Slipshod Sadie

I love this girl. That being said, here are all of her messes that I cleaned up yesterday:

1. She somehow found a black marker and drew all over one of our dining room chairs while I was showering.

2. She peed on a different dining room chair.

3. She spilled her entire bowl of Kraft Mac & Cheese all over the floor.

4. She peed on the couch.

5. She peed on her carseat.

6. She peed on the couch again.

I don't know if she was just having a lazy pee day or what. She's usually really good about recognizing that she needs to go, and alerting me. So. Fantastic day with the Sadie-meister.

The TRUE "Windy City"

In my opinion, Chicago has nothing on Idaho Falls, when it comes to wind. March came in like a lion and..well...went out like a lion. And April has been the same. A whole lotta wind, and a little bit of snow. I'm trying to revive my poor pansies - it's touch and go. The other day, I was cleaning my dining room, which has huge windows looking out to the front yard. Ben was returning home from work, and he pretended like he was being blown across the yard. I laughed so hard, so I made him re-create it for me for this shot:

Dylan at IHOP

When Ben's mom and stepdad were here, we all went to IHOP one day, and Dylan had to go potty, so I took him to the ladies' room with me. They had this hand dryer that was seriously sooo strong. Totally violently strong. We had fun watching it blow on our hands and moving our skin around, and then Dylan got the idea to let the air into his shirt, creating a balloon effect. He thought it was so funny. I happened to have my camera in my purse, so I caught it on my camera:

And then I videotaped it, too. Sorry if it's loud!! It was VERY strong:

Dylan the Wuss!

A few months ago, I asked Dylan if he wanted to try to play soccer. We had seen kids playing soccer when we drove by schoolyards, and he has a little fake soccer ball that he likes to kick, so he's a little bit familiar with it. He enthusiastically said yes. So I paid my $40 and signed him up for spring soccer.

What a mistake.

This kid is the biggest wanny I have ever seen! If he trips and falls, he comes running to the sidelines, crying as if his best friend just got murdered. If he doesn't make a goal because the ball went out of bounds or because someone on the opposing team stole it away, he again weeps pitifully.

I'm ashamed to say that he inherited his weepiness from me. I went through a bad crying phase in elementary school. If I didn't get picked first for kickball teams, I cried for like an hour. If I missed a kickball catch, or got tagged out, I cried and cried and cried. I've always been a little over-sensitive. I hope I've gotten a little thicker-skinned since then.

What they do for Dylan's age group is that they all meet together at one place, every single team. And they all warm up together. Then they split up into teams, and they practice for about half an hour. Then they play a little game with another team for half an hour. Dylan did okay in practice, for the most part:

Ben took a picture of their team, telling them to pick their boogers and to say, "I like boogers!":

But, at the end of practice, Dylan tripped and fell, and that was it. He was in boob mode. He cried and cried about that until I took his arm and marched him back out to finish practice. Then he had to use the bathroom, so he cried and cried about that. We had to walk quite a ways to the bathroom, so all the way there, he's all, "I hate this! I hate soccer! I want to go home! I never want to play soccer again!"

So I told him that, since I paid $40 to get him into soccer (because he had said he wanted to), that he could quit soccer if he worked for me around the house, cleaning, mopping, etc. for 40 hours. He thinks this is a great deal.

After our potty trek, his game started, and it was basically a half-hour crying fest:

So sad. I don't care if Dylan doesn't end up liking sports. I just thought it might be nice to get his wiggles out. And, after this season, if he doesn't want to do soccer ever again, then I'm fine with it. But I think it's important for him to learn that you need to finish what you start, even if you don't like it. His team depends upon him being there. If he ends up hating all sports (I signed him up for t-ball a few weeks ago, so we'll see if that is also a cry-fest), he doesn't have to play them. As long as he keeps physically active. If he likes to ride his bike, or roller blade, or whatever, then he can do that. I just don't want to raise a couch potato.

As for working the $40 off, he hasn't mentioned it. I'm sure he'll actively pursue that topic again this Saturday, after the 2-hour practice/play session (a.k.a. torture fest) is over.

The Symphony

Dude, I keep forgetting to post about this! My grandpa just came back to Idaho for the summer (he's a sunbird - he goes down to St. George for the winter every year), and he is ready to par-tay!! He came to visit the first Saturday he was in town, and then I invited him over for dinner the following Thursday, and then the night after that, he invited Nat and I to the symphony! He really loves music.

