Funny quote of the day

The kids got a perfect day today.  They spent about 7 hours with all their grandparents at the same time.  We went out to lunch, made Christmas cookies, and acted out the nativity with everyone taking part.  Three kids and seven adults means we all got to have a major part.  As soon as we were all decked out in our costumes, there was a knock at the door.  Mind you, we were all in the living room so there was no chance of secrecy.  Mom took off her angel costume/towel and opened the door. It was Mom and Dad's next door neighbor delivering goodies.  She said "Merry Christmas" and then asked if Dad (Joseph in a bathrobe) was feeling ok.

As a bonus, here is Kyle's hippie wise man mama bearing a gift of chocolate to the baby Jesus.

Packing for Christmas

We are going to Grandma's house for Christmas and the kids are pretty excited.  They couldn't wait until Saturday to start packing and Johnny told me he was ready to go.   I am glad I checked...here is what he had packed:

3 ties (he never lasts more than a half hour with a tie on)
1 Sunday shirt
6 pairs of underwear
1 pair of socks
5 pairs of pants

Yup.  But to his credit, I think he ran out of room for shirts.  He had a whole pile of t-shirts in the middle of the floor.  Silly kid.

Beatle Mania at our house (post #4 now, is it, for today?)

Johnny is sitting next to me doing "homework" and singing along to Dad playing Beatles Rock Band.  "She's got a ticket to riii-iide.....My baby don't care."   Now he's singing his questions to me in the tune of the songs.   "Mom what does this say?" and of course I've got to sing my answers back.  Earlier, and the reason I grabbed the computer to blog, he was singing along to "I wanna be your mother baby, I wanna be your man."  Bwahaha!  I think I'd rather he said that than lover.  Not a word I'd expect to hear from a 4 year old, kwim? He knows a lot of these songs now.  Super cute to listen to.  He's actually a very good singer with an awesome memory for music!  As you can see, though, drums is his instrument of choice.  He can't read well enough yet and guitar is pretty challenging.  Drums you just to bang really loud.  Nice looking band, dontcha think?

One more Johnny-ism for the day: at the library today Johnny got a ruler.  On the way home he was measuring things and said, "Look!  This weighs 6 months."  You gotta give him credit.  He used a term for measuring size and gave a unit to his number.  This kid's a genius.  Mathematical AND musical!

Blog post #3 for today (don't forget to scroll down to see the other new entries)

While we were at the hospital today, the X-ray tech asked Johnny, who is 4 years old, what he wants to be when he grows up.  J thought and thought and finally had the answer.  "Five!"

Oh yeah, Halloween pics!

I guess while I'm at it, I might as well post our Halloween pics, eh?  First of all, Kyle and I try to find a costume that goes together for the two of us.  Last year we were the weather:

Kyle was a tornado and I was cloudy with a chance of rain.  If you asked me I made it rain on you.

This year, we thought about being Monk and Natalie (no, Debbie, I don't think I could pull off Sherona).  But everyone we told it to thought we were talking about a Monk, not Mr. Monk. Too much explaining to be done with this one. We finally found an idea online that was super easy and a fun joke.  But, it still required explaining.  It was interesting because when we told what we were, you could tell people either got it or they didn't.  Here it is:

Kyle is a lower GI and I am an upper GI.  Ba dum bum.  :)

Now on to the cute kids:

Magnet Man.  Ben came up with this idea with his gifted teacher.  The day before Halloween at school.  So Thursday afternoon was spent cutting and painting and getting his costume ready.  Courtney, the Snow Princess, designed her costume around her pajamas and we had it made a couple months ago.  She had a special place to store her costume all summer long just waiting for Halloween.  Last of all is my little Red Power Ranger.  Grandma gave him the costume for his birthday in May and since it still fit, I strongly encouraged him to just use it for Halloween.  He relented and did just fine...he loved showing off his muscles to everyone.  :)

Luckily the weather warmed up just in time to not need winter coats for the Trunk or Treat.  Happy Halloween...time to start thinking about Christmas now!

How we spent our day today

As soon as Johnny and I walked in the door after preschool, we got a phone call that kept us away until about 1 1/2 minutes before Ben got off the bus this afternoon.  The school nurse called with the report that we needed to come pick up Courtney from school.  She'd gotten two of her fingers smashed in her classroom door on the way to lunch and was in such shock that she threw up.  Johnny and I climbed back in the car and went to pick her up.  She was pale but much calmer.  No blood.  And after 2 1/2 hours at Daddy's work (the Indian Hospital) we discovered there are no broken bones, either.

