All Hallow's Eve

Well, another Halloween come and gone. Today was much more relaxed even if Robyn was a tad bit late to school. I had no deadlines and even if we didn't go anywhere, the kids still had plenty of candy from the Trunk-or-Treat and from school. However, we did go down to center street and walk along the businesses. Here are some highs and lows:

High:The guy in front of the book store was giving out books and you could choose one instead of candy if you wanted to.

Low: Only one of my children took advantage of this. The other two decided that candy was much a better deal (even though their mom is going to take it away anyway).

High: There was free face painting in front of one store (you know what a sucker I am for face painting--and this lady wasn't half bad).

Low: While we were waiting a guy wandered by, then came back to ask me how I had gotten my face so pale. He said he had tried the white makeup and it looked fake and caked on. I had to tell him that I wasn't wearing makeup—that was just the color of my skin. :(

High: The girls were cute as always, but Ivory and Daisy got the most attention. Ivory because everyone thinks the Nemo costume is so cute and Daisy because she just is cute (she didn't even have a costume on).

Low: Some weird, creepy lady actually asked if she could hold Daisy. I had to tell her that it wasn't very easy to take her in and out of the sling. I didn't think it was tactful to say, "Are you kidding, there is no way I am letting you hold my baby!"

High: It is nice to be able to stroll down one street and get all your candy at once.

Low: A lot of the stores were already out of candy (not that I really care because once again I am going to take most of it away, but the girls still like getting it).

I still did not get the pictures I wanted. I ended up taking some when we got home, so we all look a bit disheveled. Oh well, Happy Halloween anyway.



This is just to show off my lovely pale complexion. I look a lot like my sister in this one.



Oh, one more Low: On the way home, my dashboard must have blown a fuse, because the whole thing stopped working(!). I couldn't see my odometer or which gear I was in. My gas gauge, speedometer, and windshield wipers didn't work either.

High: I drove as fast as I wanted because if I got pulled over I could honestly tell an officer that I had no idea how fast I was going.

Half-way There

Wow, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by Halloween and my house would show it. Yesterday was the craziest day and I never felt on top of things. I got both kids ready for school (since it was Robyn's first day of preschool) and got one out the door to the bus and the other in the car to drop her off. I came home and had my visiting teachers over and I frantically fed the baby, started chicken cooking and dressed child #3 for Music Makers (where they were wearing costumes). I was a few minutes late, but I think Ivory had a good time regardless. I rushed home for a few minutes before heading over to get Robyn, and of course Ivory had to go potty so we all got out of the car and headed inside to pick her up. I also wanted to stop by a Halloween store to get the finishing touches of Tyler's costume and I didn't want to interrupt Ivory's nap-time so I thought I would get it done in the morning. So I went and picked up June from school so I wouldn't miss her and we all went to Halloween USA. I was able to find what I needed, head home, make lunch, throw Ivory in bed and convince the remaining children that at least ONE room in the house needed to be clean so Mom wouldn't start hyperventilating. Ivory never went to sleep (cheeky monkey), the girls watched Tinkerbell one more time (before we needed to return it at Redbox) and I worked on the soup some more (we were having a chili/soup cook-off with the Trunk-or-Treat in the evening). Tyler came home early and took the movies back to Redbox while I curled hair, spray-painted hair, threw myself in a costume and eventually painted Tyler's face all while keeping the baby happy, finishing the soup, getting decorations for the car, finding candy bags, and maintaining the noise level in the house. I couldn't even find the little gifts we were going to give away instead of candy, so it was a good thing I bought extra candy the day before. Finally we jumped in the car and were only 10 minutes late. The kids seemed to have a good time and we even got a few pictures, although by then I had given up on being in charge of the camera. The dinner was good, although by the time I got to the table my soup was gone so I didn't even get to try it. All in all, it was an exhausting day. So today is my day off and tomorrow I get to do it all again, but this time in the morning since both kids get to wear costumes to school and then go trick-or-treating at night. Holy cow people, does anyone else feel overwhelmed by being the mom during this crazy holiday season? Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween, but I may hire someone to get everyone ready next year.
Monday we carved pumpkins to match our costumes. We have the unicorn pumpkin since Robyn was the queen of the unicorns. Ivory was Nemo again and June sported the pink Supergirl costume (hence the 'S' on her pumpkin).



