WDW, Part 1: The Departure

In January, my Dad announced that for Christmas, he was taking all of us to Disney World. Much screaming, squealing, and jumping for joy ensued, and that was just Craig's reaction. For my part, not only was I totally excited, but it would also be my first time going, so that made it an even bigger deal for me. (And it made it a bit more bearable to listen to my in-laws planning their trip for that March!)

All year long, Craig busied himself reading both the Disney Official Tour Guide AND the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. He made reservations exactly 90 days in advance. He begged and pleaded to get extra time off work, sacrificing personal days rather than sick leave (that's the weird thing about being a school teacher-- lots of vacation time, but only when the school district gives it to you; it's hard to get any other days off). Tracy arranged plane tickets for everyone. We were all set to fly out Saturday morning, six days before Christmas.

Thursday night, Craig and I were literally jumping up and down in the kitchen in excitement and anticipation.

Friday morning, Craig woke me up because he was grinning from ear to ear and announced, "Tomorrow we'll be in Disney World!!!"

Twenty minutes later, Craig had called me from work in a panic. There was a snowstorm predicted to hit DC in a big way, starting Friday night and lasting all day Saturday and Sunday. NOW what would we do? We called airlines and asked about changing our flight to Friday evening, but all flights were booked. We asked about flying stand-by, but the customer service rep told me not to bother because everyone else would be trying that, too (bless her for her honesty!). I was ready to resign myself to our fate, and perhaps begin praying for the snow to somehow miss us.

And then Craig's parents had an idea.

"We're driving to Houston in a few days anyway. We could just take you there ourselves..." they offered. We considered this idea. Drive? Really? 14 hours in a car to kick off our trip? But then we realized it was either that, or be stuck in Virginia missing out on WDW until probably Tuesday or Wednesday. And suddenly, "Let's drive" turned into, "Let's leave tonight!" This meant that I spent the afternoon frantically doing laundry, cleaning up the house, and, of course, packing for most of us (Craig finished up with his clothes, but I had at least thrown in his cell phone charger and his toothbrush-- the two things he always manages to forget-- for him!). But we did it! The only thing I forgot to pack was Bentley's Mickey Mouse ears.

We left our home at 4:00. We left Culpeper (where Craig's parents live) at 5:00. And that was right when the snow started falling. We headed straight into the thick of the storm, so things got slower for the first few hours. We didn't get out of Virginia until around midnight, but right when we crossed into North Carolina the snow turned to rain and suddenly we could really move. After that, it was mostly a matter of who was awake enough to drive. I took a shift from 3:00am to 5:00am, and didn't stop until I realized that I was losing my ability to interpret what I was looking at very clearly. (Scary, huh? Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic on the road then...)

We arrived at Shades of Green, the military hotel, around 11:30 the next morning. We were exhausted, but so happy to see the sun shining in beautiful Orlando! We were also pleasantly surprised at how nice the hotel was. I think I'd been picturing something along the lines of La Quinta-- a perfectly decent place, but nothing too fancy. But not Shades of Green! Granite counter tops in the bathroom, enough space in our room for two queen beds, a sofa, and two cribs without feeling crowded at all, and we were right on the golf course, so the view was lovely. Add to that a fabulous (and cheap) buffet restaurant, a couple pools and a hot tub, and you've got the nicest hotel I think I've ever stayed at! (Not to mention tax-free-- yay for the U.S. military!)

Shades of Green.

Not only was the hotel nice, we saw weather reports and heard from friends that Virginia was indeed hit hard by the snow-- 22 inches in a day! Friends of ours who had flights around the same time didn't manage to leave until the following Thursday, so we definitely made the right choice leaving Friday night!

And extra bonus: Craig's school was canceled all week, so Craig didn't use up any of his vacation time after all! (And, perhaps better yet-- we didn't end up sitting around at home because he didn't want to ask for the vacation time, only to have school canceled anyway!)

It wasn't what we had planned at all, but the beginning of our trip turned out to be the best thing we could have hoped for. Phew! So extra big thanks to the Smiths for being willing to drive us, and a huge thanks to my Dad for a fabulous vacation, which you will hear about next post.

Just to show you that I am not exaggerating about the snow, I'm stealing pictures from my friends (hopefully they won't mind...). This one is from Delilas.

And this is from Andrea. Yup-- we missed it all.

