Life Lately

So, what have we been up to?

Indy has become an excellent reader! He finished first grade last week and is having a nice summer. He's getting close to earning his orange belt in karate!

Princess is going through a stretching period....where she tries to see how far she can get us to stretch the rules for her. She's always had issues with rules. I hope we can rein her in before she's a teenager!

Doodle is walking really well and prefers it to crawling! She loves to walk around with a toy in each hand and one in her mouth. She babbles a lot and has said a few small words...(Maybe even "cake".)

Aaron finished school, too. It's really nice to have him home more. He is still teaching at the private school part-time, but four days a week.

I have been trying to get ready for our yard sale on June 20th for Relay for Life. If you are interested, leave me your email and I'll give you the address. (It isn't at my house.) I've been sorting my stuff, collecting other people's stuff and crocheting hair clips.

That's basically us in a nutshell!

Have a great summer!

We Have Great Neighbors!!!

Our next-door neighbors wanted to shade their south-facing wall. There isn't enough yard on their side to do so, so they offered to buy the trees if we'd put them in our yard. We wanted shade in that part of our yard as well, so it worked out great! It is so nice to have neighbors that work with us to accomplish what we all need and want! They are awesome!

Haircut

So, I did it! I cut off about 10 inches of my hair. I'm finally going to get to donate it to Locks of Love! I took off more than I really wanted to, but it will grow back!

Great Site

I just thought I'd share this amazing site with you!

A friend of mine homeschools and uses this link to show her kids all kinds of things! They have TONS of virtual tours listed and it looks great! I can't wait to show my kids!

A lot of them are pictures and some have video tours! It is a neat collection of websites with lots of info for kids.

Long Time No Post

Sorry about the lapse in posts. I had something interesting to write about and I only just remembered what it was as I was typing this sentence!

For the past few weeks, as I have been driving Indy to his karate class, there are several vehicles on the side of the road. All of the people are staring at the mountain. Some have binoculars, one had a camera. I tried to see what they were all looking at. I was driving 55 MPH, so I couldn't really see it. All I can guess is that it is some kind of animal. But, why would that draw so many people for so long? Maybe it's some "religious" group waiting for the Giant Spaghetti Monster to fly out of the mountain!

Any guesses?

Funk

Don't worry, I'm only in a blogging funk, not a general funk. Christmas is still in my heart. I'm enjoying the joy and high the kids are still on.

I don't know why, but I just haven't had a lot to write about. I don't feel particularly clever. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just not clever. I think that must be it.

Add to it that I've been crocheting like crazy for Christmas/winter that I haven't had a lot of time to think.

We had a great Christmas and we are now trying to dig out from the storm that hit us yesterday. We definitely got a white Christmas...and then some!

Now, I'm in the mood to (it's scary: ) CLEAN! With all of the cooking, baking and playing that has been going on here, it's a big mess!

So, hopefully I can come up with something fun and exciting for you to read...until then, I'll be cleaning!!

Waste or Not?

When I first moved from Florida to Utah, I tried to maintain relationships and keep track of my friends, but none of them wrote back when I wrote letters. More recently, I have gotten in contact with several old friends through email and blogs. Then, a couple of days ago, I joined Facebook and I've found several people I have wondered about for a long time. I have also wasted a ton of time and I hope I don't stay too addicted to it!

It doesn't really matter whether you move 2000 miles or 20, it is hard to keep up with friends. I am so grateful for the Internet, email, blogs and facebook! It has been so nice to reconnect with old friends!

Brownie Points

I was "cool" with the young girls at church! I wore this:

It came with my new jeans. Part of me liked it, but I wasn't so sure.

I have such horrible fashion sense that I love compliments from those who know what they are talking about!

Playing With My Head

So, I was sitting at the computer the other day and the mouse started acting really weird. It's fairly new, so I was annoyed that the scroll function on it had broken so soon. (That's what went wrong with the last one.) Then, I was trying to do other things and I couldn't. I didn't know what was going on.

Then I remembered that Captain Marvelous had a remote mouse. (which is the coolest thing) I didn't even have to ask. I knew it was him. It actually took me a little while to realize the whole problem was him. It was kind of spread out!

I knew I married him for a reason. When I am senile in my old age, (or youth if he keeps this up) I have someone to blame!

You Know it's Going to be a Long Day...

...when you open the door to let the dog out and two wasps let themselves in for breakfast! Between eating, and getting ready for our crazy day, we were able to kill the wasps and cover several surfaces with poison! Good times!

