Yesterday Kyle had a patient who had had a few beers before his appointment. The guys said, "Let me guess your age. If I get it right you owe me a beer." Kyle just laughed and said okay. The guy guessed 41. "Was I close? Is it lower?" Hilarious right? (P.S. Kyle's 29.)
That's my laugh. Here's my favor:
Yesterday evening when Kyle got home from work, I was on the phone with my sister Ashley. She heard me say "Kyle, what should we have for dinner?" (interpretation "what are you making for dinner?") She said to me "Samantha! Kyle's been working hard all day. The last thing he needs is to come and have to decide what to make for dinner."
The truth is, Kyle often ends up making dinner. We started out both of us making whatever we wanted. Then eventually I started eating whatever he was having. He just cares a little more. For example, if we decided to have egg burritos, I scramble an egg, and put it on a tortilla, and I'm totally happy. Kyle on the other hand, takes the scrambled egg, but then he adds a delicious cheese, makes up some guacamole, microwaves some bacon. So eventually I just let him make things cause he cares enough to make them yummier. Plus, I always just want to make breakfast for dinner.
But I want to get better and make dinner more often for him and the kids. I have a few "go-to" recipes I use if I DO make dinner, but not many. So here's the favor- I want to know what your "go-to" recipes are.
What's your fall-back dinner that is easy to make and you always have ingredients for on hand?
What do you regular people eat? For example: my fall back dinners are spaghetti, quesadillas, or chicken & broccoli casserole. PLEASE- help a sister out. I want to collect your fall-back dinner recipes. For the sake of my children and husband- Leave a comment or email me at samanthaemiller@gmail.com.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Who they are: 2 yrs & 3.5 months
-When my kids want my attention, they've started calling me "Mommymom! Mommymom! Mommymom!"
-Any weird noise my kids hear they look at me amazed and say "what is that?" (especially Kate)
-Any thing my kids want right now, they ask for over and over again without a breath. (I want a treat. I want a treat. Treat mommy. Mommymom I want treat. Mom. Mommymom. Mom. I want a treat mommymom.) Times 2, people. I don't get a lot of peace.
-On that same note, they want us to "look" at things a lot. Like if they see the moon, they keep saying "dad, moon! Moon! Dad, moon!" It doesn't stop UNTIL we acknowledge them seeing the moon.
-The kids are into "mine." They are fighting over toys a little more. They are even having this conversation:
Kate: "my mom!"
Owen: "no MY mom!"
K:"no MY mom!"
O:"no MY mom!" (interchangable with "my dad! "no MY dad.")
-Their favorite shows right now are Super Why, and Max and Ruby. I love when they sing along.
-Kate loves loves pink. I don't really know how that happened. I guess I've always put her in pink, but it's still surprising to see her only letting me put pink rubber bands in her hair or only choosing pink crayons.
-They are pretending more and more. I love watching them. They can be so funny.
-They say goodbye to EVERYTHING. They want me to kill a bug, so I kill the bug. As they are walking away they are both saying "bye bug."
- They almost always say "bless you mommy" when I sneeze. They also so "thank you mommy" so well. It always makes me smile.
-In our new rental we have a chair that's built into the wall- a quirky little thing. It's turned out to be a great time out chair, and since we've been here time out has been a very effective disciplining tool.
-If I promise Kate something right before her nap, the second she gets up from her nap she's calling me out on it. I bought a blow up pool yesterday, and the very first words she said to me this morning was "pool?" I told her she could have raisins "later" before her nap today, and the first word she said to me when she woke up was, "raisins?" I'm going to have to watch what I say to this girl.
-They love tangerines. When they visit Grandma (kathy) they have always eaten a million tangerines from her trees. Now when I buy them at the store they want to eat all of them in one sitting.
-Kate is getting super interested in the potty. Everytime she poops (tmi?) she comes up to me and says "poop in the potty." I try to explain to her that she has to tell me that BEFORE she poops if she wants to sit on the potty. We've put her on there a few times but she hasn't "gone" on it yet. We'll probably try to start training her in a few months. I'm taking a road trip all of August so I have to wait at least that long.
-They are starting to take turns saying the meal prayers. They like repeating after us. The other day Owen said the prayer and then we had to say 2 prayers because Kate wasn't having it. She wanted to say it too.
-My kids repeat everything we say! Especially Kate.
That's all I can think of for now. I also make them hug each other if they are fighting too much and it's always pretty hilarious. Owen tries to shrink back from the hug but Kate commits to it. When they play together they laugh super hard and that's my very favorite.
