Of murder and giant carrots

Dear Resa ~

Probably the highlight of my week was hosting a Murder Mystery party. We did the same one (Way out West) that we did with your family, but this time BJ and I were the bartenders. I put way too much time and effort into decorating, but I surprisingly didn't stress about it at all. Plus, I think the atmosphere was pretty dang awesome because of it. I invented a logo for the Silver Dollar saloon, then put it on a sign for the door, on aprons for BJ and I, and even made stationery for people to take notes on if they wanted. I divvied out the food to everyone else (making my life way easier), and one gal brought cans of soda, wrapped in paper with our logo on it. We also took down most of our pictures/paintings and replaced them with black and white photos and tin types (all framed in old barn wood). And I borrowed a couple of old cameras as decoration as well.

Our guests were fantastic with their costumes, and really got into their parts. It was hilarious being on the bartender end of things. We had our entire main floor open, but everyone stuck to the kitchen and family room area (even though we had 18 people in there!), which made it far easier for us to walk around, listening to what people were saying, laughing at how people chose to make friends/enemies, and perform our bartender duties. I definitely want to do more of these. So. Much. Fun.

I think this next picture is my favorite, though. BJ did a panorama of the group. I just love how everyone is crowded in the kitchen, but Dan and Lucy are having a private moment in the family room.

And... let's throw things up a little and put kiddisms in the middle today.
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Me: What do wolves say?
Abby: They don't say anything! They talk!
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Kessa's dinner prayer: Help our food to be blessed. Help our family to be strong. Help our family to be safe while we eat. And while we sleep for lots of days.
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Abby: My teeth don't know they're surprised.
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BJ: Let's face it, Bellatrix was no Hufflepuff.
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Abby, telling me that there were monsters where I was: It's OK. They are bad, but they won't hurt nice.
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Sunday I was out in the garden and Kessa asked when we could pick carrots in a certain bed. I told her she could pick one right then. (She likes to pick them and eat them. I'm not going to complain.) She tried to, but it didn't take long before she told me she couldn't, because all the leaves were hooked to one spot. Now, there were a *lot* of leaves in that box, so I was rather skeptical. I went over anyway and soon found out that she was very right. (BJ points out that he has told me before that there was only one giant carrot in that box, but I have so completely ignored my garden this year that I apparently forgot.)

Resa. This carrot is gigantic. Ridiculously gigantic. After we cut off the leaves we weighed it. It was 4.2 pounds! BJ wants to put it on our front porch with our pumpkins. But the girls keep breaking off legs and snacking on them, so we'll see if it ever makes it out there. :)

Peter learned how to walk while pushing a little toy car on Sunday. He's been walking while holding fingers for awhile now, so this shouldn't be surprising. Honestly, I hadn't even considered trying him on it. Neither of our girls ever wanted to walk with it, so I've just dismissed it as a walking toy. But a neighbor's boy just learned to walk while pushing theirs, so I decided to try it, and man, he's taken to it like a duck to water. He can zoom around the house with it.

Also about Peter, I think his first word is officially “banana”.

We had parent teacher conference with Kessa's teacher this week. As expected, she's doing great. What I wasn't expecting was one of the schoolwork papers that was given back to us. Resa! What am I supposed to do with this?! Kessa is not boy crazy!

She is also getting a lot better at roller skating.

And... apparently I didn't get any pictures of Abby this week. But I suppose she dominates the kiddism section, so oh well? I did get a video of her telling a story tonight. If I have time, I'll transcribe it and send it to you separately. She's hysterical.

Love and hugs,
~ Tianna and Co.

A double dose of kiddisms

Dear Resa ~

I'm sorry for all the confusion with last week's letters. I had my days mixed up and thought you wrote on Monday. It was just a mess. And, just now, I just realized that my last post never actually posted. It had kiddisms and pictures! [sigh] Lesson learned, though! Never blog kiddisms and pictures from the tire store on my phone.

Forgive me?