I will try to get better pictures of them tomorrow, but here they are last night. Queen of the unicorns:



Nemo: (with a runny nose, poor girl)



and Supergirl:



Oh, and somehow we managed a family picture. I love my family.

Good 'ole Pumpkinland

So we finally made it to Pumpkinland. Here are some of the highlights:

The girls must be used to me having the camera since they wouldn't look at Dad while he took this picture.



June is learning to use the camera; she gets better all the time.



Robyn conquered the big slide.



It was totally worth it to see her face.



June thought it would be fun to go down backwards.



Monkey see, monkey do.



Daisy didn't make a peep the entire time. The. Entire. Time. I love that sling.



Ivory has awesome hair after coming off the slides.



I like the swan gourds. They just are so weird looking.



We really did have a good time despite the fact that we can't seem to get them to smile at the same time, or at all in this case.

Absentminded

I truly am absentminded...
...and it has gotten worse in the last few years. I can't tell you how many times I walk into a room and I can't remember what I am there for. I have to retrace my steps until I can figure out what I was doing. Likewise, I have to write things down immediately if I am going to remember them. Every week, I stare at my shopping list thinking, I know there was something we needed but what was it? I forget about things too. The phrase "Out of sight, out of mind" is true. I'll start the bathtub and the minute I have leave the room, I forget the water is running (this is only really bad when I have already put a child IN the tub). Because of the absentminded factor, I try to write down things I need to do—like calling people or upcoming activities. It is truly annoying, but it rarely gets me into real trouble...until it does.

Yesterday, around lunchtime, I was thinking that macaroni sounded good for the girls. I filled a pan with water and put it on the stove. I flipped the stove to high and then I thought (since I was standing by the evil used-to-be-infested-with-a-black-widow cupboard) that I should call the Spider sprayers. And knowing that I would forget if I didn't do it right away, I headed upstairs to get the number off my computer. Absentminded me kicked in; the minute I was upstairs, I forgot about the stove. I do this more often than I would care to admit. I usually end up smelling the smell of heat from a stove, or hear a sizzle as the water starts to boil over.
I was discussing with the spider lady the details of spraying, when I smelled the stove and thought, oh that's right, my water is probably boiling. I didn't even make it all the way down the stairs. I was met at the bottom by a worried Robyn who said, "Why is the house so dusty, mom?" And when she says dust, she means smoke. I turned the corner and realized that the smell of the stove wasn't your usual smell and it was accompanied by a yellowish smoke that filled the kitchen. Aaaahhhh! I ran to the stove remembering all too late that I had left a plastic bowl with popcorn on the stove and I had obviously turned on the wrong burner! The bowl was melting away so I took it off, then ran through the house opening windows and shooing kids out the door. The smoke billowed out the windows and doorways and oddly enough, did NOT set the smoke detector off. How is that possible? People tell me that only certain kinds of smoke set them off, but I am highly suspicious of our smoke detectors now.

I am sure melting plastic is not high on the list of things you should inhale. Once we were all outside, I made periodic dashes inside to see how bad the damage was. Not only was it the smell of burnt plastic but it was also the smell of burnt popcorn (which is nasty). I scraped the stuff off the stove, which was still smoldering and went back outside. I called the spider people back (who I basically hung up on) and finished giving her my information. Oddly enough, she said she had done something similar the previous day, except she had left Raman cooking on the stove until it burned. Me, I just turned on the wrong burner AND forgot it was on. I am so stupid sometimes. The house is starting to smell better today, but it still stinks in some places. We'll have to see how much smoke damage we end up with. Tyler did not get mad, but he kindly made a new rule for me--I am not allowed to leave anything on the stove, and if I turn the stove on, I am not allowed to leave for more than 60 seconds. Hopefully I will then notice if I turned the wrong burner on (I should confess this is not the first thing I have melted on the stove).
So another absentminded event, but this one could have cost us a lot more. I really need to focus. Here is the bowl.



Fortunately it was the least favorite of my mixing bowls. Still hitting myself in the head though.

I Love Being a Mommy

I saw this on someone's blog a while back, but forgot about it. Then I saw it again here, so I thought it would be fun to try it with my own kids. You ask your kids these 10 questions and see how they respond. The answers are in birth order (Daisy excluded for obvious reasons). It made me laugh enough, that I will probably have to do this annually.