-Any weird noise my kids hear they look at me amazed and say "what is that?" (especially Kate)
-Any thing my kids want right now, they ask for over and over again without a breath. (I want a treat. I want a treat. Treat mommy. Mommymom I want treat. Mom. Mommymom. Mom. I want a treat mommymom.) Times 2, people. I don't get a lot of peace.
-On that same note, they want us to "look" at things a lot. Like if they see the moon, they keep saying "dad, moon! Moon! Dad, moon!" It doesn't stop UNTIL we acknowledge them seeing the moon.
-The kids are into "mine." They are fighting over toys a little more. They are even having this conversation:
Kate: "my mom!"
Owen: "no MY mom!"
K:"no MY mom!"
O:"no MY mom!" (interchangable with "my dad! "no MY dad.")
-Their favorite shows right now are Super Why, and Max and Ruby. I love when they sing along.
-Kate loves loves pink. I don't really know how that happened. I guess I've always put her in pink, but it's still surprising to see her only letting me put pink rubber bands in her hair or only choosing pink crayons.
-They are pretending more and more. I love watching them. They can be so funny.
-They say goodbye to EVERYTHING. They want me to kill a bug, so I kill the bug. As they are walking away they are both saying "bye bug."
- They almost always say "bless you mommy" when I sneeze. They also so "thank you mommy" so well. It always makes me smile.
-In our new rental we have a chair that's built into the wall- a quirky little thing. It's turned out to be a great time out chair, and since we've been here time out has been a very effective disciplining tool.
-If I promise Kate something right before her nap, the second she gets up from her nap she's calling me out on it. I bought a blow up pool yesterday, and the very first words she said to me this morning was "pool?" I told her she could have raisins "later" before her nap today, and the first word she said to me when she woke up was, "raisins?" I'm going to have to watch what I say to this girl.
-They love tangerines. When they visit Grandma (kathy) they have always eaten a million tangerines from her trees. Now when I buy them at the store they want to eat all of them in one sitting.
-Kate is getting super interested in the potty. Everytime she poops (tmi?) she comes up to me and says "poop in the potty." I try to explain to her that she has to tell me that BEFORE she poops if she wants to sit on the potty. We've put her on there a few times but she hasn't "gone" on it yet. We'll probably try to start training her in a few months. I'm taking a road trip all of August so I have to wait at least that long.
-They are starting to take turns saying the meal prayers. They like repeating after us. The other day Owen said the prayer and then we had to say 2 prayers because Kate wasn't having it. She wanted to say it too.
-My kids repeat everything we say! Especially Kate.
That's all I can think of for now. I also make them hug each other if they are fighting too much and it's always pretty hilarious. Owen tries to shrink back from the hug but Kate commits to it. When they play together they laugh super hard and that's my very favorite.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Monkey see monkey do.
Kyle works from 10 until 7 on Wednesdays. It makes for a long afternoon. My kids new thing is to come up to me and say "go." They always want to go somewhere. And Kate also always wants "pool."
This evening I was trying to entertain my kids, stretch the minutes.
So I took my camera and told my kids to smile. And I couldn't believe it but they actually did. They even waited for the flash. That never happens.
So then I took them outside to try again.
I couldn't edit or take some of these out because I love all of these little faces.
I told them to stick their tongues out. And they did.
My kids don't usually take such good direction.
Owen didn't get this concept so well. It made me laugh last minute.
Kate was trying but Owen just started improvising.
This one is maybe my favorite.
This evening I was trying to entertain my kids, stretch the minutes.
So I took my camera and told my kids to smile. And I couldn't believe it but they actually did. They even waited for the flash. That never happens.
So then I took them outside to try again.
I couldn't edit or take some of these out because I love all of these little faces.
I told them to stick their tongues out. And they did.
My kids don't usually take such good direction.
Owen didn't get this concept so well. It made me laugh last minute.
Kate was trying but Owen just started improvising.
This one is maybe my favorite.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
4th of July weekend
We had a fun 4th of July weekend. Kyle got Friday off of work, so we drove 2 hours down to the Millers on Thursday night. Friday we spent the day running errands, shopping, and then swimming (while the boys golfed).
My kids have so many aunts that love them.
Kate and Grandma
Kaci gave them these matching spiderman sunglasses.
(I couldn't get Owen to smile for me. Finally I said, "Owen, do you want a treat?" and I got this winning grin.)
