HAPPY EASTER!!!

Okay, so this is how we spent our Easter week. First, we knew we weren't going to be going anywhere special over the vacation, so we started out with a trip to the bookstore. The girls each got two books, and they are now on their second ones, and I have read three of my four (I had way too long to think about what I missed out on reading while I was reading textbooks and writing papers for my masters!). Rebecca is starting to read the American Girl books, and Mallory is starting to read the Ramona Quimby books. Since I love to watch Medium, I got two books written by the real Allison DuBois, and they are motivational and very interesting- if you want to know, call and ask me, and I will talk your ear off about it! I had also started reading the Shopaholic books, and so I got the third one. Lastly, I missed out on knowing what all the hype was about with the Twilight books, so I got the first one. That is the one I thought I would read first, but it turns out that it's the one I have left, and will at least start it tomorrow, since we go back Tuesday, and I probably won't read Tuesday since American Idol is on and I have to see what Adam will do :)
Next, we gave the girls a minor room makeover. It had been about 5 years since we had upgraded or replaced anything in their room, and I had been keeping my eyes out for a cute bedroom in a bag set that incorporated the green for Bec's room and pink for Mal's. We found this at Bed Bath and Beyond, and both of the girls fell in love with it. When I found out that they were on sale, plus they were going to honor a 20% coupon-and- ship it for free, I could not resist. It included the valence, dust ruffle, shams, comforter, two sets of sheets, pillow cases, and two throw pillows. They are thrilled, and I love it. Since I have a sister and sisters in law who have such a penchant for decorating (yes, Amber, Cammi and Angie, I am talkin' 'bout you), I am happy when I can even come close to something show-worthy :)
So, here is Rebecca's room...

and here's Mallory's

Here are the sillies on Easter morning with their loot. The Easter Bunny gave them peeps, See's Bordeaux eggs, toffee candy bars, and butterscotch and chocolate suckers. He was also very practical and got them flip-flops, and new socks and undies (some of you may think that odd, but we have no shame about getting those in Easter baskets or Christmas stockings around here, haha)...

the loot...

Thier dresses this year actually served a double-duty. About a month ago, they were invited to take part in a adoption/dedication ceremony at the church of a good family friend (they have children attendants that get be with the adoptees the whole afternoon and they get treated like guests of honor). One of the kids is in my class this year, and it was a special day, where we definitely learned that you can feel the spirit in other houses of worship other than ours. They loved the dresses, and asked if they could wear them for Easter. I was going to change things up a bit and find out about getting them altered to be short dresses but that never happened. And of course there are lots of things I would be perfectly fine with doing myself, but this isn't one of them. I never did learn how to sew a straight line to save my life, and because of that, I have never had the desire to even own a sewing machine. It's just as well, because the girls like them long, and I am pretty sure I wouldn't have liked the cost of having them changed anyway...

Okay, so they are pretty as long dresses :)

In the morning before church, they had looked for the hard-boiled eggs inside the house, so after church, they got to change their clothes and look for plastic ones outside. We even had found some baseball "eggs" to put the jellybeans and robin's eggs in, so Mallory thought that was cool...

The hunt was on...

One thing that both of the girls are into lately is wanting to help in the kitchen. Mallory especially has earned the title of "little chef", saying that she wants to go to cooking school when she grows up. Rebecca loves to help, so we definitely don't leave her out either. For our appetizer on Easter, we had chips and guacamole, and the girls did most of the work. All I did was chop cilantro. They scooped, mashed and squeezed like little pros. They even tried it, but after all that work, they asked if they could eat the chips with salsa.

Mommy and Daddy didn't mind, they were happy to eat it!!!

For dinner, I had been trying to convince Kris to barbeque something tasty, but all he and the girls could think about was the fact that it had been a really, really long time since I had made scones. So we did it up full Stohl-style with homemade bread dough, filling with shredded carrots, cheese, and corn and salad to go with them. It wasn't your traditional Easter fare, but it sure was tasty!

Now on to the dessert. I mentioned to Kris, "why don't we use the ice cream maker?" So we got on the internet in search of ice-cream ideas. We found a recipe for cinnamon ice cream that sounded very good. Then we got the idea to modify it to be like one of our favorite Coldstone Creamery creations- Dulce de Leche. So we did exactly what they do, except instead of putting the graham cracker crumbs in the ice-cream, we put the ice-cream in a graham cracker pie shell.

We made the cinnamon ice-cream just like they said to do. Once it started to set, we added some honey and caramel, then put it in the pie crust and froze it overnight. When we were ready to eat it, I took it out and smoothed some more caramel on top, squirted canned topping all over the top, and sprinkled some cinnamon over that. Here's how it turned out...

It was sooo good. I think just the straight cinnamon recipe would be awesome with warm piece of apple or peach pie too!

We will end our Easter by reading about the Savior's Resurrection in the scriptures, and/or watching the Living Scriptures version of it...

