"Eight Things" Tag

I got tagged with "Eight Things" from Rebecca. You may choose to participate and post your answers on your own blog, or you can post your responses here in the comments section. Or you can just read my own randomness and laugh at what a geek I am.  :) 

Eight things I want to do before I die:

1. Visit all 50 U.S. States (only 7 more to go!)
   
2. Go on a “Family History” tour to see places of my ancestry
   
3. Return trip to Latvia and add Lithuania and Estonia to the mix
   
4. Have Nathan take me to Chile to see his Mission sites
   
5. Visit someplace exotic, like Egypt or Tibet. Yep, those’ll do.
   
6. Find something I love and can really excel at. I have some experience in a lot of things but I’m not very good at most of them.
   
7. Figure out and effectively use once-a-month-cooking/freezer meals
   
8. Have a fantastic food storage rotation/organization system
   

Eight things I am passionate about:

1. Family
   
2. Cleanliness/tidiness
   
3. Organization!
   
4. Obedience and fairness
   
5. My Faith
   
6. A Job Well Done
   
7. Star Trek
   
8. Marching Band
   

Eight common phrases (more like conversations) heard in my house:


1. What do you want to eat? (Adults: "I dunno"; David: “Milk!”)
   
2. Do you need to go potty? "No.  I want a chocolate"  You need to go potty to get a chocolate.  "Oh ... I want to go potty."
   
3. David, climb down please ... David, please climb down  ... David ... You need to listen  ... David... ONE! ... TWO! ... Thank you.
   
4. What are you doing Mommy? ("I'm doing [...]")  Oh.  What are you doing Mommy? (I'm still doing [...]")  Oh.  Are you doing [...]? ("Yep") ...What are you doing Mommy?
   
5. I want to watch a movie
   
6. You need to let Mommy or Daddy help you do that.  "No, let me do it!"
7. You’re a good brother, David
   
8. Great job!  (I knew we said that a lot when David patted my shoulder yesterday and exclaimed "Great Job!" as I helped him pass a level on his computer game)

Eight recently read books:


1. (Reading) The Book of Mormon
   
2. (Reading) Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D.
   
3. (often referring to) Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron
   
4. Mothering With Spiritual Power by Debra Sansing Woods
   
5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
   
6. The Death Gate Cycle series (7 books) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
   
7. The Dark is Rising series (5 books) by Susan Cooper
   
8. Tales of Gom in the Legends of Ulm series (4 books) by Grace Chetwin
   

Eight songs on my iPod/ favorite songs:

Just so you know, eight is not nearly enough…I think I’ve switched out every song listed at least once…

1. “Don’t Give Up” by Josh Groban
   
2. “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Jon Bon Jovi
   
3. “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor
   
4. “Hero” by Enrique Iglesias
   
5. “Walk on the Ocean” by Toad the Wet Sprocket
   
6. “I Hope You Dance” by Leann Womack
   
7. “Ti Kwan Leap (Boot to the Head)” by Dr. Demento
   
8. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA
   

Eight random things about me:

1. Eight is my favorite number! I’m the youngest of eight children, and I love how a figure eight turned sideways also symbolizes infinity, reminding me that I am part of an eternal family. Oddly enough, I also had braces for eight years. Hmmm.
   
2. I’m left-handed
   
3. I grew into adulthood thinking I was one blood type, and found out when I was expecting David that I have a different type than previously supposed.
   
4. Before I went to college, the only time I moved was between the bedrooms upstairs. Since I left the nest 8 years ago, I have moved 7 times.
   
5. When I was in 2nd and 3rd grade, I performed in the Augusta Ballet’s annual Christmas performance of The Nutcracker. The first year I was a toy soldier and got to be the one carried off stage by one of the giant rats (my fellow soldiers were so jealous). The second year I was an angel and had to keep my hair in pink foam curlers for what felt like the entire month of December.
   
6. My parents are 2nd generation European-Americans who were born and raised in Salt Lake City, and I was born and raised in South Carolina. However, an “American Accent” test determined I have a Northern American accent, specific to New York State, the Great Lakes Area, and Western New England. Where did that come from!?
   
7. I have 32 nieces and nephews. Two are on Nathan’s side and thirty are on my side (not counting my own kids). I’m closer in age to my eldest sister’s fourth child than I am to her.
   
8. My favorite part of football is the marching band. I don't give more than half a thought to the pigskin, but I absolutely LOVE the percussion and brass sections. …And the color guard, of course. I was in color guard all through high school and for two years at BYU. Go Mighty Cougars!

