yakkety yak

Spud is hilarious lately. He's such a chatterbox, and it's just funny the stuff he comes up with to say. I think he's quite a bit chattier than Noodle was at this age, though I can't remember specifically how much she was talking. But he likes to narrate the things he does, which means he constantly wows us with the new words he's learning. Today he said to David, "Daddy, i hide in my shirt," and then pulled his shirt up over his face. He gets a real kick out of himself. And when we ask him to say words he doesn't feel confident about, he says "can't say it". It's funny, because I really think he went through a lot of his terrible two-ness at about 18 months, so he's actually quite pleasant most of the time now. He does throw the occasional tantrum still, but generally only as his "swan song" before bedtime or naptime.

I'm pleased to report that for the first time in a number of years, I'm actually DOING my New Year's resolutions. I wrote, well typed actually, all of them down and I'm keeping track of how it's going. Plus I'm "reporting" to some of my friends, which makes me feel more accountable and thus more likely to do them. Also, the resolutions are actually creating noticeable changes in my life, all positive, so I think I might actually be able to stick with them. Yippee!

And here's some pictures of the house that I finally got around to taking:






From top to bottom:
Kids' bedroom
Family Room (with my mom & Noodle's head in the picture)
Master bedroom
Office (with Noni)

pa rum pa pum pum....

Here are my drums! Aren't they beautiful?

Happy 2nd Birthday!

I sure love you, little guy!

No words

Spud came down to me resting on the sofa (I'm sick today) and handed me these silly plastic blue glasses from their doctor kit.

"Awan gasses on."
"Okay...there!"
He looks at me expectantly.
"Cute," I say.
"Nono."
"Smart," I say.
"Nono," complete with finger wagging.
"Handsome," I say.
"Nono!" he says, emphatically.
Pause.
"Nothing," I say.
He walks away happily.

A half minute later he returns, glasses in hand.
"Awan gasses on."
"Here you go."
He looks at me for a moment, then says "Nuffing."
"Nothing," I say.

He smiles and walks away.

Feathered Friends

All the cool birds are chillin' at my bird feeder this winter. Finches, sparrows and red-winged blackbirds to name a few. On Sunday we had about 60 flying between the front yard trees and the feeder.

Here Kitty Kitty

Here's Noodle and "her" cat, Noni.

The House of G

We did this a week or so before Thanksgiving and had a lot of fun.

An answer to a prayer

I've been a rotten mother lately. So I have been working really hard about not yelling at the kids, but Noodle has been going through a very yelly and sassy stage and while I've done a good job not yelling back, my feelings have not been as loving and calm as I would like them to be. Plus, I've just felt a lot of frustration lately when things go wrong and have had a hard time letting go of small irritations. I decided I'd start fasting again for Fast Sundays this month (I can't fast while I'm pregnant or nursing because my body doesn't handle it well AT ALL) and I did. And until I got to church and through a good part of Sacrament meeting, I was feeling very hungry. But the last 15 minutes of church, during a testimony meeting at the end of relief society, I got the answer I needed. A sister in the ward who speaks some English shared her testimony with us, and parts of it were hard to decipher because her word choice wasn't always exactly clear, but she talked about God's love for us and how if He could part the Red Sea for His children with Moses, he could help us too when we ask Him with faith. That point really hit me hard. If God can help Moses part the Red Sea, He can certainly help me be a good mother to my children. I had been feeling like things were so impossible and I didn't know what else to do, so this answer seemed almost too simple. But in my life, the major challenge right now is being a good mother to my kids. I believe that God loves all of His children, so my challenge of being a good mom is no less important than Moses' challenge of leading the Israelites away from the Egyptians. I am as entitled to utilizing His power as Moses was, as long as I am being faithful and obedient.

I am feeling much more hopeful about things now. Sometimes I think all we need is to see a glimmer of light/hope to keep us along the right path.