I haven't been to a symphony since Ricks College, where you were required to go to a certain amount of performances to get this thing called your Fine Arts Credit - a requirement for graduation there. But I do like the music, however unschooled I am in movements, composers, etc. I was a ballerina, so much of the music is very familiar to me. At one point, toward the end of the performance, I totally fell asleep - the music is sooo soothing. I felt guilty, but oh well. I'm pregnant, dang it, and tired all the time. So I have a good excuse.

When we left, we discovered that Gramps' battery died - he had left his lights on. So he called Uncle Kurt, who came to our rescue and jumped the battery in Gramps' car. I didn't even mind waiting in the car for twenty minutes or so - I relish having time off from the kids sometimes. It felt nice to be away from the kids and do something "grown-up."

The English Tutor

This is Whitney - she's one of my Laurels. She was here, at my house, while I was helping her with her Junior Thesis, and she found my camera and snapped a picture of herself. She is so cute. She baby-sits my kids from time to time. I helped another of my Laurels, Noelle, with her Junior Thesis, and I also helped Noelle's friend. :) I honestly don't mind helping - it exercises my mind in a way it hasn't been exercised in years. It's one of the only things I'm good at, so if I can help, then I'm happy to do it.

Itchy DVD's

A couple of months ago, Ben got rid of cable and got satellite. He chose a plan that had onlyHD channels (this is of utmost importance to him - I couldn't care less), which means that our package has, like, 20 channels, and that's it. It's fairly cheap, but I miss some of my channels, like TruTV and E. And there is only one channel for kids, called Animania, and it has these really bizarre cartoons on it that I have never, ever seen before. Needless to say, Dylan and Sadie watch a lot of DVD's.

Sadie, the other day, got sick of watching Garfield Two, so I watched her stop the movie, eject it, put it in its case, pick another, put it in, push the "close" button, and then push play. I was like, whoa. I can't believe a 2-year-old is doing this!!

Because the kids handle the DVD's a lot (if I'm there, I usually try to intervene, but in the above instance, I felt too gross to get off the couch), there are many, many fingerprints and scratches on them. In the common event that a movie starts skipping or freezing because of the fingerprints and scratches, Dylan says, "The movie is itchy." I think that's a funny way of putting it. Is there a way to clean or somehow buff off scratches on DVD's? I'll just shoot that question out to my friends in cyberspace. Don't think I'm dumb. I've just never had occasion to ask that question before. But now I need to find a way to clean these buggers, if there is a way.

Ben's Grill

Dylan has these magnets that are really strong. You can put one magnet on the top of our table and the other on the bottom, and you can move the one on the top by moving the one on the bottom. They are a lot of fun to play with. He loses them, and then finds them, and then loses them, etc. He recently found them, and Ben was having fun with them one night. He said he was wearing a grill. One magnet was behind his teeth, and the other was in front.

Holding it In

Sometimes, when I'm in the car with the kids, or just with Sadie, she'll tell me that she has to go potty. So, in a panic, I start speeding to get home, saying every few seconds, "Okay, honey! We're almost home! Hold that pee inside! Hold it in! We're almost there!..." She has been pretty good about it - only one car-seat accident so far.

So today, she told me, while we were driving home from dropping Dylan off at preschool, that she had to go potty. So I did the speeding home thing, saying, "Hold that pee in, Sadie! Hold it in!" And she did. When we ran inside, she peed in the potty, and then she said she had to poop, too. So she was working on that (the pooping thing has been a lot better recently, thank goodness), and she kept saying, "Mommy, I'm holding my poop OUT! I'm holding it out!!" So cute.

Gloria and Greg's Visit

Ben's mom and step-dad, Gloria and Greg, drove down from Washington to see us:

They were only with us for 24 hours or so, which was a shame. They had to head down to Utah to see Greg's kids and his mom. But Gloria will be back in June, after the baby is born. Two of Gloria's sisters and her brother still live in the area, so they came over to visit on Saturday night. Here is Lynn, Ben's uncle, and his wife, Donna:

Ben's aunts, Myrna and Elaine:

They are such sweethearts. Seeing Gloria and her sisters together reminds me of when my sisters and I are together. Sadie and Ben, playing a jumping game:

Fake Smile Dylan:

Ben and Gloria:

After our guests left, we set up the air mattress for Gloria and Greg. And then I pulled out our massager, because Greg has horrible fibermyalgia, and I knew that would help with his poor feet. It became a massaging-fest:

I just love my in-laws. I wish they could have stayed longer!