MLIA

Last night as Craig and I were getting ready for bed, he commented that it's really hard not to look bored while brushing your teeth. We proceeded to try our best to look ecstatic while brushing. I have a new-found respect for everyone involved in marketing toothpaste. I also have a new game to play with my husband while getting ready for bed. Life is good.











For those of you not familiar with mlia, check it out! I've been addicted for three days now...

7 Strollers Strolling!

There are plenty of women who seem to have a pair of shoes for every occasion. I am not one of these types. I have tennis shoes and flipflops, and a couple dressy pairs for church. And that's pretty much it.

But last night, Craig pointed out that we seem to have strollers for every occasion. All told, we have owned seven strollers. (Eight, if you count the double-stroller twice!) And most of them are still in our possession. This may not seem too ridiculous until I remind myself that we only have two children. What in the world could we possibly need seven strollers for?

Well... The first one we ever got was my Graco. It's one of those great ones where the infant carrier can lock in, it's got a great basket, it fits in the back of the van. I love this stroller. But when I got pregnant with Kendra, Craig's brother offered to sell us his double-stroller, which seemed like a good investment, so we bought that one, too. It's made by Jeep, which cracks me up, and has served us well when we take both kids into the city. But then I wanted a small umbrella stroller just to have, something small and easy for going to the park. So I got one off FreeCycle, but it turned out to be pretty grimy, so I threw it away. Then I got a second one, which is quite nice and I have kept; it's cute with little zoo animals all over it. We also got a toy stroller for Kendra for Christmas last year. This one is getting pretty beat up these days, but it remains a favorite toy, so I can't bring myself to throw it away.

But with the trip that we have coming up, Craig decided that none of these strollers would do. They're either too big and bulky to put on a bus, or they're too short and will cause us back problems from bending over to push them around. So we bought two more. One of them is basically the Queen of All Umbrella Strollers: it folds up like a dream into a tiny little thing, but it's tall and has nice handles AND a basket underneath. Bliss. (Can I use my blog to call dibs on this stroller?)

The other one we just bought is basically the ugly, lesser sister of the Queen Stroller. It's nice-- or at least, it folds up really small. But there's no basket. And it isn't tall. No luxurious handles here. Craig, naturally, has plans to modify this stroller. He's going to cut the handles off our zoo-themed umbrella stroller, and attach them to Ugly Sister Stroller, thus making it tall enough to not give anyone back problems. Fortunately, Ugly Sister Stroller won't be made worse at all by looking a bit uglier.

So where most women go crazy over shoes, apparently I go crazy over strollers. But just when I'm about to decide that this is incredibly lame, I think-- but when I'm pushing a stroller, which are you more likely to notice? My shoes? Or the stroller? Since the stroller completely blocks any view of me, my legs, and especially my shoes, I'm going to have to bet on the stroller. So it's a good investment.

Now I just need one that will match my leather jacket better...

Glee

I am rapidly becoming obsessed:



Okay, okay, you're right. I'm already there.

The Emotions of Motherhood

I'm trying to decide which makes me happier: the fact that Bentley just announced that he's good at stopping bad guys because he's "really tough," or the fact that this conversation occurred within the same hour that he happily spent lunchtime playing footsies with me.

I'm also not sure which gives me greater pleasure: writing this story on my blog for all of you to laugh at, or promising myself that some day I will tell it to his fiance...

And all of this happiness and pleasure almost overrides all the guilt I feel over letting Bentley eat goldfish crackers and cheerios for lunch.

Almost.

Picture Time

Have I been THAT remiss in posting pictures? Because I realized that what's on my camera is pretty out of date now... Especially since it's been snowing all morning. So we're going to stroll down memory lane for a bit and eventually and bring you up to the present. This is what things looked like just a few weeks ago:

Bentley enjoys playing in the leaves

Daddy was wearing ear plugs so Bentley decided he needed goggles. So safe!

Craig's newest toy tool. He's very proud of his leaf blower.

Kendra manages to be even messier than Bentley when she eats.
What-- isn't this how you eat a peanut butter sandwich?

Bentley builds forts out of my couch

Couldn't resist this shot...

Aren't we all just trying to fill our Daddy's shoes?

Eating cookie dough with the cousins and Grandpa
(while Grandma & Daddy makes Christmas cookies; and Mommy watches and takes pictures)

Happy boy.