Kids in costumes

So, I realized the day of Halloween that Noodle's leotard & tights weren't gonna cut it for our COLD halloween. (I should have learned this by now...) So I bought her some new thermal pajamas and she doubled up on those, plus we added gloves by the end of the first street. Spud was going to be a firefighter, but he didn't like wearing the helmet, so we'll save that for next year. He did like wearing the devil horns that I'd bought that day, along with my cat ears. I was feeling pretty lazy this year and wasn't that into prepping for the holiday, which was kind of disappointing to me. Last year I went all out with our Little Red Riding Hood foursome but I think after planning & executing Ichthoberfest, I was out of creative energy.

Sleep, beautiful sleep

Last night Spud actually SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! Granted, he didn't go to bed until about 10:30, but he didn't wake up this morning until about 9:00! It was amazing. We recently starting having him sleep in his own bed in the kids' bedroom, but he usually wakes up and we bring him into our room. I'm sure it won't happen every night, but it was certainly a milestone for all of us.

And our Ichthoberfest party a week ago went really well. We probably had about 50 people turn out, and the food and company were both excellent. It was a fun get-together, and I look forward to next year's party. We're trying to come up with a springtime festival as well, so if you have any ideas...

Oh, and I just got the decal that I ordered for the rear window of The Box, it's the rat from the center of this sign (though the decal is white):


I also bought the sign to post in the rat room/office. After I wash the car & get the decal on, I'll post a picture.

Thought for Today

I had to give a talk in church today, which is one of my least favorite things, but I had occasion to share a poem I wrote several years ago as it tied in with the topic I was assigned: Faith. I thought I'd share it here for Spiritual Thought Sunday, which I haven't done in a while. (I really should learn how to do cool font things here, but I have no clue how.)



Wherefore Didst Thou Doubt?

Lord I see Thee in the distance
While my ship is tossed at sea,
How I long to be in Thy Presence;
Thou proclaimest, "Come to me."

Can I leave my ship of comfort
To step out onto the sea?
Though ragged, the ship's familiar.
Surrounding it, uncertainty.

Fixing fast my gaze upon Him
I leave my safe ship far behind
I have faith in Him who called me,
He, the Savior of mankind.

Ere my faith stays strong, sustaining,
And my sight fixed on His face
I shall reach HIm, though the winds blow
And be clasped in His embrace.

(Matthew 14:24-33)

Brush with near-greatness

I saw this guy http://www.fox.com/dance/bios/13_bsusak.htm today at Wal-Mart, of all places. He was a finalist on "So You Think You Can Dance," which is one of the few "reality-type" shows that I've ever followed at all. I nearly asked if it was him, but after checking the website I'm sure it was, as I heard his friend call him Ben. Plus, how many people look like that? (He's an interesting character.)

funny website of the day

http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/

I love the hairless "Kitler," #413.

Blogging sloth

While I think it is generally a good thing that I spend drastically less time at the computer since the move, I do have to say that I have missed blogging as much as I did before, and I've also missed keeping up on reading my favorite blogs. But between doing homeschool-preschool with Noodle, keeping Spud out of mischief and keeping the house kept up, I simply don't have the time to do more than 20 minutes a day on the computer, and that's if I'm lucky. So, that's life lately. David has nearly finished the bookshelves for the office -- tomorrow we'll start priming & painting. We're also busy planning our Ichthoberfest (celebration of fish) party for next month. It should be a good time. The weather here has turned cold the past few days, and we have been getting the hang of our wood-burning stove. It's nice. I love the heat from a stove/fireplace. It's so much more warming to me than electric heaters, and it doesn't have that heater smell.

David turned 29 on Saturday. I bought him the Lord of the Rings DVDs as well as a Ghostbusters 1 & 2 set. We watched the LOTR movies Saturday-Monday, and I really enjoyed them. Having never read the books nor seen the movies previous to then, I didn't know anything about them. This allowed me the privilege of zoning out anytime anyone would talk about them (which seemed to be quite frequently) and also of thinking myself superior because I wasn't tossing ridiculous names like "Gollum, Frodo, Aragon, Gandalf, etc" around. I don't know if other people are like this, but I tend to be repelled by super popularity of things. The hype around the LOTR movies made me even less interested in seeing them. I was the same way about reading "The Da Vinci Code," and still haven't read it, though I did see the movie. I guess sometimes I figure that if EVERYONE likes it, it must not be that great. Because obviously the masses have no taste. But in the case of the LOTR, I have to repent and say that I did think they were pretty great movies, and that I really liked the story. I will probably even read the books one of these years. I did get bored of all the battle scenes though. Which wasn't a surprise to me, as I also got really bored of the battle scenes in the Star Wars movies. Speaking of which, I've still not seen Episode 2....