Friday night, the grandparents watched the 3 grand kids and all of the siblings went out for a night on the town. We went to a delicious sushi place where we sat in the VIP room. It was so much fun. Then we drove down to San Diego to go to Extraordinary Desserts. It was yummy and just really nice to be out with all the sisters and brothers.
The actual 4th of July was so much fun. I write the same thing every year, because we always do the same thing at the Millers. Saturday morning Tera, Ty, Keri, Toni and I woke up early and we were at the beach by about 6:30 am, staking out our beach front property with American Flags. After setting everything up, we had some delicious breakfast burritos, played with the volleyball, and then we all took a nap as we waited for the sun to come out and the rest of the family to come.
The rest of the family showed up from 9 am on. We originally thought we wouldn't last as long as we usually do because of the 3 kids, so we didn't bring any real MEALS down to the beach like we usually do. But the kids were super stars, they played all day and took naps too. Which means we ate a lot of snacks.
Kate resting. She didn't nap until later when we started to walk down to the street fair.
Keri's birthday is July 4th, so we always have a little party at the beach.
Grandpa with the grand-daughters.
The kids playing in the sand and little pool Kathy brought.
Kate washing dad's feet.
I was so happy my kids took naps. Not just for my sake, but because then it meant they could be cheerful and enjoy the day as well.
Grandpa, Kate, and Dad playing in the sand.
It was seriously such a great day. I got a lot of sun time, I got to read a book that I ended up loving, everyone played with my kids and they didn't get sun burnt, great company, and great weather.
We left at about 6 pm and went straight to the Pack's house, a family friend, where we ate a delicious BBQ dinner, swam in their pool, and watched fireworks. On the way home we were driving back to the Millers and directly over our heads a huge firework show began. So we pulled over and we were so close we could hear the launching. Owen didn't like the loud booms, and then Kate got upset too, so we got back in the car and watched from there and they loved it. Owen was just quiet and stared the whole time, while Kate just repeated everything I said. ("Wow!" "Cool!" "Pretty!" "oohhh!") We had a very successful 4th of July.
The next day, Sunday, was our 6 year anniversary. Seriously? When did we get so old? Unrelated, we sang the national anthem in church, and I can never get through the 3rd verse without crying. It's my favorite. We decided to stay for dinner and Kathy made us a delicious anniversary dinner and we had some cake for Keri's birthday. We really had a great great weekend. Thanks Millers.
My kids have so many aunts that love them.
Kate and Grandma
Kaci gave them these matching spiderman sunglasses.
(I couldn't get Owen to smile for me. Finally I said, "Owen, do you want a treat?" and I got this winning grin.)
Friday night, the grandparents watched the 3 grand kids and all of the siblings went out for a night on the town. We went to a delicious sushi place where we sat in the VIP room. It was so much fun. Then we drove down to San Diego to go to Extraordinary Desserts. It was yummy and just really nice to be out with all the sisters and brothers.
The actual 4th of July was so much fun. I write the same thing every year, because we always do the same thing at the Millers. Saturday morning Tera, Ty, Keri, Toni and I woke up early and we were at the beach by about 6:30 am, staking out our beach front property with American Flags. After setting everything up, we had some delicious breakfast burritos, played with the volleyball, and then we all took a nap as we waited for the sun to come out and the rest of the family to come.
The rest of the family showed up from 9 am on. We originally thought we wouldn't last as long as we usually do because of the 3 kids, so we didn't bring any real MEALS down to the beach like we usually do. But the kids were super stars, they played all day and took naps too. Which means we ate a lot of snacks.
Kate resting. She didn't nap until later when we started to walk down to the street fair.
Keri's birthday is July 4th, so we always have a little party at the beach.
Grandpa with the grand-daughters.
The kids playing in the sand and little pool Kathy brought.
Kate washing dad's feet.
I was so happy my kids took naps. Not just for my sake, but because then it meant they could be cheerful and enjoy the day as well.
Grandpa, Kate, and Dad playing in the sand.
It was seriously such a great day. I got a lot of sun time, I got to read a book that I ended up loving, everyone played with my kids and they didn't get sun burnt, great company, and great weather.
We left at about 6 pm and went straight to the Pack's house, a family friend, where we ate a delicious BBQ dinner, swam in their pool, and watched fireworks. On the way home we were driving back to the Millers and directly over our heads a huge firework show began. So we pulled over and we were so close we could hear the launching. Owen didn't like the loud booms, and then Kate got upset too, so we got back in the car and watched from there and they loved it. Owen was just quiet and stared the whole time, while Kate just repeated everything I said. ("Wow!" "Cool!" "Pretty!" "oohhh!") We had a very successful 4th of July.
