Nils has been in Chicago since Sunday morning, so we're done with day 3, with 3 more to go until he's home. I was talking to my friend the night before he left and said that I was fine with him going on trips for work, I just don't want to have to see pictures of the food he's eating or the cool, fun places he's going to. I want him to pretend like he's miserable and can't stand being away from me, even though I know he's not.
So he's been posting pictures on Facebook all week of the food he's been eating and the cool places he's going to.
He called me tonight and was telling me about the fancy restaurant he went to for dinner tonight, and I said something snotty like, "Gosh, I hope you take some more pictures of your food and post it", and he said, "I know you hate my joy", and I said, "I do hate your joy."
Listen. It's the first week of summer break, and I am far from in my groove. We're all in that post-school year haze, where we don't know what to do with ourselves for the next 2 1/2 months. Yesterday I got to take the kids with me to get emissions done and then to the DMV, if that gives you a flavor of what it's like around here. Totes awesome.
So, Nils (and husbands and fathers everywhere whose wives are indignant, like me). Maybe when you post pictures of your authentic Chicago deep dish pizza, you could caption it with something along the lines of, "I'm in Chicago eating this amazing pizza- but all I taste are my tears, since I miss my wife so much and can't enjoy anything without her."
I think I would really like that.
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
On Busyness not being Happiness (for us)
Addie and Aani have been in gymnastics/tumbling since August. Initially, they were going down the street to a little storefront for tumbling. It took 3 minutes to get there and was right after school, before dinner. In December, the owner decided to close it down, so I signed them up for gymnastics at the Lehi Legacy Center. It takes about 15 minutes to get there, and it's from 5:45-6:45 on Monday evenings. The girls have really seemed to like it, and I've been impressed with the program there. The classes are full to the max, and unless you already have a spot it's almost impossible register, so you have to take what you can get.
The downside, obviously, is that the timing of the class is horrible and it pretty much ruins Monday nights for dinner, FHE and other togetherness time. We'll either eat something really fast before we leave, or, the majority of the time, wait to have dinner until 7:00 when everyone is home. Then we have FHE after dinner, which is sometimes at 8:00- way too late.
Nils and I generally switch off taking them, but last night I was just not feeling like taking my turn. Nils got home from work and looked tired. All the kids were outside playing hide and seek in the cul-de-sac, having a grand old time, and we decided to ask the girls if they were okay skipping gymnastics. Both of them were more than fine with it. Aani said, "That's fine, I didn't want to go anyway."
As we were eating dinner, I asked the girls if they LOVED gymnastics. Aani said, "No." Addie held her thumb horizontally, to indicate she was neutral on the matter (classic Addie communication method). I asked them if they would be super sad if we decided not to do gymnastics anymore. "No!" in unison. I was pretty surprised. I really thought they liked it.
So this is my dilemma. We want our kids to have opportunities to develop talents, be involved in things, and feel like they can participate in activities outside the house with confidence. The trouble is that doing some of these things is a huge sacrifice to family time. I told the girls that if they LOVED gymnastics, we were more than happy to keep doing it. That goes for any activity for any of them. If they absolutely love it and identify with it, we will do what it takes to make it happen for them (within reason, obviously). But if they're doing it because everyone else in the neighborhood is doing it, or because it sounded like a good idea in the beginning or whatever, then I can't justify the sacrifice. Our weeks are jam packed with something every night. We don't have any evenings when we can just go or do whatever. Between homework, scouts, activity days, bishopric stuff, lessons, date night, school performances and other miscellaneous things thrown in there, we feel spread pretty darn thin.
How do you balance it? How do you find happiness in the crazy? We love just spending time at home with our kids, and we're not very happy when there isn't any time for it. I guess I would like to know if the kids not all being in different activities at any given time is going to be detrimental to their future success in life. Pretty sure they're not going to be professional athletes, dancers or musicians, but I do want them to have happy memories of their childhoods. I expect that those are going to be made both ways- at home and by doing things they love outside the home. Just not sure how to make the two work together.
The downside, obviously, is that the timing of the class is horrible and it pretty much ruins Monday nights for dinner, FHE and other togetherness time. We'll either eat something really fast before we leave, or, the majority of the time, wait to have dinner until 7:00 when everyone is home. Then we have FHE after dinner, which is sometimes at 8:00- way too late.
