Cake Update....

I thought I would update you all on the cake I made for the scout auction. Some asked if I came up with the idea on my own.....the answer is a big fat no way. My friend, Jill got if off the internet.

When we arrived at the church for the spaghetti dinner, Lucy promptly got out of her car seat (she can undo it on her own) and jumped down right onto the cake. My work of art was covered with foil, but her shoe still left an imprint. Awesome.

On a positive note.....some people took pity on my popcorn cake and it went for like $18!

Graham's First Shiner

Graham got his first black eye this weekend. We went to the park on Saturday (no rain....yippee!!) and after I kicked Jason's trash on the basketball court, we decided to head over to the big toy and swings. I was in the mood to do some more butt kickin', so I challenged Jason to a game of 2 -square on the sidewalk. Lucy was flying high on the swings as Graham wandered around the slide and stairs. We failed to see Graham walk over to the swings (the score was Maggie-7 Jason-0). Next thing you know, Graham is on the ground after Lucy kicked him in the face on the upswing of her ride in the sky. In her defense, he came from behind and didn't see him coming. In our defense......there really isn't any defense...we should have been watching. Although, the game was very intense. Yesterday at church we had some explaining to do. After reading my "Down in the Dumps" post from last week, many might be worried that I had taken my irritation to a new level. Not the case.....just a tough day at the park (for Graham AND Jason) ha ha!

President Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

I've already read many other posts on our beloved prophet's passing, but I just wanted to share a little of my thoughts. I feel so blessed to have been able to live during his service as our prophet. Like many of you, I have had many life changes and transitions as he led the church. His words have brought comfort and peace but also motivation to try a little harder and be a little better.

I just love this picture of President and Sister Hinckley. He will be greatly missed, but I am so happy for the two of them!

We baked a cake!

Check out the cake my friend, Jill, and I made! Our ward is having a Spaghetti Dinner tonight as a fundraiser for the scouts and there is also a cake auction. We made a lady bug cake, too! Hopefully you can tell this one is a box of movie popcorn.

Down in the Dumps

Prepare yourself for some rambling and venting......

Well, it's been a tough couple days for me here in Lemoore. I am terribly homesick for my family and those feelings are seeping into the rest of my life and making me discontent. I miss having somewhere that I can go for a change of scenery. I have wonderful, amazing friends here in Lemoore, but I don't feel like I can just invade their house without a reason or scheduled time. I miss knowing that I have that option.

It's been rainy and dreary here for a while and so we can't go outside. We're all getting a little stir crazy. Which leads to me being impatient with my children and they begin to annoy the heck out of me. Which leads to major feelings of guilt for being so irritated by my own offspring-- what if something happened to one of my kids....I would feel horrible! Then I hear stories of women who can't have children or loses one of theirs........and here I am whining about having to stop scrubbing the syrup off the counter to fix the DVD that got stuck in the middle of Lucy's viewing of Cinderella. Sometimes I feel like my kids got short changed with a crazy mom who can't handle much and has a tendency to complain a lot.

Does anyone else have times in their lives when every move they make is accompanied with some level of guilt. The voice in my head sounds something like this, "Your kids watch too much TV....your zapping their brain cells." or "Your kids don't eat enough fruits and vegetables....they're going to have bad eating habits and be huge!" "Why is Lucy throwing those tantrums...what did you do wrong!" Why is Graham yelling so much.....you must yell too much." "You can't eat that....you've already had 6!" And the voice goes on and on. Am I the only one who hears this voice?

I'm making my way out of the dumps. I know that I am so very blessed with a wonderful husband and healthy, happy children. I have great friends who are so willing to help and serve me and family who will listen to me over the phone go on and on and on until I feel better. For now, I'll keep fixing the DVD player and scrubbing the syrup......while I plan a trip to Hawaii!

Snow Day!

Jason had Monday off, so we decided to go sledding with a group of our friends from the ward. Keep in mind, we live in central California, so it took a good 2 hours to get to the snow. Graham has decided that he does not like being in his car seat, so the drive to Shaver Lake was awesome!When we finally got there, we had a great time. It was very cold (we're used to 50 degree days), but we came prepared. Lucy and Graham looked so cute bundled up in their clothes. We had to borrow snow pants and boots from neighbors. Yes....Graham is wearing purple pants and pink boots. Don't worry, he survived the taunting from the other kids. Although, he wasn't warm enough and he kept getting really mad whenever he fell down. He didn't have a very good time. Lucy, on the other hand, LOVED it! I was surprised at how fearless she was. She kept asking on the way home when we were going to go back.

These Boots Were Made For Walkin.....

