Remembering Gobbles

This weekend our hamster, Gobbles died. It was so sad. We haven't dealt with the death of a pet in our family. It was hard. Made so much harder by regrets that you feel when you mourn the loss of someone special.

We all really loved that little guy. I remember when we first held him. He loved us and we loved him so much we had to bring him home with us that very night even though we were on our way to see Horton Hears a Who at the movies. We just couldn't bear the thought of anyone else adopting him.

He was so full of personality. It always made me laugh to see all the treasure he would collect and add to all his nests around our house every time he ran away. We loved watching him be a Houdini extraordinaire. One of my favorite times was watching him brace himself against his tube and try to push his cage door open with his hands and feet. He would walk upside down in his cage too. That always made us laugh.

He was so good with our children and all of their friends. Everyone wanted to play with gobbles and even if it meant he was awoken from a good days sleep he was such a good sport.

We loved to play with him. There were many great Lego build sessions that produced great amenities to our little hamsters usual world. Gobbles Land and the Gobbles mobile will forever set the standard in hamster history as the best of the best!

We had a funeral for him today. It was very sad. Mom, Dad and big kids all crying and poor little Kate, who doesn't know how to interpret and respond to what's going on, pretending to cry. We will all miss him very much.

Of course, the kids wanted to know right away when they would get a new hamster. No more caged animals for us for a while. They require so much more responsibility then we are obviously ready for. At least the other pets bug us for what they need. I think we will wait until we are all at a better place in our lives until we invite another hamster to be part of our family. Besides no little hamster could ever replace Gobbles!

A Sign

I found my first grey hair yesterday. Well actually it wasn't grey at all. It skipped grey and went straight to pure white. I don't think there is any coincidence that I happened to find this first little white streak in the same week after I was called to be the new Primary President (over like almost 30 teachers and 200 kids...not counting our nursery of sometimes 80 children).

I feel like I am losing my mind. Really I know after this Sunday it's not that I'm losing my mind. It's that there is just too much information for my mind to process and store and then try to retrieve. I told Dave I need to carry around one of his fancy phones. I think I'll try a small pad of paper first.

I just don't know how some people do it. Here I am trying to do too many things and not doing any of them well.

I'm sure there will be many, many more white hairs. Maybe one every Sunday. All I can say is that I hope I am a total babe like Storm (from the X Men) with a mane of white locks!

When It Rains It Pours!

For the record:

This week

-the washing machine broke (and can't be repaired, it should be noted that Kate wet the bed the night before it decided to die and I have her bedding sitting in the washer wet and now smelly)

-the car is making BAD sounds and will be in the shop within the next day or two

-the pump for our air bed was destroyed by one sweet 20 pound baby who by simply stepping on it sheared off the connector and now the dumb air tubes can't stay connected. (No air in the bed for Dave!)

-naturally it was the month to renew our car registration and Dave's dental malpractice insurance

-I have been called to be the Primary President (and if you have ever done that before you know how hard it is to have fiscal restraint!)

So according to my mathematical genius that adds up to several thousand dollars. AHHHH. I need a job:-)

And oh yeah, if anyone knows anyone selling a new washing machine, car and a queen size bed...please let me know.

Sara's First Hair Cut

So there wasn't any serious cutting. But Sara's hair was always in her eyes so she got some bangs. I love them! She suddenly looks more grown up I think but still so stinking cute. The stylist was a miracle worker. How do you cute a baby's hair when they are constantly shaking their head and get everything to come out even? Magic!

Hair Do's and Dont's

Katie today wanted to give me a hair do. I love letting her. I LOVE having my hair brushed and played with! Many times I have wished I had straight hair just so my significant others (boyfriends and now husband) could run their fingers through my hair. It would be so much more romantic if they didn't hit a snarl halfway through.

Anyway...

Kate was brushing out my hair with the brush and crayons (???) when she says, "Mom, I'm not going to brush all the tangles ( a better word for curly hair). I don't want Dad to fall out of love with you!" This made me laugh. I have often told her that one of the reasons that Dad fell in love with me was because he loved my hair. (mostly in efforts to make her feel better about her own curls and frizz...she wants straighter hair like her friends. One friend told her that her hair wasn't smooth and it has been an issue ever since!) "Mom, your hair is too big," were the next words our of her mouth. Followed by, "your hair is too puffy."

I have always wanted to have a celebrity make over. Wouldn't it be soooo cool to see what Nick (from What Not To Wear) or some other hair genius, could do with this...

Hopefully it would look better than this... (no offense Kate, you are till my favorite stylist) she calls this brilliant style a "garden" hair do, complete with flowers and dragonflies...

P.S. You know one year, I think I was 14, I actually used my hair to my advantage. It was Halloween and I brushed it out and teased it and made the most awesomely realistic lion's mane. I was the Sheepish Lion form the wizard of OZ.

