Cultural Enlightenment

What the hulla ballu flying monkey be-gummies descrepen mung cho HO!!!! UMPH!!!!That's about how I feel right now with my little two old daughter! (Before you read any further, you should understand that I love my daughter with all my heart and soul, and I have no intention of doing anything drastic. Just a note to the reader.)

My daughter, bless her sweet little heart, is an Aztec. Or a Mayan, or Buddist or one of those naturalist-earthy sorts. I can't quite figure it out, and it's about to drive me bazerik. I honestly wish I could post a video of my daughter for you to witness the absolute phenomenon for yourself, to let your own eyes behold what I endure night after night after night. (Or maybe in her mind it's moon after moon after moon.) Anyhow...I will try my best to paint a very real picture for the reader.

My daughter, (whom I love...footnote to reader), holds a nightime ritual of sorts. It begins with a begging of food, normally something that shouldn't be ingested right before bed, like chocolate or ice cream or skittles. After a LONG fight of "No, you can't have that before bed," she finally settles for something like bread, or cheese, or a cracker. Grasping her rations tightly, we normally gallop to the bed chambers. Here, she settles in to bed, and begins to nibble so delicatley, and slowly on her provisions provided. After the small feast, "The Dance "begins.
Although not exactly the same every night, "The Dance" proceeds in a somewhat similar manner moon after moon.

We begin with a fanning of the sheets. The sheets are tossed ever so gently up and down from the body, and then violently shaken. Sometimes, they are thrown over the head while the body flings around underneath. This is often times accompanied by chanting, which is barely audible nor understandable. An ancient tongue no doubt.

We then proceed to the war paint. This consists of lotion, chapstick and sometimes oils. (Yes, oils! My mother-in-law has so graciously given me many natural oils, which I really do enjoy and use.) The lotion must be applied to the legs and feet, and chapstick must be put on, and remain on. If sheets or pillow touch the lips, a reapplication is necessary.

Next comes the longest, (as well as my favorite) part of the ceremony; audience participation. My hands are placed somewhere, typically on her chest or head, and then she proceeds to continue chanting/singing while she makes salutations to the sky. (YOU LAUGH....BUT IT'S TRUE!!!) Take tonight for instance. My daughter put my arm across her chest and then uses her hands to sweep across my arm and then throw her hands up toward the ceiling. She then rolls her arms as they slowly come back down to my arm, and the process begins again. Weird???? ABSOLUTELY DRIVE YOU CRAZY!!!

The practice ends by her slowing her chants, and slowing her movements, but they are ever still present. She just slowly slows down until it's over. Again, tonight she had place my hands on her ears and then mumbled to sleep, as if my hands were headphones and she was singing along to her favorite album. I had to laugh, to keep from crying, as I tried to pull my hands ever so slowly away from her ears, and she would quickly "re-adjust" her headphones for better clarity. This took about seven minutes before the soundtrack ran out and she was snoozing.

I ask you, my fellow bloggins, WHAT IS THAT?????!!!! All I can figure out is that she is from some different culture.

Season of Change

I've decided I like change. I really do. Which is shocking seeing that I come from a family that loves tradition and similarity. (Not that either is bad.) I, for one, love the freshness of change. For example, I love to rearrange the furniture in my home. I love to paint the walls. I love to try new meals for dinner, new products and watch new t.v. shows. Along with all this, I love to change my hair. I was noticing the other day, as I was scrapbooking....actually, I DON'T scrapbook. It's more like filing pictures away....I noticed I had a different hairstyle in practically every photo. My family has been pretty faithful to have family pictures taken yearly, and I look different in every one. So, I thought it would be fun to post the many hairstyles of Erin, and let the viewers decide. ha ha

More Pics of Pres

Preslee

Our cousin Preslee has been visiting us for the last couple of weeks. It's been so fun to have a cousin here. I know that my sister has been missing her girl dearly, and also has wondered what in the world we do everyday, so here are pictures for you Amber. Preslee is soooo much fun! Thanks for sharing her.

Preslee doing the long jump.

At the circus

Doing Grandma's hair. "Where are you Grandma?!"

How do those eyes look?

Pres going in for her massage.

In a Galaxy Far Far Away...

My son's birthday was yesterday and it was so fun. We had a Star Wars party. All the kids brought light sabers, and we saved the galaxy from invasion. The kids also fought Darth Vader. It was a beautiful night at the park for a fun party. Happy Birthday my son!

Happy May Days!

I love May. Even though in Wyoming, you may mistake May for November, I still love the anticipation of green grass, flip flops, creamsicles and summer sun. I think my whole family is just itching for warmer weather. As I type this, my kiddos are in the garage in the kiddy pool, which I filled up with hot water from the kitchen sink. They've been begging to use the pool, and I didn't think that 40 degrees is quite warm enough to be swimming outside. So we improvised. (An idea inspired by the love of my life! Thanks Babe for being the best DAD EVER!!!)

Believe it or not, I have had requests from my blog fans for certain stories and pictures. I am so touched that my blog has made it's way into your hum-drum lives. So, this posting is a quick recap for those that asked. To my fans, this one is for you! ha ha

My son just finished up his basketball season. Basketball games at age 5 are the cutest! I actually was quite impressed with the skill improvement from game one to game six. The boys were doing great! It made me smile to think of them playing "real ball" together someday.





Easter was so fun! The kids are at that perfect age where they love to hide and re hide and re hide eggs. Easter is my favorite holiday I think. Weird? I guess again, I just love the coming of Spring. And who wouldn't love to go to Easter church with kids looking so cute?! Thanks Grandma Corbridge for the beautiful dresses.

My daughter is practicing for her tumbling recital. She is doing amazing! I am so proud of how hard she works and how much she desires to do everything the teacher requires of her. She's our star.

And my youngest is as determined as they come. She is so excited for warmer weather, and she just won't let anything stop her from going outside. What will a little snow hurt? You can still get a tan, right?




In a nutshell, my kids are my life and they are doing fabulous! I am so grateful to be their mommy.