stix and string

Just reminiscing...

2012-02-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

I LOVE that my kids aren't babies anymore. I've really loved (most parts of) all the stages, but to me, they're easier as they get older. That being said, I have the cutest kids on earth. Really. I'm just feeling really grateful for my family today.

Will was such a silly little guy.

And large. He liked being naked and eating.

Lizzy was dramatic from the start.

And also an elf.

Will LOVED helping with Lizzy. They've always been good buddies.

And good buddies with the dogs.

Peace out,

Heidi

Thank you Pinterest!

2011-11-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

Pinterest, you dark horse. I thought you'd be something I could just browse and have fun with. Not so. You force me to make things. So many things. You've forced me to stop saying, "I'm not really creative" because no will believe me anymore. I've ripped off so many ideas from you that I've officially become a "crafter". I've made things to wear, gifts of all sorts, decorations galore... I've even made my own dishwashing detergent. Below are some of the things I have made after pinning my face off. Enjoy.

Mustaches on a stick. My kids pretend they're French when they're wearing them.

Fabric scrap flowers. This one was glued to a pin and stuck on this onesie for my great niece.

More fabric flowers. Some are glued to barrettes and some to pins. It's a multi use craft.

A mustache on a pin. I gave it to my great niece to stick on a onesie.

Mustache binkies. So help me...

A binkie in use on my great niece.

Multi use piece of fabric. Cut some arm holes and use it as a vesty thingy or twirl it up and use it for a scarf.

Another shot of the fabric thingy.

Washers stamped with metal alphabet stamps. This one didn't turn out so well, but I've made others and they're adorbs.

I even learned how to carve my own rubber stamp. Seriously.

We recently had my mom's 60th birthday party and it was a Pinterest spectacular. I can hardly contain my creativity, or your creativity, as the case may be.

Peace out and happy pinning!

Heidi

Fit as Fiddles

2011-10-16T09:24:00.001-07:00

I always intended to raise my kids to be interested in physical activity and exercise. Obviously the most important way to do this, as a parent, is by example. I've always been interested in exercise and nutrition and have done races in some form or other since I was a teenager. There's something so exciting and positive in a race atmosphere. Everyone is there for the same purpose; to stay fit and compete in a positive way.

Recently Steve and I did Slam the Dam in Lake Mead. We did this race last year when Steve was very very sick (he emptied 4.7 million oz. of phlegm into the lake). Our times weren't stellar but I was really proud because of how sick Steve was and that he finished his first open water race regardless of this.

This year Steve tore his ACL two months before the race. Honestly. His doctor didn't know if he'd be ready to do a race so soon after his surgery. He was verboten from entering the water on his own (people get a little crazy on entry and he didn't want him knocked over) and he had to be very careful with his kick in case of re injury.

In addition to Steve's drama, I had a little ambulance ride and a stay in the emergency room about a month before the race due to anaphylactic shock brought on by some herbs I took. So lame. It derailed my training quite a bit as I kept having symptoms for a week until the herbs were completely out of my system.

Long story (slightly) short, both finished the race. Huzzah! Steve beat his time from last year by 8 minutes and I beat mine by 4. Still not fabbity fab but it was defo an improvement and we're vair vair and thrice vair happy.

We forgot to take any pictures of the race so the above is one lifted from the Slam the Dam website. I want to thank my dad for rowing for us to keep us safe. He was my original example of staying fit and has participated in many of the same races as me as well as rowing in this one for us. Go dad!

Will has been asking us all year if he can run in a race. This summer was a bit of a fiasco because of Steve's knee. I don't really run anymore because of a back injury. However, since he wanted it so badly, we knew we'd have to find a way to do it.

We found the SoJo Marathon and Half Marathon which had a kids race (1/2 mile!) and knew we'd found our race ;). Will was so excited and Lizzy decided she wanted to race too. I wasn't too keen on Lizzy racing because she tends to cry when she does something she thinks is hard and she's mildly (read: huge understatement) lazy. Whatevs. We signed them both up the night before the race.

Race morning was very exciting. They got their best running clothes and shoes on and we headed out to the park. Will was very nervous because he "thought he would do something wrong" and Lizzy promised not to cry ;).

Walking across the parking lot to the race start

Getting out pre-race nerves...

At the start. I know I'm partial but how cute are these two?!

AND THEY'RE OFF!

They both took off like shots. It was so cute. The excitement was palpable. At about the halfway mark, they both got winded and said their "hearts hurt". The drama with these two is a bit over the top. I tried to keep them positive by telling them we were almost there and then we rounded a corner where people were cheering and they knew they could finish. When we saw Steve and my dad cheering us on, they took of like the wind again and rounded the corner to the finish.

After passing the "half Tardis-es" (Lizzy's term), we were in the home stretch ;)

They were SO proud of themselves. I got a bit teary watching them. Even though this race distance was small, they had accomplished something huge for them

All done and posing for Steve. Look at their proud little faces.

They both got blue ribbons (which, if you ask them, means they won), water and ice cream sandwiches, and swag bags with water bottles and fanny packs. They thought that was the bee's knees. They also both kept talking about it all day, showcasing their pride. Cute little bugs.

I'm so proud of Steve and my little doodles for accomplishing their goals. Steve had to work hard to get in shape for his race after his knee injury and these two finished their first race and won! I really hope we can keep this up throughout their lives. Exercise keeps me happy and healthy and has prevented me from falling into the sedentary trap that so many people with chronic injuries fall into. I'm so happy for the example of fitness in my life and will continue to be an example for my family. Viva la fitness!

Peace out,

Heidi

First Days

2011-08-29T13:03:00.000-07:00

Will and Lizzy both went back to school recently. Will to first grade and Lizzy to her second year of preschool. Will was so excited to start first grade because he wanted to eat lunch at the cafeteria (with lunch from home since he refuses to eat school lunch) and he was going to be beginning the Mandarin Immersion program. Half his day is in English and half in Chinese. He loves it and it's so cute to hear him counting etc, in Chinese.

Lizzy nearly died of excitement when school started again for her. She ran right in and gave her teacher a hug. She isn't afraid of anything and has zero anxiety about school.

Will's first day was hard for me. He seems so little to be away from me all day. They gave all the first graders a "sixth grade helper" to make sure they got to lunch and had a fun time at recess. He wasn't afraid at all, which is good because we've been dealing with some anxiety with him over the summer.

All in all, back to school has been a fabulous time. I get 3 days a week where I don't have any kids for 2 hours. What the WHAT?! It's zing. I've been able to FINALLY get up to the reservoir and swim. Huzzah!

Waiting in line to go into the school.

Heading in!

Riding home (his new fabulous big boy adventure).

Lizzy "smiling" outside the school.

Lizzy with her teacher, Mrs. Hawes, finding her spot at the table.

Peace out,

Heidi

Knittin'

2011-07-13T15:53:00.001-07:00

These are my fave.

Pattern: French Press Felted Slippers by French Press Knits

Yarn: Cascade 220 doubled

Needles: US #15

Buttons: French! Bought on Portobello Road. You can't tell from the piccy but they're blue.

Peace out,

Heidi

Oh Those Royals!

2011-05-16T16:04:00.001-07:00

You will NOT believe the amazing time I had in London. If you think the Royals are naff or that the wedding got too much publicity, stop reading now. I'll only annoy you. In my opinion, I'm thrilled and delighted that something positive got so much attention. GO ROYAL FAMILY!!! I love them, always have, always will.

We arrived the day before the wedding (crazy town), and were so productive on this trip I can hardly believe it. I'm not kidding when I tell you that I put it down to the Melatonin I took before my flight which I'm convinced reset my internal clock. I've never in my life slept on a plane and while I didn't sleep much, it was enough so that I was alive and kicking when we got to London. Who knew?

Okay, from this point on I'm going to only write down what I put in my notes everyday on the trip. I've been postponing this trip for way too long and must just get on with it. These notes are exactly as written on my iPhone so bear with me ;).

Highlights of London Day 1:

@Actually slept on plane

On the Heathrow Express. A bit punchy, perhaps.

@Had trouble getting oyster so tube guy let us through for free to get them at the next station

@Went to Cafe Diana. Amazing, as usual

Cafe Diana, if you didn't guess.

On the street where I lived :).

@Went to British Museum and were chucked out right after we saw the Lindow Man

Liz and I in a phone box outside the British Museum.

@Had dinner at Da Mario. Delish

@Went to scope out places for the wedding. Saw Westminster Abbey and Big Ben at night. Lovely

Big Ben. Obvi.

I really don't know what these people were on about. They lined the streets on the way to the Abbey. Lame.

3 guesses...

Press box across the street from the Abbey.

@Bed. Slept horribly

Highlights of London Day 2:

@Got up at 4am for the wedding. We were two rows back right across the street from the entrance of the abbey. Got unbelievable views of everyone. Stood in line for 6.5 hours until the end of the wedding. Cried during vows and singing of God Save the Queen.

Us. All chipper at 5am and before we made the mad dash to the barricade.

Some die hards. I'm sure they slept out. Duh. We got a zing spot and didn't even show up until 5 ;).

Some of the crowd.

I really don't know what was going on here. He was wearing festive women's shoes too!

Setting up the barricades.

Some of the crowd. Again. And a cool view.

Snipers on top of a building. They were everywhere.

The big guns coming in. Lots of luck to anyone who wanted to disturb the peace.

Cute Elton John and David Furnish.

The Beckhams. She didn't crack a smile and he looked dashing, as ever.

Tragedy on film. I couldn't see above my head to get this shot and my camera focused on the wrong person. Saddest picture ever taken.

The cute Queen and Prince Phillip.

The parents.

Don't look so chipper now, do we?

A very small portion of the mess that was left by the crowd. PIGS.

@Went back to hotel for nap.

@Walked through Hyde Park. So lovely.

@Dinner at Wagamama.

@Had a yummy crisp McFlurry

@Attempted to go on the Eye. Closed.

@Hot horribly naff souvenirs from tacky shop. Including light up crystal key chain with Will and Kate on.

@Bed. Slept like a rock.

Highlights of London Day 3:

@Weather was perfection

@Went to Portobello Road and shopped our guts out. Bought Steve's bocce ball and my Wedgewood and old books. Backpack and bocce ball were so heavy we had to drop them off at hotel. Shoulders permanently bruised.

@Went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Didn't make it to the top but heard a bit of evensong. Bought craploads in gift shop.

So lovely.

They really have the most beautiful trees during the springtime.

Gingko tree in front of St. Paul's.

@Got lost going to the tkts booth in Leicester Square and again going to Picadilly Circus.

It was chaos... that's my excuse for why we got lost ;).

@Ate at Noura, a Lebanese resty for dinner.

@Went to The 39 Steps.

@Back to hotel and the cute concierge helped us look the the time for church. He let us behind the desk to search for ourselves. Cute old fella.

Highlights of London Day 4:

@Woke up at 4:50 due to snoring and heat. In London.

@Tried to go to church. Fail. We were late and it was the Brittania Ward (singles). Lame.

@Tried to go to Harrods. Fail. We were too early.

@Wen to the iconic British coffee house Starbucks for hot chocolate. Lame.

@Went over to Pret a Manger for a yummy sammy of egg mayonaise. So basically, eating.

@Finally National Gallery. Huzzah. Good times.

The Lion in Trafalgar Square. There always seems to be some sort of "non violent" protest there. They turn violent.

@Back over to Buckingham Palace and palace shop.

Walking through Green Park.

Why, I ask you, do we not have parks like this here?

Buckingham Palace.

@Went to tea at the Orangery and almost didn't make it. So good. And fun.

@Walked back to Lancaster Gate and nearly died of exhaustion. Stayed in and packed up and changed rooms because we were in a smoking room. Son of a ... Did FaceTime with Steve and kids.

Highlights of London Day 5:

@Got up and headed to the Tower. Monument stop closed so we walked from Bank. Not far. Saw Gracechurch Street (in Cheapside...).

If you're a Pride and Prejudice fan, you'll know the reference to Gracechurch Street.

@Tower was amazing. Beefeater completely fantastic. Said "innit" and "biggin' it up".

The Tower.

The Beefeater. Turns out, he was a bit of a perv (as evidenced by a picture taken later), but still entertaining and very knowledgable.

One of the Yeoman Warder's houses at the Tower. Lucky suckers.

@Saw Fit for a King exhibit. Great stuff.

Nice Henry, really nice.

@Got on boat to Westminster. Having a great day so far but no food.

Just outside the Tower on our way to the boat.

@Had a sammy at Cafe Nero (mature cheddar and pickle).

@Went to Westminster Abbey but there was a 2 hour line. Really. Went to gift shop and bought naff wedding postcards and a coin.

This was our spot for the wedding. I know it well as I stood there for 6.5 hours with half of England.

I so wish we'd had time to wait in line to get in. Lame.

Just faffing about on the tube.

@Had dinner at Jamie's Italian. Delish. During dinner I ran over to Covent Garden Market to get Thorntons toffee for Steve.

Mary, Liz and Suzie in front of Jamie's Italian. So cute.

@At Billy Elliot.

Highlights of London Day 6:

@Forced everyone to meet in the lobby at 7:30 to go to brekky at St. Martin in the Fields. Had a full English.

@Went back over to St. Paul's for ma pilla (pillow I wanted so badly). Yes, I caved and spent 68 pounds for a pilla.

@Went over to Bond Street for some last minute shopping. Bought souvenir-y things for the kids.

@Back to hotel and mom and I tired to use Barclay's Bank bikes but we didn't have our cards and found out later that they were broken. Went for a walk in Kensington Gardens, saw Peter Pan statue and took some amazing pictures.

Self explanatory.

Lovely flowers.

Really lovely flowers.

I love these

Pete.

@Went back, hauled luggage to Paddington and hopped on the Heathrow Express. Made it to airport in plenty of time to have a bit of lunch at Pret a Manger (are you seeing a pattern here?). Again. Got cheese and butter this time.

Our tube stop. SO small.

@Flight is taking forever but I knit a hat (improvised due to lack of proper needles). Almost in Chicago.

Well, that abridged version took much longer than I thought. The kids are killing each other as I write.

Peace out.

Heidi

Knitting. I know, shocking!

2011-04-20T10:42:00.001-07:00

A few months ago I made these for my cousin in law, Jessica. She is a photographer and needed some photographer mittens (I got the idea from Bea at http://knittingandsomemore.blogspot.com/search/label/mittens ).

I wanted to use the pattern for Bella's mittens and then

use Bea's finger hole pattern. They worked wonderfully. I think

I did the finger hole a little too high but it'll work :). These mittens knit up really dense and toasty. I loved the finished product

Pattern: Bella's Mittens/Photographer Mittens

Yarn: Cascade 220 doubled

The little headband is for her daughter Avery. She is the most adorable girl. I used Rose's Hat pattern by Verla Younker and I continue to love that pattern. It knits up so quickly. The flower is from Head Huggers and seems to take forever but I really like the result so I continue doing it.

Pattern: Rose's Hat (flower, Head Huggers)

Yarn: Sublime Cashmerino (flower, Cascade 220)

See, I still knit. Although not as often lately and that makes me sad. I will pick it up, you know, on that eternal plane ride to and from London ;).

Peace out,

Heidi

The Royals? Yeah, I totally know them.

2011-04-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really but I'm totally going to the weddin'! That's right, I'll be there letting my nerd shine forth with 1.5 million others (and loving every minute of it!). I'll be there with my mom and one of my besties and her mom. How fun is that? Very fun is the answer you're looking for.

Steve wins the Best Husband award for surprising me with this trip. Thanks love!

Peace out,

Heidi

I am stupid

2011-03-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Cold Water Insanity

Jake Green, Josh Green, Me, Goody Tyler

I did this two weeks ago. I jumped in a lake. In Utah. In the winter. I've hesitated posting it because it annoys me. I didn't realize how much I scream when I'm cold. In order to acclimate myself to cold water this year, I've resorted to jumping into lakes during the winter. Okay, one lake so far but I plan on continuing so that by summer, the water feels nice and toasty. My hope is that my body will get more used to this as the weeks go by and that I'll be able to stay in progressively longer (i.e., not 5 seconds).

The others swimming on this day swam distances of 200 yards to a quarter mile. Craziness. They're all MUCH stronger swimmers than me so they don't have quite the same fear of cramping up and drowning in frigid temperatures.

