Doris Day Show

This is my 90th post. I'll have to think of something special for the 100th.

Today I was watching one of my Netflix - The Doris Day show. Can I tell you what a fun show this is? It is so, so, Clean! When the biggest concern is getting her children milk to drink at school or helping some dogs that were left in a car during the heat of the day, you know that you are watching something special. This kind of entertainment and way of thinking no longer exist in today's world.

There are a few things in the show that would be considered shocking, however. During season 2, Doris gets a job in the city near her farm home. She is a secretary for a magazine. What else was there for a women to do in the late 1960's? There is a lot, and I mean a lot of what would be called today, sexual harassment. The men in her office love to ask her out to dinner. The clients her company meet love to work with Doris and have dinner with her. They send her on special assignments for the company because she is beautiful. The CEO looks at her with adoring eyes. Of course, Doris is sweet and just takes it all in with a smile. She isn't a push over, mind you, but she just lets the comments and googoo eyes roll off her back. It is a sweet TV show and in the end, Doris always comes out with a smile and all is well.

So, today, I was watching it and she and her boss were on their way to Florida to do an interview for the magazine. Their plane is hijacked by a nervous white American man and re-routed to Cuba. While she is there, the Major of the army at the airport, falls in love with Doris and takes her to dinner. When the passengers are released and allowed to re-board the plane to take them home, she agrees to help the major who detained them. There is no International help or incident. It is shocking!! If this were to happen today, can you even imagine what it would be like? We would have to start a war with the other country.

What was simple then is not so simple now. This was Doris Day, after all, and it all turned out well with no harm done to anyone. I think I would rather live in Doris's world than ours. I would rather watch the silly Cuban hijacker than the drama of our own country brought to us courtesy of CSI and other such shows. Thank you Doris Day! Thank you for being such a sweet woman who cares for her children, works as a secretary and makes everything so happy.

Hooked on shrink wrap

I recently got the Hooked on Phonics program for helping my homeschooled 7 year old and 4 year old to learn to read better. I have high hopes for what it can do for my preschooler.

Anyway, it arrived yesterday afternoon and I didn't get a chance to really look at it until this morning. It boasts at least 30 original books for helping the children learn to read. There was a section of 10 books in a shrink wrapped package. I opened it. Each individual book was then in its own shrink wrapped packaging! It took a long time to get into it. My two year old really wanted me to read to him, but by the time I got into the books, he had lost interest and gone off to another activity.

The program has a 30 day money back guarantee. I think it should be 31 days. You need one day just to get into the program and get the wrapping off 9 sets of flash cards and 30+ books.

Yesterday we went to the Botanical Gardens. I do enjoy it there. It is lovely and the children's area is very nice with lots of things to do, play on, look at, and a nice hill to climb up and roll down. We spent three hours there just letting the kids run and play. We all received our first sunburn of the year. Everyone came home with pink cheeks and noses. Luckily for the kids, the pinkness seems to be mostly gone today. For some reason, I'm the one that burns the worst. My children are all fair haired and fair skinned, but me, with my dark hair and slightly less than fair skin ends up with the worst burns. My nose is still quite red and I could feel the burn on my head while I was brushing my hair this morning. It is defiantly time to pull out the sunblock.

Sales, thoughts, and general randomness

Well, yesterday I reached the 39th week of pregnancy, but who's counting? Early this morning I realized that I had given birth to all my sons by this point. It is my daughters, it seems who are in no hurry to join us. Well, I'm taking my kids, who are on spring break, to the Botanical Gardens today. I'm hoping that some walking and good exercise can get things going.

So, my lack of posts haven't been because of baby or lack of random thoughts, just lack of patience to sit down and type.

Let the Random Thoughts begin:
Have you ever noticed that the local furniture store is having it's biggest sale of the year every weekend? Our local Haynes has it's biggest sale of the year every week. They closed early yesterday so they could spend all night reducing prices for this week's biggest sale. They probably wanted the night off for some big game that was on TV or so they could watch Dancing With the Stars. Do they think the public is so stupid that we don't see what they are doing? Do they really think that we believe that this week has the biggest sale and that we will forget that they have used the same tactic last week? It is amusing. I keep hoping that if I wait long enough for their absolutly BIGGEST sale that everything will cost a dollar, like the dollar store. Only then will I be there for their sale.