My New House

To see the info click here

This is my new house. At least I want it to be! It is in Brush Prairie, a suburb of Vancouver. Four acres, a water fall, pond and acres of forest with a stream. Heaven!!!! I have been dreaming about it for a few days now, ever since Dave found it. Even the house itself is beautiful except the purple master bathroom. (I'm hoping that keeps everyone else away while Dave tries to find a job there)

The kids are excited too, which surprises me. I think they are just picturing all the fun adventures they could have. The tree forts and secret hideouts. Raising coi in the pond. Wow I'm hyperventilating.

Does anyone know a Dentist in Brush Prairie that wants to retire and sell us his practice????

I Wish...And The Evils Of Comparison

November 11, 2008

It is late and I have already tried going to bed, but sleep eludes me. The Doc said that if I write down the things that I'm thinking about as I lie in bed wishing I would fall asleep that I might just make it to La La Land. Otherwise they will just keep cycling through making me a very grumpy insomniac. I actually got out of bed last week to write a poem. Crazy. I'm 31 and nuts.

So here is what's keeping me awake at night tonight. Still a very selfish and childish reaction to testimony meeting last week. I have been really down this last few weeks and Sunday was already one of those really hard days. But the fragile since of composure that I was clinging to started sliding down a slippery slope when someone from the ward got up to bear testimony and included a public list of thank you's. Can I tell you how opposed I am to this. It doesn't matter whether it's the Grammies of the pulpit...it is always a bad idea. Thanking one person is different. If you single out one there is less chance of making someone feel left out. But when you thank several you almost assuredly leave someone out. You leave someone thinking man they mentioned everyone by me. The funny thing is that people always preface it with, "I know I'm going to leave someone out"...doesn't common since tell you to stop? Anyway, I felt totally useless and like a total failure as I had tried to make a difference and "be there". So I'm still struggling. Not because I wanted to be publicly thanked but because my efforts didn't make the list of what mattered to this person. I feel like a total teenager!!!

Problem number two. I have been in a total comparison rut lately. Isn't that what happens. You fall into a little depression and it gets only worse when you start thinking about your friends and the things you admire in them. But because you are already down your friends successes and talents make your own seem so small. Again...just a mean trick but I have been all too susceptible to recently. So here are the things I wish I could be...(not going to be a hypocrite and name names)

-the way friend A's children always look for some way to help whenever I see them in public
-friend B's total penchant for unselfishness, seriously she is always asking me how I am and if there is anything she can do for me
-the way friend C's children all love each other and get along
-the talents of friend D
-the gift of Motherhood that friend E makes seem so natural
-the way friend F is so devoted to the gospel and has made it such a focus in her family
-friend G's humor
-the relationship friend H has with her husband
-the way friend "I" can keep it all together and is always on the ball (I lost my purse twice this last week while shopping)
-the way friend J's children sit so reverently in Sacrament meeting
-how beautiful and stylish friends A-J are
-etc...etc...

Wow, so now that I've gotten all that out, I'm supposed to sleep better tonight. Somehow I doubt it.

I read a quote once that is so applicable here. It went something like this. Life isn't just a collection of beautiful pictures but the things that happen in between that get you from one postcard picture to another. This is definitely one of those "in between times".

Chancho

"I need to borrow some sweats...."

Nacho Libre...One of the greatest movies of all time

Chancho = Mexican slang for pig, a person who eats like a pig

We finally named our cat. Since he eats all the food in the house (his, the dogs, ours) this is a very appropriate name. We were having such a hard time naming him something that describe his general appearance that when Dave came up with this name I sighed a sigh of relief. We voted on Sunday. Four votes for Chancho and one for socks (poor Kate). We told Katie who started crying that the cat wasn't going to be Socks that she could use socks as his middle name. so she calls the cat Chancho socks. And for the first day or so after we named him she corrected everyone that called him Chancho. "No, it's Chancho Socks" you could hear her saying throughout the day.

What other names were up for consideration? The kids had a list on the bulletin board where they wrote down any ideas and who came up with them. Here is a sampling:

*speck, smudge, socks, boots, ali, thomas, roadkill, chainsaw, pepper, corn beef hash with a tail, coon, mo jo, bo, moe, pouncer, oreo, coal, fuzzy, rosco, whiskers, mittens, speedy, and baby

I think Dave is secretly very happy his name for a pet finally won an election!

Lost In Translation

Kate was looking at the pictures in her BOM yesterday and comes to me saying, "Mom all the pictures are of Jesus except this one (Moroni burying the golden plates). He's just an old man with a piece of wood." I laughed so hard. Hopefully Moroni is too.

