Little J's First Storyboard and Screenplay

Little J has entered new creative frontiers. Today, completely of his own accord, he wrote a storyboard and screenplay, had me film it, and then acted it out with his Lego Star Wars guys and had me film that, also. One of these days I may figure out how to post the actual video footage, but since I'm not even at home, that's not going to happen now. So I give you the screenplay. You will just have to imagine the pictures (and then the acting) that went along with it.

The Death Star Attack

Conceived, written, drawn, filmed and copyrighted by Little J age 4 years and 9 months

Scene 1:

Storm trooper 1: Boss, Jedis are coming.

Darth Vader (with huge light saber blocking multiple bullets): Don't worry. I'm practicing with the guns and keep blocking the bullets they are shooting at my light saber.

Scene 2:

Storm trooper 2 (in flaming speeder): Oh boy! I think my ship's on fire...which it is!

Scene 3:

Storm trooper 1: Do you think this is a bad idea?

Darth Vader (still blocking bullets with his light saber): It's a good idea because I was practicing.

Scene 4:

Storm trooper 2's speeder is blowing up into multiple flaming pieces.

THE END

Now tell me that's not going to be a blockbuster!!!!

Birthdays

I just had a birthday.

Today is my husband's birthday.

In 3 days, it would have been my sister Nicole's 29th birthday.

For some reason, this year I feel old. I didn't have a problem turning 30. And not much of a problem turning 31, 32, or 33. I have had more of a problem when my younger siblings had a birthday, especially Tori, who is right under me. When she turned 30, I felt old. The fact that Nicole would have been 29 makes me feel really old.

Now I know in my head that 34 is not old. But I think because I feel tired and fat is why I feel old. I look in the mirror and I look run down to me. That and the fact that I can vividly remember my mom being as young as 27 makes me feel old. She was my age now when I was in 9th grade!!!!! HELLO!

Last night I watched the movie Hairspray with my sisters and I was wondering why they would do a remake of a movie so soon. Then I realized that the original Hairspray came out 20 years ago! 20 years! That's almost a generation ago! Then today everyone was getting a good laugh at my envy-of-the-eighties hairdos, and I realized that those pictures were also 20 years old, even though it feels like yesterday.

Just go on and pass me the Geritol and Depends...

Christmas Funnies

We are in Texas right now visiting my family, and of course, there have already been some funny conversation exchanges between my kids and others. This morning, my dad came in to the room where Big J and Little J were playing and said something about how it was Christmas Eve and Santa was coming tonight. And I jokingly said, "Yeah, to bring you a lump of coal!" to which my dad added, "Or a bag of switches."

Now I don't know about the rest of you, but here in the South, that was/is as common of a saying as Santa bringing you a lump of coal. My parents never personally used any switches on us, but I was at a friend's house once when she got in trouble and her mom told her to go pick a switch... This was the 70s, you know. But I digress....

The boys looked a little confused and so I said, "Do you know what a switch is?" Little J said he didn't, but Big J answered, "Yes! Those things you turn on the light with!" :-)

And then a little bit later at breakfast, Little J was his usual charming self when he told my mom that "her face looks funny in the morning." That got a good chuckle out of all of us.

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas!!!

You should try this sometime...

I went to give the boys a bath and there was a picture of a bumblebee-type creature that Little J had drawn, lying on the tub floor. I didn't really think much about it, since I am always finding things in there, but I asked him why it was in the bathtub.

He explained to me that this morning he had seen a spider in the bathtub and he wanted to catch it. So he drew a picture of "the things spiders like to eat" so that he could trick it. He said he was going to wait for the spider to wrap the fake bug up in a web and then catch the spider when it was least expecting it.

He was disappointed his plan didn't work, and got tired of waiting for the spider to catch its prey. So he told me he finally just "squished the poop out of it" instead.

Dog Train

That is the title of the CD/book by Sandra Boynton that my kids and I have been rockin' out to since my friend Sarah gave them their Christmas present. If you want some kids' music that doesn't drive you crazy, then this is it.

The majority favorite, by far, is the song Tantrum sung by the Spin Doctors. It starts off slow and mellow like a ballad until it gets to the part where it says, "All I want to do now is throw a tantrum..." and then it goes into a head-banging, "NO! NO! NO! I DON'T WANNA! I DON'T WANNA!" It's awesome.

I also really like Dog Train, Pots and Pans, and (Don't Give Me That) Broccoli. There are lots of fun songs to dance to and that are just plain fun. So if your kids like to dance around, and you are needing some last minute Christmas ideas, then I highly recommend this.

Cancelled Anatomy Lesson

So I was talking to my sister on the phone about how our name exchange was uneven because she has so many kids, and it was decided I would take Liv in addition to the other names I had. I asked her if Liv would like a doll, because I remembered that sometime during the year I had picked up a doll (that was normally priced $35 and was on clearance for $4) thinking that I had enough nieces that at some point it would come in handy to give as a gift.

I hadn't looked at the doll stashed up in the closet pretty much since I got it so many moons ago, and went to get it down to see if it would work as a gift for an almost two-year-old. The first clue I should have had was that the baby was very life-like in features and size. It was naked except for a diaper. The fact that it it looked so real and had a plastic bag over its face inside the box was a little freaky, too.

There was no description on the box. It only said "Diana Collection". The baby had a little fake hospital bracelet on its wrist and from what I could see it said "Diana". Imagine my surprise when I took it out of the box and found this:

Apparently, this doll is not a Diana; it is an uncircumcised male!! We decided it must be one of those parenting class type-dolls. I guess I will need to make a run to the store to get Liv a new present.

The (Frozen) Great Plains

As some of you may have heard, a major ice storm hit the central part of the country this weekend. Thankfully, the area we are in did not get the worst of it. Church was cancelled and so was school, trees were drooping from the weight of the ice, but we didn't lose electricity or anything like that. We did lose a few branches from one of our trees, but nothing major. Not like the time I looked out and couldn't see our swing set because half of a tree had fallen over it.

Today is the first day it is above freezing, so all the ice has started to melt. Driving around I've seen HUGE chunks of ice falling off of power lines and trees, and then shatter all over the ground like glass. Kind of crazy.

Here are a couple of pics from the frozen tundra.

Remember my favorite tree?....

A different tree in our front yard:

Down our street. You can see some of the bending tree limbs:

Little Boys vs. Big Boys

*Revised
Here is a random list of a few of the Christmas goodies the men of my house will be receiving this year. See if you can tell who will be receiving what. I think most of them could be interchangeable, despite the age. What about you?

• Hot Wheels T-Wrecks
• Tae Kwon Do lessons
• Guitar Hero III
• Nerf Dart Tag Complete Two Player System
• Rock Band
• Matchbox Mega Shark Rig Adventure
• Superman Returns video game

A Stolen Christmas Meme

I stole this meme from my sister.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I use both. I like bags, because they are quicker and easier. I'm not into making a whole presentation.

