Merry Christmas

Printer problems prevented me from sending my own creation Christmas cards this year. The problem was that my old printer died and the new printer took toooooooo long to come. I truly get excited and find joy in designing and printing my own cards each year. I was disappointed that I had to resort to sending traditional store bought cards. If you got a card from us consider yourself very lucky. If you didn't get a card from us consider yourself among the majority. I wasn't able to send out as many cards as I would have liked. If the printer would have arrived in time this would have been your Christmas card.

Visitors from Jerusalem

The Lewis family on a weekend getaway to the ancient city of Petra.

My brother Glenn and his family are coming to town for Christmas. They live in Israel and I don't get to see them much, so I am really excited to have them here for the holidays. Since they used to live in my ward I am hosting an open house for them. It will be this coming Sunday, December 20th from 7-9 p.m. You're invited to come and see how Glenn and Erika are doing and just have fun catching up with friends. Refreshments will be served. Due to the lack of space, I prefer it to be adults only, but if you need to bring babies and kids they are welcome. Hope to see you there.

Winter Wonderland

A few years ago I would have gotten upset by neighborhood boys walking through my yard and disturbing my pristine snow covered yard. This year however, I am overjoyed to see footprints size 5 and 8 (and even neighborhood boy size) scattered across the once pristine snow.

This past week’s snow storm and warmer temperature made conditions perfect for two little girls to play in the snow.

Check out the snowflakes piled up on Eva’s eyelashes. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to suffer like her with such long and thick lashes?

 

Scary Claus

In our home we prefer to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and the birth of our Savior, because frankly that "Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas" guy is far too scary.

See.....................

This is as close as Mallory was willing to get to the jolly old elf. Now for Eva’s turn:

Oh, the TERROR!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Click In-the-Spirit-of-Thanksgiving and smile. I am thankful for you. Happy Thanksgiving.

A Case of the Wiggles

Our primary program was this past Sunday and apparently they didn't sing the "wiggles song" beforehand to get the wiggles out of my daughter.

The previous four years I have been involved with the program, having been in charge of it for the last three. So this year was my first year free from the stress of the program. I didn't think much about the program until a friend and counselor in my primary presidency turned to me to say how weird it felt not to be involved. I had to agree. As the primary children began to sing, there was a moment when a wave of panic hit me and I thought, "Am I in charge? Ah, I don't know what's supposed to happen." But that wave quickly passed, only to bring with it a new wave of nerves as I realized my contribution to the program this year was to provide a wiggly sunbeam, Mally. These are the wiggly things she did during the program:

• Picked her nose and ate her boogers.
• Licked the top of the wood half-wall she sat behind.
• Waved and said out loud, "Hi mom and dad" at three different times.
• Faced backwards for one whole verse of "How Firm a Foundation."
• Stood up and down at random times.
• Turned to her neighbor to show her where her mom and dad were.
• Sang opera style anytime a note was held out. Meaning she would wiggle her head with her mouth wide open and eyes closed.

In her defense, I was proud to see her singing her heart out. To watch her from a distance performing and thoroughly enjoying singing was truly a moment when I could see she was my daughter and just like me. And for a moment she even looked like me. Maybe that was when she was singing opera style.

Maybe none of you noticed Mally's wiggles because like me you were too busy nervously watching your own child. Apparently this is the case, because when talking to a friend about the program she hadn't noticed Mally's weirdness at all. She wanted to know if I noticed her girl sleeping one moment and then pushing her neighbor the next. I hadn't noticed. And I guess I also missed one boy punching another girl and making her cry and another boy looking ridiculous as he over-enunciated every word in the songs. Strangely, I find great comfort knowing other kids are maybe just as wiggly as mine.

This is the Place Scrap and Share

Tooele is the New Park City

Stephen and I have a great tradition. It is called the "Secret Surprise" (it got that name because it properly describes the event and I like alliterations). Each summer we take turns planning a surprise special event for us to do as a couple. Usually we leave the kids with a grandma and we spend the night somewhere then pack our days with fun childless activities.

This past weekend was the big "Secret Surprise." Stephen planned it, so he knew the secret and I was surprised. We dropped the girls off at his wonderfully kind mother's house (THANK YOU SHERRY!) And then we headed west. I was a little nervous as we kept on driving west all I could imagine was we were going to Wendover or Reno, and I wasn't too sure about wanting to go to those places.

At this point in the car ride west I was thinking, "Where are you taking me?"

To ease my nerves, as we drove we played a little yes and no question game. From that I was able to guess that we were going to stay the night in Tooele and race the next day at the Miller Motor Sports Park. Cool. Both were new experiences for me. And both turned out to be wonderful.

We stayed at a nice hotel in town, enjoyed the view of the Great Salt Lake, were far too childish at the pool, and thoroughly enjoyed being together and childless for the night. Who knew Tooele could be so much fun? I guess it's the new Park City for us. Maybe.

I included this picture, because that was EXACTLY the way I felt as we entered our hotel room.