Nils and I generally switch off taking them, but last night I was just not feeling like taking my turn. Nils got home from work and looked tired. All the kids were outside playing hide and seek in the cul-de-sac, having a grand old time, and we decided to ask the girls if they were okay skipping gymnastics. Both of them were more than fine with it. Aani said, "That's fine, I didn't want to go anyway."
As we were eating dinner, I asked the girls if they LOVED gymnastics. Aani said, "No." Addie held her thumb horizontally, to indicate she was neutral on the matter (classic Addie communication method). I asked them if they would be super sad if we decided not to do gymnastics anymore. "No!" in unison. I was pretty surprised. I really thought they liked it.
So this is my dilemma. We want our kids to have opportunities to develop talents, be involved in things, and feel like they can participate in activities outside the house with confidence. The trouble is that doing some of these things is a huge sacrifice to family time. I told the girls that if they LOVED gymnastics, we were more than happy to keep doing it. That goes for any activity for any of them. If they absolutely love it and identify with it, we will do what it takes to make it happen for them (within reason, obviously). But if they're doing it because everyone else in the neighborhood is doing it, or because it sounded like a good idea in the beginning or whatever, then I can't justify the sacrifice. Our weeks are jam packed with something every night. We don't have any evenings when we can just go or do whatever. Between homework, scouts, activity days, bishopric stuff, lessons, date night, school performances and other miscellaneous things thrown in there, we feel spread pretty darn thin.
How do you balance it? How do you find happiness in the crazy? We love just spending time at home with our kids, and we're not very happy when there isn't any time for it. I guess I would like to know if the kids not all being in different activities at any given time is going to be detrimental to their future success in life. Pretty sure they're not going to be professional athletes, dancers or musicians, but I do want them to have happy memories of their childhoods. I expect that those are going to be made both ways- at home and by doing things they love outside the home. Just not sure how to make the two work together.
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Easter Wienerbration and April Fool's Poo
It's good to be a Vander Werff on certain occasions. One of those occasions is on Easter, when we have what has become the Annual Wiener Toss. After the kids finish with the candy hunt, Uncle Greg (my brother) throws hot dogs off his balcony at the kids below. They might be raw, they might be cooked- you never know what you're going to get. I don't know if there's anything funnier than watching the kids run after hot dogs being thrown at them from above. We can't decide what to call it: the Annual Throwing of the Meat, the Annual Wiener Toss, the Easter Wienerbration? They all sound so nice, I think we should just use them interchangeably.
On April Fool's Day, the day after the Annual Wiener Toss, I had devised a brilliant April Fool's joke to play on the kids. Since we got a puppy, we have had the pleasure of finding poo in random places in the house. It's gross and I hate it, and I have been tempted to kill the dog, or worse, give it away to someone at Walmart. Anyhoo, it's gotten better, but it did provide a platform for my April Fool's joke.
We had a movie night with our neighbors and I baked some brownies. During the movie, I rolled up a brownie into a few little pieces, and they looked exactly like dog poo. I put the brownie poo in the next room, and a few minutes later "discovered" it, and started yelling at everyone that I was going to kill the dog and so on. Everyone came into the room, and Nils asked, "whose turn is it to clean up poo?" The kids all insisted that it was none of their turns, so I said, "Fine, I'll clean it up." I bent down and picked up the brownie poo with my bare hands and slowly put it in my mouth. The grown-up neighbors knew about it, and Nils was in on it, but all the kids were totally fooled.
It may have been one of the greatest moments of my life, watching all those children with their jaws on the floor, thinking that their mother/crazy neighbor lady was eating dog poo. I said, "Hmm, not bad!" Then Nils picked up a couple pieces and ate them. It was great.
Ava asked me for the next two days why I ate poo. Poor, confused girl. Best April Fool's joke ever.
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| See? Some cooked, most not. It's a bucket o' surprises, I tell you! |
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| Nothin' like an Easter basket full of candy and raw wieners! Look at that happy kid! |
On April Fool's Day, the day after the Annual Wiener Toss, I had devised a brilliant April Fool's joke to play on the kids. Since we got a puppy, we have had the pleasure of finding poo in random places in the house. It's gross and I hate it, and I have been tempted to kill the dog, or worse, give it away to someone at Walmart. Anyhoo, it's gotten better, but it did provide a platform for my April Fool's joke.
