Journal for a Sunday

 Today Ryan had the idea that we should spend some time journaling. We are living in unprecedented times though it feels like that phrase is very precedented now. We all can go on and on about how bad this year has gone. Australian wildfires, COVID, shutdowns, online school, online church, no outings, and lately the California wildfires and Smokey air. It’s hard not to get down about how horrible life is, and how we didn’t even know how good our life used to be. I think I’m learning to recognize the good now, because tomorrow might be worse! 

Ryan and I have date night again.

Ping pong is fun.

Pickle ball is really fun too. I like learning a new way to be active.

Hal looks super cute in his Superwings Jammies. No need to get dressed when you are already comfy and looking good!

Watching TikTok with four giggling kids while Ryan makes dinner is kinda awesome.

We have the technology available to continue work and school without getting getting sick.

Our Bishop cares and loves his ward family—even on Zoom.

Our kitchen table is long, large, and sturdy. Practically kid proof!

I love how the kids play the piano all the time now.  I love that it also has a volume button for noisy songs.

Our kids bathroom turned out  adorable. I just love the leaves and the colors.

Hal is potty trained!!!!!!!!! Can I get a hallelujah? 

I share a house with six book lovers. We have strong ties to the library.

We are eating ice cream RIGHT NOW!!!

Ryan now is a full time, bonafide, staff scientist. It feels so good to have a nice straight path ahead of us. And some extra cash to go along with it!

We own a house. 

We have five healthy, mostly happy, kids.

Air conditioning , fans, and beaches make even 112 degree days manageable.

Someday my kids will go to school with glee. 

And I think someday I will look back on this quiet, slow time with a bit of nostalgia.  Remember the good old days? When life was simple?

Live and love today!

100 Blessings of Livermore

1. Big bath tub
2. Trip to Greece
3. Nettie and Piper
4. Bishop Bills
5. Maggie and Family
6. Awesome TK
7. Kung Fu
8. Weekend trip to Gainers
9. Family Portraits
10. Grandpa's trip to San Francisco
11. Awesome first week
12. Ward Campouts
13. Mardens
14. Bike to work
15. Beautiful green hills
16. Nettie's Preschool
17. Ellie
18. Yuna
19. Autumn
20. Studio C birthday party
21. Our huge LOVE Sac
22. More piano students
23. Ladies game night
24. Book club
25. Breakfast club
26. Music club
27. Walk Up Choir
28. Christmas Play
29. Shepherd's Gate
30. Valentine's Party
31. Family dinners
32. Spelling Bee
33. AR champ
34. Ice Skating
35. Nettie's Gymnastics
36. Awesome neighbors
37. Temple Open House
38. Seeing Kelli
39. Science Olympiad
40. Dance lessons
41. Cul-de-Sac
42. Patio Table
43. 5 Alive lists
44. Trip to Grandpas Birthday
45. Trip to Oregon
46. Attached Garage
47. Saturday library trips
48. Gospel Doctrine
49. Exercise at Church
50. Best Ministring Sisters
51. Learning to teach Zumba
52. Bubble Run with Marielle
53. Christmas Scavenger Hunt
54. Not traveling at Christmas
55. Beach in Santa Barbara
56. Hosting 10 kids!
57. Near Park
58. Summit Park
59. Our House
60. Brushy Peak
61. Amazing Cub Scouts
62. Activity Days
63. Nettie Nutcracker
64. "Camping" at Del Valle
65. Thanksgiving at Knotts
66. Visiting San Francisco
67. Kids Museum Pass
68. Bike path to Marlin Park
69. Bike to school
70. Easy backyard
71. Bonners
72. Ellsworths
73. Georges
74. Harrs
75. Browns
76. Woodlands
77. Jenna singing at church
78. Sister Adam's cookies
79. Mother's Day Song
80. Rex Science Party
81. Nettie's Frozen Party
82. Six Flags Trips
83. Fun with Science
84. Wednesday Ice Cream
85. Clara
86. James
87. Ms. Woods
88. Mrs. Day
89. Ms. Santin
90. Mrs. Weber
91. Leeks
92. Science Night
93. Grocery Outlet
94. Hal turned one here
95. Croce artwork
96. Day of Caring
97. Nice landlord
98. Washer and Dryer upstairs
99. Nettie's plants
100. Our family has grown! 