Anyway, that was our week. That, and dance-dance revolution dance offs, wii playoffs, watching conference, cooking other meals together, and just enjoying being home without worrying about a crazy schedule. Tomorrow is our last day off, so we will have to let you know if we decide to do anything special! Hope you all had a great Easter. We miss you and hope to see you soon!!!

Adam Lambert!

The next American Idol at Universal Studios, performing a song from his role in the musical Wicked! I have read the book and Kris and I almost saw this group perform it at the Pantages Theater several months ago (a group from his work went- because of writing my thesis, we opted out, darn!!!!). Here is Adam, though, singing as beautifully as ever...

The Next American Idol!!!!

I was a very faithful fan of American Idol the first two seasons, and watched the last couple episodes of the other seasons, just to see who I liked. This year, I am hooked again, and ADAM LAMBERT is the reason. He is probably the best thing to ever come out of this show so far! The girls and I think he is cute, has an amazing voice and stage presence, and he chooses GREAT songs! This rendition is wonderful, and I am a Tears for Fears fan (and I also really like the one that is by Gary Jules, whose version is on the video game "Gears of War" and in the movie "Donnie Darko"). I also loved his version of "Tracks of My Tears", by Smokey Robinson (If you haven't seen it, find the link to it after watching "Mad World", and be prepared to be amazed!). GO ADAM! You are the next American Idol!!!

Shana's Birthday Party!

Last Saturday, April 4th, we went to a birthday for my wonderful friend and co-worker, Shana (the bodacious babe in the polka dots, heehee). She teaches 4th grade at Castle Rock too, and she is my neighbor across the center computer pod. I think we get along well due to our common love of food, shopping, pedicures, 80's music, good books and light-hearted sarcasm. An added bonus is that when our husbands get together, they always have a lot to talk about too- they are both sci-fi, video game geeks (you know I say "geek" in the kindest way possible :) ). Shana is different from me and very interesting too, since she is a great hula dancer (and no, she isn't Hawaiian, that's what makes it cool!), belonging to a local Polynesian dance troupe out of Tulare. We got to meet a couple of her hula group buddies, and they were very nice. Heidi is the one in the white top, and she is way cool too. She and I had a great conversation that night about our faiths, our kids (she has two boys), how we met our husbands, even more stories of her trip to Europe last summer (I never tire of that) and other things. She also teaches 4th grade at my school, and goes with Shana and I on our weekly lunch time getaways. Debbie is also pictured on the other end. She and I have known each other the longest of this group. It is nice to know that after all this time, Kris and I can still have very nice conversation with her and her husband. That really did mean something special to me. Shana and my other friends at work make my school a great place to teach. I know that if I do ever change jobs/schools, I will be keeping in touch with at least some of my friends from Castle Rock. They are dear friends, especially Shana. I am thankful to call her friend, and glad we celebrated her birthday together. It was fun and the girls had a great time playing board games, computers, etc. with the neighbors across the street! Happy Birthday Shana, all the best to you! Love ya! (Lunch? Where are we going today???, hee hee)...

What's With Me???