We had a movie night with our neighbors and I baked some brownies. During the movie, I rolled up a brownie into a few little pieces, and they looked exactly like dog poo. I put the brownie poo in the next room, and a few minutes later "discovered" it, and started yelling at everyone that I was going to kill the dog and so on. Everyone came into the room, and Nils asked, "whose turn is it to clean up poo?" The kids all insisted that it was none of their turns, so I said, "Fine, I'll clean it up." I bent down and picked up the brownie poo with my bare hands and slowly put it in my mouth. The grown-up neighbors knew about it, and Nils was in on it, but all the kids were totally fooled.
It may have been one of the greatest moments of my life, watching all those children with their jaws on the floor, thinking that their mother/crazy neighbor lady was eating dog poo. I said, "Hmm, not bad!" Then Nils picked up a couple pieces and ate them. It was great.
Ava asked me for the next two days why I ate poo. Poor, confused girl. Best April Fool's joke ever.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
How to get through Sacrament Meeting
I found this list a few weeks ago as I was cleaning out my church bag. This is Addie's guide to Sacrament Meeting. I'm so glad she was able to check so many off during the course of the meeting. This kid cracks me up. I really wonder what's going on in that head of hers sometimes, and love it when I get physical evidence of her funny self.
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(^Jason the Egg on a Minecraft pig. ^)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
What I've been watching and reading
TV Shows:
I started watching BBC's Sherlock several months ago. I was completely enraptured. I think it's one of the best shows I've seen. There aren't very many episodes, and even though they're 90 minutes long each, it didn't take very long for me to watch all 6 of them. I was sad when I was done. I've seen stuff on Facebook and Pinterest about Doctor Who, and I know a couple of people who are devoted fans. I was hesitant to watch it, because what I had heard of it sounded weird and nerdy.
In desperation for something to get me through my Sherlock withdrawals, I asked a trusted friend if she had watched Doctor Who and what she thought of it. Her words: "Once you get past the weird crap, and aliens eating people, I kinda liked it." Then she told me about her crush on David Tennant (who plays the Doctor for 3 seasons) and how she's in mourning over him not being the Doctor anymore, and I just had to see what all the fuss was about.
So, over the last 4 months or so, I've been watching Doctor Who while I run on the treadmill, and yes. Once you get past the weird crap, and aliens eating people, I kinda like it. I actually really like it. I don't like aliens and all of that, but I LURVE the Doctor, especially David Tennant as the Doctor. There is a good reason that this show has been on the air for 50 years- there's something weird and unexplainable that sucks you in. It's not the aliens, because they're gross. It's the adorable Doctor and his friends that make you care about them. Endure the 1st season (of the new Doctor Who, which starts in 2005), which is campy and weird, but you get to know the premise and characters; then the 2nd season is when it starts getting good, and when you start looking up David Tennant on Wikipedia to see if he's married. It gets better and better as the seasons pass, I assure you.
Nils and I have been watching Friday Night Lights for a year or so, and we're almost done with the series. It's EXCELLENT. Trust me. It seems like it's about football, but it's not really.
We need something else to watch, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to pass them along- and yes, we have watched Downton Abbey. Dang that Matthew.
Books:
"Stoner" by John Williams. It's about a college professer and his ordinary, kind of sad life, but I didn't find the book sad. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is fantastic. No, he's not a stoner. That's his last name, silly.
"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. I listened to this book, which I recommend, as the narrator does a fantastic job. I really enjoyed it. Read the book before you see the movie.
"The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton. Very good, mysterious story, and a very commendable twist at the end. It's in keeping with her other books, set in England, goes back and forth between the past and present.
"The Distant Hours" by Kate Morton. Ditto to the above. Good book.
"The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton. I didn't really like this one. When I was 300 pages into it, I started wondering when something was going to happen. Just lots of lamenting, fretting about the past, blah blah blah. Then the book finally ends, and the big "twist" is really anti-climatic.