2. Real tree or artificial? We have a fake, 1500 white bulb pre-lit one. It rocks.

3. When do you put up the tree? I try to by the weekend after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? It depends if I'm in town for Christmas or not. Usually by New Year's Day.

5. Do you like eggnog? I like a sip of it, but I can't drink an entire cup.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably the giant Barbie condo complete with furniture.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. I kind of collect them. I have 4 full sets and 3 mini ones (just with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus). I would have more, but I don't have anywhere to display them all.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My husband, hands down.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Teacher gifts and other non-personal type people.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? In order to protect the innocent, I can't say. Let's just say I thought it was a table runner, when in reality it was a shawl/wrap. I will say, however, that I received worse wedding gifts than Christmas gifts.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Always mail. (That is assuming I actually mail any).

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life. I also really enjoy A Muppet's Christmas Carol.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometimes at the after Christmas sales the year before. Usually, however, in November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so. But I will confess I have recycled some of the goodies people bring by. Is that so lame??

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Southern Candied Yams and Cherry Surprise

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I like white on the main tree, but on the little tree I let the kids decorate, we have colored blinking ones.

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We usually travel.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and the most famous reindeer of all - Rudolph.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have a big red bow. My tree is red, white and gold.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open them on Christmas Eve and then enjoy Santa presents in the morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Too much commercialism.

23. What I love most about Christmas? It's the most wonderful time of the year.... I like the excitement and being sneaky. I like the coziness and being with family.

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A ROCKIN' NEW YEAR !!

Conversation Over Breakfast

The following conversation took place between 7:45 and 7:47 a.m.:

Little J to Big J: "Try to pick up the house."

Big J (grunting and actually trying): "A house is too heavy."

Little J: "But when you're a grown up and Superman you can pick up a house."

Big J: "Yeah. But it still might take me a second."

(Slight pause).

Little J: "Why is your shirt like that? You look like a girl." (Big J's pajama top had fallen down some on his shoulder).

Big J: "I don't know. It just fell down like girls' shirts do."

Little J: "No. They make it look that way on purpose." (Such wisdom!)

Little J runs into the bathroom and rinses his hands and on the way out says:

Little J: "Mama, why does each kid have a fatter head?"

Me (with confused expression): "What?"

Little J: "Hey, Big J, remember that guy on Star Wars that has the really skinny head?"

Big J: "Oh yeah! And that one guy that...."

At this point they were slowly losing me so I tuned out. Contrary to what may be indicated, these children were completely of a sound mind when this conversation took place.

A Manly Conversation

Today when we picked up Big J from school, Little J greeted his brother and his friend with the following:

"Hey guys, today I went poop and it looked like a pine cone!"

Of course that tipped off a lovely conversation for the ride home.

ABC and 123

I have really bright kids. Of course I am biased, but on an unbiased scale, they are still very smart. I think that sometimes Big J gets more attention on the intellectual front because he is the oldest and venturing into new areas first, and also because he thrives on learning. He's always loved it. He was the one who even before he was one year old would bring me books to read to him, and actually sit through it all. He had entire books memorized word for word before he was even 2. He was the one who by 18 months could do like 25 piece puzzles with interlocking pieces. He loved it. He'd practice it. If I ever said, "Want to do school?" which was what we call it when I sit down with them and do little learning activities, he was all over that. He still is. During the summers, he asks me to do school with him.

Little J has a completely different learning personality, but is also so, so smart. That kid has a memory like you wouldn't believe! It's almost freaky sometimes. He remembers things like 3 years later that were just mentioned in passing. He wouldn't sit down to listen to a book or do anything else "structured" for the longest time, but now he loves for me to read to him and do school with him - for a limited time. He doesn't flaunt his braininess like Big J does, though. Instead, he'll just bust out with things that I had no idea he even knew. He is 4 1/2 and he can already recognize and write on his own almost the entire alphabet both upper and lowercase letters. I didn't know he could do that, he just did it. He's been able to write his name since he was 3, but at a time when most of his preschool classmates are barely writing their name, he started writing his first and last name. I don't ever remember teaching him to write his last name! I think he just taught himself after seeing it spelled out on things. The other day, he came to me with every member of our family's names written out and spelled correctly. At first, I thought maybe he had copied them off of something. But he did it entirely out of his head. He's started to spell other words, too. But even with all these things, he does not have the same type of thirst for knowledge that Big J does. He wants to know when he wants to know, but not a second sooner.

Big J has loved school from the get-go. Even in preschool, he was sooo into it. Little J - not so much. Last year, he screamed for 2 months straight whenever we would take him. I almost took him out of it because he had such a hard time with it. But then he started to enjoy going and has been fine ever since. He likes it, but he still will say things like it's "boring" or he doesn't want go because he'd rather stay and play. I'm a little nervous about when he has to start going every day.

My learning personality is more like Big J's. I see a lot of my sister's learning personality in Little J. I am hoping I will be able to play to both of their strengths and styles so that they will have positive experiences through school and be able to learn as much as possible. So any of you with good tips on how to adjust to your children's learning styles - I'm all ears!

Blogstipation and New Talents

So I haven't posted for a while. I haven't had a lot of time to sit down to think of something remotely interesting to anyone besides myself. And this post may not meet that requirement, either, but here goes:

Big J has turned into the seven-year-old boy who learned to armpit fart and thinks it's really funny. All. The. Time. He also has branched out into the music and lyrics business by creating even new lines to the age-old "Jingle Bells, Batman smells..." The last one had something to do with Santa's underwear.

Little J is a budding rock star. This morning he was singing, "There's mud on your face! You big disgrace! Kickin' your can all over the place! WE WILL, WE WILL, ROCK YOU!!!" Followed by, "Welcome to the jungle! We've got fun and games!"

Little Man's new favorite activity is to crawl on top of the kitchen table, so now we have to make sure there aren't any drinks or anything lying around on it. He gets up there no less than 20 times a day. He got over, for the most part, trying to take all the ornaments off the tree, so I guess he needed to move on to new and exciting things. That, and he's started to purposefully bang his head on whatever is closest to him, including our face, if he gets upset. It's like he'll look at us all mad and bang his head down once to teach us a lesson.

I'm reading a really interesting book called Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She is a woman who was raised Muslim and lived in several African countries and Saudi Arabia growing up, and when she was forced into an arranged marriage she escaped to the Netherlands. Now she is a member of the Dutch government and fights for the rights of Muslim women in Europe.

That's about it, besides the usual craziness that goes on. So until next time...

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Haven't you always felt like Thanksgiving was kind of the red-headed stepchild of the holiday season? I mean, Halloween isn't even over yet and all the Christmas decorations start popping up. The only thing most people associate Thanksgiving with is eating to excess, football, and good sales. It's kind of sad. That being said, let's talk about Christmas!

I don't know about you, but I like starting Christmas right after Thanksgiving. Growing up, it was tradition to have the tree and all our decorations up by the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I've tried to adhere to that, although I am not as efficient as my mother and so it doesn't always happen. But it is going to this year. I am determined.

