Alphabet Catch-up

For the sake of my poor sieve-like memory, and since I haven't updated this for a year, I feel duty-bound to give an Alphabet Weekend update. I wish to reiterate that there is NOT anything particularly clever about any of these ideas (frequently we were just choosing the easiest option at the last minute) but the kids DO love it so! We take weeks off at a time when we need to. It's the lowest-pressure situation possible while still making an attempt at Planned Family Togetherness! But we did at last finish the alphabet (it took us just about a year, which gives you an idea of how many weekends off there were).

J was for Juice (picnic with apple juice from the Red Barn in Santaquin)

K was for Korean food. The restaurant we went to must not have been that memorable, since I don't know what it was and we haven't been back.

4

E, F, G, H, I

I've been wanting and wanting to write about our trip to London and Berlin, but it's been taking me a long time to sort through and edit all the pictures we took! Besides which I feel a sort of moral obligation to get all these drafts of other various unfinished posts out of the way first. Anyway, these alphabet weekends are all combined into one post because none of them were very elaborate! Which, of course, is the key to us doing them at all, when things get busy.

E was for Empanadas. We went to a place that got good reviews on Yelp and did something I've always wanted to do: ordered one of everything on the menu! It's kind of a small place and when all nine of us trooped in there I was worried we'd be overwhelming. But besides having to sit at three different tables, it was fine. The owner was super nice (he has 10 kids himself, he said!) and we loved everything we tried. I can't even remember which kinds we liked best, so if we go again I'm afraid we'll just have to order everything again! :)

F was for Frites. We've liked this place in Salt Lake for years now but other Saturday events brought us to Provo, so we went to the new location on Center Street. We bought a huge cone-full of fries and shared it. And then another one and shared it too (we should have known one wouldn't be enough). And we tried six different sauces, of course.

1

D is for Date

Our alphabet letter "D" was a brilliant idea, I must say. I don't know how I thought of it; it just came to me. I assigned each of the boys to take one of their sisters on a Date. Because our family has boys and girls divided so evenly, it worked out nicely, but I feel like you could make this work with a different set of siblings if you included mom and dad or paired the kids up differently.

Each brother had to plan his own date, taking into account what his sister would like best. Sam or I would drive them, but the rest was up to them. I said they couldn't all do the same thing (since I wanted each to be able to give one sister his undivided attention) and they had to stay fairly close by since we were going to have to fit all three dates into one Saturday. And I gave them each $6 to spend.

And it all turned out so awesome! I loved it so much. It was great for the girls to feel so focused-on and loved and pampered by their brothers, and it was great for the boys to feel so grown-up and responsible and adored by their sisters! After their dates were over the children all kept saying how fun it was and asking if we could please please do this again. Everyone was excited about the idea of the different things they would do if they were with a different sibling, so I think we'll do it again for sure, maybe with a higher or lower budget just for variety. $6 to spend and a time limit of 2 hours was just right for a sweet little brother–sister bonding time, though.

Sebastian took Marigold out to get pastries for breakfast, and then to Target to buy stickers (they had $1 left after their pastries) and then to a playground. It was THE SWEETEST how he kept asking her, "Is this fun, Goldie? Do you like this?" And he kept telling me to take pictures of them. "Did you get one of us on the swings? Here, take one of me holding Goldie." And needless to say, Goldie was in heaven. She chattered to Sebby like a little magpie. Oh, it was sweet. Afterwards Sebby said, "If we do this again, I want to take Goldie again." Who wouldn't?

1

B is for Birds, C is for Custard

I was hoping "B" could be for "Bald Eagle" because February is often a good time to see Bald Eagles at Farmington Bay—at least that's what I'd heard. But for whatever reason (too warm? too late/early in the day? too late in the season?) there weren't any. So—B was for Birds instead, and there were plenty of those! Farmington Bay is a great area to birdwatch. We ate Breakfast at a nearby restaurant just for good measure. :)

*****
"C" was for Custard—frozen custard, to be precise. We looked up all the places serving frozen custard on Yelp, and went to the ones that were close enough. I think we tried four different places (am I forgetting one, Sam?). We just ordered a couple items at each place and everyone had small tastes.