Rocket Balloons

Yesterday our neighbor was outside playing with Rocket Balloons with her granddaughters.  David thought they were pretty cool so she gave us a pack.  Today when we were playing with them inside, we got an unexpected reaction from Daniel.

First see the Rocket Balloons in action:

Now see Daniel's reaction:

Like that? He did it again:

I think he eventually got used to it because he reactions diminished, plus I held him so he wouldn't feel as insecure with those things flying around. But he sure surprised us!

You Mine 'Em, You Keep 'Em

Ever since Nathan heard about a diamond mine in Arkansas that is open to the public, he's had an itch to try such an attraction. I read in a NC guidebook that they had some public mines in Western NC, and Nathan selected the Hiddenite Emerald Mine as his venue for realizing that dream of his.

We went today, and I'll have to say, what was most memorable honestly were the LINES.  By the time we found a parking spot, ate some sandwiches and got the kids organized, got through the admissions line and then the line for the tool rental, three hours had passed.  Ridiculous!  I hear it's a lot slower on weekdays, and I bet Memorial Day weekend didn't help our cause any, either.  The boys were amazingly well-behaved.  David is normally quite an explorer, but he was very good about staying right with us through long, hot, boring lines.  Daniel was a bit fussy b/c he was tired, but he too was remarkably patient with everything.

Anyway, we chose to go "Creeking" to look for our gems.  David didn't want to go barefoot, and we didn't want him wading in the water in his shoes and socks.  We actually had brought his rainboots with us, but didn't see anyone else wearing water-type shoes so we left them in the car.  The result was he stood barefoot on a rock in the middle of the creek, safely clear of the water, for several minutes.  Then he lost his balance and stepped in the water.  Oh the commotion!  I don't know if he didn't like the feel of the creek bottom, or if the water was too cold, or both, but he was one unhappy boy.  After that he kind of huddled on a rock on the bank of the creek and just watched us.  Pretty soon he asked to put his shoes and socks back on and just stayed clear of the water.  Eventually he decided throwing rocks into the water was fun, but we had to be careful about where he threw them because our little stretch of creek was absolutely packed with "creekers".  Right at the end we managed to coax him to shovel some mud into the screen and rinse the rocks off in the water once or twice.  Nathan was a little disappointed that David didn't get more excited and involved; Nathan sure had fun!

We found a few handsful of pretty and promising stones, but they turned out to be stuff that I don't recognize names for, and they aren't very valuable.  Oh well!  We came away with the very great treasure of memories of time spent together as a family.

On the Move, and other FHE fun

Daniel has started pulling up on stuff... we better watch out!

So he pulled up, he and Nathan had a little hand game going on, and then he cruised along furniture for the first time!

Then things just got silly with a camera in the room...

We hope all y'all had a fun Monday night!

Were-wood?

My friend Leah has created a new word: 

blorthy, adj.: to be blog worthy.

I've been pondering a tree in my back yard, and decided it was curious enough to be "blorthy":

Have you ever seen a dogwood look like this?  (Focus your optics on the trunk...)

Nathan came in after working in the yard and asked if I'd noticed the Werewolf tree.  He called it that because it looked like it had hair all over....

I had actually been scratching my head over it for some weeks.  When I first noticed this tree, I thought we had a poison ivy vine wrapping itself around it.  I went out to study it and see if I needed to break out the RoundUp to eradicate the nasty plant that also plagues our fence-line.  Upon closer inspection, this is what I found:

Not a poison ivy vine, but an insane number of dogwood sprouts out of the trunk!  I've seen a tree have an occasional sprout or two out of the trunk, but nothing like this, and especially not out of a dogwood...  Have you?  I think Nathan was on to something when he compared it to a werewolf.  

I therefore dub this tree: Were-wood.

Daniel's First Haircut

Tuesday night was haircut night. David has always been really cooperative with haircuts. I count myself blessed after hearing my friends' tales of trying to get their boys' hair cut. So I got him done lickety-split, then wanted to do Daniel. Of course, the first haircut needs a photographer! Nathan was upstairs exercising before his turn, and my hands would be busy doing the cutting, so that left David. He was more than happy to take on that responsibility! He did a decent job, too, but in case you're wondering why things aren't quite centered...there you go. A three year-old was calling the shots.

