Boys and Blogs

Every time my friends and I get together with our husbands, the topic of blogs ALWAYS comes up. Most of my friends keep a blog, and none of our husbands do. The guys often joke about starting one and what topics they would write about. This usually results in us girls laughing so hard that we wish that our bladder muscles weren't completely destroyed from birthing children. But I digress...

My sister found this blog last night and sent it to me. It is the "Normal Mormon Husband Blog" and it is hilarious. He talks about stake basketball, scrapbooking, and scented candles. I think that if he lived here he would fit in quite well with our Elder's Quorum. What REALLY got me rolling was this blog about Twilight and this follow-up. It's nice to finally have a male's perspective on the books, since Brian won't go near them. ;)

I have added this guy's site to my Google Reader. I wonder if his wife rolls her eyes at him as much as I roll my eyes at my husband for being a smart-a$$?

My New Weightloss Plan

My friend Shannon introduced me to Dance Dance Revolution last night. We ran out and bought one today. Holy cow, this thing is SO fun. I know I am about 10 years behind the times, but when DDR first came out in arcades I was a junior high teacher and I knew better than to be seen in arcades. So here it is, I am a week shy of my 33rd birthday and I am trying this for the first time.

At first I was horrible uncoordinated. I was tripping over my own feet and falling off the mat. But after the kids went to bed I worked on it for about 30 minutes straight and I really think I am getting the hang of it. Of course I have disabled the hand motions (I am not THAT good) and I am still getting Cs and Ds on basic, but I am doing better!! And I was in a full on sweat by the time I was done. I may have burned off half of that Costco hotdog I had for lunch today...

Lurkers...

Okay, strangers out there. Today my blog has been visited by all over the planet (literally) and my mother is probably going to FREAK OUT when she reads this -- but how the heck are all of you being directed here??? You are all linking from blogger.com/navbar.... but it is a period of over several hours, so I know it isn't from people clicking on "blogs updated at 9:21."

So spill it -- how are people from France, Tunisia, Costa Rica, The Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, Norway, Indonesia, and Pennsylvania finding ME?? And why of all days when I have NOTHING INTERESTING TO POST ABOUT????

March 28, 2008

Um, yeah. It's still coming down.

Spring Break

Spring Break is this week. What a bust. It has been COLD, and RAINY. We had thought about making the trip to visit my parents this week, but they both still have work during the day and with the price of gas being $3.50 a gallon we decided that we should probably stay. I thought about going to the zoo, or the Science Museum. But it's too cold for the zoo and since this is Spring Break and it is cold, everyone and their germy kids is going to be at the Science Museum. So we have stayed local. We have had friends over to play, and today I even got out the crafts. I don't think the kids have minded, but I am kinda bummed that I didn't produce some sort of magical week for them. Tomorrow we will head into town and visit Brian at work (they like to look out of the high windows at the city) and go out to lunch. Then they get to accompany me to Costco. Ooooh, aaaaaah.

The upside to staying home is that I have gotten alot of work done. I have learned some new sewing skills and gotten some new aprons out of the process. My sister and brother came to visit this evening. They are all currently watching UCLA struggle against Western Kentucky. My brother is a die hard PAC-10 fan, so this is hard for him to watch. Brian is on cloud nine because UNC beat their opponent by more than 20 points. Nothing like a blowout to lift his spirits.

Boring update, huh? I do have some fun posts in the works. I turn 33 next week, then our 10th wedding anniversary is the week after that. And I am heading out to Utah for a Sister in Law weekend that I am really looking forward to. So stick with me. :)

More Silly Tests

I was reading through the blog archives of an old friend from college and she had these music tests on her blog.

Are you Tone Deaf? This was HARD. Be sure to read the directions and use the replay button. I got an 84%

Are you Rhythm Deaf? I felt like a high school freshman sitting in an upper level college course for this one. I could SO not be a percussionist. I still scored an 84%, though I have no idea how.

Are you Pitch Deaf? This one started off really easy, but as the pitches get closer together in Hz I felt like I needed the ears of a dog to differentiate. I scored a 2.1 Hz. I could tell the difference between many of the pitches under that, but not reliably, I guess. And I call myself a choir teacher...

Easter "Eggs"

Poor Jaren. It's hard to have a big head. Big heads are heavy and hard to maneuver. They are hard to get out of the way when you are standing in front of the swing and your slightly less than observant four year old sister is ON that swing.

