Lisa Hula Hooping

As promised, here's a short video Brett captured on his cell phone of Lisa hula hooping with the Wii Fit. Enjoy.

The Wonderful World of Wii

Two years ago, if you had told me that there would soon be a video game that I would want so badly that I would get up at 6:00 am on the day it was released to make SURE I got one before it sold out, I would have suggested that you find a good shrink. Then Nintendo came out with the Wii, and Wii-fever has been slowly taking over my body.

Then last week, Kirk showed me a trailer for the new Wii Fit. I had to have it! Every pore of my being ached for that game. What? For a video game?!! Surely I had gone mad. When Kirk said I could get it as a belated Mother's Day gift, I tried for 3 days to talk myself out of it. I finally resigned myself to the fact that on May 21st (the day of its initial release), Wii Fit would be mine.

The day approached slowly and my excitement grew. By Tuesday, I was so determined to get this wonderful new game that I decided I would go to WalMart before work. I woke up at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, threw on some lounge clothes, and drove to a very barren WalMart, where the electronics department employees were not even yet due. I had to get the help of an assistant manager who found the Wii Fit games tucked out of sight behind a counter. I paid what was due, went home, and fulfilled my duties as an adult (got ready, went to work, blah, blah, blah).

At 3:30 p.m, I finally had the opportunity to hook up and try my new prize. I was at my parents' house, so Jack got to try it with me. We had a ton of fun hula-hooping, skiing, running, and all sorts of things. Lisa even tried the hula-hooping, which proved to be the most enjoyable part of all. Lisa can't hula-hoop. Brett happened to get there after work just in time to catch Lisa's attempt on video on his camera phone.

Kirk got to try it out that night, and he was complaining in the morning that his arms hurt from the pushups he'd been doing.

So far, I am more than pleased by this game's features and by its ability to make me exhausted. In fact, I'd better finish up so I can go get my workout.

Bathroom Remodel Update

It seemed like to took forever to lay the groundwork for our remodeled master bath, but this last week has flown by with elements of the new bathroom going in at unprecedented speeds. Take a look!

Pictures and Blogger

Okay, my fellow momma bloggers, this post is for you. So many of you love to post tons of photos of your adorable kids, and I love looking at them. My question is, how do you do it? Everytime I try to add pictures to my blog, I pretty much want to pull my hair out. The pictures always add at the beginning of my blog, and when I move them to where I want them, it messes up the formatting of my text. And being the anal retentive amateur graphic designer that I am, I have a really hard time accepting something that is less than perfect to look at. Am I doing something wrong? Is there some secret to hassle-less photo posting? Please help me!

Photo Sensitivity

I think it is called photosensitivity when you are sensitive to light. Today I experienced a real-life play on this word. As you know, I am a music teacher at Challenger School. Well, my students' performances have been going on this week, and they've been going very well. My last program today was a really talented 2nd grade class. They've been working really hard, and they were really prepared. I thought I was prepared for everything, too.

But what I did not anticipate (in all the programs I've played for, it has never happened) was that a parent taking flash photography would be standing in the exactly perfect spot for his/her flash to reflect off the plastic page protectors I use to house my music. Every 5 to 10 seconds, I was blinded by a flash of light which would momentarily blur my vision and make my music impossible to see. Thankfully, I've played the songs a million times, and this proved to be more annoying than troublesome.

But after each flash, my vision seemed starry for a few seconds longer than the last, and I was getting an increasingly strong headache. Between songs, I would look around to see if I could spot the offending camera; unfortunately, Parent X was reserving their camera shots for songs and dances only. I was starting to feel physically ill from being assaulted with this bright light every time I tried to play. Finally, desperate, I reached into my purse and grabbed my sunglasses. I played the remainder of the program in shades.

Although the glasses didn't make it any easier for me to read my music (it was now too dark most of the time with occasional bursts of glowing flame), but it did at least stop the growth of my headache. I still have four programs to go; I hope fate does not conspire against me to create this terrible phenomenon again. I may seek out the parent and strangle him.

Finally, a Win

Kirk & I have had a lot of fun at all of the Blaze games this year, but it was nice to finally see a winning game last Saturday. There were some really exciting plays, and once the game really got going, the officials weren't too bad either. The best part for me, though, was that I caught a shirt. Well, sort of.

Chief (the mascot) shot the shirt up into the stands, and I just sat there and watched as it travelled on its path headed, seemingly, straight for me. Kirk said, "That one's yours, honey," which seemed to bring me out of my stupor. I stood up, jumped, and stretched as high as I could, and I just missed it. But our seats are right in front of a railing, and the shirt had hit the railing and slid down into my seat. I simply turned around and picked it up. Crazy!

Too bad its a large, so after all that work, it is Kirk's shirt anyway.

Chubby Feet and Shopping Carts Don't Mix

I really don't know who to feel worse for, Alex or my sister-in-law, Heather. Last Friday while Heather had my boys, she needed to go to WalMart. She is apparently really brave, because she loaded up Ryan (3), Adam (3), and Alex (1) and took them all with her. At some point during her trip, Alex started to fuss. As she checked him over to see what the problem was, his crying became more and more intense. She realized his foot had gotten stuck between the bars.