The Latest

Our current home improvement project is to build bookshelves for the office/library. We bought the wood and David cut it all to size tonight. It will be great to get these done, as we've got lots of books, videos and games that could dearly use a home outside of their boxes. We'll also be building a case/shelf for the rat cage, which will be nice as well to keep it protected and secure.

Other than that, we are really loving living here. The backyard is absolutely wonderful. I love having the playground and the trampoline. And the garden remnants have even yielded some tomatoes. Next year we play to construct garden boxes to ease in the process of protecting things from dog & kids.

Oh, and Spud has been weaned! Whoo hoo! It's been a rough week, in that he still has wanted to nurse at times, but I figured at his age it is almost easier to go cold turkey than to try and help him understand that it's okay sometimes. He's two months older than Noodle was at weaning age. Thanks to David keeping him in our bedroom with him, I've been able to get some GOOD sleep in the spare bedroom. The first night it was absolutely bizarre to wake up and have slept uninterrupted for several hours. Ahhh, sweet slumber.

Hey hey he's a monkey

These moments are the reason this little menacing messmaking monkey is still around and not doing time at the coal mines.

The Great Bug Hunter

I couldn't help but think of Steve Irwin (may he rest in peace) today when little Noodle was so proud after capturing this dragonfly all on her own.

sad news

My rat Berkeley died tonight. He's been sickly for the past few months, and after the medication didn't seem to make any improvement, I discontinued it, and kept his energy up by feeding him baby formula mixed in with yogurt/cottage cheese. Last night when I was cleaning out the "hospital cage" I keep him in at times (so he had a chance to eat leisurely, he really wanted to get out and run around a bit. He climbed up the cage (haltingly so, but with determination) and ran around a little bit, and it seemed to wear him out. Today it was obvious he had taken a turn for the worse, and when I just checked on him, he had passed away. I am relieved, though, that the end came so quickly for him. Up until yesterday he was still eating and doing as well as he had been.

How do I love thee?

Let me count the ways.

I'm referring, of course, to my new high speed internet connection. Yeah baby!

1. It doesn't take www.homestarrunner.com ages to load every toon or strongbad email
2. PICTURES! I can look at PICTURES!!
3. Actually able to use alphabet learning/reading webpages with Noodle
4. Those petfinder.org adoption pages load right up, allowing me to search the adoptable doggies and kitties at lightning speed
5. Shopping at iTunes Music Store
6. Not having to dial up!!!
7. An added bonus is that my dot mac mail account works with this browser, whereas NetZero wouldn't allow it.

I'm surely forgetting some, but BOY is high speed fantastic!

Blast from the Past

We've moved! We're in the new house, surrounded by boxes on every side. Also, David decided to take out half a wall and we opted to paint the family room, so we've also managed to make a huge mess. I spent all day yesterday cleaning the old apartment, but it'll probably take another full day. The new washer & dryer (Kenmore HE2Plus series--they are awesome!) were delivered yesterday, the computer was back online last night, and today we got our TV/cable set up. Now if I can just do something with all this stuff!

The weekend of August 4th-6th we drove up to Idaho to attend my ten year high school reunion. I'd vascillated about going, but in the end decided I would rather go than wonder how it would have been. I had a great time. It was fun to see so many familiar faces and remember high school for a bit. I was surprised to enjoy it so much, because I was more than ready to leave high school when I graduated, and unlike many of my classmates, I never returned for summers. I haven't kept in touch with anyone, at least not consistently, and to a large extent I have felt like my life began after high school. But I really enjoyed hearing what people are up to, and I came away feeling really happy and satisfied with what I have accomplished in the last decade. And it didn't hurt any to have so many people tell me how great I look, including a friend overhearing a guy I dated comment to his friend that I was HOT. So I'm not above ego stroking--sue me.