I am pretty sure he had a head bruise for LAST year's Easter Pictures, too. I guess we'll be putting on the nice clothes again next week and pretending they were taken on Easter Morning. Jillise also has a cold sore. At least now I won't have to work family photographs into our already crazy Sunday Mornings.

In other news, yesterday was my long awaited "Day Out." I got a gift card to the mall for Christmas and I have been waiting for the day that Brian would be home to watch basketball so I could go. I left the house at 9:30 in the morning and I got home at 8:30 at night. I hit Krispy Kreme for breakfast, Ross, Old Navy, Craft Warehouse, the music store (I got out of there for less than $20 - a personal record), then the mall. While at the mall I had lunch at the Gyro place, got a heavenly pedicure, and bought some cute things for Spring. After the mall I hit up Deseret Book. Then off to Costco for milk and GoGurts and a cheap dinner. I was exhausted, but it was very fun. And productive. I didn't reach my "goal weight" by now as I had hoped, but I am close enough. I bought the pants on the tighter side as incentive to get back to the gym and get those last pounds off.

Today I hit up the grocery store to get the last of what we need for dinner tomorrow. Then I made our "nest" cake that I will hopefully remember to take a picture of. Then we dyed eggs, had a barbeque (today was in the 60s -- the rest of Spring Break is rainy and cold). And now I have to get ready for the Easter Bunny to come. We are leaving him/her a note to ask if he/she will come on Saturday from now on. OH, and I made THIS:

It only took me a few hours and it would have been done even sooner if I had been more careful with the pleats and hadn't caught other fabric in the seams -- requiring me to do three of the four pleats over again. I love my seam ripper. It's the most used tool in my sewing bag. And check out those well painted toenails!!

Have a Happy Easter, everyone!!

You Know Where You'll Find Me

Hunched over my sewing maching. I got THIS in the mail today:

I am sew (hee hee) excited to try this!! I am heading to the fabric store today to pick out some cute fabrics. I took a look at the pattern and I think I can do it. Anyone want to be gifted my first attempt?? Who has a birthday coming up? You don't care if the ties are too short or crooked, or if the pleats are lopsided, do you?

Brian is firmly planted in the leather recliner, well into hour three of March Madness. I think we are going to model this weekend after the Brown's Annual Pig Out. I bought a bunch of fun snacks at the store, he has the next two days off from work, and he is just going to enjoy the experience. Or try to. Spring Break also started today, so the house is a little more chaotic than usual. We are also going to the temple tonight to do sealings, so he'll be up late trying to catch up on the games he missed. Who signed us up for a sealing assingment during March Madness, anyway??? (Brian)

I said NO!!!

Jaren is stubborn. I believe I've mentioned that a time or twelve on this blog. Brian and I can't understand where he got it... must be from the mailman. Anyway... here's a recent example of his strong desire to get his own way.

Jaren has a blankie. It's one of those minky soft blankets with Winnie the Pooh on it. He HAS to have it when he sleeps. Once I thought I had left it in his crib for the babysitter. When we came home and asked how it went she said that Jaren had a really hard time falling asleep and cried for quite a while. We go upstairs and while I am turning off the light in the toyroom I see his blanket on the floor. I had another blanket thrown over the side of the crib and the sitter thought that must be the blanket I had left for Jaren. Poor kid was probably totally freaking out. But I digress.

This blanket is the ONLY blanket that Jaren will now permit to be in his crib. If it is cold and we try to cover him up with something else, he will gingerly pick up the blanket by the corners, as if it were some diseased slab of road kill that we had dared place on top of him, and move it to the side. Sometimes we will try to cover him up with something else while he is asleep and his blanket radar goes off and he will sit up, gingerly remove the offending foreign blanket, then lay back down and go to sleep. And he always lays ON his Winnie the Pooh blanket, so we can't usually access it.

Last night I thought I had won. I covered him up with a nice warm blanket before I went to bed. He was out cold and didn't wake up to move the covers (and his in footie jammies so he can't FEEL the blanket on his skin or anything). I went to bed confident that he would be warm for at least a few hours.

Fast forward to this morning. I go in there to wake him up so we can bring Jillise to school. He is sound asleep. The minute he pops his eyes open, he jumps to his feet and starts pointing to the ground and babbling about SOMETHING. I look on the floor and there is the other blanket I had used last night. At some point in the middle of the night, he woke up, realized what I had done, stood up, and threw the blanket out of his crib. And he had to make sure to tell me about it first thing, too. ExCUUUUUUUUUSE me.

