For the quote book.

Anna: Tuck!
(I'm stuck once again and would love some assistance right away.)

Oh, the Joys of Motherhood!

I have been thinking about how nice it has been lately for my kids to play together. Anna has really been understanding a lot more and Justin is being a lot more understanding. Yesterday they played for an HOUR without any teasing from Justin, squealing from Anna or fighting in general. Today there was much of the same...It just brings joy to my mommy heart to see my kids happy and get along.

Well, you can imagine how I felt when I hadn't heard or seen them in a while and found them playing happily on the porch. I peered through the curtains and kept my presence concealed to enjoy that "shining moment of joy and satisfaction" and thrilled in the excitement displayed on their cute little faces. Then, instantly, my joy turned to disgust when I saw what they were playing with. They each had their very own partially alive, mainly dead cockroach that had been slowly lulled into an eternal, dark sleep a few hours earlier by the pest control guy.

They were studying God's marvelous creatures with wonder and amazement only a child (or entomologist) could have for such a decrepit specimen. I just thought of germs, pesticides and the goo they had squished from their bodies. Next, I did what any mother would do....I took a picture of the "special" moment. Well, most mothers would probably forget the picture and head straight for the antibacterial soap...I did the scrubbing shortly after while teaching Justin yet another lesson about the undesirable qualities of a cockroach.

I hope you are all as privileged as a mother to enjoy precious moments such as this. If you have such a lovely tale, do tell, and we can bask in the joy together!!!

Unsolved Laundry Mysteries.

I know you've all wondered as I have....

Where do all of the missing socks go??

When will laundry learn to put itself away??

But I think I may be alone in my quandary,

"Why did my dryer eat one of the few maternity shirts I own ???"
It's taken small nibbles out of several other items but has never been this vindictive.

I think I will commence a laundry strike until this matter is resolved.

And another thing: Why is my laundry never done?!?!?

Fun For All!

Justin and Afton Larkin. A perfect pair on the teeter totter!

There's lots and lots of fun to be had by all at the "cowboy park" in Mountains edge.
It was our first time there and we absolutely loved that park!
It was definitely worth the drive to be there with Angie (my bestest best friend), Katina(Angie's sis) and her ward play group!

While at the "cowboy park" I looked over to see several of the little girls we were with joined around Anna, teaching her colors with their lolly pops as visual aids. It was so precious. This doesn't stop when girls turn into women, does it!?!?

101 things about ME...In commemoration of my 101st Post!

101 extremely random things you've always wanted to know about me...but probably not. It's a fun writing project for those who want to increase self awareness and self absorption add to their personal history!

Enjoy...When you have the time of course!

1. I love the smell of the asphalt when it gets wet.

2. I love to take really hot showers in the winter... the reason for my mild excema!

3. I enjoy listening to Dr. Laura and agree with 95% of what she says...even if she comes off rude!

4. I love baskets, buckets and containers, have tooo many but still have a hard time restraining myself when I see another I like!

5. I only like cookbooks with pictures of every recipe and wish all restaurants had a picture of each item, even if it is low class.

Click here for more if your up to it...

6. I have a really hard time deciding what to order if I go to a new restaurant (especially if there are no pictures.)

7.I love warm summer rain...or any rain at all!

8. I hate a messy house but that doesn't keep me from having one.

9. I'm happy that my husband could care less about watching sports.

10. At times I feel like my 4 year old has a better memory than I do.

11. I usually stick to movies that would be in the genre of Family Entertainment...

12. I love wrapping presents beautifully but am a bit disappointed when they always seem to get torn apart

13. I love being married to a computer geek...even if I'm not one.

14. I was a lot more outgoing in social gatherings before I had kids which tend to occupy so much of my brain power that I can barely focus on anything else.

15. I sometimes worry too much about what others think and really worry about saying things that will hurt other peoples feelings...but still do unintentionally at times.

16. I have a new found love of cauliflower and beets.

17. I have never lived out of the greater LV area but know that won't last forever since Patrick will be ready to move elsewhere for a PhD. in a few years.

