Wow, we look good!

We went off to Jill's for the harvest party this weekend and we got to wear our cool costumes. So here we are. We also got to hear Taylor do his first Primary program. Ticee, these costumes are beautiful and the boys don't mind wearing them and Sam and I like wearing them too. Sam is going to take the kids trick-or-treating tomorrow in the costumes and I am going to stay at home and give away M&Ms. It is a must with these costumes. We will have fun. Our boys are at the loud stage and it's crazy. We have to go into the other room just to talk on the phone. But they are also in the beautiful/cute/adorable stage and that one is wonderful I'm going to see if I can talk Slade into a nap. He likes to wake up early with the time change and I don't. It will be good for both of us to have a little extra sleep. Bye.

My Particularities

Okay, I don't know if particularities is a real word or not but here are my weird things. I didn't know they were supposed to be things people didn't already know so they are just weird things.

1. I don't like bread. I also don't know any normal person who doesn't like bread. Oh well. On the same note-
2. I don't like food either Ticee. Sam thinks that is pure insanity but it's me and he still loves me. I do usually have an obsession of some kind of food or another and will eat it incessently for awhile. Then I stop liking it. One example, I loved the chocolate oranges and could go thru about 3 a week. It got kinda expensive. We bought 3 and about 1/2 way thru the first one I couldn't eat anymore. That's wierd.
3. M&Ms are my trademark. I have had them since junior high. I collect them. The models, the shirts, a cookie jar, I even have a telephone. And 4 Halloween costumes (that are incredible). But I don't eat them.
4. I have to eat things in twos. I have to eat 2 raisins, 2 peanuts (actually they are easy because they split into 2 pieces when you eat them), 2 grapes at the same time. And if they are colored I have to eat the same colors. 2 green skittles at the same time, 2 red at the same time, etc. So there's one in each side of my mouth. It's better just to stick with mass things (mashed potatos) or big things that can't be split.
5. I have to make my bed every morning. When I was in college Elder L. Tom Perry came to speak to us and as my roommates and I were walking in the chapel he shook our hands and asked if our beds were made. He told us it would be easier for the Spirit to dwell in our apartment if it was cleaner. I wonder if he had a revelation about our apartment at that time. We won't talk about that. But the end result was that it made me need to make my bed every day.

Okay there they are. My weird things. The ones I'm sharing right now anyway.

The joys of a traveling wife

I spent the week at Jill's house, Oct. 15-Oct 21. It was a long week without my sweetheart who was at a business conference. Man, I am crazy dependant on him now. Jill's schedule is a little different than our's. Their family is up and out of the door by 7:15am. Our family used to wake up about 7:30. While we were there my boys woke up at 5:30 one morning. I don't know about this "early to rise" thing.

We had a good time there. My boys enjoy playing with her kids though quiet times are required, naps preferred, to make it through the day. Scott decided that Jill's little boy was a "dedee" (baby). Yes he can say his b's. He says bye-bye just fine but doesn't want to say baby. So it's with a d and not a b. But it's very definate and you know when he's talking to or about the dedee.

We got to see 5 year olds playing soccer. It was cool. And Scott was determined to be out there on the field with them. We saved him. He can play later. We blew bubbles, read books, made cookies, and played Halloween stew. We had a good week but my favorite thing was when Sam came back on Friday night. And then we came home and slept in our own bed on Saturday night. The simple things in life are great aren't they.

I did read Ticee's blog about me being tagged but I'm not in the mood to write more so we'll talk more later!

New schedule

Life is changing at our house tonight. Sam is starting a new schedule- working all night sometimes and then all day some other times and back and forth. This is his first night. Whoa! It will be fun. I hope he can stay awake and we can stay asleep. My calling at church has changed because of this and I've worried and have complained about it (yes it's a talent) for a long time and now it's here. And we will go forward. I think Sam is kinda excited. Cool.

He only is working 2 nights because he has a big business conference next week and it will keep us away from home. What fun with the schedule. Still, I think I said it before, my boys will go back with the cousins and they love that. I like to be with the family too. It's just good.

