Acting my age

Har and I have 3 kids, a minivan, have been married for 13+ years, and are way closer to the big 4-0 than I care to think about. But last night I felt old for the first time in my life...

We went to a movie and dinner on an impromptu date last night. Sitting in the theater I was getting so annoyed with these kids (for the purpose of this rant "kids" are late teens to early 20s) sitting near us. It was not the first time in recent months I have been sitting in the movie and a blaring light draws my attention away from the movie screen. KIDS texting! And not just for a minute, but for a good portion of the movie. Didn't they just pay to sit and be entertained by a movie? Are their attention spans so short these days that they need to carry on texted conversations during the movie? Are they blogging about the movie while they are watching? Have their parents not taught them any movie theater ettiquette? Do they not hear the public service announcement before the movie begins that asks everyone to please turn off their cell phones? Seriously, I wanted to get up, take the phone out of the kid's hand, and tell him he could have it back when the movie was over....then it hit me. I am old. The thoughts running through my head were all things I'd heard my parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, & old movie characters say out loud. I was one verbal step away from being T-H-E-M! {scream}

To make matters worse when Har was calculating the tip for our waiter after dinner he was complaining that the *kid* didn't even fill our drinks once and the tip he wanted to leave was less than 10% of our bill! {gasp} Grasping for my youth and some dignity I convinced Har to leave a better tip...he complained about it repeatedly.

Is there a solution to this problem or do I have to resign myself to comparing today's youth to the hardships I faced and complaining about their cavalier behavior? Help me!

RESULTS!

7 weeks of Boot Camp and...

I lost a total of 16 lbs. & 6 inches. Plus, I shaved a minute off my mile. Cathy, another boot camper, lost the same lbs. and inches as me...makes it hard to pick a winner. So we decided to split the cost of the next boot camp. Great solution I think!

My next goal is to lose 4 more lbs. before New Year's to round out my weight loss to 20 lbs. for the year.

Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family who have been super supportive. I appreciate all the kind words, encouragement, and listening to all my goals/accomplishments/eating habits/struggles....you rock!

SNOW!

My bro, James, sent me this pic from his condo in Vegas. It snowed almost all day. We never had snow like this when I lived there. I think Har and the kids are praying for some snow here. It feels pretty darn cold, but I don't think it's cold enough. Bummer.

Stay warm!

Ward Christmas Party

John, my step-dad, apparently has the same Christmas outfit disorder as my wonderful mother. He wore his excellent shirt - which I bought for him - "Christmas begins with Christ" along with his Christmas socks. He decided no one would see his festive socks unless he wore shorts...to the church...when it was super cold outside. Other than the fashion, the ward party was great! We had a yummy ham dinner. Har, Emma and I sang Away In A Manger with the Griffiths (Sandy used to be on the Lawrence Welk Show) during the great program. And of course, the kids got to sit on Santa's lap!

The Bonnie Hunt Show

Rachel and I met in Culver City today to go see a taping of the Bonnie Hunt Show. We had a great time! She is a fantastic host...hostess. She came around the audience afterward and was so sincere and kind. She asked us to tell all our friends about her show. Since everyone I told that I was going to the show asked me "Who is that?" I decided I would do a little advertising for her here on my blog. You can even start watching her tomorrow...and look for me in the audience. If you're here in LA she's on ch.4 (KNBC) at noon. The rest of you will have to check your local listings...now I really sound like a commercial!

A Week of Birthdays

We started last week with my mom's birthday. John made homemade tempura (yum). She wouldn't let us take pictures of her and the birthday pie.

Friday was Har's 35th. No cake, no pictures. Just he and I at the 007 movie and Target afterward. I love date nights - even if we have to wait for a birthday to get one.

Monday was John's 63rd. We had a cake with candles and even took pictures. Papa warmed his hands on all the candles...silly fella.

Christmas is coming...

Sunday night we went to my Dad's house to help decorate the Christmas tree...from Home Shopping Network, with ornaments...mostly from HSN. I'm sure the gifts my dad puts under the tree will be from HSN, too. He has a Christmas fetish. Although, Dedan said he'd be happy with the box the tree came in for Christmas. It was a nice night to have as a family and a very cool tree...even from HSN.

Grandpa Santa (as the kids call him) and my sweeties when our decorating work was done. I wish I could have captured the feel of the room with the roaring fire in the fireplace next to the beautiful tree, kids all wired from Grandpa's pizza, cookies, pie and hope for the coming Christmas. It was a lovely day!

