Nine Years!

I seriously cannot believe today is our ninth anniversary. Our babysitter even thought it was crazy that we were married "in 2000... woah..." Gee, that didn't make me feel old at all.

I think what stuns me the most, though, is that I honestly do not feel old. I feel like... me... only nine years older, which happens to be thirty, and not twenty-three like one of our sister missionaries thought the other day. I died laughing. She seriously thought I was twenty-three years old!

We had a nice evening out, though. Spent a quiet dinner at Skewer's in Indialantic, an intimate Mediterranean/Lebanese restaurant that makes killer hummus and stuffed grape leaves. Hardly anyone was there, we sat outside enjoying the cool breeze, and our waiter was articulate and attentive. After dessert, we took a quick stroll down to the beach. We didn't stay long-- the breeze was a bit gusty and chilly right on the water. Yep, we're Florida wimps now.

We came home to our sitter apologizing for getting the kids to bed a little bit late-- juggling three at bedtime is a trick she had never really tackled before. We didn't care, though. We had a nice dinner out, and came home to sleeping children whom she kept alive. That's all that mattered.

My Sweet Drew

Frog

I told Allie to go to the bathroom before she got dressed this morning-- the usual routine. But she walked out before she even had sat down on the pot.

"Mom, there's a frog in the toilet," like it was no big deal. So I followed her into the bathroom, barely peeking around the rim of the bowl. Yep, it was there. I could tell it was bigger than the baby-size frogs we usually see around our house, so I slowly closed the lid. Allie had to use the toilet in our bathroom.

I didn't have time to deal with it at that moment, since I had to get Allie to school, so I stuffed towels and blankets in the cracks under the doors of their jack-n-jill bathroom to at least keep the frog in there if he (or, er, she) escaped the toilet bowl.

The girls had a ball telling the school staff there was a frog in the toilet, especially since I had yet to get it out.

After coming home, having spent the entire ride home pondering how to capture this innocent intruder, I decided on a strainer and a book. I grabbed them and went to the toilet, slowly opening the lid. I couldn't immediately see him, but Sami found him tucked away, hidden up near the toilet seat. Yeah, a big sucker-- maybe four inches in body length (without his legs stretched out) and three inches fat. I wish I had taken a picture at this point, but that didn't cross my mind.

I slowly lowered the strainer into the water, edging toward his feet, then flushing the toilet to "wash" him into the strainer. No dice. He just climbed around to the other side of the bowl. I tried to inch the strainer toward him again, using the book to keep him from jumping. But he found an opening. He leaped out from the bowl onto the floor by my feet. I screamed. Sami freaked out, leaping over to the bed. The frog tried to get under the door crack to Drew's room, pushing his way through a slight opening in the towel I had put there. I yelled, "Oh, no you don't!" He stopped, turned around, and looked at me. Huh, he obeyed. I had to chuckle.

Then he jumped on the wall, leaping his way toward a "safe" area behind the toilet. He seemed pretty content there, so that's when I took a picture.

Eventually, he moved back to the side wall, and I was able to get him to jump into the strainer, covering the top with the book. I had Sami take another picture, but the flash reflected off the metal on the strainer, so that one didn't really turn out.

We decided it would be best to put him our back by the lake. I leaned over the fence, taking the book away. He didn't move. I tried to dump him out, and he clinged to the strainer. It took several times of trying to forcefully dump him out, for him to finally decide to let go.

I told Sami to run in the house before he followed us.

I kind of think he liked us.

Epilogue...

I went to pick Allie up from school. As we drove off, I said, "Well, Allie, we caught the frog. We threw him outside, so you can use your toilet now." She smiled. Then a few seconds of silence.

"Was there frog poop in it?" I love the way her mind works.

An update (FINALLY)

That darn Facebook. Have been wasting entirely too much time posting messages on my "wall" or looking at other friends' walls, commenting on their own messages or pictures. Facebook is a great tool to find people, to keep in touch with friends you don't want to lose-- to be in contact with a whole lot of people without having to call or email each one of them. But it can also be a wonderful waste of time, if used in excess like I have been doing. Moderation, Krissy... moderation. Somehow, though, I have found it to be extremely relaxing to do after Sami and Drew go down for their naps. Although, writing is also therapeutic for me, as well as productive, so I suppose I need to be doing more of that... which is why I'm here... and why I've just closed the Facebook tab I had open. I'm not an addict... I'm not an addict...