18. I really love bottles, especially uniquely shaped or colored ones. Bottles are one of the only things I collect.

19. I taught 2nd grade for 4 years and loved it but don't miss it.

20. IF I ever go back to work, It will probably be as a Substitute Teacher. I like the idea of being with the kids...when I feel like it and not having the full responsibility of having my own class.

20. I consider homeschooling my kids, especially after elementary school...

21. I have never dyed my hair...other than the 1 week kind in high school.

22. I have never had fake nails...and probably never will.

23. I love playing volleyball and will hopefully be able to still do it by the time I stop getting pregnant and don't have babies around.

24. I'm not squeamish about bugs, except when the crawl on me unannounced.

25. I'd rather organize my junk drawer than put laundry away.

26. I love to create pottery and would love to have a kiln and wheel one day.

27. I find great pleasure and satisfaction in saving money and being resourceful.

28. I really enjoy camping and all of the preparation but stink at unpacking after it's over.

29. I love finding treasures at garage sales and by trash cans but have never been inside a dumpster.

30. I collect too much "potentially useful" stuff as a result. I am recovering from this habit though...slowly but surely.

31. I love to snow ski and have enjoyed it since I was 5.

32. I used to be able to water ski, now I just ride on inner tubes.

33. I love to be surprised because I love anticipation...I never find out the sex of my babies or open presents before Christmas.

34. I call Dr. Sears (the author) my pediatrician.

35. I only very selectively vaccinate.

36. I have had a home birth and adored it but am not opposed to hospital birth under the right circumstances or in case of emergency.

37. I am a great pregnant lady...my only typical ailment is fatigue and occasional muscle strain.

38. I only use medication as a last resort after I've tried to figure things out on my own using alternative medicine.

39. I spend an unreasonable amount of time grocery shopping. I pay way too much attention to the details.

40. I consider myself a decent teacher and love to teach R.S. even if I only have a few minutes notice.

41. I enjoy giving talks in church.

42. I clean the windows and mirrors in my house with club soda.

43. I very rarely read fiction books and if I do it's usually the audio version.

44. I read lots and lots of non fiction books on topics that interest me...mainly to figure stuff out...topics I like are marriage, nutrition, parenting, decorating, organization, home improvement and life.

45. I always attend the ward book club but never read the books...I'm good moral support I guess.

46. I would rather learn to do something myself rather than pay someone else to do it...but I don't cut my own hair....just my families'.

47. I despise vacuuming...probably one of the reasons I have no carpet.

48. I've been to Europe twice including France, England, Italy and Belgium. My favorite city was a row of 5 small Italian cites off of the Italian Riviera called Cinque Terre.

49. I only remember my dreams when I'm pregnant.

50. I work most efficiently under pressure...which is how I justify much of my procrastination.

51. I was really bad at keeping in touch with old friends and family...before blogging came along of course!

52. I like to sit at the front of the chapel during church and in classes I'm interested in.

53. My favorite magazine is Wonder Time. It's the only one I actually read instead of browse.

54. I am an LDS institute junkie and have the equivalent of a PhD....but stopped going when Justin turned 1 and was too loud.

55. I don't own an Ironing board and have only used my iron once in the last 6 months.

56. It's not uncommon for me to have to was a load of laundry 2 or 3 times because I forget about it .

57. I am the Primary Chorister in my ward.

58. I have mainly served in The Relief Society (the women' organization) at church and have never served in Young Women's Organization.

59. I most effectively study the Book of Mormon when I listen to it on-line and follow along in my book.

60. I don't ever have road rage but I unfortunately cause it once in a while.

61. I rarely remember what I see in movies...I watch them again for the second time once in a while.

62. I have gone to Costco just to look around and eat samples...I don't have much I actually buy there.

63. I don't watch television.

64. If I took the time to do it, I could be a decent artist. I would like to make time to paint and find a place I could do pottery

65. I am afraid to start a garden in the desert, but still hope to try soon

66. I really enjoy ping pong and got lots of practice during th 7 years I spent at the LDS institute.

67. I once gave a bum asking for money a box of rice crispy treats and he loved it.

68. I like arrive first and leave last at social gatherings...Patrick likes to arrive last and leave first. We usually end up staying places just the right amount of time.