For the record, the water was 49 degrees and for those of you who aren't familiar with water temperature, that feels A LOT colder that 49 degree air temp. Oh. My. Gosh.

Peace out,

Heidi

Cruisin' the Open Sea

2011-03-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we got back from one of our best vacations EVER. We went on a Disney cruise with my parents and some friends to the Mexican Riviera and I'm telling you what (here's what), that is a fun place to be. I wasn't expecting much from Mexico. I had never been and except for seeing the pyramids (which are not in the area we travelled to), it wasn't a top-of-the-list place to travel. I'm a little bit in love now. We went to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo san Lucas and both were beautiful, clean, friendly and so much fun. We were supposed to go to Mazatlan but what with the recent beheadings etc, Disney decided to forgo that port. I suppose it's just as well.

So let us begin with the Disney Wonder. A. MA. ZING. These Disney ships are the cat's meow. I love them so much. The two "older" ones, the Magic and the Wonder, are smaller (they hold about 3,000 passengers) and you've never seen anything so charming when you're in port. Seriously, the other ships look like big, tacky buildings on water, and then there's the cute "little" Disney ships that look almost like toy boats. They're adorable. And gorgey. Really gorgey. Steve and I just got huge smiles on our faces as we walked onto the ship. We've done Disney cruises before but it had been about 3 years and the memories just made us so happy. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend it ;).

Will and Lizzy on the beach in Cabo with the Wonder in the background.

I don't think you could find any other cruise line that will entertain your kids as well as Disney does. Well, I know you couldn't. Our first night at dinner, our cute waiters, Wayan and Sedat, decided that at the next dinner they would have an adult's table and a kid's table. It was so perfect because they totally entertained the kids and if we started worrying about their behavior or anything, the waiters would swoop in and take care of everything. Also, the kids club councilors would come and gather up the kids in the dining room about an hour into dinner. How much better does it get? AND, the kids wanted to go! They love the kids club. They have theme nights like pirate night, girls and boys night, pajama party... Seriously, I wanted to go.

Lizzy and Sedat (from Turkey). She loved him. Romantically.

Adorable Wayan (from Bali, Indonesia) doing magic tricks for the kids.

Our head waiter Witt (from Thailand). Oh, how we loved him.

The kids being shuffled off to the kids club. Huzzah!

Being that this was a Disney cruise, there are characters aplenty to be met and seen all over the ship. This delights the kids and sometimes horrifies the parents ;). Most of the time it was enough for our kids to just see them in passing, but sometimes we had to wait in line. They do make it convenient by having a character breakfast where the Fab Five (plus Chip and Dale) show up and they have the characters make appearances at the kids club. They also have nightly shows that star Disney characters. I know this all sounds a bit schmaltzy but it's so fun. You just have to find your inner nerd.

About 10 seconds after we got on the ship, Lizzy spotted Cinderella. They're having a discussion.

I made Will get in the shot. He was acting like he wanted to meet her but was a bit embarrassed ;).

With the man himself.

Pluto, an instant hit.

Lizzy and her friend Bella waiting in line for about 75,000 princesses. I don't know why she's winking.

With Snow White. Lizzy looks like a muppet in all of these pictures because she wouldn't let me do her hair.

Having a discussion with Ariel.

Wow.

Wow, again.

All the kids with Goofy.

Our fam with Mickey at the character breakfast.

Will with his best friend Luke at the Oceaneer's Club during a pirate themed thingy. How cute are they?

I have to showcase this ingenious little thing... This bracelet Will is wearing is a GPS tracker. There is no way the kids could get lost on the ship! I can't tell you what peace of mind that gave us. All the kids had to wear them all the time and it's how they got into and out of the kids club. Oh, those Disney smarty pants.

Being the nerd that I am, I don't understand why people complain about days at sea. I could stay on these ships for weeks on end. Really. However, I had never been to Mexico so I felt I needed to disembark my precious boat ;). No, I was actually excited to go to Puerto Vallarta and we had SO much fun. It's tropical there, all jungle-y and stuff. Apparently there are jaguars up in the mountains (Lizzy said she saw a black one with 5 legs, who's to say she's lying?). We met an awesome taxi diver who was from California (he married a Mexican woman and they stayed there). He has a degree in tourism and was so informative. We went up into the mountains and took a really scenic drive around Vallarta for about 5 hours (clearly not driving the whole time). We forgot our good camera that day but we got a few cute pictures of the kids with local "wildlife".

Will with an iguana and a lizard on his head. Happy boy.

Lizzard with a lizard. She didn't dare hold the big'n.

Down by the beach there were a bunch of really cool sculptures. Puerto Vallarta had an impressive downtown.

The funniest thing about our time in Puerto Vallarta was that our kids thought they were living "Beverly Hills Chihuahua". They love that movie and know ALL the "characters" in it and since we were in Mexico (where part of the film takes place), they believed that the animals there were the actors in the movie. That lizard and iguana were the actual ones in the movie, the chihuahua and german shepherd they saw later, were the originals as well. Their friends were on the same wavelength and it was a very exciting day for them. They were in the presence of greatness (talking animal "actors").

Cabo wasn't shabs either. It was a bit more "booze cruise" tourist trap-y but once you got away from that, fab. We were there for two days because of the Mazatlan cancellation and the first day we decided to leave the kids on the boat and just explore. We had some AMAZING food in Cabo. Smoked marlin tacos, some crazy sopa type thing with beans, and eggs, the best guacamole I've ever had in all my life. And before you ask, no, we didn't get sick. I'll tell you why... we didn't drink the water. That is all. Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods) said the only thing you have to worry about when eating in a foreign country is the water. The only time he's gotten sick is when he's drunk the water (this includes ice in your drinks, folks). Words to live by, Andrew. Words to live by.

My fave thing we did in Cabo was our day spent at the beach. We rented some beach chairs, a jet ski and just soaked up some sun. Fabulous time. Also, when you start your day off on a "glass bottom" boat, things are just going to shine...

You know you're in for some fun when *this* is your glass bottom boat! Hysterics were had by all.

Will being a little freaked out by several near crashes we had before we left the marina!

...and the boat wouldn't start... cue hysterical laughter.

*This* is the glass bottom bit! I know!

Steve and Will on the jet ski.

Steve and Lizzy on the jet ski.

My dad and Will

My dad and Lizzy

Lizzy getting her hair braided. She was very brave ;).

This trip honestly couldn't have been more perfect. The kids were happy, we were happy, fun was had by all... We were so sad to be leaving that we booked another cruise to soothe our aching hearts. I know, we're suckers (but really fun suckers).

Before we went home, we had one day at Disneyland (because you can never get enough Disney). One of my old friends, who now lives in Canada, was there and we met up for a few hours. It was fabbity fab. Our kids got along really well and her husband is a super nice guy (always a bonus).

Shaliece and I.

The kids being insane in the Toy Story Midway Mania line. It was a 45 minute wait. Always is.

After Disneyland, we were ready to go home. Not nearly as sad as we were when we had just gotten off the boat. I'm telling you, those cruises...

Peace out,

Heidi

The Best of All the Scarves.

2011-01-27T12:58:00.001-08:00

Scarf Love

Like its cousin, the Clapotis, this was a long and boring knit for me ;). But, like the Clapotis, I LOVE the end result! I wear this all the time and people love it (which isn't the point, but it's nice ;).

Peace out,

Heidi

The Hap Hap Happiest Place on Earth. Obvi.

2011-01-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

It's crystal clear we have an addiction here. It's fine. There is just something about walking down Mains Street USA with all the other insane fanatics, inhaling the smell of cinnamon and vanilla wafting out of the bakery and knowing that you'll soon be riding some of the most imaginative and wonderful rides ever created (the same rides you've been riding since you were 4), that makes you smile. Big. Steve has the same feeling. That's why we got married. That, my friends, is why we produced 2 Disney loving doodle bugs. Well, there were one or two other reasons we got married but "Must Love Walking Down Main Street USA" topped the list ;).

This year we went the first week of December. I've never been in December before. Ever. WHAT?! I know. I have never seen anything so adorbs in all my life. Disney is cute as is, but you get that place all decked out for Christmas and it's almost too much to be borne. Every inch of it is decorated. It's a Small World is redone all Christmassy, Sleeping Beauty's castle is like an icy wonderland, and, AND, the most fabbity fab of all... The Haunted Mansion is redone as The Nightmare Before Christmas!!! Oh yes it is! Seriously, too much. I loved it.

Lizzy's favorite ride is "Grinning Ghosts" aka The Haunted Mansion. When we first approached the gates and she saw Jack Skellington standing atop, she exclaimed, "oh Jack Skellington! He's been waiting for us! I can't believe my heart!" Yeah. By the time we were done with our trip, she'd had enough of the new decor and was ticked off that it wasn't back to normal. The girl doesn't deal well with change.

My mom and I spent a few days there with the kids before Steve and my dad met up with us. My mom, Will, Lizzy and I spent nearly 8 days at Disney. You're right, that is a bit much. It was v v fun all the same. I really want to go back during the Christmas Decoration Extravaganza again. Soon. Maybe even next year :). Now I shall show you our trip in pictures because I'm tired and I don't want to write anymore.

Haven't we seen this pose before? Why the fits just before entering the park?

Us in Toontown. I abhor Toontown.

I wish I had one of these boxes at home ;).

My mom, dad and Lizzy on Mickey's Fun Wheel. The scariest ride on earth!

Mickey's Fun Wheel the first time we went on (this trip). Totally took us by surprise. Obvi.

Us at the freezing cold beach. Isn't that sunset gorgey?

This pic is one of my faves.

In the Pirate's Lair (what used to be Tom Sawyer's Island). The kids LOVED it.

Our visit with Santa at California Adventure. We got in a short line here and didn't have to deal with the insanity over at Disneyland.

My kids adore the characters. It's comical. They'll stand next to ANY character to have their piccy taken. Even if they have no clue who it is.

The Castle at night. So pretty.

Lizzy's dream-meeting Rapunzel. This was unbelievably cute. We waited in line forever but it was well worth it.

Will and Lizzy with Rapunzel and Flynn. Lizzy now believes she is Rapunzel's twin and Will thinks he's the world's best "smolderer" because of these two cute characters.

That's the short summary of our long trip. We'll be going again in a few weeks (gotta love those annual passes!). It might be overkill.

Peace out,

Heidi

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-24T00:23:00.001-08:00

I hope you've all had a wonderful year. We have around here (although we're scrambling to get Christmas ready. As usual. Duh ;). I'm so glad to have shared another year with all of you. Merry Christmas!

Peace (on earth) out,

Heidi

Some Hats... As Usual

2010-12-08T06:56:00.000-08:00

I like to knit hats. It's a thing. I like to give hats because they're quick and most people will wear them. I had three I needed to make recently and I will regale you with the tales of those. I won't be wordy, I swear.

First we have Hudson. My cute friend JennyAnne had her fourth baby boy about a month ago and clearly this baby needed a hat for his first Utah winter. I recently discovered "More Last Minute Knitted Gifts" thanks to my friend Emily (HOW did I not know about this book before?!) and quickly whipped him up the adorbs Pointy Elf Hat. WHAT?! Cute.

Isn't he the cutest little elf?

Okay, on we go. I have been going to a chiropractor for awhile now (yes, I know I swore off chiropractors and cursed their names forever but this guys is normal, un weird and actually helping me. Really). He's a friend of Steve's and he and his assistant have been so kind and helpful to me that I decided they both deserved Christmas hats.

Amanda's favorite color is purple and I thought she would look super cute in the Unoriginal Hat by the the Yarn Harlot. She does. And she loves the hat.

Cute, huh?

Now for my crowning glory. I haven't done color work in 2 years. I know, shameful. I nicknamed Dustin (the chiropractor) BcDc (Back Cracker, Doctor of Chiropractic) and Steve told him (to my horror). So, I decided to immortalize his name on a hat. I used the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat by Tiennie (sans Norwegian Star) for the pattern and used a cross stitch letter pattern for the letters. I LOVED this pattern. Well done Tiennie for writing such an easy to follow pattern! Seriously! I must admit to being very proud of myself for accomplishing color work after so long. I know it shouldn't be such a big deal, but it is.

Here's me wearing it. I could never quite get the entire BC/DC in at once.

Here's Dustin (aka BC/DC) wearing it. He claims to like it.

And here's his spine wearing it. I told him it's meant for his head, not for some random spine. He says he'll wear it skiing this weekend.

SO, hats. I think I may have knit 131,000 at this point in my knitting career but I just love them so much. They're so FAST and I have so much less chance of getting ADHD. It's just a win win.

Peace out,

Heidi

Last Race of the Season...And a Knit.

2010-10-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

The last open water race in our area was called Slam the Dam and was held in Lake Mead Nevada. I used to go to Lake Mead with my best friend when I was a kid and I love it there. You will find no hotter place on earth but you can always escape into the water :). The lake is lovely and the conditions were so perfect (in my opinion) on race day.

Steve had been deathly ill and we weren't planning on doing the race until the day before when we got all sad about missing it. There's such a great vibe at races; wonderful, positive people and good fun. Plus, you get a fun t-shirt and for swim races, a new swim cap ;). See, fun.

So at the last minute we decided to go. Steve was just going to swim it alone because we ended up taking the kids and we couldn't just leave them alone on the shore ;). My angel of a cousin offered, out of the blue heavens, to babysit the kids so we could both swim. This put me in a ditherspaz because I had gotten out of the "swimming-kind-of-a-long-distance" mind set and needed to get back into it VERY quickly. Like overnight.

Anyway, the morning came and we dropped the babies off at Chris and Jess's house and drove over to the lake (about 5 minutes away from them, lucky buggers). The air temperature was divine, about 80 at the start, and the water temperature was about 79!!!! You have no idea how amazing that felt to me after my Deer Creek fandango! I turned to Steve about halfway through and yelled, "this is so great!!!" However, for that distance, it's probably better for it to be a bit colder. Your body just feels better after.

Steve had a really hard time because he had massive chest congestion and if you've ever tried relieving yourself of chest congestion while treading water, it's nearly impossible. We spent a good amount of time treading water until he could hack up his innards and now Lake Mead is about a foot deeper thanks to his phlegm. You're welcome for the visual. I sort of made Steve finish the race as he thought it might not be a good idea to swim with the way he was feeling (do I get wife of the year for that or do I get turned in to the police?). I know he was really happy he finished. Our time was terrible. Steve asked me, when the results were posted, how I felt that we were the second and third to last to finish. I told him that was about normal for me! Slow and steady, baby!

After the race. We are covered in dirt. The lake is really low (thank you California) so we had to wade through a ridiculous amount of mud at the start and finish. Yuck. Once out a few hundred yards, the lake was crazy clear.

After the race we went back to Chris and Jess's and spent the morning and early afternoon with them. Our kids got along with theirs like peas and carrots. So cute! We got pizza and went to a park and just let them run wild. At this park there are frequently mountain goats and we were super excited about that. They're adorbs, as you can see. There are signs warning people not to approach them. Really? How dumb would you have to be to approach a wild animal with massive horns? You honestly deserve a bump to the rump ;).

Adorable little mountain goats.

Later that day we went to see Hoover Dam (which holds Lake Mead together, thus Slam the Dam). That is an architectural masterpiece. So amazing. They recently completed a bridge across it and I have to tell you, job well done! It's so beautiful. It was opening like 3 days after we left so we didn't get to drive on it but seeing it was pretty dang cool. Our kids can't wait to go back.

The new bridge over the dam.

So, a knit. I still knit. I've lost my mojo a bit and I've started at least 15 million projects and have completed none. Shameful, I know. This one I had to complete because it was needed to adorn a baby's head. A really cute baby. Steve's brother Matt and his wife Hilary just had their first doodle bug, Madelyn. She's adorbs. I can't post a picture of her because I wanted to post this today and haven't got her parents permission (and I never post pictures of kids without parents permission). But here's the hat. Just the basic cotton baby hat from LMKG. They take about 20 seconds to complete and are soft and fabulous. We didn't know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl (her parents are weird like that ;), so I knit it in a gender neutral color and waited to embellish it until I knew. Girl=button. Done.

Cotton Baby Hat for Madelyn. Cute, huh?

So there you have it. A slow swim race and a 20 second hat. Fun, right?

Peace out,

Heidi

Hawaii

2010-10-10T12:16:00.001-07:00

I was born in Hawaii. We used to visit quite frequently when I was youn

ger. I am absolutely smitten by Hawaii and, until this recent trip, Steve and I hadn't been for 6.5 years! What?!