As for a family update, I'll start with March. Not much happened in February. Yeah, there was Valentine's Day, which turned out to be a bust anyway. We had planned to go out together, even lined up a sitter, when Sami decided to run a fever that day. So we canceled the sitter and ordered pizza.

Back to March... Allie turned 5 on the 4th. Speaking of her being 5, I just took her (and the whole crew) over to the school (walked, actually, since the school is right around the corner from our house) to register her for Kindergarten for the Fall. I'm blown away by how grown up she is. Although, there is some protocol she still needs to learn. For example, after I finished filling out paperwork, we began to walk out when Allie needed to go potty. The nurse directed her to the bathroom inside the nurse's station, where a little boy was sitting waiting for his dad to come get him. Allie opened up the bathroom door and began pulling her pants down with the door wiiiide open. She got her pants 3/4 of the way down her bum crack when I noticed, running over to close the door. The little boy was a "wee" bit (ha) horrified by seeing my daughter's naked bum. Not that it's not cute, but just that Allie didn't care about showing it to the world.

Anyway, on her birthday we took the family to The Magic Kingdom of Disney World. I was glad we were able to go, since Sami came down with the stomach flu just three days before Allie's birthday. Sami was sick up through Tuesday evening, but woke up fine Wednesday morning. So we piled everyone in the car, and prayed no one else would come down with it. We had talked up this whole Disney day-trip with Allie, so even if Sami had still been sick, I would have sent Allie and Kevin by themselves. The park was busy as usual, but the girls got some good training on what it means to wait in a long line patiently. Allie rode Thunder Mountain Railroad with Kevin, but didn't really like it all that much-- she wasn't really scared, but it was just too rickety. The roller-coaster in Toon Town, the Barnstormer, was more up her alley. All five of us rode The Pirates of the Caribbean, with Sami on my lap, her head buried in my shoulder, most of the time. Allie took a bunch of good pictures there with the kiddie digital camera she got as a birthday present. I'd show them to you, but she deleted them all before I could transfer them to the computer.

Two weeks later Sami celebrated her 3rd birthday. I had planned on us just celebrating at home with the five of us, with pizza and cake and a few presents, of course. But then Allie said, "Mom, tomorrow's Sami's birthday-- we need to have a party!" A party? Ugh. So, I asked Sami who three of her favorite friends were, knowing she has way more than three. She said Morgan, Mattie, and Janie. I called up their moms and invited their families over for pizza and cake the next evening. I set up the kiddie pool for the kids, even though a cold front ended up blowing through that day. I'm so lazy when it comes to inventing and throwing parties, so the last-minute thing works best for me anyway. Then I have an excuse for not being creative.

The weekend before Sami's birthday, our little family went camping all together for the first time at the ward camp out. It's true, Kevin and I had not been camping together since a year before we had children, six years ago. Drew did great-- slept like a... um... baby? He had no problems. Sami seemed to sleep well, too, but Allie and I were up most of the night. We had our tent set up right behind a fat palm tree. Earlier in the evening at twilight, I went around to the tent door, which faced the tree, to be caught off guard by a huge raccoon climbing the trunk. That night all I heard was rustling in the dirt all around the tent along with the "chirping" of a family of 'coons searching for their dinner... or breakfast... or whatever meal it is in the middle of the night.

Wow, looking back at the month's pictures just now, I was reminded that we need to get back to the zoo. They have a new kid's area called Paws On, with water-play area that was great fun for the girls. The day we went, I called up Jill, and she came with Janie and Alice to play with the girls. Drew hardly made a peep the entire two hours or so.