"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. I listened to this one- a lot of language, including the f-bomb, but the story is quite compelling. Set in the future, where the world is basically in shambles- people spend their whole lives in virtual reality to escape it. There's a contest, a teenage kid wins... the story of how he does it. It's really nerdy and video-game centered, but it's an interesting commentary on obsession with the online world.
"The Red Prophet" by Orson Scott Card. This is the second book on the "Alvin Maker" series. I listened to this one, as well. It was pretty good. Nils has finished this series and really liked it. I'd recommend listening to them, as I find reading them pretty tedious. The narrators definitely help with that.
Feel free to send along any book recommendations as well. I like lots of genres, just no vampires, por favor.
I started watching BBC's Sherlock several months ago. I was completely enraptured. I think it's one of the best shows I've seen. There aren't very many episodes, and even though they're 90 minutes long each, it didn't take very long for me to watch all 6 of them. I was sad when I was done. I've seen stuff on Facebook and Pinterest about Doctor Who, and I know a couple of people who are devoted fans. I was hesitant to watch it, because what I had heard of it sounded weird and nerdy.
In desperation for something to get me through my Sherlock withdrawals, I asked a trusted friend if she had watched Doctor Who and what she thought of it. Her words: "Once you get past the weird crap, and aliens eating people, I kinda liked it." Then she told me about her crush on David Tennant (who plays the Doctor for 3 seasons) and how she's in mourning over him not being the Doctor anymore, and I just had to see what all the fuss was about.
So, over the last 4 months or so, I've been watching Doctor Who while I run on the treadmill, and yes. Once you get past the weird crap, and aliens eating people, I kinda like it. I actually really like it. I don't like aliens and all of that, but I LURVE the Doctor, especially David Tennant as the Doctor. There is a good reason that this show has been on the air for 50 years- there's something weird and unexplainable that sucks you in. It's not the aliens, because they're gross. It's the adorable Doctor and his friends that make you care about them. Endure the 1st season (of the new Doctor Who, which starts in 2005), which is campy and weird, but you get to know the premise and characters; then the 2nd season is when it starts getting good, and when you start looking up David Tennant on Wikipedia to see if he's married. It gets better and better as the seasons pass, I assure you.
Nils and I have been watching Friday Night Lights for a year or so, and we're almost done with the series. It's EXCELLENT. Trust me. It seems like it's about football, but it's not really.
We need something else to watch, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to pass them along- and yes, we have watched Downton Abbey. Dang that Matthew.
Books:
"Stoner" by John Williams. It's about a college professer and his ordinary, kind of sad life, but I didn't find the book sad. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is fantastic. No, he's not a stoner. That's his last name, silly.
"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. I listened to this book, which I recommend, as the narrator does a fantastic job. I really enjoyed it. Read the book before you see the movie.
"The Secret Keeper" by Kate Morton. Very good, mysterious story, and a very commendable twist at the end. It's in keeping with her other books, set in England, goes back and forth between the past and present.
"The Distant Hours" by Kate Morton. Ditto to the above. Good book.
"The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton. I didn't really like this one. When I was 300 pages into it, I started wondering when something was going to happen. Just lots of lamenting, fretting about the past, blah blah blah. Then the book finally ends, and the big "twist" is really anti-climatic.
"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. I listened to this one- a lot of language, including the f-bomb, but the story is quite compelling. Set in the future, where the world is basically in shambles- people spend their whole lives in virtual reality to escape it. There's a contest, a teenage kid wins... the story of how he does it. It's really nerdy and video-game centered, but it's an interesting commentary on obsession with the online world.
"The Red Prophet" by Orson Scott Card. This is the second book on the "Alvin Maker" series. I listened to this one, as well. It was pretty good. Nils has finished this series and really liked it. I'd recommend listening to them, as I find reading them pretty tedious. The narrators definitely help with that.
Feel free to send along any book recommendations as well. I like lots of genres, just no vampires, por favor.
Puppy, Pancakes, Baptism
We picked up our puppy on January 19. I was terrified. What the heck do you do with a puppy? The first week or so, I was sure we had made a terrible mistake. Getting up with the dog in the middle of the night was not something I enjoyed. Puppies bite everything all the time, including hands, fingers, feet and toes. I didn't like that. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that I would be the one with this puppy 95% of the time. I don't know why that reality eluded me, but it did. Long story short, we've had the dog for nearly 6 weeks now, and she's still alive, I'm still alive, and I'm pretty sure we'll keep her. Her name is Pip. She stalks me. The kids love her to pieces, which I think is why she stalks me. I rescue her from choke-holds on a regular basis.