Steve surprised me with this trip for our 10 year anni. How cute is that? Very cute is the answer you're looking for. We took the kids (much to the dismay of most of our friends) and they had an absolute blast. So did we.

Will and Lizzy did amazingly well on the flight. It's long and hideously boring but they were super troopers (yeah, that's an ABBA reference). The only problem was keeping everyone awake once we got there. The time difference is a KILLER with kids. And me.

This trip was a bit different from our "usual" trips to Hawaii. We did a

LOT more relaxing and beach going. The kids loved the beach more than anything and they loved driving around the island just looking at the scenery (who wouldn't?).

Our first morning there was Labor Day and the day of the Waikiki Rough Water Swim. This is one of the most popular open water swims in the country with over 1,000 participants. I had planned to participate but was advised not to because I'm not yet used to sea swimming and, apparently, it has gotten extremely rough in years past. We decided to just observe. It starts at a section of the beach that is generally uncrowded so we basically had the

beach to ourselves (with the exception of the thousand or so swimmers off to the side ;). The kids thought they were in heaven. It was a great start to the day. We stayed for a few hours, went home and showered and got on with things.

We had absolutely no plan for this trip. We took each day as it came and it worked out perfectly. We decided one day to call one of my friends, and met up for s

hopping and dinner (at the most amazing Japanese BBQ restaurant). If we wanted to hit the beach, off we went. If we wanted a cultural experience for the kids, that's what we did. It was marvy.

I was afraid since there were no rides involved, the kids would think Hawaii was boring. Wrong. They honestly loved almost everything we did. Nearly every morning we'd pop over to Leonard's bakery to feast on malasadas which are these amazing portug

ese sweet doughnuts. You cannot die without having tasted one. Also, no day was complete without shave ice. We tried 4 different places and found our faves. Ice Garden and Waiola. Seriously, TO. DIE. FOR. Lilikoi with azuki beans, ice cream and mochi balls... mmmmm. The kids keep asking for it. So sad.

We decided to take them to the Polynesian Cultural Center one day and you'd have thought they'd died and gone to heaven. The PCC is this fabulous place that's owned and run by BYU Hawaii. The people that work there are mostly students and are from the

islands represented at the center which are Hawaii, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tahiti, and Marquesas. They give the kids "passports" that they can get stamped as they visit each country. All the countries have little (and I might add, very entertaining) productions which tell you about their islands. Most of them have some hands on craft or food tasting or dancing... so fun! I'm telling you, it may seem twee but if you're ever there, don't miss the PCC. Especially with kids. You'll love it.

One of the highlights of every trip to Hawaii is going to church. It's like no other place on earth. You'll never feel so welcomed and loved as you do there. I was a little kid when we moved to Utah but I'm always completely gobsmacked at how many people remember me. My dad was the bishop of our ward before we moved and there can't be a single person who was in their ward, young or old, who has forgotten them. People will come up to me and say, "you look so familiar..." . When I tell them who my parents are, the recognition registers and they regale me with stories of my parents and of myself when I was little. So cute. I absolut

ely adore the people there. Not just at church, all the people.

Will and Lizzy have asked me no less than 50 times when we can go back and if we can move there soon. Obviously we're going to have to visit Hawaii more often. This 6.5 year fandango will not do.

Since the trip was vair vair long and I failed to write everything down, I shall now regale you with a slightly out of order photo log of the trip. Here goes...

Our first day at the beach. How cute are those kids, I ask you.

Some of the crowd getting ready for the Rough Water Swim. Notice the idiots in wet suits? The water was 79 degrees and the air temp 85. Get. A. Grip.

Japanese BBQ with Kahala and Kira (Will's part time girlfriend).

Matsumoto. So delicious but not the "best" shave ice, as it happens.

Steve and the kids at Shark's Cove. They would ride on his back and stick their little goggled heads in to look at the fish.

Um, pardon me but how cute is this?

Our doodles with a sea turtle. Highlight of their day.

Happy family on top of the Pali.

Getting blown away.

Will and Lizzy with a Samoan Chief at the PCC.

Will and Lizzy with a cute Samoan lady who helped them make toys out of grass. Immensely clever.

Us with some Fijians. You would not have believed the size of the man on the left. He was very nearly a giant.

Steve jumping off the rock at Waimea. I never have and I never will.

Will, Kira and Lizzy at Ko Olina. Amazing, calm, man made beach.

Lizzy made some adorable little friends at Ko Olina.

Kahala and I collapsing the ridiculous floaties the kids were playing on. They took FOR. E. VER.

The babies at the swap meet. It's always at least 180 degrees there but I love it and can't miss it!

Some love on the boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial. The kids actually loved that too.

Oil seeping up from the Arizona. Still. It's oddly beautiful and haunting.

And finally, my little doodle pointing to Hawaii. He really got on board with Pearl Harbor. The fact that it all happened right there was pretty fascinating to him.

So, I'd have to say it was an amazing trip. Loved nearly every minute of it. There were a few breakdowns but that's to be expected when traveling with bambini, right?

Peace out,

Hedi

Lizzy's Big Day

2010-09-15T21:57:00.000-07:00

Lizzy has been DYING to start preschool. DYING. Every time we have passed the school since Will stopped going several months ago, she's been screaming out, "there's my school!!!"

Needless to say, she was overjoyed when it was finally her turn to go. She's not shy and she loves making new friends. Mostly she's a show off ;). Her first day was v v fun and exciting. Her teacher is adorbs and Lizzy loves her stinkin' guts. Let's just hope her sassy mouth doesn't land her in the principal's office too many times :}.

She could not stop jumping!

She thought this was a super fab pose. She thought...

Lizzy and her buddy Kingston. He kept bossing her to stop jumping while I was trying to take a picture. She couldn't be bothered ;).

So, fabulous day, fabulous girl.

Peace out,

Heidi

The great swim (well, sort of)

2010-08-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

This has to be the ugliest picture ever taken. I had to put it up here so you could all laugh with me.

The swim. Wow. I'm so glad I did it! If you ask me about it now, it was one of the funnest things I've ever done. If you'd asked me about it halfway through, I would have told you I was looking for a way out. Preferably the warmest one.

I was prepared for the distance. I could easily have gone further. I was woefully unprepared for the cold. Holy cow! We woke up the morning of the swim and I was horrified to find that the air temperature was only 50 degrees. I thought, "kill me now. I cannot do this, I have to have the sun shining on my back!" I got over the air temp. It was okay because adrenalin took over and my feelings of fear overtook the cold. The water temperature was something else. I'd been used to training (not often enough, apparently) in water that is about 68-70 degrees. The water at the start of the race was 66. I didn't know that or I may have attacked someone and taken their wetsuit. Alas, I had to be brave and I knew the only way I'd be happy with this race was if I swam it "naked" (sans wettie).

Well, I did. I was in the water for 2 hrs and 19 minutes. That is a LONG time to be in water you're not acclimatized to. Also, a long time for a 5K. I'm not quite sure what happened but my mile time increased by about 6 minutes per mile. What?! Whatevs. I'll get that under control before my next swim. Anyway, I started shivering about 1 minute in (yes, really) and was shivering so much that I had a hard time with my feed. Oops. Apparently my lips turned gray at one point and Steve started asking me my date of birth and full name etc., because he thought (rightly so) that I was getting hypothermic. About 2/3 of the way through the swim I stopped shivering and while that is sometimes a bad sign, I think I was okay because my skin color never did anything weird and in the pictures of me getting out of the water, my lip color is back. I am not a quitter but about halfway through I thought I might need to get out. Then I remembered the air temp and decided the only way to end the pain was to "just keep swimming". So I did. Lesson for me: train A LOT more in cold water before attempting the 10K next year. I'm such an idiot.

I'm happy to say that my stroke stayed pretty consistent throughout the swim. I had been trained in Total Immersion just a few months prior to the swim and it's made my stroke so much more efficient. Even though I was freezing to death, my arm entry and body roll were right on track ;).

Steve and his brother Matt were my paddlers and I'm very thankful for it. I still have a hard time sighting and they kept me on track and paddled for what I'm sure was a very boring two hours and nineteen minutes. Ugh. I'm glad Steve had some company otherwise he may have jumped overboard.

I'm so glad I did this swim and plan on doing many more. It was a great experience and I learned a LOT. The organizers and volunteers were fabbity fab. Maybe open water swimming is like childbirth-you forget how much pain you were in during the event and soon plan on doing it again ;).

Steve and Matt paddling away. The moistened bint in the water is me ;).

Nice form, Heidi!

Steve and Matt totally left me in the dust near the finish. I think they were embarrassed because some of the 10K racers were on my tail.

A Watery Tart.

I got major vertigo getting out. I've never had a problem before (it's an issue with swimmers) but I couldn't stand up on my own. Quite amusing.

So, so, so cold. Like an ice cube. Or a giant, tan icicle.

And the lovely hooded towel. My warmth and solace ;).

Peace out,

Heidi

10th Anniversary

2010-08-17T19:06:00.001-07:00

Recently Steve and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. We're so old hat at this marriage thing now. We had an awesome midweek jaunt in Park City going to dinner at Zoom (the restaurant we went to on our first date), staying overnight at the Waldorf, and then just shopping and having fun the next day.

I have, it has to be said, the world's best husband. He has named himself "Captain Surpriso" because he loves surprising people. And he's really good at it. And really over the top. He planned the whole "staycation" (a really lame word that one of the valets used) and gave me a new ring AND, wait for it... A trip to Hawaii. What the what?! I'm so excited.

Okay, material things aside, Steve really is the best and I'm so glad I made the decision to marry him (after 4 years of dating) 10 years ago. We have the cutest stinkin' kids and they love him so much. As do I. I couldn't imagine life without him. We have so much fun together and he is so supportive of me in all my endeavors. I love you, beb ;).

Here we are on our balcony.

Vicky Pollard impersonations ;).

Steve's turn.

And now I'm in hysterics.

That's all I have to say about that.

Peace out,

Heidi

First Day of School, First Day of School!

2010-08-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

How cute is he? Very, is the answer you're looking for. Will was SO excited to start kindy. He could hardly sleep the night before his first day. *I* could hardly sleep the night before. I was very sad for him to start (he's a big boy now, right?) but I didn't cry.

We got up early, popped him in the shower, had some breakfast and then waited and waited and waited until we could walk to the bus stop. The thing he loves most about kindergarten is the bus. He thinks it goes really fast and the fact that you "don't have to wear seat belts" is amazing to him.

Here's my little guy all ready for school. He thinks his back pack is the bee's knees ;).

He asked me to take a picture of his back pack.

This is Lizzy's idea of a cute pose. Will wanted a picture of them hugging and Lizzy flipped out and yelled, "NO, I do it like this!" and struck this pose. Honestly.

Another of her sassiness.

Waiting on the curb for the bus.

Will and me.

Will and Steve.

Will and the bus stop gang.

I had to sneak into the school and snap a few shots...

Here's the little guy walking out after his first day of school!

Will and a few of his classmates walking toward their moms. The parking lot is under construction so that's nice, isn't it ;).

The day went really well and I'm so proud of my little man. He's such a big boy now and after his first week he still LOVES kindergarten (except at the end when he has to sing, he says).

Peace out,

Heidi

Open Water Swimming

2010-07-27T14:42:00.001-07:00

I'm a swimmer. I love it so much that until recently I've used it as very nearly my only form of exercise. Pool swimming, when you start to get in any sort of distance, becomes mind numbingly dull. Therefore, I have decided to venture into the sport of open water swimming. This is a whole new (and very scary) beast.

I've been fascinated with swimming the English Channel since 1999 when I took a ferry across it and thought, "you'd have to be mental to swim this". Someday I'd like to be that mental. Someday far away. For now I'll do small open water swims. My very first race is in a few weeks and it's in a local reservoir called Deer Creek. It's ridiculously beautiful. That is one of the draws of open water swimming. Instead of stupid tiles at the bottom of the pool, you get to look around at gorgeous scenery! Better, yes?

Anyway, last weekend there was a clinic that was held by the organizers of the Deer Creek Open Water Marathon Swim. I am SOOOO happy that I went. I had been having nightmares about this race. I'm not the kind of person who takes something on and doesn't finish so I knew that no matter how tough it got (even if I were on the brink of death), I would finish this race. Granted it's only a 5K, so this is not highly likely. Also, the temperature of the reservoirs has taken its sweet time rising this year since we had a very long spring. I'm a cold wimp. I'm also claustrophobic and a purist and hard core open water swimmers (I am not claiming to be a hard core open water swimmer but aspire to be one) DO NOT wear wet suits. I can't stand the way they feel and I thought I would die of shame if I had to wear one. Turns out, Deer Creek is going to be plenty warm. 72 (22) balmy degrees!! Huzzah! I was literally having dreams that people on my swimming chat site were making fun of me for wearing a wet suit.

SO, needless to say, the clinic was massively helpful. We did some drills, swam a bit, I tried out the cursed wetsuit and I calmed the heck down. Lovely.

Seriously. I mean, seriously.

Here we are getting ready to go. I'm in the blue cap, hidden by yellow cap speedo man.

Simulating a "race start". I'll always be at the back of the pack. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Blue cap. Notice how my head is down? Good form ;).

All the group at the clinic. Fun fun fun!

Hopefully this race will be grand adventure. I just found out that I'll be running a marathon relay about a month after this so... Um, go me?

Peace out!

Pauley Mac

2010-07-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

What can I even say about this? Once in a lifetime experience, concert of a lifetime, epic event, legendary, bloody amazing!!! Paul McCartney was in the hizouse last night and I am telling you what, even at 105, the guy can rock! Amazing talent and an amazing entertainer!

My mom has been a Beatles fan since the dawn of time and actually had her bags packed, ready to go to Denver when she was in Junior High. Her horrific parents ;) wouldn't allow it so she had to wait 40 years for her next chance. She cried her fool eyes out when he came out on stage.

I can hardly blame her. This is Paul McCartney we're talking about here. Sir Paul. You know, the "cute one". The guy who has memorabilia in the British Museum. A fourth of the Fab Four. An actual Beatle. I was gobsmacked! I kept thinking, "this is crazy! I'm so lucky to be here!"

He sang so many amazing songs but my faves were probably "Blackbird", "Yesterday", and a ukelele version of "Something". Seriously fabbity fab! "Live and Let Die" was a pyrotechnic paradise and he ended with "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" which was lovely. And fun (especially since we saw several people in Sergeant Pepper regalia).

Steve and I before the concert (Steve is in the midst of canceling his AmEx because he lost it at dinner).

My mom and dad.

Paul.

Paul. Again.

All in all it was a dream come true. Especially for my mom who got to sing (along) with Paul in real life. How much fun is that? I ask you.

I hope everyone gets to have an experience like this with someone you believe is legendary. It makes for some pretty great memories.

By the way, the pictures were taken with my iPhone. I was afraid they would take away my camera. They're not great. Luckily my mom did bring her camera.

Peace out,

Heidi

Surgery

2010-06-07T12:40:00.001-07:00

Needless to say this was one scary day for me. And Will. The surgery was a simple adenoidectomy (with a few other things thrown in). I'd coached moms through this 100 times and I knew it was not a big deal. However, this time it was MY baby getting poked and cut and made to fall asleep with crazy gasses that I do not fully understand.

Will and I went to the Avenues Surgery Center the day before and checked the place out. The nurse gave us a little tour and loaded Will up with stickers and a coloring book as well as cookies (way to go nurse!). We both felt much more calm after this little visit. Will knew what to expect so nothing was a surprise to him. Still, I was having a bit of a nervy spaz.

We checked in and filled out the necessary paper work and waited for them to call us back. Cute little Will didn't complain once about being hungry or thirsty and he was allowed no breakfast. Not even water :(.

Steve and Will in the waiting room. How cute are they?

When they called us back, the same nurse who had given us the tour on the previous day was in charge and that put us both right at ease. She was so great with Will. He had his blood pressure taken and was again stocked up with stickers, crayons and a coloring book. Happy day. We then went into another waiting room where he changed into a hospital gown and some crazy socks (he thought he looked dashing) and had a little exam by a resident.

Cute Doodle in his gown and socks.

