So lets get the bad news out of the way: John was laid off on Monday (a week ago). We aren't very excited about that.
But the good news: I went in to the doctor today and I'm pregnant! We've been trying for 3-4 months now and just found out that we're going to have a baby.
Now some people would think that finding out I'm pregnate just after John got laid off is bad news, but we feel really good about it. And when we went to the temple the day after he got laid off (before I knew I was pregnant) I just had this amazing good feeling, so we really feel like evrything is going to be fine.
The better news: it looks like I'm going to have somemore sewing work soon and we're pretty sure that we can prepay the hospital for the baby (8-9 small ish payment before delivery) so weather or not we have insurance shouldn't be a problem.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Recapping July
So July has been busy!
We shingled the playhouse roof and have spent a lot of time working in our yard and Grandma Earl's. For all you non-relatives that read this, Grandma Earl turned 90 this year and she's still going. She lives in her house with her widowed brother Uncle Karl. They have some one who comes in and helps around the house and a little in the yard. Some one mowes the lawn, but most of the garden has been left to go totally wild for the last 5 years but it was starting to go wild from the far corners in about 5 years before that, and since she has about a 1/2 acre lot thats a lot of yard!
Well we've started to reclaim the yard from nature. It's totally like The Secret Garden there's still a lot of good stuff growing under the weeds and creeper vine, we just need to give it some TLC. And maybe you've heard those jokes about "Nature's a mother!" well some days thats how it feels working out there, and then John whips out the weed eater and 30 minutes later we go oh well maybe that's doable. I'll have to do another Grandma's yard post after I get the pictures off the camera.
Little John and I started a once a week mommy & me tumbling class, he loves it. And we're in the last week of our mommy & me swim class, which it sooooo much fun!
We keep canning: cherry pie filling, blueberry pie filling, raspberry jam, tomato juice, maraschino cherries (non-alcoholic), danish cherry sauce, and just canned raspberries. And we froze the ecsess purple carrots from the garden, because we don't have a pressure canner.
My mending and alterations bussiness is picking up a little, I just altered a wedding dress for a girl.
We shingled the playhouse roof and have spent a lot of time working in our yard and Grandma Earl's. For all you non-relatives that read this, Grandma Earl turned 90 this year and she's still going. She lives in her house with her widowed brother Uncle Karl. They have some one who comes in and helps around the house and a little in the yard. Some one mowes the lawn, but most of the garden has been left to go totally wild for the last 5 years but it was starting to go wild from the far corners in about 5 years before that, and since she has about a 1/2 acre lot thats a lot of yard!
Well we've started to reclaim the yard from nature. It's totally like The Secret Garden there's still a lot of good stuff growing under the weeds and creeper vine, we just need to give it some TLC. And maybe you've heard those jokes about "Nature's a mother!" well some days thats how it feels working out there, and then John whips out the weed eater and 30 minutes later we go oh well maybe that's doable. I'll have to do another Grandma's yard post after I get the pictures off the camera.
Little John and I started a once a week mommy & me tumbling class, he loves it. And we're in the last week of our mommy & me swim class, which it sooooo much fun!
We keep canning: cherry pie filling, blueberry pie filling, raspberry jam, tomato juice, maraschino cherries (non-alcoholic), danish cherry sauce, and just canned raspberries. And we froze the ecsess purple carrots from the garden, because we don't have a pressure canner.
My mending and alterations bussiness is picking up a little, I just altered a wedding dress for a girl.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Recapping May and June
So May was a good month because school got out.
Ben went to his first ever fancy dance on a date. He took Amanda Wendel from down the street, they look so good!
My grandma Earl (she is actually my Great-Grandma) had her ninetieth birthday so we celebrated with a great huge part with all the reletives from out of state that we don't get to see very often. Someone found out that you can get amazingly good deals on huge orders from Maddox so we got the food from there. YUM!!! Two different flavors of cake. After the lunch we had an open house so that all of her friends and neighbors could come and see her.
We made and frosted donuts, chocolate and vanilla frosting!
Little John decided the sand box is more fun with water.
We started buildingLittle John a playhouse in the backyard, we modified some plans off the internet. John's parents came over and helped a lot. The weather was hot not foggy, the fog in the pictures is Little John's fingerprints on the camera lens but no one noticed until too late.
We enjoyed a nice picnic up the canyon.
We made jam and our sticky helper is so cute!
We went to the zoo and Little John was mezmerized by the elephants, they are deffinately his favorite animal.
We ran the Race For the Cure 5k with my Aunt Juli and her daughter Kate. It was awesome! I hope to do it again next year. Maybe next year I'll jog part of it with the stroller instaed of just power walking with the stroller.
My brother Ben graduated from Box Elder High School and Seminary. At the high school graduation things were getting boring since the speakers just go on and on and on. Then all of a sudden, at the back of the students there was a great commotion with everyone looking all over and looking under their chairs. It turns out that someone had let loose a mouse. Ben appreciated the break from the monotony. After a while they caught it. Then there was some more commotion because they had let loose more than one mouse. It kept the audience very well entertained. It also kept the sutdents awake. Oh, and some guy wore a kilt, it was cool.
We spent a lot of time working on the playhouse.
We took Ben for a ritual "last meal" before shipping him out to boot camp.
We spent a weekend with my sister Heather in Loa, UT (near Capitol Reef Ntl Park), for her baby shower.
We made arricot, pinapple apricot, and apricot plum jam
Little John ride his trike a lot.
For Father's day I helped Little John collect stuff and we put it in plaster to make Daddy a paper weight (I gave it a few coats of sealer to protect it).
We are loving your year pass to the Jensen Historical Farm (where we went to Baby animal days) We saw lots of chickens and washed clothes.
Little John loves bubbles!
My Mom entered an online contest and won a Pizza Party! So we had a bunch of friends and family over. The kids loved the backyard.
We took Little John to the pool.He lasted about 10 minutes because once the wind picked up it got cold.
Nana (my mom) lets Little John get away with things sometimes. Like making the backyard a nudist camp. He decided sitting naked was a mistake, but had fun doing everything else.
Typed by Sarah Snow the cooliest ever!!!! ('Cuz I don't type, I chicken peck:D)
Stage managing part 3
This is the cute little church that they converted into a theater. And now I'm going to try a new thing the rest of the pictures are on my facebook page ('cuz they give me more storage room). If you can't get it to work tell me in the comments and I'll find another way to do it.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Stage managing part 2
So the show is over with now and it was great. And I've been really busy which is why it's taken me so long to get to part 2.
So I left off with the show I did in college. For that show I did costumes: repair, organizing, and quick changes. I enjoy costumes. I love everything about them. The styles and eras, the fabric types and colors, and the great hats, shoes, jewlery, ect to acessorize them with. I enjoy making them. I don't always enjoy repairing them, although I like the challenge. I like designing them, but I don't get the chance too often.
My other great love is lights. I love designing lights. I love when you get the colors just right and it adds to the mood of the scene. They are some of the best special effects as you can get with live theater. I like the challenge of being the follow spot operator during a dance number. I even enjoy (crazy as it sounds) hanging out of the ceiling or balencing at the top of a ladder or cherrypicker to adjust the angle of a light.
But for this show I was just your basic stage hand, translation: I move lots of furniture in the dark. I had a good time, but I decided now that I've lost all those muscles from all my time off and now that I've had a kid- being the furniture hauler is not the job for me. I'll stage manage, I'll do props or costumes or lights. I'll help haul a few things, but I'm not meant to lift chaise lounges over my head any more. I should also stop trying to move large tables or stacks of chairs by myself. And I should spend the extra $10 for the super comfy shoes since I stand the whole show. Any ways bed is calling me so I guess there's going to be a part 3 and that's where I'll put the pictures.