Sara is weaned. We are both still a little sad. But here's to fitting back into my blouses soon!

The Face Of A Killer

Papa Vito you terrible man...killing Barry Underwood in cold blood

Happy New Year Everyone. Doesn't this convicted felon look a lot like David? The resemblance is scary.

We had a marvelous New Year's Eve and hope you did too! Dave and I hosted our first Murder Mystery to usher in the new year year. It was a riot. Kids partied upstairs and adults downstairs. And it worked out believe it or not. We were limited by the numbers of players in the game, I have done some research since and have discovered that there are online companies that will create games for you including catering to the number of guests you would like to invite. So next year we will try that out. But this year was awesome!!!!!

The Cast of Characters (and Suspects)

Bonney Lass and Bud Wiser

Tiny Bubbles and Ralph Rottingrape

Otto Von Schnapps and Merilyn Merlot

Papa Vito and Heddy (me but of course no picture...my costume was too lame!)

It took us almost three hours to discover that Papa Vito out of Spite for being taken for granted sunk low enough to Bury Barry in the wine cellar.

After our wild night of accusations we brought the kids done and Heather taught us all how to play Mafia. We played several rounds. So much fun. Emily talked about it all day long the next day and wanted to play it with any friend that came through our door.

Once we were all gamed out we went out into the freezing cold to light fireworks. Fortunately as is my custom I over bought for the 4rth of July. (everyone else was done and we still had a whole box to go...so we took some home to save for New Years) The kids and Dad's treated us to a pretty decent light display and then we came inside and talked a bit before finally heading off to bed.

I parties and I LOVE to dress up. This a tradition that is totally a keeper!

Chirstmas Feast Menu

Osso Bucco - slow cooked in the dutch oven all Christmas afternoon, tempting our taste buds

served on

Saffron Risotto - beautiful color and just a hint of sweetness makes this a perfect compliment for the veal

Christmas Salad - baby spinach leaves, strawberries, candied pecans and goat cheese with a raspberry champagne vinaigrette

Followed by

Christmas Cinnamon Torte - 38 layers of alternating cinnamon wafer cookies and chocolate whipped cream, decadence at it's best

Merry Christmas 2008

This year was a good year at the Wilcox home. Mom went way over board as usual with the gift buying but that isn't what made it such a great year. I would say that the highlight of this Christmas season was spending time with our family and friends. What a wonderful gift snow was during our Holiday. It gave us so many opportunities to get out and have fun together.

We enjoyed having our friends the Huillets over for Christmas Scones after opening presents and then having our friends the Phillips family over for Christmas dinner. That whole day I felt so grateful that we have such wonderful "family" away from family! Entertaining always makes me wish for a little bigger of a house though. It would have been great to have invited the handful of other families we would have loved to share our Christmas with. I think that will be a New Years resolution for me. To not be so intimidated to meet new people and invite them into my home. With our new church schedule meeting at 9:00 there will be plenty of opportunities to have dinner with friends on Sundays.

My favorite gift that we gave the children was not the cat. That comes in a close second. It was a baby cradle for Sara. We left it unwrapped under the tree. It was the first thing she saw and after that it was the only thing she had eyes for. You can barely see he rocking her baby in it in the corner of the picture in the previous post as the kids are unwrapping the cat. It was so fulfilling in some way to see he role playing being a sweet little Mommy. She loves her baby. And all Christmas morning she rocked her in her new cradle, talking to her, taking her out for hugs and then tucking her back in under her covers.

There was a "cat" theme this Christmas. This is my first quilt! More to come...

Of course I can't deny the cat it's place in awesome Christmas history. It was so fun to have such a massive secret to keep safe for two weeks. And the looks on their face were so worth it. Kate is still walking around asking if the cat is really ours!

Dave always finds something thoughtful to do for me and this year he surprised me with an enlarged picture that I shot of Mt. Rainier. It is so great to have a husband that supports me in my hobbies and helps me to grow my talents.

Fairy gifts are still big for Emily. I saw this and knew it would be perfect. It plays "Close to you" by Karen Carpenter

We did a lot of outfitting our family for our first backpacking adventure. We are gearing up to go maybe in late Spring or early Summer on our first camping trip minus the car. I am very nervous. Tailgate camping has SOOO many perks (comfort, fire and good food). But living in this beautiful state, we have to take advantage of it more. We are eager to camp in the wilderness. Who knows maybe I will think trading comfort, fire and yummy food for peace, quiet and non-drinking camping mates will be a worth while trade!

On of the cool things about this Christmas season was that the kids for the first time actually showed some interest in doing their own share of the giving. Chase came home from his friend's house after seeing him buy presents for his siblings and wanted to do the same. (don't you just love good friends!) He actually used his own money to by great gifts for his sisters. This is my miser we are talking about. It made me so proud of him!