1. What does mom always say to you?

1. Hello June.
2. Be nice.
3. Look at my eyes (I really do say that when I want them to listen).

2. What makes mom happy?

1. When people help you out like when I did the laundry one time.
2. Being nice to each other and play with each other nicely.
3. Eat food, get a treat happy.

3. What makes mom sad?

1. When Ivory screams and does mean things to Daisy like she just did right now (Ivory had just pinched Daisy, but I am sure it was an accident, because she loves the baby).
2. When you fight and you say mean things to other people you don’t like.
3. Mom’s sad like toys.

4. How does mom make you laugh?

1. When you tickle me.
2. By tickling you.
3. Tickle to laugh.

5. How old is mom?

1. 20………9 (she likes to tell me I am 28, but I think she knows the truth, so her face was really funny as she decided what to say).
2. What was your age again? What do you think it is? I think 28.
3. 2.

6. How tall is mom?

1. I need to get the measuring tape. No, just guess. I bet 15 inches (at least I am over a foot).
2. 16’s tall.
3. Big.

7. What does mom like to do?

1. Help us.
2. Do stuff on the computer and make her bed and make decorations of paint.
3. Do stuff on my list (she must watch me make my silly lists each day).

8. What is mom’s job?

1. To do laundry and other helpful stuff around the house, like chores for mommies.
2. Read and help each other clean up and sit in the chair and feed Daisy and show things to Daisy. (ha ha)
3. Get daddy (this is probably my favorite answer).

9. What is mom’s favorite food?

1. Vegetables (what??).
2. Broccoli and carrots and beans (do my children know me at all??).
3. Cereal (that’s more like it).

10. How do you know your mom loves you?

1. Because we are her children and she shows her love for us.
2. Because she likes me a lot.
3. Mommy loves Daisy and holds her when she spits up with a burp cloth (which I guess translates into love for her…right?).

June made me this drawing. She put it under my covers so I would be surprised when I went to bed, but mostly I was surprised by how cute it was; she's my little artist. The purple things on the sides are diamonds with sparkles on them.

The News

2 hours ago: Tyler killed it.

16.5 hours ago: Maleen called Stewarts Pest Control and got voice mail. She cursed herself mentally and reminded herself to have the next emergency during business hours.

17 hours ago: The black widow descended from its hiding place and Maleen's heart practically stopped.

Other news related events:

* Said black widow has apparently been living just under the cupboards near the lazy susan and entirely too close to lots of bare feet.

* Ivory may have a spider complex now after her mom banished her from the kitchen for 24 hours at least. Ivory has been heard to say "Spiders in dark places." and "Spiders get me dead."

*Tyler thought it would be funny to put a plastic spider on Maleen's arm this morning and considering the recent events, she let out a hearty scream. Tyler's trial is scheduled for later this week.

*There will be sprayers coming shortly but which company has yet to be disclosed.

*Maleen has told reporters that she no longer feels safe in her home. Here is her statement: "It was in my kitchen for heaven's sake! I did try and get a glass to catch it before it went back into its lair, but I couldn't get close to it; I was paralyzed by fear. If it had been closer to my children, I think I would have summoned the courage to attack; but as it was, Ivory was safely two feet away on a stool. Safe? Who am I kidding? There was a black widow in my HOUSE!!" At this point most of what she said became unintelligible. She was taken away for further questioning.

This has been a live report from the Cazier household. We encourage you home owners to reassess your pest problems and consider having your own house sprayed. You never know what might be lurking inches away from your feet.

Swing Kids

For June's birthday we got a hanging chair from IKEA. We didn't hang it right away because I was worried about it being close to the half-wall. I didn't want children standing on it and then peering over the edge. But we put it up this weekend and it doesn't seem to be a problem. Ivory has fallen off a few times (the swing, not the wall), and overall, I am very pleased with it. The curve in the chair makes it more suited for children, but I am short enough that it doesn't bother me. Tyler doesn't fit as well, but it wasn't for him anyway; he will have to stick to the hedgie. Everyone loves the hanging chair that we basically call the 'swing'.



Here you can see how it is rigged up.



And this one is to remind me that no matter how I do her hair, it always ends up like this at the end of the day (the face is optional).