My daughter had a funny idea recently. She told my hubby and I that we don't think because we don't have clouds over our heads. Well, that idea totally went over my head, but hubby got it. He laughed and said only cartoon characters get clouds over their heads when they think. Then I understood - thought bubbles! She got the idea that because we don't have thought bubbles hovering over our heads when we think or speak that we must not think! Isn't that the most clever, funniest thing? My daughter defiantly thinks outside the box, even without thought bubbles and clouds.

My daughter also informed me that she is cute and people think she is charming. She is telling the truth. I can't tell you the number of times we have gotten super treatment at stores and resturants because daughter was with us.

I had another really random thought, until now. Now I can't remember....

Oh yes! With baby coming, I told hubby that I really wanted to get a new digital camera. Our old camera died during Christmas. It didn't like the airplane trip apparently. I've been using my cell phone to take pictures, and that has worked very nicely, but the quality of the photos aren't great. I wanted a nice camera that wouldn't take grainy pictures. Hubby consented and we went to Best Buy. We found a nice camera and got it. Cameras are expensive and we chose one of the cheaper ones, but we still spent over $150 for it. Now, Hubby thinks that he can justify getting a new computer. He let me get a camera and I should let him get a computer. Hmmm, let's see, $150 vs. $1000. I just don't see how they balance out... He told me about a co-worker who a while back bought a TV stand that was big enough to hold a 60 inch screen TV. Their 36" TV looked quite silly on such a huge stand, so he was able to convince his wife into getting a 54" HDTV to "fit" the space.

What men don't realize is they aren't convincing us. We women aren't stupid and we see the set ups, even though most of the time, we don't call them on it. We keep the men happy by letting them think they have the upper hand and letting them get their toy that we get to enjoy too. A 60" screen TV isn't necessary, but I would love to watch Singing In the Rain in hi-def! And with a good sound system too!

I'm bored!

Can you believe I'm saying that? Of course there is a bunch of stuff to do (general cleaning, laundry, etc.), but really, how many times can you vacuum the living room in one day?

I like having a project and I can't think of anything right now. I'm out of the color thread I need to continue my cross stitch. It is a silly thing, but I can't do anymore with out this one dumb color. Hubby has the van all the time, day and evening, and I never make it out of the house.

With baby coming anytime in the next few weeks, I don't want to start anything too big that I might not be able to finish.

In the house I can't think of much to do. I've made all the cloth diapers I'm going to for the moment. I figured I'd better wait until baby gets here to make sure these diapers I've sewn are any good before I go and make more. I've painted the ugly room.... I could start the garden, but being a city girl who has never planted a garden before, I don't know how to get started and I'm afraid of messing it up and ruining our garden. I've been contemplating repainting the downstairs bathroom. It is a funny blue color right now. It isn't bad and it really doesn't need to be painted, but I would like to eventually. Do I do it now or later?

No books sound good to read right now... Yep, I guess I'm just being bored and ornery.

On the funny kid side of things, my older son and I were doing some math work together and my toddler toddled off to the kitchen. A few moments later I hear him scream in a very unusual way. He came running back to me looking quite scared. I couldn't understand what he was saying so I asked him to show me. He led me into the kitchen and pointed to his sandwich. On it was a fly. He was scared of the bug! I showed him how to wave his hand and say "Shoo fly!" Then I used a fly swater and killed the fly. My toddler thought that was pretty funny, but he stared at the wall where I killed the fly for a long time. He was quite worried that it would come back. With summer coming with all it's flies, mosquitos and spiders, it could be a real scary summer for my toddler.

Oh, another funny thing. Today is a really windy day! It is also trash day. A lot of trash cans have been blown over by the wind. Luckily for us, we have so much trash that our cans are very heavy and can't blow over.

