Yippee Skippee, I've been tagged!

O.K. First of all, am I the only one who watched "muppet babies" while growing up? I always loved Mrs. Piggy (or, rather, Baby Piggy) saying "yippee skippy". You'll notice I spelled Skippy different ways, but that is because I'm not sure which is the right spelling for the saying! Anyway.

8 TV shows I enjoy watching when I have time and would like to chill:
1. The Office
2. Gavin and Stacey--so bad, but I looooove it
3. Scrapbook Memories
4. Pushing Daisies (who talks like that?!?)
5. The Soup--again, so bad, but l-o-v-e it!
6. Coupling--o.k. THREE REALLY naughty shows, but what can I say...I'm naughty :)
7. 30 Rock--is it sad that I identify with Tina Fey's character waaaay too much?
8. Worst Week. Becuase I can be reassured that I'm not THE clumsiest person on the planet. Oh, wait...he's fictional, isn't he? Darn.

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. Screamed at the kids until they got ready for school. Er, I mean, got the cute little kiddos ready for school.
2. Listened to my name being said over the radio as my gal pal Amy called in to tell a story! I know, and I just happened to be listening!!!
3. Cleaned my living room like a mad woman in preparation for my visiting teachers...didn't finish, but oh well.
4. Visited with my awesome visiting teachers
5. Picked up my kiddos and let them choose the music (read: gave up on trying to convince them to change the cd) and listened to the Chipmunk soundtrack for the 3rd time in 2 days. I really deserve a medal or something for that, don't I?
6. Ate doughnuts for after school snack with the kids--gee, I hope nobody from my 'chubby buddy' group are reading this...
7. Went to the library with kids.
8. Finished reading Ender's Game.

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Dinner tomorrow with The Becks
2. The primary sacrament meeting presentation. More like just looking to get it over with!
3. Thanksgiving!
4. Christmas!
5. My next Chubby Buddy meeting.
6. Getting some genealogy done, now that I've got Dad's help!
7. Christmas party at Buck's work. (because I love Dave's and Mike's wives)
8. Getting E out of our bed! She has recently decided she needs "a snuggle" in the middle of the night and sneaks in when we're asleep. Little stinker.

8 Things I love about Fall:
1. the heat is over
2. Thanksgiving
3. looking at leaves...not raking them. ugh.
4. it is now appropriate to drink hot cocoa and snuggle under a blanket with a good book.
5. o.k., this is so embarrassing, but I love seeing what new T.V. shows are coming out.
6. baking cookies doesn't make my house overly hot anymore.
7. O.K. Don' tell Buck this, but I secretly love that he is so happy that football is on again. Seriously, it's better than Christmas for him. I just hate when he's upset about a game. I just don't get it. Sorry.
8. Um, the streets are not as bad as in Winter. Sorry, but I'm at a loss for what I might love about Fall.

8 Things on my wish list:
1. a better job for Buck, where they appreciate him!
2. a home that fits my family.
3. a magical fairy to come to my home and make me and it fully organized.
4. another vacation with Dirk and Rory
5. travel with my hubby.
6. for my sisters to find happiness and love again.
7. to be the kind of mom my kids deserve...even though they drive me crazy.
8. for boobs that no longer drag on the floor, o.k., I know it's shallow, but I used to be so perky!

8 people I am tagging:
1. Stephanie P.
2. Stephanie N.
3. Rory
4. Carrie
5. Kelly
6. Donna
7. Mo
8. Randi

For Nanni

When I was a little girl she used to let me help sort the beans before she cleaned them. For some reason, tonight the memory just struck me so strong. Isn't it funny how that happens? I couldn't stop crying. It made me remember Cat telling me she was at a Mexican restaurant and the beans tasted just like our grandma's beans. She started crying right then and I thought "I don't even remember what they tasted like". Well, I'm sure she is watching and knows we are loving her from here!

Sitting up is fun!

I'm such a big boy!

I can sit for a long time, now!

Amy and me

We've got the right stuff!

New kids on the block

Let's rock! Wanna know where I am right now? Oh, it's sideways. Ooops.