Watching TV with cousin Maya

Looking very festive; I'm especially excited for the beautiful nativity set I got off FreeCycle.
And if you could see the snow outside, you'd want nothing more than to sit down with a mug of hot chocolate and sing "White Christmas" with us! Drop by any time!

So that's my picture update for now. I'm sure I'll have more soon!

Poetry Post

I can't say I'm a huge poetry reader. It's probably because I'm too intellectually lazy to bother really teasing out the meanings, usually. But there are poems that I read in college that I still love. And this is one of them. It's by e.e. cummings (and yes, he insisted on not capitalizing his name-- that's not a mistake) and it's usually just called by the first line, "Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town." I think it's fairly open to interpretation, but I love to read it out loud and let it roll off my tongue. And the story that's hidden in there is really quite sweet, I think. For whatever reason I kept thinking of it last night, so I had to look it up and read it again. And now I have to share it with you-- enjoy!

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn't he danced his did

Women and men (both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn't they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then) they
said their nevers they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men (both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

And a couple quick Bentley-isms, too

Bentley just said, "Wadawewons." I'm not quite sure how it was that I figured out that he meant "watermelons," but I'm sort of proud of myself for understanding. I'm awarding myself extra credit mommy points.

He will also randomly announce, "I'm a boy." He says it in a way that manages to be matter-of-fact and also enormously proud of himself, all at the same time. One of these days I'll capture it on video for ya so you can see what I mean.

Speaking of which, we just got a new computer (huzzah!). So hopefully I can post video on my blog now! Consider yourself warned.

And one last Bentley-ism: Craig's whole family was here for Thanksgiving. During their stay, it suddenly occurred to me that Bentley was mixing up their names. He was switching Uncle Jason and cousin Kamryn's names (a fairly hefty mistake, since Kamryn is a 9-year-old girl). I was perplexed by it all, until I realized that my poor kid ALSO has an Uncle Cameron (on my side), so he was assuming (since he was hearing the name) that it must apply to this new uncle, also. Which left the name Jason for his little girl-cousin. That's either the smartest thing ever or the stupidest, I'm not sure which yet. But I did think it was pretty funny, even while I felt bad for all the confusion!

Things I think about when I can't sleep

Does anyone else worry that no one is still alive who knows how to call a square dance? Who will keep the fine art of square dancing going strong in this country?

Kendra-isms

For those of you who haven't been around her much recently, Kendra talks a lot now. Mostly she's really good at repeating whatever Bentley or I say-- especially my directions to her as I dress her-- Stand up! Now this arm! etc.-- but she's got a few phrases that have morphed into sayings truly unique to her which I enjoy hearing.

"Behold." It sort of sounds like she's practicing to be a King James Bible angel, but what she's actually asking is to be picked up (and held). Behold.

"Ticky." This is a double-edged sword. What she's saying is, "tricky" but what she means is, "I need help." This came about because whenever she had a hard time doing something I would try to console her by admitting that whatever she was doing was very tricky to do. Now it's just a plea for help.

"Bucky Dames & Kena Wee." This is what she calls her brother and herself. She's really into middle names all of a sudden. I don't really know why. (Just for the record, her brother's name is Bentley, not Bucky. And her middle name is Lee, not Wee. Although I guess Wee could have been kind of cool. Or perhaps Wii?)

"Oookay..." I really wish I could convey the tone of her voice when she says this, because that's what makes it funny. Let's just say that she sounds very resigned to her fate. But she says it this way all the time, even when she's getting her way. And it always makes me laugh.

"'Pie." This means "up high," and is loudly proclaimed whenever the road we are on is an overpass. Somehow the 'uh' has gotten left out...

"Miss Chu!" This is what I got in response to me telling her I had missed her.

"Ah wuzz you, mommy." That one's not too hard to figure out. And yes, it does melt my heart, even when she says it at two in the morning as I'm rocking her to sleep because she has a bad cold and is miserable.

"Uppy-down" (or sometimes "Upsy-down") Upside-down. She loves to have me or Daddy hold her this way, but once we start she never wants us to stop, so you should only begin this game if you're feeling particularly energetic.


There's tons I'm not remembering right this minute, but you get the idea.

Tribute

Craig's grandmother, Mary Dalton-- Grandmere to us-- passed away on Tuesday. She was 91, so while we are sad and miss her, we are mostly glad that we got to have her in our lives for so long. I certainly can't claim to have known Grandmere very intimately; I think I can count on one hand the times when we were able to visit her. But she was a lovely lady. Despite the health problems she faced later in her life, namely dysphonia and vision loss, she still managed to spend time with and be involved with her family.