Kevin's parents made it into town a couple weeks ago. I can't remember if I mentioned this, but they were called on a Church mission to Deseret Ranch, a massive cattle ranch owned by the Church out here. They basically live just up the road a bit. Okay it's more like 25 miles or so, but still... They spent Easter dinner with us, and came to my choir concert yesterday afternoon. And speaking of the concert, it went well... kind of. We had a few issues that starting right in the very beginning where the sopranos are to begin singing Pergolesi's Magnificat immediately with the orchestra, but David forgot to give us our starting note before cueing the instrumentalists to play. We came in randomly when we realized he wasn't stopping. He looked over at us and mouthed "Sorry." Gill Streatfield and I sang the "Laudamus Te" duet in Vivaldi's Gloria. I prayed that the Lord would just help me to have fun with it, and we did. That was one of the few times where I sang without having to battle nerves. We also sang Bach's Cantata No. 4. It's not easy music to sing, and even harder music to sit through (if you ask me), and our kids sat through all of it! The Stephenson family from the ward brought all five of their kids, and they did really well, too. Yesterday evening after the concert as the girls and I sat down to our dinner that had (thankfully) been in the Crock-pot waiting for us, I asked, "Did you like the concert?"

"Mm-hm." They nodded.

"What was your favorite part?"

Both of them said the same thing. "When you sang, Mom." Then they smiled. The little charmers.

"Really? Aw, thanks, girls."

Then Sami piped in. "I want you to win, Mom. I want you to win the whole fing!" I still haven't been able to convince Sami that I'm no longer in the running for Florida Today's Next Big Thing. She can't figure out why she can't watch the video of me singing "Lost in Your Eyes" on the internet anymore.

But that reminds me that a lady after the concert yesterday told me she saw my video and voted for me. I smiled and thanked her... and felt like an idiot. I don't know why I felt that way-- just did, though.

Creativity Tag

Anyone who knows me and how difficult it is for me to be motivated to do anything artistic, is going to think this is funny. But I'm all about pushing myself outside of my comfort zone lately...

"The first five people to respond to this post will receive something made by me. HOMEMADE! The item will be my choice made just for you!

Restrictions and Limitations:
1. I have complete creative freedom
2. What I create will be just for you
3. It will be done within the next 6 months
4. You have no clue what it will be. It may be personalized note cards. I might bake something. I might not think of anything until 6 months from now...

The catch? You must re-post this on your own blog and offer the same giveaway to 5 people who comment. The first 5 people to leave a comment telling me they are in, will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift from me! Be sure to post a picture of what you get!

Here's to creativity!"

Shots

Allie and Sami had their annual check-ups with the pediatrician today. Since Allie will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall, she needed to get the rest of her immunizations-- all five of them. That's right, five separate pokes in the thighs. My brave Allie lost it a bit when she saw the pile of syringes lying in the container the nurse carried in. Her lip quivered and she looked at me with pleading eyes, "That's too many, Mom! Not that many!"

I hugged her and asked her to be cooperative, but she fought it. I had to put her on the table, the nurse helping to get her pants down. I bent down to hug her, and she threw her arms around my neck, squeezing my head into hers, all the while whimpering in fear. The whimpers of fear soon turned to whimpers of pain and the nurse began the torture. But to Allie's credit, she never screamed or moved-- just kept her arms tight around my neck while I sang in her ear.

Then the nurse was done. Allie sat up and looked sadly at her legs, covered in Tweety-bird Band-Aids. Slowly, she got her pants back on as the nurse left the room. Then Sami started bawling. I looked over at her.

"Sami, what's the matter with you?"

She howled. "They didn't give me a shot!"

In convinced her that she'd be able to get a flu shot in the Fall. That seemed to appease her some.

The Easter Bunny

All the talk on friends' blogs of Easter morning and the visit from the Easter Bunny reminded me...

Just over a week ago, my visiting teacher Tina came by with her daughter Kylie who was home from Utah for spring break (Kylie used to babysit the girls). At one point during the visit, Tina turned to the girls. She asked them what holiday was coming.

"Easter!" they sang, jittery with glee.

"Who's coming to see you?"

Blank stares.

"Is the Easter Bunny coming?" Again, blank stares. Tina proceeded with a story about when the Easter Bunny came to their house when Kylie was little. In hunting for eggs in the backyard, Kylie found "rabbit poop" (small pebbles that looked like poop)-- proof that the Easter Bunny had indeed been there.