Let's start with kiddisms. In good news, you get a double dose.
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Abby: Am I going to Liam's house?
Me: Yup!
Abby: But I don't like boys!
Me: Remember Brother Anderson?
Abby: I like him!
Me: He's a boy.
Abby: I like that boy but not other beautiful boys.
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Me: Can you tell me the story?
Abby: Mmmmm… no. I don't know how to learn it. Because I'm not a mommy.
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Pizza night at the Homers = Zoombini quote night. “There's something on here I don't like!” “The perfect pizza!”
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Abby: Mommy, we forgot to watch a show!
Me: You did watch a show. You just fell asleep while you were watching.
Abby: I noticed.
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Abby: G-O-L-M-O spells go.
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Kessa: Mommy! Time for breakfast!
Me: Is it ready?
Abby: Yes, because I can fly.
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Abby threw up tonight. We just got her resettled on our bedroom floor.
Abby: It's still hurting.
Me: If you need to throw up again, try to get it in that bucket beside you.
Abby, writhing slightly: I'm trying to push it out.
Me: Does it feel like it's going to come out your mouth or your bum?
Abby, relaxing visibly: It came out my toes.
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Abby: If you go to Farm Country, I will give you a candy. Promise?
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Abby, whispering: Mommy, if you let me go to Grandma Lovell's, will you give me a candy?
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BJ: Eight plus the tree plus the two is 13.
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BJ: With our hands combined, we are… holding hands!
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Talking about a favorite neighborhood kitten that died last year:
Abby: She ran to heaven.
Kessa: She didn't run to heaven. She didn't fly to heaven. She died to heaven.
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Abby is scared to sleep by herself tonight. She's in bed yelling, “Daddy, I'm scary!”
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Abby: Cooper! Watch this sound!
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I know you want us to write via real letters. You have one in the real mail from Kessa. And you should have gotten some printed at the MTC by the time you read this from Kessa and Abby. But I'm going to keep writing this one, too, as it doubles as my blog. So there. :P

I told you my mom took my kids for almost a week, right? It was marvelous. When I thought of something I needed at a store, I could just go get it. Right then. By myself. Or when some friends who decided to move to Boston had a dinner/game night and invited us, we went, even though it was late at night. I got so many little things done. Not many things that sound impressive on their own, but it was the conglomeration of all of them that made it so lovely.

I have a friend who does a podcast called The Protagonist Podcast. Every week they talk about a different fictional protagonist. A few weeks ago he asked me if I would join them as a guest for the Harry Potter podcast. Um. Yes! Yes, I would. So I did! Thursday night I went down to Orem and spent a couple of hours talking all about Harry. It was lovely. (It'll be edited down to an hour.) I'm excited for it to come out and see what it ended up being like!

Abby has been showing a great interest in cooking lately. That is actually an understatement. Every time I start cooking anything, she comes running into the kitchen, grabs her kitchen chair with her booster on the seat, pushes it over to wherever I happen to be working while yelling, "I want to help!" It's adorable and very inconvenient all at the same time. I think that might actually be a good description of kids in general. :D Anyway, so when my friend, Melanie, hosted a Kids in the Kitchen Pampered Chef party, I had to go. It was a little chaotic (it had a good turnout), but super fun. Abby and Kessa both had a grand time. And then, as is the point of the party, I spent way too much money on Pampered Chef items. But in good news, many of them I got so that I could cook with my kids more! So... hopefully that happens.

Last night Kessa walked into the ditch and completely out of the blue said, "I want to be more like a grown up.” I asked her if she knew what that meant and she said, “Yes. It means I have more chores and things.” She then proceeded to help me finish cooking dinner and setting the table! She's so proud of herself. (And I am too!) This morning, when she was having a hard time being responsible with her  morning chores and getting ready for school, I asked her if she had meant that she just wanted to be more like a grown up last night, or just for a couple of days. "No, I meant it for forever!" And then she got up and (admittedly very slowly and with prodding), finished getting ready for school. I love that girl.

Peter has stood up by himself for about 5 seconds multiple times now. At my parents' house he took a couple of steps by himself, but I don't think he's done it since then. He's getting there, though! He can also climb really well.  Up and down stairs. Up the stool in the bathroom so that he can turn on the water. And even more fun, he's also learned how to stopper the drain and fill up the sink! Woo! What a lucky mommy am I! ;)

And now, pictures.

Some pictures from Grandma and Grandpa Lovell's

Hopefully all is great in Mexico. That you can walk again. And that you understand and speak a little more Spanish. Hugs!