The next day, Sunday, was our 6 year anniversary. Seriously? When did we get so old? Unrelated, we sang the national anthem in church, and I can never get through the 3rd verse without crying. It's my favorite. We decided to stay for dinner and Kathy made us a delicious anniversary dinner and we had some cake for Keri's birthday. We really had a great great weekend. Thanks Millers.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
So domestic
I feel like a domestic goddess today. I woke up, made my kids a warm breakfast, did a load of dishes, bathed the kids, took them to the movies, fed them a lunch I had made earlier, came home, put the kids down for a nap, made my husband dinner, went to a quilting class, and then stopped for some groceries. Now, I know that sounds like a regular day to maybe every other mother out there, but for me, that's about as domestic as I get. Whenever (if ever) I have a dinner ready for Kyle when he gets home, I think I'm the best wife in the world. It rarely happens. I know, Kyle's a lucky man.
The movie theater here shows a free cartoon movie on Tuesdays, and some girls from my ward invited me to go. It was Kate and Owen's first time in a movie theater. When we walked in, the movie (A Bee Movie) had already started. Owen jumped into my arms crying and Kate grabbed onto my leg (nervous but interested). Once I got them to their seats they seemed pretty interested, although Owen never made it off my lap. I guess he didn't trust the big screen enough to sit by himself.
We lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, then I ran out of treats, so we headed to the playground in the mall and finished lunch. I was surprised at how good my kids were, and it turned out to be a good day. I also feel like I'm making friends and that's nice too.
The movie theater here shows a free cartoon movie on Tuesdays, and some girls from my ward invited me to go. It was Kate and Owen's first time in a movie theater. When we walked in, the movie (A Bee Movie) had already started. Owen jumped into my arms crying and Kate grabbed onto my leg (nervous but interested). Once I got them to their seats they seemed pretty interested, although Owen never made it off my lap. I guess he didn't trust the big screen enough to sit by himself.
We lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, then I ran out of treats, so we headed to the playground in the mall and finished lunch. I was surprised at how good my kids were, and it turned out to be a good day. I also feel like I'm making friends and that's nice too.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Journal entry: Motorcycles
This is totally random, but when we lived in Vegas, there was a guy on our street who would often take out his motorcycle and ride it up and down the street. It was always SO loud, and if my kids were playing in the backyard they would JUMP back inside, throwing their bodies back inside to safety, usually crying or just really concerned. It always scared them pretty badly.
I tried to teach them that they didn't have to be scared. I taught them the word "motorcycle," and since this was way before they started talking, it kind of came out as "uhohkykul." This was both of my kids first long word. Kate was mostly the one I could understand, and the trick seemed to work. Everytime after that when the motorcycle went down the street, instead of coming in crying, they'd run to me with an excited face, pointing and saying "uhohkykul!"
I only wanted to record this story because even now, any loud car that we can hear from inside, my kids call a motorcycle. So I get it a lot. It's a large part of my life (jealous?). Also, when we are driving, they like to point out every biker (cyclist). This wasn't a big deal in Vegas, but there are a LOT of cyclist here, so car trips consists of me just saying, "yup, there's another bike!"
I tried to teach them that they didn't have to be scared. I taught them the word "motorcycle," and since this was way before they started talking, it kind of came out as "uhohkykul." This was both of my kids first long word. Kate was mostly the one I could understand, and the trick seemed to work. Everytime after that when the motorcycle went down the street, instead of coming in crying, they'd run to me with an excited face, pointing and saying "uhohkykul!"
I only wanted to record this story because even now, any loud car that we can hear from inside, my kids call a motorcycle. So I get it a lot. It's a large part of my life (jealous?). Also, when we are driving, they like to point out every biker (cyclist). This wasn't a big deal in Vegas, but there are a LOT of cyclist here, so car trips consists of me just saying, "yup, there's another bike!"
Sunday, June 28, 2009
I love a tattle tale
This week:
1. Kate came up to me screaming something incoherent and pointing towards Owen. That's how she "tells on him" when he's doing something bad, like sucking on his nutsie when he isn't suppose to. (Of course, obviously if the naughty thing is particularly fun, she doesn't tell on him and just joins him.) But the other day, she came up to me to "tell" on Owen. He had taken the bottle of children's ibuprofen, and was sipping the bottle outside. I had lazily left the lid off an hour earlier when I had given him some for a temperature, but I was cautious enough to put the bottle on the back of the counter. He had gotten his booster chair down and used it as a step stool.