I wanted to share some of the photos we have of her here as a way of expressing my condolences to her daughters, my fabulous mother-in-law Donna, and her wonderful sister Lynda.

At my wedding, the first time that I met Grandmere

Mary with her grandsons and great-grandchildren, in South Carolina for Christmas 2006

With her two daughters and sons-in-law, Tom & Donna and Lynda & Greg

The whole family

Extended family (I could try to guess at names, but I think I'd get too many of them mixed up)

Lynda and Mary

Watching the great-grandchildren open presents Christmas morning, 2006

Holding Bentley at 3 months

Still buddies now that Bentley is two

And I have to include this one since Kendra is finally on the scene!

May you rest in peace, Grandmere. We love you and miss you.

Cold

I always assume that that first cold day means the next three or four months will be exactly that temperature or colder, and I hunker down and begin wearing strange combinations of socks, slippers, and a fuzzy bathrobe over my pajamas, just hoping to survive until spring. Plenty of people, especially Craig, don't understand this attitude at all. Craig will point out all the fun things about winter-- snow days, hot cocoa, building a fire-- and try to cheer me up. And while I do enjoy those things, it never seems worth all the cold to me.

I think Craig is starting to understand me better, though. Several times recently, as I cuddled up to him in a desperate attempt to steal some body heat, he's pointed out that the tip of my nose is cold. This seems to surprise him.

"How can your nose be cold?!?!" he asks.

And I respond with, "ALL of me is cold! This is why I hate winter so much!"

Seriously. I'm not sure if I just have poor circulation or if I somehow missed out on the warm-blooded aspect of being human or what. But it is a fact: I get cold all over way too easily. And for those of you who aren't afflicted with this problem, let me just assure you that if you spent three months with most of your body cold, you'd hate it, too. I'm a summer person, through and through.

But, having said all that, I have to admit that it's always a happy and welcome surprise when the weather warms up for a few days, even though winter has hardly even started yet. We had one of those lovely days this last Sunday. The morning started out really foggy, which is unusual around here, but by the time we left church, it was in the mid-seventies outside, and we drove home with the windows rolled down.

It was heaven.

Quote for a Monday

Let me just say that I am tired. Bentley refused to take a nap yesterday, which means I didn't get to take a nap either. And then for reasons that are completely unfathomable to me, I kept waking up every hour last night. EVERY FREAKING HOUR. One of those reasons was when Bentley came into the room at 3:30 because he lost his binky. And that was pretty annoying. But the rest of those wake-ups I can only blame on my body forgetting how to delve into REM sleep or something... And naturally, the kids woke up super early this morning, too.

So when I'm this tired, there isn't a whole lot I can do except admit to myself that I'm a complete grump and hope that maybe honesty will allow the situation to be humorous and help me move on a bit from the grumpiness.

Anyway, here's a quote that makes me laugh. It's from the TV show The Simpsons, which is perhaps one of the most brilliant cartoons ever to be animated:

"I don't have to be careful, I've got a gun!"

-Homer Simpson

Gotta love it.

Here's to Monday!



(By the way, don't worry-- I don't actually have a gun. Good thing, too!)

Social Evolution

I read a book review in the National Review a few weeks ago that got me thinking. The book was about the many men in our society who refuse to grow up and take responsibility for their lives (and no, I can't remember what the title of this book was), but that's not actually what I want to write about here. The review briefly mentioned how men and women's roles within the family changed with the industrial revolution. Not to draw too much attention to my own ignorance here, but this was something I'd never thought about before. Usually we hear so much about how women's roles changed with WWII and with the feminist revolution and the impact that this has had on the family. But we rarely hear about men's changing roles, and we hear even less about how men have changed our families.

So let's look at this for a moment: before the industrial revolution, when the majority of families farmed to survive, they would have functioned completely differently. Men would have been with their families all day long, just like the women. Sure, they would go out into the fields to labor, but the sons would be out there laboring with their fathers as soon as they were old enough. And everyone would share most of their meals together-- not just dinner! So daughters would be with their mothers and sons with their fathers, all learning their trade side by side. So parenting was truly both parents' job. (Not that it isn't still, but in Mormon culture it certainly falls on the Mom's shoulders for most of the day. In the rest of the world, it mostly goes to the daycare workers, a fact which I can't even think about for too long because it makes me so worried for the coming generations, which is why I've never blogged about it.)

