Farewell

As our beloved prophet has moved on and joined his dear, sweet wife, we would like to express our sadness about this event. As he was the prophet of most of our formative years (more than half my life!), a part of him will always be with us.

Favorites

So I'm very clearly NOT Oprah but I'd like to showcase some of MY favorite things. Beware - a lot of this involves food...

• Books. I LOVE to read (hence, the English major). I finally finished with Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth (Oprah's current book club pick). I really enjoyed reading it, when I got the occasional 15 minutes periods of time to sit down and read. It has very interesting storylines, woven together. But be warned...it's 1000 super-thin (like, scripture thin) pages. However, I haven't had one minute of boredom. I say I finally finished, but it took me a week, reading while I stood over the stove, sat outside with the kids, etc. A week for a book is a long time for me. I feel that I should say there are several disturbing scenes in this book; it wouldn't just be a PG-13 movie (if it were a movie), in case anyone is looking to read it.




• My Cricut. Got it for Christmas, and can't get enough. I think I've become quite a paper-waster since I got it but it still manages to suck me in for an hour at a time. I guess it's my 3rd child. I spend lots of time on ebay looking for deals on more cartridges (no luck yet).
  
  
• Scrapbooking. Love doing it by hand, love doing it digitally. I just took advantage of Costco's $30 off Photoshop promo going on this week; I've been waiting a month for that! I love most of all doing Emma's pages - there is nothing like scrapbooking cute pink pages for a little princess. And of course my Cricut makes this much more fun. I like the idea of creating something...it's more than just picture taking. It also makes up for my less-than-perfect photography.



• Chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Don't grimace until you try them! Once you do you'll be hooked (if you can get over the weird breath they produce - ask Tyler what he thinks).

• My treadmill. It's sort of a love/hate relationship. It beckons to me from the laundry room and I groan and complain about it until I'm done running, and then I love it. It makes me keep going when I'm tired and even fans me when I'm hot - how kind.




• My Hoover WindTunnel vacuum - the poor man's version of a Dyson. So fun to watch it spin the gunk...and it picks up twice as much as my last vacuum! Thanks to my vacuum-saavy brother for suggesting it!





• Key lime cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I have to expand my tastebuds past chocolate sometimes! It reminds me of Waikiki. Mmmm, so good.



• My bed. I love the bed set as well as the mattress. There is nothing like those few minutes (or usually seconds) of snuggling up in my cozy bed before I fall asleep. I grin each night as I get into bed - it's such a nice way to fall asleep.
  

Now for some of Spencer's favorite things...

• HIS chocolate chip cookies. They are good. I hate it...he took a recipe of mine and has perfected it. They're probably the best we've ever tasted (and we've tasted lots of different ones!). He gloats at the level of famous-ness he has achieved among our friends. And no, he doesn't share the recipe.



• Emily. She is his non-backseat driver. She's with him for a good part of the day in his car. She kindly instructs him which way to go and if he chooses another path she calmly recalculates and gives him new instructions. She never gets upset, tells him to watch out, or tells him to slow down (though she does keep careful track of his speeds). Yes, she's everything he could want in a GPS. And her British accent definitely keeps him cheery. Hmm, should I be jealous?



• His car. I can say right now it's the closest he's gonna get to a sports car, but it sure feels like one. It's a Nissan Altima and has some serious kick to it! I love driving it when I get the rare chance. Best of all, it's tank is huge and it can go over 400 miles before needing a re-fuel. According to Spencer, the best part is it's engine and speed. I hear "I love my car!" ALL the time.



• Costco. Man's paradise. The ONLY place he will shop. Any excuse to go there. Toys, food, and clothes - all in once place. What could be better? I often get the phone call from the road: "Do you need anything at Costco?"
  

How's that for some free advertising?

Pucker Up!

I don't know if I should be concerned but I've had two separate joy school moms (out of four) tell me that Emma has a kissing problem. One of them even said, "You know how Emma likes to kiss?..." What?? She kisses me sometimes... I wouldn't have called her someone who "likes to kiss." Apparently, while in joy school, she smooches everyone, boys and girls alike. We have had talks about this before (including today, with quiz questions: Who is it ok to kiss?), but I really don't know what to do about this sweet-lipped girl who just wants to lay a big one on anyone she meets!