I also like listening to Christmas music early. This past week I was loading my CD player up with Christmas CDs, and I had to laugh at the eclectic collection I had. I have 20 Christmas CDs. I don't know if that is normal or a lot, but it seems kind of weird to me. They range from Kenny G Miracles to My Kind of Christmas by Christina Aguilera (yes, I am admitting that). I have classical, I have country, I have old school, I have acappella, I have church.... And I like them all!

What is funny is that my favorite ones are probably ones that you've never even heard of, much less own. Christmas at Our House by Barbara Mandrell anyone? I LOVE that CD. How about Christmas at Home by Donny Osmond? Some of the CDs I have are not my favorite, but I have favorite renditions of songs off of them and that's why I keep them around. But these two, as well as The Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean are my sentimental favorites.

My all-time favorite Christmas song is "O Holy Night" and, honestly, I don't care who sings it (well, except maybe Cartman off of South Park) because it will, without a doubt, bring tears to my eyes. I love that song. I think it is beautiful and the perfect embodiment of Christmas and all it represents. I also love the songs "Mary, Did You Know?" (the one by Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd is my favorite), "Breath of Heaven" (biased towards Amy Grant's version), and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. Maybe not traditional picks, but those are my favorite Christmas songs.

I just recently purchased Josh Groban's Noel and I was caught off-guard by his "Silent Night". It really touched me, and even brought a few tears to my eyes. I don't even like that song that much (is that sacrilege?), but I have never heard anyone so able to relay the reverence and sacredness of Christ's birth as he did when he sang that song. It was awesome.

I will write more about Christmas and Christmas traditions closer to the big day, but for now, I will leave you with this (and, yes, I know all the words....):

'Poppy' Parts

*Disclaimer: Read at your own discretion. You may be offended by the following conversation. But I swear it happened.

Around here, you can go buy a hanging pair from Chux Trux to attach to your hitch.

I'm talking about "the family jewels."

Huevos.

Nads.

Nuts.

Balls.

Whatever you choose to call them, I bet you've never had a conversation about them quite like this before:

Little J (of course!) was taking a bath and started to explore "down there".

Little J: "Mama, I have these poppy things."

Me: "Um, yeah, Little J, let's not play with those."

Little J: "But they're poppy!"

Me: "What do you mean 'poppy'?"

Little J (demonstrating): "I can squish them between my fingers and they pop over to the other side!"

I sit a moment contemplating what direction this conversation should go. If any.

Me: "Yeah, let's not do that. And they are called testicles and you actually have two of them. So the one on the other side is a different one."

Little J (still demonstrating): "Oh! They feel like little round things and you can pop them around."

Me: "Yes. They are round like little balls. Let's stop doing that. You need to be careful not to hurt them."

Little J: "Why?"

Me: "Um...we'll talk about that when you get bigger. Let's just not be making them 'poppy' in the meantime."

Leaves are Falling all Around....

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I like summer the best because of the easy going-ness in the air, but I love the beauty of fall. I love the anticipation of the holidays and the feeling of everyone getting ready to hunker down and be cozy. Fall brings some challenges with it, however. At least if you live in my house.

I have a big yard. A big yard with 10 large, full-grown trees around the perimeter in the back and 4 large trees in the front. I love my yard. There is more than enough space for the kids to play and have their adventures. We've hosted entire ward activities in our yard. We've had countless numbers of barbeques in our yard with friends. It's a good yard. In the fall, however, it changes from this wonderful, magical place into a large piece of land inundated with leaves.

As we speak, there are roughly 20 piles of leaves (each big enough to hide all of my children in) sitting in the back waiting to be bagged. This is only one side of the backyard. This is after already being raked once. This is with 5 of the trees still needing to lose their leaves. *sigh*

The front yard has already been raked and bagged 3 times. We still have 2 trees that have yet to lose their leaves. The first time I raked the front, none of our trees had even shed their leaves yet! We simply had leaves from all our surrounding neighbors' trees. And so the story goes...

Last year, since I had just had Little Man, we ended up paying a lot of kids to rake and bag our yard once it had gotten to the point of ridiculous. The front yard alone yielded 19 bags of mulched leaves. It's a tempting idea to do that again. But I can't justify it. I'm perfectly capable of raking my own leaves. And the boys like jumping in them, so watching them have so much fun makes it go a little faster.

I think the area we live in is beautiful in the fall. There are so many trees and the colors are so vivid. Here is a picture of my favorite tree:

It is in our front yard next to our driveway. It turns the most gorgeous red in the fall. The kids love climbing this tree. I {heart} this tree.

We have one almost as vivid in the back. It loses its leaves quickly after it changes, though, so we don't get to enjoy it as long. But it makes a very pretty carpet:

The trees lining the very back turn a flaming gold color. Except for the oak. All the leaves on it just kind of shrivel up and fall off. (That just made me think of a movie line...anyone?) Oak is probably my least favorite tree. It's good for furniture, but other than that, it drops acorns and has ugly leaves. And it's not even that pretty of a tree to look at when it has all its leaves.

Nonetheless, I am grateful for our trees. We are blessed to have them. If you ever feel the great urge to rake or jump in leaves, you'll know where to go.

Shot Through the Heart

This Ain't a Love Song, but there is a certain rock band that I have Always wanted to see in concert. Their songs made me want to be the one to lay down on a Bed of Roses and go out in a Blaze of Glory. I don't want to be Misunderstood, but hey, It's My Life, I can dream what I want! I am so glad I was willing to Keep the Faith because

GUESS WHO'S GOING TO BON JOVI IN APRIL!??!??!

That's right.

Oh yeah.

Thanks to Gretchen for Livin' on a Prayer and being a trooper to get the tickets!! You are my hero. And all you out in Blogland, don't be tempted to Lay Your Hands on Me even though I'm sure I am Wanted Dead or Alive now that you know I have them. Don't worry, I'll Be There For You if (You Want to) Make a Memory another time.

Have a Nice Day

More Little J-isms

For any of you seven people who read my blog, you know that I find Little J a source of amusement with his inquisitiveness and eccentric insights. Here are a few more Little J-isms for your reading enjoyment:

Sunday night for FHE we were talking about smiles and how smiling at people and choosing to be happy can be a great service. We drew pictures of different ways you can smile. Little J drew one that can best be described as the lopsided smile done by the guy that does the two-handed gun point while winking and clicking (clucking?). Do you know what I'm talking about? The cheesy guy who thinks he's cool does it in movies. Anyway, when I asked Little J why he chose to draw that kind of smile he answered, "Because that's the kind of face a cool guy makes that gets to kiss girls."

Whaa??

Today Little Man was wearing a Baby Gap button-down shirt. I don't know the right kind of "fashion terminology" but it is a yellowish/beige shirt with various shades of really thin blue lines that make a checkered pattern on it. Not a bad shirt. Little J hadn't seen Little Man dressed before he went down for his morning nap, and so when he woke up and saw him, he immediately made this disgusted face and goes, "Why is he wearing that shirt?!" I said, "Why? What's wrong with it?" Little J: "He doesn't even look like Little Man in it. Take it off and put a different shirt on him!"