(If you are into gross, you can click on the pic to see a great close up of her injury).

But hey, the three of us got to go out to lunch at McDonald's before we went to the doctor.  There's one highlight to the day.  And C and J came home covered in stickers (after we took advantage of the surprise trip to the doctor and they got their H1N1 shots).

 I'm just glad we barely beat Ben home.

How old did you say I am???

So, we were talking about Kyle's birthday this Sunday.  He's going to be 33, and I'm 35.  


Johnny: "So you're 26, right Dad?"  
Me: "Yeah, sure.  How old am I, kiddo?"
Johnny: "Um, 50?"
Kyle: "You're right, son!"


Oooooooh, guess who's getting coal in HIS stocking.  Yep.  Both of 'em!

Check out these crazy shoes!

On My Organized Chaos I found this crazy shoe site she is having a giveaway for: Must Have Shoes.  I linked it right to the section where they have "irregular shoes."  I have never seen any shoes like these in my wildest imagination.  Check them out for fun!  Some of them don't even look like shoes!

Good news, bad news

So, the good news is that tonight Ben is going to receive his Bear at cub scouts! He's pretty excited.

The bad news, well that story is a bit longer. Last night we had the missionaries over so we could feed them dinner. We always like to have them give us a scripture message after dinner and before they go back out to get to work. Are my kids the only ones that get super worked up (aka...hyper) when the missionaries or home teachers or repairman comes over? I don't know if that is the explanation or if it was too similar to our nightly scripture time that Johnny doesn't know how to sit still for either. Whatever it was, Johnny was running around, despite warnings to stop. I reached out to stop his running and he ran straight into my outstretched hand. It crunched. Think falling off your bike and stopping your fall with your hand. Yeah that. What I did back in college some 15 years ago with my other hand. This time though, it doesn't feel broken. Maybe a sprain, maybe nothing. But it is my right hand and I'm getting pretty good at left handed now. By keeping my wrist straight I'm able to type, with only a little difficulty.

So that's the story. As my friend Susannah responded when I posted on Facebook about this, the word of God can be HARD to take sometimes. And boy was it ever!

For those who care...

I updated my scrap blog today with 10 or so projects I've made over the last 6 months. Sooooo, if you are in the mood, click on over and let me know how talented I am! LOL

Cricut gypsy giveaway!!

I know this belongs on my scrapbooking blog (and it is there already), but I think this blog gets more traffic and wanted to get the word out about this awesome giveaway. Here's the info again!

I found a great new blog named Cutting Above. It focuses on scrapbooking, especially for those of us with Cricuts or other electronic die cut machines. They are currently having a Gypsy giveaway to celebrate the blog's debut and the gypsy grand opening on HSN. It will be airing on September 24th, starting at 12:01, I believe. Here's a link to the post on that blog with more info: clicky Good luck!

Decluttering your life

I found this quote today over on Ali Edward's blog. It is from Leo Babauta's new ebook called The Simple Guide to Minimalist Life.

This is a misconception about minimalism — that it’s necessarily monk-like, empty, boring, sterile. Not at all. Well, it can be, if you go in that direction, but I don’t advocate that flavor of minimalism. Instead, we are clearing away all but the most essential things — to make room for that which gives us the most joy. Clear away the distractions so we can create something incredible. Clear away all the obligations so we can spend time with loved ones. Clear away the noise so we can concentrate on inner peace, on spirituality (if we wish), on our thinking. As a result, there is more happiness, peace, and joy, because we’ve made room for these things.

I love that concept of clearing out life's clutter. I enjoy getting rid of clutter, but I also often accumulate it more quickly than I can deal with it. This quote is a good reminder of why decluttering life is worth the effort.

Branson vacation

I admit it. At first I was not too thrilled with the idea of a vacation to Branson. All I knew was that it had to do something with country music. And a long drive from home. But, we all had a great time, we're glad we went, and want to go back sometime. Grandma and Grandpa, along with Uncle Clayton and cousins Trenton and Emillie, arrived Friday night in time for a little birthday cake for Emillie.

Then on Saturday Kyle and I took his parents down to the Santa Fe Farmers Market for some sampling and more red chili raspberry jam.

