Spudman, 2010

Swim=1 mile, down river

Bike=24 miles, at a leisurely pace

Run=Skipped, given the heat and 2 pregnant mamas (and one supportive aunt)

Spudman 2010 was a smashing success. Paul and his hook ups got me registered the night before (somehow missed that this year!), Taylor rocked the swim (ie, finished), Kimmy loved being the only non-pregnant (ie, not out of breath) one, and Sue and her gang won their age group. But most importantly, we all burned enough calories to thoroughly and completely enjoy the out of this world breakfast put on by the Harman clan. Blueberry pancakes, bacon, ham, potatoes, dutch oven omelets, strawberries, grapes, melon...so so so good.

Thanks, Harmans, for your wonderful hospitality. We will be back next year.

With two more little ones.

cousin camp, part 2

marshmallows in the back yard. roasted "nice and warm"

ma janet's microwave was the perfect height

we were not above bribery or making fools of ourselves to get a good cousin shot. Out of the 200 you'd think there would be one with all three smiling and looking at the camera...

Lauren has some more pictures. Here, here and here.

cousin camp, 2010 (part 1)

playing with bubbles
(she had more fun washing herself than trying to figure out the bubble wand



house of bounce



posing for pics at the park
(they are really happy about it, too)






making cookies with grandma and grandpa

Ella's having the time of her life. And despite having our flight canceled, the trip over was a piece of cake. 100 times easier than last year. The weather has been nice, and Chance doggy has rallied from his lymphoma to play with these kids.

Doesn't get much better than this.

ella outside

Funny things she's said while we were outside writing this post

• Jesus wants me sun for beam
• He's singing to me mommy! (referring to the chirping bird in the tree)...Love me! Love me! (when asked what the bird in the tree was saying to her)
• It's big enough! (and then, when I wasn't paying attention she picked a green tomato because, apparently, it was big enough)

This is Ella explaining to me how the squirrels ate our yellow squash. She is very concerned about it.

self-reliance

I have to speak in church on Sunday on self-reliance. I've got loads of good quotes, but not a single story. And you know how boring talks are without stories. Anyone have any ideas???

You can leave a comment or email me at alissa.packer@gmail.com.

thanks from me and the hopefully-not-bored highland ward

nose spiting face...OR...why I am not always right...OR...maybe I should listen to my husband

I have this unfortunate habit of thinking that, when it comes to disagreements with Ryan, I am usually right. The funny thing is I know that Ryan is smarter than I am. Hands down. No question. I am the first to admit it, and it doesn't bother me one bit. I am smart; he is smarter. But when it comes to individual situations and questions, all that goes out the window. I am almost always certain that I am right and he is wrong.

Today we had one of those little differences of opinion. We were in the bathroom getting ready, and Ella was holding a bottle of OPI's The Chapel of Love. It nearly rolled onto the tile floor, and Ryan commented how lucky we were that it didn't fall, as it would surely break. I disagreed. It wouldn't break. The glass was thick--the bottle sturdy.

To prove my point, I took the bottle and dropped it. Onto the hard tile floor.

And, yep, it broke.

Score one more for Ryan.

good deal, for slc

If you need a small painting job done, Groupon has a great deal today. $59 gets you a 12x12 room, paint included (77% off!) After spending at least $59 and countless hours to get Ella's room painted this sounds like a great deal.

walking about

Our ward did a "walk about" last night. A walk about, for those of you not in the know, is where three houses in the neighborhood host a little front yard chit chat, complete with treats and drink. They asked us to host the first one and we happily obliged. I love {and hate} an excuse to bake and get my yard/house in order. Thanks to oodles of help from my mom, Kimmy and Kneaders, it was a success. Ella loved the kids+dogs+treats.

ella at 21 months

• She went through a phase where she added "ie" to the end of most words. "No-ie" was particularly cute. One day she said, all in one sentence, that we went to the zoo-ie with Ma Shu-ie and rode the choo-choo-ie.
• She talks like a pirate. "I write me name." "I need me mommy!"
• Her Gummy Birds have been life changing. Hallelujah!
• She loves to dress herself. Most of the time she ends up with her pants inside out and backwards.
• She loves salt. She asks for it by name and would eat it plain if I'd let her. It's funny because if I had to pick salt or sugar, I'd pick sugar 99/100. Must get it from her dad.
• She is definitely related to these kiddos, because she asks for her milk "Nice and warm." In fact, most things are "Not hot. Nice and warm." The bath water, her carseat, the temperature outside, her food..."Not hot. Nice and warm." She also likes things, "Not tight. Nice and loose."
• She loves her Grandmas. Ma Ja, Ma Shu, Ma Ota and Ma Pa, Ma Tweet.
• We had a little struggle with nursery a few weeks back, when I substituted for a bit. What? Mom can come to nursery too?? Never fear, we are back to "No Mom nursh. Mom take you nursh. Mom go class."