How different would our world be if both parents spent all day long with their children?

It's so weird, because I definitely have no desire to go back to that time period (I'm a big fan of our day and age, where even a major famine doesn't lead to starvation-- at least in America-- and I also happen to like things like indoor plumbing), but I think we also need to acknowledge that there are things humanity lost without even noticing, and perhaps we need to give these things a little more thought. And losing both parents' involvement in their children's lives, one after the other, is perhaps the most tragic loss we've experienced. I don't know how or when we can ever recover from this.

Standards

The other day, Bentley and I had the following discussion:

Bentley: Captain Hammer* is kind of a wimp.
Me: Yeah? How come Captain Hammer is a wimp?
Bentley: Because he starts crying over a little tiny bruise.
Me: Yeah, that's pretty wimpy of him. What about Dr. Horrible? Is he a wimp?
Bentley: No, Dr. Horrible's not a wimp.
Me: Yeah. He's pretty tough, huh. What about Daddy? Is he tough like Dr. Horrible?
Bentley: Yeah, Daddy's pretty tough. (Pause as Bentley thinks.) Except, Daddy's kind of a wimp with peanut butter...

Apparently in Bentley's mind Allergies = Wimpiness.

Who knew?



*Captain Hammer is Dr. Horrible's arch nemesis, for those of you still unfamiliar with Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog.

And a few more Halloween pictures, too...

We took these pictures right before we left to go trick-or-treating. The kids were kind of excited...

(For comparison's sake, I'm slipping in this picture of Bentley from 2007-- I like that my kids have the exact same "excited" face...)

Looking a bit more normal just for a split second...

I love Kendra with her tongue sticking out. Totally love it.

Posing for Church Magazines

Bentley recently discovered that there are pictures in the Book of Mormon! This made it infinitely more interesting to him than it had ever been before, and led to what might possibly be my favorite pictures EVER. Let me warn you in advance: these are ridiculous and cheesy, and that's why I think they're funny. And, of course, why I have to share them with you:

Doesn't this look posed for the Ensign or something? If only it were backlit, and possibly the bed looked neater, it would be PERFECT. Okay, okay, and no t-shirts, either. They ought to be in their Sunday best. But STILL!!!
(Just for the record, the bed was made, but the pillows got tossed around, so it looks messier than it actually was...)

Totally engrossed. So righteous. Eat your heart out, Seriously, So Blessed!

He liked the story of Samuel the Lamanite.

And how's this for looking like a completely whacked-out religious zealot?!?! We were dying laughing. Guess Bentley's ready to serve a mission and call the masses to repentance!

I expect photographers from the Church News to be knocking on our door any day now.

Health

I can't swallow pills. At all. When I was in the hospital after Bentley's c-section, the nurses used to watch in fascination and horror as I would chew up my narcotics (percocet-- good stuff!) every four hours. It was gross, but worth it.

But, as you can imagine, I usually try to avoid medication whenever possible, because it's just not worth the taste. Or sometimes I'll even request the liquid version of things, which usually gets me weird looks at the pharmacy (one time the pharmacist was about to give me an infant dropper until she noticed the birthdate on the medication and realized the antibiotics were for me, not for Kendra). And, for obvious reasons, I've never been big on taking vitamins or any of that "healthy" stuff, because they usually make me want to throw up, which doesn't make me feel very healthy. But recently I discovered these:

And they're wonderful. I heart gummy vitamins.

Sneaky Sister, Part II

Apparently it wasn't just Bentley's new toys that were worth investigating during his nap time. Kendra also liked his Halloween costume:

This picture is my favorite. I love that devious little grin.

This happened a while ago. You can tell because the hat is still in one piece! I guess Kendra's costume is all figured out for next year!

Falling Beauty

My newest favorite thing is to watch the leaves falling. It's so beautiful, the way they just sort of flutter to the ground, and when there's a decent breeze so lots of them all fall together it's pure magic. I watched a neighbor outside raking his leaves as more descended all around him. I couldn't decide if I should be impressed with his work ethic or if I should laugh at that exercise in futility, but either way I sat there mesmerized by it all. (We still haven't touched our leaves. Craig is still waiting for me to cave in and give him my blessing on buying a leaf blower...)