Playground Rodeo

Every June we see posters for the Livermore Rodeo, but we've never been.  But now the school brings the rodeo to us -- presenting "The Playground Rodeo!" Before you start feeling jealous that your PTA isn't so clever, this rodeo is far from exciting. It's actually the euphemism for "long presentation about all things you can't do on the playground." I won't even start on how strict the rules are, but you get the idea: no running, no flipping, no having fun.  Nettie mentioned during dinner last night the low point of her day was standing in the hot sun for "hours" at the Playground Rodeo. Jenna declared with a smirk that Fifth graders don't have do the Rodeo, because they already know the rules.

This morning around noon, I biked to a friends house to pick up Hal from a playdate. Just as we started out Ryan pulled up with a frantic honk or two. "Hurry! Get in the car! Jenna's at the hospital!"
I couldn't have been more shocked. How could Jenna be in the hospital? After ditching my bike and climbing in, he handed me the phone and I listened to a voice mail from the school principal. In short the principal said she was riding alongside Jenna in an ambulance to the hospital. I called the principal back and she relayed to me that Jenna had been sent to the office when she looked pale and weak. Once there, she seemed to get worse and complained of blurred vision. The nurse and principal tried calling both Ryan and I, but neither of us picked up. Since we got the whole scenario second hand it's hard to piece together how it all happened but in short, they called 911. The dispatchers came and thought Jenna needed further testing, and so it was off the emergency room.

Once Ryan and I arrived at the hospital, we found Jenna in the ER and to our relief, she was ok! All her vital signs came back clear and she actually seemed a little pleased with all the attention.  It's certainly not every day you get whisked away from school in an ambulance! Turns out Jenna had been outside in the sun at the Playground Rodeo listening to yard duty's wax on about each item of equipment. Jenna's condition was really nothing more than heat exhaustion. Some juice, crackers, and a little down time had her back in good spirits. As we waited in the ER I'll admit I was a little miffed at all fuss and expense over pretty harmless symptoms. But then again, I was the one who failed to respond when they called me. (Cell phones! Why does it seem harder and harder to reach someone by phone when we are on them all the time??) I'm grateful the school was looking out today for my Jenna.

Later this afternoon I was telling Marielle about all the "drama" she missed out on while she was at school and she summed it up pretty good. "Well, at least now they'll know to shorten that Playground Rodeo! I mean if you have ambulances showing up to take kids away, that's gotta be a bad program!" Now let's see if we can get the school to take the hint...

Sunrise, Sunset

I remember when I first heard the word "blog". It was nine years ago around the time when Marielle was born. What? Blog? What a weird word. People "blog"? Couldn't they have picked a better word that sounds bless like bog or bugger? When I realized I could have my own blog and have an outlet for showing off how cute my new baby was, I jumped onboard.  Maybe some of you remember when this blog was "THE MARIELLE SHOW"? Ok, so I never got around to changing the url, but this blog moved on to feature not just infant Marielle, but all four of our kids as they arrived.  I did have the decency to change the header.  Ha!

Me, as a first time mom. 

Over the years I have loved blogging.  I've loved sharing pictures, funny stories and sweet moments. I've loved your comments and following your family blogs too. I've loved having this space to practice my creative writing and share my thoughts. But as our family grew, life got busier and I found myself with less time to compose witty blog posts. A fancy new app called Instagram came along and I wanted in. I could share pics right away without having to find time to write an accompanying post. I liked how quick I could share our life, but I did miss writing. I also missed the somewhat polished record of our life. Every once in awhile I'd try to get back into it, but it felt like I was throwing a bottle into the sea. Was anyone reading my words? I could tell myself that I was "journaling" and I didn't care if anyone read my blog but me, but it simply wasn't true. I loved the comments on posts from friends and family. After I would publish a post, I'd crave feedback and be watching for comments. But blogs were dying, and I conceded that the quick and convenient won out.