<3 Tianna and Co.

Letters and apologies

Dear Resa ~

This past week I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Have you ever read that? If not, you should. It's delightful. It always makes me want to write better letters. Why? Because the entire story is written in charming letters. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes tear-wrenching. It's written shortly after World War 2, mostly about the occupation in Guernsey, an island in the Channel Islands. Perhaps it's because I listened to it as an audiobook, so I got all the voices in various European accents. How can one not fall in love with that? I've decided I can write much better letters so long as I can read it in Juliette's delightful British accent. I must also use words like "charming" and "delightful." So try to read it in the same British accent I have in my head, k? ;)

Each letter is filled most with one or two stories, some questions, some answers to previous questions. And that's all. Perhaps that has been my problem—I write too much detail about ok many things. That perhaps is better for a journal. But not a letter. 

I know last week I promised you two letters, but life has charged on by and here I am, Monday morning again, and no letter written yet. So I will get you the one. I did promise you some stories, though. 

You worried you wouldn't be missed. Let me assure you that is not the case. Last week the girls were sleeping out on the couch in the loft (we have Silly Sleeping Fridays) when I heard Kessa crying. I went in, assuming Abby had invaded her space or something, only to hear her sob, "Resa! I miss Resa!"

It came completely out of the blue. We hadn't been talking about you that evening or anything. I don't know what made her think about you being gone, but something did. And, oh Resa. It was heartbreaking. 

I assured her you would be back and explained again that you were teaching people about Jesus. But we could still write you letters and call you every once in awhile. That worked for a second, but then she was sobbing again. So I reminded her that Jessa had gone on a mission, and she had come back! "But Jessa doesn't babysit me anymore!"

Isn't that adorable? She's afraid that when you come home she won't have the same relationship with you. I was justified in missing your babysitting! ;) But in the end she calmed down when I promised her that I would show her the map you made her to color in. We've since laminated it and they each have colored in a heart. 

This week the kids are all up at my parents' house for Fall Break so I can get stuff actually done. We've hung up a bunch of pictures and moved sprinklers, and then it was Sunday. I've been busy with babysitting co-op and primary this morning, so hopefully by next week I will have a long list of things done. 

And now you will be writing any moment. And I want to have something to send you, so I will post this. So much for an awesome letter. Forgive me? If you haven't written before I get home (I'm out for lunch), I'll send pictures. 

Love, Tianna

We're gonna miss you while you're gone

Hey folks! I'm blogging again! Remember how awhile ago I used to blog every week because BJ's sister Jessa was on an LDS mission, and my blog was my letter to her? Well lucky for you, his youngest sister, Teresa (hereby known as Resa) just left to go on a mission to Houston, Texas. She's currently in Mexico City learning Spanish and learning how to be a missionary. So for the next year and a half, most of my blogs will be addressed to her. I'm hoping to find a new groove, though, so you can actually enjoy reading my blogs instead of being buried in every detail of my week. Hopefully that'll happen... feedback is welcome. :)

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Dear Resa ~

You're in Mexico! And don't worry, we're missing you while you're gone. :D  How is your Spanish? Do you feel like you already have a good handle on it? Or are you totally overwhelmed by how much you don't yet know? I think it's awesome that you're learning Spanish. Though I feel like my future is going to be filled even more with you and BJ talking so I can't understand you. Maybe I should switch from learning Norwegian to learning Spanish... But then how will I learn awesome phrases like, "The wolf is eating me" or "It's raining men"? Maybe they would teach awesome things like that in Spanish, too... But then how could I justify a cruise to Norway if I don't learn Norwegian like I promised my grandma? So Many Hard Choices!!! ;)

Let's see... what things from this week would you care about...

Kessa put on a concert for us the other night. She sang 3 or 4 songs from Frozen while reading the lyrics in BJ's piano book. I wish you could watch videos... I'd upload one for you. Maybe I should make a video compilation for when you get home of all the videos you miss. That would be awfully nice of me. (Uhhh... we'll see if that actually happens. Don't hold your breath.)

There was a lunar eclipse of a super moon (which means it's 14% bigger than a normal full moon)! Did you get to see it? We let the girls stay up and they loved it! (Well, I think they mostly loved playing with the friends that came over to look through the telescope.)