So I left off with the show I did in college. For that show I did costumes: repair, organizing, and quick changes. I enjoy costumes. I love everything about them. The styles and eras, the fabric types and colors, and the great hats, shoes, jewlery, ect to acessorize them with. I enjoy making them. I don't always enjoy repairing them, although I like the challenge. I like designing them, but I don't get the chance too often.
My other great love is lights. I love designing lights. I love when you get the colors just right and it adds to the mood of the scene. They are some of the best special effects as you can get with live theater. I like the challenge of being the follow spot operator during a dance number. I even enjoy (crazy as it sounds) hanging out of the ceiling or balencing at the top of a ladder or cherrypicker to adjust the angle of a light.
But for this show I was just your basic stage hand, translation: I move lots of furniture in the dark. I had a good time, but I decided now that I've lost all those muscles from all my time off and now that I've had a kid- being the furniture hauler is not the job for me. I'll stage manage, I'll do props or costumes or lights. I'll help haul a few things, but I'm not meant to lift chaise lounges over my head any more. I should also stop trying to move large tables or stacks of chairs by myself. And I should spend the extra $10 for the super comfy shoes since I stand the whole show. Any ways bed is calling me so I guess there's going to be a part 3 and that's where I'll put the pictures.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Why tech theater is great mom training
So in honor of Mother's day this is my list of why tech theater is great mom training.
1. After so many years of cuts, bumps, bruises, and scrapes from building set, moving set, and running in the dark, you know your way around a first aid kit and always have one handy.
2. After building set, framing in a basement is no big deal. And you can paint it in your sleep. You can probably even do a little electrical and plumbing work.
3. Costume repair is not too different from regular clothes repair.
4. Because rehersal can go way late you're already used to carrying snacks and water everywhere.
5. There's what you reherse and then there's what really happens, so you already have a lot of practice coming up with plan B, C, D, ect on the spot.
6. Any one who's spent any time navigating backstage, should be able to handle screaming kids during rush hour traffic.
7. All that knot tying and building will come in handy when your sons do Scouts.
8. All that make up and costume knowledge will come in handy with your teenage daughter. Not to mention Halloween.
9. You're very familiar and even comfortable with dirt and grease. And with how to clean them up.
10. And now that your such a pro at moving set, moving your furniture from house to house is old hat.
1. After so many years of cuts, bumps, bruises, and scrapes from building set, moving set, and running in the dark, you know your way around a first aid kit and always have one handy.
2. After building set, framing in a basement is no big deal. And you can paint it in your sleep. You can probably even do a little electrical and plumbing work.
3. Costume repair is not too different from regular clothes repair.
4. Because rehersal can go way late you're already used to carrying snacks and water everywhere.
5. There's what you reherse and then there's what really happens, so you already have a lot of practice coming up with plan B, C, D, ect on the spot.
6. Any one who's spent any time navigating backstage, should be able to handle screaming kids during rush hour traffic.
7. All that knot tying and building will come in handy when your sons do Scouts.
8. All that make up and costume knowledge will come in handy with your teenage daughter. Not to mention Halloween.
9. You're very familiar and even comfortable with dirt and grease. And with how to clean them up.
10. And now that your such a pro at moving set, moving your furniture from house to house is old hat.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Stage managing part 1
So this is going to need at least to blogs to cover all this.
So there is this popular local community theater, called the Herigage Community Theater
And Ben has done technical theater there in the past.
Lately John and I have been talking about me getting back into theater. I had quit for awhile because I was settling into a new state, then I was pregnant, then I was nursing, then John got a job and I'm the only person home most of the time. But I was starting to get a bit stir crazy and its hard to make new friends (that are adults) when you're called to work in the nursery. So we had decided I was going to try doing a show this summer.
One day Ben gets a phone call, they need a tech crew for a show at the Heritage. So I talk to John and show up with Ben at rehersal. The show is called the Women and it calls for a cast of like 45 women. Thats not a very reasonable number for community theater, so they've double and triple cast people for the supporting and bit parts, cutting the cast down to about 25. All women. Ben and the director, Ross, are the only guys. Ben totally realizes the opertunity he has here and never goes to rehersal with out applying body spray and hair gel.
I think I should take an aside here and tell you first of all that theater is more than a hobby to me, its a core part of my DNA. I remember auditioning to be in Merry Poppins in about first or second grade before I ever moved to Utah the first time. I got the part but was encouraged to make the right choice after discovering many rehersals and performances would be on Sunday. I dropped the show, but the preformance bug had bitten me.
I continued to do backyard shows with anyone who was willing (these were terrible, but the costumes were usually good). And in 6th grade I did my first auditioned for the part show. I also built set and found costumes. I moved to Utah and auditioned for the fall show and didn't get a part. It was so long ago I'm ok with admitting that I was totally crushed, but not all was lost they needed people for the tech crew. Long story short: I sing, dance, and act but plenty of other people do it better than me (especially singing if it's allergy season). So after being just part of the chorus for a few shows, and having to help move scenery anyway, I found my calling behind the scenes. I still auditioned for the shows I thought would be fun to be in, but I wasn't crushed anymore because tech is my thing. I was in a few shows, and I enjoyed them, but even then I was doing a lot of tech.
And so I learned to do everything I could, and it was a blast all through up to high school graduation. And then for a truely inexplicable reason I traded all that to study biological engineering (science is a big interest to me and I'm good at it, but it doesn't get me excited the way tech does). My motivation was good, I wanted to study genetics and cancer, what with all my family history of it. So I quit theater and fought with engineering for 3 years. I finally came to my senses and dropped engineering for biology because with just a few more credits I'd be able to graduate. And I teched another show and fell in love all over again with the crazyness backstage.
So that seems like enough for this post. Later.
Visiting the cousins (pics)
So this isn't everybody, just everybody I could get a picture of.
1. Steven 2. Aunt Debbie holding Steven and Trevor 3. Alicia
5. Tiffani 6. Ben and Tim 7. Donni
So Little John has never met any of these cousins before, him and Steven are about 2 years apart. They had a lot of fun.
1. Sizing each other up 2. Let me show you around 3. Oh pinecones are fun to throw
4. Just kidding I don't want to be up here after all 5. Why do keep following us Mom?
6. & 7. We found a stick! 8. 9. & 10. Trampolines are fun! 11. Ooh a slide
Friday, May 1, 2009
Deck and mancave (pics)
So now the deck is done!
1. Helping Daddy 2. I hold it and John attaches it 3. I got you some screws Daddy
4. Always wear your seatbelt, he fell out right after this picture 5. Ben giving Little John a ride (Ben doesn't need that wheelchair he got it at a yard sale to play with) 6. They're under the trampoline, and yeah he fell over doing that 7. Enjoying the new deck
So here is the grand tour of the mancave!
1. & 2. You go down the library hallway to get there (we have 5 bookcases in there)
3. The view from the door 4. The shelves we built him for his birthday, anchored to the wall and painted, he's started to put stuff on them 5. This is to give you some perspective, the shelves are taller than me 6. He puts his laptop on the shelf and sits in the banana chair (the arrow shows which shelf in the big picture)
And of course its all decorated!