In other news, Jaren is finally making animal sounds. He loves to sit and look at books with us, but it seems to be below him to make strange animal noises. He just looks at us and laughs when we moo like a cow or crow like a rooster. But today he was walking around with a picture of a monkey saying, "Eeeee Eeeee." Then he turned the page to the lion and started roaring. Thank goodness. Both girls could hold full conversations at this age (no, I am not exaggerating) and I am pretty confident that Jaren's brain is just fine but his darn stubbornness keeps him from showing us what he knows. Sigh. Boys.

Fun Filled FHE: Part III

Tonight on my quest to sit and eat bon-bons while my children make the house sparkle I taught the kids to CLEAN THE KITCHEN FLOOR. Seriously. My friend Lisa (whom I admire greatly and want to be like when I grow up -- in ten years) told me that every Saturday when the family is done with their regular weekend chores, every grabs a soapy rag and they clean the kitchen floor. Brilliant. Mopping and Swiffer WetJet just don't get everything. But soapy water, elbow grease and two willing helpers? PERFECT. So I told them we were going to be Cinderella in the "Sing Sweet Nightingale" scene. They had a blast. Sure, the floor was a little more wet than I'd prefer , but it got done. And we'll try again on Saturday. While the girls and I did that, Brian vacuumed the carpet so I could steam clean them after the kids went to bed. I love having Bunco at my house once a year. It forces me to have everything clean AT ONCE, instead of my usual "This week we have a dust free piano, ENJOY!!"

I also taught the girls to clean the floorboards. I hadn't gotten around to showing Joelle how to do it last week. And since they already had wet rags from the doing the floor, it seemed like a natural fit. When it's Joelle's turn again she can do the upstairs.

We did have a spiritual part of the lesson. We toured http://www.lds.org/ and http://www.mormon.org/ and watched the testimonies of the people on there and learned what else we could find on those sites. And we used the Gospel Art Kit to talk about the Atonement, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus.

Then for treats, we made THESE:

Yum. Refrigerated Cookie Dough and mini candy bars. Couldn't be simpler. And so horribly good. And rich. I couldn't eat more than three. I sent most of them to work with Brian today. Because -- I can only eat three AT A TIME, but wait 30 minutes for the carmelly goodness to dissipate and I am ready for more. We tried sugar cookie dough and chocolate chip dough and we put Milky Ways and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups in them. Yum. Do you think those would make a good breakfast?

Oh, and so I can claim to be a good mother who documents this stuff, Jillise lost her third tooth last week (on March 12th). It came out while she was eating Lucky Charms for breakfast (because while I am a good mother who documents this stuff I am NOT a good mother who feeds them healthy cereal for breakfast). Here is her lispy grin:

Fun Sunday Quiz

***Okay, I fixed the link. I had two http:// thingies.
***Okay, I fixed the link AGAIN. Blogger hates me today.

As I was blog surfing last night, I came across this quiz: SPOT THE FAKE SMILE. It will take you just a few minutes to take and the little videos you will watch were part of a scientific study. So, how good are you at spotting the fakers?? I did fairly well, I got 16 out of 20. I think that's a solid 'B.' Take the quiz and tell me how you did. Post your results in the comments section.

I am off to take my Sunday nap!

Happiness Is...

• Finishing TWO aprons this week: one for a bunco prize, and one for ME.


• Finishing my apron with less than TWO feet of thread remaining on the bobbin. Whew! It drives me crazy to have my momentum interrupted by having to wind a new bobbin.


• Realizing that I really enjoy sewing. And that it no longer stresses me out like it used to. I don't know that my kids will be showing to up to church in homemade frocks anytime soon, but I can turn out a pretty cute bib apron in less than a day!


• Spending time with some really funny ladies at a bridal shower. It became very apparent however, that I have entered into the realm of "experienced married woman." I am part of the old guard, welcoming the young spring chickens.


• Having my children clean the toyroom (well!!) without being asked.


• Having Brian come home early.


• Tulip bulbs about to bloom.


• Finding old friends on Facebook. There is even a page dedicated to alumni of the Select Choir I was a part of in highschool. *sniff*


• Lazy Saturdays with the whole family.

EDITED: A couple of you requested apron pictures. This first one is the bunco prize. The theme this month is "green," but I didn't want an apron that screamed of St. Patrick's Day. I thought this was cheerful and fun (two things that doing housework ISN'T). The second apron is the one I made for myself. I like the long ties that I can wrap around and tie in the front. I feel less "haus frau."

I Think I'm On To Something...