Kessa continues to learn to rollerskate. Her newest learning technique? Pushing the stroller! (Don't be deceived, this picture makes her look like she's going waaay faster than she really is.)

And because you deserve a cat picture, we have a new pianist at our house! Meow!

And just because I got this adorable picture of Abby when we went to the Gardens at Thanksgiving Point for a nature walk for Joy School...

And now the part I know you actually care about. Kiddisms!!!! (And since this is the first time in a looooooooong time I've blogged these, I'll go back in time awhile. So you may have heard some of these before.)

• Me: Kitty. Kitty. Kittykittykittykitty.
  Abby: Mommy don't say that. That is not a word.
  Me: Kitty isn't a word?
  Abby: No it is not.
  Me: Kitty is too a word
  Abby: No, it is not a word!
  Me: Kitty is a word. I think you're tricking me.
  Abby: I'm not tricking. I'm teaching you to not say funny things.
• Abby is playing by herself, singing Let it Go, when partway through she stops and says, “Don't sing that song.” So she stopped, started talking to herself for a couple of minutes, then sang the last line of the song. And is now back to talking to herself. 
• Abby: Hey baby, I know you have short hair and long hair, but I don't have any batteries.  (Just in case you needed any awesome pick up lines for when you get home.)
• Things I never expected to say to my children include: “Write 5 words, and then you may go die.”
• Abby: When I am a kitty, I'm going to buy whiskers, a tail, and fur.
• Abby: Do you want Aurora or not Aurora.
  Me: Not Aurora.
  Abby: Well, then you will die to Jesus.
• Abby: My pretty fingernails really want to not fall off.
• Text from BJ: "Milestone: Peter can now carry a yarn “snowball” while pulling himself up onto an open toilet, and then throw the snowball into the toilet. And then reach into the toilet and splash around trying to reach for it."
• Kessa: Do you like Christmas more or Halloween more? I kind of like Halloween because of the candy, but I like Christmas more because I think of God more. And God is way better than candy.
• Me: Then why did you need my help?
  Abby: Because I wanted to do it by myself.
• Abby: Mommy, this rice is hot. That's because you're hot, Mommy!
• Kessa: I would never lie because I'm a princess. Princesses do not tell lies!
• In prayers:
  Abby: Thank you I died. [pause] Because I didn't.
  Kessa: Thank you that we got to Grandma's before the sun went down.
  Tamra: Help us to be nice to Grandma and Grandpa Lovell. And to be polite. And to not be rude to anyone.  (Note: this is way back from July when we had my sister's kids here.)
• Abby has gymnastics today. “Oh! I'll have to put on my leilatard! Just like when I'm at Leila's house!”
• I just asked Kessa to be quick to obey like Nephi.
  Abby: I want a fruit snack like Laman and Lemuel!
• Very common conversation lately.
  Me: Abby, did you have a good nap? Did you have good dreams?
  Abby: Yeah, I did.
  Me: What were your dreams about?
  Abby: Aurora.
  Though, sometimes the princess will change. Today it was Cinderella.
• Kessa: Those are falling awake machines, goldfish [crackers] are!
• Kessa: If you spell goats G-O-A-T-S and then take off the G, and crumble it up and throw it away, you spell oats!
• Abby: Mommy, I'm scared.
  Me: What are you scared of?
  Abby, screeching: I'm not scared of!   (Editor's note: This is VERY stereotypical of Abby's completely illogical tantrums.)
• Abby, wearing wings, “Mommy, I'm too old to fly.”
• Abby: I smell thunder!
  Later: I don't see any more thunder. 
• Abby just flushed her panties down the potty. Now she's distraught because her panties won't come back.

Ok, that's probably enough. Hope you got at least a good smile, if not a chuckle out of those. :)

Oh! And Kessa wrote you a card. We're putting it in the mail tomorrow (cross your fingers) so hopefully you'll get it while you're there! Tell us when you do, so we know how long it takes to mail you things.

Hugs! Can't wait to hear all about your first week!
<3 Tianna and Co.

Mmmm... Chocolate...

Abby turned three years old 3 months ago today. Perhaps I should blog about her party? Because it was awesome.