Anyway, luckily Kate had told on him pretty quickly and he hadn't drank nearly enough for it to be dangerous. I pulled Kate aside and told her what a good girl she was and thanked her SO much for telling mommy. Of course, after the positive reinforcement she told on him for like 10 other things that day, but I was thankful to the point of tears that she had come and gotten me. I was right there, but of course as soon as Owen grabbed it he went to a quiet corner. It could've been way worse.
2. Also, I have no sense of direction in this new town I'm living in. In Moses Lake I just knew where everything was. In Utah I had the mountains to the east. In Vegas I had the strip as my reference point. As beautiful as it is here with all the trees, I keep getting TOTALLY lost. I tried to find a park on Friday because apparently some girls in my church have a "park day," but I turned left when I should've turned right and ended up in a different TOWN. Eventually I just pulled over and let my kids play in a totally random park. What can I say? I tried. On Saturday Kyle drove me to the right park so that I won't get lost next time.
3. Last Saturday we went exploring and ended up in Malibu at the beach. The only thing between Newbury Park and the beach is a LARGE state park, and it took us 1/2 hour on a SUPER windy road to get there. We were going 30 mph and I don't think we could've gone faster is was SO windy. On the way home we found a better road, and I'm optimistic that we'll be able to go to the beach often.
4. Lastly, today was only my second week in our new ward. There are 2 new families who are really nice, and I got to talk to a lot of people. I like our new ward, and I'm feeling pretty optimistic that I can find some friends here. The girls were all really nice anyway.
Wait, one more thing. Ever since our little park "incident" last week, my kids have been in total stranger danger mode. If there is another little girl or boy on the playground, if a nice lady smiles at them, if someone tries to say hi, or even is someone is walking past them, my kids are whimpering, hiding behind my legs, or crying and POINTING at the person. THREE TIMES this week I've actually had to say, "I'm sorry, my kids had a traumatic experience at the park last week so they are a little sensitive." Three times! And let me tell you, I don't get out much.
1. Kate came up to me screaming something incoherent and pointing towards Owen. That's how she "tells on him" when he's doing something bad, like sucking on his nutsie when he isn't suppose to. (Of course, obviously if the naughty thing is particularly fun, she doesn't tell on him and just joins him.) But the other day, she came up to me to "tell" on Owen. He had taken the bottle of children's ibuprofen, and was sipping the bottle outside. I had lazily left the lid off an hour earlier when I had given him some for a temperature, but I was cautious enough to put the bottle on the back of the counter. He had gotten his booster chair down and used it as a step stool.
Anyway, luckily Kate had told on him pretty quickly and he hadn't drank nearly enough for it to be dangerous. I pulled Kate aside and told her what a good girl she was and thanked her SO much for telling mommy. Of course, after the positive reinforcement she told on him for like 10 other things that day, but I was thankful to the point of tears that she had come and gotten me. I was right there, but of course as soon as Owen grabbed it he went to a quiet corner. It could've been way worse.
2. Also, I have no sense of direction in this new town I'm living in. In Moses Lake I just knew where everything was. In Utah I had the mountains to the east. In Vegas I had the strip as my reference point. As beautiful as it is here with all the trees, I keep getting TOTALLY lost. I tried to find a park on Friday because apparently some girls in my church have a "park day," but I turned left when I should've turned right and ended up in a different TOWN. Eventually I just pulled over and let my kids play in a totally random park. What can I say? I tried. On Saturday Kyle drove me to the right park so that I won't get lost next time.
3. Last Saturday we went exploring and ended up in Malibu at the beach. The only thing between Newbury Park and the beach is a LARGE state park, and it took us 1/2 hour on a SUPER windy road to get there. We were going 30 mph and I don't think we could've gone faster is was SO windy. On the way home we found a better road, and I'm optimistic that we'll be able to go to the beach often.
4. Lastly, today was only my second week in our new ward. There are 2 new families who are really nice, and I got to talk to a lot of people. I like our new ward, and I'm feeling pretty optimistic that I can find some friends here. The girls were all really nice anyway.
Wait, one more thing. Ever since our little park "incident" last week, my kids have been in total stranger danger mode. If there is another little girl or boy on the playground, if a nice lady smiles at them, if someone tries to say hi, or even is someone is walking past them, my kids are whimpering, hiding behind my legs, or crying and POINTING at the person. THREE TIMES this week I've actually had to say, "I'm sorry, my kids had a traumatic experience at the park last week so they are a little sensitive." Three times! And let me tell you, I don't get out much.
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