Needless to say, I did NOT change Little Man's shirt, and when I picked Little J up from preschool later in the day, the first thing he said was, "Why didn't you change his shirt? I hate that shirt - it's sooooo ugly!"

He's so weird! In a really endearing way...

You So Lucky!

People say the darndest things. Especially to me, it seems. I have 3 small boys aged just-turned 7 to just-turned 1. We do not go anywhere quietly or unobserved. Just tonight, the older ones were in the middle of the shoe department at JCPenney re-inacting a Superman game they had played on the XBox . Complete with slow-motion punching, super-blowing and everything. This is not uncommon.

I keep them pretty reigned in, so hopefully we aren't too disruptive. Most of the time there are smiles and good-natured laughs from observers passing through our little storm path. People who interact with my kids always tell me what good kids they are. (Maybe that is going to change since I am now initiated into the Parents Who Have Notes Sent Home About Their Children Club). I have never had a negative comment, or a negative look for that matter, except once. And that was at an inside play place at a mall, of all places. Without rehashing too much of the details, here is a Cliff's Notes version of the incident. (This happened over a year ago, by the way).

Location: huge open play place at a mall

Time: spring 2006 - after 3 full days of rain and being stuck inside

Perpetrators: Big J and a friend

First incident: Big J and friend are on top of a play thing (I think it was a mushroom or something) that is meant for climbing on. They are playing "King of the Hill". Another little boy who can't even climb up on the thing goes crying to his mom because he can't get up. Mom comes over and starts telling Big J and friend off because Pansy Boy wants to get up there and apparently it is their fault he can't. She walks off and gives me a dirty look before I am able to do anything. Since I couldn't actually hear what she said to them, I could just tell from her body language it wasn't good, I asked Big J if they had pushed the boy or anything like that. He said no.

Second incident: Entire time Big J and friend are playing, Pansy Boy is sitting with his mom while she consoles him. She throws dirty looks my way ever so often. She loudly tells Pansy Boy, "Well, just go play over there away from the mean boys!"

Third incident: Big J and friend start running around playing boy stuff. I do tell them twice to take it down a notch, and they do. They are just playing like regular kids at a play place. They come over on a climbing thing about 10 feet away from Pansy Boy. Mom gets all huffy, gives me a dirty look, talks loudly to the friend with her, and packs Pansy Boy up in a stroller to leave. (As a side note, I'm guessing this kid was at least 4).

Fourth incident: Mom is leaving with Pansy Boy and stops to yell at me how my kids are MONSTERS and the worst kids she has ever been around and how I needed to call Super Nanny. I was so taken back that I merely responded, "You need to get a grip!" and turned back around. I was so embarassed! Further exchange ensued, but I didn't really say anything else. So disappointing.

I was so mad I was shaking, and now I am glad I didn't say the things I was thinking. After she huffed off, all the other moms sitting around in the near vicinity started bashing on her and reassuring me that my kids were not behaving in any unacceptable way. Later, on our way out of the mall, we had to walk right past them as they were loading up near where we were parked. I showed complete restraint and only stared in her direction begging for her to look me in the eye, but it didn't happen.

I am used to my testosterone-enriched world and don't think having 3 boys is that big of a deal. I have several friends who have had girls and then have a boy, call me in disbelief at the things their boys are doing. I reassure them it is just a normal boy thing. I am always asked if I wished I had a girl or if I am going to try for a girl. The answer is no. I am happy with my boys. I would be happy if I had another boy. I do not feel incomplete.

Apparently, if I lived in Asia I wouldn't be asked these questions on a regular basis. I say that because of the following experiences:

I was at a small business expo and an Asian man had a booth next to me. He made beautiful jade jewelry. We talked off and on during the few hours I was there. At the end, his wife showed up with a brand new baby. A girl. I offered my congratulations. He asked if I had any children. I said, "Yes, I have 3 boys." To which his eyes popped wide open and he responds, "OOhhh....yoo soh lucky!!!" I just said, "Thanks. You're pretty lucky, too, you have a beautiful baby girl."

Then this past week I was at Costco and I had Little J and Little Man with me. An older Asian woman smiled and commented on how cute they were. The conversation went something like this:

"You have two boys. Very cute."

"I actually have 3."

"The other one a girl?"

"No, I have an older boy."

Same big-eyed reaction followed by, "Three boys? Oh, you are rich!"

Yes. Yes, I am rich. I am blessed. I don't think I would be any less blessed if I had girls, though. Maybe a little saner, but no less rich. :-) Saner for now, that is. I won't have teenage girls...

Cleaning Out the Drawer

Of my mind, that is. I've had random thoughts bouncing around that I thought I'd write down. Nothing profound, just commenting....

Tomorrow is the first Saturday since sometime in August that we have NOTHING on the calendar. There's always things that need to be done, but it's nice to have an open day.

For their Halloween parade, a kid at Big J's school had on a George W. Bush mask embelished with a pair of devil horns. That really bugged me. Not because of the political nature of it, but because the parents were obviously the ones who suggested he wear it. No elementary-aged kid would wake up and say, "Hey, I think I want to be the President for Halloween. And I'll wear devil horns on top to make a statement!" It's Halloween, for heavens sake, let your kid be a kid!

Thursday I was initiated into the parents club I never wanted to be in. Both Big J and Little J had notes sent home from their teachers. On the same day! Nothing major, but still... Big J wouldn't turn in his homework because it turned out that he realized he did it wrong and so he was embarassed and didn't want to turn it in. Little J had some, let's say, "anger management" issues.

I can't help but continually be cracked up by Little J. He has the most fascinating mind to me. Earlier in the week the Toys R Us catalog came in our pile of junk mail and he was all over it. He scoured the pages and very carefully copied the names of things he wanted down on a list. Then, just to cover his bases, on another paper he drew arrows that he cut out and taped inside the catalog pointing at the things he wanted. Too funny!

I am going to be a work widow for an entire week, as JC will be in Seattle for a conference. I'm really excited about that. (I'm totally being sarcastic in case you can't tell.) I've never done the single mom thing with the 3 of them for this long before, so if you don't hear from me for a month or two, you'll just know that I am still recovering.

So until next time...

One More of Robin Hood

I look guilty of something, don't I?

Happy Halloween!

Big J as THE KING OF DIAMONDS

Little J as a GHOST (like the special effects?)

Little Man as ROBIN HOOD

Halloween 2007

The first one to guess what I am correctly, wins a prize. (Ok, the prize is the glory of being the first to guess correctly, but it will be fun, nonetheless). *Since you can't read the triangle on my chest, I will tell you what it says: "Concentrate and ask again."

MIA

I've been a little MIA for the last couple of weeks. We went down to Texas to visit my family and see my younger brother Walker. We haven't seen him for 2 years because he has been serving a full-time voluntary mission for our church. But he is home now and getting back into "normal" life. It was good to see him. He looked exactly the same to me, except filled out a little more. He can still talk the paint off the wall. Him and Little J have a lot in common...