Sunday morning found us on our way. One 14 hour drive + no stopping for food to try in some way to keep the Sabbath holy + searching for a church meeting in a decent town (sorry Amarillo) and at a decent time = a long, messy, but not too bad car trip.

Monday we went exploring and ended up at the fish hatchery. It doesn't take too long to feel the difference between the dry heat of Santa Fe and Utah and the humidity of Missouri. Luckily there was an air conditioned visitor center to stave off the complaining.

Ben and Trenton found my camera and had a lot of fun. I'm glad I can trust them in controlled environments with my pride and joy camera!

Next stop, just for Clayton...the Titanic museum. We were able to use Kyle's military discount in a few places to save us some money. The museums and shows are pretty pricey in this town (unless you are willing to sit through numerous time share presentations). My favorite part of the Titanic exhibit was the interactive room where they had platforms you could stand on at different angles showing just how hard it would have been to hang on when the ship was sinking. There was also a tub of water iced down to what the temperature of the water was that the passengers had to float in waiting to be saved. I could only last about 10 seconds with my hand in the water. It was a well done exhibit and really helped me understand a bit of what the people went through.

Ticket booths on every corner and a million shows to choose from. Kyle and I and Pam and Dale went to see Shoji Tabuchi (check out the bathroom pics!) as recommended by Grandma Great. Well done and a lot of fun! We took everyone to the Kirby VanBurch magic show and we were all astounded at some of his tricks. Especially the women sawed in half and put together in the wrong order. Most of us went to see Jackson Cash in a very well done Johnny Cash tribute, a free show gratefuly because the kids didn't appreciate it at all. Kyle and I chose one show to see just the two of us. Six. It is an a capella group made up of 6 brothers. We loved this show and the music was right up our alley.

The highlight of the trip for the kids was the swimming pool at the resort. Pam and Dale bought this time share off of ebay and invited us to go with them. There was free breakfast every morning, but being that it was mostly donuts and other bready foods, it did get a little old. And contributed to our packing on a couple extra pounds on the trip. But the pool was what called to the kids and they went swimming every day. The adults took turns going swimming with the kids too and it was a great way to cool off on those hot hot days.

The other highlight for the kids was the Pirate Cove mini golf course. Kyle beat me by 2 or 3 strokes, I believe. Nobody else kept score, though.

Part of the entrance fee included a gift bag for all the kids. We let Clayton be a kid, too. :) Everyone put on their pirate faces:

Even Grandma and Grandpa got in on it:

The resort provided different activities daily for the kids. We were usually off doing something else, but we did decide that $5 a shirt for making tie dye sounded like a great investment. Here we are sporting our artwork!

The day we drove into Branson I spied a Crocs outlet. This was my contribution to the schedule for the week...a trip to get new shoes for all at Crocs. When you can get Crocs for $10, who can pass that up?? They also gave all the kids a free Crocadoodle paint kit. The paint comes off with soap and water so you can redecorate whenever you want. We came home with at least 10 extra pairs of shoes!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for a fun trip! We can't wait to do it again!

First day of School!

Today was a momentous occasion. Johnny started preschool! People have been asking me what I'm going to do with all my time. Well, let's see. Drop the kids off at 7:40. Pick up Johnny at 10:50. About one week a month, Kyle can drop off on the way to work. Other weeks, he doesn't leave until 8:30 or 9:00, depending on his work schedule. So that leaves me, what, an hour and a half or two hours to myself most days. That's SOOO much time to myself, don't you think? How am I ever going to fill that time? (Sarcasm intended.)

This is Johnny...so excited to be in school. There were kids crying and parents hovering over nervous kids. But not our Johnny! He went right in, said hi to his teacher, and started playing with the toys. Not nervous at all. Yesterday after church he went right up to his room and picked out his school clothes. He's been asking forever if it was Monday yet!

In the second picture, it shows his teacher's assistant in pink, Miss Sara, and his teacher, Teacher Andranette. (No promises on the spelling of those names, however). Yep. She said they are to call her Teacher Andranette. We'll see if that lasts! I find it a unique title. I've got 2 1/2 hours until pick up. I'd better get going and not waste my precious time! I think I'll start by talking to Kyle for 10 more minutes until he leaves. I think I made him feel bad this morning when I made the observation about getting the short end of the stick as far as class times, wishing I'd chosen the afternoon class. He said he was glad we'd have time for ourselves in the mornings and I was wishing I had more time for just myself. It's only the first day. I'm sure we'll be just fine!

