He Really Is Full Of It You Know

Monday is bathroom cleaning day. I usually try to clean when Matthew is napping because allowing him to be anywhere in the vicinity of a spray bottle means I have about sixteen times more cleaning to do when I discover the entire floor is dowsed in Windex. Unfortunately for me, with the way our schedules have been lately, cleaning while Matthew is napping has been an impossibility since I can't clean the bathroom and drive the car at the same time. So today I pulled out the child safety gate and put it up in the bathroom doorway. And Matthew was mightily peeved about the whole situation. He tried to convince me to lift him onto my side of the gate, and when I declined, he got his toy phone, plopped down on his side of the gate, and made the following call:

"Hello, Daddy? Gate problem. Okay, bye."

And then I laughed myself silly.

Hard Water+Water Softener=Happiness

We have hard water out here. It doesn't come out of the faucet brown or anything, but still, it is almost chew worthy. I always thought my mom had hard water at her house, but her water has nothing on mine. Growing up with my mom's version of hard water (it is hard, just not rock hard) made me think that people who installed water softeners were just rich folks who wanted to be pampered. Regular folks like us just dealt with it. Besides, how hard could water be? It is liquid after all. But now I'm singing a different song. Glasses came out of the dishwasher dirtier than they went in. I kid you not. The obviously "before" glass is straight out of the dishwasher and I did in fact use a rinse aid so this one is only about half as bad as the first few batches. They came out completely cloudy and gritty as well. I was hand washing nearly all the glasses after they came out of the dishwasher just so I could stand to drink from them. So there was a happy dance when the water softener was up and running and the glasses came out shiny and new. Other fun benefits of soft water include super soft hair and hands that are not dry and cracked.


I think I'm quickly on my way to becoming a soft water snob.

Tree Huggers

Every year our city sponsors an Arbor Day/Earth Day poster contest for all the elementary schools in the city's school district. There is one winner from each grade from each school and one city wide winner from each grade. Several weeks ago I got a letter in the mail informing me that Daniel was the second grade winner from his school. So today we were treated to a free lunch worthy of any school lunch program and then we attended the ceremony. Having been to such things in the past, I was afraid it would be a huge, long, boring thing and then at the very end they would ask all the kids to stand up so we could clap. So I was pleasantly surprised when it was fifteen minutes of boring stuff and forty-five minutes of calling each child by name and letting them show their poster. If you look closely, you can see that Daniel included a border made up of things that we get from trees: pencils, books, houses, and bookshelves (If you thought it was a ladder, you're not alone).


Daniel came home with a nice certificate, a fun insulated lunch box, and a smile.


Being in a small school in a small school district in a small city has definitely had its perks. Being in a huge school is definitely going to be a change for him.

A Right Of Childhood

Last night Matthew had his very first ever chocolate chip cookie. He was mightily pleased.

I'm really grateful for the folks who make these chocolate chips.

If Only It Were That Easy For Me

Nathan was playing outside this afternoon and when I looked out, besides him I saw six little boys. When he came in I asked where they all came from. Two live across the street (these ones I already knew about), and according to Nathan, two are from next door and the other two are from the two houses diagonally across the street. It would appear that we picked a good spot, at least where friends for little boys are concerned.

The day before our big move, we brought a load of stuff over and met the two little boys across the street (Their mom sent their dad to help us carry boxes-nice neighbors!). Nathan got to play for a little bit and in the nature of small children, they were all perfectly at ease from the start. When we arrived the next day, I saw those two little boys watching our car come down the street. By the time we pulled up at the house, they were standing on the curb waving. Before I could even turn the car off, they were knocking on the window asking if Nathan could play. I'm so glad we arrived in a neighborhood where there are lots of children to be friends with.

I grew up with a big herd of girls who were all the same age as me (The infamous Lisa of the Wicked tickets for one!) and feel like I was very blessed to have the friendship and support of all those girls. I really hope that my children can have the same opportunity to make good friends, friends they can trust and count on, friends who will be around forever. Moving onto a street jam packed with little boys seems like a good place to start.

Now if only I could make friends that easily . . .

