The gift of perspective

If I could capture this in a bottle...

Do we take enough time to stop and soak in the innocence of our children and the simple moments that unfold before us everyday? Do we spend enough time watching, loving and absorbing our little ones while life is still simple and perfect in their eyes?

Have we asked them how they see themselves when they're "all grown up?" Motherhood is so challenging. But when I take a few steps back and try and gain perspective on the "big picture" it becomes very clear.

My littlest one is growing up so fast. At times that thought is almost too much to bear. She sees herself someday being the "best mommy ever." As I watch her care for and nurture her little babies, I wonder, "Is that what she saw from me? Did I give her that same quality and quantity of love?"

Life moves quickly. There are days and weeks that pass me by before I realize that I've lost touch with what counts the most. If all that we love the most was suddenly taken from us, would the rest really matter?


I'm not a perfect mom by any stretch of the imagination. But when I am gifted a little perspective, I am definately overwhelmed with gratitude for all I have been given. It's a second wind in a job that never ends and that I can never be sure I've done quite right. But I thank God for letting me try.

Saggy loafs

Okay, I don't really want to talk about it. I'm feeling deflated and unable to rise to the occasion of breadmaking. :) Yes, it's true. I'm 0/2 and I'm feeling like I may never be able to get this right.

So this loaf was my first attempt at making bread since my best breadmaking friend taught a group of us how to grind wheat and make fresh bread. The truth is, her husband never has to eat store bought bread because she's such a baking wizard. How can a woman compete with that? If you think the husbands don't compare bread loafs, well, you're wrong!

This attempt was marginal. I didn't let it rise long enough (or so Janel diagnosed). I think I added too much flour too. But, I made my family eat it for dinner anyway. At least it was edible, though heavy as a boulder.

And then today came these beauties. Okay, so I whipped out another batch of dough today. It was perfectly sticky and so much better than my dough yesterday. I thought I'd try Janel's "quick" method. So I turned on the oven and let it heat up. Then I turned it off and put my loafs in to rise. And this is what I got. Saggy loafs. How embarrasing.

So Shane says, "So, Aimee, what's up with your loafs?" I didn't want to talk about it so I pretended I didn't hear his question. I should have disposed of the evidence before he saw it. My mistake. So for all of you new "bread making fools" out there, I hope reading this blog makes you feel much better about your skills. Natasha informed me at dinner last night that Alisa's "so good" at making bread. Apparently Brendon doesn't eat store bought bread now either.

I didn't even buy bread at the store this week because I was going to make loafs of wonderfully light, tasty and moist wheat bread for my family to munch. Well, the dream lives on. Perhaps one day.

Feeling adventuresome?

Okay...so I'm finally catching on to all this tech stuff! I thought I'd just throw out there that I now have a profile on Facebook for any of my friends who haven't ventured there yet. If you go to facebook.com and click on the friend finder, you should be able to pull up my profile if my email address is in your contact list. Then you just request me as a friend. It sends me a request to add you as one of my friends so you can view my profile! Then if you want, you can create a profile of your very own! ;) A whole new way to keep in touch! How great!

You can also upload a bunch of pictures to albums that your friends and family can view on your profile. The possibilities are endless! So much fun!

So if you're feeling adventuresome...give it a try!

Tagged?

Tagged by Alisa
I'm just getting educated on all these blogging terms...like getting "tagged." So, here goes...Alisa you'll have to evaluate my performance...

Things about me

Four Movies I could Watch over and over:
1. Any of the Ocean's movies (11,12 or 13)
2. How to Loose a Guy in 10 Days
3. Top Gun
4. Step Up

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. Elementary school teacher (2nd and 4th grade), Payson and Salem, Utah
2. Bagel Sandwich Maker at Bayside Bagels in Orem, Utah...ahhh those were the days!
3. Receptionist for Mity-Lite Tables (the company that makes all the tables we use in our church buildings! Good to know huh!
4. Grunt worker at Muffin Break (pastery shop). This was my first job in high school. I sure miss the days of minimum wage at $4.25!

Four Places I've Lived:
1. Bellevue, WA
2. Provo, UT
3. Kuna, ID
4. Boise, ID

Four of My Favorite dishes/foods:
1. Pad Thai - Yellow Curry chicken! My newest addiction!
2. Soft serve ice cream (my favorite is McDonalds!)
3. Blue Ribbon Burger from Red Robin
4. A good virgin fuzzy navel.