Ever since we bought Frozen soon after it came out, both of my girls have been obsessed. They sing the songs. They act out scenes. (The favorite being at the beginning with Anna waking up Elsa. They have entitled it, "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" and request playing it often. It's sometimes fun to be Elsa because I get to push my kids off the couch and tell them to go play by themselves... and they laugh!) So when my cousin's daughters, Aubree and Brinnan, posted their Halloween costumes of Elsa and Anna (homemade costumes, I might add!) and said they do parties... well, the party practically planned itself.

I saw this snowflake cupcake cake on Pinterest and decided it would be fun and easy. Once Abby saw it, she was in love. She still asks me to show her "her cake" on my phone.

We colored Frozen pictures while we waited for everyone to come. Once everyone showed up, we headed down to the basement to play Pin the Nose on Olaf and Freeze Dancing.

But then, to everyone's surprise (at least the under-6 crowd), Anna showed up in our basement! My girls were rather confused about it.

She explained that Elsa had been captured by the snow monster. They had to go help save her! So they all trooped upstairs, found a pile of "snowballs" (fuzzy yarn wrapped around wiffle balls), and threw them at the snow monster until they defeated him and saved Elsa.

Then we posed for pictures, ate candy/cupcakes, and just played with Elsa and Anna. Not bad for a 3-year old birthday party!

It was super fun having double Elsa and Anna's. Abby still talks about "2 Elsa's and 2 Anna's at our house!"

Peter was here, too. He was just too busy learning from Papa Lovell that he loves water to pay attention to anything. (Hah! Water. Appropriate for a Frozen party...)

All photo credit goes to Travis Lovell Photography.

Input requested

BJ had me play with Day One (the journaling app he works for) tonight. I ended up writing a stream-of-conscious bug report as a journal entry. It was late and I seemed to have lost any filters. It was really fun. BJ thought it entertaining as well. 

Afterwards BJ mentioned, "Sometimes I forget that I first got to know you through your writing." It made me realize how much I miss writing. And blogging. And how I seem to have lost some of my zest for life when I stopped writing. 

So, if anyone still reads this, what would you like to hear about? Kids? Life? Kiddisms? Old stories? Ramblings? Stream of consciousness on random topics? Opinions? Help a girl out!

Fasting when you can't fast

Today being Fast Sunday (In the LDS church, we set aside the first Sunday of every month to fast for whatever needs we stand in need of), I've been thinking of fasting as I got ready for church. I realized that in the last six and a half years I have been married, I haven't been able to fast for over four and a half of them. That's over 2/3 of my marriage I've been unable to fast!

As we've been teaching Kessa why Daddy doesn't eat these mornings, we've simplified it to this: When you need something from Heavenly Father, you pray and ask for it. But sometimes you really need something. You need or want it so much that you're willing to do even more than a simple prayer to show Heavenly Father how much it means to you. That's what fasting does.

This powerful tool I have largely not utilized over the past 6 and a half years due to pregnancy and nursing. But several months ago, while explaining to Kessa why we fast, I realized that was silly. Heavenly Father made my body. He understands that during pregnancy and nursing, my body needs extra nutrients and cannot go as long without eating. He made me that way! I cannot believe that he would expect me to forego the blessings that come from fasting simply because I am also nourishing a child.

It got me thinking. If fasting is a way of sacrificing something in order to show God my greater desire for blessings, why couldn't I sacrifice something else?

So I have. For the last several months I start my fast with something different. I usually start by thinking, "What is it I really want right now that I could live without, but would be a sacrifice?" Sometimes it's a particular book I'm reading (especially if I'm at a climax). Sometimes it's sugar. Sometimes it's anything other than simple, mostly-bland-but-still-nutritious food. This approach is completely customizable to the person.

Now, the scriptures specifically talk about fasting from food and drink, so I am not suggesting that everyone deviate from that. When I am able to properly fast, I do. But I think too often I've thought of pregnancy and nursing or being sick as a "Get out of Fast Sunday Free" pass. I have rarely stopped to think of the blessings I am joyfully missing out of. So now during the times that I am not capable of a participating in a full fast, I believe that Heavenly Father accepts what I can do. I am satisfied with this work-around.