Lucy loves her boots she got for Christmas (some of you may remember how she asked for "boots that light up"). Well, I searched on the internet and found these little babies. Her little face beams with pride when people tell them how cute they are. I was a little nervous when I bought them that she would want to wear them EVERYWHERE and I wouldn't be able to pry them off her. Luckily, she understands the idea behind "matching" clothes, so she doesn't give me a hard time when I tell her they don't match what she's wearing. Last week when I picked her up from preschool, her teacher asked me, "Does Lucy sing a lot at home?" My answer was a quick, "Yep...all day long." She usually makes up her own little songs by mixing parts of different songs to make her own original version. Her teacher explained how she always sings during class, but that particular day she was quite captivating. I guess while everyone was working on an art project at the table, they all stopped to listen while she sang, "1.2.3 like a bird I sing. Cause you've given me the most beautiful set of wings!" She only knows that one line, so I added it to my playlist so she could learn the rest. What a funny girl!

Our Go-Getter, Graham

Graham, Graham, Graham. We aren't sure what to do with him when he wakes up every night between 3 and 4 am and wants to fuss for a good hour. One of us goes in there and tries to give him a drink or comfort him, but as soon as we leave the room, he cries and we have to just ignore him. There's been a couple 4:30 mornings where we've had to start our day because he would not go back to sleep. This kid has been sleeping through the night since he was 10 weeks old.....I don't know what the deal is. Is his room too cold? Does he have an ear infection? We've been to the doctor and we've turned up the thermostat, but the middle of the night alarm continues. Will we ever feel rested again?On a happier note.....Graham has been doing some pretty funny things lately. We've been doing sign language with him (as we did with Lucy) and he's not quite getting it yet. We tried to teach him the "full" sign so that he would stop screaming when he wanted out of his high chair. Now every time we prompt him to do another sign, he puts on one of his huge Graham grins and sticks his little hand under his chin and signs full, regardless of what we want him to sign. It's hilarious!

He has recently started dancing more and more. He twirls and twirls or he'll move his hand around all funky. He also does this foot stomping thing that Jason likes to call "Hot Feet".

This picture is the face Graham pulls when we sees the camera or anything that looks like a camera. He's saying, "CHEE!" Which is his version of "Cheese".

Graham loves to chase Lucy around the house. She laughs and then he laughs and then he laughs harder. She loves it when he gives her hugs, but then gets mad when he's had his fill.

He still yells a lot (probably a reflection on his parents). It sounds like he's cursing at us sometimes, especially when you're changing his diaper. He kicks and then yells, kicks and then yells. He jabbers and jabbers to anyone that will listen. I absolutely love it. One of my favorite things is when I see him lean down to look someone in the eye and say some sort of jibberish to them.

Graham's got some crazy walks, too. This morning he was on his knees moving around and laughing at himself. The last few days I'll see him walking down the hall while he does this weird head bob thing....so funny!

You may keep us up at night, Graham, but we wouldn't trade a million good nights sleep for the fun and joy you bring to our lives. Maybe tonight will be the night we get to sleep all the way through!

My Spa Experience....

3 words to describe my spa experience: relaxing, peaceful and painful.

The 1 hour massage was so relaxing I fell asleep at the end. I thought I'd be a little weirded out by the whole idea, but it was great! The facial was wonderful! The Hispanic woman who gave it to me was kinda funny. Imagine this said in broken English, "You pick your breakouts?" Apologetically, I answered, "I try not to, but yes, I do" She replied, "I can tell." This is the same woman that gave me a bikini wax. Yep, you read that right. I got a bikini wax and let's just say I probably won't be doing that again anytime soon. Maybe a little too much info for some of you, but oh well. That's where the painful part comes in. The same lady, after pulling the wax off would say, "You do okay?" I'm sure this question was provoked by my tear streaked face and screams of terror (just kidding, there were no tears or screams, but wow.....). I'll save you the details.

After 3 hours of wax and relax, Jason was waiting for me in the foyer to take me to dinner. What a great man I have. His birthday is in April.....I better start thinkin'!

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 28 now! Hopefully I'll remember to tell people the right age. It seems like whenever anyone asks how old I am, my first thought is "24". Do any of you do that? When I was 24 I always said 21. I remember when my brother in law, Ryan turned 28. I must have been 19 or 20 and 28 sounded SO OLD! I'm pushing 30.....yikes! I never thought I'd be the type to worry about wrinkles. But I started obsessing about it this week after I saw a picture my neighbor took of Graham and I. I bought some Oil of Olay eye cream and rejuvination stuff. I'll keep you posted......