1. This curtain hides the stuff we'll store back here 2. This is the beautiful marblized finish I gave his floor, it took a month of washing to get all the paint off my feet (it stuck like nail polish, but I was out of remover) 3. This beautiful rug keeps John's toes warm, his Dad brought it back from the first Desert Storm 4. I made him a lampshade 5. It makes neat patterns on the wall when it's on 6. The switch plate is covered in tinfoil and John painted this picture himself 2 years ago
Baby animal days (pics)
So I have so many pictures I like uploading them as collages, if you want to see them bigger just click on them :D
So we went to baby animal days and little John loved it!
1. Him and the easter bunny 2. He loved the pony ride so much he cried when I got him down
3. Looking at sheep 4. Touching a centipede 5. Touching a hissing cockroach (we washed hands right after the bugs) 6. He's laughing 'cuz the cow licked his face 7. More horses! 8. His first twinkie, he loved it 9. Goats
He loved the baby animals so much that Nana and Daddy took him again the next weekend (we got the year pass)
1. They jumped on and off of this a lot 2. He rode the pony twice today 3. Fuzzy baby duck
4. The sheep "baaad" really loud and scared him so bad that not even the baby bunny cheered him up 5. & 6. He spent ages playing with this wheel piece, the stick, and a rock. I love his simple joys!
So we went to baby animal days and little John loved it!
1. Him and the easter bunny 2. He loved the pony ride so much he cried when I got him down
3. Looking at sheep 4. Touching a centipede 5. Touching a hissing cockroach (we washed hands right after the bugs) 6. He's laughing 'cuz the cow licked his face 7. More horses! 8. His first twinkie, he loved it 9. Goats
He loved the baby animals so much that Nana and Daddy took him again the next weekend (we got the year pass)
1. They jumped on and off of this a lot 2. He rode the pony twice today 3. Fuzzy baby duck
4. The sheep "baaad" really loud and scared him so bad that not even the baby bunny cheered him up 5. & 6. He spent ages playing with this wheel piece, the stick, and a rock. I love his simple joys!
Friday, April 24, 2009
So I'm still here...
Wow I knew it had been a while since I blogged but I didn't realize it had been almost a month. So I've been busy, here's the basic rundown and then I'll do some more blogs on the more interesting stuff afterwards.
Spring has arrived, complete with it's fickle whims of crazy weather. It beautiful, it rains, I wonder where my shorts are, it snows, its beautiful again. Over all this is great for the yard, but I lost a blueberry bush :(. The most obnoxious part of that is for best fruit you plant 2 different varieties and I'm not sure which one died so I'm not sure what to replace it with. This weather is not so great for Little John, he just doesn't understand why he can spend 3 days living in the backyard and then has to be cooped up for another 3.
Spring break came and went for Mom and Ben and it was nice to have them around for a few extra days. We went to baby animal days, drove to Idaho to see cousins, and just hung out. (Blog with pics soon to follow)
General Conference weekend was great! We loved the speakers. We DVRed it and I put it on DVD and mailed it to my friend Clerie in Iraq (the internet there is too slow to stream the feed). We also (mostly John) got the railing on the deck out back, between sessions. I worry a lot less about the little guy playing out there now.
We finished the Man Cave, it's all decked out and John enjoys using it. (Blog w/ pics to follow)
Easter Sunday we got together with some cousins and did dinner and an egg hunt. Little John loves to find the eggs and for quite a while didn't care that there was stuff inside them. He got upset at the city hunt when we made him wait till they said "go" to start finding them. (pics blog soon)
We joined this fruit and veggie co-op thing (it actually started in AZ) and the produce is great. We got the italian pack and I made 6 cool whip containers of sauce and froze it (I added the tomato paste/sauce and some spices but most everything else came in the pack). We also got 40 lbs of pink lady apples that I'm in the process of turning into apple pie filling and canning it. I will be doing this for a while because 27 apples gave me 7 qt jars of filling and there's 115 apples in a 40 lb box plus the 13 I also used 'cuz they'd been in the fridge for a while. So I figure I'll end up with between 30 an 35 jars of filling. And I made a pie from the jar that didn't seal- delicous! Here is the link to the co-op if anyone is interested. (The only UT places right now are Brigham and Clearfield)
I have been stage managing a show at the local community theater. It's a straight play (as in not a musical) called The Women. It's basically Desperate Housewives, set in the 1940's. The author got all her material sitting around in hair salons and pwder rooms and women's shop just listening to ladies gossip. The play is fantastic a lot of drama but still funny. Opening night is tonight. (More stuff in following blog)
My mom went to the doctor for a rash on her face that started to swell and was told it was shingles. First of all she isn't old enough to be having shingles! Second, because its by her eye she has to keep a close watch 'cuz if it gets in her eye she could go blind, I'm not sure how likely that is to happen, but just thinking about it freaks me out! So I'm praying for her alot, feel free to join me :)
So see I'm so busy doing things worth blogging that I have no time to blog :D
Spring has arrived, complete with it's fickle whims of crazy weather. It beautiful, it rains, I wonder where my shorts are, it snows, its beautiful again. Over all this is great for the yard, but I lost a blueberry bush :(. The most obnoxious part of that is for best fruit you plant 2 different varieties and I'm not sure which one died so I'm not sure what to replace it with. This weather is not so great for Little John, he just doesn't understand why he can spend 3 days living in the backyard and then has to be cooped up for another 3.
Spring break came and went for Mom and Ben and it was nice to have them around for a few extra days. We went to baby animal days, drove to Idaho to see cousins, and just hung out. (Blog with pics soon to follow)
General Conference weekend was great! We loved the speakers. We DVRed it and I put it on DVD and mailed it to my friend Clerie in Iraq (the internet there is too slow to stream the feed). We also (mostly John) got the railing on the deck out back, between sessions. I worry a lot less about the little guy playing out there now.
We finished the Man Cave, it's all decked out and John enjoys using it. (Blog w/ pics to follow)
Easter Sunday we got together with some cousins and did dinner and an egg hunt. Little John loves to find the eggs and for quite a while didn't care that there was stuff inside them. He got upset at the city hunt when we made him wait till they said "go" to start finding them. (pics blog soon)
We joined this fruit and veggie co-op thing (it actually started in AZ) and the produce is great. We got the italian pack and I made 6 cool whip containers of sauce and froze it (I added the tomato paste/sauce and some spices but most everything else came in the pack). We also got 40 lbs of pink lady apples that I'm in the process of turning into apple pie filling and canning it. I will be doing this for a while because 27 apples gave me 7 qt jars of filling and there's 115 apples in a 40 lb box plus the 13 I also used 'cuz they'd been in the fridge for a while. So I figure I'll end up with between 30 an 35 jars of filling. And I made a pie from the jar that didn't seal- delicous! Here is the link to the co-op if anyone is interested. (The only UT places right now are Brigham and Clearfield)
I have been stage managing a show at the local community theater. It's a straight play (as in not a musical) called The Women. It's basically Desperate Housewives, set in the 1940's. The author got all her material sitting around in hair salons and pwder rooms and women's shop just listening to ladies gossip. The play is fantastic a lot of drama but still funny. Opening night is tonight. (More stuff in following blog)
My mom went to the doctor for a rash on her face that started to swell and was told it was shingles. First of all she isn't old enough to be having shingles! Second, because its by her eye she has to keep a close watch 'cuz if it gets in her eye she could go blind, I'm not sure how likely that is to happen, but just thinking about it freaks me out! So I'm praying for her alot, feel free to join me :)
So see I'm so busy doing things worth blogging that I have no time to blog :D
Monday, March 30, 2009
The art of story telling
So I read Crystal's blog about fairy tales and I made this comment :
"Fairy tales rock! I've read them since forever. I love to read different nation's versions of the same stories, there's lots of versions of Cinderella for example. My favorite is a beautifully illistrated version of the egyptian cinderella."
