Discovery.

Justin rushed into the house the other day and exclaimed, "Look mom, spring has brought us such a nice surprise! It's a new rock!" I guess it's time for the living vs. non-living lesson. Too bad there is no sign of plant life whatsoever in our backyard!

When I blog,

Anna organizes the desk area!

What do your kids do when you are on the phone?

I was in plain view of the back door but it never registered that they had gone outside in the cold rain. I swear that they got this messy within a matter of minutes. For some reason, Justin's umbrella didn't even work!:) What really escaped me was the fact that there was a brand new, never been there before RIVER in my backyard (if you could even call it a yard.) We really messed up the drainage slope when we put in the retaining wall but had no idea how severe it was until now since it rarely rains this much here!
Am I the only one that spaces out when the phone rings???

What it is all about

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking the kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with the children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

-Marjorie Hinckley

I saw this quote and had to share. The more I hear of Marjorie, the more I love her. Maybe I'll meet her someday. She is my hero!

He has lots to say.

Since I am the Primary Chorister I get to be in Sharing Time with Justin. Most of the time it's pleasant, especially when he says funny things like he did yesterday.

While holding a picture of a baptism, the teacher asked the question, " What happens when you turn 8?" Justin responded in a loud voice, without raising his hand, " You get to ride a bike with only two wheels!" Laughter followed and I just smiled. I hear things like that often.

He's always wanting to know what he gets to do when he gets older and prays often that he will be 5 or 9. In planning for the future he asked a 4 year old girl at preschool, "When we get older, do you want to get married?" He was pleased to know that she accepted the proposal.

Lament over a yard sign.

I pulled out of my driveway one cloudy, wet morning and it was gone! What could have happened to my Mitt Romney for Pres. sign that had been posted in my yard but only a few weeks? Stolen? Blown away?Was it a sign from above??? It was nothing tragic as I suspected. It had been retired and stashed in the back of our truck by Patrick to sit and gather rain. He had asked a few times if he could take it down, but I resisted. I guess he was ready to move on...Which I can't blame him for since it is his front yard too! So there it sits with a puddle of water gathering in the center of the sign...
What else? It was sad when I went to his site and all I could find is a thank you and farewell message. As a final blow, the Mitt Link has permanently been disabled, erasing all memories of his campaign! What is one to do??Who in the heck will I vote for now? Do I keep the bumper sticker on my car in hopes he'll run again?? What ever will I do??? Now that I'm finally able to write about this sad tale and progress through the grief cycle, maybe I'll be ready to move on with my life.
Now to be serious, minus the silly drama...Too bad America isn't ready for such an outstanding leader. I did love hearing his concession speech and thinking, "isn't it wonderful that such an outstanding, inspiring talk given by a former stake president is able to be broadcast to the whole dang country! " The talk is worth your time if you haven't listened to it yet. What a guy!
In memory\honor of Willard, I share with you this "touching" video.

ABCs of Me.

A- Attached or Single? Happily Attached

B- Best Friend?Patrick

C- Cake or Pie?Both... Coconut Cream Pie, Carrot Cake

D- Day of Choice? Monday...the only day I'm on fire to accomplish anything lately!

E- Essential Item? Wet Wipes

F- Favorite color? Muted Greens

G- Gummy Bears or Worms?Bears..the clear ones.

H- Hometown? Las Vegas.

I- Favorite Indulgence- massages & good quality truffles

J- January or July? March.

K- Kids? Two, almost 3.

L- Life isn't complete without? Air

M- Most Embarrassing: Exercising w/ 15 ladies at church, Justin opens up a bag of raisins w/a clip on and eats them. I hear, "Mommy, there is a bug in my raisins!" I walk over while everyone watches and he then tells me that there is also one in his mouth! Horrified, I have him spit the raisins into my hand. There, wiggling among half eaten raisins is a half eaten ROACH! To think of it now,I cringe. In the bag were two fat, black roaches. I thought of the worst.. My house must be infested! I'd seen a few in the garage but that was it, but I signed a contract w/ a bug man that morning. I didn't talk about it to Patrick until that night when he reminded me that we had eaten those raisins at a park the night before and had left them unattended for an hour. He had clipped the roaches in there without knowing it!!! This by far the grossest, most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me!

N- Number of Brothers and Sisters? 2 bros and 1 sis

O- Oranges or apples? oranges (especially when i am pregnant)

P- Phobias or fears? Running into inanimate objects.

Q- Quote? "El queso esta vieho y pudrido." Encino Man
& "Most people are just about as happy as they make their minds up to be."

R- Reason to smile? The crazy thoughts of Patrick...and his offspring, Justin.

S- Season of choice? Spring...Maybe summer if I lived somewhere else!

T- Tag; Anyone who wants.

U- Unknown fact about me? I don't know any unknown things.

V- Vegetable? Avacado...even if it is technically a fruit!

W- Worst habit? Procrastinating housework and as a result blog surfing.

X- X-ray or ultrasound? I have no idea...and could care less

Z- Zodiac sign? Cancer

Just when you thought we were sortof normal...

Just for Patrick!

Listening to the radio I heard and ad from the star guys and decided what I had to get Patrick for Valentine's Day...Because I knew how lame he thought buying a star was. (Sorry to you who seriously dig star naming.)

The pictures tell it all....

1 2 3

Patrick is thinking...
1: "You are kidding me. She got me a star?!?!"
2: " Did she really get me a star? I hope she didn't spend $ 60 on this."
3: "I am so glad this is fake. What a clever wife I have." The great grin of relief....and one happy man!

To view this and actually read it, just click on it!

My Husband : A RANDOM Romantic

Patrick is overflowing with creativity. I doubt that another woman on the entire planet got fruit flowers that looked like mine for Valentine's Day. Yes, instead of heading to the floral department, he headed to the produce section. Some would have been appalled by such a display but I was giddy. I just couldn't stop giggling when I thought of how randomly romantic Patrick is. He said, "I always get you real flowers. I thought I would do something different this year." And he did....( As a side note he did also get me pearls) Not that you could top the Fruit Flower montage!

Justin loved Valentines Day. Especially the cards from his little friends at school and the bag of Chocs from mommy. His only disappointment was that when we went outside, there were no decorations around the neighborhood. He said in a somber voice, " It doesn't look like Valentines Day out here." I guess Christmas decor set a high standard in his mind. Luckily his teacher had plenty of hearts and cupid cut-outs on the wall!

Anna loves any day that she actually gets to eat candy!

Serious Shoe Stringing

Since he was a wee one, Justin has had a serious love for "tying" his shoes.

This knotted masterpiece took him thirty minutes. Lucky thing it only took me 3 minutes to unwind the mess so I could really tie them for church!

Justin is a CRAZY dancer!

I could not believe Justin's free-style dancing abilities! I know these pictures look crazy but he was moving so much it's the best I could do. He was so serious it cracked me up. The whole crowd at my sister's party thought he was hillareous...This is when a video would have been the opperative mode of documentation! Just use your imagination.

Princess Amanda(her requested title)...crown and all.

First Snow Angel

Another fun in the snow day at Mt. Charleston. Justin was outside more than anyone rolling around in the snow. He could care less that his socks were soaked...