Mrs. Grumpy

I've been grumpy a bit lately. Can you blame me? It is 7:20 in the morning and the two youngest have already thrown tantrums. They have only been awake for 7 minutes! It has been like this for over a week. My hubby was out of town all last week so I never had a break from the kids. I can't even go into my bedroom or the bathroom without one of them following me to the door. If I go into the bedroom and lock the door, the two youngest pound on it and yell at me. If I go into the bathroom, they stand on the other side of the door talking to me. My two older ones do this a lot too. They don't have anything to say to me while I'm in the same room as them, but the moment I enter the bathroom and shut the door, they suddenly need to ask questions or tell me stories.

I'm also now 38 weeks pregnant. Having this baby is about the only thought my mind is capable of thinking of. I just want to know when it is going to happen. Then I could relax and plan, but knowing it could happen anywhere from tomorrow to three weeks down the road is making me crazy.

My kids seem to talk back to me more. My homeschool son gets annoyed when I ask him to do his work. He wants to do only one page in his book and be done for the day. Yesterday I decided to read out loud from Peter Pan to him. When he saw what I was about to do, he exclaimed loudly, "Oh no."

Perhaps it is always this way and it probably is, but my pregnancy induced grumpiness is making things all the worse.

On the positive side, my two year old is super cute (when he isn't throwing a tantrum) and his vocabulary has improved by leaps and bounds lately. He can say just about anything he wants. He can tell me more specifically what he wants to eat, not just num nums. He can tell me his tummy (leg, tongue, etc.) hurts. He can tell me what it is that his sister did to him to make him upset. His phrases are usually only 2-3 words long, but he is really amazing what thoughts and emotions he can convey with those 2-3 words.

Long rambling thought on Language and Music

Over the last 5 years, I have made English language history a favorite subject. I found the evolution of the language fascinating. English’s earliest roots are the Indo-European language. As people moved and centuries past, the language changed and took on many new forms with new names. What we now call Germanic is where English really separated from the other main branches of languages. The Germanic language changed and became many more languages and we finally reach the period of Old English. Although mostly unrecognizable to our modern eyes, it is not hard to see that this strange language is the basis of what we speak now. Only about 20% of Old English remains in our current vocabulary. English was almost squashed as a language during the Norman Invasion. It was the language of the common and poor people. Yet, it endured. It was able to survive thanks to it’s flexibility and it took on new words while keeping the old. To this day, English is a very flexible language, creating new words constantly to fit with the changing times. It is versatile and expressive.

I wish I knew more of the language and could use great vocabulary in my daily expressions, but I must confess, I do not and it really doesn’t matter because the average English speaker wouldn’t understand the vocabulary anyway. For instance, if I were to mention in general conversation about the size of a vomitory, most people would think me being quite gross, but I’m not. A vomitory is a large doorway.

To switch subjects for a moment, I want to talk a bit about music. Music is a universal language. A group of people who can’t speak to each other because of spoken language barriers can sit together and listen to music. Music is fantastic. My parents introduced me to classical music at a very young age. Later when I entered middle school, I needed to fill some class time and I wanted to fill that time with music. I choose to play in the band. I picked an instrument I knew nothing about – the bassoon. I loved being a part of a large body of music. I loved the small, yet important addition that the bassoon provided to each song. I learned to appreciate the little changes and little additions found in a score.

This love of the small changes in music has continued in my life. Some of my favorite music to listen to are movie soundtracks. They are the “classical” music of this modern age. John Williams, John Barry, Harry Gregson-Williams and so many more and the modern form of Amadeus or Beethoven. Instead of writing for operas that people go to for entertainment, these modern men write for movies. My two youngest children love to listen to the Danny Elfman version of Willy Wonka. I must admit, I love it too. There is one song that I love and it is a silly song, but it has one moment that last for 2 measures or eight counts that I find lovely to listen too. The song is building into it’s main chorus and a flute joins in and plays probably 5 notes, but I absolutely love those 5 notes! It is silly and yet, I love that part. I’ve noticed this with other music. There will be a song and a trombone will come in playing a counter line in it’s lower register and it gives me the goose bumps.