Yesterday was a good day. I got lots of phone calls from loved ones and great emails as well as a visit from a couple buddies. Jason came home and helped with dinner. Today is going to be even better, though! Jason gave me a trip to a day spa for my birthday and some money to go shopping with! He worked out all the babysitting, so I'm off in about a half an hour to go get pampered. Then he's meeting me at the spa around 5:30 and then it's off to dinner and the outlets for shopping!! Very surprised and very excited!!

He presented it very thoughtfully and fun. He gave me an envelope that explained that he was sending me on a "Vacation From My Problems" (it's off the movie What About Bob). I then proceeded to go on a "you're getting warmer" hunt for my gifts. We had cake and ice cream with Lucy and Graham and then watched License to Wed (we netflixed it.....not that great, but entertaining). All in all it was a spectacular day and it was so fun having another day to look forward to.
The present is perfect! I couldn't be happier! I've never done the spa thing, so it should be great. I'll let you know how it goes.

Stranded on the highway......branded a fool!

I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad afternoon yesterday. I'll give you some background before jumping in to "the incident". Yesterday was dragging on and on. Do any of you have days like that? We couldn't go outside because it was raining. It seemed like every time I looked at the clock, it never moved. A lot of this had to do with the fact that Jason was going to Sacramento for the night and I knew I wouldn't be seeing him. Anyways, back to the story. Around 3 we were soooooo bored, so I decided we'd go to the library. We live out on the naval base, which is about 10 miles outside of the small town of Lemoore. Highway 99 is the route we take to go into town. We made it to our piddly library with no problems(they NEVER have the books I'm looking for.....not an important detail to the story, but I want that to be noted).

On the way home, the kids and I were listening to the Hairspray soundtrack and I was thinking to myself, "Sheesh, it's only 3:45....now what?" Well, the answer to that question came about a minute later. We had just gotten on the highway and I heard a loud thumpety thump noise. I turned down the radio ("Good morning Baltimore" was playing......funny stuff), and sure enough, the sound was coming from the van (yes, I drive a minivan and I'm proud of it). I pulled over onto the 3 measly feet give on the side of the highway for such conditions. I discovered that we indeed had a flat tire. Panic set in as I made my way back into the van. Here's the kicker......I DON'T HAVE A CELL PHONE!! I had one over a year ago, but the service on base is so bad that we decided not to sign another contract. Jason has his work phone that he uses and I've just gone without (a fact that amazes many people, but it really can be done). Keep in mind it is raining and very windy outside. I think to myself, "Okay, Jason has shown you how to change a tire......just change it." The key word in that phrase is "shown". I've never done it, just watched it be done. As I got the jack out to attempt to change it, I had visions of the van falling on my head as my children screamed in the car (not at all reasonable, I know, but yet the visions kept coming). I also remembered that the spare is under the van and I could not figure out how to get it out from under there.

I walked back and forth from my tire to the back of the car, looking like an idiot. Lucy was out of her carseat, roaming around the van and Graham was screaming because he wanted out. I got back in the car and Lucy and I said a prayer. I sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. I found some crackers to keep the kids busy and I ventured out again. No one was stopping. It was a strange feeling.....I wanted someone to stop, but at the same time, I was terrified that someone would stop. You never know these days what can happen. It was horrible feeling so helpless and at the will of someone else.

Finally, I had all but decided to start walking. Lucy had on a skimpy sweatshirt, skirt, and her favorite light up cowboy boots. Way to go Mom. Not the best attire for a rainy highway hike, but oh well. As I was preparing ourselves for the trek, I decided to go to the back of the car one more time and I made a little phone sign to a few cars that drove by (the thumb and pinky finger to the ear sign.....I know, pathetic). A truck stopped and then backed up to us. I ran over to the truck. The tears hadn't started to flow yet, but as the man rolled down his window, they came. I asked if I could borrow their phone. Then, as I opened the phone to make a call, I had a total and complete brain freeze. I couldn't remember any of my friends numbers! I sat there like an idiot for a good 30 seconds (doesn't sound like a long time, but it dragged on). Finally, I remembered Kelli's number and dialed it. She answered and I told her my dilemma. She lives in Lemoore, not on the base, so I asked her to call some friends from the base to come get us. Of course, as I was talking to her, all of the possible people I could have called came into mind. I feel bad that I put Kelli in such a tight spot. I have friends from base that would have come to my rescue, but the aforementioned brain freeze zapped them my mind. As I said this, the men in the truck (sounds so scary, but they were really nice) said they could take us to the gate. Kelli said she'd call and have someone meet us at the gate. I loaded up the kids, locked the van doors and we all climbed into the kind man's truck.