I guess I can let them grow up...

Today I decided to let the kiddos grow up. Just a little. I've got a lot of things I'd rather do myself than let the kids learn how to do. Mostly because of the potential mess or potential for not doing it the way I like it. For example: cracking eggs. I let Ben crack the eggs for our Family Birthday cake (we call our anniversary our family's birthday...11 years today!) I let him do it and he did a marvelous job. He's 9, I guess that's old enough, eh? I let Courtney use a cookie scoop to scoop the cake mix into the cupcake papers. She actually did it without making much more mess than I would make. Hmm. Seven year olds can do a pretty good job I suppose. I got out the vacuum and asked Johnny, age 4, to vacuum the living room. I gave him a little tutelage and he did a great job, considering the size and weight of the vacuum. It's not perfect, but he did it by himself! The kids loved doing the jobs I gave them and all proved themselves worthy. I need to remember this and keep letting them try new things and greater responsibilities. That's much more important than a perfectly clean house or messless cooking, I'd say.

While watching the meteor shower...

...we were discussing what meteors are and lots of other space related topics. Mostly it was Ben spouting off facts that Kyle and I knew nothing about! We saw airplanes and we were discussing the schedules they usually keep, like how they usually have their last flights around 9 or 10 at night. Courtney then asked....he he he.... "Is that 9 AM, PM, or FM?" Kyle and I could not stop laughing! She said, "If it's nighttime, then it's FM." What a cutie patootie!

Kid-isms

On his way to bed last night, Johnny said, "I love you Dad." I love you too, Johnny. Then he said, "I love you Mom." I love you too Johnny. Then he said, "I love my adults!" What a funny way to put it!

Courtney and Ben have both been thinking about the Second Coming lately. Courtney wants to be a Mom before then and Ben wants to have a job in the medical profession before then. He thinks being a doctor won't do him much good then. We reminded him that all knowledge is good and helpful. After all, I'm sure Heavenly Father has a pretty good grasp on how the human body works, wouldn't you say? And we also reminded Courtney that even if she doesn't get her wish, she can make up for it later.

I love the cute things my kids say, but I'm horrible at keeping track of them. At least I'll remember these now!

Kenny G concert

Kyle and I went to Albuquerque overnight for a concert and a lovely stay at a Bed & Breakfast. This home was beatiful! It is called the Mauger estate. We highly recommend it if you ever have the chance. The rooms were quaint and the breakfast was super yummy.

When we drove to Sandia Resort (& casino) for the concert, Kyle had to bring his saxophone, of course, and play some tunes beforehand.

The concert was actually very fun and I'd go to one of his concerts again! Kenny G walks around and plays all over the place. It was just a lot of fun.

And here is the piece d'resistance...Kyle played his saxophone while we were waiting in line to get an autograph and Kenny G said, "Hey sounds great! Thanks for playing my melodies!" and then he signed Kyle's sax!!!

And on a totally unrelated note, the next day we went for pedicures. Kyle was totally diggin' the massage chair and foot spa. Look how cute my toes turned out! There's a mini rhinestone in the middle of the flower.

Well, that's it for now. I'm trying to get this done quickly, but I'll have Kyle come back later and fill in more details. Thanks, Bryce & Bettie for taking the kids so we could have this awesome experience!

My kids really ARE listening to me!

My three kiddos are in the other room taking turns playing Wii. I heard some whining from Courtney and the Ben lecturing Johnny: "Johnny, you don't need to take the remote from her. Use your words." That's a phrase I use with the kids all. the. time. Go Ben!

Thank goodness for warranties...

This is what I saw when I went in Johnny's room this morning:

When we were negotiating the terms for buying this house, at the recommendation of the home inspector, we had the owners do a roof upgrade with a 2 year guarantee on the roof. The roof guy just came and said that even though this was caused by the swamp cooler, it is still 100% covered. I'm not sure if they fix the interior walls, too. Here's hoping! I was a little worried because Kyle and our friend Bryce hooked up the swamp cooler a week ago (directly above Johnny's room) and being their first time we hoped they did it right. The guy said everything looked fine, but there was some condensation or leakage problem or something. But all I care is that it is covered. Phew!

Zero Desire

Bettie sorta tagged me to do this 10 things I have zero desire to do or be or try or whatever. She sorta tagged me because she told me in person I had to. I don't usually do the blog lists, but this one seems like fun.