This is what you would see if Nettie had her own Instagram account

Lately I've been feeling that hankering to blog again. To share my life and ideas. I've been a mom for nine years now and I think I have a few good ideas worth sharing.  So I'm back baby! I'd like to introduce you to my new blog I've entitled, "Sprinkles On My Oatmeal." I've been working hard to get it ready to launch and I'm excited to share it with my previous blogging friends first!  (If you are reading this than you have proven yourself as a tried and true friend!!) I'm going to write to a wider audience than family and friends this time around which feels a little scary at times. (AHHHH!) I want to share ideas like the cleaning games we play, funny kid quotes, and the tricks and tips I've picked up over the years.  It will have lots of pictures and stories about my kids, though you won't find posts about talent shows or vacations anymore. You'll see a whole lot of our life since all these ideas have been created and tested by my family. So come on over, and check it out.  Follow along and help me launch this into the blogosphere!!

Hopefully I won't be too annoying if you keep seeing other shameless plugs on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter (oh wait, I don't tweet!).  I'd love to hear from you as I get this going. Feedback means everything to me and I want lots of input on how to make the blog better.  Am I'm sharing things that you find helpful? Am I being too bossy? Do the ideas work on other families other than mine? So with that, I'm closing the door on this little family blog.  It's been a good trip, a fun ride, but it looks like we other horizons to visit.

I write all my most important messages in cookies. 

Still Rockin the Nightgown

Jenna has always loved this Ariel nightgown.  We can't convince her to retire it.

Long live the Ariel nightgown.  It might turn out to be a nice shirt someday. 

Jump for Joy!

Tonight Jenna taught the lesson at family home evening.  She taught about joy and to finish up we took "jump for joy" pictures.  They turned out pretty cute and wanted to share.  (Jenna has the stomach flu and threw up multiple times tonight, but at this moment she was feeling pretty good.)

Crazy Hair Day!

Jenna was a little nervous walking out the door with this "do" for crazy hair day.  "What if I'm the only one?" she said to me nervously right before walking out the door?  Haven't we all felt that pang of nerves before arriving at a costume party?   I think she looks who-tastic in honor of Dr. Suess week.

Happy Halloween

Our kids were Raven Queen (from Ever After High), Aurora, A Ninja and Pirate Princess. 
A few friends asked, "how do you get Annette to keep her hat on?" Anytime she would grab for her hat, I'd say, "ahh!" which is baby lingo for "no" in our house.  This is the sequence of pictures I took right after I gave her the "ahh!" for trying to take it off at the kids Halloween parade.   You can see she is pretty sensitive to reprimands.  She was a happy pirate the rest of the day, promise!

April Fool's Fun

The world of pinterest, facebook, blogger, and the like has given us a mixed bag when it comes to parties and holidays.  On one hand it's awesome to skip the step where I have to think, and let someone else come up with all sorts of cute ideas for games, decorations, and food.  But on the other hand, I think we all feel the pressure to make every holiday amazing, memorable, and pin worthy.  I of course did not think of the sneaky meatloaf/mashed potato cupcake for April Fools Day, nor did I execute it with skill, but I did take a picture! So now everyone else can see what I cool mom I am and feel that they too must make these next April Fools Day.  Good thing I am behind on my blogging so that you have many months to prepare. 

P-U

I'm here to tell you that kids benefit from having a mom and a dad.  If it were up to me, my kids would have never seen nor smelled a plant that smells of a rotting corpse.  But Ryan stepped in and made sure they had that choice experience.  Thankfully I was "with child" when this plant was showcased at UCSB and I got to pull the pregnancy card and excuse myself politely from the excursion.  Clearly the smell would have made me nauseous.  Do you know they actually waited in line to see (and smell) this?