On my mission, one of the major Japanese holidays is the Cherry Blossom Festival. I was lucky enough to be in Hirosaki for it, which has the most famous cherry trees in all of Japan. Apparently they're six hundred years old or something, making them both the oldest and the biggest trees you can find. (Trust me, they put these ones in DC to shame!) All you really do for the festival is pack a picnic lunch and sit under the trees eating while the petals fall all around you and on you. And it's absolutely wonderful. It was also probably the only break we missionaries got, now that I'm thinking about it... Anyway, watching the leaves here makes me think that this is just a clunky, more colorful, autumn version of the cherry blossoms. And it's awfully fun, too, in it's own harvesty sort of way.

How I never noticed the leaves before was sort of a mystery to me, until I realized that I grew up where all the trees are evergreens (yay, Seattle), so not much happened with the leaves changing, then lived in Provo, which has no trees, and then the apartment we had here backed to mostly evergreen trees. No wonder I was so out of the loop! I guess I probably should have been paying more attention last fall, but it was a really busy time for us, between moving and working on Savior of the World. So I'm grateful both to have more time this year around, and to have finally noticed those leaves. They are awfully fun, aren't they?

Costumes

I'll be the first to admit that I am not terribly creative when it comes to Halloween costumes. And while I absolutely love what I ended up doing with Bentley and Kendra's costumes this year, there's a tiny, inside part of me that is cringing because I totally stole the idea from my friend Liza. (Fortunately for me, her blog is private, so I'm assuming that most of you haven't seen it. Why I'm even confessing this is sort of a mystery to me, actually. I guess I just felt like I needed to apologize to Liza somehow. Sorry, Liza!!!)

So, yeah, I'm unoriginal. But do I still get points for executing it well?

For some reason we couldn't get them to smile. Oh, well...

Is it just me, or do they both look like they're ready to bust out some seriously cool dance moves?

Another side note-- Bentley broke his fireman's hat WAY before Halloween. We were going to just buy him a new one on the day of the ward trunk-or-treat, but by then the dollar store already had their Christmas decorations up! Oh, well. He's still pretty cute, I think. Mostly I just like that Kendra, as a dalmatian, goes with the fireman theme (did you notice?). I thought about burning some of my clothes and being a woman who Bentley had rescued (my friend Sarah does awesome make-up, and I think burns are one of her specialties), but in the end I just got too lazy. I did like the smudges I put on Bentley's cheeks-- a nice touch, I thought.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Casualties

Yesterday I was vacuuming underneath high chairs, and since there were big, monster crumbs to be picked up I had taken the attachment off the shop vac, leaving me with a huge gaping hose to attack the mess. And I accidentally vacuumed up a bib.

So now I can't decide if I* should open up the vacuum and try to save that bib, or just count it as a loss.




*And by "I," what I really mean is "Craig."

Sharing

I frequently wake up in the night because I'm cold. I suspect that this is why:

Yes, Craig is buried beneath all those blankets. He claims that I put them on top of him and am making him get too hot. Hmmm...

Content

Does it get much better than eating crisp, sweet apples spread with peanut butter and slices of cheese for lunch on a beautiful fall day?



That's what I was doing a few days ago. Today it's pouring rain, and I have to admit, I'm enjoying this, too, probably because it's a really warm rain and it started out just misting before it turned into a full-blown shower. It always makes my little Seattle heart happy-- especially since I don't have anywhere to go right now! It's humid and stormy and we have the windows open enjoying the delicious wet air and looking forward to dressing the kids up for the ward Halloween party tonight.

Good times.

A Time for Silliness

One of the many points that I really liked in Dennis Prager's Happiness Is a Serious Problem was when he talked about making work fun. In his case, he said that he found the writing process very tedious, and so he would play around with different fonts and colored pens and whatnot to make it more enjoyable.* I'd heard of this before, but not since I had children. Reading it this time around, it really struck me that if anyone is in a position to have fun in their career, it's stay-at-home Moms. Especially when your kids are toddlers.

So I've been on a mission to find and enjoy the silliness in life, rather than focusing on the drudgery of diapers, runny noses, etc. And it turns out that Prager is right! Breakfast time is way more fun when it involves songs and little jigs and my children giving me strange looks. We have a lot more tickling going on now, too, and building forts, and interruptions for story time. And hugs, whether my children like it or not.