I have no desire to....

1. Have a pet dog or cat or anything else except a fish. I have 3 kids...who needs pets?

2. Own a business. Not my kinda fun!

3. Run a marathon. Good one Bettie...I'd have to agree with you on that one. My knees and lungs are thanking me already.

4. Be famous. It's hard enough for me to know what to say when I get a compliment now...can you imagine people always hounding you and telling you how wonderful you are? Ugh!

5. Run for office. I hate making big decisions. Isn't that what politics is all about?

6. Be a chef. Um, no. I'd rather eat it than slave over cooking for everyone else.

7. Go scuba diving...and for that Kyle, I am so sorry. I know you love it. But telling me how cool it is to have fish swarming around you is NOT the way to convince me to do it!

8. Eat tripe. Or tongue. Or any other non-normal animal part. I've tried liver (Mom made us when we were kids), chicken toe (just a bite in Spain) and pig cheek (again in Spain). That's as crazy as I get.

9. Bungee jump. Or skydive. Or paraglide. I have this thing for heights. And edges. And safety equipment possibly failing. Yeah, I think I'll pass.

10. Be a doctor. Bodily fluids, gross wounds, looking at body parts that aren't meant to be looked at, trying to remember all the names of said body parts or sicknesses or medicines to prescribe. So many reasons to not do this!

Beginning the process of painting our house

The whole house is white. It could be worse I guess. When we were looking at houses we saw one that had pastels all over the house done with faux finishing. In every room. So at least white gives us a blank canvas. We aren't in love with painting, but it is kinda fun. Mostly it is my project. Apparently, Kyle would rather let me do the bulk of it than risk making a mistake and facing my wrath. Hmmmm. That's ok. I enjoy it. I especially enjoy that we don't have to remove painted over wallpaper borders, or any other wallpaper. Ugh. So, without further ado...here is the almost done (it's done now, but I don't have pics) master bathroom. The window in the bathroom is frosted and the way the light comes through at different times of day makes the wall color change all the time.

This first is what it looks like a lot, mostly blue. There is grey stone tile on the floor and bath surround and it is a good complement.

And this color is more what I was going for. But it's all good. I like it!

Now the kids are excited to get their rooms painted. Ben wants black, Johnny wants bright green and Courtney wants polka dots. We'll see what actually happens!

How we stopped our child from finger sucking in one easy step...

Johnny always sucked his two middle fingers. Perfect strangers would see him and tell me that their child sucked their fingers like that until they were 11. Great. We had never had a finger/thumb sucker so we wondered how were were going to deal with this. We took him to a gastro doctor because we were worried about the sucking and the rumination that came with it. No, thinking isn't a bad thing. I mean rumination like a cow ruminates...chewin' their cud, so to speak. We tried some medicine for awhile, but didn't stick with it.

So anyway, we started to notice that he was always holding his blanket when he was doing this. So we wondered which came first: the chicken or the egg. I mean--the blanket or the fingers. Which was triggering which? The answer came to us rather quickly. About a year or so ago, I don't really remember when it happened, Johnny stopped taking his blanket everywhere. Then he started forgetting it when he went to sleep. (This happened to be very good timing, by the way, because we were down to two blanket burp cloths and apparently this specific fabric is no longer sold in stores...and no other fabric was good enough for his tastes. But that's another story.) We realized that the finger sucking had all but disappeared, along with the rumination. Turns out the blanket had become the trigger for the finger sucking--when he found his blanket after a few months he picked it up and stuck his fingers in his mouth to pretend to suck. We could tell he did it automatically but the sucking was no longer a comfort and was just for fun.

So, how did we stop the finger sucking? Throw away the blankets and never look back!

Wow...that was a quick change of plans!

I got a call today that Johnny made it onto the class roster for the fall. Yea!!!! His class will be held from 7:30-10:30. That seems awfully early, but I can drop all three kids off at the same time so it will work out well. That is the second time in the last few month when I have been given time to get used to a difficult situation only to have a resolution to the situation after I decided to accept it and be happy about it. I guess I must have problems with change!