We had to hang out for a bit after that in order for the surgeon to finish his previous surgery. Will just watched TV or played games on our phones. He was so good. About 30 minutes before the surgery the nurse came in to give him Versed. Lovely, hilarious Versed. This is a fast acting medication that calms the kids down to the point of bliss so they don't have a nervy b when they're taken away from their parents to go into the OR. Will was out of control funny. The room must have looked like a 3D movie to him because he kept stretching out his hand to touch things that were across the room. He was stoned out of his mind. We couldn't understand a word he was saying.

Here's Will with the Versed in full force.

Notice his expression hasn't changed. At all.

He really had no idea what was going on.

The anesthesiologist wheeled him back in a wagon and Steve and I went to yet another waiting room. I listened to an audio book and knitted while Steve watched a few episodes of Modern Family and laughed himself sick. Oddly enough, we were both quite calm. Talking to the surgeon and anesthesiologist beforehand helped to calm my fears. They are both really capable men.

In what seemed like very little time, Dr. Finlayson (Will's surgeon) came out and told us everything went swimmingly and that as soon as the anesthesia wore off enough, we would be allowed to go see him. He took his sweet time waking up but we expected that as I have the same reaction to anesthesia.

He was one ANGRY little man when we went in to see him. He had forgotten about the wagon ride to the OR (he was really looking forward to this) and started crying and hitting me (not allowed at any other time) and calling us "LIARS!!!" It was so sad and yet hilarious.

Here he is drinking his "slushee" after surgery.

One of the post op nurses heard his tirade about the wagon and offered to pull him out to the car in it. The staff at the Surgery Center were really so great. All of the nurses, the receptionists and his doctors were wonderful, skilled and kind people.

Here's the little man getting his way. Only acceptable after such a tantrum because of the fact that he was coming off anesthesia and wasn't in his right mind ;).

And away he goes down the hall.

I was dreading the coming nights, believing that he would be in pain and would't be able to sleep. Hmmm, just the opposite. He was riding his bike later in the evening. He remained angry for the rest of the day (as we were warned that he may) but by the next day he was his happy self and wanted to play with friends. Only Tylenol has been required for pain and the only thing he hasn't been able to do is swim. What a relief! I'm so happy we decided to have the surgery done. He breathes soooo much better now and sounds so much more clear. Hooray!!! We have his post op check on Thursday and then we're in the clear for all activities! I'm so proud of Will for being such a brave boy. He was a tough guy through the whole thing and hardly complained a bit.

On their way (as soon as I get to the post office)

2010-05-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

Outgoing pressies. Just teaser shots in case the very small people's parents see this post. I love little knits!

Girl!

Boy!

Peace out,

Heidi

Oh Disneyland!

2010-05-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

We recently took a wee family trip to Disneyland. A six day trip to Disneyland. Some may think this excessive. We do not. We adore Disney, as do our kids, and consequently have a wonderful time there.

The only glitch in this trip was that we drove. From Utah to Southern California is a 10 hour drive. On our way down, we wisely stopped in Vegas for the night and continued the next morning. On our way back, we did not. Hmmm. Still, it was nice not to have to be on a tight schedule dictated by the airlines and to be able to pack what we wanted due to the avoidance of airport security.

When we arrived, our hotel room wasn't ready (is it ever?) so we just headed over to the park (walking distance from the hotel, the only way to go!). We ended up spending 6 hours there the first day! Ha! It started out a bit rough as the kids were tired from the drive but it was a grand day out.

Will and Lizzy just as we arrived at the park. I thought we were in for it. As soon as they saw some of the rides, they rallied ;).

One of the things I do NOT adore about Disneyland is the existence of "stupid" rides, like the rockets below, that the kids love so very, very much. It has to be said that there are not many of these at Disneyland, a great deal more at Disney World. These rockets are one of Lizzy's favorite rides. I HATE them will all my heart. They allow a very few people on at a time and when you finally get on (after a minimum of 20 minutes wait) the rockets are tilted to the side to let you in. It is horribly painful for the parents whose kids are leaning up agains them and pressing their flesh into the hard sides of the rockets. Pain! Ah, the things we do for our kids. I got to go twice. Hooray!

Lizzy and I standing in line for the Rockets (I don't even know the real name of this ride).

One of the most hilarious/annoying things about this particular trip was that Lizzy flatly refused to walk. Or stand. We have a double stroller which she is pleased to sit in, like a princess, until we park it to get in line for a ride. If we did make her walk, she put on a limp. No joke. She would scream and say her legs hurt and start limping around like the Hunchback of Disneyland! Amazingly they stopped hurting whenever she saw her friends and wanted to run to them.

Here she is hitching a ride on Steve while we waited for Story Book boat ride.

We ended up splitting up from time to time because Will is big enough for rides like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain... and Lizzy is not. It was very sad for her not to be able to go on those rides so one of us would take her by herself and go on the little kid rides while Will had his way with the "Mountains". She was big enough for the Madderhorn and thought she was the bees knees! So cute!

Here's Lizzy posing on the "L" in California as you go into California Adventure. She got very into posing and insisted on posing on or with every letter. Honestly.

Steve and the kids on Dumbo (after the endless line that ALWAYS precedes this ride).

The kids and I in Toad's car. I love Mr. Toad. His ride ain't bad either ;). I love Lizzy's face here!

While there, half our neighborhood was there as well. Honestly. It was great. We'd been planning on going and so had Steve's brother and our friends the Morgans so we sort of coordinated the dates and then my friend Liz's husband was going to be out of town, so she joined the group and before we left, we found out some other good friends of ours, the Bertolas, were going to be there too. It was fabbity fab.

Here are Liz and I in our matchy matchy jackets. Nerds? Not us.

Our fam with Mickey.

Will with his besties, Luke and Ellie (Liz's kids), on the Story book boat ride.

We spent a good deal of time with Steve's brother Dave, his wife Cinda and their little boys and also with Liz and her littles. We had a blast. One day we decided to get everyone together that we knew and have a little communal lunch at California Adventure. Good idea, huh?

Here is a small contingent from the Morgan Clan.

And the Bertolas...

And Dave and Andersen...

Steve and Will on Autopia. Huh? I think not. I let Lizzy drive and ended up in ridiculous amounts of pain from bopping about the car. Ah well, she thought it was grand fun.

On our last day we went on a few "last chance" rides that the kids wanted to go on... again, and bought their souvenirs. We decided this time to wait until the end of the trip to allow them to get anything because they want EVERYTHING and this way they had to choose one really cool thing. We let them get their faces painted as well. They thought this the most fabulous of all the things ;).

Here they are just after the face painting. Lizzy is doing her "beautiful face". What? And Will is being serious because that's how pirates are.

Here are the littles again doing different faces. Will's mad eye just cracks me up.

After the park we went to the beach. Duh. It was 65 degrees with hurricane force winds (not really, but almost) and the water was 58 degrees. It was NOT a blast. We spent about 10 seconds there and then went home and showered.

The day before we left, we met up with our friends Cory and Nicky and their littles, in Pasadena. We went to lunch at a place with the scariest bathroom known to man (in a very dark and possibly haunted basement). Then we went to The Gamble House which is one of our favorite places ever. It's a house designed by Green and Green (famous architects of the arts and crafts movement), designed for the owners of Proctor and Gamble in 1908, and is one of the most beautiful houses on earth. We'd been before but I had to leave the tour because Will (who was about 15 months at the time) couldn't hack it. This time I made it through. The house, and its furnishings, are unbelievable. I was so glad I could see it all. We then made our way to a little ice cream shop, ate like pigs, and said adieu. It was great to see them, as always.

Here's a picture of the house. Not a very good picture but a picture nonetheless.

And finally, Steve and the kids on the grounds of the Gamble House. The weather was so lovely.

Our final evening was spent with Steve's sister Sue and her family. We had dinner and shopped at some of the surf shops (always filled with a variety of oddities (people)). Sue and clan were just beginning their Disney adventure. Lucky.

All told, another successful trip to Disney. We love Uncle Walt ;). I also really love California. Why can't Utah be so warm and delightful (but without the drivers)?

Peace out,

Heidi

Pressies!!!

2010-04-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

Since I'm a Noblog, I'm REALLY late on this post. I'm ever so sorry. I despise ingratitude and I am not showing much of it by posting this so late. I DO feel very, very and thrice very grateful for these pressies!

The first is from Marit (who I love with all my heart). I am participating in a "Pay it Forward" thingy from her blog and she sent us the most amazing things. Seriously, her generosity was very much above and beyond and so so delightful!

She sent me a bag (which I use for knitting projects) made out of jeans. How clever is that?! I'll tell you; very clever. It's so adorbs. It features Shaun the Sheep (whom we adore) and a kite with a caterpillar and everything!

Here's a close up of Shaun. Isn't he cute?

And the bum of the bag ;). Terribly handy pockets!

And that lining! Isn't it adorable?!

She also sent the most sniffy soap from Selje, an island very near her home and where some of her sheep live. Real sheep, I don't mean kids ;).

ALSO she sent the kids these darling wee stockings with their names and the year embroidered on them. WHAT?! How amazing. AND these ornaments filled with delicious chocolate which the kids loved. They kept saying, "mom, can we have some of that chocolate from Marit?" Hilares. Will went on and on about how nice Marit is and how amazing he thought it was that she sent chocolate ALL THE WAY FROM NORWAY! (I showed it to them on a map).

And, if that weren't enough, she sent this gorgey red yarn. Yes she did. Because with all the other gifts, she wasn't generous enough ;). THANK YOU SO MUCH MARIT!!! It was like opening a treasure chest!

Here's a picture of all of it. It's not a great picture. I'm kind of a crap photographer, but you get the idea.

Now, I just need to get on with my pay it forward project. I have one I'm doing but I'm wondering if there are any others who want to participate? Just let me know.

The next package that arrived, (just in time for London!!!) were these fabby mittens from Bea (who I also love with all my heart). I fell in love with these when I saw them on her blog and wanted to make a pair but then she started selling them so I decided to buy some instead (clever, huh?). Bea and I decided to do a trade instead.

Mind you, Bea also sent delicious chocolates and balloons for the kids as well! Kindness and generosity!

Again, crap picture. These mittens are gorgey! The turquoise is much softer in real life and the mittens aren't usually posing on a lap.

I was SOOOO excited to have these for London. They're photographer mittens, you see. You can pop your index finger out of a tiny hole and click away. Hmmm. Clever? Yes. They were so warm and cute AND convenient. How often do you find that in a mitten? LOVE.

When these mittens arrived, I nearly had a heart attack. I knew the second I saw them that I could not knit her something. I would die of shame. They were completely perfect. I decided to send her yarn. Anything I knit would have seemed so quaint. And also like a Kindergartener had done it. I'm very glad she let me off the hook. Thank you SOOO much Bea! I love them!

Here the are at Old Sarum (these mittens are SO well traveled). You can't see it but my finger is sticking out so I can record... sheep.

Now you can see my finger. It's showing everyone that I, and the mittens, are #1.

Isn't Blogland marvy? I've "met" so many wonderful people with so many amazing talents. I can't wait to see and learn more from all of you.

Peace out,

Heidi

Knitting for the Offspring.

2010-04-11T12:36:00.001-07:00

I like knitting for kids. The knits are small and fast and look adorable on little heads/hands/feet etc. Better stated, I like knitting for SOME kids. The number of truly grateful people is astonishingly small. Honestly, when I first started knitting, I gave away so many knitted items. No more. Many of the people I have given knits to have never worn the thing they were given. What cheek! At least do me the courtesy of wearing it around me. Once.

So, now that I am a very old woman (I'm not actually, I'm only 33), I find that my friends tend to produce offspring. I cannot seem to keep up. With the knitting, I mean. I have plenty of offspring. It's such a common occurrence now that I can't be bothered knitting for them all ;).

Many years ago Steve and I became friends with Nate. We had a large group of friends who had ridiculous amounts of fun together. I don't think any of us ever got home before 3 am. Nate was not satisfied with us so he moved to Holland and met Claudia (she is Italian, not Dutch). I visited them in Holland in 1997 (that is mental) and took this adorable picture...

Claudia and Nate. Notice the safe distance between them. Perhaps this was still in the awkward we're-dating-but-I-don't-want-to-let-on-how-much-I-like-you phase.

Nate and Claudia ended up getting over the "safe distance" fandango and got married. Below is a picture of them in Italy last year (I think). No more of the awkward distance issues. Phew!

Claudia and Nate. Grown up and touching each other.

Well, as so often happens, the two of them produced a cute little bug. She is completely adorable. From what I hear, she is a spitfire who would get along swimmingly with my Lizzy. We met her (her parents now live in the UK) over Christmas and she refused to say so much as two words to us. Will and Lizzy were fighting (a common occurrence 'round these parts) and probably scared her to death. She has been an only child and is not yet used to the insanity a sibling can bring. This situation will be changed, as will this darling child's life, in just a few short weeks when her brother "Giotto" is born (her choice of names, not her parent's).

Um, hello. Adorbs. As I said, this little one lives in the UK and needs something to cover her poor head and ears from the arctic conditions there ;). She is, at the moment of this picture, picking off a dragon fly adornment. Yes, she and Lizzy should be fast friends if they were able to spend more than 1 hour together.

There are the girls in their matching hats. Cute as two bugs. The horrifying thing about this picture is that Lizzy's face and clothes are a MESS and I didn't even notice until I saw the picture. What have I become?

I have also knit something for "Giotto" but will refrain from posting a picture as his parents might read this and, therefore, have their surprise ruined. Wouldn't that be a tragedy?

On we go. You might remember a post I did last year about my time spent in England with BYU study abroad? Yes, I'm certain you do. Well, our next subject is the offspring of Emily. You'll recall that Emily was part of my group of friends who got along swimmingly and were apparently very intimidating (no, we weren't, we were only awesome) therefore making more than one enemy amongst the study abroad girls. Oh well. We have stayed friends for 11 years, even though she moved to NYC for a very large span of time. I shall forgive. Below is the greatest picture ever taken. It's the nine of us at Lake Windermere (the most beautiful lake in the world).

Emily is the little thing right in the dead center of the forcefield, wearing a gray sweatshirt and jeans. Seriously, best. picture. ever.

Here is a picture of Emily just last year (I think). She's in Australia, if you can believe that.

Well, Emily got hitched to Will and, as so often happens, they produced... RUBY! Ruby is the most hilarious child on earth. She has this little angelic face and when she smiles at you, she's all teeth! It's so great. She is also a savage, which I find delightful in little girls.

Here are Lizzy and Ruby playing with Lizzy's dress up stuff. They were both in heaven.

Ruby in her headband. We kind of had to fight her to get it on.

And a side shot of the flower. And Ruby's tongue.

Also, and edelweiss button. Could you die?

So Nate, Claudia and Emily have passed the test of gratitude and class. I have two other knits lying around my house that belong to the offspring of other old friends. However, I am missing either an old or a new picture of them and therefore could not post about them. Obvi. How lame would that have been? It would have totally messed up the theme.

I promise not to wait so long between posts from here on. I swear. This blog has gotten so dumb because of my noblog status. I will change. I can.

Peace out,

Heidi

Knitting (yes, I still do that)

2010-03-02T21:18:00.000-08:00

I still knit. Can you believe it?! I know. I KNOW! I've been doing a lot of it, actually. Just not blogging about it. Again, I've been a bit of a Noblog. Sorry. Now that I have my journaling of London out of the way, I can regale you about my knitting. I know you've been waiting with baited breath. Right?

SO, these headbands have been THE thing here in Utah. If you don't have one you are, basically, a nerd. I'm a nerd (I once broke a speaker in my car by blasting opera), but not a fashion nerd. And, as far as I can control, my friends and family will not be fashion nerds. Therefore, I knit these headbands. A great number of them (because I am Heidi, and I am a Multiple Knitter).

For the longest time I could not find a pattern for this item. I finally found one that cost me $6. Fine. Later my sister found one for free. The one she found was acquired at my favorite yarn store and the owner had written it two years before. I thought I'd try it so I asked her for it. Turns out, it's the EXACT same pattern (literally not ONE difference). That's right, the yarn store I BOUGHT it from had ripped it off from the good yarn store that was giving it away. Horrid people!

The ones you see around town are made of acrylic and all look exactly the same. Acrylic? Seriously? Pfff. Acrylic has its place, that place is not on my head. The fun things about the ones you make yourself is that you have your pick of flowers, buttons, blah, blah, blah, that you can adorn them with. Also, they're made of wool. Obvi.