It was a bit hard to do a VALID comparison with so many variables coming into play. Really we ought to have had them all side by side, but that seemed logistically impossible without some of them melting. But, we gave it a valiant effort. We tried Freddy's, Rita's, Nielsen's, and Culver's. Culver's was our clear winner and I think Freddy's was second.

(Other alphabet weekends: here).

4

A is for Application

Seb's application. The bottom spiral section says "If you have a dog and/or cat, you can't be a Nielson. If your name starts with D or J, you can't be a Nielson. [ummm, super subtle dig at your little sisters, Seb!] **WE DO NOT ALLOW 50 or older." I was sorry to hear that. Guess the kids'll be out a couple parents in a decade or so. Also, good thing he asked "Do you have a dog or a cat" in two different ways, just to make sure. Don't want any dog- or cat-owners slipping through the screening!!

Remember when we used to do Alphabet Weekends? It was fun and we liked it, and then for several years everything seemed too busy and we felt that we just couldn't muster up the energy anymore. And then suddenly, we felt that we could. So we're back at it. I don't know if I will post them all here (or how timely such posts will be), but on the other hand, where else would I record these things? I feel that they ought to be preserved for posterity (that is, if any posterity manage to make it through the stringent application process).

For letter "A," Sam had us all prepare applications for someone who wants to become a member of the Nielson family. We're pretty selective, frankly (some more than others). Abe's application ran to about 15 single-spaced pages, and heaven help you if you have any blood conditions! And several of the children turn out to be rather mercenary little wretches, you'll notice. But by all means, consider applying! We do at least eat well, most of the time, if I do say so myself!

Do you like bunnies?
Do you like School?
Do you like flight?
Have you been on a plane?
What is your favorite interest?
Rules: No jumping on couch. Clean home on Friday. Naps if 1-5. No video games. Piano lesson if 8-20.
Pay per month $100. Pay each kid $20 per month.

 Malachi's application told everyone the rules right up front. Probably a good idea. I wasn't aware of all of these rules, but, you know. Ky also had an official-looking sticker prepared which could be placed in the "Becom a Nielson" box upon successful completion of the application.

Abe's application was very official—lots of legal disclaimers and waivers to sign and so forth. It's good he specified that people have to agree with the family's "main views." We wouldn't want any messy political disagreements at the dinner table! Also, there is NO ROOM for blood problems here. Sorry, hemophiliacs! Maybe we might make an exception for mild anemia? BUT DON'T COUNT ON IT!

I also really appreciate the emphasis on having sufficient savings and income. We don't want any free-loaders, darn it! And prior toilet training! Yes! Why didn't I think of making that a requirement years ago? I tell you, if Abe hadn't already been in the family, he would have gotten in on the strength of this application alone.

Name.
Phone number.
You have to know what we learn in school.
You can't play with my penguins.
You can't wear my dresses.

Daisy's application is really more of a "take the pledge" sort of document. She covered all her major concerns clearly and succinctly, I think.

My application. You really have to know your "Scarlet Pimpernel," apparently. I know some of you that meet that requirement. You're well on your way to joining us! Better start thinking of your favorite toe to stub.

Sam's application was, of course, a masterpiece from start to finish. I especially liked that he required applicants to list their previous families and reasons for leaving. Can't be too careful. Also, were you raised by wolves?

My goodness, I hate the phrase "Lordy Lordy look who's forty!"

Well, that does it for the applications. Hope to have some great team members joining us soon!

10

Going to extremes

Saturday was alphabet-letter "E," so we performed several activities in an EXTREME way.  We had a logo and everything:

You know how "hard-core" (as I believe they say) we are, so you can only imagine the extremities to which we went.

Or can you?

Let me help:

Extreme muffin-eating.  The closed eyes signify not fatigue, but concentration.  And might I take this opportunity to say that over the course of this event, I managed to catch, in my mouth, some food thrown to me---for the FIRST TIME EVER?  I was so proud.

Extreme Stoller-Pushing: Obstacle Course (Note the red Tracking Balloon).  This picture shows the winning contestant in the final seconds of the first heat.

I don't have any pictures of the Extreme Popcorn-Making, so you will have to imagine that one.  But here is Daisy; she clasps her hands at you.

3

Find your inner X-chromosome

Before. Sad. :(

Well, this post is from about four months ago, but I got tired of waiting for the final "after" pictures . . . Sam . . . so I'll put it up now.