Now, I want to tie in this English language thought and music thought. English has over 600,000 words, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. That is a lot of words. Music is the universal language and that makes the vocabulary able to describe music in the millions and billions! Yet, with all these words that are available to me, I can’t put into words what it is that music does to me. I can’t describe the way it makes me feel. I can’t tell about those 5 notes of the flute without using silly words like goose bumps.

I hope that when my life ends here and I enter into the world of heavenly beings, I will find the way to express the feelings I have for music. Perhaps something so heavenly as music can not be described in any other way than with heavenly words. Until then, when I listen to music and I say, “Oh, this part I love, listen to the flute. Isn’t that beautiful?”, just listen to what I point out and try to make a polite, yet meaningful comment like, “That was beautiful, it gave me the goose bumps.”

projects

My hubby has been gone all week and instead of sitting in my rocking chair, cross stitiching and watching all the bonnet movies I can, I've been working like mad. On Monday we had a bunch of dirt (compost) delivered to our house. I spent two days moving a lot of it, but my back gave up and I haven't moved any since Tuesday. So, yesterday I decided it was time to paint the ugly "school room". It is the extra room in the house that should be a dining room but never became one. Instead it became the sewing room/school room/toy room/whatever room. It has awful 70's wallpaper on it. See:



So, I decided I had had enough of it and I pulled off the moulding and yesterday I primed all but one part of it. My kids have all helped. Some have helped a little too much, if you know what I mean and have gotten paint on the carpet and their clothes.



Now the walls are white and I've started painting them their new color, which is basically, the same color as the primer - white! I really don't like white walls, but I don't feel like I'm in the frame of mind to make color decisions. I don't like painting and I'm not very good at it so I went with what is easiest.

(This breaking news is being told to me as I type - my daughter doesn't know any more JennyJenna's. They have died! JennyJenna is her imaginary friend, as you might remember. Well, not the queen JennyJenna died, just the kung fu JennyJenna. Yeah, I don't get it either....)

OK. So, a few nights ago, I was laying down to sleep on the couch and was blinded by the street lights flooding though the living room. Since I was getting the whatever room ready to paint, I had taken the curtains down to puddy holes in the wall. Without the curtains, I couldn't sleep. During the middle of the night I started to wonder if I could shoot the street lights from my window with a BB gun. I decided as much as I would like to do that, it wouldn't be a good idea. First, I don't have a BB gun, second, it is probably illegal. I wondered if I could shoot the street lights with my bow and arrows. Then I decided I shouldn't try this either. My arrows have blunts on them and I can't aim that well. Also I only have three arrows and I really wouldn't want to loose them. So, I slept poorly. Last night, I rigged up a blanket to hang in the room and block the window. It was so classy you know, and my toddler kept pointing at it and saying "ghost!"

I have to get this room painted by tomorrow. Hubby comes home Saturday and I would like at least one day to sit on the couch, cross stitching and watching a bonnet movie! I'm hoping all this is a sign of nesting and this baby will come soon! I just wish the nesting would extend to the rest of the house and I would want to clean it more. While I'm painting, the rest of the house is getting ignored and starting to look pretty messy.

ice cut update

This evening while my children and I are having dinner, one of my sons remarked how the drinking water was ice cold. (It wasn't ice cold, just refrigerator cold) My daughter immediately began talking of how ice can cut you. My older son rolled his eyes and said, "Don't talk about it!" My daughter replies with, "But ice can cut you, I've had one."

The Paranoia of a 4 year old

My 4 year old daughter has an amazing memory and mind. She can remember things that happened long ago in her short life. I’m astounded when she brings up a specific incident that happened a year ago. We must be careful with her because of this great memory she has.

She also has a habit of getting “fixed” on an idea or incident and she will talk about it for a long, long time. Several examples:

-About two weeks ago, she got a small cut from a piece of ice she was sucking on. I wasn’t there for the incident so I don’t know the particulars, but she got a cut on one of her fingers from this bit of ice. For days and days she talked constantly of “ice cuts”. When I told her I didn’t want to hear anymore about ice cuts she told me she wasn’t done talking about them. Luckily, he wound has healed and she has not thought of it in a week.