This one was made for my sister in law as a Christmas pressie. I have never seen her wear it. Perf. I have seen her wear her naff acrylic ones. That's fab.

This one was made for my niece. The flower turned out a bit big for a full grown human so she got it by default ;). She loves it and it looks adorbs on her.

Pattern: Rose's Hat by Verla Younker

Yarn: Cascade 220 held double

Time: About 3 hrs.

And now to switch gears entirely (because this post hasn't been higgeldy piggeldy enough), I shall tell you about my Bella Mittens. I love these. They were a quick knit and are very comfy. I took them to London with me and I wear them all the time. The only thing is that they are a bit on the flimsy side. I wasn't aware that I needed to double the yarn I used. Oops. Oh well, they work. Anyway, if I'm especially cold, I now have my special Vancouver 2010 mittens to do the job (oh yes I do).

Pattern: Bella's Mittens

Yarn: Elsabeth Lavold Silky Wool

So there you have it. I'm knitting and loving every minute of it (well, almost). I think I'm taking a socks-two-at-a-time-on-magic-loop this month (which will be great since I get second sock syndrome like nothing else) and I intend to learn some new skills since I haven't really pushed myself for a really long time. Like, since the first year I started knitting. That is all I have to say.

Peace out,

Heidi

Here is London... Part... Finis!!!

2010-02-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

The sadness hit me hard when we woke up on our last full morning in the Motherland. We had a full day planned and I was sooooo excited but had a looming pit in my stomach that it would all be over very soon.

We headed over to get some breakfast from the barf cafe (yes, we braved it this day as we had no time for anything else) and got some fruit and cheese to go. We took the tube to Paddington Station to catch the express to Windsor (we changed trains in Slough! It really is kind of dumpy). It was very cold and rainy all day long. A good day to be inside. We were not. Inside. Ah well, no such thing as bad weather... ;).

Windsor is the most adorable wee town. The castle was closed when we got there because we were anxious jakes and arrived too early. What's a person to do with the time? The answer is obvious. Shop. We went to a lovely little shop called Edinburgh Woolen Mills and went a bit nuts buying souvies for our kids. Kilts. Adorbs. Then we went over to start out tour.

Well, wouldn't you know it? The Queen's stupid apartments were closed. Honestly. Had we known we would have stayed in London but alas, we did not. Windsor was still fun. It's a truly beautiful castle. I even saw things there that I had not seen nor even known were there until this visit (I am ashamed to admit this).

In St. George's Chapel, King George VI and his lovely wife (the Queen Mum) are buried. I love these two amazing people. Despite bombing raids and the advice to leave London, they decided to stay, thereby helping moral of the British people immensely. They were brave and hardworking little bees. King George had a stutter (believed to have been brought on by the severe abuse he received from his governess) and his wife would do much of his speaking for him because of that. How cute. I love them. Also, someone I don't love but with whom I am obsessed is buried there... Henry VIII!!! What the?! I actually kind of love him. He's just so fascinating. And evil. He was like a spoiled child that never learned how to grow up and his childish tantrums turned into head chopping as he aged. So vile. And cool.

So, our trip to Windsor was short, but fun. We then trotted back over to the train station and headed back to London. We ate a pasty on the way and it was fab. I really love a pasty. If you've never had one, find a recipe and make some. They're well worth it.

Windsor Castle. Isn't it pretty? Don't bother answering. It is.

Steve and I in front of Windsor Castle.

The old moat with a ginkgo tree. We have a few of these in our yard. Whaddya know, so does the Queen.

If I can ever afford it, I'm copying this building as my house. HELLO! Just look at that brick work. Amazing.

Once back in London, we headed over to the Tower. I cannot describe in words how I love this place. If I could be a Yeoman Warder, I would. But I can't. I'd really even just be the janitor there. Maybe. Something to give me special access to the insane history that lies within these walls! OH! I love it here. When you visit, you have to have a tour with a Beefeater. You just do. They're naff and silly but they really do give good information and if you pull them aside after the tour, they can answer ANY questions you ask them about the history of the place. Really, I tried.

I have a fixation with the Tudors, as you may have surmised, and this place is just brimming with Tudor history. In addition to Traitors Gate, (where Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Catherine Howard and even Queen Elizabeth (before she was queen) were taken through on their way to imprisonment in the Tower), we saw Beauchamp Tower (where Guilford Dudley, Lady Jane Gray's husband, was kept before his execution), the White Tower (built in Norman times), and even the house where my girl, Lady Jane Gray, lived before she was executed. There was a special exhibition, entitled "Dressed to Kill", of Henry VIII's armor on display for the 5ooth anniversary of his death. It was amazing to see how he grew from a young, fit man to an obese old man in a relatively short period. His poor wives. Ugh.

We also saw the Crown Jewels but I'm not terribly fascinated by those. Is that odd? Anyway, it's a completely amazing place and a must see on anyone's list. Well, anyone's list who has a brain ;).

Traitors Gate. Can you imagine the fear of being led through this gate? The chances of getting released from the Tower after being led through this gate were about none.

The White Tower. It's completely amazing that it's still standing. It's under major construction right now.

Steve following our group up the hill toward a Tower (I forgot what it's called).

Just a pretty picture.

Me in front of Beauchamp Tower. This is the one you hear about with all the scrawlings in the stone from the prisoners. Also where Guilford Dudley was kept before his execution (I don't care much for him except that he was Jane Grey's husband).

A little monument in front of Tower Green in remembrance of those who got the chop. It was the lucky ones who got the chop here instead of up on Tower Hill. At least you might get a pillow.

Lady Jane Grey lived on the third floor (I think). How lucky for her that she had a really nice view of Tower Green from her room. She saw them building the scaffolding for her beheading.

This electronic poll was down in one of the prisons. It asked "How far would you go for your beliefs?" The answer options were: "They don't really matter" 172,250; "I'd go to prison for my beliefs" 110,000; and "I'd die for my beliefs" 150,308. Food for thought.

Happiness after the Tower.

After touring around, it was, again, time for shopping. These sights have amazing gift shops. Have I mentioned this? I went a bit crazy and bought Henry VIII and his wives as Christmas ornaments as well as in the form of matryoshka dolls. Adorable. We bought so much stuff that we had to go back to our hotel before we hit the town again. Shameful.

Later, we went to Harrods to get Lizzy her requested Princess stuff and then we went to a great Italian restaurant on Greek Street called Da Aldo. They thought we were German. Why always German? Seriously. It's odd. People never guess another country.

Anyway, after dinner it was time to walk home. With heavy hearts. This was our last night in my favorite city in the world. How very sad. We decided not to take the tube and to hoof it the whole way so we could get a last view of everything we wanted to. It was really fun. It was a cold night but it always feels good when you're walking fast and have a purpose. We didn't even feel the tiredness. We walked to Buckingham Palace via St. James's Park (such a lovely park) and walked through Admiralty Arch on the way. It was an amazing walk. Oddly peaceful in such a crazy city. We even saw a little fox in the park. See, peace. Then we got back to our hotel, packed up a bit and hit the sack. I wrote in my iphone "will now cry". SO sad!

Admiralty Arch.

Buckingham Palace. This is the only time we saw it! Oops.

Two streets merged into one another and led to our hotel. This is the first. Cute name, yes?

This is the second. Even cuter.

We found this construction sign on our last night and about died laughing. How fitting. And sad.

I had Steve take this pic while we were packing up. This is one of my favorite candy bars (not to be found in the US) and I ate them with reckless abandon while there. My bum grew. Honestly, it did. A bit funny.

My parting shot of London. Another of MY stations :). Love.

And now we reach our last day. Here's what I wrote in my iphone notes:"*so sad, *so tired, *miss kids, *got on train to Notting Hill Gate to get some Percy Pigs for family. I'm currently waiting in tubes for Steve. *want to cry when I think I'm leaving the best of all the cities but glad I'm doing it before weekend line closures ;). *made it to Heathrow after much stair climbing with our 22 kilo bags (wheelchair bound people simply cannot make it in London. No lifts). *bought some candy to spend our extra "poundage". *lived through flight thanks to knitting and good movies (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and Shakespeare in Love).

This was one LONG day. We were in transit for darn near 24 hours. And I can't sleep on planes. Ugh. Oh well. All worth it for the time spent with Steve in the greatest of all the lands. It truly was the greatest trip of all time. I loved it so much. I cannot wait to go back. Soon.

Steve and I during our 5 hour layover in Houston. Barf! I do not love the Houston airport.

Thanks, Steve, for the wonderful time and for being such a delightful travel companion. You're my favorite and my best!

Peace out,

Heidi

Here Is London... Part Four!

2010-01-14T13:25:00.000-08:00

Here we are, day 7. Don't worry, this is only a 10 day trip ;). Oh what fun! Day 7 was Sunday on our Lovely London Journey. We decided, since it's tons of fun and very interesting in other countries, to attend church in the morning. We went to the Hyde Park Chapel where I attended when I was in London with study abroad. We woke up very early and walked (I LOVED walking to church when I lived there) via the Embassy Road past the most amazing houses ever, past the Albert monument and on the border of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. It really is a lovely walk.

When we were almost to the church, a very friendly chap who was walking in the same direction came up to us and asked if we wanted to join him at his church. Instead of waiting for a reply, he said, "I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". We just laughed and told him it was his lucky day because we were already headed there :). What a cute guy.

Here's the Hyde Park Chapel

After church we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was fabbity fab. Steve had a blast. They always have such a great collection. It was wonderful. We couldn't spend as much time there as we wanted because we had a reservation for Sunday roast lunch at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant, Foxtrot Oscar. We had to, for the sake of memories, head through the dank, horrid subway that you must go through to get from the chapel and the V&A over to the South Kensington tube station. It really is awful. It's very long and very stinky and if you are ever alone in it (which I often was when I lived there), it is horrifying.

Here I am in the Subway. Isn't it gross?

Foxtrot Oscar was a really lovely experience. That Gordon Ramsay is a taskmaster for a reason. Good food, good service, good times. We had the most amazing soup I think I've ever had. The one mistake I made is ordering pork belly. It was an accident, really. The waiter had a very thick Italian accent and I don't think I quite understood his description of the dish well enough. Oops. The bits I could eat were good ;). It's just that I'm not much of a "tip to tail" sort of eater and when food comes served with hair still on it, I just can't stomach it. It was pretty funny because I've made bad pork decisions in Europe before. It's sort of a tradition now. I couldn't possibly go on another trip without ordering pig snout or something ;). Steve was over the moon to be able to eat there. He is a major foodie and Food Network junkie so whenever he can eat at a celebrity chef's restaurant and it turns out that they can back up what they pedal, RESULT!

This is my new favorite car! If I didn't have kids, there is no way I wouldn't ship one of these babies over. LOVE!

Here we are in front of Foxtrot Oscar. You may think you've seen this picture before. You haven't. There are only so many picture taking options.

The cutest house across the street from the restaurant. I just had to get a picture. It's more plant than house.

Here's the Steve in front of Foxtrot. It was in a super lovely part of town. I might have to move there.

After lunch I went and fulfilled another London tradition-getting my hair cut. I got it cut twice while I lived there but both times it was at hair schools (granted, very good hair schools). This time my cute Steve made an appointment for me at Toni & Guy in Sloane Square (because of the song Hairdresser on Fire, you know)! It was v v exciting. My hair was a mop over there. The humidity made it hang like a limp rag and it looked terrible. I was planning on just getting a wee trim but I got crazy and had all of it chopped off. What a relief! I'm just a short hair girl. I can't handle much length at all so it felt really great to get the chop. And it was a really fun experience!

Here's the before. Mop city.

Here's the "team". They were all so lovely.

Here's the after. Again, embarrassingly excited.

After the haircut, we did some shopping. I was sooooo beyond the valley of the tired. Mostly, Steve did some shopping while I sat and watched. Seriously, this kind of traveling really takes it out of you. We were be bopping a scatting all over London like two crazy people. Anyway, the shopping... After said shopping we went to a movie. I didn't have energy for anything else. We decided on "A Christmas Carol" in 3D. The movie, popcorn and some bottled water cost us $50. Oh yes it did. INSANE! We both fell asleep in the movie a few times so that was money well spent ;).

Just a shot of us in the tubes, again. Love me some time underground.

This is the movie theater. See, not even posh. I tell you, Larry H. Miller could make a KILLING opening a cinema in London. I'd run it for him ;).

After the movie we needed sustenance. We decided to head close to our hotel to a restaurant called Khan's. Amazing. We'd both eaten there before and it didn't fail us this time. Such great Indian food. It was still early but I had literally hit the wall. I could not go anywhere else, so off we trotted back to our dingy little hotel and got to bed super early. It was lovely.

This is a picture of Steve at some point during the night :).

The next morning I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. Why is that? I'd gotten plenty of sleep! Whatever. It was go time. We had to get up super early to hit Westminster Abbey when it opened. It opened late. It was SO cold while we waited in line. I thought I might die. It didn't help that I was fulfilling another tradition-to eat a soft serve vanilla ice cream cone with Cadbury Flake in it. I know! I just have to do these things. They make me happy!

Before the Abbey opened, we had time to get a few pics around the area. One of my favorite statues can be seen right as you step out of the Westminster tube station. It's of Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni (an ancient British tribe who fought, very well, but lost against the Romans). I love her. Lizzy stands up in our double jogging stroller when we're out for walks and hangs on to the sides and looks exactly like Boudicca in her chariot. It cracks me up!

Boudicca and me.

Big Ben. No, it wasn't night. It was SUCH a cold day.

Steve with his favorite statue. Winston Churchill.

Me with my ice cream on the side of the Abbey.

All of these poppies and crosses are put out for Armistice Day to honor the soldiers who have died in wars Britain has been involved in. Countless people wear them on their lapels etc. as well. It's a really fab idea. I think we need to do something like this here.

Westminster Abbey is an amazing place. It's full of the greatest deadies. I was so excited to see my girl, Elizabeth I's tomb. The funny thing is that she is buried right on top of her stroppy sister Mary I. They didn't agree on anything. Mary almost had Elizabeth killed. Different religions, totally different ideas on basically everything. Plus, Elizabeth was cool, Mary was a minger ;). If you're in London, DO NOT miss Westminster Abbey. You'll have to pay through the nose to get in now, but it's worth it.

This is just a great "Londony" shot.

After Westminster Abbey, we headed over to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Winston Churchill Museum. What a fab place! Both were completely fascinating. Steve could have spent ALL DAY there. Really. I had to tell him I'd had enough. I've mentioned before that my back can only take so much stopping and standing. This was a very museum heavy day. VERY hard on the old broken spine. Anyway, hugely recommended! Please do not miss these museums if you're in London.

Steve snapped these shots of one of Winnie's quotes. He had so many great quotes.

Again, it was time for susties. I have a friend, Sarai, who's been living in London for quite some time while earning her Master's degree and PhD. We got together with her for lunch at a fab Thai restaurant. It was so great just to sit and chat over some really good food. The only problem was that I had to go to the ladies and was wearing the tightest pair of skinny jeans (I've since taken them back) and it took me about 20 minutes to go through the entire potty process. Yikes. I've got better skinnies now ;).

Okay, whew! Next, we ran BACK over to St. Paul's and hauled our buns all the way to the top. I do recommend it but let me warn you that it is a trek. Really really. Do not underestimate me when I tell you this. My back hurt from my neck to the base of my tail bone when we were done. It's more like hiking, really. What a view! Amazing. St. Paul's is another must see. It's just so beautiful!

My favorite view of St. Paul's.

View from about midway up St. Paul's.

It's a tight squeeze. Just sayin'.

He's exaggerating a bit, but it's a bit tough for the claustrophobic.

Here's a pic of us at the tippy top. Cold and windy but so beautiful.

Going down St. Paul's is much easier but very dizzying. Once we were down we headed over to get Les Miserables tickets (Sarai described it as 3 hours of singing French peasants). Another London tradition! I love it! And before the show we went to China Town to get some dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Y Ming which was so great. It was a Rick Steve's suggestion and he rarely steers you wrong (except with our hotel).

Obviously, after a show you must shop. We bought some really naff souvenir-y things and then went back toward our hotel. We visited the lovely McDonalds on Queensway (we were dangerously close to becoming regulars) to get some ice cream. Then, to bed. Ah, bed. I was always soooo wiped out at the end of a day. This kind of travel can only be sustained for so long before you'll have a nervy b. Honestly. So much fun but SO extremely painful ;).