I've also been busy with the annual Primary program, which was performed today. As is usually the case, God had mercy on us and it turned out wonderful! The kids were so sweet and sang so well. The Spirit was really strong. I love all the "meaty" songs they sing now. When I was growing up I remember singing " 'Give' Said the Little Stream" and "The Primary Colors". Now they sing things like "I'll Follow Him in Faith" and "I Want to Live the Gospel." The songs, and the way the kids sing them, truly are little nuggets of testimony.

This afternoon I overheard Little J (who, by the way, opted against participating in the program today even though he knew his line, etc. He actually gave me an ultimatum that he get one of the built-in soft chairs on the stage instead of the regular chair he was assigned to with the rest of his class or he wasn't going up there. Well, too bad, Mr. Special. But I digress... ) I overheard him singing to himself "This Is My Beloved Son". I think that's so awesome that even a 4-year-old can be taught gospel truths through music. I firmly believe that it is the music in Primary that teaches the gospel to the children.

This week we will be doing Halloween crazy. Trunk-or-Treat and party after party. I'm the room coordinator for Big J's classroom this year. It's actually pretty easy - just remind everyone what they signed up for and have some type of a plan to proceed by. Little J is being a ghost this year. Big J is being a playing card. Yes, you read that correctly. You'll just have to wait for the pics. And Little Man is wearing the Robin Hood costume his abuela made for Little J a few years back for Big J's Robin Hood birthday party. I'm not sure what I am being yet. Something tacky, I'm sure...

The Innocence of Youth

Question from Little J:

"Mama, are there really mermaids that can talk?" *

*I guess the existence of mermaids is an undisputed fact.

I'm a 3

JC and the boys (excluding Little Man) went to the annual father/son church campout last night. Thankfully, they all came back alive despite the severe thunderstorms that decided to descend upon them during the night. There was tons of thunder and lightning and it poured on them for a total of 2 3/4 inches and winds got up to 40 mph. At that point, they ended up moving into the van. But the boys thought it was a grand adventure and had a blast.

So what fun and exciting adventure did I have while I basically had the night to myself, you ask? Did I go and get a mani or a pedi? Did I call up all my girlfriends and say "come on over!" for a girls' night? Did I get a babysitter and head out shopping? Well, let's see.... I did catch up on all that laundry-folding that needed to be done. Oh, and I almost finished all the cue cards for the Primary program coming up in 2 weeks. I was multi-tasking while doing these things and managed to watch the movie Deja Vu on TV. Par-tay.

That is why I say I am a 3. On the Great Scale of Fun, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, I am a 3. I actually should probably be more like a 2 or 1 1/2 since it DIDN'T EVEN OCCUR TO ME to do any of those fun things until way after the fact. But, I do feel like I at least possess a certain array of social skills - however under utilized they may be - so that bumps me up to a 3.

I've always kind of been a homebody. I mean, I really do enjoy getting together with people, but I also don't feel like I have an innate need to spend my time that way. Lucky for me, my husband is much more social than I am and so I have social interactions by default. Otherwise, I'd probably be more anti-social than I already am.

So, here's to a night of "freedom" spent in my pjs eating M&Ms and fulfilling my obligations. Cheers!

This post is brought to you by the letter Pp

Each week in Little J's preschool class they have been working on a different letter. Their "homework" is to identify the letter of the week in written print and to bring in pictures of things that start with that letter. This week's letter is P. This is the conversation we had this morning:

Me: We need to find some pictures that start with the letter P. Can you think of some words that start with P?


Litte J: Oh! I know! Like pee?


Me: Uh, yes. But I don't think we should bring a picture of pee. I think your teacher might not appreciate that and think it's kind of gross.


Little J: Ok. What about penis?

Needless to say, we did not bring in pictures of his suggestions. We settled on a nice plate, piano and penguin instead.

Little Man is UNO!

So I am feeling like a lame mom, because this is the second birthday in the last couple of weeks that I am late posting about. I guess it is better late than never. My baby baby is now one!


I cannot believe how quickly the past year has flown by. My memories of the day he was born, and the weeks after he came home, are so fresh in my mind. It is surreal to realize it all took place over a year ago. I have never had as clear of memories about the birth of my other kids and the days following as I do with him. When he was born, I cried. I had never cried before while giving birth. And I wasn't crying because he was 9 lbs. 4 oz., either! I was crying because it was such a spiritual experience for me. I had never had that happen before. I knew he was special.

We had a simple, small birthday celebration with just us on Thursday, and plan to have a bigger one in a couple of weeks when we are down in Texas. That one will have a "I Dig Being 1" theme with trucks and diggers and all kinds of boy things. For this one, the boys made him homemade birthday signs and Little J made him a special birthday hat:


We gave him a cute little wooden chair with a back that looks like a bear face and a puzzle that makes sounds with all the bug characters from Eric Carle's books. (I'm very much about less is more). And of course we had cupcakes. He was determined to grab the candle, so I had to hold it away from him while we sang and then quickly blow it out. At first he wasn't sure what to do with all the frosting and cake on his hands, but after sticking it in his ear and hair a few times, he finally decided he could eat it.

Everyone in our family ADORES Little Man. He is pure sunshine. He is such a sweet, fun, easy-go-lucky baby and has been such a joy to have in our home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE MAN!!

I LOVE YOU!!

Saved by the Skin of My Teeth

Is that a real saying? I'm not sure, but that's what I thought of this morning when this occurred.

**WARNING: If you still believe in the Tooth Fairy, STOP READING NOW. Spoilers ahead.***

Big J lost his third tooth yesterday at school. This was a totally strategic tooth loss, because if you lose your teeth at school you get a little plastic treasure chest to put it in. So he would wiggle away while he was there, and not touch it while he was at home. Anyway, it finally came out during lunch. He got a green treasure chest. He put it under his pillow. And the sorry Tooth Fairy forgot all about it!!

I had a dream about having to sneak into Big J's room and try to do the tooth/money swap without him knowing, even though it was already morning. This dream jolted me into reality at 7:04 a.m. as I realized I had forgotten to perform my Tooth Fairy duties. You know your day is off to a rough start when the first words out of your mouth are "OH CRAP!!!!"

Big J is an early riser. He is normally awake well before 7:00, and then lays there as he observes the rule of "don't get out of your bed until at least 7:00". I was praying that by some miracle he was still asleep. I peaked in there and he was. I snuck downstairs to scrounge for some money (what's the going rate for teeth these days anyway?) I find a few quarters and sneak back up the stairs to stealthily make the swap...I tip-toe to his bed...

His eyes pop open.

"Hi, Mama!"

OH. CRAP.

I then start praying that he hasn't remembered to check under his pillow yet and quickly slide in next to him, apologizing for waking him up as I was "just coming in to cover him up." The way I was laying, it was impossible to slide the money under and make the swap, so my brain was working overtime. I used to watch Alias - what would Sydney do?