It was just a great Christmas! It just makes you so happy to be happy doesn't it.

Operation Christmas Cat

We have accomplished the impossible. Dave and I have been hiding a cat in our master bathroom for two weeks. All in the name of the "ultimate" Christmas surprise! I can't believe that we made it to Christmas. The little stinker didn't cooperate very well. I think he is the loudest cry baby cat ever adopted. He meowed so often and so loudly that we have had Christmas music playing (loudly) on the computer every day for the last two weeks. Poor Chase even came out one night to ask us to turn it off so he could sleep. It didn't cover up all the noise but fortunately for the sake of the surprise, our kids aren't the quiet, pensive types and never were still enough themselves to hear the cat.

That was until Christmas Eve, when Kate comes into the loft to tell me that she hears a cat. It took some pretty fast thinking to come up with a cover. I told her "socks" our neighborhood cat must have gotten stuck in our garage. (you know its warm in there and cold outside...he was seeking refuge!) We went downstairs (away from the real meowing cat) and I opened the garage to let the nonexistent cat out. She totally fell for it too!

There were a handful of times when we had granted the cat visiting rites with us in our bedroom when one of us would open the door and he would make a mad dash for freedom. Several quick lounges were required to pull him back inside before he blew his own cover.

We were laying in bed in bed Christmas morning amazed that we had kept him a secret. Dave snuck downstairs to wrap him up in his own special padded and ventilated box. The plan was that he would fall asleep in his box while waiting for us to open all of our presents while waiting in the garage. He would be the grand finale. Unfortunately he had other plans. Dave had just made it back upstairs to tell the kids they could come down when we heard the most pathetic meows you can imagine. Chase looked at me, his eyes big a saucers, I knew he knew. All I could hope was that he would heed the warning in my eyes and not spoil it for his less perceptive sisters. I ran downstairs after Dave to help. When I got to the garage I saw Dave trying to stuff the cat back into his box. He was fighting like a champ. His paws busting through cardboard and wrapping paper trying to prevent being wrapped up again. We tapped him up like fort Knox. So instead of being the grand finale it became necessary for him to be numero uno. We brought the kids down, brought the package in from the garage, and let the kids bust him out. The kids shredded the paper and he was out in seconds. They were so excited, looking at us in total disbelief. It was so fun to have had such a great surprise for them. I feel like a secret agent!

Later we asked the kids what their favorite present was. The cat won unanimously. And he hasn't been put down since.

Twelve Days Of Christmas

Another one of my very favorite Christmas traditions is doing the 12 days of Christmas. We all love to doorbell ditch. I have been in the business since high school. And I love trying to find ways to work it into our family holiday traditions. I can still remember the first time I did the twelve days of Christmas. We were living in an apartment waiting for our house to be built in Tucson AZ. The new seminary teachers family had just moved in a few units down from us. Nicole, my sister two years younger, and I came up with the funnest things. We did a "Santa" themed 12 days. I remember my favorite day was when we left reindeer foot prints all over their walkway.

For the last five years (that I can think of) we have done our own 12 days. Unlike many who do it where you give one present on the 1st day, two presents on the 2nd day etc...we base ours on the traditions of Christmas celebrations around the world and then bring it all back to Christ. We pick a non-member family (except in 2006 when we had just moved back to Dupont in October and didn't know anyone yet except church friends). We start on the 14th so that we finish on Christmas day. And every night we sneak up to the door with a new surprise, ring and run. It is so much fun trying not to get caught. We also always enjoy making the special things that we deliver.

Here is the list of things we do. I have more than twelve so that we have back ups (sometimes I just can't find mistletoe or there just isn't enough time to make a wreathed crown with glowing candles).

Russia - Santa Claus - a stocking with three bags of chocolate coins and the story of Santa

Denmark - Christmas orange - chocolate orange, oranges decorated with cloves and the story

Sweden - Santa Lucia - her story and a wreath crown with candles

China - fireworks - sparklers (if I've remembered to save some from the 4rth of July)

Italy - La Befana - story and candy and coal (we ask them to leave there shoes out

America - Rudolph - story and the book and Pillsbury Rudolph sugar cookies

France - roasted nuts - a nutcracker and assorted nuts or yule log, story

Poland - painted eggs - we hand paint our own egg ornaments

Canada - taffy pull - taffy and story

Germany - gingerbread - gingerbread house kit, story

England -wassail and caroling - ingredients for wassail, story and a Christmas CD

Mexico - poinsettia - story and plant

Brazil - luminaries - hammered cans

Greece / Finland - mistletoe - story and legend and a sprig of mistletoe

I write a poem for each day. And then on the final day, Christmas, we deliver a nativity with the Joy to the world DVD produced by the LDS church and this poem that I love.