I Am A Pushover

I don't know when it happened, or what exactly has happened...but I have changed. When Emma was little I could stick to my guns. If she wanted a snack right before dinner - no matter how healthy - there was no way. I could not be persuaded. If her clothing choice was non-matching, it was out of the question...and she knew it. Tyler came along and my stress tripled, but I still didn't let Emma always get her way. Now I have a BIGTIME picky-eating toddler, and he basically always gets what he wants! I'm still harder on Emma (why??) probably partly because she's so mature and doesn't throw her body all over the place while crying and yelling if I say "no." Tyler is the opposite of her, and I think I'm tired of fighting with him. You want cereal (dry) in a bowl, 6 times a day? Why not! More crackers? Sure. Unlimited amounts of apple juice? Why worry about teeth anyway! You want to CONSTANTLY get in our bed at night? No problem! But...it's now officially driving me crazy!! He's worn me down and I don't know if I can get back to that stick-to-my-guns person I used to be! If I want to have any chance of surviving with these two as teenagers, I can't be a pushover on any level. This is something I will have to think on; and of course I'm always open to parenting advice - this is one area I for sure need it.

When She Grows Up...

Emma wants to be a dentist. I giggled more this morning than I have in a while because my little girl gets the biggest kick out of a visit to the dentist. In fact, I hope she keeps up this slight obsession and can be MY dentist someday because everyone knows I need it.

I made a quick appointment for the two of us because I knew she needed a visit on her "record" before her 4-year checkup. We get to the waiting room and she can't sit down--she's that excited. We get called back and I get xrays. She watches in fascination, peeking around the corner when it's "safe." Then she gets a ride in the xray chair - of course she's having fun (no xrays for her for another year).

Next, on to my cleaning. That part makes me want to retch - it's just gross and gaggy. The nice hygenist chatted it up with Emma. When the hygenist put on her mask and gloves Emma said, "I have some of those at home! Can I wear them like you?" So on both sides of me were two chatty, giggly females - with a span of 50 years between them - wearing masks and stinky rubber gloves. The lady asked Emma every question imaginable and Emma sounded twice her age in her responses, and told her every single thing in the office was "beautiful." Then, because there is always mellow, elevator music playing in dentist's offices, Michael Buble's Everything came on. "OH! I LOVE this song!" *More giggles from me, while I try not to lose all my saliva down my chin.* So, the nice lady turns it up nice and loud, just for Emma while she bops along and sings to the music, still wearing her whole dental getup. Where is my camera when I need it? Not at the dentist office, that's for sure.

Then it's time for the dentist to come in and check HER out. She tells him his stool is beautiful (hello? Adjective of the day?), and she, of course, is told she has perfect teeth. Then it's my turn with the dentist. As I sit down in the chair she says, "Don't worry mama, everything is going to be ok." More laughter. (By this time, other office assistants had come to meet this hilarious little girl they'd heard about; I could hear a few of them talking about her in the hall.) Once I was done, she told him one more thing was beautiful and she got some balloons and we were on our way. Now she wants to be a dentist. I'd love to have an entertaining dentist like her; going to the dentist wouldn't be so intimidating! Then again, for Emma, going to the dentist might as well be like going to Disneyland.

As for me, I had a cavity. Just one this time. I guess I'm running out of original teeth to have cavities in...

Happy Winter

There is a huge wind/rainstorm going on outside right now; I guess the damage in the area has been significant with trees down and bridges closed. As a church event tonight just got cancelled, I offered a silent "hmph" - it's not like it's snowing! :) It's all relative I guess. I'm reminded of Boston's winter STORM OF 2005. We had just moved there; it was mid-January. Our welcome gift was 32 inches of snow, with drifts as high as the top of our front door. Church was cancelled (thankfully, since we couldn't even get out) and I wondered what on earth I was doing there. Luckily it melted and we never had another storm quite like that in the subsequent two winters.

Back to the present...On New Year's day we went with our good friends to some really cool tidepools. Emma's favorite part was sticking her fingers into those sticky ocean plants that close up when touched (sea anemone? - I know, it's SHAMEFUL that I don't know this!). Both kiddies were soaked and smart 'ol me forgot a change of clothes. That made for an interesting drive home. It was a gorgeous day - not how most people picture a day in the dead of winter - and we all had a fun time. Of course Spencer had to call his parents, who are in a snowy cold place, to rub it in that we were on the beach. :)



1st picture - Finding some "pushy things." Wow, I'm finally (sorta) in a picture.
2nd picture - I love this boy. Who knew sand was so amazing? He's so focused on watching it fall from his hands.
3rd picture - Spencer on the phone, being led by navigator Emma.