All these ways of getting my hand under his pillow and getting the tooth out without him noticing are going through my head, while I'm trying to keep up some type of conversation to delay the inevitable. I finally resort to the tried and true "I'm gonna yawn and put my arm around you" sweet move being done by boys for centuries. I get the money under. Now, how to get the tooth out?

In one deft move I roll over and stick my hands under his pillow, all the while acting like I'm just laying there carrying on a conversation. I feel under for the treasure chest. I can't find it. I keep feeling for it. I find it, open it, subtly shake it upside down. No tooth. It was stuck!!!!

I finally was able to get it out and into my hand, while the quarters are making a jingling sound every time I move. Once I had the tooth firmly stowed in the waistband of my basketball shorts (yes, I sleep in sexy pajamas) I say in a kind of annoyed voice, "What keeps making that noise?!"

Big J listens for a second and then goes, "Maybe it's money from the Tooth Fairy!"

I go, "Oh yeah! Let's see!"

So, the crisis was diverted. The Tooth Fairy came through after all. One more slip up like this, though, and I'm going to have to insist she be replaced.

The Evolution of (My) Hair

I have never understood why people get all weird about cutting or changing their hair. I totally understand bad hair days, hair ruts, being too lazy to make an appointment and/or not having enough time to head to the salon. But I've known people who have basically never changed their hairstyle - ever. Like they still have the same bangs they did in 1988 - ever. I know people who have never colored, highlighted, or even plucked a gray hair all in the name of keeping it natural. I've known people whose husbands have cried when they got their hair cut off. That annoys me on so many different levels, I won't even go there. Come on! It's hair. It grows back.

(I unfortunately do not have access to any older pictures of me to illustrate the following stories - they are all in my parent's attic - so I searched the web for help. Enjoy!)

When I was really little, I had pretty curly, honey-colored hair. That is until my mom, with some 70s-era inspiration, cut it into one of those Dorothy Hamill haircuts when I was in kindergarten.

When I was older, I had really long, naturally wavy hair. When I say really long, I mean that to get it cut up to my bra strap was hacking a good 6 inches off. I had a perm in 8th grade with huge bangs and the sides to match (forgive me, it was the peak of the 80s). I used mousse and hairspray multiple times throughout the day, and even had a portable butane curling iron I kept in my acid-washed denim purse - just in case I needed to pop into the bathroom and fix any flopping hairs during school.

I never toyed with color (besides colored mousse - did any of you ever have that?) until the summer before 9th grade when I basically used an entire bottle of hydrogen peroxide on my head and then tried to act like it was a natural occurance from being out in the sun. It was a color similar to this (except with really big bangs still):

I was a Senior in high school when I found my first gray hair. It was laying on my letter jacket. Yeah, I can thank my dad for that lovely gene.

When I went to college, I still had long hair. Then one night I decided I was sick of it and had my roommates take a pair of (dull, I'm sure) scissors and cut it up to my chin. Thankfully, I have pretty forgiving hair so it actually looked ok. It was the first time I had ever had short hair, and it didn't even occur to me that it was considered short until I went to a dance with Colby Rollins and we had pictures made. The girl processing us through wrote in the area to describe the people in the picture, "short hair, black dress." It took me a second to realize she was describing me.

I did a similar thing when I first went to England on my mission. I had been over there for maybe 4 months and decided to chop my hair. So sitting in our landlady's kitchen, I had her cut it off. When I had been over there about 9 months (it had grown out considerably) was the first time I officially dyed my hair. It was a reddish color. After that I was addicted...

I have changed my hair so many times, I honestly don't know what my true color is. I do know that my natural color has gotten progressively darker and blah-er, judging by the roots. Why is that? I also know that on any given occasion, if I didn't have some type of color in my hair, anyone would be able to see that I have too many gray hairs to continue to pluck comfortably. I have alternated between short and long, but in the past 10 years have averaged laying-on or just-below the shoulder length. For the past 2 - 3 years I have had blond highlights and shoulder-length or longer hair.

When we lived in Utah, I switched hairstylists all the time because I could never find anyone I was happy with. When we moved here, I happened to find a guy I thought was brilliant. Everytime I left the salon, I LOVED my hair - the cut, the highlights, the style - everything. If I was rich and famous and brought along an entourage to fix me up, I would have brought him. He was the one who introduced me to straightening my hair. But... he turned out to be a pervert. When he started talking suggestively of how he would like to try out "different flavors", I bailed. My friend recommended her hairstylist, and that is who I have been with ever since. She does a great job, too, but I think my favorite was still the other guy.

We had our family pictures made this August and when we got them back, I liked everyone in them but me. That was true for several reasons, but a big one was my hair. SO BORING. I basically had not changed my style in 3 years. I'm no fashionista, by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know hair is like clothes - if you haven't changed it, your clothes, or your make-up in that long, you can pretty much bet none of it looks cute anymore. So I decided to take measures. This is the result:

I would ask for your opinion, but what's done is done. I like it. It's actually a very rich auburn, which you can't tell very well from the picture. And it has a lot more "swing" than it seems like here. And I probably should have cut it just a little bit shorter, but you get the idea.

So, I challenge all you ladies out there who haven't had a new style or a new color in at least a year, go crazy! Get wild! Do your roots proud! It's fun :-)

Big J is 7

Big J really is "Big J" now. I have not had a chance this week to post about Big J's birthday, but on Sunday my oldest child turned 7. He's looked like he's that old for a while now, but it is still hard to believe. Just over the last few months he seems to have changed in how he looks, acts, learns, etc. He's growing up!!

We had a really fun birthday party for him on Saturday. I've always let my kids pick what kind of theme they want their party to be. We've had bears, puppies, Buzz Lightyear, dinosaurs, fish, Robin Hood, knights, Go Diego Go - you name it! This year Big J wanted to have an army party. It was actually really fun and easy to pull together.

His invitations were recruitment letters, everyone got "gear" issued when they walked in, we had basic training through an obstacle course and then they got sent on a top secret mission to recover their lost comrades (army guys we had hidden in the yard).

They got to have a "battle" with water balloons and then beat the heck out of a tank-shaped pinata. It was fun. And this year was the first year I splurged and bought a cake, because I saw the design at the store and thought it was too cute (and the little tank was actually a transformer; and it actually said his name instead of Big J):

I love Big J! He has the BEST SMILE and LAUGH. He'll tell us a joke and then crack himself up so much that he cries! He is a GREAT BIG BROTHER and his little brothers look up to him and want to be with him all the time.

He is SMART and loves to learn. I am grateful to say that we have moved well beyond the I'm-going-to-pull-out-my-hair-while-he-learns-to-read stage. A couple of months ago it just clicked with him and he loves to read! He tested at a level 16 at the beginning of this school year (and was already moved up to level 17) - they want all exiting 1st graders to be at a level 20 or above. (Yes, I'm bragging. At least I don't have a bumper sticker.) He is always "quizzing" us at dinner about math problems or how to spell words.

