I Am...

This is a Tag from Amy. So here you go...

*I am....neglecting all the laundry I should be doing.
*I think....I am addicted to Dr. Pepper.
*I know....I am happy.
*I want....my sweet hubby to be sitting right next to me.
*I have....2 super sweet kids.
*I miss....going to school.
*I fear....losing someone I love.
*I feel....ready for my kids to go to bed.
*I hear....Kipper the Dog playing on the DVD player.
*I smell....nothing; my poor nose is all stuffed up.
*I crave....a yummy fruit salad with strawberries, grapes, and peaches.
*I cry....too much!! Especially when I get angry.
*I search...for matching socks in my drawer.
*I wonder....how my kids will turn out.
*I regret....not choosing a math based major in college.
*I wish....Than and I could go away for our anniversary.
*I love....the sound of a baby laughing--especially my baby Aaron.
*I care....about my family.
*I always....wear the same pair of earrings.
*I worry....about EVERYTHING.
*I am not....as outgoing as I want to be.
*I remember....when gas cost $1.00/gallon.
*I believe....in miracles.
*I sing...off key; I think I'm horrible.
*I don't always....act rationally.
*I argue....with my sister about politics.
*I write....the the notes and agenda for our RS presidency meeting.
*I lose....when I get angry and yell at Sara.
*I listen....to the radio in the car and my 4 year old knows the words to songs she shouldn't know.
*I don't understand...why people do such mean nasty things.
*I can usually be found....with my kids.
*I need....to have more patience.
*I forget....too much of the stuff I learned in school.
*I am happy....that Sara loves her brother and is so kind to him.

And now I tag no one!!

He's gone mental on account of the Skittles

Yes, I am addicted to changing my background. I admit it. I just can't stop. We'll see how long this one lasts.



Yesterday we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's to watch the BYU game. Which was awsome, by the way. So some people ate some Skittles and then left their half-eaten bags laying around. I'm not naming any names. And it's not really their fault that no one was watching my boy when he found one of these aforementioned bags. All of a sudden we realized that Aaron had a mouthful of something. As I approached him, I noticed an obsene amount of stickiness and discovered that he was covered in sugary-slobber. We took him to the closest bathroom and got him all cleaned up, but not before he flashed a big cheesy grin for the camera.

A few minutes later I put him back down on the floor to play around. He started crawling really fast to nowhere then changing direction on a dime. We were laughing so hard. The following video is evidence of Aaron's sugar high, and subsequent crash.

Good-Bye for 4 Months

Oh, my hubby. How I love you so much. I will miss you dearly as you are away from us for so long. I will welcome you back with open arms when you return in January. Good-Bye!!

College football season officially began on Saturday, thus changing our lives completely for the next 4 months. No, Than is not leaving us to travel the country with the BYU Football team. He will be at home, in body, but in mind and spirit he will be consumed with the ol' Cougars. The funny thing is that I don't mind. Too much. It's mushy, but I love him so much so if watching game after game after game makes him happy, I'm happy.

The home I grew up in was void of sports. I was the geeky girl in PE who was deathly afraid of the ball. And I still am. I wouldn't get near a volleyball game even to save my life. But I have a sweet, patient man who explains all the rules to me over and over again so now I know some stuff. I know what a safety is, and a quarterback sneak, and a blitz. I know the penalties for holding and pass interference. I know that BYU is ranked number 15 on the AP College Football Poll. So I actually enjoy sitting down and watching the game with him. One game, mind you, not 2 or 3 or more in a day. It's fun to me that he can come home and talk to me about some player or how excited he is for next Saturday and we actually have a conversation. I have even found myself listing to Sports Talk Radio in the car on occasion. Oh, what have I become?!!!

But then there is Fantasy Football . . . that's a different story.

A Big Day for 2 Kids

Today was Sara's first day back at preschool. Last year when she had her first day I felt like it was HUGE and that my little girl was getting so big. This year it just feels like another thing we do. Kind of weird. But I'm happy to get back to a routine and it's great for Sara to spend sometime out of the house and without me. She loved her teacher last year, so I hope she feels the same way about her new one.

I took the obligatory first day of school photos and this one was my favorite. She's at the stage where if the camera comes out she has to make some crazy (most often unflattering) face. When I snapped this one she was trying to look behind me as her neighbor-friend was talking to her.

check out her new 'do

And now for Aaron: He just turned 14 months old the other day, but he still seems like such a little baby to me. I think that he looks small for his age, even though he's sometimes bigger than other kids that are a few months older than him. He still has all that chubby babyness and that's probably because he's not walking. I used to be stressed that he seems to hit those baby "milestones" later than most kids, but now I take it in stride. Well, I think I take it in stride, but Than would probably disagree. Anyway, Aaron was born a whole month early, so he can take as long as he wants to turn into a toddler. And now back to today. This afternoon while Aaron was supposed to be napping I heard some super-happy noises coming from his room. When I opened the door I found that he had pulled himself up to standing for the first time. And he was so proud of himself. I had to run and get the camera and he immediately began screaming, but lucky for me, he didn't plop down and had a huge smile on his face when I returned. Man, I love that kid so much!