69. I considered myself an easy going person....until I got married.

70. I bite the inside of my lip when concentrating or anxious.

71. I have had a hard time coming up with this many things about myself...so It's taken me several different occasions to write this list.

72. I love word games like scrabble and mad gab but also enjoy number games like rummi cube and phase ten. We played a lot of games as a couple before we had kids...now we play games like Chutes and Ladders and Hi Ho Cherry O'.

73. I love the idea of having a large family and will have kids so long as I feel mentally stable enough to be a good mommy.

74. My top love language is Words of Affirmation. Just one reason I pathetically beg for comments.

75. I was a Balloon Artist in restaurants during college.

76. I love the movie Dan in Real Life....I love to laugh and cry at the same time!

77. I was on a Synchronized Swimming team as a kid.

78. "I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.....I know who I am, I know God's plan, I'll follow him in faith. I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ, I'll honor is name. I'll do what is right, I'll follow his light. His truth I will proclaim." That's one of my favorite primary songs!

79. I need to wash my baseboards and mop my floor.

80. I find animals, bugs and wildlife fascinating but I'm not really a pet lover. I don't mind low maintenance animals though for my children.

81. I don't misplace my keys, loose things or kill my car battery as much as I used to, which is hard to believe for those of you who have known me for a long time.

82. I am a deep sleeper, but not so much since I have young kids.

83. A human tendency that bothers me is when you see someone and they ask "how are you doing?"....as they walk away. I know, it's just a way of saying hi, but sometime, I might just want to tell them how I am!

84. I've tried to plan a menu for our family meals but have never followed it...I usually decide what's for dinner when my husband calls and says he is on his way home from work.

85. Only the strongest of houseplants survive under my care.

86. I don't want to hear bad stuff about other people. I agree with Thumper's mom when she says, " If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."

87. I can remember lots of people's names...except when they are standing in front of me.

88. I triple the amount of oats when making oatmeal cookies and used bake with whole wheat flower. I feel better when my baked goods have some added nutrition, and they don't give me a headache.

89. I don't cook with much meat...I'm not a vegetarian, just a eatlittlemeatarian.

90. I do so much research about harmful things in food that it's sometimes hard to enjoy eating. I don't really like having a love hate relationship with food, especially when it is so yummy...but it's not so good for my tummy.

91. I have been married for 6 years to a wonderful man.

92. I worked on my scrapbook regularly until I started blogging.

93. I love open window weather...even if it makes my house terribly dusty. I still rarely dust my house.

94. I have a hard time shopping online because I really like to feel things and see them in real life...and returning things is much harder.

95. I have always wanted to have a compost bin...and plan on doing vermicomposting (a worm farm) very soon.

96. I love the movie Mary Poppins and never get tired of watching it.

97. I would love to work as the door greater at Wal-Mart when I'm a Senior Citizen.

98. My favorite store is Ross...it's the bargain hunter/scavenger in me.

99. My favorite scripture story is about Abinadi in the Book of Mormon...probably because I just finished reading Mosiah.

100. I am ignoring the fact that Anna is emptying my neatly organized junk drawer onto the kitchen floor because I'm almost done....

101. I spent way too long on this post... I'm glad I'm done! Still here??? I would love to hear your about what we have in common and what new things you learned about me, even if you are usually only a blog stalker! I always love actually knowing who visits me here in blogland! Thanks for the idea Randi!

I would especially love to read your list of 101 things. C'mon...it's personal history!

A bloggers lament

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Ouch.Why did they have to write that so big?? One of the simple pleasures in my life is finding long lost friends and acquaintances online but alas those huge bold letters say it all. I just wish there were a way to send some plea for entrance into the protective environment of a private blog...at least if they said no after I asked, I would have a reason to feel disappointed I can't come in. I totally understand protecting lovely family info and pictures.... What is a blogger to do??? sigh.