So, it was the weekend for letter X (we were nearly through the alphabet again) and it was my turn to choose what we did: "Find your inner X-chromosome." Sam kept referring to it as "Unleash your inner X-chromosome," which seemed like it might be going a little too far . . . but . . . anyway, we did our "unleashing" by shopping, decorating, going out for Japanese food, making brownies, and watching a "chick flick" (well . . . that was the idea . . . except it ended up being "Chuck" on Hulu). I threatened to paint Sam's toenails for him but somehow that part never materialized.

The beneficiary of this shopping and decorating spree? Sam's office, which was abysmal. (I mean, it wasn't overrun with Star Wars figurines and comic books; it had that going for it. But other than that, nothing.) He spends enough time at work that I felt it ought to be at least a BIT nicer. And he's an artist, right? He needs a creativity-fostering environment and all of that. I hated thinking of him holed up in there like some kind of techno-mole. We didn't do much, but it's amazing what lamps, a plant, a couple organizers, and some bright cushions (thank you IKEA) will do to cheer up a place. I think he'll be happier working in there now (anyway, I would be).

After. Much better!

He's added a few more finishing touches since---hooks and a mirror and such. (Not, however, the cocoa mugs I suggested, unfortunately. "Just think, you could sit in those chairs and talk with someone and drink Red Bush Tea, just like Mma Ramotswe in the books!" I said. But he said he didn't see it happening. I'm going to do it next time I go to visit, though.)

4

25 things about . . . my husband

I have greatly enjoyed reading the lists of "25 things" people have been coming up with about themselves on Facebook. (Facebook! Who would have thought.) It's so interesting to see what people choose to bring out about themselves . . . definitely some things you would have never found out in casual conversation!

Anyway, I thought this would be a fun exercise to do on behalf of someone else I know well: namely, Sam. I have endeavored to reveal only things that are fit for public consumption (nothing too embarrassing---I hope). I just like him so much. Sometimes I wish I were a more gushy, sappy person (ala Stephanie Nielson---that sounds like criticism, but it isn't, I think it's sweet) so I could actually make it obvious to the whole world how much I adore him, but although I'm feeling sappy inside, I just tend to be more matter-of-fact about it. So the list form works for me. And I already know I'm going to get too long-winded, so feel free to make a graceful exit now. Otherwise, gird up your loins and let's begin.


25 things you might not know about Sam

1. He doesn't have much of a temper---he's pretty easygoing---but as a teenager he once punched a hole in the wall and broke his hand. He explains this to me by saying, "It's really not as hard to punch a hole in the wall as you'd think."

2. As a kid, he watched Star Wars every day for about 2 years. He doesn't appear to be a "Star Wars" nerd (what is the name for that? not a "Trekkie"--) now, but every once in a while he'll surprise you by coming out with some obscure bit of knowledge about the Star Wars universe ("It's stupid that they did ___ in episode 5 because so-and-so was always intended to be ___ kind of character; that why George Lucas set ___ up in the first place." [Sorry that example is so vague as to be nearly useless, but I'm too ignorant to do any better.]) which reveals just how much, how alarmingly much, he really knows.

3. He has a great singing voice, but it only gets displayed in its full glory when he's singing either a.) real opera arias with made-up words or b.) Disney songs. Otherwise he tones himself down.

4. He's a good sport about doing things he doesn't really like, e.g. wearing a beard to be "the old year" on New Year's so my mom can take a picture, dressing up for nativity scenes, lip synching for talent shows, doing "discounted" drawings for extended family members' various projects/flyers, etc.

5. He uses his fingernail clippers (the ones on his keychain) for everything. They're like his Swiss Army Knife. And he always seems kind of mad or surprised when they aren't adequate for some task or other. If his clippers don't work, he will try the edge of a key. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will he get out the scissors. And for cooking, he favors the exclusive use of a particular spatula, which he presses into duty for any conceiveable kitchen task.

6. He loves movies like the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice" and long adaptations of Dickens ("Our Mutual Friend," "Bleak House," etc.). Watching movies like that is one of our favorite things to do together, and then we talk about them endlessly afterward, very nerdily ("What do you think Dickens was trying to get at with the murder of Rogue Riderhood? Was it meant to be ironic, or arouse our pity?"). (Of course, he also made me watch "Transformers" with him. . .)