Four T.V. Shows I Love:
1. Survivor
2. Biggest Loser
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. The Apprentice

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Hotmail
2. KTVB
3. Kim and Alisa's blogs (since those are the only ones I know about)
4. WAMU (to update my accounts)

Four Places I have Vacationed:
1. Disneyland
2. Hawaii (Maui and Kauai)
3. Cancun
4. Orlando, FL

Four Places I'd rather be right now:
1. Boogie boarding in the surf of Hawaii's beaches (SO MUCH FUN!)
2. Surfing on our boat in the warm summer sun
3. On my favorite beach in Oregon (Arcadia Beach), roasting hot dogs with my family and exploring the sea life at low tide.
4.Headed into my favorite theme park in the world...Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL...with my wonderful husband! (and the kids this time around)

Four Friends I Tag:
Well, since I don't know 4 more people who have blogs, I guess I can only tag Kim. :)
1. Kim
2.
3.
4.

Season Opener!

It's official! Let the boating fun begin! Yesterday was the perfect season opener for the Larsen family! We pulled the kids from school and played hookie at the lake with Mimi and Papa Klann and Aunt Mel and Uncle Todd!!


There was tubing fun (and also tubing tumbles) but all in all it was fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun!

The girls all got to go surfing with Shane. Natasha was the first one in! She's almost ready to push Shane off and go for it on her own!

Kylie was second in and once she got up and remembered how fun it is, she didn't want it to end! With her hip hop music blaring and the cool water splashing - she was ready to ride the wave all day long!

Our littlest surfer girl was a little more reluctant (surprisingly). She's been talking about surfing all winter long. But she held on for dear life and finally we saw a smile pop out! On the ride home she kept saying she wanted to go back to the lake for some more surfing!


Shane ripped the curl...just getting warmed up again for the attempt at the 360 degree turns!


Uncle Todd braved the tubing run with the girls. Brinley was happy to let him on the tube and announced that he was "a good man who would help keep them safe." :) We're so glad he was there!

Aimee was the wimp in the wetsuit...I probably didn't need it since the water was 73 degrees! Wahoo! Surf's up!

Both Mel and Todd learned to surf on their first day out! With the lake totally to ourselves and the water just perfect...it was the perfect day to learn! Go Aunt Mel and Uncle Todd! What a great day for a season opener! Summer's here - let's get this party started!

Fierce Competition

Well, that's it. The end of the road for 2007/2008 dance competitions! And all I have to say is, "Phew! That was a ride!" Kylie's Preview Dance team did an amazing job for their first season in the heat of competition! The competition is fierce and INTENSE! But her team danced their hearts out and pulled off some amazing victories over the course of the year!

I've lost track of all the awards they won, but among Kylie's personal favorities was this award that they recieved at America On Stage..."Overall Studio Grand Champion." Her team took several first places, and 2 second places as well as various overall and specialty awards.

Let's just say that Kylie is in her element when she's dancing. She is quite the performer and loves to be "center stage." I think we'll let her perform until she hits about 13 and then we're locking her in a closet until she's 20. Needless to say, between the flirtatious attitude and her dance moves that Shane and I are not looking forward to the teen years.

Kylie grew so much as a dancer this year. She wants to try all the moves that the older girls do and watches their choreography with great interest. She is in constant motion at home and their isn't a moment that she's not cartwheeling or dancing around the house.

For being the 2nd youngest team member as well as the smallest, Kylie has done an amazing job and we look forward to her performances in the years to come! Go Kylie and Go DANCE UNLIMITED!

Amphibian Farm

Yes, it's true. We now have our own amphibian farm in the backyard. It all started with a "frog sale" at the Cinco De Mayo party down the street. We ended up taking home 4 frogs - two of which must have been "very good friends." The morning after we brought them home 3 of the 4 frogs had disappeared, and our two lovebird frog friends had left a cup full of eggs. Nice. My girls woke up early to check on the frogs and then proceeded to divide up the unborn eggs and describe them in detail to me as black balls with "goup" around them. Somewhere in the middle of that I lost my appetite for my morning bowl of cereal.

That afternoon Kylie came home to find her frog had drown in the cup - rigimortous in full effect. After a dramatic burial we headed out for a round of frog hunting. The girls found success and we brought home 3 new frogs. The girls secured their frog "cages" with plastic wrap and rubber bands and Kylie even caught a whole bag of bugs at school to feed them.

Despite their efforts, Brinley's frog somehow escaped, and so we headed out for another round of frog hunting tonight. Because of Natasha's mad frog hunting skills, we brought home 3 new frogs. Natasha informed me that our amphibian farm was going well despite the fact that we've killed or lost 5 of the 7 frogs we've brought home.

The girls have assured me that once the frog eggs hatch they will be rolling in the bucks when they sell the baby frogs for $1 a piece. I guess that frogs are the new "lemonade." What do I know? I'm just the mom.

Does anyone have some more anti-bacterial?