Lucky for me, I'm pretty good at being silly.




*Too bad for him he doesn't just get to keep a blog where no one edits your work or even suggests how to make it better-- writing isn't tedious at all when there are no standards to hold yourself to! Of course, that's probably also why I don't get paid to do it... Hmmm...

Romance

Two weeks ago on Friday we went to the dump.

Last week, we went to IKEA on Friday night.

I guess Craig didn't know how to top those hot dates, so today, he looked out the window and suggested, "You want to go outside and watch my grass grow?"

Ah, love!



I should explain a bit, though: first of all, Craig is NOT growing marijuana. He really is growing normal, old boring grass. He actually has spent a lot of time fertilizing, leveling, liming, and now re-planting our front yard and our neighbors even commented that this is the most grass this yard has ever had.

BUT WATCHING IT GROW?!?! REALLY?!?!

So Close, and yet...

*Sorry for all these short little posts all on one day, but I guess I have a lot on my mind. (But not much about any one topic, huh?)

A couple weeks ago, Craig and I finally made that trip out to the dump and got rid of the blue toilet, blue sink, and shower floor pan that had been decorating our backyard. No more looking like trailer trash!

And then.

Some big fat frog decided to die right behind where we park our car. And you guessed it-- I ran over its dead body and now we have flattened, oozing, completely disgusting dead frog all over the road right behind our driveway. So much for getting away from our white trash image. (Sigh.)

Quote for the Weekend

It's a bit sacrilegious, but I can't help but love this quote by Edgar Allen Poe:

"My whole nature utterly revolts at the idea that there is any Being in the Universe superior to myself!"

Okay, so it's really sacrilegious. But fun, huh?

The Science Behind My Rant

Elizabeth very kindly sent me a link to show what I was talking about earlier about using all of our brains. (And what a relief-- it's always nice to find out I'm right when I go off on these rants!) Check it out!

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

Thanks so much, Elizabeth!

Vocabulary

The other day after pushing Bentley on the swings for fifteen minutes, I began to get silly. Rather than pushing him normally, I started pushing his feet or giving him quick pats on his fanny. He finally got annoyed with me and began yelling, "No! You has to push me on my back tummy!"

"Back tummy," huh? I guess that's as good a phrase as any to describe the small of your back. And since growing up as a kid, we were absolutely forbidden to use the word "butt," (actually, I think my Mom still considers that word verboten), this seemed like a good substitute. At least, Craig and I got a kick out of it.

Imagine

I had to drive to Falls Church and back today, and during that time, I heard the song "Imagine" by John Lennon not once but twice. Can I just say that I absolutely loathe that song? It's really catchy and I like the piano that goes with it, but the lyrics drive me bonkers. A few of them include:


Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too


When I try to imagine these things, I pretty much end up picturing us all going back to being cave men. Living life for today? So John is suggesting here that we all quit our jobs and go to the beach? But then who would be growing the food? Who would be building houses? It may sound like a good idea if you're wealthy beyond normal people's wildest dreams and you have no concept of how the world (and the economy) works, but realistically, that's about the worst idea ever.

No religion? What is the meaning of life if you take religion out of it? No countries and no possessions? What's wrong with having different countries? I like that different places have different rules, so hopefully if you don't like the rules of the land where you live, you might be able to go some place better (although usually it doesn't work that way, I realize). Which country's rules are we going to follow if we do away with all boundaries? And no possessions? Who honestly wants to give up all their possessions? I'm not saying that material things are going to bring you happiness, but honestly-- everyone has at least a few things that they cherish and I think that's just fine, whether it's your teddy, your journal, or your car. And now that I'm thinking about it, I don't recall John Lennon ever giving away all his worldly possessions... Did he do that and I just missed it? Maybe Yoko Ono gave away all of Lennon's things after his death as a way of "keeping his dream alive"?

But the line that really kills me is, "Nothing to kill or die for." If there's nothing worth dying for, then there's nothing worth living for, either. I can think of lots of things I would kill or die for-- my family, for starters (and I'm including everyone there: husband, children, parents, sisters, in-laws; all of you out there); my beliefs; freedom for myself and for others. (I'm not actually out fighting for these freedoms but I'm grateful that we have a military that is.) If you took all these things away from me, I wouldn't want to go on living any more. There would be no point.

