Random Thoughts

Today Ethan said to me:

"I"ll open the door!  I'm stronger!  I'm getting bigger!"

This all comes from being so excited that he turned 3 on Sunday and telling him what a big boy he is.  He is so big.

We had fun celebrating his birthday this weekend.  He had a little party with his friends which was fun.  Then we went to Kangaroo Zoo to play for a few hours. If I had all of those bounce things in my house my kids would be so happy! After that we got the kids some kids meals at the Cougar Eat on 9th and then came home and watched Tarzan.  Unfortunately we got one of the library's major scratched up DVD's and could only watch pieces of it.  Emma wasn't loving that.  Mark loves that movie.  He tears up when he watches it.  I tease him.  He likes it so much he didn't mind watching it in slow motion as the DVD player tried to work through the scratches.  After a while I couldn't take it anymore.  I like the movie, but not enough to hear my kids cry about how slow it was going.  Our next option was a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie.  Emma doesn't care that it's not Christmas still.  Sounds like someone I know.  (Christmas in July for me.)

Mark is at church all night and I need to talk.  So I'm going to talk to my blog.  Hearing the keys be punched on my keypad is better than silence.  I'm sure Mark will be grateful when he gets home and I don't talk his ear off until midnight.

A few Random Thoughts as of late. . .

• We read two chapter books this week.  Winnie the Pooh and Pippy Longstocking.  My Emma girl will just sit and listen and listen as long as I read.  She has always been like that.  I remember that we couldn't get her to sleep unless we read her at least 20 books before she went to bed.  No exaggeration. After we read Pippy Longstocking for 2 hours tonight I said to Emma, "I'm not the best mom in the world, but I do love to read books to you."  It's true, reading books to my kids is my favorite thing to do as a mom.  Except for cuddling. Cuddling trumps reading.  The great thing about reading is that I can cuddle and read at the same time.  Beautiful.
•  I love having church at 1:00pm.  Ethan takes a nap on the bench during sacrament every Sunday now. Need I say more?  A little tender mercy, I suppose, before it becomes 3 kids to 1 momma on that "back row of the soft seats" bench.
• We have been loving to eat at the Cougar Eat on 9th.  Yummy cheeseburger and spicy fries.  Their kids meals are only $3.49 and they come with a burger, lots of fries, refillable soda, and an ice cream.  Adults can get kids meals too!  Not to mention that there are black and white pictures by the booths of BYU students back in the 50's.  Always interesting to look at the hairstyles.  My kids like to climb over the booths and peek in on the students eating and talking.  We are working on manners (always).  Let's go eat there sometime together, shall we?    

One more thing about the Creamery.  The other day Mark's mom, Ann, was watching the kids.  Their conversation went something like this:

Ann: Where do you want to go to eat Emma?

Emma: To Frosty's

Ann: You want to go to Wendy's where they have Frosty's?

Emma:  If I wanted to go to Wendy's I would have told you Wendy's.  

Ann eventually figured out that "Frosty's" was the Creamery on 9th (I still don't know how she figured that one out).  I love Emma's response.  Funny.

• I have finally started using my recipe blog for myself.  My sister inspired me because she was making recipes off my blog.  So I started with some cookies.  It all started with making Kristine's snicker doodles.  Seriously folks, you haven't lived if you haven't tried these.   I have been making meals off of the blog for the last 3 weeks now.  It's kind of fun.  I have some new ones to put on.  Maybe I will add them tonight (depending on how late I'm waiting for my man).  Tonight I made Chicken Gobble Ups!  Yum!  Last night I made Stuffed Peppers and then heated up some leftover penne pasta for the kids.  Emma said, "Mom thank you so much for making us this dinner and not making us eat that yucky dinner you and dad are eating."  Fine with me, I love those "yucky" stuffed peppers.
• With a little bribery my kids are finally going to sleep at 8pm without any kicking or screaming, and staying in their rooms until 7am without any kicking or screaming.  The solution?  A pink alarm clock that tells Emma when "seven zero zero" is, cute stickers from Hobby Lobby for children who stay in their beds with the lights off until "seven zero zero", and bribery to go bowling, or to a movie, or Kangaroo Zoo, etc. if they go to bed without yelling, begging, whimpering for 14 days straight (we went to Chuck E Cheese after the first two weeks and now we are working on going bowling).  It's working!  I can't believe it!  Just in time to start a bedtime battle with unknown child #3.  Hope it lasts.
• Is anyone reading this far down?  Just checking.  I bet my loyal friend Brooke Butler is.  Hi Brooke.  
• I came to the realization on Sunday that we are creeping closer to April's General Conference and I haven't been reading the talks from the October session.  Which means I haven't been applying them.  Resolution to be better.  I really like to listen to the talks.  I think I'm going to try to listen to one talk a day until I get through them all.  I used to listen to one General Conference talk a day while I exercised. But then I stopped exercising.  Killed to birds with one stone.  I haven't made a resolution yet to start exercising again.  
• The house buying thing has been a roller coaster to me.  We feel like we should stay here while Mark has this calling and buy a house after (unless one comes up in the ward).  This was a hard decision for me to come to once I turned 30.  I was thinking, "I'm 30!  I should not be living in an apartment still in BYU-ville!"  It all comes from expectations of where our lives should be at certain ages.  About a month ago I finally decided that I was going to let this expectation rest and just go on being happy where I am (kind of similar to a decision I made years ago to be happy in the skin I'm in instead of trying to change myself to look like something else).  I love our little apartment and it has been really fun to paint it up.  I will be ecstatic when we buy a house and will invite all of you over for a house warming party because I will be so excited!  But for now, I'm happy being where I know we are supposed to be.  
• I just realized that I have a dentist appointment tomorrow.  Gotta find a babysitter.  I have gum and plaque problems they say.  I have to go to the dentist every 3 months.  Seriously.  I hear pregnancy makes gums worse.  Can't wait to see what the first 3 months of pregnancy has done to my poor gums.  They hurt.  Wish me luck!
• Goodnight.