Don't let looks deceive you. The one who is nervous doesn't look it, and the one who isn't nervous looks it. I think that was part of his winning strategy.

The next morning we headed to the races. We met up with Stephen's boss and his girl friend, and Stephen's co-worker and his father and brother. We had a nice group to race. Stephen satisfied his need for speed and was the fastest and won the race. I, on the other hand, was the slowest and totally lost. Since the track was a loop, I watched everyone pass me two or three times. Great fun was had by all.

Good looking and fast.

As we drove home to get the girls I couldn't say that I was well rested and relaxed after the night away. In fact, I was ready for a nap. But I could say I felt totally loved. Thanks, Stephen. I love you too.

Kickin' Up My Heels- Once again

I decided it was time I started dancing again. I danced all through my childhood, in high school and through college. Since then I have been trying to fill that void with exercise classes, yoga, running and tae kwon do. But, none is as enjoyable to me as dance. A few weeks ago I was dreaming of how wonderful it would be to take a dance class. I didn't know of any adult classes around, so my thought was just a dream. Then a week later I came across a write-up in a local magazine about DansAgain. It offers jazz dance classes for females 18 and over. I called and signed myself up. Last night was my first class and it was wonderful. I am so excited about it. I loved the atmosphere. All the other women seemed nice and normal (no skinny-ninny prima ballerinas, thank goodness). We are all moms in our 20s-40s.
I am so excited about moving and dancing again. I love choreography and performing. I think this is going to be wonderful. Our big concert is in May and you are all invited. Though the thought of dancing as an adult in front of adults does embarrass me a little. Oh well. It's all for fun and for the love of dancing.
If any one is interested (Becky, Shaunell, Abby- think about it) I will gladly give you all the details about the program. The instructor's name is Lacy Seegmiller, 427-2115. She offers classes Tuesday nights and Thursdays in the daytime. The classes are held in PG. Classes are just $30 a month.

4 Fabulous Things for Friday

#1 Saw childhood best friend Becky in the parking lot of Target. Hi Becky. It's always fabulous seeing you.

#2 Had afternoon nap then decided I should take a nap every Friday afternoon. Fabulous idea!

#3 Opened the door to get mail and was greeted by a large FedEx package. Addressed to "Jeana Ward," that's me but, mystery box, what could you be? Opened box with knife and used knife to stab the mystery contends under the packaging peanuts for safety (there could have been a decapitated human head in the box, you never know). Instead of mystery body parts, I was pleasantly surprised to find the words "congratulations" written on the box inside. It turns out I won a Good Housekeeping sweepstakes and won 14 bottles of various gourmet all natural cooking sauces. I vaguely remember entering the contest on Good Housekeeping's website. I entered every contest that seemed interesting to me. Fabulous! I won. So, that leads us to fabulous item #4.

#4 We will have salmon tonight in keeping with our "Fish Friday" schedule. And tonight's fabulous meal will be marinated in a soy ginger marinade. Just a little something I whipped out of the mystery box.

4th of July Scrap and Share

Spinach Pesto

If you are like me, you like spinach and you like to buy the big 2.5 pound bag of it at Costco because you like the cheap price. But, you don't like letting some of it go to waste and you don't like eating spinach for every meal until you have consumed all 2.5 pounds all by yourself.

So, I thought I would share one creative way I use the spinach to make a quick pesto for pasta dishes for months to come.

Spinach Pesto (I make a variation of this depending upon what ingredients I have on hand. The original recipe came from Real Simple Magazine)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup walnuts (I sometimes use pecans)
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 pound baby spinach (about 10 cups)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I've used feta or mozzarella before)
  
• kosher salt and black pepper

Directions:

• In a food processor, pulse the walnuts and garlic until chopped. Add the spinach, oil, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor bowl as necessary.
  
• Pour mixture into ice cube an tray. Put in freezer.
  
• Remove when thoroughly frozen. Pop out of ice cube trays and put into zip lock freezer bags. It can be stored up to 3 months.
• When you are ready to use the sauce, cook pasta according to the directions. Meanwhile, take 1 or 2 cubes out and let them melt in the serving dish you will use for your pasta (you may want to microwave the cubes to speed up the process). Cook and drain the pasta and pour into the serving dish over the pesto. The pesto doesn't need to be cooked and the heat from the pasta is enough to melt the pesto into creamy green sauce. Toss and combine the sauce. And serve. Add salt to taste and sprinkle with cheese.
  

I hope you enjoy this recipe. I know we always do.

Summer Visitor

This summer we were happy to welcome Chiara back to Utah. She stayed with us two summers ago as a foreign exchange student from Germany, and we all became fast friends. We were so glad that she wanted to come back. This time around she stayed with some of our neighbors because with the addition of Eva, our house and mostly our car, had less room. Luckily, the Meeks (with more room in their house because their son is on a misson) took her in. We were lucky to have her stay a week with us, while the Meeks were on vacation. That was an awesome week. Stephen and I felt like we had a sleepover party all week long. We loved the late night chats and games. I can only wish my daughters would be as "wunderbar" as her when they are her age.

