Super Angie... China pics!

Finally I am getting some of my China pictures up. The trip was my second one to China, and was so much fun that I'm going again in November. There are spots open still for this tour, so let me know if you want more information. the 2009 tour will be Nov 1st-10th. we will go to xian and beijing.
I LOVE BEIJING!

The corn wasn't very good, but the candies berries on a stick were soooo yummy! (even though Dallin doesn't look too thrilled to be holding them)My ex-husband, Mark and his girlfriend Fenny came to Beijing and went sight seeing with Dallin for a few days.

Look what Jordan found!!!

Scorpians and Sea Horses on a stick...yes, I ate two scorpians. YUM!

A Lama monk and I.

We loved visiting the Chinese National Gardens...its a park featuring villages from the different regions of china.

With some Chinese dancers at the park.

Dallin with our tour friends.

We LOVED seeing the pandas.

Me with Amy...notice she is holding the photo of the two of us from last year!

We went to a Kungfu show and afterwards, Dallin got to pose with some of the actors.

We also got to go to a grocery store with our special tour guide. It was fasinating to have a local explain and point out things to us.

Forbidden City!

Isn't she so cute?!

On Dallin's 8th birthday, Celeste and Kelly French (Celeste was our American tour guide).

At the Summer Palace.

Dallin at the Summer Palace being very silly!

David lifting Dallin up to touch the top of the doorway at the Summer Palace...good luck!

The BALDALING section of the Great Wall of China.

Look how bundled we are. 5 degrees outside! Brrrr!

Dallin and I with our Gold Medals for climbing the Great Wall

Yes, we ate at McDonalds. It was cheap and fairly easy. We took a taxi, which was interesting and met some wonderful people there.

We enjoyed seeing the Hu Tongs area of Beijing.

It was one of the coldest days when we took a Rickshaw ride. I think it was 10 degrees!

Dallin at the Temple of Heaven.

Dallin and Jordan on the bus after Jordan scored a serious deal on those army hats!

Dallin and our Chinese tour guide, David, at the Temple of Heaven.

Dallin at the Bird's Nest, standing in front of one of the Olympic Mascots!

The ceiling inside the Water Cube.

Dallin outside the Water Cube on the Olympic Plaza

Me and Dallin, on our first day in Beijing, standing in front of the Bird's Nest.

Super Angie...Lighten Up!

I am reading a wonderful book right now called LIGHTEN UP! written by Chieko N. Okazaki.

This is my 547th post since I started blogging a few years ago. Its my 123rd post just this year. I started blogging because I needed to document the small "good" things or "SUPER" things I was doing each day. Its therpy for me.

At that time in my life, I was busy comparing myself to others. I had a friend at the time who seemed perfect and I seemed so small in comparison. --I'm not as good of a mom as she is. --Oh, I don't read enough with my kids. --She is way nicer then me. --She is skinnier then I am. I'm so fat. --I am such a lame person. --My house isn't as nice and tidy as hers....etc etc.

Through blogging, I have been able to focus on the small things I do daily that make a difference in my life or my family's life. Things like making playdough, going to the park, doing the laundry, unpacking a box. Some things are huge and fantastic...like a birthday party, halloween or a baptism. Other things are small and mostly don't matter in the grand skeem of life--like vacuming, playing Wii, or not screaming at the kids for one full day.

Being Super Angie and focusing on my daily heroic EFFORTS, instead of my daily failures, helps me see myself as my Heavenly Father sees me. Its all about making the effort!

Now, back to this book....Some favorite quotes:
"Don't be hard on yourself and don't let others be hard on you either."

"Give yourself credit for the good things you do."

"If you make a mistake, give yourself credit for trying."

"If you do only half of what you wanted to do, or do it only half as well as you would have liked, pat yourself on half your back."

"Lighten Up!"

I have been struggling lately with comparing myself with others. Again with the comparisons. "My house is so messy compared to hers" etc. Something I have realized... (and please if you are a neat freak, don't take this personally, its just MHO) My kids will only be kids for such a short time. While they are kids, they want to play where ever I am. This means, in the kitchen, in the front room and yes, even in my bedroom. I should be grateful I even have kids, rather then stressing about rules of where toys are and aren't allowed in my house and yard. I have always been the type of person thats doesn't "mind" a mess. Sure I would love to have things tidy--like you see in Magazines or on Martha Stewart--but thats not my reality. But sometimes, I see other ladies and I see how tidy their homes are, and suddenly the pressure is on!
LIGHTEN UP! I have learned to just let it go. This is me. This is my house. This is my life. And you know what, when my kids are old and grown and married, I can have my tidy house...but I'll still miss seeing that random dino, or my little pony laying around.

More thoughts on the book as I move through the chapters...

--Super Angie

Super Angie... books

My friend Wendy posted a FABULOUS post on her blog, in response to my post down below about Dallin reading and me asking for suggestions.