Daniel started out okay. I let him feel the vibrations of the buzzer on his hand before I started. I was having a really hard time getting around the back of the chair to the nape of his neck, however, so I had to try and lean him forward. He was already a little uneasy about the whole process, but he really didn't want to lean forward, and that was his eventual undoing. He threw himself back in his chair and absolutely bawled. I tried to work with him a little bit but eventually decided I was just going to have to call it good. I guess it serves me right for trying to do it right before bedtime! :)

A couple days later he was so cute playing contentedly in the middle of all his toys, that either he or David had dumped out of the bin. I took the first picture, and my budding photographer took the second:

I think David did a better job...

Oppose the Orphan Works Legislation

On behalf of my brother who is in the medical illustration field:

"I don't know how many of you have heard of or been following the Orphan Works legislation, but it is a matter of grave concern to everyone on the visual & creative arts community. It pretty much amounts to highway robbery of your copyright to any creative work you do. Anyway, the bill is sailing through the subcommittee pretty much without any opposition. If you care, and have a moment, write your congressional reps. There is a letter all ready to go at this link.

Many of the letters are editable, if you have other feeling or comments that you wish to include. All you have to do is fill in your name & address, and when you click 'send', it automatically fires an e-mail to your reps & senators. Pretty slick, and we'd appreciate the support."

Our Latest/Nash Rambler/Chompie Byte

May 9, 2008

 Well, the first part of April was pretty normal; happy, healthy, fairly low-key and stress free.  Nathan had a business trip to Los Angeles scheduled for the last weekend in April, and so I made plans to go down to my parents' house in SC to visit while he was gone.  I'll tell you right now: his trip happened, mine didn't.  At least not as planned.

 Daniel got yet another ear infection around the 14^th, this time in both ears.  Since the doctors had given him amoxicillin for his previous two infections, they decided to try erythromycin this time.  Awful stuff, that, not only for the patient, but also for the parent administering it.  Four doses a day for 10 days?  I was having a hard time getting them all in without waking him up in the night, which they told me not to do.  I was missing quite a few doses.  Anyway, we got him diagnosed on Monday, by Wednesday he was perkier, and then Friday he seemed to be having some kind of trouble again.  I took him back into the doctor on Saturday to make sure the antibiotic was working.  The doc checking him said one ear had completely cleared; the other still had lingering fluid but no more inflammation, indicating that the infection was resolving.  She said his fussiness was probably gas or teething and sent me on my way.  I was not satisfied that that was the problem, but didn't know what else to say.

 Meanwhile back at the ranch, David had thrown up Wednesday night, sat in a pathetic and heart-wrenching stupor all day Thursday without eating (at least no more vomit).  He perked up enough that evening that I took him to Little Gym the next morning.  Sunday, however, we decided halfway through Sacrament Meeting that he really wasn't feeling well still.  He was acting tired and ornery.  Daniel was still not himself either, so we took them both home after Sacrament Meeting and put them to bed.

 While they were napping I got an email with the news that my paternal grandfather was not well.  He had been admitted to the hospital with irregular heartbeat, contracted pneumonia, was not responding to antibiotics, was not breathing well on his own, and was resisting using oxygen.  He did not want to be kept alive through artificial means, so the family was anticipating his death.  My parents were flying out to Utah to be with him and do funeral stuff; they would not be back in time for my planned visit in Aiken.  I was bummed not to go down there, and even more bummed because I really wanted to be at Grandpa's funeral.  I have really regretted missing Grandma's three years ago.  Then we got this crazy idea for me to pack up the boys and go with my parents the very next morning!  I bought my tickets, and Grandpa passed away within half an hour.

 We arrived in Salt Lake City in one piece and in fairly good spirits, especially considering how tired the boys were.  Tuesday afternoon I went down to Nephi to stay with my sister DeeAnn and enjoy my other sisters' company as well when they came into town on Wednesday and Friday nights.  All four sisters under one roof.  I don't think we've had that occasion often.  (I was 4 when my eldest sister got married).  Daniel wasn't sleeping well and Wednesday he had another really rough day, so DeeAnn got me an appointment with her pediatrician Thursday morning.  I sure liked him!  Daniel had both ears infected again, even though he was still on erythromycin.  Dr Behrmann said to forget that and prescribed what has become my favorite drug—azithromycin—1 dose daily for 5 days.  David was still acting a little under the weather, too, and although I wasn't feeling overly concerned about him, Dr B went ahead and checked him while we were there.  An acute ear infection!  Poor guy.  He doesn't give me textbook signs of ear infections, so I can only imagine how many times he's gone untreated.  Doc whipped out a R_x for azithromycin for him, too.  Then I went out and bought Motrin to complement the Tylenol I'd brought with, plus some Benadryl Sinus to relieve pressure and help both boys (and me) get some much-needed rest.  They were sooo drugged up.  We all slept very well that night.