This story is going on and on.......sorry! Anyways, we got to the gate and waited a couple minutes in their truck. No one was coming, so I called Kelli who told me that no one was home. All she got was machines. I called a few more of my friends and nobody was answering. I called Jason's cell phone (he was en route to Sacramento) and he called his coworker, who is also our neighbor and friend, to come get me. I decided that we would start walking from the gate so we could let the guys go on their way. So, the kids and I piled out of the truck and started walking.

We walked for about 10 or 15 minutes (picture me carrying a wiggly Graham and my purse with Lucy by my side in her skirt and bright pink cowboy boots--quite the site). A policeman then flashes his car lights and pulls up beside us. As if I'm not humiliated enough, he gets out of his car and says that he was called to come and take us wherever we are headed. I told him that someone was on their way to get us. He said, "Well, I was told to come get you". So, rather than argue, we piled into the police car and he took us home.....awesome. Luckily, Dave saw us in the police car and just came to our house. His wife watched Lucy and Graham while we went to go fetch my van.

Lessons learned:

1. GET A CELL PHONE!!! What if it would have been night time or out in the middle of nowhere. I know our parents lived without one, but we live in a different world now. You never know what kind of weirdo will stop to "help" you in your time of need! It's HORRIBLE feeling so helpless! Have a list of phone numbers in your phone or at least in your car to avoid being affected by the panic induced brain freeze.

2. Dress your children appropriately for the weather. Sounds obvious, but with Lucy I have to choose my battles. What she was going to wear was not the battle I chose yesterday.

3. Heavenly Father answers prayers. After Lucy and I said a prayer, I was much more calm and was able to make better decisions. Two men stopped to very kindly assisted us. They were so sweet!

4. We are surrounded by people in our lives who want to help us. (You just need a phone so you can call them!!!)

Lucy's lessons learned:

1. "Heavenly Father told them to come help us?" So sweet.

2. "Those men were nice so we could get in their car." Awesome.......now Lucy thinks it's okay to get into cars with strange men. Hopefully I was able to reteach this lesson effectively.

Tough day! Definitely blog-worthy.

High School Musical 2

Jason and I spent time during our vacation defending this movie. My brother, Bryan, said that if we like this show than he has to question our taste in movies. Okay....so it's super cheesy and way over the top, but it's entertaining! Sure, it's not deep or life changing, but who cares? Good music, good dancing.....good times! It's clean and happy (which is more than I can say for most of the crud that's out there). We've got the soundtrack (we're nerds, I know), but Lucy loves it and heck.....so do I!! I also have to say that I think Zac Effron (Troy) is super cool. He sings, dances and he's good looking! If I was 12, I think I'd have myself a few posters on my wall or in my locker.

Are there any other closet High School Musical fans out there? To all my fellow HSM2 watchers, I have one question: "What time is it?"

Christmas Vacation.....Round 2

We had some good times in Utah. Here are a few of the highlights from our trip:

• Evening with Jason's family at Nana and Grandpa Ray's house. So fun catching up with Jamie and her kiddos. Aunt Shellie hooked up all the kids with awesome gifts. Lucy got a princess sleeping bag that she has slept in every night since.


• Cousins to play with! Abby and Oliver were Lucy's best buddies during the trip. They begged for sleepovers and watched Grandpa play Nintendo in the basement (or as Lucy calls it "the placement").


• George and Graham were pretty funny to watch interact. Only 3 weeks between them and the only resemblance they have is the blond hair.



• Friday night with the Perry's and Janie Gunnerson. It was so nice visiting and joking around with these guys. Lucy had a great time with Lindee and Zander, too.


• Attending church with the fam. Lucy, Abby, and Oliver were absolutely HORRIBLE during sacrament meeting. So embarassing, but pretty funny at times!


• Lunch at Robintinos with my buddies, Aimee and Brooke. I met these two my junior year of high school at Girls State. Girls State is a week long camp-like thing that I went to because it looks good on college applications. I bonded immediately with these two. We try to get together at least once a year. This year Aimee and I brought our husbands and Brooke brought her boyfriend. So fun!


• We saw a couple movies: Juno (wouldn't recommend, but it was pretty funny and thought/discussion provoking) and National Treasure (good action flick).


• Afternoon with the Wrights and Kameraths. I really wish we could have spent more time with these guys. We really enjoyed the 2 hours we got to talk.......hopefully we'll get more time this summer!!


• Shopping with family. I took many little trips to Target and the mall with Beth and/or Blaine. Good times visiting and joking around.