I just can't stand how much fun this trip was. I really need to go back. Next week, maybe.

Peace out,

Heidi

Here is London... Part Tre!

2009-12-27T14:00:00.001-08:00

Back again. Whoa! These just take me so long to write that I kind of lost my mojo for a few weeks. I am very excited to continue. How I loved this trip! On a side note, I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We had a wonderful time around here. Magical. Okay, on with the trip...

We're really IN London now ;). As I said before, our hotel was not the finest and we'd had the mother-puking-into-the-bucket incident the night before so when we tried to eat breakfast on our first morning, we had to go right back outside. The smell was too much. It was off to McDonalds again! I know!

This is MY station. Okay, I claim Bayswater and occasionally Queensway (but only on rare occasions because it is so stinky).

Our first stop was the National Gallery. When you're in London, you really must tackle the National Gallery. It is marvelous. Whenever I'm there I'm gobsmacked at the sheer amount of fabbity fab art it houses. It's crazy! You can see Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Monet, Caravaggio, Cezanne, Hogarth, Turner, Van Eyck... GASP! It kills me! I love it so much. It's very well organized and mapped out so you can actually do it relatively quickly. A few hours is all you need to view some of the most amazing pieces of art IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE (that's an exaggeration as I doubt there is art in space).

Well, the nuttiest thing happened during our visit. We ran into Kara and Auntie Di! Oh yes we did! Kara and Auntie Di are friends from days of yore whom we love with all our hearts and who we intended to meet up with at some point during this trip. However, bumping into them at the National Gallery was coo coo cachoo! London is massive and the NG is massive! HOW this happened was sheer serendipity. It was so lovely to see them there. We decided to finish our high brow perusing and continue on, as a foursome, to the Orangery at Kensington Gardens for afternoon tea. WHAT?! I've wanted to have tea there for 11 years. It's true. Since I studied in London (and couldn't afford to have tea there) I have pined for the Orangery! It was great (the cucumber sandwiches were the teensiest bit soggy) and I can now check the Orangery off my dream list. Yessss!

That night we went to "The Mousetrap", which I had seen before but Steve had not. I really love that play. I actually forgot who the murderer was until about halfway through :). That made it a bit more exciting, I'm sure. After the play we ate at Wagamama. This, my friends, is a good chain restaurant. Yes, I'm admitting this. It's a noodle place and they have some superb dishes. They're all over London and they're open late! Woot woot!

Below are some pictures of day one in London. I shall continue with day two after said pictures ;).

Steve and I in Picadilly Circus. Too happy for my own good.

THE sign.

Steve's "London" pose. It had been a LONG time since we'd been back :(.

Me in Trafalgar Square. Again, way too excited. I'm sure people thought I was a right nutter.

Kara and Auntie Di on our walk through Kensington Gardens to the Orangery. Kara tended to drag Auntie Di by the fingertips...

Just a shot of Steve going up the escalator in the tubes. I was trying to show the crazy, crazy depths underground you go when you're on these trains. I try not to think about it too much because I'm massively claustrophobic. It's fascinating. Notice the Gerard Butler lookalike with the mocking smile on the opposite escalator. Yes, I'm a tourist.

The next day we were set to meet Kara and Auntie Di at the Notting Hill Gate tube station and head over to Portobello Road as it was a Saturday and the Portobello market is one of my favorite things. Ever. We got lost. It is amazingly easy to get from the station to Portobello Road and we got lost. We all felt like morons. We did eventually find the precious Road and the lovely shopping began.

I shopped this street almost every Saturday when I studied in London. I bought Lychees from that really loud fruit vendor you see on the movie Notting Hill (and not because he was famous, the movie wasn't out then. It was because he was soooo loud. And had good prices). It's so much fun to browse the antiques and hold little pieces of history in your hands. I like to imagine the previous owners of objects I'm considering. It makes them so much more interesting to me. That may be why I always spend a lot of money on Portobello Road ;).

I found some lovely Wedgewood, and some knit hats with the Union Jack on them for gifts. The Wedgewood man was hilarious. We spoke with him for about a half hour. He had been to Utah and was very interested in where we lived and HOW we lived as it's so different from the day to day in London. We ate some really great food but I was very sad to see that my fruit vendor was not there that day. I don't know if he's no longer selling fruit or if he just wasn't there on that particular Saturday. Anyway, it broke my heart. I longed to hear his deafening cries of, "lycheeeeees, ninety nine p a pound weight!" I loved that man.

Steve and I at the entrance to Portobello Road.

What I thought *might* have been my vendor's stall (it was where he usually set up), tended by a substitute. What a sad day. I'm sure they didn't sell half as much fruit that day ;). Doesn't it look delicious?

A very strange man who was letting his dog lick his head. Oh London.

After our shopping excursion, we said our goodbyes to Kara and Auntie Di who were catching a flight back to Utah. Steve and I then grabbed lunch at Cafe Diana on Bayswater. AH! My favorite! They have the most amazing chicken tikka wraps with hummus and pickled veg! I only discovered it late in my Study Abroad adventure and I strongly regret that I didn't find it sooner. I was mildly concerned that I'd built it up too much in my memory. I HAD NOT. It remains one of the best pita wrap thingies on planet earth. If you're in London, I insist that you try it. It's not off the beaten path. Really, just on Bayswater. It's got a yellow awning and black writing.

We were then on our way to Greenwich. To our extreme misfortune, we discovered that there were major line closures in the tubes due to construction (the Olympics are coming in 2012)! Well, just you try getting around London, especially outside zone 2 without those precious trains running. Heaven help that city should anything catastrophic happen to the tubes! We had to take a bus to Greenwich! What a nightmare! Well, we took the tubes part of the way, transferred to a bus and took a boat back into London. The horror! I was sicker than a dog by the time we got there. One pitiful, hateful thing about London (and likely the rest of the world) is that NO ONE will give up their seat. Young guys just watch you as you suffer (of course they don't know some of us have broken backs, but can't they SEE the pain on a person's face?) and don't do a stinking thing. It's horrifying. Pregnant women and women holding children wouldn't even be offered seats.

Here's a street sign we came across on our journey to Greenwich. We though Will would enjoy it.

Again, I'm demanding something. If you're ever in London, you must go to Greenwich. It's a delightful little town and the observatory and maritime museum are fascinating. Steve had just read "Longitude" about John Harrison who solved the problem of longitude by developing the most accurate clocks of the time, and was therefore out of his wits with excitement. It's also pretty great to stand in two hemispheres at the same time :).

Here, my friends, is the Prime Meridian of the World.

Here we are, being original and clever ;).

I fear you are underestimating the cleverness.

This is H4, the final clock John Harrison made. It's is so vastly different from the first 3 (whose pictures did not turn out).

Just a little shot overlooking Greenwich. Isn't it adorable?

After our visit to Greenwich, as I said, we decided to return to London by boat. I love a nice boat trip on the Thames. It gives you a view of London you can't get any other way. The unfortunate thing was that it was very dark by the time we got on the boat, it was quite dark. Still, it was exciting to see the Tower, Tower Bridge and London Bridge. As our luck concerning travel this day would have it, the engine on our boat caught fire and they had to kick us all off in SOUTH LONDON to make our way in the world. Unless you are used to the ways of South London, it is not the kind of place you want to be at night. Without a gun ;). Or a knife. However, we were planning on going on the London Eye anyway, so we just figured we'd walk on over and hop on. More like run. I was very uncomfortable in this part of town. It's sketchy. People get stabbed. 'Nuff said.

The London Eye was pretty cool. We got an amazing view of London at night and the pod they put you in is not too claustrophobic, which was grand. However, it is freakishly expensive. Insanely. There are certain tacky tourist things they could do without; naff pictures with fake backdrops, romance pods etc. Overall, it was fine.

Tower Bridge from the boat.

Steve and I on the London Eye. We got a fantastic view of London.

After the Eye, we went to a play called "The 39 Steps" which is an Alfred Hitchcock movie that they've turned into a comedy. It was hilarious and I highly recommend it. After the show, we headed to a Mexican restaurant (a rarity in England) and had an amazing dinner. We then headed back to the hotel and did laundry in the bathtub using detergent purchased at Tesco ;). It smelled really good. I'm not being facetious. All in all, it was a great day, and very productive, especially considering the travel fiascos we encountered. Huzzah! Success!

Here's a picture of my cute Steve walking through the tubes.

Peace out,

Heidi

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI!!!!!!

2009-12-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

(No. This is not Heidi being narcissistic. This is her husband finding an alternative to the greeting card. I hijacked her blog for a moment.)

Heidi - this has been one of the best years of my life. We have had so much fun and have done so many cool things. All of them have to do with your awesomeness! Thank you for being the best wife anyone could hope for. Our kids feel the same way about you as their mom as well. I must say I agree.

Thanks for all of the cool activities we did as a family (e.g. Disneyworld, Park City, Idaho Falls, parties, dinners, sporting events, family bowling, sleepovers, movies, parties . . . ). Thanks also for the incredible things we did as a couple (e.g. Las Vegas, San Francisco, Orange County, Bath and London). You are without a doubt the person with whom i would rather spend my time above all others. I love hanging out with you no matter what we are doing.

I love reading your blog - especially when you are telling about things we have done together. Your cleverness and wit are enthralling for all to read - and especially for me. They also keep me in stitches half the time we are talking to each other.

Mostly, you are my favorite person in the world. I love you for everything that you are and everything that you stand for. I love knowing that, no matter what, you are by my side and in my corner - even with my lobster claw. :)

I love you and Happy Birthday. Can't wait for 70 more.

Steve

Here is London, Part Twegen! (that's anglo saxon for two)

2009-12-06T13:56:00.001-08:00

Day 3 started out lovely and sunny and bright. Which was welcoming since our jet lag had done us in the night before and we'd gotten about 3 hours sleep. Ugh! We had such high hopes for the weather as we had planned to take a 3 hour walking tour of Bath. During breakfast it began raining. HARD. It didn't let up the entire day. This, my friends, was the kind of weather that soaks your skin and dampens your poor, aching bones.

Somehow we still managed to have fun. Give me a day like that at home and I'm a pip ;). In England, I just took it in stride. Sort of. We powered through that walking tour and it was wonderful. Our guide was very knowledgeable and it always makes a place more enjoyable to me when I know little tidbits about it. I love knowing the history of a city. I was, however, mocked for loving Jane Austen. No one else in the group would admit to it (WHY?!) and then they all snickered when I raised my hand, and our guide said he preferred other authors. Morons ;).

I must add one funny item here. During our walking tour, we heard a kid talking on his cell phone and say "what up dog?" in his English accent. It was ridiculous. I think we all understand plainly how much I adore England, but this was absurd. That phrase does not translate.

Here we are looking at the Royal Crescent. And our guide's bald head.

This is nearing the end of our walking tour. Thank Heaven for knitting. This hat saved my life (as did my mittens. Thanks Bea!)

A little lesson on child rearing in Bath. This poor little bugger had to hoist his pant legs up in order to keep them from getting soaked! He looked so cold! I suppose it's better to be cold for a few minutes than for the rest of the day because of wet pants.

Here I am in front of the Abbey. I had to add this because I thought it showcased how cold and wet it was that day. So cold.

After our tour we were tired and hungry. And in pain. My back doesn't do so well standing still for long periods of time and there was a lot of standing still during the tour. We decided to go to a mediocre Thai restaurant (of course we didn't know it was going to be mediocre until we tasted our food) and warm our cockles for a bit. After some food and some pain meds (nothing hard core, you understand), we were ready to rock the Roman Baths!

These baths are unreal. They are a work in progress and seem to have changed quite a bit since I last saw them. Those Romans were a smart bunch. They discovered a hot spring and put it to use. Why in the world weren't the Britains doing it in the first place? They were an intelligent lot. Did they like being cold? Did they not want to take a lovely dip? Well anyway, ingenious construction with the drains, the hot baths, cool baths... I would have been a regular during Roman times. The employees of the baths would have known me by name.

Also, I tasted the "healing" waters this time (I was too chicken to do it before). Barf. It tasted like blood. It has a lot of iron in it so there you go. Also, it's hot. Hot blood. If you want some, just put a rusty nail in your tea kettle and you'll get the basic idea. Or cut your finger.

Here's Steve imitating the guy on the wall. I'm not sure who he is (the guy)

Here I am unintentionally imitating this lovely lady. My hat had the same texture as her wonky hair! Huh, fancy that.

This is me in heaven. Standing upon oldness listening to historical facts with Steve hanging about somewhere... What could be better? No really, what?

The big'n (the main bath). That little dot in the gray coat at the far end is Steve.

Steve's mad hot photography skillz again. Pretty cool reflection, huh?

After the baths we decided to do some shopping. Oh the shopping. We found so many wonderful shops! If I'd had another suitcase, I could have done some serious damage. As it stands, I think I restrained myself fairly well. In fact, there are several things I still think about that I didn't purchase. That's how you know you really need something. If you're thinking about it weeks after you get home.

One store I found particularly adorable. Notice that it is NOT called "Sally's Big 'N Tall". Oh the cleverness.

We had no idea where we wanted to eat dinner. We'd gotten several recommendations but had to do a good deal of walking to get to them. We sort of happened upon an Italian restaurant and bar called Real Italian and were about to walk past because it wasn't open. There was a couple standing at the door who said it opened at 6:00 (about 10 minutes) and that this was the opening night. Oooh! I love an opening night! We decided to wait and it ended up being a fab decision. The couple who we waited with were Wendy and Mike and they owned three shops just around the corner from the restaurant. They were hilarious and we had a great time getting to know them. Mike was a native "Bathonian" (Wendy called him her little Roman and made him show us his profile to prove that he had a "Roman" nose), and Wendy was originally from Australia. We also met another couple, Mike and Chelsea, who were very kind as well and were shocked to find out we were Mormons (always a topic of conversation when someone finds out we're from Utah). I think they expected us to have either horns or pioneer attire ;).

What a fab night. Really. I love meeting new people and getting a glimpse into the way others live. It makes me happy. Not in a weird, voyeuristic way. I'm just interested. I would recommend this restaurant highly. So, if you're planning a trip to Bath, head over to Real Italian!

Fran (restaurant owner), Wendy and Mike (the little Roman).

Steve and Heidi (the larger sized Scott and Dane).

Mike (of Wendy and Mike) had recently been to a clinic whose Dr.'s had names so ridiculous that he had to show us. You'll note his doctor was Dr. Pain. There is also a Dr. Wharton and a Dr. Grabham. What the heck?! What kind of clinic is this? I had to have a picture.

In my notes on my phone I have written for day 4, "Where to begin? This day was a bit of a disaster". Of course looking back (until tonight), I didn't think it was such a disaster but reading how things went down, I kind of agree with my original statement.

We drove to Blenheim first thing and took the tour which is wonderful, and informative and lovely. Blenheim is Winston Churchill's family home and has a good deal of information about his childhood including letters written by him and many photographs. Let it be said that I believe his parents were horrid, neglectful people. Okay, let's move on. We made the mistake of eating lunch in the cafeteria. Good heavens it was awful food. The woman serving us, bless her, looked like "Cookie" from Matilda and she kept piling soggy veg onto our plates. It smelled like a bog. The Coke was good.

Our biggest mistake of the entire trip was the decision we made next. The owners of Blenheim, in a sorry attempt to keep up with the astronomical cost of running such a place, have introduced "Blenheim, the Untold Story". It needed to remain untold. They have the upper floor set up in a nightmarish Disneylandesque animatronic disaster tour. You have to walk through what may have been one of the most frightening displays EVER, and learn about the history of Blenheim. It was horrible. There was no charm (like I believe they expected there to be) and I could not have cared less about the information because I was too scared of the animatronics and too dumfounded by how badly done the whole thing was. We lost an hour of daylight to this horror show and I was angry by the time we got to the car. Stupid Untold Story! I would NOT recommend this ;). In case you were wondering.

Here's Steve outside our B&B. It was so choice.

Steve in front of Blenheim.

Me. See that white door just next to my head? That's the entrance to the cafeteria, and our ill luck. We decided, over our bog veg, to go to "The Untold Story" after eating :(.

On we go. Enough moping, we ARE still in England, after all. Our next stop was a little town called Lacock. What a beauty! They've filmed parts of many of my favorite movies here; Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Harry Potter... It was amazing. Oldness. So old! It's the perfect place for a period film because honestly all you'd have to do to the town to make it believable is chuck some dirt on the ground. The rest is done. I'm so happy that buildings like this are still standing and that people live in them! How fun! We couldn't spend much time here (remember that nonexistent sun I told you about...) but I would love to go back. Talk about charm!