7. He doesn't get a chance to read very much, but when he does he gets really into the book he's reading: I mean really into it, like taking notes, writing up outlines, describing at length how he could incorporate its ideas into other philosophies he's read about, bringing it into 70% of our conversations, etc. (If I had a dollar for every time he's said, "It's like in that Robert McKee book I read on 'Story' . . . " I'd be a rich woman.) He wants to someday write a book (about Art and Design Principles) himself, and so everything must be examined in light of his ever-expanding Grand Unified Theory.

8. He says he doesn't like the shower as hot as I do, but sometimes I get the feeling that he's just making a token protest, and that he actually is enjoying it, deep down.

9. He's really good at telling stories. On Sunday nights we cuddle in our bed with the kids and sing songs and tell stories (one of us starts a story and then the other one finishes it), and he always comes up with something really awesome, even when I give him a really uninspiring start.

10. He makes fun of the way I say "egg." I say it "Aygg" with a long A, and he says it "ehgg."

11. He had whooping cough a year ago and he's still not really over it. He was really, really sick for a long time---like, coughing up blood, almost passing out because his throat would close up, having panic attacks because he couldn't breathe, etc. He didn't sleep more than 2 or 3 hours at a time for about a 5-month span because he would wake up with coughing fits. He is much better now, but he still gets a really bad cough anytime the air is bad or he has a cold (which has been all winter, naturally). The actual disease is gone after the first 2 weeks, so he wasn't contagious or anything, but I guess all the scarring in your throat and lungs can cause problems for a long time beyond. But I don't think most people ever had any idea how sick he was. (Although if you've been around him, you've probably heard the cough.) He still went to work and survived on no sleep for all those months, and didn't really complain, but he was just SICK, and he still is sometimes. It is really sad. And he just keeps being really brave and good about it all. (Moral: get your tetanus boosters every 10 years! The whooping cough vaccine is in there too.)

12. He holds his breath when he's concentrating or thinking hard. He doesn't really know he's doing it until I say, "Breathe, dear!" and then he lets it out sheepishly all at once. He also has this one spot that he gets nervous about---right at the base of the center of his ribcage, what's that bone called? oh yeah, sternum. Anyway he feels like that's his vulnerable spot because someone could poke it and crush his lungs. (??) I don't know why I feel like those two things are related---maybe because he holds his breath if anyone gets too close to his sternum too. (I hope he's not mad that I revealed his weak spot to potential enemies. None of you are potential enemies, right? Don't let it get out.)

13. He often falls asleep while I'm talking to him at night, but he never admits it. He keeps grunting out "uh-huh" or "yeah, I'm awake" in his sleep until he finally stops responding at all.

14. He has really long arms, like a monkey. His "wingspan" is several inches longer than his height.

15. He'll throw himself enthusiastically into anything he decides to do, with no embarrassment. For example, we've been doing this thing for the last year where we go through the alphabet and do an activity starting with a different letter each weekend (we take turns thinking of what to do). I think a lot of husbands wouldn't get into it, but he's had us hunting all over Salt Lake Valley on an Arthurian Quest, giving oral reports on assigned topics, going to the ballet, having cooking contests, writing bad poems, holding a Mad Tea Party, having a progressive dinner at different restaurants, etc. He is creative and gets excited about his ideas---which makes everyone else get excited too! I think this is why he's so successful as a Concept Artist at work. He comes up with great visions of where a project can go, and then has the skill to project that vision outward so that everyone else can see it too.

16. He loves geology. Whenever we drive anywhere, he keeps a keen eye on the rocks and mountains and comments on them excitedly ("Did you see that? That is such a great example of a lateral glacial moraine!"). On our drive to Arizona he was in heaven; pointing out cinder cones and lava fields and explaining to the boys how the rock formations had stratified into distinct layers seen in formations across two states. He kept peering out the window saying things like "There MUST have been some catastrophic eruption to form that kind of crater pattern!!", and then when we arrived he would NOT REST until he'd looked up our route on Google Earth and confirmed his theories via Roadside Geology of Arizona.

17. Once he fell asleep on the bus and, without knowing it, leaned over to rest on the shoulder of the guy next to him. He woke up to feel the guy shrugging him none-too-gently off (with an expression of grim distaste on his face).