Boot Camp Buzz

Today was yet another weigh in for Boot Camp, and the begining of the end. We only have two more weeks left in this session! Since I've been asked a few times about what we do and I'm trying to persuade my friends to do the next session I thought I'd tell you about today...and update you on my accomplishments.

Our hour went like this...

• one lap warm-up
• stretches
• 2 footed jump/squats across (side line to side line) the field
• "over the river" jumps
• jump/squats back across the field
• more "over the river" jumps
• 1 lap Indian run (Har warned me of these when he was in the Marines - ow!)
• up the stadium stairs across the bleachers and down, repeat until we've gone across
• stretches
• 1 more lap Indian run (double ow!)
• leg lifts
• one minute abs

This is why I'm cursing Melissa and/or Mandy during class. But the reason I love them the other 23 hours of the day...I lost 3 more pounds!!! That brings my total for five weeks to 13 pounds lost. WoooHoooo!

If I can do it then you could, too. Anyone want to join me in January?!

Satisfaction

Thanksgiving brought a plethora of family and friends who brought even more yummy food. It took more than one plate of all that good stuff to satisfy Har. I did pretty well even with all the tempting food around. My favorite is Aunt Boo's Stupid Spinach Salad (she named it), so I ate plenty of that. At today's weigh in I was pleasantly surprised that I lost more than anyone else and brought my total weight loss to 10 whopping pounds! I love Mandy and Melissa...of course, I can say that now while they're not here causing me pain & making me want to puke. During class I'm cursing them under my breath.

Hanging with the Hartungs

We (minus the working Har) met Amy, Al and the kids at Downtown Disney last Wednesday. We hadn't seen them since last Christmas '07 and they won't be back out for a while :-( Highlights from our day...

• Surprising Caitlyn while she was innocently doing some Christmas shopping ("Excuse me. Do you know where the bathroom is?")
• Emma enjoyed helping Caitlyn (her BFF) spend her savings at Build-a-Bear making a penguin which they named Cemmalyn (a combo of both their names).
• Amy and I fell victim to the cuteness of Calleya & her affection for elephants, and spent $10 each to buy her happiness.
• Allan pouted when he had to settle for chili in a bread bowl because they were out of clam chowder.
• The boys had a blast riding the tram to the parking lot and back with Uncle Allan
• Sweet Colby was just happy to be hanging out with Dedan.
• Taking fun pictures in front of the gigantic Christmas tree...Amy has all the good pix cuz my camera battery died.
• Finding out Amy is pregnant with Hartung #4, due next summer! Woohoo!

Seriously.

I have some fun pictures from a day with the Arizona Hartungs and from Thanksgiving, but when my mom came downstairs this morning dressed like this...

I was too distracted to post anything else.

She said she was just dressing up for decorating the tree and to annoy me. I think she would dress like this more often if I didn't live here. She was more concerned about having her picture taken with the curlers in her hair than this crazy outfit.

Disneyland Ditch Day

Our lovely Emma turned ELEVEN on Wednesday. We surprised the kids, pulled them out of school, and went to Disneyland for the first time in more than 4 years. Happy Birthday, Ems!

This was the first trip to Disneyland for Nash. We'd been talking up Mickey Mouse so much that we totally forgot about Nash's obsession with Toy Story. We'd been there for less than 10 minutes when Buzz Lightyear walked across our path. Nash froze and his mouth dropped open. If you know Nash then you know holding still is very unusual for him. Even after Nash composed himself enough to walk over to Buzz for a picture he couldn't stop staring (center below). It was a great start to an amazing day: perfect weather, no real lines to wait in, and we continued my favorite family tradition of having the kids silhouettes done (I think the one below is beautiful). I like this picture (Har & I don't often get our picture together), but Har thinks there's too much orange hat. That orange hat made it real easy to find him all day though!

Less than 2 minutes after we hooked Nash in his car seat....

Playing Catch Up!

We've been so busy - good busy - the last few weeks that I haven't had more than a few minutes to sit down in front of the computer let alone accomplish any blogging. Here's a quick peek at our afternoon with my bro, James, his wife, Jess, and baby Riley. The boys got Uncle James to watch Journey To The Center Of The Earth in 3-D...for about 5 minutes. Grandpa was a huge hit with Riley. Gotta love anyone who looks like Santa, right?

I've got lots more blogging to catch up on...stay tuned!

SHUT! UP!

I had my week 2 weigh in this morning. I was not very hopeful, because I worked out less this week and wasn't as good at counting my calories. And yet...I lost four more pounds! I wonder what would've happened if I'd been better! So this week (being the week before Thanksgiving with all the yummy food) I am on my best behavior. Maybe I won't dread getting on the scale next Monday morning. In the words of London Tipton, "Yay, me!"