P is for Pneumonia

Yes. I called the doc to find out if I could send E to school, since she was still coughing and had a fever and I wasn't sure what to do. I know (from the countless times I've taken in the older kids to the doc) that a cough can last for weeks and not be a worry, so I wasn't too concerned. I know, right? Mother of the year, right here. Anyway, long story short, the nurse said that I needed to bring E in since she had a fever along with a cough for over a week. SO I took her in, and, they did an xray and now we know. Poor thing. I guess I have to be nice now. :)

Our darling S

Last week I got an email from S's primary teacher (whom we L-O-V-E), saying that this week's lesson would be about talents and she asked each parent to write down a list of some of their child's talents and email it to her.

What an easy assignment for me to complete! S is such a fantastic child. I don't think I could have imagined a sweeter little girl!

Anyway, the task made me feel kind of nostalgic, so I decided to post it here to share with all of you what a sweetheart my S is. Oh, I also included pics, because, well, she's cute! This is S at around 4 and a half months, sporting her mohawk and sitting with Grandma Mary.

O.k., now people who knew me as a child may be confused by this pic, because it looks just like me as a little girl, but I assure you, it is S, self-styled, for 'tacky day' at school a few years ago. Gosh I love that girl!

S is a great dancer, a lovely singer, and a snappy snapper! She is a peacemaker, which I think is a great talent. She has a talent for being thoughtful and also selfless. She is both kind and sympathetic, something I'm trying real hard to teach to C! S can always make us laugh because she is a great comedian. She is a 'baby whisperer' and can calm her baby brother down better than anyone else can...I don't know if she is a baby whisperer for all babies or just J. Personally, I think she and he had a close relationship in their pre-earth life. S is imaginative and is a great storyteller. Another of her talents (and one of my favorites) is her faith. She always knows to go to Heavenly Father with needs or questions. I know this because she tells me when she has done it. She is still learning to listen for the answer, but, let's face it, with her intuition to turn to her Father for help, she is already leaps ahead of some of us adults! She is also very smart, and a good friend, but I figure that goes without saying...You know her! S is helpful and doesn't always need to be asked. She also has a great memory. Oh, and she is good at seeing a need and filling it. I guess that goes with helpfulness... Hmm... Well, like any mother, I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking of how lucky I am to have her in my family. She really does live up to her name's meaning 'Princess, full of life"

My darling S

Dress-up

S and E decided to be princesses for a day. First they got dressed up, and S did E's hair.

Gorgeous, I know.

Then, they had to get their princes so they can go to the ball.

Introducing Prince Bunny the Bunny and Morton. *Yes, I know his name is Horton, but E calls him Morton. She's an individual*

And at the end, of course, kiss their princes good night. I might add, that Daddy is determined that Prince Bunny the Bunny and Morton will be the only ones kissing our girls until they are married.

The girls are always trying to get C to play dress up with them and to be a prince, but he's too interested in being a pokemon, or dragon catcher or whatever. So, since Baby J, can't talk back, they dressed him up, too. You have to admit, he is cute!

Rotten kid...

You know how babies look at you sometimes with that wondrous look in their eyes? The one that looks like they are thinking "Wow...you're my mom! I love you!" Well, Sunday as I was putting J's carseat in the car after church, he looked up at me like that. Well, of course I couldn't ignore him! --now, let me interject real quickly that we (our household) like to speak for baby J. That is, we pretend to know what he is thinking and say it for him. ok. back to the story-- So I started saying, "Who is that gorgeous lady! Is that my MOM?! She's my mom!"(o.k. I also feel it necessary here to assure you all that I was playing, under no circumstances do I ever seriously refer to myself as gorgeous! ok, back to the story) C, my little booger of a son, then says, "Who, J? That lady out there?!" and points out the window. Yeah. Thanks.

E's funny

E: Ms Karen always tells me what to do!
Me: that's what she's supposed to do. That's her job. She tells you what to do so she can teach you. She's really smart!
E: OK. Except she's not.

It made me laugh.

Some pics

from the end of summer and Uncle Matthew's visit.