Nap Time at the Park

 Annette has taken many naps at the park.  So many that it is really not a photo worthy opportunity.  But when Rex takes a nap at the park, I pull out the camera.  Also it should be noted that I sent Marielle home to grab a pillow for him after he fell asleep.  I'd hate for anyone to think I was planning for him to nap on the park bench.  Our weather is nice enough to take an afternoon nap outdoors, but I don't want to encourage vagabond type behavior. 

PS Isn't that sleepy baby cute?

These Towels are Really Great

Last Spring we got a summer fun box from Shula.  Each kid got a disney towel with their name embroidered on it.  Two summers running we sure love these towels.  Here is Mary Karlee's hierarchy of kid towel utility.

1.  Towel
2.  Beach Towel
3.  Beach Towel with animated character on it
4.  Beach Towel with Disney animated character
5.  Beach Towel with Disney animated character and kid's name embroidered

There you have it future towel buyers, make your towel purchase go from boring to soaring!

Bedtime

Can I have some water?
I need to go potty!
Will you spread my covers?
Rex is out of his bed!
I can't find my flashlight friend.

I've heard all these and many more stalls from my children in their last stitch effort to avoid going to sleep.  Tonight they were up to their usual antics, but in kinda funny, I'll look back at this and laugh kind of way. Here's how it went down:


I was finishing up the dishes when Jenna startled me with a hug from behind.
MK:  Ahh!  Oh, Jenna.  Hello. Back to bed.
Jenna:  Mom, I love you.
MK:  Yes, I love you too.  Now back to bed.
Rex (running into kitchen): Can we go to a waterpark right now?
MK: No, it's bedtime.
Jenna: The waterpark would be closed right now.
MK:  That's true.  Back to bed kids.
Rex:  Den can we go to Disneywand?

If you give a baby a sword

If you give a baby a sword,

She'll probably bop you on the nose.

Respectable in the 80s

For Father's day we did a parody of "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and titled it "The Power of Dad." The kids and I had a great time practicing and getting all punk rocker for the occasion. I'm trying to do an air guitar, though the picture makes it look more like air ukelele.

Don't these girls look cute? After trying to recreate poofy bangs with such fine hair, I'll say it's a good thing that style is out.

And here is the Dad of Honor after the concert.  Happy Father's Day!!!

Letter of the Law

We have a rule that the kids can not bring in any toys they find outside.  I think Jenna's working the system.

Annette and Piper

 Many moons ago Ryan was talking to his mom about the great news that his sister Megan was expecting.  His mom mentioned how great it would be if "someone" would have another baby soon so Piper would have a cousin to grow up with.  At that moment Ryan knew we were in fact having a baby but we hadn't shared the news yet.  Two weeks later we got to give Shula that happy call that we took her advice and whipped up a baby.  :)  We were even happier once we knew both cousins were girls.  I'm so glad they'll get to grow up together.  

Piper is only two weeks older than Annette, but it definitely seems she's got the firm upper hand in the relationship. 

Double Stroller

If Annette was a twin I don't know how I would bring in the groceries.  Come to think of it, if Annette was a twin I don't know I would do anything.  I'm pretty glad she's a single baby in a double stroller.

How do we love thee, let me count the ways...

One morning while making breakfast I saw all the kids plus Ryan gathered around Nettie singing to her.  I can't decide if it reflects more about how much they love her, or how much she hates getting exiled to her exersaucer. 

Picturesque

We took a few pictures on Easter as many a family are prone to do, and while our traditional family photo turned out as usual (not a single one where each kid is looking and/or smiling) we captured a few choice snap shots that I loved. We took these right before our Easter Family Devotional at Bacarra beach on Sunday morning. It's only been a few months, but I already feel so nostalgic when I look at these.  Maybe I'm feeling our Santa Barbara mortality, or that I simply adore these kids of mine.  Either way, I hope you like them too.