He's a FUNNY kid. Like yesterday he kept opening up a birthday card he had received that would play the Scooby Doo theme. He goes, "I like to think of the words in my head and then move my mouth so it looks like I'm singing them" and then proceeded to demonstrate. He had no idea that it was called lip-synching and thought he was so cool lip-synching and grooving along.

Big J is SWEET. He still gives his kindergarten teacher hugs if he sees her after school. He'll come up to me and give me a hug for no reason. The other day I was looking up some things in the boys' baby books, and I read him a little letter I had written to him after he was just born. When I finished, I looked at him and he had tears in his eyes.

On the other hand, he is ALL BOY. All boy. I'll just leave it at that.

I love you, Big J! Have a great year!

Oh, Noooooooooooooooo!

Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out!

It's official. I'm a groupie.

Well, not really, but we did take a roadtrip this weekend down to Tulsa to see the BYU vs. Tulsa football game. I think we've found a new tradition. Next year when BYU is in Dallas playing TCU, we are so there!

BYU doesn't often play over in these parts, so it was a good excuse for a trip. We went down with a big group of friends, most of which were (at least in part) BYU alumni, although some were not. We hit the tailgate party beforehand, which true to BYU standards, consisted of a lot of people at a park with music and food and a bus load of old die-hard BYU fans. The boys played in the sand on the playground most of the time. The cheerleaders came and performed, Cosmo the Cougar mascot high-fived everyone, and we got our faces painted. Well, Big J ventured out and got his hand painted instead.

The LDS community may be worldwide, but it also makes it a very small world. We saw several people we knew from a long time ago. JC ran into a friend he went to high school with in Mexico that now lives outside of Dallas. We ran into a guy we knew from our apartment complex when we were first married. And as I was walking with the boys over to the face painting, a heard someone call my name. I turned to see a guy named Tony that dated my friend Lori our freshman year. That was a blast from the past! Afterwards, I was pleased that he even recognized who I was considering that was 15 YEARS AGO!!!!! (Yes, I just felt really old when I typed that).

The best quote of the night has to be given to Little J. But it will only be funny if you are Mormon. As we were leaving the tailgate party to walk over to the stadium, there was some yellow "Do Not Cross" tape blocking off part of the parking lot. Little J started holding onto it and goes, "This is like in the scriptures! You know, the part where they hold onto the rod to get to the Tree of Fruit!" Exactly.

The game was so much fun. I loved watching the boys. They would jump up and cheer with the rest of us. They'd start their own "B-Y-U!" chants and yell "Go Cougars!" They would dance to the music . Little J's super secret move was to shut his jacket and then rip it open like Superman to reveal his BYU t-shirt underneath and yell "GO BYU!!" They loved when the other team would score a touchdown, because then fireworks would go off from on top of the scoreboard. I know we were on TV a couple of times. The guys with painted on shirts a couple of rows in front of us helped ensure that.

It was a really long game that began late at 8:00 p.m., so when halftime was at 10:30, I decided to call it quits. Little Man had been a trooper long enough. So we left and went back to the hotel. The next morning we ate a good buffet breakfast and the boys went swimming while Little Man napped. Then we went to the Tulsa Riverwalk. Who knew San Antonio had some competition? The boys played in the fountains and we ate ice cream and then all of us (the whole group) went out to eat before heading home. In the words of the Sabine Parish newspaper (the small town paper from where my parents grew up) "a good time was had by all."

GO BYU!!!

Arbitrary Queries

1. Does anyone have a great razor they recommend? I have tried both Venus and Quatro razors and decided I don't like either of them. They are good for like a week and then they are like every other razor I've ever used. I've almost decided to just get cheapy disposable ones and replace them every week.

2. What was your favorite Harry Potter book? Read any other good series?

3. If you could pay just under $200 and spend only 2 hours assembling ingredients that are already chopped and cooked, etc. into 2 weeks worth of restaurant-quality entrees for your family, would you do it? I ask because of this.

4. Arbitrary queries heard at dinner tonight:
Big J: "Which one of these words are Spanish? Cat or cato?"
Little J: "What about this one? Hy-e-na."

You...Complete...Me....

I just finished reading this:

I admit - I did not jump on the bandwagon until 5 of the 7 books were out, because I was never attracted to reading them. That is because they're not really in my genre of books I enjoy reading. But I repented of my ways and saw the light :-). All I have to say is that J.K. Rowling is a masterful storyteller and deserves to be a gazillionaire. For all you out there who have refused to read this series for whatever reason (**cough, cough, Tori, cough cough**), you are missing out. The movies do not do the books justice - they are water-downed versions of a much more intricate and engrossing story. Now I need to go read Eclipse.

Big Boy

Big J had picture day today, so last night I decided to trim the boys' hair. I usually alternate "real" haircuts with "mom" haircuts, so at least part of the time they have a decent cut. Little Man's hair was getting to the point of needing comb-over control, so I decided to give him his first official haircut.

Check out that length! I bet it was a good 6 inches.

He's had his hair trimmed 5 or 6 times, but I've never done anything more than just cut the "wings" on his sides or trim a little on his bangs.

This time I did a little boy haircut.

And then I cried.

I'm not exactly sure why, but I felt something - sad, maybe? I've never felt that way when the others got their first haircut, but for some reason this time choked me up. Even this morning when I saw him, I felt a little pang of whatever it is. I think it was because this was another step away from him being a baby and his babyhood has flown by so fast. And since I don't know if I'm going to ever have another baby or not, it made me feel something.

You have to admit he is a handsome fella, though. The final product:

Big boy!!!!

The Nanny Disaster

This weekend a friend and I went to see The Nanny Diaries. I would not recommend you waste money on this movie. Having never read the book, I assumed from the commercials that this was somewhat of a comedy and/or love story. WRONG!!! It is about how ridiculously rich people on East Side Manhatton waste their existence being petty and superficial and their kids get screwed in the process. It was just kind of depressing to me. And it wasn't even a good kind of depressing - you know, the kind where you feel sad and then there is a great resolution or life lesson or something of the sort learned at the end. What really was sad to me is that I know these type of people and situations really do exist, and I feel sad for the kids who live them.

On a brighter note, it was fun to go out regardless of the lame movie, and we did hit the Kohl's weekend sale afterward. :-)

Arbitrary Ruminations

Tori did a random thoughts meme that I thought I'd copy, since my mind is full of random thoughts. So here goes:

1. We just got our family pictures made. It's the first one since Little Man was born. We were all in dark colored tops, and I decided I do not like it near as much as the last two we've had when we were all in lighter colors. I'm making a mental "note to self" right now.

2. If you have the occasion to buy a set of workout CDs, I would suggest Cardioboost. I got mine at Costco, but it can probably be found elsewhere. It's a set of three 40 minute continuous-mix collections of 80s and 90s hits on crack. They are pumped-up to 130 - 150 beats a minute and they totally rock! You can't go wrong with songs like "Footloose", "Abracadabra", "Groove is in the Heart", "Beat It" and my boys' favorite, "Crazy Frog (Axel F. Version)". We just put it on and shake our groove thang.