A lesson I need to learn again

So just yesterday I did a scrapbook page about one of life's little lessons. Here's an exerpt:

I'm not in charge of what happens in life. I know that. Mistakes happen, cars break down, people die, houses don't sell, pregnancies fail. I've gotten pretty good at trusting in the Lord that it will all be for the best. But I've still got a lot to learn. When I got my mission call I was disappointed that my start date was a month after my birthday...meaning I was going to get home a month too late to start school in the fall. But, there was a purpose to these things. Kyle's first semester back at school ended up being my last semester of school. If I had gotten my wish, I would have graduated without meeting him. I've always remembered this as a prime example of trusting in the Lord's timing and decisions.

Fast forward to this morning and the phone call I just received. The kids' school is going to have a small preschool next year with just 32 spots. They were using a lottery system to choose who got in. There were about 45 kids signed up. We got the phone call today to let us know that Johnny is #4 on the waiting list for the morning class. Joy. That means our name was one of the last chosen. She said not to hold out too much hope of getting in with that place on the list.

Ever since we found out about the preschool, I have been saying that if he didn't get in I wasn't going to worry about getting him in somewhere else. There aren't many free preschools in town. But now that this has happened, I'm feeling let down and distraught. I'm forgetting what I just figured out yesterday. The Lord is in charge. It is up to me to be a wise steward of what I am given. If Johnny needed school that badly, I'm sure he would have gotten in. Perhaps he and I need more time together. Whatever it is I need to find the faith that this is what we need. But can I just mope for a little while first?

Free food from KFC!

You can get a free meal from KFC (I think I heard you can print it four times).  Here's the link:

http://www.unthinkfc.com/

Yummmm!  Looks like you have to print before May 6th.

Kool Aid

While enjoying a glass of kool aid today Johnny asked me:

"Mommy, what animal gives us kool aid?"

Hey, at least give the kid credit for knowing that cows give us milk!

The grass is always greener...

...when you actually have grass!  When we found out we were moving to Santa Fe, we joyously got rid of our lawn mower.  Lawncare is definitely on the bottom of our list of how we want to spend our time.  Now we have a gravel yard, front and back.  Easy peasy to take care of.  On Friday Kyle and I wanted to go to the temple, so we took our kids to our friend's home in Albuquerque.  They have a grass yard, front and back.  The kids squealed with joy and went straight to the back yard to play, with one word escaping their lips: GRASS!!!

My poor kids.

(Albuquerque isn't very green by any means, but I think they have less restrictions on planting grass and they are allowed the real deal if they want it...lush and green and soft on the toes.  Lots more grass than you see here in Santa Fe.)

One more amazing video...

This is from Britains got Talent (or something like that).  It won't let you embed the video, but here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Amazing talent.  Just amazing.  And Simon is nice, too!

Fun at the train station

This is just so fun to watch. Made me cry, don't know why. Enjoy!

Here's another that is hilarious:

My kiddos are growing up...

A couple Genereal Conferences ago we started a tradition.  After reading about King Benjamin and the tents facing the temple, we decided the kids could build their tent facing the computer screen for conference.  It's amazing how well it worked...Courtney and Ben stayed and listened for at least 80% of the 8 hours of talks!  When it was all over, Ben said, "That was a very spiritual conference, wasn't it?"  Well, that's what happens when you stop to listen, kiddo!  Courtney said, "I wish we could watch conference every day!"  Johnny actually listened off and on and he said, repeating what one speaker said, "He needs ME???  Oh....He needs me and Daddy and Mommy and my brother and my sister!"

The cute things Courtney has said this week...

I asked the kids if they wanted to stop at the store with me or wait til I could go by myself.  Courtney voted to go shopping...because it is one of her "hobbies."  SHE'S ONLY 7!   Aaagh!

We were at the children's museum playing at the bubble table.  There is a sink next to it to wash you hands.  Courtney washed her hands and came over to me complaining that she couldn't figure out how to get the paper towels to come out. 

Umm, you pull, silly.  (Johnny asks me this all the time in various public restrooms.  Since he is recently potty trained (yea!), public restrooms are much more interesting to him now.  All the time I'll find him waving his hand or looking for something to turn to get the paper out.)

There was a  missing cat poster in the grocery store parking lot.  "It's a good thing we didn't find their cat...they want $100 for it!"  :)

It's the little things...

My kids are best friends...best friends who like to bicker.  A lot.  Yesterday, however, they were the picture of cuteness.  We were sitting in church and Courtney, as usual, had her drawing supplies to keep her occupied.  She made a very simple note that said, "Ben, I love you."  When she handed it over, he looked at it and I looked at him.  He was starting to cry! I leaned over to Courtney to ask her what she did to him, as if this were an apology note.  She said she did nothing, just wanted to write him a note.  Ben wrote her a note back with a heart that said "You fill me with joy."  Then they hugged and I cried.  He is so cute when he lets himself feel the spirit and show love.  I love my kiddos!