After school, yesterday

So this was taken from my phone. I wanted to be sure to catch a pic of her after school. I think Preschool tuckered her out. She was tired and w-h-i-n-y all day long. She even burst into tears when S asked her how she liked class. E said, "S said something to me!" Seriously. That was her explanation for her tears. O...k...

First Day of Preschool!

Well, today was E's first day of Preschool. She has been asking for weeks, "Do I go to my school tomorrow?" And finally, when we told her "Tomorrow you have school!" She answered, "No..."
This is her as we are getting out of the car. And here she is inside her classroom. The woman to the side is her teacher. She teaches out of her home. The classrooms are in her basement. She's super sweet, and she created her own preschool program with gospel-based stories. I think E will LOVE it. There are lots of girls in her class.
Oh, and here is a full body shot of her. As you can see, she is all pink today. Hey, on your first day of preschool, you've got to show people what you're all about!

... And a Word-Smith Rears His Ugly Head

At long last, 'tis I ... the Many-Named-One. I have finally decided to blog after so many years of non-blogging. Let me give a little history:

Back in grade school our school was having a 'blog-off'' (a blog race of sorts), and I was a bit nervous because I wasn't the fastest blogger. Well, at the starting line I was so nervous that I started too soon. I gained a huge head-start over everyone else, yet no one seemed to notice! I finished first, in record time, and everyone was stunned! All hailed this achievement, except for the kid who had been, until that race, the blog champion. He didn't believe I could blog that fast. So with his suspicion, and the blog coach's constant pestering for me to join the school blog team, I realized I couldn't validate my win in any future race. So I began saying, when asked, "I choose not to blog!"

Okay Seinfeld fans, I hope you enjoyed that. For those of you who don't know, I stole this story from a Seinfeld episode. In grade school there was no blogging, no Internet, or even Windows. I guess Al Gore was still working on that. I wrote this because I just couldn't think of what to say, but I'll come up with something soon. Just a little taste of my warped humor.

The kind of Spanish I know.

O.K. for a Chicana, it is sooo sad to note that this is about the level of Spanish I speak. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw

I know, I know. But don't make me go into my whole story about High School Spanish and why I took Russian in college.

Proof positive...

that Heavenly Father knows His children.

Ever wonder what a dinner made by an angel looks like?

It looks like spaghetti and meat sauce, corn, homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. And the angel that delivered this meal to me today...out of the blue...is Catherine K.

Today was a busy day for me. I drove nearly 2 hours round trip to pick up a new handle for my dishwasher (yes, it broke off a week ago so I've been hand-washing dishes--ugh!) and stopped to pick up a much sought-after cup for C's class--don't ask. While getting in the car I thought, 'gee this looks a little lopsided.' I got out and looked and noticed that my rear left tire was low. I decided to put air in it after picking up the kids from school. I drove there early and went to the office to get a flyer approved for an upcoming school activity. When I got back to the car the tire was F-L-A-T. So I had to figure out how to change a tire on my van. Luckily, someone saw and went looking for help. The maintenance man at the school then came and finished changing the tire for me. O.K. I'll be honest: I had only succeeded in removing the spare from the undercarriage of the van. But, hey--that took, like, 10 minutes! Then I had to get to the tire store to have a new tire put on and waited in the 'lounge' with my four restless children.

I skipped shopping for last-minute needs for dinner because the kids (and me) were all a little loopy from the wait at the tire store. By the time I got home I was exhausted and frayed. That was when I noticed I got a call from a friend saying, essentially, "Hi, I was just thinking of you and I am bringing dinner over for your family tonight. See you at 5:30!" I wanted to cry, I was so thankful.

Then I got a call from my mom telling me that my uncle passed away suddenly from a massive heart attack. Well, then I really did cry.

But after I finished my cry for my Uncle Helmut and his family, I thought about how grateful I was for a friend who not only felt a prompting to do something (super)nice for me and my family--but who did it! Sometimes I think about people and think I should do something for them, but almost always second-guess myself. Last Christmas my ward (church) asked all the sisters to share a written account of a time someone had been like an angel in their lives. I really believe God wants us to take the time to do for others. That way we bless someone's life, and are blessed for doing so. Goodness knows I feel blessed, and I know Catherine will be blessed, too!