18. He's not a very good card-shuffler. But he's in denial about it (he always thinks it's the condition of the cards, or the table is too slick, or his hands are too slippery, etc.). Lots of times the cards end up shooting out of his hands and all over the floor (much to his chagrin).

19. He gets some kind of weird dry skin on his fingertips, so he puts lotion on his fingers all the time. Like every half-hour throughout the day. And he rubs it in with these kind of weak, namby-pamby circular motions so it just gets on his fingertips instead of his whole hands. There are tiny jars of lotion all over the place: in the silverware drawer, in the bathroom, in his backpack, in the car. He also wears yellow rubber gloves when he's doing something like washing the dishes or changing a diaper.

20. Speaking of changing diapers, he can change a cloth diaper, complete with safety pins, on a baby faster than most people can do a disposable one. (Not quite as fast as me, but nearly.)

21. He's really strong and he works out at the weight room most days, but he's not always yammering on about "lifting" (he calls it "exercising" or the more acceptable "lifting weights"; thank heavens) or "glutes" or "lats" or "reps" or whatever. In other words, he has the perfect combination of work ethic, non-obsessiveness, health-consiousness, and humility.

22. He really likes my cooking, and (even better), says so. Honestly not a day goes by where he doesn't compliment the food and thank me for it. It's rubbed off on our boys, and you wouldn't believe it, but it's true: they say "Thank you for making this nice dinner for us, Mommy!" nearly every night. I know. Amazing. I'm so lucky.

23. He can come up with comebacks to my brothers when I can't. All my life I've been cursed with clever brothers who say clever and funny things (about/directed at me---how disappointed my mom was when she had a girl instead of another boy---etc.), and all I can do is laugh and say lame things like, "nuh-uh!" or, "YOU're the one she said that about!" But Sam is always coming up with these great responses. Like he's the one who told them (my last name was Nelson before---now I'm a Nielson---and my brothers were saying how I'd defiled the true Nelson name etc etc.) that, like President Hinckley, we Nielsons say to the Nelsons: bring all the good that you have and let us add to it. Perfect!

24. He's the type of person who, when he comes home and the kids are crying and his wife is still not dressed and there's no dinner made, says, "Oh good, you haven't started dinner, because I was hoping you'd let me cook something for YOU tonight!" Really. And then he does it.

25. He's really, really funny. And I love it when sometimes he'll come home from work and confess to me, "I was so pleased with myself when I said ____ to you yesterday and made you laugh, that I said it today to my friends at work, and pretended I was just thinking of it for the first time." He can make me laugh all the time, even when I don't feel like laughing. And when I DO feel like laughing, he can make me laugh until my mouth hurts and my cheeks hurt and my stomach hurts and I can't even stand up anymore. I love it.

And now you know. And Happy Birthday, my love; you're the best thing that ever happened to me!

10

Alphabet Days

For the past six months, Sam and I have been doing something SO fun. I don't know if it would be fun for other people too, but I'll post the idea just in case. Here it is: Every weekend, we do something that starts with a different letter of the alphabet. In order. We take turns being in charge of what we do, and it can be small or big or whatever, but it has to be something we've planned specifically for this, not something we would have done anyway. (I think I got this idea from a book, but I can't remember where.) We've done some as dates, and some as whole-family activities, depending on what they are.

Anyway, we have absolutely LOVED it. Our kids are too little to really get into the alphabet thing, but they've had a great time doing the activities, and I imagine that with older kids it would be fun to let them be in charge of planning a letter too. It has really been fun to challenge ourselves a little and get outside the kinds of things we normally do.

Coincidentally, it takes exactly 6 months to get through the alphabet (26 letters, 52 weeks, see?), so this can keep you busy for a whole year if you go through twice, switching letters the second time.

Here are the things we've done. You'll see that some are really good and creative and some are just silly. But that's part of the fun of it. :)

A--Apple Fritters.

We just got them at the grocery store and had them for breakfast. Yum.

B--Ballet--Sam and I went to see Ballet West doing "Cinderella." I love ballet! (Good job, Sam.)

C--Create something together--we drew up a landscape plan for our future backyard. We talked about what kinds of things we'd want, and drew it out on graph paper, and Sam helped fill it in on the computer.

