I Love My...

Fuzzy Wiggles Slippers

Playing "Smash-the-newspaper" with Harvey
and....

My new favorite toy (and slippers, again) the vacuum cleaner!

My brother

My brother, Kyle, called Saturday afternoon and wanted to take me out for lunch! Usually, I see Kyle when we all get together for family stuff, but it's not that often that we get to hang out exclusively. So, I was excited that he had "free" Saturday afternoon and that he wanted to spend it with me, his nerdy big sister!

We went to Sushi Yama (if you like sushi, I highly recommend this place!) and had a nice time catching up a bit. It was fun to hear about all of this "big" plans and all of the happenings that life as a single guy has to offer. Then, we drove over to Shadow Lakes and browsed a bit and he helped me pick out some shorts for Cubby (Kyle has an unusually good fashion sense--we like to tease him about it, but when push comes to shove, he's dead-on with his opinions on what's hot and what's not!).

When we were growing up, Kyle and I had a good relationship, but since we're 5 years apart, our interests were often different. He's always been his own person though. For example, he made his own duct tape pants...and wore them. He got into hockey, snowboarding, and longboarding while all of his friends played soccer and baseball. He used blue glue put spikes in his hair for the first day of school--and his teachers still thought he was a great kid!

Now that we're older, the age gap has closed a bit and we can relate to each other more. He's a lot of fun to be around and is always up for an adventure! Kyle works hard and plays hard and knows who he is and what he wants to accomplish. He grew up a lot while on his mission and even though he has matured, he still knows how to have a good time.

I just wanted to give a shout-out to my dorky little brother...who now is taller and much funnier than I am...thanks for the fun afternoon, Kyle! I love you!

If I were to keep a journal....

this is what an entry would be like: a jumbled mess of random thoughts and events! WARNING: YOU MAY GET VERY WEIRDED OUT.

Here goes!

My first random comment is that Cubby just got a new calling--the first counselor in the Elder's Quorum presidency. Now, many of you are probably thinking, "Uh, that's too bad!" However, this past Sunday he only had ONE meeting!!! Let me tell you how wonderful it was to have him home most of Sunday morning! I just loved having him around to goof off with the kids (there is just something about "Dad" that makes being at home on a Sunday a fun thing to do!) In any case, we're both excited for this new change and look forward to what's in store!

On another note, we held FHE on Monday night (Family Home Evening for those not accustomed to the acronymic mess of the LDS culture!). We usually spend most evenings together as a family, but I've found that when we make it an "official" FHE (with song, prayer, lesson (albeit a short one), etc) that our home just seems to be a happier place to be. After we finished FHE (4 mins after we started) I had a burst of energy and felt like baking cookies, Cubby chased the kids around the house, and following the seemingly endless giggle fest, bedtime just went so smoothly! I'm all about these immediate blessings that come from holding FHE!

Today was another busy day (my favorite kind of days!--I'm a much better on-the-go mom than a stay-at-home mom!). This morning wasn't QUITE as humid as it has been (thanks to a thunderstorm at 5:30 this morning) and so my mom and I took advantage of it and took the kids to the zoo! (Christian is now starting to give up his morning naps and so we've been able to get out more in the mornings.) Emily saw some "Janelles" (Gazelles) and they both loved the Aquarium and giraffes, among other things.

After naps, I took the kids out to visit Cubby at work and then we took them to the Amazing Pizza Machine for dinner. Our reasons for going there were twofold: 1) Emily's been begging to go there since November (the last time we went) and 2) I just scrubbed the kitchen floor today and wanted to keep it food-free for at least 12 hours! In any case, it was fun, and the kids crashed when we got home. Cubby had a meeting up at church and I am just having a good-ol' time blogging away!

Now, a good blogger/mom would've taken pictures of all of these fun events of the day. However, my memory card is full and will not be going to Target until tomorrow. Oh well. Also, Emily has been coming up with some really funny little phrases that I've been meaning to write down and haven't. Ugh.

Okay, one more thing that will convince all that I'm slacking on the "mom" end of things: the shoes Emily wore all day today were a size too small and I didn't realize it until we were at Cubby's work and she was having trouble walking b/c they were pinching her feet! I had thought that her saying "Ow" was b/c her socks were bunched up weirdly. She ended up wearing just her socks at the Amazing Pizza Machine just so she could play. I know, gross, but necessary. How could I have missed that one? In my defense, she wore them to the zoo for crying out loud and was just fine! Did her feet grow during naptime???

So, now I'm sure anyone who's read through all this is scared and will run the next time they see me. But, I just felt like getting some thoughts down and wanted to give everyone a small peak into a very scattered mind! You were warned....

Our new favorite food

Christian seriously ate the all of the corn off this cob (and would've eaten another if I'd have had it!) I just love my funny little boy....

Playing with Great-Grandpa Don

The last couple of days, we've had my Grandpa in town! The last time we were all together was when Emily was 18 months old! My Aunt Kris and her oldest daughter, Ingrid, are also here for a visit. The last time I saw Ingrid was 7 years ago! (Granted, they live in France so that it's not like we can just jump in a car and visit, but still, time just goes too fast.)

We had a nice dinner over at my Mom's house Wednesday night and the we were able to slow the kids down enough for a picture with their Great-Gpa.

Today, we went out to the SAC Museum and had an interesting experience! We had seen the airplanes and were getting ready to leave when the museum director came on the intercom and told us that everyone had to move down to the lower level because the sirens had gone off and some nasty weather was upon us. Thankfully, we were only there for an extra 1/2 hour and it was only a thunderstorm outside. Boy-oh-boy though, the rain came down and we were glad that the floods did not come up! We eventually were able to leave and went and had dinner at my Grandma's house before heading home. Just a bit of excitement to our day...grateful that that everything turned out okay in the end.

Can We Take A Normal Family Picture???

These are our failed attempts at a family picture. So much for a Christmas card picture from this batch!

Working 9 to 5....(If only those were my hours!)

This morning we went and visited Harvey at work! The kids had a fun time exploring the cubicle maze at his office and seeing him working hard....or was it hardly working??? Hehehehe....As you can see, Christian did a little bit of work while we were there and Emily had a tough time leaving because, she told me, "I'm trying to work here, Mommy!"