3 lbs = iPod shuffle

Week one of my training with Melissa and Mandy's Boot Camp Challenge is over. I worked out 6 days, averaged eating about 1400 calories daily, and I lost THREE POUNDS! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!! They had a prize for the person who lost the most weight. Three of us tied at 3 lbs, so they did a drawing and I won the prize this week - this brand new iPod Shuffle! Sweet! Stay tuned for more progress reports.

Halloween Highlights

First, thank you to everyone who voted for Emma's costume. Wednesday Addams won by a bigger margin than Obama vs. McCain. But the combination of not being able to find the right outfit and the will of a 10 year old resulted in the punker outift. She never listens to me either when she asks for my help picking out clothes.

Emma as a punker (plays her part), Dedan as Luke Skywalker, and Nash as Mater (from the movie CARS for anyone without small kids) just before we went Trick-or-treating in Vista/O'side.
Rachel went Trick-or-treating with us while Har worked at the mostly annual Hartung Spook Alley. The ever bossy Nash quickly had her working for him. As he'd walk away from the door he would hand one of us his pumpkin then put his hands up and look at Rachel. Her job was to put him back in his stroller - walking is a lot of work - for the stroll to the next house...and more candy. Good thing she thinks you're cute, kid. This is my favorite picture from the night. Emma took it when Dedan fell asleep in the back of the van at the drive thru for some yummy rolled tacos...and this was before the time changed. Cutest Luke Skywalker ever.
The crazy Hartung boys decided to do the Spook Alley on Saturday also, but they lost some of their workers. Emma, who would NOT go through it the night before, volunteered to be a zombie in a grave. Creepy, huh? If you live nearby and missed the spookiness, I would highly recommend making it part of your Halloween next year.

not even teens yet....

Kaylie, Amber, Emma, Chloe, and Mackenna after they screamed - literally - for Troy Bolton (aka Zac Efron) during High School Musical 3. I figured Emma would have more fun seeing the movie with friends instead of only us. I was right. The girls had a great time, and I was glad to take them. Afterwards, we came back to our house for post movie fun....I'm wondering if the "fun" gets louder and more silly when they enter the teen years. They couldn't possibly eat more...could they?

A Day of Pumpkins

My dad came up today and we took the kiddos to the pumpkin patch. The kids rode ponies and the "train". We went through an honest to goodness corn maze that left Grandpa looking for a good shady spot to sit and a drink of water. Of course, we picked up some pumpkins for carving. This is my favorite picture from today, especially since Nash is coming out of the nose like the little booger that he is.

With Halloween coming we've been talking costumes. Nash and Dedan have costumes ready to go, but Emma keeps changing her mind. Answer our survey in the right column to help her decide!

Weirdos

Today I was leaving the grocery store and realized my kids would be getting home from school at the same moment - and I wasn't home. I called the house to find that Emma & Dedan had just walked in the door. They didn't care that I wasn't there...of course. I told them I'd be home in a few minutes. As I walked in the back door with a sleeping Nash on my shoulder I could hear muffled grunting. This is what I found in the living room...

My poor kids have inherited my warped sense of humor. At least they make me laugh!

Staring Contest

I just uploaded photos from my camera and found this one I had to share of Nash and the donkey at the pumpkin patch. This kind of cute is why I keep him.

My day...

Two posts in two days...can you tell my love is out of town?

Today was just as busy as the rest of my week. We had to meet a neighbor - ok, daughter of our neighbor - at 8 bleeping a.m. to pick up, transport and then set up tables and chairs. Rushed home, showered and went to the funeral of our sweet neighbor, Maggie George, at the Catholic church (her daughters babysat me as a kid). Left the funeral at light speed to beat everyone to the family luncheon at a cousins in order to set up food and help in any other way our hostess needed. Enlisted the help of many people to tell my mom to stay off her feet since she's supposed to not stand for more than 5 minutes during her recovery from surgery. She was fairly annoyed with me by the end of the lunch...which means I was effectively following the doctor's orders. We helped force extra food on people as they left, took the tables and chairs back to our church, and got home with exactly one hour until I had to take the kids to the stake center to practice for that night's program at the adult session of our Stake Conference.

Nash was at home with Papa for most of the day, and that says a lot about Papa because Nash is going through his child from hell stage. Good thing he's cute and has moments of brilliance that amaze me or make me laugh. Off topic! Kids made it to the church for rehersal just as they were starting. Then the program started. Afterward, my kids wanted to go home, but I wanted to stay and listen to the speakers. SO GLAD I DID.