Oh, and thanks to all of you who sent me good karma. I won those cute beanies in the give-away. Of course, now I have to buy two more because my girls are very aware of when I give something to one and not the other. So, we all get one! (at least two are free :) I'll make sure to take pictures of us when we get them.

Serious Talent

Now I crosstitch, but I don't really consider that a difficult skill. I think anyone with a little patience and the ability to count could manage it. However, when it comes to sewing and quilting, I am a bit in awe of what some people can do. My mother-in-law definitely fits into the sewing genius category. Just check out this blanket that she basically threw together when she found out we were having Daisy.



It is adorable and extremely soft on the underside (all white underneath). I think she has an amazing talent. I could sew squares together if I had to, but this is another thing altogether. She would probably want you to know that she saved the space in the middle for the first and middle name, but we were so slow coming up with Grace that she eventually filled it in as you see it. I personally really like the oops-a-Daisy.

Great Minds Think Alike

Just the other day I was reading in the Book of Mormon about Nephi having his two sets of plates; oddly both named after him (that always makes me laugh). I thought about my own documentation of my history. I think I have the large plates down (being an account of the history of my people), but I struggle with the spiritual side. I realized that I don't write down many of my spiritual experiences because they don't seem to fit in with my normal babble.
So when Melanie came up with the idea of a new blog that would be dedicated to the spiritual side of life, I jumped at the chance to make my small plates happen. She is taking any contributors, so please join us. Go to dailyuplift.blogspot.com, or there is a link on my sidebar as well.

I Can't Help Myself

Dear Readers,

I am not crazy about give-aways. There are many out there and I think one could get entirely too wrapped up in them. Even as I say this, I still can't help entering one every so often. I have had my eye on some knitted beanies online. I think they would be darling on my girls this winter. However I just admitted my problem with money, so they are not exactly in my price range (especially since I would want four of them). So, when I saw a give-away for them, I could not help myself. If you would like, you can go check out vanillajoy.com where they are having a giveaway to win two adorable Noggins made by Jessica. I think it is combined with a give-away for some beautiful jewelry, but truthfully, I am looking for the beanies myself.

So please forgive this shameless attempt to win my girlies some winter attire.

Everything is Funnier When a Two-Year Old Speaks

Ah yes, another post dedicated to dear Miss Ivory who cracks me up daily. What can I say folks...she's two. It is fun to figure out how the gears work in her head. Kids are so smart at this age and they soak up so much. They only regurgitate a smidgen of the funny in their heads, so I want to capture it if I can.

During the morning session of General Conference a few Sundays ago, Tyler and I stole a moment to ourselves to listen to Music and the Spoken Word while the kids were still upstairs. Ivory is my little shadow so it didn't take her long to find me. She curled up in Daddy's lap and was watching the screen intently. I thought, 'How wonderful. My daughter is listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I wonder if she enjoys the music?'
My thoughts were interrupted as Ivory said matter of factly, "This movie is terrible." Apparently MOTAB is not her thing.

Another evening, Tyler was at the church for a meeting. He got a ride from a neighbor since they were both attending. Ivory came in about an hour later.
"Oar's Dad?" Translation: Where's Dad?
"Dad is at church."
"Oar's Dad?"
"Honey, he went to church, he'll be back later."
"His car is here, oar's dad?"
Hmmm, observant little duck. She likes to look out the window and watch people come and go (like June going to the bus stop) but I never figured she connected Dad being home with that red car out front. Guess she knows what she's talking about. I explained that Daddy got a ride...she seemed satisfied.

Even though Ivory is the sweetest, she is also my hardest child right now (I think I have mentioned this many times). She crawled up in my lap the other day and sat facing me. She stroked my hair gently then put her little hands on my cheeks, and said, "Mom, you're a good mom."
How did she know I needed to hear that? We have our good and bad days, but I think she approves overall. And for the record...Ivory, you're a good Ivory.

She dresses herself now which is funny to watch since she usually has something on backwards, but here she is sporting Daddy's clothes. And this is her pirate smile. When we ask her to smile, she squints.