-Black Holes! I don’t know where she heard about black holes. I’m guessing it was a know-it-all older brother who told her about black holes and their ability to suck up all things. Several weeks ago daughter was quite concerned about these black holes. She asked if they really could suck us up. I answered truthfully, yes, they could. She wanted to know where one was and if it was anywhere near our house. I answered her they are far, far away in outer space. She talked about these black holes for several days and then I heard nothing about it again, until this morning. She brought them up again.

-Crocodiles. This morning through what seemed like random chatter coming from my four year old which started while she was watching me trim my hair, she came across the idea of crocodiles. She then asked if crocodiles can eat people. I said yes, they could. She then asked, would they eat us in pieces? Probably, I answered. She went on talking about how she doesn’t like crocodiles, alligators and T-Rex’s. The T-Rex gave me a clue as to where this idea came from. Her brothers made her watch “Walking with Dinosaurs” yesterday while they were in the van. Those brothers!

-The biting chair. This will sound strange. I love Doris Day movies and one of my favorites to watch is “Pillow Talk”. In the end, Doris’s character redecorates Rock Hudson’s apartment in the most hideous way. Good friend Tony Randall, in a state of shock, sits down in a chair in the newly decorated living room. He immediately jumps and yells, “That chair! It bit me!” My daughter was amazed. A chair that would actually bite someone. She couldn’t stop talking about the biting chair. She talked about it all day long. I’m afraid I might have traumatized her.

The most incredible thing about my daughter is, we will be doing something and she will bring up these things from out of nowhere. You can be sure this isn’t the last time I hear about biting chairs or black holes.

Spring is in the air

The lovely season of spring is beginning here in southern Virginia. The daffodils are blooming. They are so bright and yellow. They make you happy just to see them. The last two days have had temperatures in the low 70’s. Today will be cooler, but still in the 60’s. At least for this week, it is spring here. Of course, this being Virginia, next week could be in the 20’s and 30’s again. You never know from week to week what it will be like outside.

But let’s forget for today that winter is still the official season and that it could snow in April. Today is a bright, slightly cool, spring day. For two days now I’ve been using my clothes line again. I will use it again today. Two days ago, my son and I made can stilts. He has enjoyed wandering the backyard in them. I wish we had sidewalks here that he could go up and down the street. The kids have spent hours outside jumping on the trampoline and digging in the sand box. We planted an herb garden this week. I hope in another week or two we will see the first little shoots of our plants. My tulips that I planted last year are starting to poke small green leaves up from the ground. It is a good day.

Last night we had a thunderstorm. I love those. I opened the curtains up so I would watch the sky light up. The storm sang me to sleep.

It’s one of those days that makes you happy to be alive. I just wish I could imagine the busy street and the sounds of zooming cars and school buses away.

All about Moi!

Dahling, I know your deepest desire is to know all about Moi!