Being at this session of Stake Conference was the lift I needed from this insane week. It is so peaceful just being in the room where so many people who are close to the Lord sit. Then hearing the speakers remind me of some gospel principles I needed to be reminded of! Filled my cup. What did I re-learn?
~The family is ordained of God.
~Read scriptures together and your family will be stronger and more peaceful (I could use some peace!)
~The covenant of marriage is a gift that we need to remember, cherish, and celebrate.
~Don't run away from the hard stuff (places, people, etc.) like Jonah did. The Lord will find a way to put you where He wants you to be. Do you really want to be in the belly of a whale for a couple of days?
~Discipline your children while they are young and the teenage years will be easier (I am a HUGE believer in this prinicple).
~When Dedan is tired he will sleep anywhere. Ok, so no one spoke on this, but he was snoring on my lap, and getting him to the car was like leading a zombie.

Busy day. Great day!

My week

I have had a full week. Other than the normal wife/mom stuff and the one thing I do regularly for myself - exercise class - I had my haircut by my fantastic visiting teacher, saw Wicked at the Pantages (Thanks, Dad!), sat for hours in the UCLA surgery center for/with my mom, fasted and prayed for big answers, planted herbs, helped Har build a shelf for mom's new fancy DVD player that filters the movies for you, saw my good husband off to Colorado where he'll be hunting and visiting family for TEN LONG DAYS, tried not to cry about that, and visited a pumpkin patch with Nash and some of our friends...some very sweet moms from another ward who quite often invite me to their play dates even though I'm probably 10 years older than most of them. I did have a similar friend a few years back, a younger friend, who told me that we got along so well because I'm so immature. I guess I haven't changed!

Our Little Vampire

Maybe it's because it's the season of Halloween or maybe because most of my family is either reading or listening to the Twilight Saga, but after Nash finished his Jell-O last night we decided he looked like he was a little vampire that had just eaten baby. Sick and wrong?...We know, but he got us back by waking up at 4 am throwing up all the Jell-O and then some.

Street Art Festival

Emma volunteered to help with her school's chalk art project at the local Street Art Fair. It was a pretty cool event. Saturday morning she brought Amber along for her shift. They got all chalky and hot in the sun.

Sunday afternoon we went for a family outing to see the finished product (Mystical Head: Head of an Angel by Alexei Jawlensky) and all of the other cool art. There was a full block of chalk art with pictures that were both replicas, like our school's, and some that were originals. All were cool. They also had some performance art. We saw a cool percussion group called ConUnDrum. JR's favorite was a car that had 2 front ends back-to-back with an independent engine in each end. She's a practical one, my mother. Since we were there at the very end of the whole weekend event we missed a lot of the other art, but it was a nice Sunday after church family activity. We're proud of our Emma for volunteering and representing her school.

Today's garage sale finds

Cool cape that flys behind you when you run: $5.

Something to put ladybugs in: $1.

Pink Butterfly Net: 25 cents.

Your first garage sale purchase ever: Priceless.

Amber, Emma's friend, buying Rollerblades. These are the new and exciting things we do with your kids when they stay the night at our house.

Date Night

Our normal dates are in the middle of the week while the kids are in school and Nash is napping because it's the least amount of babysitting for my mom. For some reason Har and I got a Friday Night Date last week. We saw Ghost Town with Greg Kinnear, Tea Leoni & some English guy that looks familiar. It was EXCELLENT. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard at a movie. Go see it!

Then we attempted to go out to eat at a restaurant we hadn't tried before...but the wait was over an hour and we were too hungry to wait. We realized then another bonus for our middle of the week, middle of the day dates. We found an old standby restaurant, Chili's, with a 15 minute wait and enjoyed a kid-free meal. Har only likes going there for the Chocolate Volcano Cake. I'll gladly go with him anywhere he wants to load up on junk food. He rarely does that.

A night out with my husband is always wonderful, but what we saw when we walked through the door made my heart smile. Maybe it's just seeing the boys still or sharing a chair without shoving or maybe it's just easier to see how cute they are when they aren't trying, but this is it. My joys. Two of the best things that ever happened to me.

How Nash Entertains Us

Nash being two years old - and super sassy - cracks us up on a daily basis. And you know how kids grow fast as lightening. I can barely remember Emma or Dedan being his age! I thought I'd share (and also record for my unreliable memory) some of the Nash funnies of late.