ella

keeping up

I should probably just keep this to myself, and let you all think that I am an amazing cook and a real whiz in the kitchen....but I can't help myself. I just got a new cookbook and it looks amazing. I've only gotten through the first 50 pages but already I want to try my hand at these tasty treats. The cookbook is called keeping up cookbook and is written by the author of Favorites, a Collection of Ivory Family Recipes. Favorites is a great cookbook with tried and true recipes, but I think keeping up looks even better.

check it out here

awkward

So, if you know me well, you know two things about me.

1) I can be a little obsessive. When I get something "in my head," as Ryan calls it, watch out.

2) I am sometimes a tad bit socially awkward. Most of the time I can hold my own, but there are those instances where I revert to a gawky 12 year-old.

Both of these endearing traits came together last Thursday.

I made lemon cookies to take to the families Ryan home teaches, and I decided that they would look oh-so-cute if they were on these plates

from IKEA. Yes, it's a little silly to drive 40 minutes just to get two plates....but it was in my head. So you can imagine my disappointment when I got there and realized I had left my wallet at home. {ella thought it was funny, though. "Mom no have money!"}

Not easily deterred, I went inside and asked if they would accept my credit card number without the actual card. Nope.

I asked if I could apply for an Ikea credit card. Nope. You need your DL number.

So, I just wandered the store, hoping to see someone I knew. Right as I was leaving, a family came up to me and said, "You look like a Pediatrician!" I didn't recognize them, but they told me that I had seen their son in the hospital and they brought their children to our office. We made a little small talk, and then I said, "Would you.....oh, never mind." Stopped myself just in time. More small talk, and I couldn't help it.

"This is the weirdest thing I've ever done, but I forgot my wallet and was wondering if I could borrow $3?"

"Um, sure."

So I go to get the plates and realize that they are $3 each, and I need two. Duh.

"Actually, it would be $6, is that okay?"

So we had to wind all the way through IKEA making more small talk. I should say that the family was very very nice (the wife said things like, "This happens to me all the time"), but it was a little weird. I mean, who asks a nearly perfect stranger for money at Ikea. I probably should have held my tongue. I did send them the money right away...hopefully I didn't scare them from our office.

The cookies, however, looked perfect.

yo yo

Last week Kimmy & I went to a Girls' Night Out sponsored by my church. They were making fabric flowers, and it seemed like it would be fun. It was crazy! There were more people than supplies, so Kim and I bagged it and had a "Sisters' Night In." We made fabric yo-yos. They were as easy as pie, and turned out darling--better than my lame photo skills can show.

You can find the tutorial on how to make them here {a fun blog to check out, too}


A quick pic of Ella. We've been working on not walking in the street, not walking "in the black" without holding Mom's hand. She knows to stay on "the white." So whenever she walks in the gutter and I chastise her she says, "White! White!"

Organic

I've been sitting on the fence on the whole organic movement for a while now. I have nothing against those who go totally organic, but here's what's been holding me back:

• It's expensive. You can buy 4 lbs of beautiful, huge, sweet strawberries at Costco right now for $5. Four pounds of the pesticide free costs $15.96.
• It's not as abundant. The selection is small.
• It often doesn't taste as good. When Costco switched to organic frozen corn our entire family lamented it for a year, because it simply was not as good.
• I worry about the bacteria that slip through the organic cracks. The e. coli outbreak a few years ago (in which 3 people died and 31 developed kidney failure) was traced to organic spinach.
• I am a prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial kind of girl. Give me some data. I don't want anecdotes, I don't want someones crazy blog or quack book. I want data telling me that going organic is worth the above mentioned hassle. And until recently, data has been seriously lacking.

Which brings me to my change of heart. This week a study was published in Pediatrics (the gold standard for pediatric literature) showing an association between the level of organophosphates in children's urine and the risk of ADHD. It wasn't a perfect study, and did not show causation (it wasn't prospective) but I think it is valid and makes some good points. (You can read more about it here or on my work blog).

Obviously, more research needs to be done, but my guess is that it is going to tell us that pesticides aren't good for us. So...I am begrudgingly becoming a Whole Foods kind of girl.

Thoughts?

one of my faves

“There seems to be a superstition among many thousands of our young who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a perpetually young and [beautiful] wife. When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear the divorce courts are jammed....

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed.

[The fact is] most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.…

Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.


The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride”

-Jenkins Lloyd Jones

Deseret News, 12 June 1973