And it got me thinking about how much I enjoy them and how I like to tell them to Little John. I started telling them to him when he was just a few weeks old to soothe him and keep myself awake during 2 am feedings. I still tell him them in the car and sometimes on those sleepless nights when he's awake for an hour or 2 in the middle of the night. (I can't just let him sit in the crib and scream, but if I let him get up and play he might make a habit of it :()
I tell him classic Grimms' tales and shortened Disney movies (like my favorite, Mulan) and Hans Christian Anderson and sometimes I just make stuff up. I read an article about how story telling encourages kids' imaginations and builds language skills and stuff, but mostly I just enjoy doing it.
I enjoy reading aloud, but there's something about story telling that really appeals to the preformer in me. If I'm not driving or trying to get Little John to sleep, I love to decribe things with my hands and sometimes I get up and act out the monsters and battles. Little kids love that! I started doing it when I'd babysit, as bedtime stories. And the best thing is little kids are such non-judgemental audiences. They don't care if you forget the details or tell it different than last time, so long as you're into it and animated.
I don't tell the tales quite the way you'd find them in print. As hard as it is to belive, I can't remember all the details at 2 am. Sometimes I make up the details and sometimes I just skip bits I can't remember very well. And I've added my own personal twist to any tale I tell. As I tell the story I always specify that the kings daughter is old enough to date and that's why her hand in marriage is the prize for whatever nasty task needs doing. And also of course the hero is old enough to date too. And I tend to elaborate on things like clothes and the country side (when I'm fully awake that is) and I love to do different voices for different characters. (I do that when I read aloud too) I also love to add sound effects and cheesy melodrama things like "da-da-daaa!".
When I make up stories sometimes I barrow details from other stories I've read. Sometimes my stories follow a regular pattern (begining, middle, end), but a lot of them are silly nonsense that either end very quickly or ramble on and on. The good news is Little John doesn't seem to mind if the stories are real or not or make sense or not. He especially loves when I tell stories about him and Daddy doing things together, even when its nonsense stuff.
As he starts to talk more and more clearly I plan on having him help with the made up stories. Things like what color things are, what weapon the hero uses, what kind of car the bad guy drives. All the little details. I'm really excited to see what neat things he comes up with. I already know he has a good imagination because he holds his cars up to his head and babbles at them like they're telephones.
I still read fairy tales myself and will totally read them to my kids. If they grow up and would rather read text books, that's cool, its their choice, but at least they had the choice. It bugs the heck out of me when people are like "I don't let my kids read that magic stuff because they need to understand reality" (and yet most of these same people let their kids watch cartoons, go figure). It reminds me of that poor little girl in Miracle on 34th Street, no hopes or dreams, no fantasies.
Sorry, my soap box ran away with me there. What I meant to say is: I've read lots of fairy tale collections (among other fantstical stories like the tales of Sinbad the Sailor and Arabian Nights), but there is this collection I've heard such great things about but have never been able to find them so I can read them. They're a series of collections (I think) called the Blue Fairy Book, the Red Fairy Book, the Lilac Fairy Book, and so on. I think there are 7 or 8 all together. Maybe I can find them on Ebay or Amazon. Oh, well, my next story post should be about my other love, scifi. Anyway I should go. Go share a story with a kid. Later.
"Fairy tales rock! I've read them since forever. I love to read different nation's versions of the same stories, there's lots of versions of Cinderella for example. My favorite is a beautifully illistrated version of the egyptian cinderella."
And it got me thinking about how much I enjoy them and how I like to tell them to Little John. I started telling them to him when he was just a few weeks old to soothe him and keep myself awake during 2 am feedings. I still tell him them in the car and sometimes on those sleepless nights when he's awake for an hour or 2 in the middle of the night. (I can't just let him sit in the crib and scream, but if I let him get up and play he might make a habit of it :()
I tell him classic Grimms' tales and shortened Disney movies (like my favorite, Mulan) and Hans Christian Anderson and sometimes I just make stuff up. I read an article about how story telling encourages kids' imaginations and builds language skills and stuff, but mostly I just enjoy doing it.
I enjoy reading aloud, but there's something about story telling that really appeals to the preformer in me. If I'm not driving or trying to get Little John to sleep, I love to decribe things with my hands and sometimes I get up and act out the monsters and battles. Little kids love that! I started doing it when I'd babysit, as bedtime stories. And the best thing is little kids are such non-judgemental audiences. They don't care if you forget the details or tell it different than last time, so long as you're into it and animated.
I don't tell the tales quite the way you'd find them in print. As hard as it is to belive, I can't remember all the details at 2 am. Sometimes I make up the details and sometimes I just skip bits I can't remember very well. And I've added my own personal twist to any tale I tell. As I tell the story I always specify that the kings daughter is old enough to date and that's why her hand in marriage is the prize for whatever nasty task needs doing. And also of course the hero is old enough to date too. And I tend to elaborate on things like clothes and the country side (when I'm fully awake that is) and I love to do different voices for different characters. (I do that when I read aloud too) I also love to add sound effects and cheesy melodrama things like "da-da-daaa!".
When I make up stories sometimes I barrow details from other stories I've read. Sometimes my stories follow a regular pattern (begining, middle, end), but a lot of them are silly nonsense that either end very quickly or ramble on and on. The good news is Little John doesn't seem to mind if the stories are real or not or make sense or not. He especially loves when I tell stories about him and Daddy doing things together, even when its nonsense stuff.
As he starts to talk more and more clearly I plan on having him help with the made up stories. Things like what color things are, what weapon the hero uses, what kind of car the bad guy drives. All the little details. I'm really excited to see what neat things he comes up with. I already know he has a good imagination because he holds his cars up to his head and babbles at them like they're telephones.
I still read fairy tales myself and will totally read them to my kids. If they grow up and would rather read text books, that's cool, its their choice, but at least they had the choice. It bugs the heck out of me when people are like "I don't let my kids read that magic stuff because they need to understand reality" (and yet most of these same people let their kids watch cartoons, go figure). It reminds me of that poor little girl in Miracle on 34th Street, no hopes or dreams, no fantasies.
Sorry, my soap box ran away with me there. What I meant to say is: I've read lots of fairy tale collections (among other fantstical stories like the tales of Sinbad the Sailor and Arabian Nights), but there is this collection I've heard such great things about but have never been able to find them so I can read them. They're a series of collections (I think) called the Blue Fairy Book, the Red Fairy Book, the Lilac Fairy Book, and so on. I think there are 7 or 8 all together. Maybe I can find them on Ebay or Amazon. Oh, well, my next story post should be about my other love, scifi. Anyway I should go. Go share a story with a kid. Later.
The silver lining
So now that I've depressed everyone with our sickness (and possibly shared the germs), here's the silver lining. While being cooped up, those who were feeling up to it have done a lot of good work.
We put together, anchored to the wall, sanded, painted, and painted again the shelves for John's man cave. I made and hung a curtain to hide stuff stored at the back in the space to small to use as part of the man cave.