Allie was amused and smiled graciously. But she's also blunt. "Why would you have a bunny in your backyard?" Tina and Kylie chuckled. But I almost fell on the floor laughing. I looked at Tina, who looked very much confused.

Through my laughter, I was able to get out, "Tina, they have no clue what you're talking about."

That's right, everyone. My children have no idea who the Easter Bunny is! It's not something Kevin and I have really ever even thought to include in our Easter traditions. Seriously, we've never even talked about it.

Too late now, I guess. They already know where all the candy comes from.

Bust a Hymn

Just after lunch as I cleaned things up in the kitchen, I overheard Allie on the back porch, her usual sanctuary. She can spend hours out there just looking out at the lake, belting out songs like Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine," Bon Jovi's "Shot Through the Heart,"or even some song from Barbie in The Princess and the Pauper. But this time it was a little bit different.

She sang out, "We thank thee, o God, for a prophet..." I smiled to myself, and peeked out at her. Such a sweet innocence... such remarkable faith. There is no doubt in that child's mind and heart that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. She really has no idea that most people don't know that as well.

Suddenly I was worried what the neighbors might think. I mean, its doctrine isn't as universal in the Christian world as the message in "I Am a Child of God." Then I shook off that thought. Shame on me for thinking that. She is testifying to the world that mankind indeed does have a prophet to "guide us in these latter-days." That the heavens have opened once again, that the Lord does commune with man. We need not be fearful of the state of the world when we have a prophet of God to lead us through the turmoil with His guidance. It's a remarkable truth-- one that brings comfort and assurance in such trying times.

And then I thought of myself as a little girl-- maybe seven or eight years old. I could feel the wind blowing past my face as I whirled down the street on my bike, as I did each and every Sunday after church. I would breath in the fresh air, soaking in the green in the Eucalyptus trees, listening to the sparrows and mourning doves. And I would sing.

"The Spirit of God, like a fire, is burning!
The latter-day glory begins to come forth;
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
And angels are coming to visit the earth.

We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven,
Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!"

I would finish the chorus, and sing it over and over again... like no one could hear me. Ironically, I was out in the middle of the street, so everyone could hear me. Although, the streets were normally pretty empty, so I doubt anyone paid any mind. Or did they? I suppose I never will know.

Boy, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

My testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is sure and unwavering. The adversary tempts me with doubt, but the witness of the Spirit is powerful-- warm and good. It's a witness I dare not deny.

But it's obvious my testimony began as a small child. I learned truths and accepted them, having faith in what my parents and teachers taught me, believing they would not lie to me, believing they themselves were not mistaken. As I grew to womanhood, it was then when I gained a true testimony all my own that what I had been taught indeed was right and true.

And the cycle continues with my sweet children. Allie has no reason to believe that I would lie to her about the existence of a prophet. And in spite of my many parental mistakes, she actually doesn't believe I'm "just wrong" either. Her faith is simple and sweet-- pure. And there's no apprehension in the way she shares it, assuming everyone else knows these truths, too.

I'm sure most people don't pay her any mind... but I suppose we'll never know. Perhaps someone really is listening, more intently than we realize.

Round 2

As of yesterday voting began for Round 2 of the singing contest. There are some aggressive voters out there for some of the other contestants-- I have only broken in to the top 10 once since yesterday, and that was for an extremely brief period of time. I'm trying to maintain some hope, since the voting doesn't end till Monday, but still... it's sort of discouraging. I'm gonna just brush it off, though-- no biggie. But if anyone out there would like to vote for me, multiple times might help. :) www.brevardsnextbigthing.com

Brevard's Next BIG Thing

I'm sure everyone already knows, but I thought I'd mention it just in case. In March I auditioned for our newspaper's version of American Idol, Brevard's Next Big Thing. I had a good time breaking out of my comfort zone to do it. My video is posted as of today, so if you go to www.brevardsnextbigthing.com, you can view the singers' videos and vote for your favorite. If you want to vote multiple times, just refresh the page after your vote has been counted.

Now, I HATE it when people rack up the votes just because of all the people they know (which is definitely happening a little bit), so please only vote for me if you really think I should be in the top 5 of my group.