The rest of the day was as follows:

7:30--Mom's and Muffins at Link's school. The goal was to read with our kids. We ended up mostly talking with other moms and the kids played. Oh well. At least I was supportive, right? I was also there to help make sure his class didn't mutiny since the substitute teacher was late.

8:30--Convince Princess that she needed to come home with me rather than be a first-grader. Then, rush home, change Doodle, grab toys, call a friend to offer her some irises and grab a sack of iris rhizomes to take with us.

9:30--Doctor's appointment in our old town. (We really like our old doctor, so we thought it would be worth the drive!) That went well. Doodle is around the 50th percentile for all things measured. She is healthy and the doctor is happy.

10:00-11:30--Drop off rhizomes, visit briefly, go to Hobby Lobby (my new favorite store), and to the grocery store since I can't get this in town!

12:30--Get home, get lunch and try to put a dent in my housework!

2:30--Leave to pick up Link. Then, go home, pick up Captain M and head to the garden center! We found some great plants for really cheap. I even got a few of my favorites!

We spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the front beds, dividing more irises. (If you want some, PLEASE let me know. I hate throwing out perfectly good plants!) We had a late dinner and went to bed exhausted!

Then, it rained all weekend, which is good, but I didn't get the plants in, so I am itching to do that!

Anyway, I hope you are having a great weekend!

Where have you been?

visited 25 states (50%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

It looks like I have more traveling to do to make it to the other half!

Explanations

I keep seeing my profile and since I just did a list of random things describing me, it might be fun to explain them. When you don't have anything to talk about (other than pregnancy and whining about my weeds) why not talk about myself. You know you are just dying to know!

Tirzah--This is my real name, only spelled more "correctly". My mom wasn't sure how to spell it, so she didn't spell it this way. Too bad the internet wasn't around then. Now, you can look up names and get alternate spellings as well as sound files of pronunciations. She found it on Ben Hur. I still have goals to first watch the whole movie from beginning to end (thanks Netflix) and second to actually read the book someday. Tirzah was Judah Ben-Hur's sister.

Daughter of God --It is so important for each of us to know where we came from and if we know that we are each truly children of God, then we should have a better understanding of what life is all about.

Wife--I love being married. I've been married to my best friend for a little over eight years and they have been wonderful years! We really work well together and are still very much in love!

Mother--I am mother to two, almost three wonderful kids! They make me smile and I hope I am doing a good job of helping them along in this life!

Sister--I have 3 siblings, two brothers and one sister. We are so different from each other. I don't get to talk to my brothers very often, but I talk to my sister at least weekly online!

Friend--I hope I am a good friend. I've never been very good at having close friends that I can hang out with. I'm more of a talk your ear off on the phone kind of friend and wish I could find that "bosom friend". I usually have tons of great acquaintances that I love but not someone I can just "be" with. (Other than My Man!)

Singer--I love to sing! In school and church, I have always been involved in choir. (Except when there wasn't one.) I love to belt it out to 30s and 40s jazz! I haven't been as good at performing at church and things lately, but I love music and I plan to do better with sharing my talent!

Grower--I love to watch things grow. Plants and children are my favorites. It is so fun to watch the changes and developments as things start small and grow into fully developed things/creatures.

Book-a-holic--I love to read! I usually have some kind of book in my hand (or on my night stand). This pregnancy has fried my brain, though and it has been harder for me to sit down with books that require much thought!

Lover of SPRING--Having grown up in Florida, there really is only one season--summer. There is full-on summer and mild summer, but there really isn't a winter to be mentioned. I love the change of seasons, especially when the spring comes and the world comes back to life!

Horticulturist--I didn't know what to go to school for until my husband pointed out that I loved plants and should try to study that. I thought it was a great idea, so I went and got a bachelor's degree in horticulture. I loved it and I still do!

Crochet-a-holic--I am addicted to crochet. If I need something, I usually try to find a way to make it by crocheting. So many things can be done with crochet. I just love it! I've been doing it since I was 12 or 13 and I hope I never have to stop! Carpal tunnel syndrome has halted me a bit, but I have been able to do it, again!!

Mormon--I was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love it and I have a testimony of it's truthfulness. It is the Truth and it is a wonderful way to live. There are so many things trying to pull us away from God and from our families in this world. The Mormon Church is a way to strengthen myself and my family and bring us closer to God!

Dog owner--I didn't have a dog until about two years ago. We got one for my graduation present. I think I'm still not used to her....