Fresh from Germany, via non-stop from Paris.

Pancakes: German translation - Sehr Gut!!!

Chiara is always a good sport and joined us at This is the Place.

Sadly, we had to say auf wiedersehen too soon. Though, thanks to email, IM, mail and Google Voice, I think we will be keeping in touch for years to come.
Tschüß, Chiara.

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Happy Birthday Mally

It's Over

Saturday at 10:12 p.m. Stephen said, "It's over, Jeana. I'm so extremely exhausted." He then collapsed on the bed and within minutes was sound asleep.

Now that the experiment is over we are all resting easier. Stephen's full disclosure about the experiment is forth coming. He just needs a little time to rest before writing it.

Polyphasic Sleep (aka Craziness)

Full Disclosure: This is Stephen.  He is weird.  Jeana would never consider trying anything like this.  And, quite frankly, neither should you.  At least not at home.

4:55 a.m. – Why, why, why am I doing this?  (That sentence probably needs a few more “why’s”, actually.)  It’s nearly 5:00 a.m. and I’ve been out of bed for nearly half an hour, after having been in it for fewer than six.

You know that sentence above that started with so many “why’s”?  That was the voice of every nerve, joint, organ, and phalanx of my body crying out in sleep-deprived agony.  I think you know the feeling.

9:30 p.m. – Ever since I was very young, I have often felt that sleep was a waste of time.  That may be putting it a little too strongly, but still, don’t you think it would be cool to be doing stuff (even simply reading a book) while everyone else is sleeping?  I do.  Which is why a series of blog posts I found yesterday really got my juices flowing.  Here’s the link:

Steve Pavlina on Polyphasic Sleep

Now, since you may not have bothered to follow the link, let me tell you, in Steve Pavlina’s words, what polyphasic sleep is:

Polyphasic sleep involves taking multiple short sleep periods throughout the day instead of getting all your sleep in one long chunk. A popular form of polyphasic sleep, the Uberman sleep schedule, suggests that you sleep 20-30 minutes six times per day, with equally spaced naps every 4 hours around the clock.

Sounds pretty righteous, no?  We’re talking a grand total of 3 hours of sleep a day.  To be awake for 21 hours a day!  Think of it!  Let me spell the word that is surely coming to your mind: W-O-W-S-E-R-S-!-!-!

As you may have gathered in the “4:55 a.m.” section above, I started this regimen today.  My planned schedule is to nap at 4, 8, and 12, o’clock (a.m. and p.m.).  It wasn’t long before everyone in the office knew what I was up to (word travels fast in small towns companies).  After all, anyone who went wandering to and/or from the break room between 8:00 and 8:30, 12:00 and 12:30, or 4:00 and 4:30 would have quite plainly seen me dozing.  Most unusual behavior for the company’s greatest programmer.

I must say, and I hope this doesn’t turn out to be anomalistic, today was actually a pretty good day.  4:30 was definitely rough.  And right now is decidedly not a walk in the park (still two hours to go before my next nap—ugh!).  But I found that immediately following my naps today (especially the 12 and the 4), I was actually quite alert, refreshed, rejuvenated, completely combobulated.  I was even … cheerful!

My two primary concerns right now as pertaining to this polyphasic dealio are 1) tonight is probably going to be rougher than scruff, as is tomorrow, and probably the next week at least; and 2) my dearly beloved wife Jeana.  If this turns out to be either a) physically impossible to maintain, or b) inconvenient for Jeana, I will stop it at once.  But we’ll never know until we try.  I’m always up for a good scientific experiment!

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Opposite Day

It's 3:33 p.m. and I just noticed I have been wearing my shirt backwards all day. I am pretty cool. Thursday is opposite day, right? At least it was at my elementary. I guess I am one of the cool kids today.

Playgroup

For the past two years we have been doing a neighborhood play group. They are cute kids and I have really enjoyed having them over at our house.

Living in the Past

This summer the girls and I are volunteering at This is the Place Heritage Park. Why, you ask, would a mother with two small kids choose to live without modern conveniences each week? The answer is in my past. In college I worked there and loved transporting myself each day to the past. Then I was called to serve a mission in Nauvoo and got to experience the pioneer history and lifestyle again. I truly love meeting new people and sharing our pioneer heritage with them. I also want to share our heritage with my daughters. I think it will be good for them to spend a few hours a week away from the TV and DVDs and closer to their imaginations and each other.
We went for our first time this week and my hope came true. We had a wonderful day. Don't let the girls' faces in the picture above fool you; they loved it. They played together at the park better than they do at home. They loved seeing the animals, riding the train, and teaching other kids to play pioneer games. I am really looking forward to our next time going.

I recommend volunteering to anyone, unless you are pregnant. Some things in life, like pregnancy, are best experienced with modern conveniences like air conditioning. I also recommend coming to visit us this summer. If you are planning on going to This is the Place Heritage Park send me an email and I will tell you if we will be up there at that time. I hope you come and visit us.