Midnight Grapefruit and Other Stories

Midnight Grapefruit
I came home the other evening after visiting a friend and the only child awake was Ivory. She usually stays up a bit later since she takes a good nap in the afternoon. June often manages to keep her eyes open longer than Ivory (I swear June does not need as much sleep as other people) but tonight Ivory was the only one twitching. I'm sure if I left her alone she would have been asleep shortly, but instead I decided to make a memory (mainly for me since I don't think she will remember much of her two's). I picked her up out of bed and said, "Shhhh."
"What mom?" she whispered back.
I would only answer with "Shhhh."
I took her down and put her on the counter and I cut up a grapefruit and shared it with her. I don't know if she would like this treat if I served it at the table, but she is always happy to snitch from me. She will be the daughter I take to IHOP in the middle of the night when we both want pancakes and grapefruit juice. I have to plant the seeds now...

Bigger Bandaids Make Everything Feel Better
The other night I had heard my fill of crying. Most of it was Ivory (as you can guess, she being 2), but everyone had taken their turn. Tyler was home and Robyn started quietly sobbing upstairs. In my I-have-had-it sarcastic voice I said, "What could that sound be? I have never heard it before!" Tyler could tell that I was finished for the night, so he went to check on the girls. The next thing I heard was, "Mom, you'd better come up here."
Oops, I never hear that unless it is serious. Sure enough, Robyn had been running around and she had stepped on the prong part of the belt buckle. The prong had punctured her toe and there was a fair amount of blood. Poor kid, but she was great and didn't get any on the carpet. She was very brave as we cleaned it out; it wasn't very deep. Then Dad bandaged it, we put a sock on, and as the crowning touch, we let her wear the wrap bandage.



She thought this was great; real proof of her injury. She was running around again in no time and I made a mental note to make sure no more belts are left on the floor. I know it will be my foot next time.




My Girls' Hair is Cuter Than Your Girls' Hair
That would have been my bumper sticker on Sunday. I don't get to use that bumper sticker very often. I try to get the girls' hair out of their face, but I don't always get it looking nice, let alone adding accessories. Sunday is my day to try new things and I have several websites I frequent for ideas, seeing that I can never think of my own. Here's one I like. This Sunday's idea actually didn't come from a website although I am sure I have seen it online before. I had completely forgotten about this style until I saw a little girl at the store with something similar. So I busted out my ribbon and this is the result.



It is very easy. Simply two puffy braids (I think that is what they are called on the high tech hair sites) and then I just threaded the ribbon through like you would on a shoe. Voila, instant cute. Then of course, you have eight hair ties to take out later to many "OUCH"es, but it was worth it to own the bumper sticker for a day.

What Can I Say?

She's beautiful...

Too much cute in one post!

I went and took some pictures of the kids today (well, two kids to be exact). June needed her six year old picture. I know that we just took school pictures and I almost decided to use that picture for her six year old picture, but the 8 x 10 at Kiddie Kandids is still free for their birthday AND I realized that school pictures will not coincide with other children's birthdays so I should keep my picture scheduling like it is.
Daisy was due for a picture too since I take them more frequently the first year. I usually take one around 3-4 months when they can hold up their head, and another when they are sitting up. Plus they change so much the first year, I like to get better documentation. This is Daisy's first picture in the gallery on my stairs (I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see my children every time I walk up and down my stairs). I had to move a few pictures around and in thus doing I found a few pictures hidden underneath others (namely Robyn and Ivory's 3 month pictures). So I dug up June's, and for your viewing pleasure here are my babies in all their 3 month old glory.

DAISY



IVORY



ROBYN



JUNE



p.s. June's six year picture deserves a post of its own, so wait for it...

No Self-Control

Tyler always wonders why I write posts that are not super positive about myself. Well, the fact is people, even though I look like a super model and keep house like Mary Poppins, I am really just human.
In fact, I have a few annoyingly human traits that I would like to get rid of...

1. I can't finish a chart to save my life. That may not make a lot of sense, but I will explain.
I am always trying to organize my life or get myself to do something (like reading the Ensign all the way through, or doing a deep cleaning chore once a day) so I will make these fun little charts to remind me or encourage me. They work well for a while and then...I don't finish them. EVER. Currently on the fridge is the prayer chart I started with my children and didn't finish (big surprise). I spend more time making these charts than doing them. It is really an odd quirk of mine. I am starting to think that if I really want to do something, I'd better not make a chart about it because that would be shooting it in the foot before it even started the race.
I need to find a better way to encourage myself and accomplish things. Recently I noticed that every day I manage to check out blogs or write a post of my own, but somehow I never found time to read the scriptures (I know, it sounded fishy to me too). So, I went back and signed up at readthescriptures.com. Now I am allowed to look at blogs after I do what matters first. I haven't missed a day yet. Good thing I didn't make a chart.