Thinker--I crave thinking things through all the way. I'm sure it drives people crazy, too because the way I do it is by talking. I have to talk the situation out for a while before I figure out a good solution. Sometimes I'll talk something out with someone and then have to go back later and talk more to give the real solution!

Doer--I like to get things done. I'm still a procrastinator, but when things need to be done, I'll get them done...It may just take me a while to get to it! ;)

Floridian by birth--I was born in Orlando, Florida and lived there until I was 21. I always hated the climate and told my mom that I wanted to live somewhere else. She thought I'd fall in love with another Floridian, but she was wrong...

Utahan by love--I met my husband online and we fell in love fairly quickly. We met and got engaged. Now we've been married for 8 years and it is strange to think that that is how we met! I love the weather in Utah. I love cold better than hot weather, so this suits me fine! And the heat here isn't so bad because it's drier than Florida by far!

List maker--I love lists. They make me feel in control. I have to know that everything is taken care of and done! Lately, most of my lists are in my Palm Pilot and help me keep myself and family taken care of!

Purse collector--I love purses. I should have probably written bags, since I really don't like to have to carry a purse. I'd rather have a little wallet or very small purse. I also love totes and other bags. I have several. I like to be able to switch from a large bag to a small one depending on what I am doing or on my mood.

Play-doh sniffer--I love the smell of Play-doh. I don't know what it is. It has a mild and comforting smell. It reminds me of children and childhood. (This is one of the big reasons I wanted to explain my list-it kind of makes me sound like some kind of weird addict!)

Shoe hater--I actually love shoes, but they rarely fit my huge feet, so I guess I have a love/hate relationship with shoes. I love to see cute shoes on other people and wish I could wear them, so I hate them! I especially hate shopping for shoes!

Crafter--I. Love. To. Make. Things. It doesn't matter if it is food, clothing, toys, blankets. It doesn't matter what the medium is. I love to learn new things. I love to crochet, knit, sew, cook, make hair bows, I want to learn to quilt, the list goes on. I just like to be making things.

Morning person--I don't do well after about 9 pm and I love to get things done before noon. I like to be up early and think of all the things I've done when it is only 8 am!

Political Moderate--I grew up in a very, VERY Republican home, but now I am a lot more moderate. I tend to lean towards the left in a lot of ways, but I still like a lot of the Republican views as well. There is rarely a candidate that really suits me. I think both "sides" have good things going for them and it shouldn't be (and really isn't) just one way or the other.

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed this little installment of the mind of Tirzah!

Randomness

Do you know those times when you should really get off of the computer because you've done all of the useful things and a lot more useless things? Yesterday, I just hit random keys and the search that came up from my mess was www.asdfjklsemicolon.com. It's a really interesting site where they don't tell you anything, don't try to sell you anything, they just want you to leave a message. You can say whatever you want. You can leave contact information or not. They receive tons of emails from this and respond if you leave your email address.

I just thought it was random and cool!.

Random Semi-related Memory: When I was in seventh or eighth grade, I took a typing class. (Yes, typing, as in on a typewriter! Wow, I must be getting old!) One of the first things we learned was where to put our fingers. To reinforce this, she walked around the room singing, "ASDF-JKLsem". The tune was like one that you hear drill sergeants use while running with soldiers. She'd chant the letters and we'd type them in time with her as if we were repeating them out loud.

Randomness

It's no wonder I don't have a lot of readership... If I'd post more than once per week, maybe you'd come back to read, huh?

I guess it's the season to be busy and I've been really tired, so I'm just trying to keep up and I haven't been very creative.

I had some ideas in the middle of the night that would be fun to blog about, but of course, I didn't write them down and they probably were more interesting when I was half asleep anyway.

I did have a random dream, though. (Surprise!)

In my dream, Barack Obama decided to choose a republican running mate. He chose Scott Bakula. I don't even know if Scott Bakula is a republican, probably not. My brain makes up weird stuff.

One rant: I hate obligatory Christmas gifts. You know the ones. You wouldn't get them a gift unless they got you one. I mostly like to give gifts to people that I know well, friends and family. Some years we get around to making plates of treats for our neighbors, but it doesn't go much further than that.

So, that's enough randomness for one day. I hope to be in a more creative mindset, soon!

Weirdo!

No, I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm calling myself a weirdo! I just wanted to make public some weird things about me...