I'm Feeling A Little . . . Green

Last night was bad. It was so bad it was evil. In fact, it was so evil that it was downright "Wicked." Kev and I (and Patti and David, Rachael and Dave, and Esther) had to opportunity to go see "Wicked." We purchased our tickets a year ago (Thanks again Lisa! You rock!) and sometimes when you look forward to something for that long, when you finally get there it is not as fabulous as the anticipation built it up to be and you come away feeling a little flat. That was definitely not the case last night! We laughed, we cried (even Esther, the stoic one who usually sits back and mocks those of us who blubber a lot, shed a few tears), we cheered. We had a wonderful time! We ran into Tara and Jeff from the old ward (which by the way, I miss all you ladies!) and wonderful Hollie and her hubby. It was one of those evenings that passed much to quickly. In addition to the wonderful music and the visual spectacle of the show, it was fun to see how many little nods to the movie and the original book were included. Those crazy long-necked guys in Wizamania? They're called Hammerheads and although not in the movie, are characters from the original novel. I would go back again tonight if I could!

He Can Be Taught!

After his 4 1/2 falls in 4 1/2 days, Matthew has had a change of heart concerning his relationship with stairs. He will either 1) stand at the top hollering "Hand!" or "Hep ee!" (help me) until someone comes to help him down or 2) sit down on the top step, proclaim "Bum!" and scoot down one stair at a time on his bum. The only time he deviates from these two methods is when there are vertical posts for him to hold on to. Then he grabs one and goes down on his own.

It would appear that the cement did in fact knock some sense into his stubborn little head.

And A Happy Easter To You To!

We managed to survive Easter (With the enormous help of Auntie Esther, of course!) with no lactastrophes, eggsasters, or nutalities. One egg dying session, two Easter egg hunts, pre-Easter dinner, Easter dinner, and about 5 billion plastic eggs later, I am pleased that my offspring had such a fun time!

More Than Just Weeds

Daffodils are my favorite flower, which is why I planted some at the very first opportune moment after moving into Rachael's basement. I have enjoyed them immensely every spring since then. They were just starting to bloom when I moved and I must admit that I was sad to leave them.

So imagine my delight when I discovered these in my front yard:


We've also found tulips, lilies, daylilies (we think), hyacinth, one random red grape hyacinth, stalks that may possibly be some sort of daisy, and a number of other growths that although very scraggly looking appear more plant-like than weed-like. It is exciting to know that there are some plants that we may actually want in the yard and not just thistles (which we have in spades) and other enemies. In spite of these marvelous discoveries, there is definitely a lot of work to be done. When I think of the yard as a whole, I get a wee bit overwhelmed so I am taking things one step at a time. (Baby steps clean up the yard, baby steps clean up the yard, baby steps clean up the yard . . .) First task, identify the unknowns and decide if they are keepers or killers. Second task, Roundup as many enemies as possible!

The Downside to Living Above Ground

It's not the marvelous amounts of sunlight that stream through my windows every day. It's not the lovely view of the valley I have from my front porch. It's not even the up close and personal view of the mountains from my back porch. And it's most certainly not the decrease in arachnids that invade my personal space. No, the downside to living above ground is that everything is taller and due to the fact that I'm a bit vertically impaired, I'm developing a close personal relationship with my step stool.

Best Anniversary Present Ever

In lieu of the traditional gift of tin that comes with a tenth anniversary, I got shelter instead . . . and a second bathroom. Here is the guided tour (just ignore all the obvious signs that we are still unpacking):

This is the living room. For those who helped us move, aren't you glad you didn't have to heft the piano?

I still find myself working in one little corner of the kitchen because I forget that I have a nice big counter!

There is no carpet in the dining area! Woo-triple-hoo!!


I have a nice big room . . .

. . . and a huge tub that's all mine! (Plus, the bathroom is red. What's not to love?)

The boys have their own bathroom that I will in fact clean if any of you intend to come over since it usually smells like little boy x3. How is it that even fresh out of the shower little boys still have that very distinctive boy smell?

We let Daniel and Nathan choose a color for one wall in their rooms. When you stand at the end of the hall, you can see the yellow of Daniel's wall reflecting into the hall.

The sky was here when we bought the house and Nathan decided he liked it so that became his one wall.

The extra cool thing about this ceiling is that there are tiny stars, a moon, and the milky way all very tactfully painted in glow in the dark paint. Some of you may think it is just dorky, but we love it! We didn't discover it until a couple of days after we moved.

This is the only "before" picture you really need to see. Recognize the sky? I just have no idea what they were thinking pairing it with those stripes, which by the way, if you look really closely at the white wall you can still see the shadow of the stripes even after five coats of primer and paint.

Our downstairs family room has a gas fireplace (my favorite kind since I'm not fond of the smell of smoke) . . .

. . . and is big enough that there is plenty of room for the boys to play.

Well, there you have it. Home sweet chaotic home. But I don't think it would feel like my home if everything was calm all the time!