He just melts my heart.

Doughnuts and A Book

So most of you probably know what this is. I read the first 3 and thought they were alright--pretty fun to read, but I had serious problems with Bella. I wanted to read Breaking Dawn, and knew I'd buy it sometime this week.

On Saturday morning, Than got up with the kids (as usual) and let me sleep in for awhile. A little later he came in and told me he was going to take the kids to the store and get some doughnuts for breakfast and for me to sleep more. After what seemed like hours, they returned and found me still in bed. Sara hopped in and yelled, "Suprise!!!!" And then she handed me the book. Turns out that was Than's whole plan--to get out early and buy me the book. What a sweetheart!

I'm 100 pages in and so far, so good.

What's goin' on?

Really, not so much. Or so it seems. This summer is passing in a flash. I feel so busy, but I don't know what I've been doing. And every moment that I get to myself, I just want to lay on the couch, watch TV and eat bon-bons.

I get on the computer almost every day, but I never post anything because I'm too lazy to download my pictures from my camera. But not today. . .



The last 2 weeks Sara's been taking swimming lessons over at the AF pool. Day #1 was great. She did everything her teacher asked and was so happy and excited to be in the water.

Day #2--Still great, although her teacher asked her to put her head under water and she wasn't too keen on that.

Day #3--Wouldn't get in the water. I had to threaten that we wouldn't go swimming for the rest of the summer if she didn't get in the pool. And then, after she was in the water, she refused flat out, with tears, to to anything that involved getting her face wet.

Day #4--Yikes!!! I had bought her some gum before we went to the pool as a little bribe, because I knew I was in for a hard time with her on this day. So she was all excited to get a piece of cotton candy bubble gum if she had no crying, got in the water, and did everything her teacher asked. No biggie, right? We went over the requirements several times and she was willing to do it all. Until we got right next to the pool and it was time for her to hop in. Oh, the tears, and the screams, and the horribleness of my sweet child! I was upset, no, UPSET!! I told her if she didn't get in the water, we would leave. I asked if she wanted to get in. She shook her head no, so we headed out. Me, pushing an angry Aaron in his stroller, and her chasing behind, screaming as loud as she could. We finally got to the parking lot and I asked her again about getting in the water. She said, "I want to learn how to swim!!" Then we walked all the way back through the rec center, through the ladies locker room and up to the side of the pool, and again the tears and the screams. I was done. I marched us out of there as fast as I could. I felt like every mom (and dad) who was in the place was staring at me. When we got back to the car, I had some very angry words and I was not at all sympathetic to her plight. Oh yeah, when she asked what I was going to do with the gum, I took it out of my bag and gave it to some other kids. I was determined that we would NOT be coming back and trying again.

Thanks to my wise sister, I calmed down a bit and decided to try back the next day. Than, Sara, and I even practiced bobbing our heads under the water in our hot tub that night. I had to get more treats for bribes, but days 5 through 8 of swimming lessons went so much better. On day #5 there were still a few tears at the beginning, but by the end of the class, she was beaming.

Today was the last day, day #8, and as she skipped to the pool she said, "I am so excited!!" She still doesn't want to bob her head under the water, but she did everything else that her teacher wanted. I am so happy that it's all over for this summer.

Today, as I think about the whole ordeal, I realize that I was all wrong. I should have been understanding of her fear and used less angry words and more sympathy. At the end, she learned how to face her fear, but it was also a learning experience for me. This parenting stuff is hard work. I think I've got such a sweet little girl, but we have these days where we fight like two 4-year-olds. But I can say the bad days are really few and far between. I'm glad that each day is a new opportunity for us to make some good memories.

On Top Of The Frosting

This little girl here loves to sing and make up songs. Some of her favorites are entitled "We Can Nevens on Cop of the Heavens" and "You Just Don't Know It." Usually these songs have lyrics and a tune of their own, but sometimes she just changes the words to some old stand-by's. Maybe she gets this because we used to do the same thing with a little song called "Scripture Power," that we switched to "Diaper Changes." You know, "Diaper changes keep us safe from poo . . ."

So, tonight, when Than put Sara to bed, she made up this diddy and sang it to him (to the tune of "On Top of Old Smokey"):

On top of the frosting
all covered in oreos
I lost my poor yo-yo
that looked like an oreo.

It rolled like a bouncy-ball
and into my pet
and then it went outside
and I started to sweat.