Tonight, I posted about the girls, mostly, with a tiny bit about myself at the end. I am busy enough for two people, so generally, my time is limited to read other people's blogs. Well tonight, I feel like I have been a stalker! Yet most of what I read and saw has affected me deeply, I think in a highly positive way.
One blog I read addressed the fact that all of us think our children are the cutest, brightest, best, etc. I can't argue with that. And this friend is right to say that every child deserves to have someone who adores them that deeply. Then just as I mentally digested that little morsel of light and truth, I read one about how it is sometimes hard to open up and blog about "real" and "deep" feelings, beyond the trivial or somewhat shallow. Let's face it, we are all probably MUCH deeper than our blogs merit. I for one have not really spent much time at all blogging about myself, let alone anything that lets anyone know any of the complexities that I try to wrap my mind around sometimes. THEN, I came across the beautiful video I posted by Dieter Uchdorf. It built up everything I was feeling in my mind and heart like a musical crescendo, a bit of an epiphany, or more of an "Aha" or "Oh yeah" I guess. Especially the very last line, about how our trust and reliance on the spirit (faith) is directly proportional to our power to create. So guess what??? This could be the first of the occasional random gush of personal emotions on this blog.
I have done so much with my life in the past two years or so. There is so much to be happy about and thankful for. Yet, if there has ever been a time in my life where I battled self-pessimism, lack of confidence, and stuggled not to become depressed, it has been this last two years. I have prayed, but need to pray more. I have asked for husband's blessings, and my wonderful husband has always brought me comfort. I think what I have been trying to create is a stronger, new-and-improved
me, and the growing pains of this have made it excruciating at times. I think the reason for this is that I have have not once tried to simplify things so I can focus on the aspects I need to focus on most. I have just thought I can do a LOT of things at once and when they are all finished, I will be fulfilled. To a point that is true, but in a big way, it still leaves me right where I was in the first place- thinking of the times I feel asleep without reading scriptures, the times the girls fell asleep and we didn't say prayers, things like that.
I need to say this too, this "Superwoman Syndrome" has got to be deeply embedded in my very soul somewhere. I can honestly remember as a young girl thinking that I wanted to "have it all"- that I was going to be married and have kids, that I was going to have callings at church, that I was going to have a career, but one that allowed me to have a schedule very similar to that of my kids', that I was going to be there for all of their games, recitals, etc, and even be one of those parents that voluteers their time with those activities. The problem is that I love everything I do- but when I take on something new, I lose perception of the time commitment involved. Then I realize how insane everything is getting, and I long to simplify my life. Once something ends, it is easy to replace it with something else- and so the cycle continues. I did this before the girls came along, when I was a regular in the local theater circuit and in the opera in Fresno.
Okay, so I like to use my mind, learn, create. That isn't bad at all. It seems though that I do it at the times when I am longing most for a change in my life. When I was doing all that theater stuff, I did it all the while proclaiming that it was what I wanted to do until I became a mommy, a last little "selfish streak" if you will. Then the girls came along and it was pure bliss and excitement. Don't get me wrong, it still is. I guess what kind of changed for me is when I decided to go back to school and get my Master's. I got a little self-centered again and set some big goals for myself. It was so totally incredible to finish that, and I can't wait to formally celebrate it at commencement in May. The one little thing, the icing on the cake of reward though, is the new job. I KNOW, I should be so very thankful that I have the job I have, and that I can stay right where I am and get a nice little raise in August. However, the stars are still in my eyes and the fire in my belly when I think of being offered a position as an administrator. I have already had the opportunity to go to a few interviews, but for whatever reason, the one that is meant for me is still yet to come. I know I need to be patient. The Lord will guide me towards a place where I will be happy and I will know it's where I was meant to be. That is how it was with my teaching job. My mind and my spirit are at odds with this, and it is so easy for me to say what I need to do and how I need to feel. But actually allowing myself to do it is another story. Kris told me that when we were praying the other day, he had a feeling come over him and he could 100% see me attaining my goal. Of course I asked him "when?" like he would be able to answer that. You see, that is another thing that is engrained in my spirit somewhere. I have a hard time living in the here and now sometimes. I was one of those kids whose parents were always having to remind them to be happy, and not live too much in the future (like how great life will be once I can date, drive, when my missionary comes home, etc.). I have tried to control this, but so far only to a marginal degree of success. I do the same thing with finacial matters, too. Suffice it to say, that could be a another long blog...
So, this (in a very long winded and round about way) leads me right back to the title of this blog- What's With Me??? Well, what is with me is that the experiences of the last 2 years or more have changed me. In some ways they have made me stronger. In others, I still need to "step it up." Is it healthy to try to be "Supermom"? I think it is as long as you define and stay within your own limits and always allow yourself enough room/time to learn and grow spiritually. When you have that, you are also working on being the best wife and mom that you can. This is what I think has been wrong with me, and has left me feeling a bit "devoid" despite my crazy schedule. Thank goodness it will slow down a bit in April, just in time for Mallory's baptism, family coming to town, and then the end of the school year. I plan not to take on any extra responsiblities this summer. You heard me! Please help me keep this promise to myself and my family!
In all seriousness though, I will be fine, especially since tonight seems to have pulled me more towards my center of balance. Thank you for letting me read your blogs. I think most of you are younger than I, but your goodness and wisdom went beyond my years tonight! If you have any additional comments or wisdom to impart, feel free :)

CREATE!- This speaks directly to my soul! Thanks Christa!!!

Busy Busy!

Our first track meet- Becca is ready!

Becca and her little friend who was a high-jumper!

Warming up on the field, they are on the far end in the darker green shirts. The light green is Royal Oaks

Becca is throwing the shotput (behind the net, not in front). She said that she didn't do that well because the ball was heavier than she was used to. Here you can see her crouching to push the ball forward as much as possible...

another shotput picture-

Becca is one of those specks on the far end of the field. I couldn't get a good picture because she was in the 4x100 meter relay, and her starting mark was way over there. She passed up two girls and was so very fast. I so want to see her do the 100 meter dash!

Mallory going to practice last Thursday

...and the same pose, after the game on Saturday. She is liking softball a lot, but after getting a pretty good start, we are now in a slump. Hope we can come out of it in the 4 or 5 games we have left!

So anyways, these were the highlights of our week. That, and I put another yearbook "to bed", and had a pizza celebration with my GATE class/yearbook staffers. We were proud of Becca for getting 4th place in 3rd and 4th grade girl's 4x100 relay, this being the first time they ever started with a starter "gun". Her school got so many of the awards, they were so proud, especially the principal, who we sat near for a while. Our neighbor Austin got first place in one of the boy's races, so he was pretty excited about that. The next meet will be later this month, so we will let you know how it goes!

Report cards are supposed to be done tomorrow and I have barely started. I can't do it at home because they are computer-generated, and only accessible from school. And I can't cancel practice tomorrow because we have a game on Tuesday! ARRRGH! I am going to try to leave the house really early tomorrow to get lots done! Wish me luck with my overextended self!!!