We dug, moved, and fertilized the garden boxes (the dirt here is such junk we use the square foot gardening method (mostly)). We planted peas, lettuce, and blueberries (although the weather may have killed one of the blueberries). We transplanted the raspberries. We seeded the bare spots in the lawn and spread peat moss to keep it moist. And even though the one blueberry may be toast all the wet/snowy weather means I haven't had to water the grass seed.
After being cooped up the old furniture arrangement was definitely old so we changed it up and it's much more cozy and conducive to conversation (but everyone can still see the TV, so we're all happy).
And John's had the chance to give lots of blessings. I love that we have such convenient access to the priesthood. And I always feel so comforted, even just listening to someone else's blessing. John says he makes better decisions than he might otherwise, because he knows I'll ask for a blessing and he wants to be worthy to give them. I think that is so awesome.
We put together, anchored to the wall, sanded, painted, and painted again the shelves for John's man cave. I made and hung a curtain to hide stuff stored at the back in the space to small to use as part of the man cave.
We dug, moved, and fertilized the garden boxes (the dirt here is such junk we use the square foot gardening method (mostly)). We planted peas, lettuce, and blueberries (although the weather may have killed one of the blueberries). We transplanted the raspberries. We seeded the bare spots in the lawn and spread peat moss to keep it moist. And even though the one blueberry may be toast all the wet/snowy weather means I haven't had to water the grass seed.
After being cooped up the old furniture arrangement was definitely old so we changed it up and it's much more cozy and conducive to conversation (but everyone can still see the TV, so we're all happy).
And John's had the chance to give lots of blessings. I love that we have such convenient access to the priesthood. And I always feel so comforted, even just listening to someone else's blessing. John says he makes better decisions than he might otherwise, because he knows I'll ask for a blessing and he wants to be worthy to give them. I think that is so awesome.
Self impossed quarentine
So since I blogged last we've all been sick. The whole time, since then, we've had at least one person nasty miserable sick. Feel free to stop reading now since the rest of this post will detail who had what and how many times we've been to the doctor about it.
Little John: small cold, immunizations which gave him a fever and crankiness for a few days, a nasty cold which lead to an ear infection, sore throat and long high fever, which later turned out to be the first signs of roseola, roseola rash, and now he seems to be much better. Counting the doctor visit for immunizations we have been to the doctor 4 times in 2 1/2 weeks for Little John!
Me: Little John drinks out of all my glasses so I caught his nasty cold, I was feeling better and then I got a light case of the flu which I'm getting over now, but I'm going to get an appointment to see the doctor 'cuz my sinuses have never really cleared since my cold and now it looks like my nose is on the tail end of a period, and of course the ear on that side is bothering me too. So if we don't count 2 visits to the chiropractor that I would have made weather I was sick or not, I'll have only been once for myself, but 7 times total because I'm the responsible party for Little John and my sister (2 wisdom teeth visits).
Ben: amazingly has not been sick, but he was pretty wasted after his army weekend and hasn't been getting a lot of sleep because Little John's room is under his and he cries a lot when he's sick.
John: held up pretty well but was down and out this weekend with the flu, he's doing great now though.
Mom: had a cold then was fine and now she's got the flu way worse than anyone else and can't take off work 'cuz it's parent-teacher confrences.
So other than work and school we've pretty much quarentined ourselves, well that and trips to the doctor. It's feels like it's been so long since I've been to church that they'll be calling a replacement for my calling soon.
Little John: small cold, immunizations which gave him a fever and crankiness for a few days, a nasty cold which lead to an ear infection, sore throat and long high fever, which later turned out to be the first signs of roseola, roseola rash, and now he seems to be much better. Counting the doctor visit for immunizations we have been to the doctor 4 times in 2 1/2 weeks for Little John!
Me: Little John drinks out of all my glasses so I caught his nasty cold, I was feeling better and then I got a light case of the flu which I'm getting over now, but I'm going to get an appointment to see the doctor 'cuz my sinuses have never really cleared since my cold and now it looks like my nose is on the tail end of a period, and of course the ear on that side is bothering me too. So if we don't count 2 visits to the chiropractor that I would have made weather I was sick or not, I'll have only been once for myself, but 7 times total because I'm the responsible party for Little John and my sister (2 wisdom teeth visits).
Ben: amazingly has not been sick, but he was pretty wasted after his army weekend and hasn't been getting a lot of sleep because Little John's room is under his and he cries a lot when he's sick.
John: held up pretty well but was down and out this weekend with the flu, he's doing great now though.
Mom: had a cold then was fine and now she's got the flu way worse than anyone else and can't take off work 'cuz it's parent-teacher confrences.
So other than work and school we've pretty much quarentined ourselves, well that and trips to the doctor. It's feels like it's been so long since I've been to church that they'll be calling a replacement for my calling soon.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hobos and doctors and laughs oh my!
So I'm going to smash a lot of stuff in this blog, since my sister was home from collage last week for spring break.
I almost had a shower with a hobo! I was running the water to get warm and this giant hairball gets floated up to the other end of the tub AND THEN IT UNCURLED A BUNCH OF LEGS! And it was a hobo and it was big and John wasn't home so I had to smash it myself. It still freaks me out to think I could have gotten in and been bit 'cuz I never would have even seen it 'cuz I don't wear my glasses in the shower.
So I'm not sure if you're familiar with the "man cave" so I'll explain it a bit. It's a guy's personal space for working or playing and stashing or displaying things like comic book collections or high school ball trophies. They tend to be smaller than bigger unless most of the kids are grown and gone. Well for John's birthday he is redoing the closet under the stairs for his man cave. Before you freak out, he picked the space and is very happy with it, even though it makes me think of Harry Potter. He painted it silver and I did the floor a marblized blue and green finish and we're going to give it several clear coats to protect it. I designed and built him a set of shelves (with lots of building help from everyone) as a suprise and after we get it all finished I'll post pics.
Sarah had her wisdom teeth out. It went well, very little swelling, and no need for the heavy pain pills.
All the stores are having seasonal clearance to make way for the spring clothes, so Sarah and I did lots of shopping. I did really well with my budget though and didn't go overboard. I got some way cute stuff but only if it was cheap.
Now that our insurace has kicked in I found a new pediatrician for Little John. He's great, he used to be head of peds at a big hospitals but went back to private practice because he likes it better. So poor Little John got all caught up on his shots and he's been under the weather since and pretty cranky.
5 out of 6 Hizers are born in March so we had the everybody birthday party this last weekend. It was lots of fun. We took advantage of the nice weather and BBQed until the wind drove us inside.
Sarah's ride back to college was in Salt Lake so Ben and I drove her down there for the rondevouz. We had to hang out there for a bit so I helped Sarah reveiw her anatomy flash cards. She's working on muscles right now. I was asking a lot of "identify the muscle that originates at... and inserts at... and does such and such" questions and while she'd think about it Ben would make random guesses. So Ben's last five guesses had been "your rump?" when the question "what is the insertion of the gluteous maximus" came up and I was waiting to tell him he'd guessed right when he said it again. But instead he says, with this funny look on his face, "Its called sex, and you should never, ever do it!" And his face goes all red. Sarah and I luaghed ourselves silly! And when we finally stop laughing he says "So what's a gluteus maximus anyway?" He had no idea it was a butt and we started laughing all over again.