2. Next, I can NOT diet. I know, many of you are saying that I don't need to diet, and I agree with you. But many times I have tried dieting to see what it is like or to try and eat healthier. I can't do it. Once I told my mom that we should both cut sugar out of our diets (I was hoping that if she wasn't doing it alone, she would feel extra support). Yeah, I ended up eating a ton of sweets before we started and then I cheated almost every day; once it was denied me, I couldn't handle the pressure. I was really NOT proud of myself at all.
I was talking to a friend last night and I told her that I really want to eat better and she suggested not taking away, but adding. "Let's make sure we eat a certain number of fruits and vegetables each day instead of taking out sugar." Hmmm, this sounds like something I might be able to do. I haven't started yet, and trust me, I won't make a chart, but I'll let you know how it goes.

3. Finally, I am not very conservative when it comes to spending money. Yikes, I know my husband is going to read this and laugh while saying that is an understatement. I know I should not impulse buy, or buy items I want rather than need. I try to ignore our finances, instead thinking that we probably have enough to cover this small purchase (and then I proceed to make four or five "small" purchases).
Maybe I need to have a personal budget; money Tyler would give me that I can use for whatever I want. I would have to keep track of it, but that would be better than the current situation where I spend that money anyway, but I am blissfully unaware of how much is leaving my pocket (or his pocket...okay let's just say the amorphous OUR pocket).
Unfortunately this post will probably lead to another undesired but necessary financial conversation (which, I frankly need people). I really CAN be good about money, just most of the time I choose not to be.

And now that I have bared my lack of self-control to the world, I would love some advice; if you have any. Any clever tricks to keep yourself in line, or motivate yourself to do better? That is, if I don't go delete this post right now...

And the Winner Is...

I think it is really funny how children will get an idea in their heads and it doesn't go away; they want to make their ideas happen. My children will often tell me things or ask to do things, and I—as the boring adult—will shrug it off as imaginative and not realistic. Here is a perfect example:

For some odd reason, we got talking about common vs. rare in the car. We were talking about whose names were common and whose were rare. Most of my children are not going to run into someone every day who has their name. I have actually heard of one other Ivory, and several Daisy's. Most people named June are older, but Robyn's name is not that uncommon. I popped into a store to return something and by the time I got back, June had given an award (something she made up in her head of course) to the two people with the most common names. Tyler won the adult award since his name is more popular than mine (by a long shot) and Robyn won the most common award for the kids. That's nice, I thought.
But June did not let it go there. She insisted that we make actual awards for them. So I put boring mom on the shelf for an afternoon and we got out markers and funny-cutting scissors and what-not and we came up with these:



It is a slightly odd award to win, but it makes sense to my 6 and 4 year old. Tyler said he would proudly display his at work.

Oh, and this is to show that I actually had two non-boring mom days in a row. Robyn asked to have her face painted and I really do have a soft spot for that, so here you go; just a Wednesday afternoon with face paint.



Please tell me I am better than volunteer face-painter lady.

My Own Georgie Porgie

Georgie Porgie pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.

A Nursery Rhyme demonstrating the different attitudes between the sexes! Even at a very early age children in Britain would play a game called 'Kiss Chase' - in fact the girls would actually chase the boys and then kiss them! their were no tears from the girls but the boys fought like mad to get away!