 Grandpa's funeral was Saturday morning.  It was a beautiful day, but quite cool with a very cold wind.  The service was lovely.  Grandpa had the distinction of singing at his own funeral, by way of a recording of him singing some Tahitian songs from his mission.  He was well honored, and I'm so glad I went.   We went to the interment, but that wind was so darn cold, I don't think many, if any, stayed longer than the grave dedication.  That night my Mom, my sisters, my sister-in-law and I enjoyed a Girls Night Out.  We had dinner together and went shopping.  It was a blast. I don't think we got back to Nephi until after midnight.

 Wednesday the 30^th I had the grand adventure of flying home by myself with the boys.  To say I was a little nervous would be a gross understatement.  I had major anxiety, as did my parents, aunts, sisters, and husband.  I had a lot of prayers uttered on my behalf, and I felt them.  Thank you so much everyone for your concern.  Our prayers were answered.  The boys were absolutely golden (and well drugged) on the trip home, and I had lots of very nice people offer to assist me on and off the planes and in the airports.  We were very glad to set foot on NC soil again and give Nathan big hugs and kisses.

 I had both boys scheduled to get their ears checked the day after we got home.  All the infections were cleared up.  However, Friday night David had a fever, and he started really complaining that his tummy hurt.  He'd been complaining about it pretty much since he vomited at the beginning of my adventures two weeks previously.  His appetite was down considerably, to the point that I didn't care what he ate as long as he ate something.  I didn't know if his tummy hurt because he wasn't eating or he wasn't eating because his tummy hurt.  That complaint just got rolled up into everything else I was juggling at the time.  More on that in a moment.

 Last Saturday we headed out to the coast to go to the NC Aquarium and Fort Fisher at Kure Beach.  We got the aquarium in, but when we went out to play on the beach for a little while, David felt so miserable he just sat in the stroller and asked to go back to the car.  We decided to cut the day trip short and came home early. 

 With the onset of David's fever, and complaints that his tummy and just about every other body part hurt, I started to get concerned, and back to the doctor we went.  They tested him for Strep, Flu, and another ear infection, but all were negative.  The doctor said he obviously was fighting some kind of infection, but the source of the infection was not obvious.  We just needed to keep an eye on him for the next 48 hours and see how things went.  She thought the tummy hurting was mostly constipation, based on the fact that she could feel stool in his intestines.  I didn't really buy it.  So he's got some on hold.  Big deal.  He'd been having bowel movements the whole time he was complaining.  But I did buy the laxative she told me to get, and I must admit the tummy complaints have stopped.  His fever and congestion cleared about the same time, too, so I don't know how to credit his pains.  I'm just glad to finally have happy, healthy children again after three weeks of clingy crabbiness.

 Ok, I've written way to much once again, and I'm falling asleep at the computer.   Time to say goodbye!

 As always, visit us at www.other2nashes.blogspot.com for pictures and videos of our latest doings.

 

We love everyone!
The (Other) Other Nashes

Nathan, Natalie, David,  Daniel

 

P.S. milestone: Daniel started crawling on all fours right before we left for Utah.  He's all over the place now!

--
Natalie


"No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?"
- Elbert Hubbard

Apology to the Knightdale Sisters

Tonight at Sisters in the Kitchen, a recipe-sharing group at church, the subject of blogs came up.  I asked how some of the ladies had gotten my blog address, since I haven't shared it with any members of our ward.  I'm afraid I made a mountain out of a mole hill, and I'm sorry. I certainly don't mind the publicity; I was just perplexed how so many people knew about it and had links to it posted on blogs I've never visited.  I'm absolutely delighted to have everyone visit my blog.  Please do, please share it if you wish, and please feel free to leave comments.

Wonders Never Cease

At the grocery store today David pulled a little green bit off some broccoli, ate it, and said "I like it!"  That surprised me, but then when we got home and I asked him what he wanted for lunch and he said "Broccoli!"  I about fell over.  The proof's in the photo:

Okay, he took three nibbles, declared he didn't like it, and dumped it in the garbage, but it was certainly a big step for him.  I'm so proud!

Baby Cougar Model

You can't see it very well in the photos, but Daniel's sporting a BYU jersey.  Go Cougars!  That with his stylin' hat and little brown sandals, I thought he looked so darn cute I couldn't resist grabbing a camera.  Plus he was actually smiling at me, which he hasn't done much the past few weeks with all the ear infections and sleep deprivation.

Looks like one, Smells like one...

