Am I Overprotective?

As I was bundling up the kids to go to the park this afternoon, I looked at them in their hats and gloves and thought, "We live in arizona. I might be overdoing it." Then we took one step outside and experienced the 50 degree wind and immediately froze to death. I don't see how it can be so darn hot until november and now, not even a month into our "fall" weather, it is freezing. Now, those of you who live where actual winter weather occurres will have to humor me on this one. I am afraid I just can't handle the 30 degree low that is forcasted for tonight.

Hopefully this freezing weather will kill all of the scorpions and not all of our oranges.

Sooner or Later

I knew it would happen sooner or later.

I didn't scream like I thought I would, but there was a very audible gasp. I don't know if it was the terrible wind outside that blew it in, or the fact that my neighbors had "the bug lady" at their house yesterday and it was escaping her poison, or if it was living in the plastic I covered our stairs with while our new tile was being installed in the downstairs bathroon. But there it was on the landing. And now it is trapped in a jar until it is dead.

It looks a lot bigger in real life.

The Bad Date

As I was getting ready to go to the movies with my family on Thanksgiving day (we saw Happy Feet, which was completely terrible, by the way), I remembered another miserable night I once spent at the movies.

When I was a sophomore at the BYU, a boy named Tyler asked me out on a date. I was fresh on the dating scene, having recently sent my now-husband on his mission to the lonely and frigid wastelands of Alberta, Canada. I didn't know Tyler very well, but I knew him well enough to know that we weren't a match.

The following is an account of the above mentioned date.

It was a total disaster.

He picked me up in his huge old clunker of a car. (For the record, I didn't mind that he drove a hunk of junk. In fact, that was one of the only endearing things about this boy.) For our big date, we were going to the movies. On our way to the theater, we made two stops. The first was at a gas station convenience store to pick up some treats for the movie. After I picked out my treat, I watched as his friend, who was working the cash register, gave us our candy at a greatly (and illegally, I might add) lowered price. Hmm, I thought. That was uncomfortable.

Stop number two was at the grocery store, where one could purchase movie tickets at a discounted price. This was no surprise. I had done it myself many times. Why pay full price for a movie when you could get a ticket for half off, right?

At the movie theater, as I saved our places in line, I watched as Tyler went to the box office and returned our recently purchased discounted movie tickets for full price. We no longer needed our tickets because he had figured out a way to sneak us in.

My date actually made money on our night out.

I know he was poor. And I know he was a nice guy. But is that any way to impress a girl? Needless to say, that was my first and last date with Tyler.

I wish I remembered what movie we saw.

We're Home

Among many other things this Thanksgiving, I am very thankful for this silly boy.
We had a fun trip.

Thanks Mom and Dad and Elliott and Ginger.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are off to Indiana. See y'all on Saturday!

Baby Guggle

Even though Leslie didn't tag me (I am totally not offended, by the way), I liked the idea of posting my earliest memory. As I was picking Mabel up from preschool the other day, I found myself wondering what she would remember from this time in her life. It made me think about my own earliest memories.

I think I was a couple of weeks shy of turning 4. Leslie and I were in the backyard in our leotards, reinacting scenes from the made for tv movie about the gymnast Nadia. I was Nadia. Leslie was Nadia's friend (what was her name?) because they both had very long blonde hair.

My mom had just given birth to Lincoln (now known as "Guggle" - like uncle) and my parents were bringing him home from the hospital.

Wait. . . maybe this is what we were doing when they brought Julianne home. I have a vague memory of my dad carrying Lincoln in from the car in his jacket because it was raining, which would mean that Leslie and I couldn't have been outside doing gymnastics. In that case, I was 5 and this isn't my earliest memory. Do you remember, Les?

