Most embarassing . . . let's see . . . I'm going to have to put this moment in context, so bear with me . . .

Recently, I was appointed by the Governor to the State Commission on Charter Schools. The 7 commissioners that sit on this commission come from all over the state to a one-day meeting every 60 days to consider the petitions of charter schools throughout the state. The meeting, as you can imagine, is very formal, and conducted with a seriousness that befits any state body considering the use of tax payers dollars and state statutes. Being the new to the commission, I have spent more than a minute or two worrying, and sweating (figuratively and literally) over the issues before the commission. Knowing this about myself, when I chose to pull out my light tan linen suit to wear to the meeting Thursday morning, I decided I'd better take some LITERAL precautions: dress shields.

(Now, for those of you under the age of 40, you may not know what in the world I'm talking about, but ask your mothers--they used them back in the day. They are simply light weight pads that you pin inside the underarms of your dress or suit to prevent sweat marks. And, like everything else these days, now they come in a "disposable" version. Just peel away the paper protecting the adhesive strips and stick into the underarms of your suit jacket. And, if you anticipate sweating more than usual, cut a second one in half and place that in your jacket underarm as well, just to be sure.) Just to give you a visual image, think feminine napkin product for your underarms! The morning was bit chaotic; babysitter was late, kids were clinging to my pant legs, and I was having to phone into the courthouse every 45 minutes or so because I was on "stand by" jury duty, as well. Unfortunately, I walked into the commission meeting after everyone was seated (about 40 petitioners and audience and press and the commissioners at their individual microphones at tables in the front of the conference room). I had to walk from the very back of the room, up to the very front of the room to be seated behind my placard, "Commissioner DeMordaunt." About 45 minutes into the meeting, after making a few comments, I asked the chairman to excuse me for a few minutes to call in to check my status as a "standby juror." I, again, walked in front of the entire gathered body, straight into the bathroom to make the call. As I walked past the full length mirror in the bathroom, I did a double take. Stuck to the right hip of my jacket, FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE, was this feminine napkin looking dress shield! I died.

Most entertaining . . . jury duty. Really. Imagine, if you will, City of X, prosecuting a respectable citizen with no prior record of . . . anything at all, for leaving the airport parking lot without paying a whopping $1.50, because the prepaid machine ate his ticket. Really. I mean really! And imagine the deliberations for this case going well into the evening--8 p.m.! And finally, imagine, poor Mr. Defendent, being represented in this ludicrous case by a lawyer who says things like, "Uhhhh, judge, I don't get it," when responding to the smug, young "my-vocabulary-consists-only-of-10-syllable-words-and-I-hope-I-don't-pull-an-Ann-Coulter-and-distract-you-with-my-great-legs" prosecutor's objections. He also defended his poor client with "Well, it wasn't like he was like the uh uh 'Dukes of Hazard' or 'James Bond.'" (I had to stare at the floor for a good two minutes after that one to keep from busting out laughing!) Or, in the all important final remarks to the jury, using definitive language like, "There's just a ton, a TON, of evidence here." I found out later, that despite his complete ineptness, this lawyer has actually been practicing for years. Yikes. What choice did we have but to find the guy guilty as charged?!

Our home a heaven on earth? Not today.

2007-05-16T19:51:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, while I was doing the "soccer mom thing," you know, driving from one end of town to the other and back again . . . dentist, ballet, lacrosse, piano, ugh . . . trying to obey the traffic laws, ignoring my cell phone ringing, preparing something (mentally at least) for dinner and figuring out how I was going to gather all my little chickens back to the hen house on time, when a little voice from the back seat interrupted my hyper focus on the mundane. Matthew said, "You know mom, I think heaven is going to have a lot of flowers. Fruit, too." "Oh, really, Matthew how do you know that?" I asked. "It will have all the good things, like what is your favorite food, mom?" He asked. "Hot chocolate," I said. "They'll have lots of that!" He said. Then, he hit me between the eyes with "And you and Dad will never fight in Heaven. You'll just have fun together." Hmmm. Now if that doesn't shake up your world for a second or two?!