• Last night for part of Family Home Evening we taught the girls to wash windows. They were SO excited and were trying to find new windows to do...
• Jillise was crying because cleaning the baseboards with a wet rag wasn't on her chore chart, but Joelle gets to do it...
• The girls' faces light up like Christmas when it is their day to clean the bathroom...
• The girls willingly unload the dishwasher...

Our first annual family cleaning Saturday was a bust, however. I decided to leave early in the morning to go into town and run some errands and we never got it done. But I do feel good that my children are happily (for now) contributing to the overall cleanliness of our home. And they are old enough to be taking some of the things off of my plate. Granted, right now I am watching them every step of the way, but I won't have to do that for long. I can't wait until Jaren is old enough to do the trash and mow the lawn. But wait, that's Brian's job. I guess I'll have to find other things for him to do, too. ;)

Be There

Last night we had our rehearsal for our ward's production of The Ten Virgins. It is going to be part of our Relief Society Birthday celebration. It is going to be SO good. Come, and bring Kleenex.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, it is a little musical/readers theater based on the parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25:1-13. Everyone in the village is to prepare to meet the wedding party and go into the feast. But the bridegroom comes later than expected and only five of the ten virgins have enough oil in their lamps to last until He comes. So the other five go to find oil and miss the feast.

Growing up and hearing the story I always thought of the foolish five as being the "bad" ones. But in this production, the author has given ten different personalities and circumstances to each of the women. We get to hear her story and her song, then see what happens in the end. The director did an amazing job choosing women and youth to fill these roles. I have been practicing my song for a few weeks and still can't get through it without getting choked up. Last night I read my speaking part aloud for the first time and I really struggled. That was on top of hearing all the OTHER women do their parts. The characters are so human and I find a little of myself in each of them -- the wise AND the foolish. And the foolish aren't that foolish. They are just busy, or insecure, or forgetful. And it really hits me hard when those virgins don't have the oil needed when the time comes.

So be there. It starts at 6:30 and you really don't want to miss it. I think you will leave with a renewed desire to do good and to be better and to work harder to have the oil needed to meet the Savior when he comes again.

Wanted

WANTED

For breaking curfew, talking too loudly during the movie and annoying the many patrons, impersonating Red Robin servers, and carrying concealed candy.

SUSPECTS:

Rochelle

Alias: Candy Man, Toothie, Hot Mamma

Aundrea

Alias: Book Pusher, Hot Mamma

Paige

Alias: Cry Baby, Hot Mamma

Nicole

Alias: Carsick Cutie, Hot Mamma

Jodi

Alias: Jewelry Junkie, Hot Mamma

These suspects are neither armed nor dangerous. However, do to fluctuating hormones and a lack of sleep, it is probably best to avoid direct confrontation unless you are carrying chocolate and are willing to part with it. And if you happen to invite any of these women into your homes, please make sure all toilet locks have been disengaged...

"They Found Me. I Don't Know How, But They Found Me."

Name that movie! Back to the Future. And it isn't the Libyans that found me, it's the sickies. And I guess they didn't find me, they found Jaren. Poor guy. I don't think it's the plague that has been going around, but he has a nasty cold. He has been sufficiently drugged and is now sleeping. I hope it lasts long enough for me to finish this and shower. What I would REALLY like to do is crawl back into bed, but I made such good progress on getting my house caught up yesterday that I should probably continue on that path. Especially since Jaren's current condition means I probably shouldn't go into town to pick up music like I had planned.

I have a fun blog I really need to get up SOON. It involves incredible blackmail pictures and hopefully a few laughs. I am trying to get the creative juices flowing to make a post worthy of the pictures, but I keep stalling out.

For FHE last night I taught the girls how to clean a bathroom. We tied it into having a clean and organized home like the temple. It's so sad that the girls thought it was FUN. Jillise even wants her own pink plastic gloves. I am hoping to take advantage of this by having the girls do the minor wipe downs during the week, then I can get in there and do the floors and the deeper cleanings when it needs it. And I noticed that Walmart no longer carries the Swiffer Sweep 'n Vac filters. What am I supposed to do now???? That thing was a lifesaver. This is one of those times when I wish we didn't live in the sticks and we had access to more than one convenience store.

Twilight Gals: I preordered Breaking Dawn. The girl at the local bookstore said they might consider a midnight release party if we could get enough people to commit to coming. Who's in? Oh -- and I finished my latest mindless fluff/chick lit book. When any of you are done reading your enlightening/slit your wrist/historical fiction books you are welcome to borrow it!! :)