I went to the chiropracter today (my first appointment was last week) and he worked out the whatever I did to my shoulder over the weekend. My mom talked me into going after my shoulder had been bothering me for a few weeks. I was kinda resistant to the idea, because some of those guys are quacks. But I googled the one my insurance said it covered in our area and picked the guy who did mostly sports injury stuff because he seemed very unquacky (so does his office partner). And he was very professional and none of this "I'll need to see you 3 times a week for 6 months ot fix it" stuff and no wonky promises like "I'll cure your athletes foot by feeling you skull". The day after I was pretty sore but overall much better. He also worked on my neck and lower back. He says I carry all my tension in my neck and shoulders and I didn't realize it until I felt so much better afterwards. My back hasn't felt right since I was pregnant (which he says is really common) and it feels tons better now. So now I'm sold on chiropracters. I know a bunch of you have raved over how much good your's has done you but I had to try it to belive it.
So that catches us up to right this very second, so now I need to go do stuff to blog about.
I almost had a shower with a hobo! I was running the water to get warm and this giant hairball gets floated up to the other end of the tub AND THEN IT UNCURLED A BUNCH OF LEGS! And it was a hobo and it was big and John wasn't home so I had to smash it myself. It still freaks me out to think I could have gotten in and been bit 'cuz I never would have even seen it 'cuz I don't wear my glasses in the shower.
So I'm not sure if you're familiar with the "man cave" so I'll explain it a bit. It's a guy's personal space for working or playing and stashing or displaying things like comic book collections or high school ball trophies. They tend to be smaller than bigger unless most of the kids are grown and gone. Well for John's birthday he is redoing the closet under the stairs for his man cave. Before you freak out, he picked the space and is very happy with it, even though it makes me think of Harry Potter. He painted it silver and I did the floor a marblized blue and green finish and we're going to give it several clear coats to protect it. I designed and built him a set of shelves (with lots of building help from everyone) as a suprise and after we get it all finished I'll post pics.
Sarah had her wisdom teeth out. It went well, very little swelling, and no need for the heavy pain pills.
All the stores are having seasonal clearance to make way for the spring clothes, so Sarah and I did lots of shopping. I did really well with my budget though and didn't go overboard. I got some way cute stuff but only if it was cheap.
Now that our insurace has kicked in I found a new pediatrician for Little John. He's great, he used to be head of peds at a big hospitals but went back to private practice because he likes it better. So poor Little John got all caught up on his shots and he's been under the weather since and pretty cranky.
5 out of 6 Hizers are born in March so we had the everybody birthday party this last weekend. It was lots of fun. We took advantage of the nice weather and BBQed until the wind drove us inside.
Sarah's ride back to college was in Salt Lake so Ben and I drove her down there for the rondevouz. We had to hang out there for a bit so I helped Sarah reveiw her anatomy flash cards. She's working on muscles right now. I was asking a lot of "identify the muscle that originates at... and inserts at... and does such and such" questions and while she'd think about it Ben would make random guesses. So Ben's last five guesses had been "your rump?" when the question "what is the insertion of the gluteous maximus" came up and I was waiting to tell him he'd guessed right when he said it again. But instead he says, with this funny look on his face, "Its called sex, and you should never, ever do it!" And his face goes all red. Sarah and I luaghed ourselves silly! And when we finally stop laughing he says "So what's a gluteus maximus anyway?" He had no idea it was a butt and we started laughing all over again.
I went to the chiropracter today (my first appointment was last week) and he worked out the whatever I did to my shoulder over the weekend. My mom talked me into going after my shoulder had been bothering me for a few weeks. I was kinda resistant to the idea, because some of those guys are quacks. But I googled the one my insurance said it covered in our area and picked the guy who did mostly sports injury stuff because he seemed very unquacky (so does his office partner). And he was very professional and none of this "I'll need to see you 3 times a week for 6 months ot fix it" stuff and no wonky promises like "I'll cure your athletes foot by feeling you skull". The day after I was pretty sore but overall much better. He also worked on my neck and lower back. He says I carry all my tension in my neck and shoulders and I didn't realize it until I felt so much better afterwards. My back hasn't felt right since I was pregnant (which he says is really common) and it feels tons better now. So now I'm sold on chiropracters. I know a bunch of you have raved over how much good your's has done you but I had to try it to belive it.
So that catches us up to right this very second, so now I need to go do stuff to blog about.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Happy Belated birthday Rick
So we haven't been up to much lately, just normal everyday stuff. Diapers, groceries, bath time, ect. That's why I haven't blogged, nothing to blog. But we did something interesting this weekend so I thought I'd share. We went to Salt Lake to hang out with Rick for his birthday. His birthday was weeks ago but bad weather has kept us from getting together. So we checked out his new apartment and took him out to lunch at Famous Daves. We got a garbage can lid full of food and shared it all around and there was still enough for Rick to have some leftovers for lunch today. Then we went to a couple stores and walked off lunch. It was a good time. And the other interesting thing was that we talked in church last Sunday. We both spoke on the atonement and it went really well.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Some recommendations
So I found this really great online radio station. Google for "your LDS radio" and you should find it no problem. They play church music and good uplifting other music, but its not all MoTab. Theres a lot of EFY stuff and things like from the "Singles Ward" sound track where they gave hymns a jazzier beat. Don't get me wrong, I still love to listen to rock and oldies and some newer stuff, but if I'm having a stressfull day or the atmosphere around the house is chaos, I just crank up the volume on this station and it makes such an improvement, especially in my attitude. They also keep advertising this sort of LDS version of iTunes where you can download most of the music they play. I haven't tried it yet but I'm deffinatly going to get me at least the Cinderella song, if I figure out what the real title is.
Also: I found the best series of books for, ummm... age 10-14?, girls. They're called the Lady Grace mysteries, you can get all the titles from the wikipedia page. They're great historical fiction with lots of adventure. I love them. (Of course I love a lot of children's/young adult books) One big helpful bit of advice to go with them: there is a glossary and a "some info about..." section in the back and I find it easier to read the story if I've read those first, instead of constantly flipping to the back to see what a farthingale is. (A sort of hoop skirt, fyi)
Also: I found the best series of books for, ummm... age 10-14?, girls. They're called the Lady Grace mysteries, you can get all the titles from the wikipedia page. They're great historical fiction with lots of adventure. I love them. (Of course I love a lot of children's/young adult books) One big helpful bit of advice to go with them: there is a glossary and a "some info about..." section in the back and I find it easier to read the story if I've read those first, instead of constantly flipping to the back to see what a farthingale is. (A sort of hoop skirt, fyi)
A photo Blog
Since its been a while I decided to do a photo blog, and let the pictures explain most of it.
Ben and John got Guitar Hero for Christmas and Little John loves to play too on his guitar.
We took the train as a family and John's mom and brother Kevin came too. Little John even sat in his own chair until he got too rowdy.
They were playing chase one night and Little John tripped and hit a chair, but the stiches healed up just fine. He got his own glasses so he'll leave everyone else's alone. And we played in the paint to make Valentines.
I've done a lot of sewing lately. My sis-in-law was a bridesmaid and they had these immodest dresses so the 3 girls asked me to make them sleeves. I love the design they picked and it didn't take me too long to make-up the pattern. And the pretty blue one is a skirt I made over into a dress for my sister Sarah to wear to a dance at collage. And I did the purse to match.
I caught up with a friend I haven't seen in like 8 years. Dorian was home from Australia for about a month before moving to Tucson this week. She came over a second time for dinner and games but I didn't take any pics of that.
Little John is going stir crazy from being inside so on warmish afternoons we go out in the sunshine and blow bubbles. We'd play in the snow but he doesn't know what to do with it.
We have very much enjoyed the principles of static electricity and balloons. Well except for the dog, she didn't think this was fun.
