Leah

Leah is always doing things to keep me entertained. Maybe I shouldn't even write this but it really made me laugh. We were walking around Wal-Mart today and she all of a sudden gave a little yell, saying "Ouch!". I didn't pay that close of attention until she did it a couple more times. I noticed that when she did it she would grab her bum and rub. I finally asked her what was wrong and she said that her bum kept itching her "Right there," and pointed to her little bum.

Be Seduced!

For Valentine's Day Jeremy took me to see Phantom at the Venetian. It was AMAZING! I was so excited to go and the show was more than I expected. I have seen it in San Francisco and in LA but this time beat them all. We had pretty good seats and you could see the actors expressions as they sang and acted. Their voices were more than amazing. I loved it! If you haven't seen it, you really should go.

Food! Glorious Food!

Okay, I have been doing this dinner thing with my kids and husband these past few weeks and it is actually working. There are a lot of benefits, but let me explain those to you after I explain my dinner thing. Well, when I was growing up each of us had a night that we were in charge of dinner. We would pick out the menu, make sure we had all the ingredients, and then make and clean it up afterward. It is really a lot of the reason I know how to cook at all. (Thanks Mom!) Well, I have given the kids a night to cook during the week were they get to pick out the menu and then help me cook. They LOVE it! There are a lot of benefits, too.

Let me list the ones I have discovered so far:

1. I get to spend time with my kids. Just me and them, them and me--one-on-one. It is really fun.

2. I have my meals planned so that at 4:30 I'm not goin' "Hum, what would be good for dinner?"
3. We save money by knowing what will be needed for meals, instead of me just picking up a bunch of stuff and hoping that it can come together in a healthy, yummy way.
4. We also save money because I don't feel like eating out as much because I already know what we are having for dinner.
5. The kids get to learn how to cook and prepare a meal. This will come in handy when they are older and no longer need my help and also when I am not around to help (like missions and college times).

So there you have it. My meal planner idea/copy of my mom's idea is working out great. Thanks MOM!

Sam4

Sam really likes to write his name, and he is good at it. Here is where he wrote his name out of coins. Notice that it has a 4 after the SAM. Yes, he thinks that is part of his name. Usually the 4 is backwards, though. I just love my Sam4. I just wonder what he will do when he turns 5.

Brain SCAN

I'm not sure what this picture tells us, but it said something about 'hearing loss, both ears'. This is what my dedicated husband does almost every Thursday night from 10:00pm to about 2:00am. He scans people's brains, sometimes his own, and tries to figure out what is happening. Okay, it's a little more complicated and specific than that but I don't really know what to say to explain it. I just know that each time he goes he gets one baby step closer to finishing his Masters Thesis. I love my smart husband!

Projects

I have been bitten by the project bug lately and have done a few things to my house. Here are some pics so you can see.

Here are the new bookshelves. We did the old "teacher trick" where we bought very inexpensive vinyl rain gutter (yes, rain gutter, the type that goes on the outside of your house) and secured it to the wall. In this case, it was the little pony wall by the stairs. I love it! The kids do too. No more annoying piles of books on shelves.

Here is the girls' room. It took me a few days but it is done. I just have a few little things to do (is anything ever really finished?) They love it a lot and are always playing in it. Only one more room to do! Oh, that would me mine!

The top one is above my front door and the bottom picture is above my pantry. It all turned out pretty cute thanks to my sister Heidi letting us raid her vinyl machine while we were in Utah. It turned out better than I thought it would. Thanks Ho!

We watched Superman Returns the other night as a family. We had a lot of fun. Some of the things that happened still come up at the dinner table, and we all laugh at ourselves. Here are those things so that we never forget. First we had special cookies for our treat. Sam carefully put them on individual, small plates so that we could each have our own. After about twenty minutes into the movie Leah complained that she couldn't find her cookie. She always leaves her treats and then wants them later so we just told her we didn't know where it was. At the end of the movie Jeremy stood up after sitting in front the Luv Sac. He had started on top of it, but in his shifting during the movie ended up in front of it on the floor. The kids immediately noticed the flat, almost whole cookie that had been squished under his bum. The cookie left a bright blue circle on his bum that even went through his thin scrubs. The kids died laughing, well, all except Leah who failed to see the humor in her squished, flat cookie. Also, during the movie the kids were asking a lot of questions about what was going on. Apparently, Superman is a little more difficult to follow than Barbie's Mermaidia. At one point they were a little scared and I looked at Shaunie, trying to reassure her, and said "Well, it's a good thing that they have Santa Clause!" Shaunie died laughing. The funniest part was her reaction. Lastly, at the end of the movie we were all sitting around talking about how Superman lost his powers because of the kryptonite. Jeremy explained it to Sam, "You remember that red tube that the bad guy put the crystal in..." Once again, we caught Dad and the kids started laughing. We all laughed and quickly corrected him on the color of the kryptonite. Next time you see Jeremy, ask him what color kryptonite is.

Prince Jeremy

Leah is very girlie, which I love. She loves to be with me when I am getting ready in my bathroom. One day I, uh, we were getting ready and she told be told me that she was a princess. I agreed with her, of course, and then she looked up at me and asked if Dad could be her prince. I playfully told her that he was MY prince and then we went back and forth for a while. I finally told her to go ask Dad whose prince he was. Eventually I agreed to let her borrow him and she was happy. I am glad she wants her daddy to be her prince. I hope she finds someone just like her daddy to be her knight in shining armor.

Engrossed

Okay, I have a new crush. Well, every woman in my ward (and I am sure more than that) has a crush on Edward Cullen the perfect vampire. I heard about these books by Stephenie Meyer first from my sisters and mom. They said they were the best and that I HAD to read them. After reading Harry Potter (yes, all 7 of them) I was a little reluctant to pick up anything else. I know what happens to my life when I can't put a book down. I didn't want to put my family through that again. Well, then my good friend, Melissa, told me that she had just finished them and that I, once again, HAD to read them. After the Superbowl party at her house she got out her newly bought copies of Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. By this time I had decided that I couldn't put them off any longer. I took the first one, Twilight, and told myself I would get to it. Okay, so then my life stopped, or at least I did everything I could to get it to stop, for three days until I had finished all three books . And now, like I said before, I am in love with Edward the vampire just like all the other women in my ward. I can't wait until the last book comes out in August! Bring on the literary madness once again.

Sammy

Sam has been learning how to pick out the sounds of words. I hope he sticks with it. He can be such a perfectionist! I was reading a book (okay, I was absolutely engrossed in a book) and he didn't understand. He came to me and told me in a matter of fact voice that "Looking isn't reading, Mom!" I didn't understand what he meant at first. Then it hit me. I tried to explain to him that I was reading inside my mind. I'm not sure he got it, but I loved hearing his input.

Oh Bla Di... Oh Bla Da...

Oh my gosh it is been a long time since I have written anything. I just can't believe how fast time has whipped by. I haven't even been doing anything special, just trying to keep up with life. I see that some new people have left comments and I am so excited to hear from you. I feel like we have hung out or something. Anyway, so far this year, 2008, has been pretty good. Troy is on a pretty regular schedule, which is nice because that allows me to do a lot of things....like SLEEP! He is the most smiley baby I have ever seen. My favorite thing is going to get him out after a nap. When he sees me coming he starts kicking and moving around and then he starts squealing out little laughs and giggles. He is soooooo cute! Okay, so I have to run the kids to a primary activity now. I'll write more.