We've had some Jehovah's Witnesses come visit a couple of times lately. We (LDS people) believe alot of the same things but there are some very different things. I just tried to keep on things we have in common. And to keep the tone of conversation pleasant. I'm not always good at that. I think I talked about me not knowing how to deal with other religions in an earlier blog. I really need to get out more.

I am off because I would like to talk to Sam in the next 20 minutes before he leaves for work. It will be good to see how we did tomorrow.

What a weekend! It is great having Jill here and Slade and Scott love the cousins. Still, when the weekend's over it's good to have some calm.

Saturday was crazy. In the morning Sam and I went shopping for him to get new clothes for a business conference. Jill kept the kids. We all went to a birthday party in the afternoon. I think everyone enjoyed that. And the treat bags were a favorite. The evening moving party was supposed to be quick but didn't turn out that way. We moved a couch from our house to a friend's. Then we got some new bright red couches from some friends in the evening. Jill took care of the kids during the moving. I just feel bad for her sometimes. We totally drop the boys on her when we need to do something. Of course she does offer to help. Our house had a major makeover. Well not major, but definately good.

This whole weekend Scott followed Jill's 6 month boy around saying, "Baby, baby." He loves that boy. And is learning a new word at the same time. This baby boy can crawl, pull up on anything, and almost walk. He is so busy.

Slade and Jill's other kids, Taylor and Emilie, have so much fun together. But this weekend Emilie and Slade had some screaming moments when they just didn't want to be around each other anymore, or share toys, or whatever. Still, whatever it was there was an incredible amount of screaming on both sides. Slade and Emilie had to be separated for awhile.

There is quiet for now because the cousins are gone. I think that my boys will be asking to visit them again soon though. Oh, the love of the family.

Crying over spilled milk- and water

Life gets interesting when a small one is learning to drink from a big kid cup. Scott likes the grown up cups better than sippy cups (and Slade still wants sippy cups- backwards!) and is trying to learn to drink. On Tuesday he drank from his cup really good every meal. We tried again on Wednesday. He is determined to keep his drink at the edge of the table and I kept scooting it in just a little and he kept pulling it out. Well, you guessed it, the cup full of milk got knocked off the table. The milk splashed all over the dining room area, under the table, even into the kitchen. I spent a few whiles wiping it up off the floor. I kept finding more splashes here and there all day. (You know milk doesn't dry clear.) Wow.

Thursday we had a similar experience during breakfast. Scott and his waffle were across the table from me and my glass of milk. Slade had a small bowl full of cereal without milk. So Slade decided that he wanted milk but just chose to have mine and poured my large glass of milk in his small bowl. Guess what- milk all over the table, chair, floor, and child. Slade was a little freaked out. There was another time that a glass of milk got knocked over, I just blocked the story out of my mind- or can't remember it. Anyway, Thursday was a good mopping day.

Thursday Scott also dumped a cup of water on the table and splashed in it and today he tried to pour his own water from the pitcher on the table during lunch. But water is alot easier to clean up.

Sam's sister Jill came over yesterday. Her kids are the best friends ever at our house. They are playing and fighting like nothing else. It's fun to watch and remember. It's like a family party of my family. Everyone spends some time happy and some time angry. We have a great time.

I really should go help Sam with dinner. What a beautiful thing- a husband who will cook when I don't want to. That way he gets to choose what he wants to eat. I did cook the dessert- and it's what I want to eat. I'm sure everyone else will eat it too.

At Home

What a while this has been. You know, since the last while. Sam started on shift work and so he leaves for work at 5:15am and gets home about 7pm. Poor Slade asks all morning, "Where is Dad?" Then when the afternoon comes he starts asking, "How long til Dad comes home?" So you think he loves him?