I do remember an incident at preschool as a 4 year old. A girl in my class had a bracelet made out of colorful wooden beads that I wanted in a major way. I remember coming up with a cunning plan to "accidentally" steal it from her. Just minutes before my carpool was coming to pick me up, I asked the girl if I could try on her bracelet. She was very nice and said yes. As soon as I slipped it on my wrist, I saw my ride at the door of the classroom. I got up, well aware that I was still "trying on" the bracelet, and left. I still remember the shocked and sad look on the girl's face as she watched me walk away with her bracelet. She never said anything about it, but I felt incredible guilt. I went home, and after lying to my mom about where I got the bracelet (I told her my teacher gave them to all the girls), I hid it in a box in my room and never looked at it or wore it again. Isn't that terrible?

What is your earliest memory?

We are Hungry for Babies

We are very sad at our house because we don't have a new little baby yet. Mabel has even given up praying that I will have a baby in my tummy the next morning. (This request used to be included in all of her nightly prayers. Now she often tells me that it is taking me FOREVER to get pregnant. I feel like that, too.) So until we get one, Oliver promised me that he will be my "yiddle baby." Unfortunately, he's not so "yiddle". But I will take what I can get.

Dear Gramma

I LOVE my new dress. I wore it to school today.

Love, Mabel

I Used to Watch Too Much TV

When I first became a mother, I was 22 and lived in Provo. I was young. I was lonely. I lived in a tiny condo. And during the winter months, I was cold. So, while holding my new baby, I watched a lot of tv.

Now I am 27. I have two kids (neither of which is a baby, unfortunately). I live in a comfortable house in Arizona. And during the summer (and spring and fall) months, I am hot. I have since realized that we can't afford expanded cable.

So I blog.

Blogging has provided hours of enjoyment for me. But sometimes I blog too much.

So if you will excuse me, I have a date with Oliver and a Mr. Potato Head Bucket of Parts.

A Conversation About Heaven

Mabel: Mom, when I'm old I'll still love you.
Me: I'll still love you, too.
Mabel: Will you be waiting for me when I get to heaven?
Me: Yes.
Mabel: Thanks. I want you to lock that in your head until we die.
Me: Ok.

The Usual

hot chocolate (for those "cold" Arizona mornings) and cinnamon oatmeal

My Amazing Little Sister

Congratulations Jooj!

She will be studying for her Masters Degree at Oxford next year!
That means she's amazing. But I already knew that.

Strange Bedfellows

For the past two days, Oliver has been sleeping with this:

an 8 pack of Coast soap.

Is it the shower fresh smell, or the nice crinkle of the plastic wrapper, or the brick-like hard edges that most appeal to him? I don't know, but he hugs it awfully tight.

While I shower,

my sweet kids do this.

My Most Embarrassing Moment

Okay, this might not be my most embarrassing moment, but it is definitely high on my list.

When I was a senior in High School, my mom and I went on a shopping trip to San Francisco. It was very fun and I uncharacteristically quickly blew my spending wad.

After shopping, we were going to take a fun ride on a cable car. We boarded the car at the bottom of a big hill and sat down. Then I noticed the ticket booth a ways off and asked my mom if we needed to buy tickets first. I stayed on the car to save our seats, while my mom got off and stood in a very slow-moving line to buy our tickets.

The next thing I knew, the cable car was lurching to a start, heading up the very steep hill. I stood up, scanning the crowd for my mom. She was still in the ticket line. I panicked. I was 17 and clueless and didn't know what to do. My mom saw that I was leaving and started to follow the car up the hill on foot. The car was picking up speed and the distance between me and my mom was quickly growing. I knew I had to do something and I had to do it fast.

So I jumped.

I totally underestimated how fast we were actually going, and rolled several times in the street, near the gutter. When I finally stopped moving, I stood up, dusted myself off, pretended nothing had happened and quickly walked down the hill to where my mom was waiting. I never looked back. I did not want to see the looks on the faces of the other tourists in the cable car.

It was embarrassing.

What is your most embarrassing moment (one that you are willing to publish on the internet, anyway)?

Just Because Halloween is Over Doesn't Mean You Can't Dress Up

Raea (Mabel's BFF who conveniently lives across the street), Mabel, Oliver

Trick-or-Treat