San Francisco!

So, the trip was a blast.  My BFF Bettie blogged all about it, complete with pictures, so I'll just let her tell the tales:

San Francisco by Bettie

What a waste of time!

I'd heard bad things about the hospital here in Santa Fe, but luckily hadn't had to experience them yet.  Until tonight.  Benjamin has this toe that has been discolored and swollen since at least last Thursday, but not painful until someone stepped on it...and then it killed for a couple hours.  This afternoon before I picked him up from school, I called his doctor and they said we should get him seen today, but they didn't have any openings so we should try the hospital.  

I thought we would save time by going to the Indian Hospital where Kyle works.  Apparently no one (Kyle, the triage nurse...) thought to tell us that their x-ray machine was broken.  So we wasted about an hour with that appointment, which ended with the doctor telling me that his toe looked bad and we should get an x-ray.  Thanks.  That was my intention.  

Then it was 5pm and silly me decided to try the ER at the city hospital, St. Vincent's (which some call St. Victims).  Three hours after we signed in, I finally found someone willing to help us figure out how long until our turn...but then she saw we hadn't even gone to triage and, well, we just left.  Such a stupid waste of time.  I sure hope we never have to go there with a real emergency.

Beatiful and inspiring video on the importance of Creating

I just watched this video and I loved it.  Just wanted to uplift any who need it...

LDS Church now on You Tube

With all the junk there is on You Tube and the internet in general, it is always nice to find some good, wholesome, inspiring content. I just added on my sidebar the MormonMessages you tube channel for your enjoyment! The is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

(When I was installing this on my sidebar, a couple times I had some non Mormon videos showing up. Let me know if this happens to you and I will find another way to post this. Thanks!)

Courtney is feeling old

Courtney, have a treat.

--I don't want to eat right now. 

Why?

--Three more days till my birthday.  I've got to act SERIOUS.  Well, I'll eat one thing, then I'm done.

Big news at our house!! (warning: potty talk)

I am pleased to announce that yesterday we took Johnny to McDonalds for a happy meal!! Backstory: about 6 months ago when Johnny was in his first stages of potty training (he started going pee in the potty when we were staying at a hotel on a business trip) we promised him a happy meal for his first time pooping in the potty.  His potty training waxed and waned with illness and vacation and moving...then last week he decided to just do it.  He has only wet his pants 3 times since then.  

Out of desperation after Christmas we told him that we'd get him what he coveted, Indiana Jones Lego for Wii, for him to play when he pooped.  Once we bought it and had it sitting out he wanted to hold it and look at it every day.  Then yesterday was the day he got over his fears and just did it.  Today I found him sitting on the potty for about 10 minutes and he was successful again!  Knock on wood, I think we are actually at the end of this thing!  Hallelujah!

Spelling Bee Champ!

Benjamin competed today in his school spelling bee.  It was for the 3rd-5th graders.  There were 10-12 students from each grade.  Benjamin ended up in the top 7 of the school and was the top of his grade.  The word that won him the best 3rd grade speller was "encyclopedia".  He got lots of ooohs and ahhhs for that one (he stayed up there a couple extra seconds to soak in the praise).  The word that stumped him was "language".  He left out the "u".  I think if he had stopped to write it down on the whiteboard they provided for just such an occasion, he may have gotten it right.   I'll have to ask him when he gets home.  I am so proud of him for doing so well.  He prepared well and enjoyed it.  Random thought--his voice is lower than I realized.  :)  Way to go, kiddo!

Curling with my flat iron...more info

Since I've had questions about this, I thought I'd give you info in case you wanted to do this.  I thought it sounded crazy too, when someone told me I could use a flat iron on my super straight hair.  But I love it!  The curls hold so much better than when I try a curling iron.  It's a lot easier with Courtney's hair since she has fine hair, but my thick hair works great too.  Here's a video that shows how to curl with a flat iron.  I just googled flat iron curling videos and found a bunch. For what it's worth, I have a GHD flat iron.  

New haircuts for Christmas

I got my haircut the week before Christmas and Courtney had me cut her hair after that.  With a little love from my flat iron to give us some curl, this is what we look like.  We are both loving our new do's!