Nat's Baby Shower

Mom and I threw Nat a baby shower on Saturday. It was so much fun! The honoree:

My mom sure does know how to throw a party. She made the cutest little diaper cake:

She also made cupcakes with little pink binkies on them:

And all the game prizes and door prizes were pink. Sooo cute:

I was in charge of invitations, which I posted on my blog awhile ago. I was also in charge of games. We played one where you fill in the blanks for certain nursery rhymes, one where you name the proper term for different kinds of baby animals, and one where you try to identify what kinds of baby food are in the unlabeled jars. Here are some pictures from game time. Me, the game-meister:

Nat, thinking deeply, who is sitting by April S. and Maggi J.:

Vicki T. and Debbie S.:

Joan W., Ann J., and my Aunt Terri:

Mom:

Aunt Marilyn. She and Mom were cheating on all the games, those naughties:

Then it was present-opening time. Mom and Marilyn set up all the food while Nat opened the presents:

I love Nat's face in this next picture. That is sooo how it is when you open little baby girl clothes. They are all so adorable. It's fun to dress baby girls:

Joan and Ann:

Vicki and Debbie:

When Mom got done with preparations, she came over to see what Nat was getting:

Then it was time to eat and mingle. Mom and Marilyn:

Nat and April:

Maggi and Vicki:

It was a lot of fun to see the ladies from my parents' old ward. We had a good time. And Nat made a killing! :) Thanks to Arin L., who took pictures while I ran around, doing stuff. I feel badly that I didn't get any pics of her. Thanks, Arin!

My Little Greenthumbs

I'm tentatively trying my hand at gardening, now that it's spring-like outside. I say "spring-like" because, well, yesterday, we had 45 mph winds, and last night, it froze. I went to turn on my hose this morning, and it was frozen solid inside. Nice. Anyways, when it was warm for a couple of days, the kids and I had a lot of fun. Dylan loves to water the garden:

Ben and Dylan put together my new birthday planter. Ben actually let Dylan use his power drill, and Dylan actually did a really good job! Like father, like son:

My mom came over to watch the kids for about half an hour a couple of days ago, and I asked her if she wanted to help my kids plant my pansies - just for something to do. I snapped a couple of pictures before I left to run my errands:

She is such a good grandma. My pansies may be dead - they don't look very happy at all. Would you be, if you had to endure high winds and frozen temperatures??

I Threw Up a Spider. Seriously.

Yep. That's right. I barf in the early mornings, when I get up to pee. So I usually barf at 2:00, 5:00, and 7:00 or so. The "barf" is usually nothing more than spit, bile, and phlegm, although sometimes my body saves my dinner from the night before, and I get to barf it up at two in the morning. It's neat. I'm so used to it - I've barfed the whole nine months with my other two pregnancies. So it's not too big of a deal to me. I just do it and then get on with my day.

Today it was a big deal. When I barfed my third barf of the morning, something black in the...contents...of my barf bucket caught my eyes. It was a little spider, only about 1/8" in diameter or so. It was dead, obviously. That bile is so nasty; it could probably kill a small child. I had always heard that old adage: "You swallow about ten spiders a year in your sleep. They crawl in your mouth while you're sleeping." I was always like, what-EVER. Um, I guess that old urban legend is correct? I just couldn't believe it. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want you to see the other contents of my barf bucket. You're welcome.

My Birthday!

My birthday was Wednesday, the 16th. I'm now thirty-onederful years old. I can't believe it. Inside, I feel like I'm 18 still. Like an 18-year-old who is trying to figure out how to raise kids.


The day actually started out horribly. I had gotten paid, and I put my paycheck in my back pocket of my jeans. I ran a couple of errands, and when I went to deposit my paycheck, it was GONE. I backtracked to all of my errands and looked everywhere and asked everyone. And I obviously combed my car, my lawn, my purse, etc. It just disappeared into thin air. I was going to call the payroll guy at my work to do a stop payment on the check, but he was gone, as was everyone, because it was the day after tax season at a CPA firm. They had the day off, and understandably so. So I had to sit on pins and needles until yesterday. So yesterday, the payroll guy, who is on vacation in the East somewhere, had to find a computer, issue a stop payment (luckily, no one had succeeded in depositing or cashing my check. I know it's hard to cash or deposit a check that isn't yours, but you always hear stories, so I was freaking out), and reissue me another check. All because I probably misplaced the check somewhere. I was so mad at myself and so upset and worried that someone would spend my paycheck, leaving us with no grocery money. I cried for a couple of hours about it (cut me some slack; I am hormonal right now).