I've been a little hesitant to take on a furry "child" at this point in our lives, especially since several of my siblings have attempted dogs with little children and backed out until the kids were bigger and out of diapers.  I kept telling myself (and Nathan) that I was going to learn from their experience and wait; afterall, we have two children in diapers right now.  Why would I voluntarily take on one more Someone to clean up poo after?  But Nathan's been eager for a furry for some years now, and a family in our last ward was looking for a new home for their dog Tess since they are moving to Australia. It looked like a good opportunity.  She's out of the puppy stage, she's a breed of the same family I grew up with and liked, and hey, she's free!  We took the bait.

So I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family:

Tess is a 4 year-old American Eskimo (aka Eskies) of the Spitz family.  Basically an overgrown Pomeranian.  I can do poms.  I had one growing up.  I'm familiar with their personality and maintenance.  Tess looks like a pom, smells like a pom (no smell, hooray!), feels like a pom (but 28 lbs instead of 7 lbs), however she has a much bigger sound than a pom, and I'm not even going to venture a guess on the taste...

Okay, so she doesn't pass the 5 senses test.  But she's not a pom anyway.  She's an Eskie!  Three cheers for a long-haired dog that sheds only lightly (it's true).  

Hip-Hip-HOORAY!

I must confess that I have some anxiety about acquiring a slightly nippy dog with small children,  but I think things will work out for the best.  For one I need to get out walking myself, and now I have extra incentive.  David has been interested in all the neighborhood dogs and asks to pet every single one walking by.

So here we are.  Her current owners will drop her off Sunday night, and then we're a dog family.  Woof.

Afterthought: I'm really, really, really am not eager to take her on right now with two little kids, and better to follow my gut now than wish I had. So, we (I) backed out. We wish the Cash family the best of luck in finding a good home for her. However, I left the post up just so you know what we've been up to.

NC Aquarium at Kure Beach

Nathan wanted to get away, so we did a spur-of-the-moment trip to Wilmington. We planned to visit the NC Aquarium, play on the beach for a while, and then visit a Civil War-era fort. The night before David woke up with a fever and complaining that his tummy hurt. We still headed out and did the aquarium, but he was so miserable on the beach that we cut that short, skipped the fort which turned out to just be a small museum anyway, and headed home. It was a little shorter than we'd planned, but we still had fun!

Some vague number of years ago I started a tradition of dipping my toes (or fingers) into the ocean when I went to the coast. I think it was around the time we got married and I loved that we were from opposite coasts. Anyway, so this trip I packed Daniel on my hip and trekked down to the water for my traditional wade. I thought Daniel might like to get his feet wet too, but it didn't go over so well. He fussed and complained as soon as the water touched his feet, and I don't think he liked the sensation of the sand rushing out from under his feet, either. I picked him up again quickly, but not before he had big globs of wet sand stuck all over his toes. So, I dipped him in again to rinse them off. He really didn't like that! I guess I can't blame him. The water wasn't the warmest I've felt in the Atlantic. After that he seemed quite content to sit on a towel far away from the water and brush sand off his hands.

David at the Taylor Farm

My brother Nate & family recently bought some horse property near their home in Mapleton, UT and they've been gradually building their animal collection.  Two horses, two ducks, two bunnies, and a lot of chicks.  When we were out West for Grandpa's funeral we stopped by their house for dinner and Family Home Evening.  They took us for a little jaunt to see the farm while we were there.  David thought it was a blast.

Here is Ethan showing David Marshmallow, a Lion-Head Rabbit. Talk about a fluff ball! I was surprised at how light she is.

David carried her all over and kept saying "He's so cute!" (everything's a "him") I couldn't convince him to put her down and look at something else!

I stopped recording after a bit, and then David said, "Look Horse, it's a bunny!" which I thought was darling, and so started recording again as he walked over to show the horse the bunny.

He eventually put Marshmallow down and went into the tack shed and climbed on bales of hay with his cousin Evan and the dog Kaylie.  David really liked Kaylie, too.  Then Nate suggested David ride a horse.  (!!!!)  That's little boy excitement right there.  Here's Nate leading David (and Kaylie) to meet Tango. 

Meeting Tango...

Look at my big boy!  Oops, the flash spooked Tango...

And off they go for a ride...

For reasons I cannot offer besides the fact that David's a boy and he's three years old, he found great delight in kicking the chickens.  I am so sorry Nate and Julie, kids and chickens!  Here he's with Ethan as they start to put all the chickens and ducks away for the night.

Thanks for the tour, guys!