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On Valentine's Eve, Anders said he thought I should get up and make everyone heart shaped pancakes for breakfast the next morning. I said, "Maybe YOU should get up and make ME heart shaped pancakes in the morning." (I'm so nice.) He did. Isn't that cute? He even colored them pink. Speaking of Valentine's Day, I have drawn a new conclusion about the day: if I want to have any sort of tender feelings for my children on Valentine's Night, I can't do school parties during the day. I did two parties back-to-back for Addie and Aani in their classes, and when I got home, I was totally wiped. Once again, I had hoped to have a love-filled dinner, but I was so tired! I did really well to get dinner on the table.
For the 100th day of school, the 2nd graders are encouraged to dress up like a 100-year old. I sprayed Addie's hair white and put it in a bun. She used a huge shoe horn for a cane, and wore some of Nils' old glasses. She was talking like a little old lady and cracking me up. Addie's always good for a laugh.
Friday, January 25, 2013
2 Saturdays, 2 Birthday Parties WHAT??
Every January, I mention the extended birthday situation we have here. I mention it because it's traumatic for me. We just get done with Christmas, and 11 days later it's time to start shopping and planning again. I'm not one who loves to plan parties or events. I see these pictures online of people who pretty much plan a wedding reception for their 1-year old's birthday party, and I need a Valium.
My purpose for documenting this is that I would like to congratulate us on giving Anders and Addie birthday parties on back to back Saturdays. Good job, us.
Anders' birthday was just a couple of days after the kids went back to school from Christmas break, so he wouldn't have had enough time to pass out invitations at school. We were able to do evites to all his friends, which actually worked out great.
We had the boys come over for lunch- pizza, what else?
We played Minute-to-Win-it games. It was fun for about 15 minutes, which was problematic, because that's pretty much all we had planned for activities. Heh-heh.
We made a Minecraft cake, due to Anders' obsession with the game. No one was all that impressed with the cake. We tried, okay?
After cake and presents, we still had about 20 minutes until parents started coming, so all the boys gathered together to play Minecraft on our phones, Kindles and iPad. They were all linked together and totally into it, and Nils and I just sat on the couch and shrugged our shoulders.
Anders had a great time and was very happy. Mission accomplished.
The next week it was Addie's turn. Nils made the invitations cuz he's got the skillz. I told him what to say, and he did the rest. Cute, eh?
We had dinner- Hawaiian haystacks, which is Addie's all-time favorite food.
Then we tried to watch a movie, which we rented from Amazon online. It didn't work. I don't know if it was our internet connection, our TV, or if Amazon's streaming service just isn't that great, but it would play for 30 seconds and freeze up. So annoying. BUT! Shrinky Dinks to the rescue! We pulled out those suckers, and that kept the girls occupied for over an hour. Tons of fun.
When the girls were done with shrinky dinks, they ran around the house screaming and having pillow fights. Again, we just looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders.
When I asked Addie what kind of cake she wanted, she said, "Um, could I maybe have a rectangle cake with those candy letters on it?" I was like, "Yes. And you are my favorite child right now."
I resurrected Heavy Heavy Hangover Thy Poor Head. No one knew what this was. Please tell me you know what this is. The birthday kid has to wish something for each guest after they bonk her on the head with their present.
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| We got Addie a new bike, which she can look forward to riding in three months. Ah, the joys of a January birthday. |
By the time the end of Addie's party came, I felt great relief, and we collapsed in bed about 30 minutes later.
I'm thankful for Anders and Addie. They're great kids. They get along really well and are good friends; I hope that continues forever. Both of their rooms are downstairs, and when I go to wake them up in the morning, more often than not they're both sleeping in the same room. They like to write stories together (Addie is the author and Anders is the illustrator). They like doing crafty junk together and make incredible messes. They both like the same silly books, like Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and will read those and laugh and laugh.
They're also crazy and drive me nuts sometimes, but mostly I love them.
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