Reed and I have always been of the opinion that you should not hide the fact that there is disagreement in relationships--especially marriage--but handled with respect and communication, they can be resolved, with plenty of lovin' afterwards. Children, we believe, need to see some of this process to learn how to resolve conflict themselves. I've always felt that we have taken the disagreement behind closed doors when appropriate. HOWEVER, I am left wondering if this amount of discord, which we think is normal and even healthy, in both its quantity and quality, is so uncomfortable to my 5 year old that he thinks it will take heaven to make it go away??? Ouch!

Mamos and Lunch--What Are Friends For?

2007-05-14T20:53:00.000-06:00

What?! You've never done mammos and lunch with a girlfriend? Clearly you are either into pain or you are UNDER 40--you lucky dog!!! But reaching the ripe old age of 40 gives you license to explore the bonds of friendship you never imagine existed, say, like scheduling mammograms together. And like screaming with laughter as your half naked friend strides out of the dressing room and flaunts what is left of her former glory to ask "How do you wear this thing (the kimono gown)?" As if I know. I've had exactly one more mammogram than she has, which makes two to date. And there is nothing quite like having your breasts compared and contrasted to your bosom buddy's. The technician brought us into the "reading room" and carefully explained, "Now you (I'll let you guess who 'you' is) have more dense breast tissue than she does that is why it is lighter in color. And she, well she seems to have firmer tissue." I was like, "Don't you dare get these x-rays mixed up, I have a good 1/2 cup more than J and I am not giving that up, even for a friend!" We left the hospital hugging the technician and insisting she joins us for lunch next year.

Photographic Genius at age 3!!!

2007-05-09T12:16:00.000-06:00

So, we pulled out the camera to capture Olivia and Ben's piano recital, quite pleased with myself for REMEMBERING the camera, only to discover that we had no memory space. How can this be? I thought. We just cleared the memory stick. When we went to check if the memory stick was in, we discovered a photographic journal of 3 yr. old NaNa's day! Literally there were about 50 pictures of . . . toes, gum at three different angles, his reflection in the t.v. taking a picture of himself, the game he was playing in various stages, and the one that absolutely slayed me--and is not appropriate to post because it makes me ill every time I look at it . . . 4 macro photos of Tuffy's (our yet to be trained malty-poo puppy) pooh pooh!!! What was he thinking? When I say "macro" I mean the camera had to be less than 6 inches way from the subject matter! When we questioned him about it, he responded brightly, "My pictures of Lightening McQueen all by myself." Sure enough, when we went through all of them we discovered that he had put on the LM dvd all by himself and took pictures of the t.v. as it was playing. (One might wonder, WHERE WERE HIS PARENTS????) Oh, and if you are wondering about his closely cropped locks . . . he cut his hair while I was away for the weekend in Denver! I hadn't even gotten on the flight yet, when Reed called to give me the news. He said NaNa explained, "I was just getting the gel out." Can't argue with that.

On your marks, get set, GO!

2007-05-01T09:18:00.000-06:00

Oh the joys of Spring! I hearken back to a third grade writing assignment, "What does springtime mean to you?" Hmmm. Springtime means that on any given day I may spring over to the ballet school, spring quickly across town to soccer practice, sprint home to meet the piano teacher waiting in the driveway and put some pasta on, dart back to the ballet school to pick up dancer #1 and drop off sustenance for dancer #2 and back, again, to the soccer field. Alright, alright, I did enjoy rolling down my window long enough to smell the lilacs next to the ballet school (my mother's favorite). Truly, springtime is more like a 50 yard dash to the last day of school. Will I make it across the finish line without tripping (or rather forgetting a concert, a birthday party, soccer half time snacks, or worse, a kid!)?