• Trip to Logan and evening with the Grunigs. Jason had to do some serious work on our rental house in Logan, so we went up Sunday evening so he could get an early start Monday morning. The Grunigs let us invade their house for the night. We stayed up watching an episode of The Office and playing Guitar Hero (my new favorite game.....so flippin' fun) and eating candy.


• New Years Eve: Bryan and Chelsey were in from D.C., so the whole Hickman family was together. We played games and ate a whole lot of food.


• Sleeping in while Mom and Dad took care of Lucy and Graham. One of the nicest things anyone could ever do for us!!!


• Lots and lots of laughter! I never laugh harder than when I'm with all of my family. Lots of randomness.....lots of craziness.....lots of funny!
  
• Food, food and more food. I think I probably gained at least 10 pounds on this trip. There was always so much food that I just could not resist! Mom's cinnamon rolls, eating out, popcorn and candy at the movies, chinese food.....the list goes on. I have no self-control!

What a fun trip. I really wish we had more time to spend with everyone. It's hard splitting it up all the time. Everyone needs to come visit us so we can have one on one vacation without the guilt!! It's hard to believe it has already come and gone. I'm having a hard time adapting to reality. Hopefully I can just take it a day at a time. I miss everybody already! Hey Jason.....how many sleeps until July 4th?

The Ray's Christmas Vacation......Round 1

We had quite the Christmas this year. We left on Thursday, Dec. 19th and returned yesterday (the 2nd). Two weeks filled with a whole range of emotions: Excitement, joy, annoyance, impatience, but mostly just a lot of of happiness. I love spending time with the family. There is never a dull moment when all the Hickmans get together. This season proved no different. Bare with me as I journal our happenings.......

These first pictures are from the hayride we took during the Moss family Christmas party. We rode around Woods Cross singing Christmas carols. It was very cold, but very fun. I think the picture of Shellie and Jason is so cute!!

This next one is Lucy and Graham on the Sunday before Christmas wearing the clothes that Grandma bought for them. Their cousins, George, Oliver, and Abby, had matching outfits, but we never got them together for a picture.....oops!

Like many of you, every Christmas Eve we act out the Christmas story as we read it from the Bible. Lucy was Mary this year and Graham was a sheep (he did a whole lot of wandering). Blaine, Lindsay, Jason H., and Shellie were shepherds. (They are in awe of the angel that has appeared to them.)

We also do the pajamas traditon on Christmas Eve. Mom did an awesome job this year! All the ladies got silk PJ's. Mine our pink leopard print.....so cute! The guys all got warm-ups with a t-shirt from the college they graduated from or are currently attending. Go USU!! Graham and Lucy loved their new jammers. That night all the adults (Maggie, Jason, Shellie, Lindsay, Blaine, Jason, and Beth) slept in the basement on air mattresses and watched The Christmas Story. Christmas morning was a success. Lucy got her "boots that light up" and her Cinderella music box among other things. My favorite of gifts: Nice copies of The Hiding Place and To Kill a Mockingbird (my two favorite books), Adobe Elements software, and some clothes and jewelry. Jason got a leather jacket (from yours truly) and golf wedge. We got quite the haul to come home with.

Graham woke up with a high fever on Christmas morning....no fun, but he still liked his gifts. Jason got a really sore throat and cough that lasted up until the day we left. Two trips to the Insta-Care clinic during vacation.....not too fun.

Layton to Lemoore......

Well, we survived our 12 hour trek back to good old Lemoore, CA. Here's the break down of our trip home:

• 4: Number of hours Graham cried and yelled in the car.
• 3.5: Number of hours Lucy cried and yelled at Graham for crying and yelling
• 2: Number of hours Maggie and Jason spent playing the ABC's game.
• 1/2: Part of an hour Maggie spent gloating over the fact that she kicked Jason's ABC trash when she found the letter Z on a license plate. OOOHH YEAH!
• 37: Number of times Lucy asked if we could go back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
• 108: Number of times Maggie complained to Jason about her back hurting. I've got some lower back troubles....I'll save that for another post.
• 1/3: Graham's portion of a bag of Funyuns. With 100 miles left to get home....we were desperate and Funyuns was our final attempt to shut the kid up or throw him out the window!
• 2: Number of hours the van moved at 30 mph or less as we drove through Donner Pass and Sacramento. Soooo frustrating!
• 1: Number of hours we took unpacking. The kids were asleep (blessing sent from above) so we did it in record time.

This morning I'm a little sad about not being with the extended family anymore. It's nice being home in our own space, but I miss waking up and seeing Mom and Dad. I'll post our fun pics later.....stay tuned!