When she realized she couldn't get it out, she rushed to the front of the store for help. Two strong men tried to pry the bars apart enough to let his foot through, but to no avail. Soon, they were surrounded with WalMart employees and management, but no one had any idea of how to free Alex. Alex's foot was starting to swell and turn purple, and he was screaming. Heather was crying, too, because she had no idea what to do. She decided she better have someone call the fire department and see if they could cut him free.

This suggestion triggered a WalMart employee to remember about the bolt cutters in the back of the store. Someone hurried to get the bolt cutters, and they were able to cut the bars and finally free Alex's foot. There was no real damage done, just a couple red marks on his leg where the pressure had been. But if you're ever at WalMart and notice your cart is missing a bar, you can think of Alex.

Worth Your 7 Minutes... Why I Love Sports

Even though I'm not one for sitting around for 3+ hours to watch a sporting event, I do love that along with sports comes examples of great sportsmanship. I hope I can raise my kids in a way that they would want to be the girl in this video.

The Bathroom Phase III

I'm finally painting the bathroom. Yeah! It's been awhile since I've been able to work on anything in there, because we were waiting for the mudding and taping, and we had some unforseen delays. But the ceiling is done, and the walls now have coat 1 (coat 2 to follow this evening). The next steps include doing the faux paint technique on the walls, hanging the pegboard in my cool little cubby hole, tiling the floor and backsplash area, and hooking up the lights. Trust me, there is lots more to do than that... but hey, we have to start somewhere.

Adam's Spring Program

Yesterday, Adam participated in a music program at school. Well, let me rephrase... most of Adam's class participated; Adam used his 15 minutes in front of an audience to stare blankly ahead of him. He did join in the fun for most of the dances, at least when other students weren't distracting him with their antennae (it was a bug themed program), but I may just have to come to grips with the fact that Adam doesn't like to sing.

Fortunately, he wasn't the kid who wouldn't stay in his assigned spot for more than 3 consecutive seconds. Adam was exactly where he was supposed to be at all times, and he never misbehaved. He just didn't sing either. I think they may have put him right next to the cute oriental girl in the green shirt because she sang loudly enough to compensate for his lack of enthusiasm. Who knows.

Overall, though, the program was adorable. My favorite part was "Shoo, Fly" where Adam got to dance with the cute oriental girl in green. I also really enjoyed "Busy Bumblebee," the only song Adam actually sang.

Another highlight was a dance about a butterfly. While the other kids spent their time doing the dance they'd learned, Adam spent his picking up his handkerchiefs again and again. I think someone greased his.

Quotes from Women's Conference

Thanks to Kris Vassel for these:

• "It is not for you to be led by women of the world, but to lead them" Sheri Dew
• "Coming unto Christ means walking away from the world." Sheri Dew
• "When you are folding a mountain of laundry, every time you pick up an article of clothing, think of a memory or a fun way the child to whom the clothes belongs to touches your life."
• "Use 10 minutes between meal time and dessert to do family scripture reading."
• "Don't underestimate the good you are doing when you are doing your best."
• "This is what we signed up for before coming to Earth. If all of the stressors were taken away, we wouldn't have a purpose to be here and learn."
• "Our ancestors did not come across the plains and sacrifice so much just so I could be more comfortable or complacent or have more 'stuff' ".
• "Instead of doing for the children, do with the children"
• "A lazy mom is one who does everything herself."
• "To be happy: Don't do whatever you like; like whatever you do!"
• "Buy a 'prayer alarm clock'. Set it for a time, morning and night and when it goes off, the whole family stops whatever they are doing and gathers for prayer."
• "Assign teenagers a night to cook. Mom's are there to help, but they make the menu and then write it down on a recipe card. The cards are then saved and the child has a great resource to take with them on their mission or to college of things they themselves have made."
• "No great cause ever succeeded without great effort."
• "It doesn't matter who we aren't when we know who we are."
• "If we are not involved with and take an interest in our children, someone else will."
• "Praise the positive and minimize the negative."
• "There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today." President Monson

The Power of Three

People say things always happen in 3's right? Thankfully, yesterday's triplet was made of positive events: Michelle & Skye's wedding, Kirk's graduation, and Adam's first soccer game. Each of these events happened at precisely 10:00 am on May 3rd. Congratulations to all involved.

I attended Michelle's wedding, which was really great. I was almost late because of a little mishap with Kirk's graduation cap, but I did make it. I don't have pics from the temple yet, but here are some pictures that Adam took (with the exception of the one he's in) at the reception last night.

Kirk (and his parents) went to his graduation. Kirk said it was pretty much long and boring, but I am really proud of his accomplishment. He actually has one class left for his masters, but he got to walk anyway. Look for details for a graduation party in the next month or so.

Christopher Vassel was kind enough to take Adam to his soccer game. They lost 22 to 2, and unfortunately the 2 points they did get were actually scored by the other team. But Christopher said Adam didn't cry even once. So to me it was a success. I'm really looking forward to his game this week.