1. What is your occupation? An actress, of course!
2. What color are your socks right now? Socks? How horrid. No, I’m wearing black silk stockings.
3. What are you listening to right now? My surround sound of Moi’s beautiful voice singing the greatest show tunes of the 40’s.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? The most delicious crème broulie.
5. Can you drive a stick? A what? I don’t drive, I have a chauffeur.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Dahling, don’t you know there is already a crayon named after me?
7. Who is your favorite singer? Moi
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Not really.
9. How old are you today? (giggle) Oh, Dahling, I’m a lady and lets just say I’m over 21.
10. Favorite drink? I know it is so common, but I love Root Beer. It just tickles my nose in the funniest way.
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? I loath sports. So common, so vulgar, so primal.
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Of course not! My hair is naturally this blond, always has been, always will be. That reminds me I need to set up an appointment with my hairdresser, Pierre.
13. What is your favorite place to vacation? Europe, dahling. I adore Paris.
14. Favorite food? Caviar
15. Last movie you watched? My movie. Is there anything else worth watching?
16. Favorite Day of the Year? My birthday – an entire day devoted to Moi!
17. What do you do to vent anger? I shoe shop. Yesterday, I was mad at my gardener for planting ugly seeds and I was so mad that I went and found the most adorable red, strappy, 5 inch heels that have the biggest red jewel on the big toe.
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? A mirror.
19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring. There are so many more cuter outfits for the spring.
20. Hugs or kisses? I’m not going there, dahling…
21. Cherry or Blueberry? Chocolate covered strawberries, thank you.
22. Do you want your friends to email you back? No, I’m not interested in their pathetic lives.
25. Living arrangements? I have the most gorgeous mansion on a hill over looking the ocean. My private swimming pool has a movie screen on one end and I love to sit in my luxurious floating chair and watch my movies.
26. When was the last time you cried? Last night while I was watching my death scene in my movie. It was so tragic.
27. What is on the floor of your closet? Plush carpeting.
28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I’ll send it back to myself. I’m the only one who matters.
29. Who is the friend you have had the shortest that you are sending this to? Ditto
30. Favorite smells? Chanel No. 5, is there any other fragrance?
31. What inspires you? Moi
32. What are you afraid of? Wrinkles
33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Hamburgers are so common. I dine on only the best filet mingon.
34. Favorite car? Stretched limos.
35. Number of keys on your key ring? I don’t carry keys! I wouldn’t want anything making that horrid jangling noise in my fashion handbag.
36. How many years at your current job? I was born to act and be rich.
37. Favorite day of the week? I love Saturdays, it is my day to soak in my hot tub and my personal masseuse works on me for hours.
38. How many states have you lived in? Just one.
39. How many countries have you been to? I’ve been to more than I can count. My favorite countries to visit are France, Africa and Hawaii.

There you go. Now you know my deepest secrets. I hope, Dahling, that this has been enlightening.

Books

Last night I had an activity with the Activity Day Girls at church. To encourage the great pastime of reading, I had each girl tell us about her favorite book or a book she has recently read.

To start things off, I brought along four of my favorites. My books were The Secret Garden, Peter Pan, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Anne of Green Gables. The Anne book isn't high on my list of favorites, but it is a fun read and I thought the girls might really enjoy it. First of all, it was sad when I introduced each of my books and the girls would say, I've seen that movie! While I enjoy the movie versions of these books (I've never seen an Anne movie, although I know there is one) the movies are never as good as the books. One girl said she hated each movie.

Then, each girl took a turn to tell us about her book. One girl brought in a fantasy novel she had just finished. Another girl told us about one she was reading in school. Another girl said her book was called Spiderwick, but it wasn't the Chronicles book. The other girls didn't believe her. I felt bad. She could hardly tell us about the book because the others were saying there was no way that was a Spiderwick book.

Anyway, after it was over, I thought back to when I was in school and the books the teachers made me read. I didn't like most of them. It seems teachers are keeping this up. They like to pick depressing, thought-provocing novels based on true events and wars instead of great classic literature. I told the girls thank goodness for summers when you can choose your own good books to read. I was lucky enough to have a teacher in the 11th grade who told us to pick any book by an American author in the 20th century. What a huge choice! I picked a Star Wars novel. It was acceptable and I got an A on my paper. I loved that teacher for letting us do that. I'll never understand why some people choose to read depressing novels about people who always end up with a fatal disease and dying a sad death. To each his own, I guess.

This has been a rambling, random thought with no point brought to you by the letters B, G, and the number 4836.

It's never a dull moment with children

Time flies by and yet it is going so slowly....

Kids are fixing their lunches. My two sons each have a sword and fight inbetween waiting for the toaster and eating the toast. My daughter has been wearing a cape for two days. Half of the time she thinks herself a queen while wearing the cape. The other half of the time she says she can fly and she runs around the house holding the cape out. We went to WalMart and the library this morning - she had on her cape. Her cape is a blanket and since it is in the 40's today, it works well as a warm wrap.