Yesterday he found the Vons ad on the table and brought it to me, pointing at the picture of Oreos he said, "Nash wants THESE cookies!" I hate smart kids.


gets stuck on a word and uses it in almost every sentence. Last week's word: probably (pronounced "prahbly") usually used with his name. Some examples of usage >>>> MOM: Who's cup is this? NASH: Prahbly Nash's. >>>>DAD: Who wants to take a bath? NASH: Prahbly Nash!

This week's word: tomorrow (pronounced "morrow"). In Nashish that means any time after right this second and is used when trying to convince you to do something. Examples >>>>I go swimming morrow. >>>>(while sitting at a red light) Mom, you drive morrow?


The other day after Emma and Dedan left for school he asked over and over again for watermelon. ("I eat wahtermelin!") We offered him grapes since we didn't have any, but that wasn't good enough. After offering grapes 3 or 4 times he came up with his own solution. "Nash go ni-nine stow and GET a wahtermelin!" Papa John's response was instantaneous, "Let Papa get his shoes on!" I'm not sure if it was the watermelon, the 99 cent store or hanging with his little buddy, but they were out the door in less than 3 minutes. Here they are enjoying the fruit.

I'm sure there will be many more Nashisms to come....stay tuned!

Seven years old!

Dedan turned 7 this week and tonight we had a party with some of his buddies. It was chaotic and messy and Dedan loved every minute of it. He got some fun presents, too! What a lucky kid to have so many people who love him, especially, Rachel & Trevor who sat in 4+ hours of traffic from Vista just for the party. That's love!

On Dedan's actual birthday we repeated last year's celebration and the whole family went miniature golfing. Could this be the start of a family tradition?

I tried to take a picture of mom keeping score, but instead she became a model for her new Miche purse with changeable outer shell/decor. If I'd been paying attention I might've noticed the gorgeous orange sunset in the background and took a better picture.

First Day (already)

Summer is over. Well, summer vacation is over. (It's still stinking hot). I drove my kids crazy the first morning of school taking pictures of them doing everything. I was trying something new! I settled on these boring pictures of them getting into line for their new classes.

Dedan in 2nd grade! I think his teacher (Mrs. Voltz) was one of my 4th grade teachers. We'll see!

Emma, and her two buddies from last year's class (but not this year), Kaylie & Amber. 6th graders. Ruling the school. Use your power wisely!

I'm not the only one

There are more people in my house getting sucked into the Twilight saga than just me... ...some need a little help figuring out how to hold the book.

Excuses...

I've been neglecting my blog again. Don't pretend your shocked. First it was because my computer was at the doctor for a few weeks, but while she was gone I became engrossed in a series of books. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (see the link in the right column). I finished the first 3 books in four days, but the 4th and final book took me a bit longer since I had to stop neglecting my family and steal an hour here and there to get my fix for Forks in. Seriously, best series I've ever read (yes, I have read Harry Potter).

I have the kids first day of school to blog, but that requires uploading pictures, etc. Maybe later tonight...

P.S. Happy Birthday to my baby sister, Tressa! 143

Summer of Nephews

This summer my nephew, Wyland, spent about a month with us and right before he left Garrick and Tristen came for almost 2 weeks. Entertaining all the kids has been a big part of our summer so far.

When it was just Wyland here, we went down to Redondo one day to meet up with some family friends from Vegas. The kids love searching for sand crabs. They had a whole pail full of them.

Thankfully, the lighting isn't good enough to see Dedan's tush. His bathing suit was too small and I think I told him about 24 times to pull up his pants.
The kids other favorite beach activity was boogie boarding. Below are Emma, Shelby (our friend) and Dedan. Now I need to find some garage sale boogie boards to use when I take the kids.

After Garrick and Tristen got here and before Mom & John left with Wyland we ALL went to the zoo - using our excellent membership passes. It was a little warm, but not bad. It was a fun thing for all of us to do together...without the chaos and mess of staying home. Right away Tristen and Dedan found this giant (kimodo) dragon. Cool!

We had to drag Nash away from the gorilla habitat.
Wy, the teenager, and Grandma taking a break at the playground while the little kids play.

We spent one afternoon at Marina Park beach in Ventura (where Mom took me, James & Tressa when we were growing up). As soon as we got there the boys ran into the water. Tristen didn't last long, but Dedan and Garrick stayed in the water for hours.

Most of the week Garrick tried to pretend he wasn't having fun. This picture proves otherwise. Maybe he should be covered in sand more often.
Emma and I glad we got to spend some time at the beach. Like my beach hair? ew.