3. Speaking of "Axel F", when I was in 5th grade, a group of girls and I had a sleepover and stayed up all night working on a dance routine we made up to that song....Then we performed it for our class at recess. Yes, we thought we were really good.

4. Last night I stayed up past my self-imposed bedtime of 11:00 (which I actually make about once a week) and watched "Clean House: The Messiest House in the Country". I have never watched this show before and just happened to come across it, but the premise behind it is they go into messy houses and then organize and re-do part of them. This episode was different, though, because apparently they had a contest to find the messiest house in America and then go in and re-do the entire house. OH MY GOSH!!!! A description will not do it justice. This was a 3700 square foot house that was literally cluttered from top to bottom. They hauled away 5 huge (like construction site) dumpsters full of CRAP and then had a massive yard sale and then had 2 full trucks from 1-800-Got Junk? come get what was left from the garage sale. And they still had, I swear, probaby $1000 worth of those big Rubbermaid containers stacked in rows and rows and rows in their basement of junk they just would not get rid of. I just couldn't believe it. If you want to feel awesome about your housekeeping skills, you've got to find this episode and watch it.

5. Little J had a friend over today and I heard Little J telling him a whopper. He was saying how one time he went swimming and the lifeguard had to jump in and save him because he was drowning. He was explaining in great detail how the lifeguard used his floating device to save him. In his defense, once he did slip off of an innertube that he rode down the slide with one day when we were at the pool. I guess I didn't realize how traumatic this incidence was....

6. I'm contemplating weaning Little Man. He's almost 11 months now.

7. I've been feeling like I'm getting old lately. Not physically, but just realizing how some things I remember that seem like yesterday actually occurred over a decade ago. Or thinking people seem so young. The most recent experience with this was seeing Big J's teacher. I felt like I could be her mom.

8. And last, but not least, today is my mom's 53rd birthday and my nephew Sebastian's 1st birthday. My mom is the coolest mom ever. She has more energy than me. She has better clothes than me. My kids like her better than me.... I have only met Sebastian once, but he's a cutie and I can't wait to see him again. Too bad he lives in Mexico City. Happy Birthday!!!

Just To Say I Did

I was thinking the other night about things I've done, and I realized a lot of them were because I just wanted to be able to say I'd done them. There might have been more motivation later on (or not), but the original driving force was simply to say I did. Some are big things, most are not. Some are closer to confessions than "just to say I did" activities, but after you read them, you're sure to think I'm cooler ;-)

1. I got corn rows done in my hair on the island of St. Thomas (in the U.S. Virgin Islands). But I couldn't afford to pay them for my entire head, so I just had the parts right around my face done.

2. I went spelunking in the middle of the night at a place called the Nutty Putty Cave when I was in college. These were not caves you walk into through the side of a mountain. To get in them, you go vertically down an opening and then have to slither through another tiny horizontal opening to get into the open areas. I get claustrophobic easily, so I don't know what I was thinking. And you had to rely solely on whoever said they knew the way and hope someone had left a rope or something for you climb to the various areas with. With places called "The Birth Canal" and "The Big Slide", I'm surprised I didn't die in there...

3. I was an Especially For Youth (EFY) counselor. I had attended EFY for three summers as a teenager and it made a big impression on me. When I became old enough to be a counselor, I thought it'd be cool to do and cool to say I had done. It rocked!

4. I ran in the St.George marathon. Notice the singular on that. It was purely to say I had done it.

5. Once when I was probably 10 or so, I went into a bathroom at Grandy's and while I was in there I decided I should see why people graffiti bathroom stalls. So I scratched a heart that said Jay + Heather inside of it.... Whew. I'm glad I got that off my chest.

6. I rode a camel at the Phoenix Zoo, just to say I've ridden a camel.

7. In 5th grade, I was one of the ring leaders in sinking the sub. If you've ever read the book "Thirteen Ways to Sink a Sub" you'll know what I'm talking about. I read that book, and thought I should try it. At the end of the day, I went bawling to her to apologize because I felt so bad. Yeah, I'm tough like that.

8. I hiked the Y my first week as a freshman at BYU. Then I did it on numerous other occasions for fun. But the first time was just to say I had been there.

I'm sure I have more, but they'll have to be another post. What things have you done just to say you've done it?

I Will Survive

First I was afraid
I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live
without you by my side

So I am glad to report that I did not turn into a whimpering mess on Big J's first day of school. I was nervous for him and weepy for a large part of the day, but today has been better. I think his ok-ness with everything helped me. He was nervous the day before, but he did great! He was so excited he was getting to the point that it was obnoxious, so it was a little easier to let him go ;-)

Yesterday, I asked him if he wanted me to walk him into his classroom and his answer was, "No, I'm fine!" And he was. He hopped out of the van and ran off with a wave. The P.E. teacher, Mrs. Chambers, was on crosswalk duty and said something to him as he went by then looked up at me . I smiled then motioned with my hand like I was wiping my tears and she nodded her head and smiled at me with a knowing smile.

I guess I will be ok..... *sigh*

you think I'd crumble

you think I'd lay down and die

Oh no, not I

I will survive

as long as i know how to love

I know I will stay alive

I've got all my life to live

I've got all my love to give

and I'll survive

I will survive

Blessed

Last December, my husband began his own business and started working from home. He is a computer programmer (don't ask me to explain more than that, because I don't think I could). He breaks the computer programmer mold, though, because he actually has a personality. And friends. And he's good-looking. But I digress....

We had talked about him making his break from the corporate world on several occasions, however, it never felt right until last year. He was able to secure a long-term contract and other things seemed to fall into place. Whenever we decided to do this, women would ask me with a skeptical look on their face how it was going with having him around all the time. My answer then, and my answer now, is great! I never could have known the blessing him being home would be.

Don't get me wrong - he does work. And he works a lot, although according to Little J he just "sits down there and plays games all day." He has his own work area in the basement, so we can stay out of his way (and he out of mine :-) On particularly busy days, or during conference calls or whenever he is blaring one of his 3000 mp3s to think by, we just pretend he isn't here. But even on those days, we see him. He'll come up and take breaks to hang out with the kids or eat lunch with us or clean the kitchen. Oh wait, that last one I got confused with a dream I had....But the other parts are true.

If there's something going on with the boys that he wants to be at, he can be there. If we want to do something fun with the family, we don't have to wait until Saturday. Like today we decided to pick Big J up from his first day of school (well, it was just a half-day today) and surprise them by going to T-Rex Cafe. It should have been a couple of hours worth of time, but because of a huge wreck on the highway and an hour wait at the restaurant, the whole production took like 3 1/2 hours. If he had a "normal" job, there's no way we would have done that.

If Little Man is napping and I need to go somewhere, I can leave him here. He's been an easy baby anyway, but having JC home for most of his babyhood has made it even easier. The boys love having him around and so do I. I just feel really blessed.