She has always had her own sense of style. When she was very, very small, she loved to wear her best dresses all of the time. Really, I didn't mind. The looked so pretty in them and I knew the phase would not last. We would be at a store and people would ask me if we had just had pictures taken. No, I would say, she just likes to wear her dresses. Now, instead of her pretty dresses, she prefers to wear purple t-shirts with red plaid skirts or she will wear a bright yellow skirt with a pink long sleeve t-shirt. Nothing matches anymore. Still, right now it isn't worth fighting about. As long as she is appropriatly covered, if she feels good in her outfit, I don't mind.


My children feel it a need to out-do each other. I guess most children do. The "game" King of the Hill didn't come out of nowhere. My daughter will just start to sing. She has a lovely voice. Her brother finds the song annoying and he tells her so. She starts to sing more loudly and begins to add annoying sounds in her singing. Seeing she isn't going to stop, he begins his own annoying noises. They raise to a terrible level until I have to loudly command they both stop.

Then, son begins to stomp on the floor. "What song am I doing?" Daughter wisely and candidly points out it sounds like stomping. He gets upset, again asking us what song he is stomping out. I tell him I agree with daughter it just sounds like stomping. He informs me he is doing the song "Popeye". I listen more closely.... nope, it still sounds like stomping to me.

Pile of pink

I just love the pile of pink. I washed all the baby clothes yesterday. It was fun to fold and look at the tiny onesies and pajamas. There is still lots of time before I'll need these things, but I couldn't resist washing them any longer.

Today two of my sons will be getting Haircuts by Mom. They are looking like John Denver in the early Eighties. My toddler is very good about getting his hair cut, but it is so hard to hold still when you are two. He also has a runny nose and likes to keep his hands in his mouth (although he is no longer teething). This could make for a hairy face while getting the haircut.

Well, my daughter needs a bath and the toddler can't resist time in the Splashy, so we are off to get clean. Then we'll do haircuts and he can have a second splashy.

A history of random thoughts

My toddler broke a bowl today. Whoever said Correll doesn't break, hasn't been to my house. We have broken more bowls in the last few months then I can remember. Today, it was the toddler's fault. Why is it when you yell "Don't Move!" that they have to keep moving? I yell at my toddler not to move and he starts to back up from the shattered mess. I tell my daughter to stay out. This hurt her feelings, it wasn't her fault the bowl broke, so why should she have to stay out of the kitchen?

Anyway, I'm cleaning up this bowl and I was disappointed to find that it was a clean bowl that had fallen to the floor. Now, I have to clean up the remains of a clean bowl and I still have as many dirty dishes as before this one broke. Does that make sense? If a dirty bowl had broken, it would have been like cleaning up one mess, not two.

I guess that is pretty ridiculous.

I have a history of silly random thoughts. I'll share a few with you.

When I was quite young, I thought how silly a vacuume cleaner was. As you push it around the room, it leaves it's cord all over the floor. Then, when you are done with the vacuume, you have to clean up the cord off the floor. With a vacuume you clean twice!

Another random thought I had as a child was about dust. (Cleaning is on my mind, can you tell?) When you are wearing white, and you roll around on the floor, you get black dust all over your clothes. However, when you are wearing black, and you roll around the same floor, you end up with white dust on you. This was, to me, very odd. I remember this thought came to me after watching Star Wars. Princess Leia was wearing a white dress and when it got dirty, you could see black. Luke Skywalker was wearing an all black outfit and after rolling about on the floor he is covered in a white dusting.

Yes folks, strange random thoughts have been a part of me for a long time. I'm glad they never go away.

going to Vote!

Today is voiting day in our state. I like going to vote. I feel like I'm doing something important. There isn't much in the way of choices this year, but I went and done my part.

Before heading out I had to find my voters registration card. That took me a while. It wasn't exactly where I thought I kept it. It was close by and took a bit of digging through papers, but I found it.