Entering Lacock. See, just remove the cars, chuck down some dirt, and I'm suddenly very oddly dressed in the 18th century!

And again...

Oldness behind us... Do not ask me what happened to my hair.

This little beauty is supposed to be in Sense and Sensibility. Since I no longer have a fully functioning brain, is it THE cottage? "A little cottage is always very snug".

And THIS?! What?! How amazingly old and beautiful is this? This is someone's house. I'm not sure what happened to this picture, it's all fuzzy wuzzy, but you get the idea.

The rest of the day I have no pictures for. It was basically a disaster. We decided to head to Oxford but the dang sun was already going down and by the time we got there, very little light was left. We parked and were about to walk around but found that we didn't have enough coins for the meter. Feeling defeated after suffering "The Untold Story", we cut our losses and didn't even bother asking a shop for change. We just got back in the car and headed for London.

On the road we saw signs that said "MAJOR DELAYS" due to road work. Perfect. We thought this was a grand time to go to Costco. Why, you ask? Because we love Costco and it's the perfect place to find gifts for people and is also fascinating to find what Costco carries in other cities (like Honolulu, Hawaii or Reading, England). Come to find out, there were major delays to Reading as well. We just didn't see the signs until it was too late!

Have you ever been in a situation wherein you need to tinkle so badly that you are in a panic because you have no way of going and you may, at any second, go in your pants? I thought so. This disaster drive to Costco ended up being one of those times for me. Steve had no compassion. He thought it would be a grand idea to pull over and have me go on the side of the road. I tried explaining to him that it's not that easy for girls and that likely a badger or a fox would bite me on the bum. Also, there was no real way of hiding me from the other 7.5 million cars on the road. After 2 hours (on a 2 mile stretch of road) I saw the blessed golden arches and prayed that this was not a McDonalds that made you have a key to use the toilet. It wasn't and I made it in the very nick of time. Really, we almost returned that car with wet seats. What a fiasco.

Our Costco trip ended up being a good one. I bought two coats, one to replace my ineffective coat I brought for the trip, and another just because I loved it. We bought lots of candy and Steve bought an Armani jacket (that's right, that is why you go to Costco in Reading).

We finally returned the car and proceeded to take the longest tube ride in history into London. Out we came onto Queensway (which I was under the impression was Bayswater and was therefore out of my wits for a great deal of time), which has turned into not such a nice street. I was so sad to see the state of it. But never mind, it's still London! We trudged to our hotel and found a drunk mother (child in the father's arms, along with a beer) puking her guts up on the floor, checked in and decided we liked our B&B in Bath quite a bit more ;).

We were starving and didn't think anything would be open at 11:00 p.m. (we later realized that there is a LOT open at 11:00 p.m.) so we headed to the old standby, McDonalds. The McFlurry machine was broken. Ah well, what can you do? The day was comical!

I really hope this post doesn't sound too pouty and sad. We were still having fun. It's just that some days don't go so well when you're traveling. We understood that and took it in stride. Mostly it's hilarious now! Bless England and all the bad days spent in it!

Peace out,

Heidi

Here is London... Part 1 (There are simply too many pictures to do this in one post).

2009-11-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, the guilt has finally taken hold so strongly that I cannot resist any longer. The guilt has kicked the lazy aside (the most common reason for my getting around to something).

OH LONDON! Oh England! Oh the blessed Mother Country. I love it to obnoxiousness. It must love me just as much because it is so welcoming and wonderful to me. How would I live without my England, I ask you?

Most of you know that I went to school in England in days of yore (1999) and fell deeply in love with it. I chose England for my study abroad experience after backpacking through Europe in 1997. It became one of my favorite and my best during that trip as well. It did, in fact, start the ridiculous Anglophilia from which I now suffer (oh, how I treasure the suffering). I should probably be hospitalized for the condition, but I remain at home and believe that frequent trips to the Mother Country will be good enough medicine for my Anglo soul.

Let me try, if I can, to summarize the best adventure I've been on in a very long time. Mind you, I have not been to the Land of Blessed Glory for nearly 11 years (take a moment and mourn for me). We left Sunday afternoon from Salt Lake and flew into Houston (idiot, IDIOT airport run by idiots), about a 4 hour flight. We then hopped on our plane to London and about 8 hours and NO sleep (despite a Xanax) later, we were in the Motherland. I cannot tell you the joy that filled my heart. I was tired beyond all reason but I had beatings in my heart and flutterings in my tummy that would not cease the entire trip. Every time I looked around and realized where I was, I would get little butterflies all over again.

We got a car and headed up to Bath first thing. Bath is such loveliness. So quiet and serene and picturesque. Our bed and breakfast was charming, with helpful staff and a perfect room (and a really fab shower, as it happens). Also, a super breakfast. It was about 10 minutes' walk to the city center and our first night there we walked into town and had dinner at Jaime Oliver's restaurant "Jaime's Italian". Wonderful! We also just meandered around town and took in some sights (as many as we could in the pitch darkness). We were able to see Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Circus and took a scenic route home through a park where we got the scare of our lives at the hands of some clever person who had set a Halloween mask on the back seat of their car for the purpose of scaring the pants off innocent passersby. Hilarious. All in all I'd say it was a pretty productive day for two people going on about 2 hours of sleep (in the form of a nap we sneaked in at our B&B before we went out).

Here we are at Heathrow waiting for our shuttle to take us to the car rental. Soooo excited!

Steve driving. I was VERY scared at first but he soon got the hang of it ;). Sort of.

A sign that, for some reason, struck me as funny.

Bath Abbey

A jet lagged me at Jaime's Italian.

Our second day started out with a trip to Stonehenge. Ahhh, what an amazing pile of rocks. I really do mean this. I am constantly amazed by this structure. How in sam hill did this come to be? AND how is it still standing? Also, do the people who drive past it on the way to work everyday know how lucky they are? Seriously. Here is this ancient ruin just sitting on a hill and there's a highway RIGHT NEXT TO IT. I'm not complaining, it's just so funny to me.

Steve was in utter awe by Stonehenge. He was a bit like a kid in a candy store with a smile on his face the whole time we were there. I think it was definitely one of the bigger highlights of the trip for him. I love it too. Very much. Mostly because it's in England.

Here we are. It was windy. So windy that when we later bought a hot chocolate, the wind blew the liquid out of the spout of a covered cup and onto Steve. That's a gale.

Steve's mad hot photography skillz at work. Love me some Henge.

Later that day we went to Old Sarum. I'm fascinated with this site because of Edward Rutherford's book "Sarum". If you've never read any of his books, you're missing out. He writes historical fiction and his novels usually focus on a specific area in England and he writes about the history of that area from as far back as he can possibly go up to the present day. "Sarum" was one of my favorites.

Old Sarum was the original site for Salisbury Cathedral. It was started in 1075 and in 1220 the Bishop ordered the Cathedral torn down and rebuilt (using the same stones) on the site on which it currently stands! Amazing!!! It is so unbelievably beautiful. BUT, back to Old Sarum... The very ancientness of this place just gave me chills. I'm always in awe when I find myself walking in ruins. It's crazy to me that I'm touching walls or using stairs that people used over 1000 years ago (my favorite thing is the way the stone steps are always worn away in the center!). Tell me that isn't amazing and you'll get a smack ;). One tiny side note. After our adventures in the ruins, I had to use the ladies so I headed in the direction I was pointed and found out that I had to go potty under a hill. Yes, the toilets had been built into a hillside. Well, good for them. Those clever space savers!

Here I am standing atop something old. I really have no idea what it was but I still love it. And just LOOK at that countryside!

Here's a little photo that I found quite touching. First, take in the sheer beauty. Then notice, if you will, the small dots on the farm below. Those, my American friends, are free range pigs. Notice the lack of evil pens? Now look closer. The smaller specks are free range chickens! My favorite thing! This was one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. Laugh if you will but I simply cannot endure the thought of animal cruelty and the English delighted my soul with this adorable farm. I had never seen anything like it before. Sad.

On to other things. Okay, we're racing now. Racing against a sun that refused to stay up past 4:30. Really. In Utah we're used to longer days, even in winter. We were shocked to find out that it began to get dark at around 3:30 (and the sun was officially set by 4:30. I just looked it up for good measure)! We'd get a bit frantic every day at around 12:00 when we realized that we had very little light left. It was quite comical.

So, we proceeded to Salisbury. What a lovely town THAT is. First of all, we lost about 45 minutes of light because of a tragic parking situation, but a lovely man helped us to find a parking garage and all was well. We walked around for a bit, taking in the sights, and again I was struck by the history. MY GOSH the history! Just oldness everywhere. And charm! England oozes charm. There was a market going on the day we were there and while we didn't buy anything much, we came away with two fresh doughnuts that set us up nicely.

When we decided that we were playing Russian Roulette with the sun, we toddled over to the Cathedral. It really is an amazing piece of architecture. Apparently the spire should not be standing. It is too heavy to be so tall. Ah well, I guess those sage architects don't know everything. Inside the chapter house we were able to see an original copy of the Magna Carta (always an amazing thing to view) and a letter written by my girl, Queen Elizabeth I!!! How amazing is that? More amazing to me than the Magna Carta (don't tell anyone I said that). I LOVE Lizzy! She is one of the most fascinating people to have ever lived. She had really great handwriting (I wish I could have shown you, but alas, no pictures).

A really great building. I am in love with the saggy, wonkiness of it all.

Steve by some old archway. I love how there's a little shop selling postcards built right on to it.

The one, the only, Salisbury Cathedral. Isn't it pretty? This picture was taken at 3 pm. Really, it was already getting darkish.

And now I shall wrap up our second day (being that this was a 10 day trip, this is going to take up a LOT of posts). Steve's sister, who travels to England fortnightly (not really, but very often) has a "go to" B&B called The Carpenters Arms. She claimed the food was amazing and the atmosphere amazing-er. She was right! We found it, thanks to the blessed Garmin that we bought just prior to our trip, and settled in for a glorious dinner. It was probably the best dinner of the trip (and that is saying something because we had some great food). The staff was wonderful and the atmosphere was very cozy and relaxed. I'm so glad we went!

Here I am at The Carpenter's Arms. I'm just about to be fed one of those free range chickens I told you about earlier ;).

I suppose this post should have been entitled "Here is Bath, Stonehenge, Sarum and Salisubry" but I have to have some cohesiveness to these posts. I know it's wordy but really, I have to document this. It was sort of the best trip ever.

Peace out,

Heidi

So Many Hats

2009-10-12T13:56:00.001-07:00

I've become seriously addicted to the Amelia Earhart Aviator Cap (free on ravelry). So addicted, in fact, that I have knit 7 of them. Only one for me. I do have plans for knitting future ones. Je t'aime this hat. A lot. I've blogged about it before so I shall say no more and simply post pictures. Mine is coming with me to London :).

This is mine

Here's Mr. William in his tough pirate version (knit upon request)

Miss Elizabeth in her pink sparkle version (knit upon request)

And the last and final (for now) is a gift for some lucky sucker ;)

Peace out,

Heidi

The Dinosaurs

2009-09-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Steve asked me the other night if I wasn't blogging anymore. Full stop. Not just, "are you being lazy?". I figured that was a bad sign. I've been busy (good excuse, right?) and can't seem to get a handle on the kids' schedules. It's mental. Almost like I can't make things compute in my head anymore. Huh, let this be a lesson to me that I cannot try to be one of those moms who "do it all". I just don't care to ;).

And so to knitting. I've told you (I think about a year ago) that I had two projects in the works that were boring me to sobs. SOBS! Well, I got all annoyed that they were still on the needles (also, I realized that one had been in the works for a YEAR), so I decided that, boredom or no, they had to be finished. Or frogged. But preferably finished. I first pulled out my Sexy Cardi. You know the one I had come to detest? I hated the green, I hated the ribbing, I hated the itchiness of the yarn... Turns out I just hated doing the ribbing. I finished it and it's great. I'm not completely in love with it because it's a bit wonky and rolls along the edges but *I* knit it and I'm very excited to wear it. Over a really thick shirt because that yarn is a nightmare!

Pattern: Blue Sky Alpacas Cropped Cardigan

Yarn: Jo Sharp Alpaca Kid Lustre (translation: steel wool)

Needles: US #10.5 and #11

Mods: Mercifully the designer put a mod for the neckline on ravelry. I used it.

Made for: ME!

The second project I decided to finish was my Clapotis. OH. MY. GOSH how I love this thing! I don't know why I can't just put my head down and power through these boring projects because this is a prize. I can't wait to wear it. It will be fabbity fab as a scarf OR as a shawl! How clever! Once again, I have chosen ridiculously itchy yarn, but I figure in the REALLY cold weather, I won't care so much that it's itching me as how lovely and warm it's keeping me. Maybe? Anyway, I'm taking this little peach to London with me. It's my bff of knits.

Pattern: Clapotis

Yarn: Lonesome Stone Fraser Flats

Needles: US #7

Mods: I just did a few extra straight rows to make it longer

Made for: ME!

As to London, yes we're going! I've become a mad hot knitter to get all the things I want to wear whipped up! Is London NOT the most perfect place to wear knitted items? Okay, I admit that as we're going in November I may end up smelling of wet dog the entire time but I'm willing to live with it. It's fine. At least I'll be stinky and warm.

Peace out.

Heidi

PS I do NOT know what has happened to the text in this post. I've lost control.

Lazy Days of Summer?

2009-08-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

I am ashamed of myself. I have neglected my hundreds of readers (I know there are hundreds of you) and have deprived you of my wit and charm for long enough. Okay, the reason I've been a horrible Noblog is that this summer has been CRAZY! What was I thinking at the beginning of summer when I decided to sign the kids up for all manner of foolishness? We have swimming lessons two days a week, karate for Will two days a week, Little Gym for Lizzy two days a week... Give me strength! I shall NOT make the same mistake next year. On a positive note, it has sort of kept me sane. Less fighting because there is no down time in which the fighting can occur. Maybe I'm not so stupid after all?

So, this is a very photo-heavy post. And might get a bit wordy. Just look at the photos, guess what they say, and leave a comment ;).

One of the first things we did to ring in the summer was to go to the Andre Rieu concert. Love him! I know, you can call me a nerd, but he is so great. King of the Waltz. The concert was at an outdoor amphitheater and the evening was lovely and cool and the music was so beautiful. I think he is fabbity fab. His orchestra does little nerdy things like dancing around and they wear these extravagant costumes but it really is just so much fun. This is a picture of Steve and I before the concert started. We went with my mom and dad and had a grand time. If he ever comes to your city, give him a try. He's worth it.

I think the activity that began as the most stressful and has turned out to be the most rewarding of the summer is swimming lessons. A friend of mine recommended a program called Swim Kids which really teaches the kids to swim. Really really. They start with rescue techniques like floating on their backs and then floating on their tummies and then flipping over to their backs. They also learn basic strokes etc. My kids are swimming and they're two and four years old. I'm so impressed with this program. I have a fear of the water and didn't learn how to do proper strokes until I had Will. Yes, it's true. It is shameful, but true. The kids hated lessons for the first two weeks but have since LOVED them and their cute teacher Katie. The teachers are all very sweet and patient, but very no nonsense. They don't take no for an answer and get the kids to do what is required. I've decided to continue one day a week into the fall (heaven help me), so they don't lose the skills they've gained. Here are a few pictures of the kids at their lessons...

This is Will and Lizzy on their last day (of summer semester) with Katie.

Our neighborhood is THE BEST. Every year our street hosts a party on July 24th (Pioneer Day). It's called "Peak of Fire" due to the insane amount of fireworks brought to the party. Usually most of these fireworks are of the illegal sort but as we have been "caught" two years in a row by the police and the fire department, some of us put our feet down and banned the illegals. Somehow, a few got through this year and I must admit it's fun to hear the screams of delight from the crowd when the fire explodes in the air ;). We have several grills on the street and people bring their own meat and a side dish to share. There was a train for the kids to ride and ridiculous amounts of fun were had by all. This picture is of the kids covering their ears and screaming their guts out over those horribly annoying whistling fireworks. Except our little buddy Parker who couldn't be bothered to cover his ears and was just laughing at the other kids!