I think her post is well worth visiting.

http://wendyssoapbox.blogspot.com/

Thanks Wendy!Heres a pic of Wendy, her husband Kenneth and their son Awsumb. I love Wendy's smile!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...going homemade

I got inspired from Super Lisa's blog to make things from scratch. This morning I made home made play dough. Dallin's school class needed some, so I made some plain for his class (in the ziplock baggie) and then some blue marble colored balls for my kids.

I love this craft because its sooooo easy to make and most people will have all the ingredients on hand. Here's the recipe:

Play dough:
1 cup cold water
1 cup salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tbsp cornstarch

Happy Day!
--Super Angie
PS...it is like a blizzard outside. SNOW IN MARCH!!!

Super Angie...injured

The last Rainier training hike I did, I had a 25 lb pack on. I'm not sure if its the weight, the speed of the hike or the distance, but ever since then, my left knee has been hurting. I tore my left meniscus in '97, so its quite common to have these issues with it. So, for right now, I'm putting Rainier on the back burner and instead going to focus on the Teva Mountain Games in Vail. The comp is June 4th. I still have my weightloss goals that I was to hit by there (10-15lbs) and my bouldering goals (I want to be able to do better on slopper holds and onsite V1 and some V2).

So, hiking is done for now, except small, non-stressful hikes.

--Super Angie

Super Angie...come to Zion, come to Zion...

Yesterday we took a trip down to ZION NATIONAL PARK. I have never been to this park, but it is now one of my favorites. We took a nice hike (it was a mile round trip). The kids did awesome on the hike, and Tanith walked almost the whole way--without WHINING!!! She did awesome!!! The kids did some bouldering, we saw some rock climbers and talked to some guys who had just finished climbing some cracks.

We really loved the sandstone, the cliffs, the water falls and streams. The weather was overcast and the temps were in the upper 60s, low 70s...perfect!

We can't wait to go again!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...skipping work to hang with the monkeys

Since Dallin didn't have school on Friday, Rick decided to skip work and come to the zoo with us. It was a bit warmer and sunnier then we had hoped, but we had a great time. The kids really enjoyed Rick's unique insite into different animals. We ate a few huge pretzels, laughed at the peacocks, talked to the monkeys, and of course, rode the zoo train.

We had a lot of fun watching the monkeys that look like skunks (sorry, I don't remember what type they are). The kids were watching them through the glass, when one jumped to the ledge and stood just on the other side of the glass. This lady walked up with a small stuff animal monkey and sat it by the glass. The real monkey was actually nervous of the toy. It was so funny.

Thanks Honey for coming with us to the zoo. It wouldn't have been as good without you!

--Super Angie

Super Angie... a new sight to behold

Something very interesting and exciting has been happening lately at our house....DALLIN IS READING AND LOVING IT!!!

When he started reading in Kindergarten, he liked it, but it was hard to get him to just sit and read. Same in first grade. And at the beginning of this 2nd grade school year, his teacher and I tried several different incentive plans to get him reading but it was still very hard to get him to love reading. Well, suddenly, during the past few weeks of the READ A THON, Dallin has been "caught" reading all the time. He reads in the car. He reads on the couch while others watch TV. He is finishing whole books (Magic Tree House is his favorite series) in only 30 minutes! And his teacher has reported that his reading level has gone up one whole grade.

Dallin, I'm so proud of you and how good you are at reading.

And SPECIAL THANKS to everyone who pledged Dallin in the read-a-thon. Your support meant a lot!

--Super Angie
PS...I'm looking for suggestions of other books for him to read. Classics or whatever. :)

Super Angie...Mrs. Martinez and Maggie Moos

The other week, we treated Dallin's teacher, Mrs. Martinez (and Mrs. T, the first grade teacher) to a trip to Maggie Moos. Of course i forgot to take pictures of that event, but we had a blast. Here are some pics of Tanith enjoying her ice cream earlier in the month. Ah...nothing is better then Maggie Moos!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...swimming around the house

Tanith got mad at me for not putting the right pants on her, so she ran off sulking. The next minute, she was back, looking like this.

TOO FUNNY!!!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...hairstyles

I had a lot of fun on Sunday trying something different with Tanith's hair. Her hair is pretty frizzy and can sometimes be so hard to work with. I think this turned out so pretty!

--Super Angie

Super Angie...on the rocks

A while back, Dallin's school took a field trip to Momentum to learn about bouldering and some history about climbing. Most of my pics didn't turn out (not enough lighting), but here is one of Dallin and a few of Tanith.

My kids sure do love to be on the rocks.

--Super Angie

Super Angie...FIRE!

Last night as we were coming home from the climbing gym, we passed some kids on the side of the Highland Highway (right below where we live). There were two parked cars and tons of teens out in the grass. It looked strange, so I paid a bit more attention and noticed that the grass and bushes behind them were on FIRE!

I called Rick (who was driving a block behind me) and asked if I should call the cops. He then told me he could hear the fire trucks and sure enough, we could see the trucks too.

The kids were freaked out, thinking something really bad was gonna happen with this fire. SO I turned around and we drove back to watch the fire and see what the police and firemen would do. The kids of course LOVED it and enjoyed seeing firemen in action.

It was a great way to teach them about fire safety and about the important job of being a fireman.

--Super Angie