Anyway. I hope I didn't just ruin this song for you by overthinking it, but it doesn't take a whole lot of thought to really destroy it.

And John? You may not be the only one, but I hope there aren't too many other dreamers like you. I can't imagine a much worse world than what you've cooked up for us.

Rivalry

It's just been recently that my children have begun to flex their muscles in the art of sibling rivalry, a skill which I am sure will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Bentley, with his advanced language and motor skills, takes great joy in pointing out things that he can do that Kendra cannot because, "she's just a little baby still." Kendra actually has a pretty good little vocabulary for her age, but even she can't manage to counter this long argument yet. Give her time.

Both children, however, have discovered the phrase, "ME FIRST!" and they yell this whenever I need to do anything for both of them at the same time. This includes story time before naps, giving them their lunches, cleaning them up after said lunches have been consumed, etc.

But the thing they really get competitive over is praying. They are both frantic to get to bless the food. So we've been saying two prayers before each meal. I'd love to say that we're just so darn righteous and spiritual and whatnot, but in all honesty I'm usually pretty hungry by the time I've cooked dinner, and I hate eating food that has cooled down, so I'm all for digging in pretty quickly. Doesn't two prayers before each meal seems just a tad excessive? And now, sometimes those two prayers aren't even enough, and both children will continuing "praying" while we're eating. By this time my mouth is full and I'm done helping out, so they get to say their own prayers without any help from Mommy (or Daddy, who feels the same way). This usually consists of, "Father, Jesus, Amen." Which they repeat, yelling, with the most smug smiles on their faces.

I guess it's a start, but I doubt God is too impressed by it all.

A Myth Debunked

How many of you out there have been told that humans only use 10% (or possibly less) of their brains?

It's not true.

It seems like every now and then I hear that lie and it drives me crazy.

Here are the actual facts in my incredibly non-scientific, no citations whatsoever way, which I think I got from my friend Elizabeth, who is a PhD and studies brains. (If I'm wrong, please correct me, Elizabeth!!!) Some guy forever ago studied rats and they only used a small part of their brains. Then he studied humans and only saw them using a small portion of their brains, too, so he concluded that this was a universal trait. Recently, however, scientists have looked more closely, and it turns out that at any given time we're only using a portion of our brains, but throughout the course of a day, most people use their entire brain. Which makes sense, really-- I don't usually use both hands and feet at the same time. I, personally, cannot talk and listen both at the same time. We're using different parts of our brains to do all the things we do, but the entire organ is being put to good use.

Anyway, I'm tired of people spouting that lie as if the entire human population needs to stop being so lazy and start using this amazing organ that we possess. We ARE, for crying out loud.

Okay, I'm stepping off my soapbox now. Thank you, thank you.

Manic Monday, in a good way

Do you ever have one of those days where the sun is shining just enough to warm things up without making it hot, and the leaves are beginning to turn golden and red and it's absolutely beautiful with a deep blue sky background, and you just had a wonderful Sunday with your family where you didn't need to go anywhere or get dressed for anything but could just enjoy being together (while listening to General Conference, of course), and you even manage to come in under budget with your grocery shopping, and those jeans that haven't fit in years are suddenly comfortable (despite the cookie bars your husband baked during Conference) and life just seems perfect?

Yes, I am having that day. And I'm trying my best to just enjoy it and not worry about what dreadful thing might happen next to bring me down.

And I truly hope you are having an equally wonderful Monday as well.

Sneaky Sister

Guess who has a lot of fun with Bentley's new toys while he's busy napping?

The Obligatory Birthday Post

Yes, Bentley turned 3 last week. Here is a whole mess of pictures from his birthday:

Bentley tests out his new compound miter saw (guess who picked that one out?)
while Kendra looks on enviously

(I personally think that Bentley was as excited about the goggles-- which make him look like Dr. Horrible-- as he was about the saw. But don't tell his very proud Daddy that!)

Craig sets up Bentley's new tent

Fun crawling through the new tunnels

Bentley rejoices because it is finally time to eat cake. I think we ought to have Ode to Joy playing or something...

I can't remember being this excited about anything, let alone cake!

Ready to blow out the candles

My happy three-year-old.

Bentley's newest way to watch TV-- from his tent!

There are more pictures that we took at Grandma and Grandpa's house the next day, but hopefully these will do for now!

Happy Birthday, Bentley! You're my sweet little boy.