Our goofy kids all ready for bed. :)

I think my kids are naturally goofy, the fun glasses just improves upon that!

Grandma Morris made Anna's cute nighty and got Justin his new favorite jammies!

Thanks Grandma!

Stuck in Elementary School!

demitasse, quadrat, diener, hyssop, macédoine, basenji, numnah, chorion, nacarat, sinicize, hyphaeresis, taleggio & esclandre

These big words did not improve the reading level of my blog one bit!!! I wonder what the criteria is???? At least I really enjoy Elementary school!

"The Day, The Muuusic, Died."

And were you singin', bye, bye, miss American pie,
Drove my Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry?

I got sick of pressing the pause button on the music ever time I visited my own blog, so I deleted the HTML link....I just can't help but wonder "Should It stay or should it go now??" This is not really a weighty matter by all means, but I just can't decide weather I like music on my blog or not. I've been meaning to mix it up and get new songs for many moons but never did so it's gone.



So, should I resurrect the tunes (a new variety of course) or bury them forever???

Recycled!

My dad got the wood for our patio cover roof from a guy who puts up and takes down signs for home builders. There was a colorful variety of boards that we used. Since was not part of putting on the roof, I was very curious to see what our backyard neighbors with a two story house were privileged to see....So up I climbed to partake of the lovely piece of modern art that Patrick and my dad had created. I think the collage turned out quite lovely. Since nobody would ever see it but the one house behind us it was tempting to leave it like that, just because I find it amusing to have random things in my relatively normal life, but it leaks when it rains....
Too bad for them that we covered it up with shingles this weekend!

I no longer cringe when I walk into my garage.

When it was cool I spent 15-20 hours and actually got my garage in good shape. I also got rid of lots of stuff...which is hard for me to do for some reason.
My mom even came and helped me one of the days for several hours! Thanks mom!

Anna cracks me up...I figured out that she was ready for a nap when we found her laying on the rug in the garage!!! She slept there for about an hour then got back to work!

Pathetic.

This is called THE MEGA SWEEP.
Documentation of the real but not so pretty stuff in my life.
Happens after very long weekends (and on a smaller scale mostly every day.)
Because I'm too lazy to pick it all up off of the floor.
May sit there for days.
Yucky, dreaded, nasty.
Thank heavens for the large dust mop.(and all hard floors.)
Can I blame it ALL on my kids???
Housekeeping is NOT my forte.
Am I the only one!!??!?!

SELF RELIANCE!

SELF FEEDING....Anna loves playing in the car while I clean the garage...she found a lovely meal for herself!

Poor Little Poster child! If only someone had left the box open?!?!

Anna woke up way too early on Saturday morning for mommy.
Anna and I were lucky I hadn't cleaned up all the way from a party the night before...
I got more sleep, she got to feast on chips dipped in cool whip!
Not a healthy breakfast!

SELF CLEANING...

.
Not quite.! She doesn't actually change the diaper.
I'm still trying to figure out how to teach her that one!!

SELF SEDATION.....

I have no clue where she found this gem! What was the magic? Sugar or Red Dye #40??

SELF ENTERTAINMENT:

She can spend a whole hour just reading books. I don't even do that!


READY TO STEP OUT INTO THE WORLD???
Not quite!

I'm glad she's still my little girl!

And yes....they are sleeping!

Note to self:

or else.....

Never leave child unatended on a desk (or attended while the mommy is blogging!)
This make-over done by Anna was hard to miss, once I finally got off of the computer and took a good look in the mirror and saw what she had accomplished while she sat in front of me on the desk as I stared at the computer!

I have not spent a serious amount of time on the computer in blogland since May 15th. It's now 17 days later, it's 95 degrees outside and I've been aching to get on the computer and visit you all and actually share something. While I was on "leave" I got lots done and really admited to myself that I need to be moderate in my love of blogs and blogging. The plan is to only blog when the kiddos are not around! If I stick to my plan, I won't end up feeling guilty, and my face and office will be alot better off!
Just to not forget my pact, this morning I wrote a little note to myself...
It did work, for today at least!