I knew Ben had invited my family over for cake that night (I inadvertently spoiled the surprise by making a lame joke about Ben forgetting about my birthday. Sorry, Ben. I spoil every surprise you try to plan), and I hadn't even showered or done hair or makeup, and I was all pouty - "I don't care. I'm in a bad mood. I'm having the worst birthday ever." So I didn't make any kind of effort to look cute for my birthday. Sorry you have to see me in my jammies.


My dear, sweet Ben made my birthday so wonderful, though. He went to so much work. I love this man:

First of all, he not only invited my family, but a bunch of friends over. And how he figured out who to invite? A couple of weeks ago, he nonchalantly asked me, "Kar, if we moved to a different ward in Idaho Falls, which of your friends in the ward would you miss the most?" I was like, "Um, are we moving??" He's all, "No. I was just wondering who your friends are." So I listed off a few people, and that's how he figured out who to call. Unfortunately, only one of those friends was able to come. Her name is Patty, and her husband is Ken. This is them, playing a game with us at the party:

Here is my nephew, Troy, while we were playing the game:

Nat's kids and my kids always "want to see" any picture anyone takes, right after they take it, so here I am, showing Sadie and Troy the above picture:

Then we went to the dining room to sing, have cake, etc. My cute Ben baked this quadruple-layer cake by himself. He made me go away the night before so he could bake it in secret, then he put it in our cake holder and hid it somewhere in the house. Secrets are really important to him. :) Me, during "Happy Birthday" singing:

Sadie got a little too excited and blew out like ten of my candles before I got a chance to do it. Ben scolded her, and she was, of course heartbroken about the scolding (she is sooooo sensitive. Very different from Dylan), so I told her she could blow out a couple of candles after I was done. So here I am, blowing out my 31 re-lit candles:

And here is Sadie, blowing out two candles:

Of course, then all of the kids had to blow out candles, so we had to do that for a little while.



Ben had let me buy some scrapbooking stuff for my birthday, and I had also gotten my haircut, so I thought that was it in the present department from him, but of course he went all out. He got me a dozen roses:

The movie, Pride and Prejudice:

And perhaps my favorite present of all:

Our song is a song called "Green Eyes," by Coldplay:

Ben says it reminds him of me, not only because the lead singer calls the person he's singing to "green eyes," (and I have green eyes), but because the song talks about how the woman is the rock upon which he stands. Ben always says that I am his rock. Well, he found some old pictures we took at the beach in California of these beautiful rocks that were on a really wet sandy beach. He printed those out, and then he printed out the lyrics to "Green Eyes," and then framed them all nicely. I nearly cried. I usually get teary-eyed when I hear that song, as it is, because I think it's so sweet that he thinks of me in that way.



So yep, Ben wins the Best Husband in the Universe award. He single-handedly turned my birthday around. I love that man. He is so perfect for me in every way. Sorry. Enough mushy stuff.



My parents got me some pansies:

and a cute planter to put them in, in addition to birthday spending money. Thanks, you guys. The pansies look great. It's nice to have some color in my front yard. And I love the planter. And I'll love whatever I decide to buy. :) Mom and Dad also got me some maternity clothes for warmer weather, if we ever get warmer weather!! Here I am with some white capris they got me. There is this cute little jewel pattern on the back pockets, so here I am, saying that I got "sprayed by ice":

Nat made a homemade certificate for her to take me to lunch sometime - and I can't wait! Patty gave me a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, because she knows I'm a read-a-holic. Brianna gave me some scrapbook storage things, which I desperately needed, and Lex gave me some moola. Thanks, you guys. You know that I'll be writing you thank-you notes soon. You know me.



Heavenly Father gave me a couple of really great presents, too. He gave me skinny ankles for the day. I don't know how; I was on my feet all day long. But I was so ecstatic at seeing my ankles again that I took a picture of them. :)

Another present from Heavenly Father - my hip didn't hurt all day. And the third present from him was that we were able to fix the paycheck snafu. I sent him a thank-you note last night, in the form of a prayer. :)



It turned out to be a spectacular day.