We have these Banquet pot pie meal things. They aren't worth the 49 cents they cost but don't tell Banquet that. Still, they are doing this Daytona 500 Nascar game. (Julie you really ought to look into this.) Every day Slade says, "I wanta race, Mom. I wanta race." You can enter the UPC number and pick a race car on the computer and it will race in front of you. It is one of the boys' favorite times of the day.

We went to the park today with about 6 other moms in our ward. It was fun. There was this lady there who smiled at me. I knew I should have recognised her but I didn't. I didn't know which kids were hers or if she had more than one. She knew me and the boys' names. So we were talking and she said something about her seeing us leave our house about the time they were packing up. (Oh, this is our neighbor.)

"Is this one your baby?" she asked. "He's getting so big."

"Yours are getting big too," I say.

"Oh, he's really big." She points at the slide.

Great, does she just have one? I just said something really stupid. Then who is this other one holding on to her leg? I ask what his name was. "Oh, that's Caleb playing on the slide, and this is Jacob. Bible names." Yeah, I'm right. There are two boys. Monica (I heard her name when I introduced her to one of my other friends and didn't tell them her name.) is a Baptist minister's wife. When I first met her I was so excited because I saw a UT plate on the back of her car and thought we grew up in the same place and could talk some home talk. But she had just come home from a mission in UT during the Olympics. She's so not what I expected, but way cooler than I expected too. Man, the stupid ideas I put or let into my head as I grew up.

When we got back from the park and had our lunch, we sent Scott off for his nap and Slade and I decided to make some rice crispie treat things with Chex. I let Slade help me. He was going to pour the already measured cereal into the marshmallows. I am not a really patient person and when he poured only about 2/3 of it into the marshmallows I did have a little stress. I had to clean the rest up and put it in. But then we got to clean off the spoons and such. It's fun to cook bad-for-you food.

Well, my boys are wanting me. Slade is actually eating his "tweets". But Scott is begging for me and that doesn't happen much so I think I'll take advantage of it.

My Beautiful Family

We had our neighbor kids over to our house on Friday. It was a pretty day here and we were playing in the backyard. The 6 year old girl asked me, "Are you a teenager?" What a beautiful moment. But I said no. And I had to laugh. I told her I was probably about the same age as her mom. She said her mom was alot bigger than me. I told her I thought she meant that her mom was older than me. Either way, it's just not true. They kids came over to play with Sam. Everyone loves him. He just fits with everyone. Makes people feel comfortable. What a hero!

Scott was in the bathroom the other day and tore a hole in the wallpaper. Okay, we know it had to come off anyway if it was peeling but him tearing it wasn't what I planned on. He loves the bathroom. He loves to turn on the water in the bathtub. He loves to flush the toilet. Most of all he loves to brush his teeth. What a boy. I hope he always wants to stay this clean.

He is at the point of trying to talk. If you ask him to. He does good with syllables. Tonight he repeated his night time prayers with Sam. The words are so not understandable, but he has the right # of syllables. And he said Jesus and Amen well enough that normal people, not just his parents, could understand them. I'm proud of my boy.

Slade has begun making me snakes and balls with Play-Doh. (I hate the way that Play-Doh smells. It is certainly distinct.) But Slade gets excited about making his snakes. We have to be careful while playing though because there is a little brother who likes to eat the Play-Doh.

The other day when I got it out for Slade and Scott to play with Slade did something wrong. I don't remember what he did but he had to wait to play for awhile. Because Scott was already up there waiting for the play time I just let him have the Play-Doh. He acted like he was playing with it but I never saw a piece of it broken off. When I had finished talking to Slade I was getting up to move the stuff over to Slade's place too and saw that Scott's mouth was full of the Play-Doh. That is just gross. He got sick, I almost did, but we all got thru the excitement. The boys haven't seen the Play-Doh since then. Don't tell them where it is.

This family and all the beauty they bring are the reason I am happy. I will work so hard, and clean up ugly and unclean Play-Doh off the floor, and listen to Slade's explanation of what the picture that he drew me is, and smile each night. Then hopefully, if we work hard, we will live happily ever after. (It sounds cheesy. Oh, well.)