Birthday girl

Our little "Fairy Princess" is turning 4. Doesn't that seem crazy? We celebrated early since I will be at girl's camp for her birthday (I feel like a bad mother on that one, but what can you do?). We celebrated by going to the beach in the morning. Note: the term beach is used in these parts to mean the edge of a lake where sand has been dumped so people don't have to drive to the ocean. The kids had a great time and wanted to stay longer. This was our second time to this beach. We had some other friends there. Our new next door neighbors loved it so much they were there from 9am to 4pm, and they are sunburned to prove it. We lathered on sunscreen, wore hats, and stayed only 2 hours, so we are not burned! Then the kids went and got hair cuts, and we came home to get cleaned up. After that we headed to the mall for C's bday wish - to have her ears pierced. She was so excited. I slightly remember getting mine pierced (I know my scream echoed in the mall). So in anticipation I made sure to go when there were two people to pierce. She picked lovely pink flowers with crystals (one of the most expensive pairs of course), but I am sure she will be happy wearing them for 6 months straight. When the time came she looked stunned but no tears, no I need mommy hugs, not even whining (and around here we all know she is an expert at that). She was a big girl! It took her a little while to really get excited about having them. I think she was a bit shocked by the whole experience, but last night she said "When they shot the earrings in my ear it hurt." Well I am sure that is true. Then we did a couple of errands (last minute camp items, groceries - good thing the girl likes to shop), and picked up pizza on the way home for dinner. We opened presents: dress up shoes, froot loops (not the ones that were recalled), a strawberry shortcake, sunglasses, and new hair flowers. She was thrilled by everything. We had cake and ice cream with neighbor friends, caught fireflies (a nightly ritual now - which means bedtime has been too late), and set off some fireworks. It was a great day. I love this little girl. Sure she is dramatic, and might make you crazy at times, but mostly she is fun loving, kind, great at cheering you on, energetic, happy, and funny. She is always making our day brighter and I couldn't ask for a better daughter! Love you stinkers.

an analogy

Doing research is kind of like an abusive relationship. Mind you I have never been in an abusive relationship, but I still think they are similar. Let me tell you why. One moment you are thinking yes this is going to work when your partner (or study) is being reasonable, then before you know it WHAM - something you just didn't expect comes out of the blue to totally ruin everything (say consent forms not being returned, an IRB coming back with a million changes many of which have already been approved, another delay in the study). You are frustrated, but you feel like you need to stick it out, you can't just give up this is your life. Plus you don't know who you can really talk to about the whole thing, I mean who would really understand what is really going on. The cycle continues and I can assume in this case it will until I either die, or things finally work out! This has been an incredibly frustrating process and I can't wait until the abuse of my first study is OVER.

Big day

Today within the hour my first publication will be off in the mail. My very first submission! I am feeling a little uneasy. The journal I chose has a good track record - over 40 years of publication and a solid choice for my review paper (several of the articles I reviewed were from this journal). The journal is associated with the Council for Exceptional Children - the premiere organization for the area of special education. It has an H index (the scientific impact and productivity of the journal) of 18 - I am sure this is low for many fields, but research in this area is a lot more sticky - and very few participants, so this is actually good for my area (the CEC main journal has an H index of 35 and an acceptance rate of 20%). This journal has an acceptance rate of 45%. So that has me thinking - is my paper, that I have been working on for almost 2 years, better than average? Time will tell. Wish me luck!

strawberry time

This year C and I took a girl trip to pick strawberries while H and J went shooting. It smelled heavenly and we picked two buckets full. C did much better waiting until we paid this year (last year she ate as she picked - and ate a lot, this year she just ate 3 near the end). She did swipe a few more before we got home.
She was a super cheerleader while I picked:
"Wow mom you are doing such a good job."
"You are really good at this!"
"Look how many you have."

She also made a few interesting comments:
"Mom I found a butt strawberry!" - Well, that sounds nasty!
"Mom, if a spider is on my strawberry will you shake it off?"
"Whoa, this one is enormous!" Really? Enormous? Such a big word for a little girl.
I should be able to get 2 nice batches of jam out of what we picked. Good thing because last year's batches are nearly gone.

Lazy days of summer

I am not sure that there will be many lazy days in my summer, but the kids seem to be managing. Yesterday we took a trip to the park. The kids enjoyed climbing the trees (but not necessarily climbing down - that is scarier). I forgot my camera, but luckily my NEW phone has a nice one built in. Hooray for phone that takes decent pictures! My old phone finally bit the dust - one to many times dropping the crazy thing. I can't talk about my new phone much more because it makes J jealous - but it is AWESOME! In other news...things are finally coming together a bit better for my study. New target start date - July 6th. Wish me luck!

Here's to 10 years!

Take a walk down memory lane...10 years ago today J & I were married in the Mesa temple. It was a beautiful ceremony and I became Mrs. D! It has been quite a trip since then, 2 kids, 6 moves and lots of love. Love you baby!

Party animals

Just tell me if I am crazy...today the kids are having their bday party (we combined for my sanity). We are expecting 20+ kids, and having a water balloon fight. Why did I agree to this??
This weekend we also have swim lessons, gymnastics, and 3 other parties. We are turning into regular party animals. I think I am going to need a nap!

children's fair

They have a great children's fair each year in our cute town. The kids and I ventured over for the day to check it out. Things were cheap (25-50 cents), and the kids had a great time. We did face painting, rode some rides, and did some fun games. We also had funnel cake (in honor of this great place that serves funnel cake to children at breakfast - and they wonder why obesity is a problem). I enjoyed myself so much that I think we will go again next year.

H is 7!

It is so hard for me to believe my son is already 7. Where does the time go? He was thrilled for this birthday this year (not that he hasn't been other years, but more so this year). He planned out the entire day. He had his special day at school (where you get to do show and tell and bring a treat). He took in cupcakes, soccer lined chocolate chocolate with multicolored sprinkles.
Then after school we went to the YMCA to swim. The kids loved that. I think I made the lifeguard nervous (seems like mostly teens and older people do open swim and they don't often need saving - 2 kids seemed to put him on high alert). That is fine with me - the lifeguard is getting paid to make sure no one gets harmed.
Then we came home and had homemade cheesy pizza bread (a family favorite thanks to Dina). He also requested key lime pie for dessert. He was a champ at blowing out candles (hope he made a super wish).
Then it was present time. The hit present was definitely the transformers from Nana & Papa, but he also loved the cards with money, and the world cup soccer ball dad picked out. (Speaking of the world cup, my life and TV is about to be taken over for the occasion, 3 games today!)
H is such a joy of a kid, parenting does get more complicated as they get older, but he has been a great guinea pig for our parenting skills. At his special day people get to give compliments. His friends said "I like how H is a really great friend." and " I like how you can catch really good." His teacher said, H is very quiet and cooperative boy." I pretty much agree with all of that (he isn't always quiet). He is a wonderful son, and brother, and he is a keeper!

So excited

H was so excited for field day today that he actually taped his clothes on the dresser last night. I am not even joking, his socks, shorts, shirt, and UNDERWEAR! I can honestly say I have never done that. What a crazy boy.
By the way, I realize I am a bit behind in posting about H's birthday. I will update that soon - lots going on here.

Happy 35th Anniversary

to my mom and dad!

Six

This is the last day H is six. I can't believe he is turning 7! He doesn't seem that old. He has a big day planned for us all. I will give the update later this week. I am hoping he still likes to give hugs when he is 7.