12of12: February 2013 (Tuesday)

On the 12th of every month, I document my day with 12 photos. Welcome to February.

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1. Oatmeal with brown sugar & cinnamon and scrambled eggs topped with cheese 2. Rex D (the punk's Build-A-Bear treasure) has replaced Murrah Beth as his constant companion. 3. Special piano time with the punk. He's learning Itsy Bitsy Spider. 4. Addressing a valentine during my Skype meeting. My desk is a disaster.

5. The boys play at Grandma Lynn's house during my weekly meeting. The kitchen and master bathroom are under renovation, so the boys have an extra slick way to get downstairs. 6. I've made ghetto arm warmers for myself and several friends, so the punk demanded a pair as well. Now he's off to preschool. 7. The secret to great nachos is in the layering. 8. The basher and I read 4 books about snow before nap time.

9. Will we ever thaw? 10. My man took over parent duties so I could teach piano & violin and go to yoga class. 11. Esme and Vivaldi. 12. Therapy. (Yep, that's me attempting a forearm stand. One studio owner helped me get into position while her husband, the other owner, grabbed my camera. Have I mentioned how much I love The Yoga Center?)

12of12: January 2013 (Saturday)

All of my plans for January 12th fell through. We had two feet of snow dumped on us, so my morning plans at the Gifted Music School were cancelled. Then the basher decided to run a fever, so we were forced to cancel date night. This snowy day turned into lots of Wii and as much sledding as two little wussy boys can handle (about 25 minutes).

1. Homemade low-fat blueberry muffins 2. Sad sickie 3. Loving the Wii that Grandma Lynn & Papa Bob let us borrow (I have mixed feelings.) 4. J.K. Rowling kept me company during three miles on the dreadmill.

5. Leftovers for lunch (my fav!) 6. Snow prep 7. Cold ooops! 8. My man created a sledding track down the hill in our backyard, along with a walkway from the door to the track, and from the bottom back up to the top. After all that work, the basher went down once and the punk enjoyed 5 runs.

9. Lots of white stuff 10. Snowbeard 11. Icicles and sunset 12. Our sleek grown-up tub has turned into a kaleidoscope of primary colors.

12of12 on 12/12/12 (Wednesday)

Today is 12/12/12 and here are my 12 photos to document it. For having only 2 things on my calendar, one of which being, "make dinner," I sure found a way to fill the day full of stuff!

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 1. This little peanut had us up from 2-4 am last night with intermittent sobbing. I went in his room 3 times to comfort him and every time, I'd crawl, shivering, into bed, start to nod off, and there he'd go again. Now he's all bed head and adorableness, like nothing ever happened. 2. We found Rudolph (aka Rudy), hanging with the lambs and a donkey. 3. Preparing for the punk's 4th birthday. He's having a party on Friday, and each child will get to paint his/her own apron, then make a personal pizza. My talented and generous mother in-law sewed these for me and my sister in-law and I painted the names. 4. Story time. 5. We lasted 15 minutes in the story room before the basher escaped and I gave up. 6. We met Tia Paula and our friend Ella at the City Creek food court for lunch. She and the punk are so cute together. 7. Then we visited the hot new market in town. It was smaller than I had expected. 8. The basher's favorite book before nap time. 9. I am finally running again and it feels awesome (in the sore muscles, clear head kind of way). 10. Dinner and scriptures. Did you notice that we have 2 extra kids around the table? Tonight, we got a taste of what 2 sets of twins would be like. 11. My man and I dropped all four blond boys at the church for Santa's Night Out, sponsored by the young women in my ward. I should have folded laundry, but I read a book (Pride and Prejudice for the 4th time) and munched on Candy Cane Joe Joe's instead. Time well spent. 12. Bokeh christmas tree.

12of12: November (Monday)

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1. Silly Dad. 2. Purple lion vitamin. 3. The boys "helped" me do the dishes. 4. I spent about 2 hours cleaning this morning and didn't even touch the bathrooms, laundry, or downstairs.

5. Banana time. 6. Five Guys fries. Yum. 7. "I can't put my arms down!" 8. Two feet of snow.

9. Working. 10. I am ashamed. 11. Special Piano Time with the punk. 12. My mother in-law and I attended a photography class at the University of Utah.

The M Word

I remember my very first migraine. I was 11 years old and having a picnic in my front yard with some friends, when suddenly, each friend had only half a face. Laughing, I told my mom on the front porch that I could only see half of her face too! Her smile fell and she told me I'd better come inside. Having suffered migraines herself since the age of 11, she knew what I was in for.

Today, the punk came up to me and started talking, but I didn't hear a word he said because he only had one eye. The feeling that comes over me when I realize I have lost my vision can only be described as dread. In one second, all plans for my day vanish and I know I'll be useless and miserable for the next 8 hours, and "hung over" for the following 24. 

With the help of my man, who took over everything I was supposed to be doing, I have survived yet another awful migraine. (This was by no means the worst, but they are all awful.) My vision has been restored. And it's a good thing too, because when your punk has eyes like the sea after a storm (name that movie), you want to see both of them.

Trick or Treat

We had a great time trick-or-treating! That is, until the punk complained that he was cold and wanted to go home, take a bath, and go to bed. An hour early. The poor kid is feverish and miserable today. He has a Halloween hangover without even getting to enjoy his candy last night!

Bumblebee & Dragon

Cuter Bumblebee & Dragon

"Trick or Treat!"

We love our neighborhood friends!

It was a perfect Halloween night. Warm, clear, and bright. My family came over for chili. We had just the right number of trick-or-treaters, meaning I gave candy to a bunch of cutie pies, but didn't have to turn off the lights and hide behind the couch to avoid obnoxious late-comers. I was done with door duty by 8:30! Not too shabby. Now if only my punk weren't currently shivering and sweating under a blanket, I'd be content.

12of12: October (Friday)

Today was grey and rainy at 58-72 degrees. My college friend Lucynthia is in town, so we met her and her two (of 3) boys at the Discovery Children's Museum downtown. This evening, my man returned from a week in Chicago, and we hosted our girlyfriends for dinner and a movie while their parents went to dinner and ran a 5k. How many of you run races for your date night?

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1. Cold cereal just never sounds good in the morning. 2. Melancholy days make me happy! I guess that's a bit ironic. 3. The basher played with the colorful magnets while the punk tried to steal toys from his new friends. 4. Lunch on the roof. 5. Math nerds. Is it just me, or do we look about a million years older than when we graduated 8 years ago? 6. Cleaning the bathrooms during quiet time. 7. After reading together on the couch, the boys got physical. They miss wrestling when their dad is away on business. 8. Preparing to win our neighborhood pumpkin growing contest. 9. He's home! 10. Buddies. 11. I borrowed this hot air popper from my friend and may never give it back. I'm never going back to the microwave crap. 12. Mary Poppins. (I wanted to capture their glow-in-the-dark bracelets, so I kept the lights off and increased my time value. The two wiggly monkeys in the middle were blurry in every single picture.)