Playing catch-up

Well, that is what I'm having to do with this blog. Let's see... What has happened? Oh, yes. I had a birthday. Mom, Papa D, Cat, The Many-Named-One, C, S, E, Baby J, and I all went to Red Robin for dinner. Below is my cake. Erin, The Many-Named-One's co-worker made it for me. It was super rich and yummy.

Thomas and Jenni came out to visit and to be here for Baby J's blessing day. Also in town was Matthew, who is staying with us while his dad is away for a few weeks. We went hiking on Sat., even though C complained at first (he loved it in the end...just didn't want to admit it!). S and E were so sweet, checking on Uncle Matthew periodically. Hopefully I can get some of the pics emailed to me from Jenni. If I do, I'll post them here.

Here is Baby J with his uncle on his blessing day. As I dressed him I warned him, "No going poopie in this outfit!" He didn't listen. Grrr. Well, at least it was at the end of church.

Matthew, S, The Many-Named-One, Baby J, C, Thomas, Jenni, E, and me...getting ready to go. We just naturally paused like that. Lucky someone had a camera!

Hello, Tooth Fairy!

Well, someone has lost her first tooth! S is verrry excited. She noticed it and I predicted it would come out 'by Friday'. Of course, I was wrong and it took another 2 weeks to fall out. Poor girl kept saying, 'Mom said it would come out by Friday'. I tried to explain that it was only a guess, but she seemed to think that was not a good enough answer. She could not wait and when she finally did lose it, we texted the pic to a few people to share her good news.
When it came time for the tooth fairy to bring her dollar bill in exchange for her tooth, that tooth fairy didn't make it to our house that night. The tooth was placed under S's pillow again, and that night the tooth fairy came. We all know that the tooth fairy is verry busy and sometimes it takes an extra night in order to get to the tooth. I know one family who, after waiting for the tooth fairy to come for a full week, decided that it might be easier for her to find the tooth if it was sitting in the hallway! Luckily, the tooth fairy only has ever taken one extra night in our home! Gotta love that tooth fairy...wonder what she does with all those teeth?

What's going on.

This is an older pic, but I don't have anything on my computer that is more recent. This was taken on E's birthday.

Anyway.

I hope that our friends and family actually look at this page periodically, otherwise, why am I doing this?

Let's see. Today E had her first real play date at our house. She's gone to other people's homes before, but with the pregnancy and then having a new baby to adjust to, I didn't feel much up to having an extra preschooler over. It worked out o.k., though. I did feel bad that the little playmate wanted to go home before it was time for her mother to pick her up. Oh well. I guess 90 minutes is her limit!

Today I improvised a penne/meatball/ricotta/tomato dish. Just kind of throwing together what we had in the house...and what I could do on the stovetop. It is wayyy to hot to be using the oven. I heard about a woman who is using her crockpot every day in 2008. I think I might have to look at some of her recipes. Check out her blog! http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

Allow me to introduce myself...

As you can see, I'm new here. heehee. I'm growing quick: two months ago I shot into the world weighing in at 7 lbs, 11 0z.just like my big brother. Now I weigh 13 pounds and have grown four whole inches! I am a good eater, and mom hopes I'll soon be a good sleeper. We'll just see about that. Currently my favorite hobby is cooing at anyone who will stop to chat, and I'm cute, so let's face it, everyone drops what they are doing to visit with me. The only drawback of being so darn cute is Daddy kisses me pretty constantly when he is holding me, and when I'm alone, my big sister E is always trying to give me a kiss and a squeeze. Sometimes she gets a little too excited and squeezes too hard. Big sister S seems to have the magic touch with me. She can always calm me down just by rubbing my head and talking softly to me. She's pretty awesome. Let's see, and as for big brother C, well, he is already bragging that I have said my firstword. I have them all sooo wrapped around my little finger!

O.K. here we go!

At long last we have decided to start our own blog. Mainly because I'm so bad about actually sending pics of our family to everyone. So, in reality, this is just another way for me to be lazy...but I'll look at it as a way for me to keep better contact with my family and friends (so long as they look up what is happening on the blog...and so long as I update it more than once a year).