ANOTHER fun activity we did was to go boating with our good friends the Curlettis. It was a blast and the kids seriously have not stopped talking about it. Every time we see a boat they start up again ;). Very cute. I, being verboten from skiing, chose to take a daring tube ride with the kids. They thought we were flying through the water at amazing speeds. Hilarious.

Steve, on the other hand, got to ski. He loves it but doesn't get to do it often (as we don't have a boat). It was a grand day out.

I thought, one day when my friend Nicki was visiting, that it would be a super idea to go to This is the Place Park with the kids. It is this park located on the spot where Brigham Young stood when the Pioneers came into the Salt Lake Valley and said (I guess), "this is the place". Anyway, it's supposed to be very fun and you can do things like ride ponies, churn butter, spin wool, buy penny candy, feed animals, etc. The problem is that the day we decided to go was stupid "Family Fun Day". Well, let me just tell you, it was NOT fun. First of all, the entire city was there, second, they decided to shut down all the normal activities because of the volume of people, and last, it was 98 degrees. Literally. Not a fun day. It was fun to see Nicki but I feel terrible that THAT was the activity we chose. Stupid Family Fun Day. Here are Will and Lizzy over heated and hungry...

Okay, we're winding down. We hosted Steve's office party this year. We wanted it to be NOT tacky and on paper plates etc. but our choices were either that or china (too fancy). So, since we host parties a lot, we decided to go to IKEA and buy white plates and bowls and some cutlery and glasses for the occasion. It's great because now we're set for parties of 30! I also got some giant mason jars and put yellow roses in them and I think things turned out simply lovely (though I say it myself). The only thing I thought was missing was something for the folding chairs. Folding chairs are just ugly and I wish I'd had something to disguise that a bit. Ah well, you can't win 'em all ;).

And now we shall end with some excitement. A few weeks ago we were at my sister in law's for dinner and the kids were all playing in the back yard. Suddenly we hear a commotion and the kids come running in the house yelling about a snake on the back patio. Oh honestly! We figured it was just a little garter snake but we went to check it out anyway. Ha! It was none other than a baby rattle snake! Oh yes it was! Such a baby that it didn't even have a rattle. But it had some wicked fangs. Well, that caused a kerfuffle! Mercifully for the kids, this vile creature was in the process of eating a baby bird and therefore his mouth was occupied and could not bite the children. They were playing right there, not 3 feet away from the monster. Well, of course we had to take pictures. AND, we were able to get fairly close as the stupid thing couldn't get that bird past his jaws. Well, he finally did and revealed his fangs and started trying to strike at us but the bird weighed too much and he wasn't very fast. Nerd. He slithered into the bushes and we and the kids stayed indoors for the rest of the evening. Ha HA! Who got the last laugh?!

And no, I don't know what that horrible cluster of things is next to the snake. It makes me want to vomit. I can't help it. It's my trypophobia.

So, there is a summary of all things summery! Peace out,

Heidi

Just a Hat

2009-07-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

I've been knitting quite a bit lately but have been jumping from project to project like a madwoman (because of my knitting ADHD). However, a good friend of mine just had a baby and I wanted to make something for her wee head so I decided to go back to a tried and true fave, the cotton baby hat from LMKG. Love them. I decided to do this one without the eyelet round and opted for this adorable flower. I'm in love with the result :).

That's it. Just a hat. I still have my sexy cardi to showcase but haven't bothered to take pictures yet. Must remember to do that someday.

Pattern: Cotton Baby Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: Suss Cotton

Needles: US #7

Mods: Skipped the eyelet round and added a flower (best part).

Made for: Baby Surrey

Peace out,

Heidi

Home for a Download

2009-07-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

When I was in London for study abroad, I met a guy at church named Alex Boye. He was an amazingly talented singer and we were able to hear him perform a few times. I didn't know it then but apparently he had been (previous to my meeting him) in a boy band called "Awesome" that did fairly well in Europe. Anyway, years later he moved to Utah. We'd bump into each other from time to time and Steve and I would go see him perform at different venues. Then I started seeing his face pop up during LDS General Conference in the Tabernacle Choir.

Well, recently he recorded a "secular" album which is going to be released this summer. It is, as one critic described, "what you would get if James Brown got sucked up in a vacuum with the Beatles, with a little motown thrown in for good measure". Sounds good to me!

The reason I am posting this is that he is heading a fundraiser called "Home for a Download" wherein people go onto itunes on July 21st and download his song (.99) "Crazy for You" and ALL the money will go toward building a home for a refugee family whose father recently committed suicide. You can find him on facebook and get more information (his website is currently under construction).

So, I just thought I'd pass this along to my blogger friends. Every little bit counts, right? I've heard bits and pieces from this new album and it's going to be a blast! Really good music, and Alex has a great voice.

July 21, 2009

itunes

"Crazy for You" by Alex Boye

Peace out,

Heidi

San Francisco!

2009-06-15T16:25:00.001-07:00

This trip, my dears, was the best. We went with our friends, Josh and Liz and they, as luck would have it, are fabbity fab travel companions ;). Yay us! We did lots and lots of San Francisco-y things. Things that you must connect with your nerd to do. I do not have a hard time doing this as I am really nerdy. I am shameless. Almost. This trip was also our practice trip for Europe. To see if we can leave our kids for extended periods of time. We can.

This first picture is at the bottom of Lombard Street. You know the one? Crookedy Crooks? It hurts the knees to walk down. Okay, not really. It has some of the most beautiful houses on it but man, would I hate living on that street. People walking and driving and Segwaying (see later pics) at all hours! Nachtmare!

Steve and I @ the bottom of Lombard

So our first full day there we decided to go the whole hog and do a 3 hour Segway tour, walk hither and thither all over the hilled city, AND do Alcatraz. Whatevs. It was fun, but we got v v tired.

The Segway tour was one of the greatest things ever. Really. If you are ever in a city that offers one, please do it. Set aside your pride and do it. It was a blast. We wheeled around like Gob from "Arrested Development" for 3 hours with people taking pictures, laughing and just outright staring. A great time was had. We even got heckled by teenagers.

Here we are at the Palace of Fine Arts. Happy as clams!

AND, here we are with the Golden Gate Bridge behind us. You get to remove your helmet if you get off the Segway. Lucky us.

AND, here we are after the Segway tour and Alcatraz at the stupid Ferry Building where everything was closed and we were starving to death and so tired we could scarce sit up straight. I would recommend NOT a 3 hour tour and Alcatraz in one day unless you have definite plans for dinner.

So when Steve and I came here a couple of years ago I bought a couple of years ago I bought some coral necklaces from these lovely street vendors in Union Square. They have the loveliest jewelry and I simply had to have some more. It's all made of natural stone and is such a great price. At least I hope it is ;).

Here I am purchasing earrings to match a necklace I bought two years ago.

Several years ago we bought a dog. An adorable Spinone named Giovanna. She was a sweetheart but our other dogs hated her guts. She seemed to be a fiasco fit for our family. Let me tell you all that we are NOT the kind of people to buy a dog and get rid of her. We do not believe animals are disposable at all but this little puppy was just not working. It so happens that when we contacted the head of the Spinone Club in the US, she told us about a man who was looking for a Spinone that was not a puppy (which Gio happened not to be at the point when we decided to find her another owner). We figured she would be much better off as an "only dog". She is.

She now lives with Jules. The greatest dog owner in the universe. She goes everywhere with him. EVERYWHERE. Including pilates. She is the Princess of San Francisco. We miss her and have visited her twice now in the 3 years she has been his dog. Jules is always very obliging. We go to dinner or lunch with him and visit Gio and have a grand time. He really is a wonderful man and we're so grateful to him for being the perfect owner for Gio.

This is me with Gio.

This is Jules with Gio. Just look at how she looks at him. She is in full smit!

Jules is one of the owners of a place called "The Candy Store". Yes, that is the real name. It's basically a "Gentleman's Club" for really rich guys who collect vintage cars. I don't care one whit about cars but this place was unreal. I was gobsmacked.

This is the entrance of the club. Amazing.

Jules is slowing down now (as he is around 87 year old), but the last car he restored completely on his own was this gorgeous Hispano-Suiza. It's made mostly of wood and was a total wreck when he bought it. The detail in the restoration is unbelievable. He has tires shipped from England or has them custom made. No cutting corners. It's pure craziness. He's auctioning it off in a few months.

Here I am with Jules and his girlfriend Barbara in front of the Hispano-Suiza.

The interior of the Hispano-Suiza.

And one last look at the candy.

It was kind of a last minute decision to go on the trip. I'm so glad we decided to go, it was so great. We had a wonderful time with our friends, tried tons of new things (if you need restaurant suggestions, let me know!), had a great time with Jules, Barbara and Gio, and spent some much needed time together. Couldn't ask for more :).

My So Called (looks like a beginner did it) Scarf

2009-06-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

My So Called Scarf

This scarf was tedious but I liked the result. The only problem is that I could never quite get the edges to look right. It looked very beginnerish the whole way through. Hmm. What to do?Not frogging because it too sooooo long. Two hanks of Manos del Uruguay makes one REALLY long scarf! This thing wraps several times around a CHAIR. My neck is obviously not as thick as a chair. SO, the only thing to do here is to give this to a fat neck girl ;). And then I will sing, "fat neck girl let me count your neck rings" (see Tracy Jordan on "30 Rock").

Alright. Boring post. But I made it so I had to post it. Blah blah blah. Here's one last look...

See the beginnerish edges? Yeah, I thought so.

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay

Needles: US #11

Mods: None

Peace out.

The Cutest Hat Ever Designed! Really.

2009-05-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

Amelia Earhart Aviator/Catholic Bishop/Medieval Warrior/Gabled Hood

I have two other FO's that I finished before this one but I haven't taken proper pictures of them yet. SO, I'll just post about this one quickly, shall I?

Again, it's the Amelia Eahart Aviator Cap and it is my favorite hat ever. This one is my third and I love it soooo much I can't stop looking at it. It's a bit odd (the staring). I'm actually gifting this to someone so I'll have to stop looking eventually but really folks, it IS the cutest thing (and just LOOK at that doodle bug modeling it!).

And again with the buttons! On my other two I so wanted to sew on buttons but didn't. Since this one is going to a little girl I thought, why not? And look how adorable it is!!!! OH. MY. GOSH! Can you stand it? I can, but just barely.

The great thing about this "kid" version is that I used just under 1 ball of Sublime extra fine merino dk which is only 127 yards. Not too shabby.

Pattern: Amelia Earhart Aviator (free on ravlery)

Yarn: Sublime extra fine merino dk

Needles: US #6

Made For: Ruby

Mods: Went down to a dk weight yarn instead of worsted and used size 6 rather than size 8 needles. It is a bit small so I might try again with the dk and size 7 needles. We'll see. Kara, hush your mouth ;). I know Tiennie's got my back on this multiple knitting problem.

Anyway, I finally finished my cardi so as soon as I can get some pics of it, I'll post. I'm very proud of it, thereby committing a deadly sin. Ah well, you can't win 'em all.

Peace out,

Heidi

I thought I could, I thought I could...

2009-05-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Prepare yourselves for what you are about to see. Your opinion of me is about to change

FOR. E. VER

I am going to show you the before and after pictures of my "secret shame". Some of you commented in my last post that everyone has a "secret shame" and not to worry about it. I doubt you will argue with me that any of you have a "secret shame" as shameful as this...

I ask you; what kind of person lives like this? A pig. Not even a person. A pig who lives in a pig pen. I was just a-chuckin' stuff all about the place. No rhyme or reason, no place for anything to go. Just take it off and chuck it down. Come now! That is shameful!

And just look at this festering swine hole if you will. Are you kidding?! This is RIDICULOUS! Nay, ridonculous!

And this! I even attempted some sort of bin system here which obviously did NOT work for me. I cannot believe I'm putting these pictures on here. I seem to have lost a number of readers already. What is this going to do to me? Well, this is my punishment for being such a slob. It's my flogging if you will. My hairshirt and my celise belt. I will do the time, for I committed the crime. OH how I committed the crime!

So when people walk into my house they say, "your house is always clean! Is it really like this all the time?" And I answer that it is IN THE MAIN PART of the house. The rooms and closets have always been a fiasco. I keep things clean but there is always clutter of some sort around. I make the beds and clean the bathrooms but there are about 50 million piles of books, and odd socks, and toys, and clean piles of laundry. I don't know what it is with me. I'm like a little rodent. I stuff things in closets and cupboards and corners.

Well, it all started to get to me a few months ago and I called in a professional organizer to do my pantry. She literally changed my life. I know, it sounds dramatic but honestly, this woman made it approachable. So I've been systematically going from room to room and organizing EVERYTHING just exactly the way she taught me. It is a PAIN in the RUMPUS! However, my pantry has stayed exactly the same as the day she did it for 6 months and that is really saying something for me. Obviously she knows what she's doing. I'm only going to post the before and after pictures of my "secret shame" because it is the most dramatic. It was the most shameful and therefore had the most dramatic outcome. Here are the glorious after shots...

This is the best view I could get of the whole closet. The dvd on the floor is "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". I cannot take a perfect picture to save my life. Lizzy chucked that in there and I didn't notice until the photo shoot was over. I'm can't be bothered to redo it ;). The large bins up top contain things like pajamas, sweats, swim wear, bags, sweaters, etc. They're perfect!

This picture is showcasing the fact that I'm actually using that bottom rod! What a novel idea!

The above is a smattering of shoes. Yes, just a smattering. I have a small problem ;). It has helped me immensely to put them in clear boxes with labels such as "heels", "athletic", "sandals" etc. No dusty shoes, no smashed shoes. Brilliant!

Now look at the brilliant use of those shelves! I'm so proud of those! My gym bag and swimming gear is at the bottom and more shoes going up. Lovely.

And my last and loveliest shot :). The perfectly clean shelves. Also, I added the little hooks you see on the right for things like a robe or a hat or bag I'm using often. They're those lovely 3M ones that you can remove by pulling that tab and they don't take off your paint or anything. I tried.

So, yes I'm a pig. I can admit it now. I may have failed my 12 step program with fingerless gloves but I stuck with it for organizing. I've become a woman possessed. I've done the kids toys, my closet, the mud room, Lizzy's room and just today finished Will's room (that one was a bugger!). I'm moving like a house on fire!

Junipers for June

2009-05-06T15:54:00.001-07:00

Yes, just in time for summer! I have just completed my sister's birthday prezzie. We are NOT going to worry about the fact that her birthday is in February. I've actually had these done for awhile and keep forgetting to buy buttons. They are great mitts but the cute factor goes up to fabulous when the buttons are sewn on!!!!

I'm dying! Are you dying?! Probably not. Before you start making fun of me for more fingerless mitts (I quit my 12 step program), I must tell you that these were a request. A REQUEST! Let me also add that I do realize that these are NOT really Juniper Mitts. See, the thumb for these is quite odd. You simply bind off a bunch of stitches for the thumb and that just isn't going to work for anyone except a Barbie. We Bendixen girls have normal human sized hands (well, being that we are freakishly tall, probably larger than normal). The delightful pattern got totally lost on the upper hand because it was stretched beyond all reason. Pfff. Obviously I had to reknit.

These lovelies are knit from little charts and I failed to remember that I would need to switch to the left hand chart (while working the right mitt) when I knit back and forth for the thumb. Consequently, we have this lovely 70's zig zag that turned out amazingly adorable (though I say it myself). Not too shabs, yes? So aside from the thumb hole being a bit gapers, these might be my favorite mitts ever! The buttons, my gosh the buttons! These are CRAP buttons from Wal Mart (look, I had to buy some hooks today OK) and they are so great! If Haley doesn't love these and wear them all summer long, I'm taking them back ;).

Pattern: Juniper Mitts by Nuttyirishmanknits (free on Ravelry!)

Yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca

Needles: US #7

Made For: Haley

Mods: Giant gaping thumb hole because my hands are too big to accommodate the wonky thumb the pattern calls for

Time: About a day

So I know you can't believe I've been knitting but there's the proof. I'm even knitting My So Called Scarf right now. I'm mildly distracted of late with the organizational projects I'm attempting. Pics to come. I must warn you that I may lose some blog readers if I post the "before" pictures of my closet. It was my "secret shame". I never actually referred to it as my closet. "Go look in my secret shame" I'd say if Steve needed something from there. It was bad. Shameful. Piggish.

I couldn't help it. Just one more glance before you go...