D--Daisies and delphiniums--Sam brought me a beautiful bouquet of these flowers. Not really an _activity_, but we were sick that weekend, and anyway, who could ever complain about getting flowers?

E--Elephant Emmys

--okay, this is a silly one. We each had to submit something (art, poetry, or whatever) on the subject of "Elephants with Eating Disorders" or "Elephants and the Environment." Then we had an awards ceremony. I must say that my poem on the subject was very raw and moving. I will refrain from posting it here, but above is Sam's contribution.

F--Arena Football--we went to a Utah Blaze game. Have you ever seen indoor football? It's really fast-paced and fun.

G--Gem and Mineral Show--This is a free yearly show in Spanish Fork. They have all kinds of rocks to look at (and buy). The boys _loved_ it.

H--Handles/hardware

--Yes, sometimes our activities were based on expediency. We went to IKEA to pick out hardware for our kitchen cupboards. A trip to IKEA is always kind of an adventure, though, right? We enjoy it. We also went to a play at the Hale Center Theater in the evening. (It was "She Loves Me." Have you seen it? One of my favorite musicals.)

I--Interior Design--Sam and I both kind of get into this kind of thing, so we just went to the library and checked out a bunch of interior design books and then read through them together, talking about what we liked and didn't like.

J--Junk--We went through the house, gathered up tons of stuff we don't need or use anymore, and took a huge load to D.I. Our ward was also having a swap meet, so some of the less awful stuff went to that.

K--Kiwi--We made fruit pizza with kiwis on top. Yum!

L--?--I'm terribly sorry, but I've forgotten what "L" was. Something fun, I'm sure. :) I was writing them down, but for some reason this week got skipped.

M--Moving--Well, this one was a cop-out. We just happened to be moving that weekend, so we called it "M" for moving and were too worn out to do anything else.

N--Nibbles--This was fun--we went to several different restaurants and just got an appetizer at each place. Our boys LOVED this. They are always begging to do it again.

O--Outdoors

--We had a nice, lazy Sunday picnic. Walked around the lake. Enjoyed the sunshine. It was wonderful.

P--Potstickers--There's a Chinese restaurant we found that has the BEST potstickers. (It's called David's Kitchen, up on 33rd South. Actually everything there is simply delicious.) "P" was a lovely excuse to go there.

Q--Quiz

--Sam and I wrote up quizzes for each other, on any subjects we could come up with. Some questions were hard, and some easy. But it was quite fun to test our knowledge. And for dinner Sunday, I made quiche.

R--Romantic ramen--Sam made Ramen noodles for our dinner. By candlelight. On the nice dishes. How romantic!! We also each were assigned to do a 5-minute oral report. Mine was on the Rorsharch ink-blot test and Sam's was on rugs. Very enlightening.

S--Stargazing, salt flats--This was a super fun one. After dinner, we drove way out west to the salt flats, laid our blankets out, and looked up at the stars while we talked and told stories and ate the cookies we'd made earlier. The stars are SO pretty out there, and we don't really see many stars here. So it was a great night. Another one that the boys really loved.

T--throw --we had another picnic at the park and then played all the throwing games we could think of. Football, frisbee, catch, etc.

U--Unlimited--we had lunch at a local pizza buffet. Our quantities were limited only by our appetites. (And those are big.)

V--Verse--we had to write bad poems. They were, indeed, very bad. I won't subject you to them.

W--Wall-E, Water day
--Friday night Sam and I went on a date to Wall-E (yes, the kids would have liked it, but I didn't want to hold a fussing baby and a squirmy two-year-old and end up going out and missing most of it), and then Saturday we spent all day doing water things: going to the swimming pool and the splash pool, walking by the lake, and paddling around in the inflatable raft we borrowed from my mom.

X--Xeriscaping--You know what this is, right? Water-conserving landscaping? We picked out some native plants that we like, and planned out our rock wall, etc.

Y--Yummy Yellow desserts
--we had a party with a few of our neighbors where we ate desserts that were yellow. They were quite delicious.

Z--Zoo
--well, what other option was there? I guess we'll have to think of something different for next time we do "Z"--but our boys love the zoo, of course, and it's nice to have a reason to go.

So, we're now starting on Round 2. Try it yourself if you want! It doesn't have to be stressful or anything, because you just tailor the activity to what you're in the mood for/feeling up to that week. We've had so much fun!

3