And Ben is still doing his army stuff and he loves to play with Little John if he isn't playing video games. Which catches us up to where we are now.
Ben and John got Guitar Hero for Christmas and Little John loves to play too on his guitar.
We took the train as a family and John's mom and brother Kevin came too. Little John even sat in his own chair until he got too rowdy.
They were playing chase one night and Little John tripped and hit a chair, but the stiches healed up just fine. He got his own glasses so he'll leave everyone else's alone. And we played in the paint to make Valentines.
I've done a lot of sewing lately. My sis-in-law was a bridesmaid and they had these immodest dresses so the 3 girls asked me to make them sleeves. I love the design they picked and it didn't take me too long to make-up the pattern. And the pretty blue one is a skirt I made over into a dress for my sister Sarah to wear to a dance at collage. And I did the purse to match.
I caught up with a friend I haven't seen in like 8 years. Dorian was home from Australia for about a month before moving to Tucson this week. She came over a second time for dinner and games but I didn't take any pics of that.
Little John is going stir crazy from being inside so on warmish afternoons we go out in the sunshine and blow bubbles. We'd play in the snow but he doesn't know what to do with it.
We have very much enjoyed the principles of static electricity and balloons. Well except for the dog, she didn't think this was fun.
And Ben is still doing his army stuff and he loves to play with Little John if he isn't playing video games. Which catches us up to where we are now.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Party has been delayed
So anyone waiting for me to post the virtual party will have to wait till tomarrow. Blogger is freaking out and naptime tomarrow will be the next chance I have to work on it, but trust me its worth the wait. :D
Welcome to the party!
I had a great birthday today and thank you all for coming to my party today! (Now to really complete the experience you should go find some party food to munch on :D) So the costumes have been great and now for the awards! (if you don't see a picture click the name to go see it)
Cutest astronaut:
Ashur
Harry Potter- these were all so great I couldn't pick just one!:
H
Most of the ward
Sauers
My Mom
Cutest ninja:
Jonathan
Cutest superhero:
Little Kenny
Best hat:
Me
Best partners costume:
John and Little John
Shiniest armor:
Jessie
Most convincing alien:
Ben
Best mohawk:
Little John
Honorary mention:
Bridget's kids
Costumes that deserve awards that I can't find pictures of:
Pirates- John and Brandi
Potipher's wife- Clerie
"paper boy"- John's Dad
Costume stories:
Cutest kid costume story:
Monique (Jaxon)
Funniest costume story:
Clerie had to do a quick costume change for the play she was in. Her "dad" had just died so she runs just off stage and everyone rushes her into the next costume for the "funeral". She runs back on stage to kneel at the casket (with her back to the audience) and weeps. This is normally an emotional scene but she can hear the audience smothering laughter. She comes off stage at the end of the scene and the tell her that in the hurry, her skirt was tucked into her bloomers. (they had full period costumes obviously) She laughs about it now. Today she wears a uniform in Iraq instead of costumes. Go Clerie!
Costumes we wish we had:
Cleverest wished for costume:
Paul
I came up with this costume in high school actually, but never made it. Let me explain what you'd need first. Some blue and gray material, lots of stuffing, and a red LED light. I would have two square patches on my chest and the LED on my back. When someone asked what I was, I would say "I'm a logitech optical mouse!" Then I'd "click" my buttons and show off my LED. Geeky, but it could be cute and unique.
I costume I always wished I could have...
All of them! It would take too long to list them all, but my current desire is for "Susan's battle dress/armor" from the new Prince Caspian movie and a wig of waist long cornrow braids in black or red hair. Random, I know.
Well thank you all for coming to my virtual party. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I think I might do it again next year, but maybe a different theme to keep it interesting. And maybe more people will "show up". The more people, the better the party. Bye.
Cutest astronaut:
Ashur
Harry Potter- these were all so great I couldn't pick just one!:
H
Most of the ward
Sauers
My Mom
Cutest ninja:
Jonathan
Cutest superhero:
Little Kenny
Best hat:
Me
Best partners costume:
John and Little John
Shiniest armor:
Jessie
Most convincing alien:
Ben
Best mohawk:
Little John
Honorary mention:
Bridget's kids
Costumes that deserve awards that I can't find pictures of:
Pirates- John and Brandi
Potipher's wife- Clerie
"paper boy"- John's Dad
Costume stories:
Cutest kid costume story:
Monique (Jaxon)
Funniest costume story:
Clerie had to do a quick costume change for the play she was in. Her "dad" had just died so she runs just off stage and everyone rushes her into the next costume for the "funeral". She runs back on stage to kneel at the casket (with her back to the audience) and weeps. This is normally an emotional scene but she can hear the audience smothering laughter. She comes off stage at the end of the scene and the tell her that in the hurry, her skirt was tucked into her bloomers. (they had full period costumes obviously) She laughs about it now. Today she wears a uniform in Iraq instead of costumes. Go Clerie!
Costumes we wish we had:
Cleverest wished for costume:
Paul
I came up with this costume in high school actually, but never made it. Let me explain what you'd need first. Some blue and gray material, lots of stuffing, and a red LED light. I would have two square patches on my chest and the LED on my back. When someone asked what I was, I would say "I'm a logitech optical mouse!" Then I'd "click" my buttons and show off my LED. Geeky, but it could be cute and unique.
I costume I always wished I could have...
All of them! It would take too long to list them all, but my current desire is for "Susan's battle dress/armor" from the new Prince Caspian movie and a wig of waist long cornrow braids in black or red hair. Random, I know.
Well thank you all for coming to my virtual party. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I think I might do it again next year, but maybe a different theme to keep it interesting. And maybe more people will "show up". The more people, the better the party. Bye.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Virtual Party!
So some time around March last year I decided I wanted to do something awesome for my 25th birthday. And since we were sopposed to be in our house by then I decided to have a costume party, because there just aren't enough oppertunities in regular life to wear cool costumes.
Well obviously I'm not going to be able to follow the plan, so instead you are all invited to my virtual costume party!
I am posting a request for people to blog about their favorite costume (have worn, are making, always wanted to wear, ect) and if possible post a pic or 2. You need to do this by the 25th of this month. I will then do an awesome birthday blog about costumes I have worn, made, seen, ect.
I may also have a second blog with non-blogging freinds email responses to this invite. (Depends on how many people follow through)
So dig through your photo albums and use your scanners, because I will be awarding prizes. Happy blogging :D
Well obviously I'm not going to be able to follow the plan, so instead you are all invited to my virtual costume party!
I am posting a request for people to blog about their favorite costume (have worn, are making, always wanted to wear, ect) and if possible post a pic or 2. You need to do this by the 25th of this month. I will then do an awesome birthday blog about costumes I have worn, made, seen, ect.
I may also have a second blog with non-blogging freinds email responses to this invite. (Depends on how many people follow through)
So dig through your photo albums and use your scanners, because I will be awarding prizes. Happy blogging :D
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Little John is so precious!
Ok so it's been a bit since I updated you all about how precious Little John can be.
He gave me real kisses this week! I was addressing a postcard and he came up and reached for me, so I bent down so my head was by his. He closes his little mouth, pushes it against my face and opens it again with a tiny pop sound. And then he did it again a few times. My heart just melted! He's been making kissy noises for a long time, but this was diffrent. And afterwards he just walks back over to his toys and starts playing again, like he has no idea that he is so sweet my heart is puddled in my toes.