Yep, I found this online this morning and it seemed very fitting considering our evening last night.
Recently June has been fish-kissing people. She thinks it is really funny and the first person she tried it on (yes, you Vieve) got a lot of reaction so she has been giving out fish-kisses like they are going out of style. I have been kissed up and down until I have to beg for mercy.
So when we went over to the Johnson's I wasn't surprised that she was trying to kiss their cute 7-year old son Ryan. I didn't realize what was going on until Sunny mentioned that Ryan had pulled her aside and said, "I think June loves me." I reassured her that June was simply going through a kissing phase. At least that is what I thought...
I hate to admit that I did my share of chasing and kissing boys in my younger days, but I was hoping we could avoid this with my girls, so I gave June a bit of a lecture when we got home. I was telling her that boys don't really like to be kissed and that kisses should be given only to those in your own family. Plus, I added, "Ryan thinks you love him."
"I do," was the fervent reply. I asked if she meant like a friend or more like a boyfriend.
"Like a boyfriend, I want to marry him."
Oh good, well she turned six almost a week ago...it's about time she looked for a husband.
No offense to Ryan (who really is a cute kid) I tried to tell her that there are a lot of guys out there and that I didn't meet her Daddy until I was in college; she probably wanted to wait and get to know more boys. And then I reemphasized that we do NOT go around kissing people.
Then the soft side of me couldn't help humoring her a little, so I asked, "What do you like about Ryan."
"Well, there is really only one thing." (Only one?? Maybe she will be pickier by the time she is old enough to marry.) "I like his voice."
"Me too, I have always thought Ryan had a very nice voice." And then out of curiosity I asked, "Where did you kiss him?"
"Um, outside and then a couple times upstairs."
"No, I meant like on the arm or shoulder?"
"Oh, I kissed him on his head, right here on the forehead, " she said pointing, "and then on his cheeks."
Well, that probably isn't too bad. Sunny posted Ryan's point of view here, and I think he may be right...June is probably the one who likes him the most.

Awkward Stage

So I have reached that awkward stage in post-pregnancy. My baby is between two and three months old. I have lost most of my baby weight, but my waist is clearly not what is was before, evidenced by the fact that none of my pants fit. When I go to the closet, I can wear my stretchy jeans, and any pants with elastic, but none of my fitted pants feel comfortable yet. I remember this stage distinctly from last pregnancy, because I ran out and bought new jeans. Then several months later, they didn't fit because they were bought during the awkward phase. But I'll be darned if I don't want to go out and buy a pair again just to wear for a few months. I hate feeling plump every time I go into my closet.
The other lovely awkward part is my hair falling out. This is also normal at this stage. I take a shower and literally, handfuls of hair come out. Then I brush my hair and more comes out. I am always amazed that I am not bald within a few months, but since I managed to salvage some hair after each child, I'm assuming that it won't all fall out this time. It does make me want to get a haircut though, because then the hair coming out isn't as long. However, I want to keep my hair long right now, so I will just have to muddle through this awkward phase.
And to make things worse, I just watched conference where there were many messages of trials being part of life and learning to laugh at adversity. Well, truly these trials are not great, so...ha, ha...I'm losing hair and I can't fit into my pants. C'est la vie.
I'm supposed to be enjoying this journey, right?? So I will relish the fact that I get to wear sweats more often than most people, and maybe I can build a bird's nest out of all this extra hair (they need a home in the winter too).
And for all you people sick of hearing me complain, I would do it all over again of course, because look at the beautiful result.



She is just starting to get her noggin off the ground. It has taken her a while...must be that huge brain :)

Photo Tag

A place I would like to visit
This may sound juvenile, but I really want to take my family to Disneyland right now.



My closet
Our closet isn't very big, but we make do. There may be a reason that this picture didn't quite capture the floor.



My favorite room
This was a toss. I love my kitchen/dining area because we spend a lot of time there; at least I do, cooking (like my skeleton table cloth?).



But I love my bedroom. Heck, I just love sleeping. I do usually make the bed because it makes the room seem cleaner, but then my kids love to jump on it. I'm confused, does it look like a trampoline?



Self-portrait
Okay, I admit, I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of myself this morning. But here are two sweeties doing something I WISH I could do. Tyler went to read her a story and I found them like this; must have been one boring book.



The kitchen sink
The irony here is that I had just finished loading the dishwasher and these were the few that didn't fit or needed to be washed by hand, so my counters are clean, but not the sink . However, this is a pretty good idea of how things usually look. I tend to fill and empty the sink often.



The laundry room
Don't be fooled, the dryer almost always has a load of stuff sitting on top of it waiting to find a home. How I found it so clean, I will never know.



Toilet in the main bath
Boring. I thought you might like my master tub a bit more; living proof that we share our space with the children.



My fridge
I went shopping this morning, so it seems like the fridge is bursting with food.



My freezer
Okay, that is WAY too boring. I don't even have a good substitution.

My favorite shoes
I don't know about favorite, but these four are the ones I wear the most often which is why they are in the entryway.



I'm not tagging anyone because I don't want to stress you out. But you can look through your rooms and clean them quickly in case this tag does come for you.