1. I am paranoid about smells. I can never be certain that my house smells good. If I know someone is coming over, I almost always light a candle, open an air freshener, or make sure I am running the dishwasher--I love it when my house smells like the baking soda in the detergent!
2. Which brings me to my next eccentricity. I LOVE the smell of cleaners. I love the house to smell of Mr. Clean especially! Yum!
3. I love the smell of Play-Doh. Are you noticing a pattern, here? I am a very smell-oriented person. I think Play-Doh must remind me of the innocence of childhood or something. I can be found sniffing some most of the times the kids are playing with it!
4. I love cheese! We used to go and try all kinds of weird cheese in the store. I miss that, we should do it again! I really like warm string cheese. I discovered this once when I took one for a snack and it stayed in my van. It was soft and tasted so much better. Now, I put one in the microwave for 13 seconds and it is delicious! I also love to put a piece of SHARP cheddar cheese between to graham crackers. I even have my kids doing this one.
5. I was bitten by a dog when I was 13. (Yeah, I know, not so weird.) I had to have 12 stitches and I couldn't stand up for long periods or it would bleed, so I had to spend about two weeks laying around and reading. I wish I could do that, now! Okay, so on to the weird part... I was more afraid of dogs before I got bitten, than after! I guess I faced my fear and it wasn't all that bad??
6. I hate shoes. I hate shopping for shoes. I hate wearing shoes. Part of that probably comes from growing up in Florida, that would explain that if I do have to wear shoes, I'd rather wear a slip-on. I hate to have my feet feel enclosed and crowded. I also hate shoes because my feet are so wide that I can't wear very many cute shoes. I'm lucky to find something ugly that fits my feet! I guess I'd like to like shoes, but I just can't wear a lot of the ones that I'd like to, so that makes me hate them! I guess I'm jealous of girls with normal feet. (When Belle was first born, I checked to make sure her feet were narrower than mine! They are!! Thank goodness!)

Okay, so that's it! So, what is weird about you??

Psychic Dreams?

I had a stupid dream...

The lady who's baby I watch for four hours everyday is the same one we carpool with. In my dream, I had forgotten to get Luke ready for school. She drove up in a white van. (She owns a green van.)

Okay, I know you're thinking this just sounds dumb, and I agree.

But, this morning, when she dropped off her son, she was driving a WHITE van.

It was really creepy! Maybe I should try to develop my psychic powers.

Waiting for Harry! (Safe to read, since I haven't read the book, yet)

We got the 7th Harry Potter book in the mail, yesterday...thank you Amazon.com. The problem is I have to wait to read it. We decided that Aaron got to read it first, since he is the faster reader. With book 5 we read it out loud to each other. That didn't go very well, because my voice got sore and I needed to stop. He is now on page 596!! So, I don't have too long to wait, but he keeps making noises about what is going on and it just makes me want to read it more! He just ran upstairs because he has to react to something that is going on! Grrr.... I'll get my chance, probably later tonight.

Enjoy Harry!!

The Simpsons

Here we are as Simpsons. What do you think?? Go to The Simpson's Movie website to make your own avatars!!

Luke Simpson

Belle Simpson


Tirzah Simpson


Aaron Simpson

I am a freak!

We were going to get some groceries and I saw one of the ugliest insects I have ever seen. (That is saying a lot, because I took an entomology class and got to study lots of icky insects!)

So, anyway, I was carrying Belle and trying to avoid the flying maniac. It landed on my shoulder and I became a flailing maniac. I put Belle down and tried to get the thing off. I was screaming like a...okay, like a girl! It was not pleasant. It finally flew off. I don't know what the thing was. All I know is that it had huge black poky things coming off of it!!

Aaron proceeded to make fun of me for acting like such a freak-show. It was quite the spectacle. There were probably people thinking I was schizophrenic... Oh, well. At least I didn't get stung...I wonder if it could sting. I am getting the willies just thinking about that thing.

A New Calling

In our church, we are asked to do different jobs at different times. We call these callings, as it things we are called to do. Well, for the last year or so, I have been working with the 8-12 year old girls. There is a program called activity days where they learn how to do lots of things and have a lot of fun (I hope!) along the way. That has been a lot of fun for me. The girls pretty much love anything we have prepared for them and are ready and willing to work hard! Well, once they get someone else to do this job, I'll be done with that calling for a while. The only problem is that we have had a mass exodus from our ward this summer. We are short a lot of people and we are waiting for others to move in.

I have been asked to be the relief society (women's organization) secretary. I am really excited! I haven't had a calling like this before, so it will be really new to me! I'll find out tomorrow and Tuesday what is involved! I think it will be really fun and I really like the relief society presidency! They are great women!

So, if any of you have any advice on how to keep yourself organized, pass it along. I have a palm pilot on the way...