So not quite as sweet but just as adorable, he loves phones. He has loved to push the buttons for a long time now. But just recently he holds them put and talks to them. And after he talks for a minute he holds it to my head to talk. Now if I could just get him to talk when there's a person on the other end of the line! He clams up if there's really someone to talk to, but he smiles really big and waves hello and goodbye. It cracks me up.
I love him so much!
He gave me real kisses this week! I was addressing a postcard and he came up and reached for me, so I bent down so my head was by his. He closes his little mouth, pushes it against my face and opens it again with a tiny pop sound. And then he did it again a few times. My heart just melted! He's been making kissy noises for a long time, but this was diffrent. And afterwards he just walks back over to his toys and starts playing again, like he has no idea that he is so sweet my heart is puddled in my toes.
So not quite as sweet but just as adorable, he loves phones. He has loved to push the buttons for a long time now. But just recently he holds them put and talks to them. And after he talks for a minute he holds it to my head to talk. Now if I could just get him to talk when there's a person on the other end of the line! He clams up if there's really someone to talk to, but he smiles really big and waves hello and goodbye. It cracks me up.
I love him so much!
We play, Wii fit, they work
So it's been a bit busy around here since my last post. Everybody went back to work and school and its just me and Little John and the dog at home. And he keeps me pretty busy! The last time I was on my own with him all day he had only started to crawl, now he runs! I wasn't quite prepared for the difference that would be :D
Now that you more experienced Moms have stopped laughing, I will continue :) He may be more work to keep up with but he is also so much fun! We play cars and Little People and jump on the bed a run around and clapping games and sing. We snuggle on the couch with his blanket and bottle and watch a show. (BTW I'm asking for tips to get from bottle to sippy, please) And he like to play by himself a bit more now, so I like to do email or knitting while he's busy 'cuz its something I can stop right away if he needs me.
And then when he gets tired I put him down for a nap and have anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours to myself! I love this time of day, I selfishly keep it all to myself- no housework! (ok I clear up the living room so I can feel comfy, but nothing else!) We (as in anyone living in our house) got a Wii fit for Christmas. I love it! It tracks stuff, helps set goals, the games are great, and it gives you your BMI in addition to your wieght (which is the number that means more) I started using it Monday and have used it everyday for 30-45 minutes. My goal is to use it every weekday, during nap time since no one is around to see. The rest of nap time I like to read my book, but I decided at least once aweek I should blog instead (hence this blog).
John loves his job, he's already ahead on some project they thought would take longer. But the commute... Well the commute is fine if the weather is. Monday it was not, and it took him like 3.5 hours to get home! And I tell you I don't enjoy the worry that causes. But now that the weather is good he loves the drive, mostly because we get him books on CD from the library.
So I fibbed a little there has been another person here all week (drumroll...) the carpet guy! Yes its true, at long last we have some carpet downstairs! He's not done with everything but hopefully by dinner Friday(tomarrow)... He didn't think it would take this long but he couldn't nail down the tack strips (concrete, duh!) like he thought he'd be able to, so he had to glue. And that nasty smelly stuff takes a while to dry. (Due to the smell we're camped out up stairs in Sarah's room since she's at school. Little John is in the porta-crib in Mom's room) And rather than haul everything up the stairs and then back down, we're playing musical chairs with it. We smashed it in the storage spaces and the bedrooms so he could work on the living room and halls. Now that the living room is done we've smashed it all in there. (Actually the living room is a good size so it isn't smashed much at all) Thank goodness for the Young Men, it took us all weekend to condense into the bedrooms. We moved the light things into the living room and then the deacons moved everything else in 15 minutes. It deffinately would have taken us longer, especially since John is kinda tired when he gets home from work (not suprising). Hopefully the carpet gets finished so we can use the weekend to put life back to normal downstairs.
I drew up a sketch of how I want the furniture to go. It worked the way it was before but somethings (like my craft table) need rearranged so I can keep a better eye on Little John since no one else is aound during the day. I think that after bedrooms my crafts will be the first thing set up, because I'm editing some bridesmaids dresses for a wedding on the 31 (as in January). They got the dresses at the after Christmas sales so they were half off, but they're half gone too. Ok maybe not half that makes them sound like floozy dresses, they're black full length, but sleeveless/strapless. So I'm adding sleeves and some pretty red sheer sparkly stuff, but with all my machines and supplies packed up so we can get the carpet I haven't had much chance to work on them. Plus when that's done I'm going to get my Etsy shop up and running. This is why nap time is all mine, the rest of the time I'm busy.
Now that you more experienced Moms have stopped laughing, I will continue :) He may be more work to keep up with but he is also so much fun! We play cars and Little People and jump on the bed a run around and clapping games and sing. We snuggle on the couch with his blanket and bottle and watch a show. (BTW I'm asking for tips to get from bottle to sippy, please) And he like to play by himself a bit more now, so I like to do email or knitting while he's busy 'cuz its something I can stop right away if he needs me.
And then when he gets tired I put him down for a nap and have anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours to myself! I love this time of day, I selfishly keep it all to myself- no housework! (ok I clear up the living room so I can feel comfy, but nothing else!) We (as in anyone living in our house) got a Wii fit for Christmas. I love it! It tracks stuff, helps set goals, the games are great, and it gives you your BMI in addition to your wieght (which is the number that means more) I started using it Monday and have used it everyday for 30-45 minutes. My goal is to use it every weekday, during nap time since no one is around to see. The rest of nap time I like to read my book, but I decided at least once aweek I should blog instead (hence this blog).
John loves his job, he's already ahead on some project they thought would take longer. But the commute... Well the commute is fine if the weather is. Monday it was not, and it took him like 3.5 hours to get home! And I tell you I don't enjoy the worry that causes. But now that the weather is good he loves the drive, mostly because we get him books on CD from the library.
So I fibbed a little there has been another person here all week (drumroll...) the carpet guy! Yes its true, at long last we have some carpet downstairs! He's not done with everything but hopefully by dinner Friday(tomarrow)... He didn't think it would take this long but he couldn't nail down the tack strips (concrete, duh!) like he thought he'd be able to, so he had to glue. And that nasty smelly stuff takes a while to dry. (Due to the smell we're camped out up stairs in Sarah's room since she's at school. Little John is in the porta-crib in Mom's room) And rather than haul everything up the stairs and then back down, we're playing musical chairs with it. We smashed it in the storage spaces and the bedrooms so he could work on the living room and halls. Now that the living room is done we've smashed it all in there. (Actually the living room is a good size so it isn't smashed much at all) Thank goodness for the Young Men, it took us all weekend to condense into the bedrooms. We moved the light things into the living room and then the deacons moved everything else in 15 minutes. It deffinately would have taken us longer, especially since John is kinda tired when he gets home from work (not suprising). Hopefully the carpet gets finished so we can use the weekend to put life back to normal downstairs.
I drew up a sketch of how I want the furniture to go. It worked the way it was before but somethings (like my craft table) need rearranged so I can keep a better eye on Little John since no one else is aound during the day. I think that after bedrooms my crafts will be the first thing set up, because I'm editing some bridesmaids dresses for a wedding on the 31 (as in January). They got the dresses at the after Christmas sales so they were half off, but they're half gone too. Ok maybe not half that makes them sound like floozy dresses, they're black full length, but sleeveless/strapless. So I'm adding sleeves and some pretty red sheer sparkly stuff, but with all my machines and supplies packed up so we can get the carpet I haven't had much chance to work on them. Plus when that's done I'm going to get my Etsy shop up and running. This is why nap time is all mine, the rest of the time I'm busy.
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