Next I had to get the kids ready. My 7 year old says, can't I stay home? No, you are going to watch me vote. My daughter starts to whine: I don't want to go. Well, you can't stay home alone and I want you to come with me while I vote. My toddler is excited to get out of the house. After much whining on my son and daughter's part, we made it to the elementary school down the street. My daughter had a sour look on her face the entire time. It's too bad because she is such a pretty girl. While does she have to spoil that sweetness with a sour look? Anyway, I get my card and go to an open booth. My toddler sees a big wooden crab hanging from the ceiling. He thinks it is a spider and starts to head for it. The voter people don't like him going behind the machines. They pull him away. He gets upset. I finish my voting - it was very quick since there is only one vote to make. I turn the group around and we start to leave.

My toddler throws himself to the floor and starts to cry "speeda" which means spider. I have to drag him to the door where I turn in my card and they give me a sticker. They offer one to my daughter, but she gives the guy a dirty look. I have to carry my toddler who is kicking and screaming out the door. He makes himself stiff and heavy making it very hard for me to hold him. I carry him out to the van and we load back in. He cries the whole way home "speeda, speeda"!

Maybe next time, I'll leave them all at home. Without all the loading and unloading into the van, I would cut my time in half. I could be home in 5 minutes.

My book club has been reading Anne of Green Gables this month. It took me a while for me to get over the shock in the book of letting the children run outside all day, walk to school alone, and stay home alone while parents walk to the neighbors. I forget that at one point you could leave your child home while you went down the street for a few minutes. Now, the thought of leaving my kids home for 5 mintues is terrifying. I'm not worried that anything will happen to them, they are good kids and if I put on a movie, they would not even notice I had gone. What is terrifying is that someone might find out I did it and call police on me. What a terrible world we live in now. I wish I could go back to the time of Anne's world and not worry so much about those things.

Oh well, the point to all this is, I VOTED!

no news but always busy

I knew I hadn't written in a while, but I was surprised to see that I had not all the month of February.

The thing is, not much is going on. I mean, with kids, there is always stuff going on, but nothing mentionable.

Hubby is going on a work trip to Colorado. I'm so jealous. I want to go to Colorado! It has been my favorite place for as long as I can remember. We'll miss him for those 4 days, but we will have fun. My sister is coming to see me on Wednesday!!!! I can't wait. We have so much fun together and it will be the first time she comes to my house since we moved here. We are planning a Monkees Marathon.
My hubby is glad he won't be around for that.

There is something going on every night these days. Last week it was all church stuff. This week is it all church stuff too. Last Tuesday I had my first appointment with the midwife. It is a small team of 5 and they were all very nice. All seems to be going well. I was at 32 weeks for the appoitment, but I measured at 37. They were all concerned, but I'm thinking I've just got a good layer of extra pounds they measured which made the numbers high. Baby is good. She is busy. They had a hard time pinning her down to get a heartbeat on her. She kept moving and squirming. I think it is pretty funny, but you know what that means for my future... another super busy kid.

My son has been devouring his Magic Tree House books. I had to take him to the library twice last week because he would read all his books. I'm proud of him. My toddler still likes to be a kitty, puppy, pony, whatever. He has been playing with Star Wars action figures lately. He likes they all have lightsabers. My daughter has decided that her Polly Pocket princess dolls are now Jedi's too. It makes for interesting play. I'm glad she has such a great imagination!

Music Coming Out of My Ears!

My daughter has a little MP3 player that she got for Christmas. She loves it and it plays constantly. Music varies from children songs (Wheels on the Bus) to Primary songs (Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam) to strange soundtracks (Danny Elfman's Willy Wonka). She sings with all of it.

Recently she has started complaining about "music coming out of her ears". We figure this means she has a song stuck in her head. She has mentioned this off and on since Christmas, but the other night, at dinner, this problem was really bothering her. We were eating dinner and she keeps saying she has music coming out of her ears. She looks at me, "Mom, do you hear the music coming out of your ears?" I had to deny that I did. "Yes you do," she insisted, "I can hear it!"

This was really making her concerned. Hubby had an idea, no MP3 player for a while and see if we can get rid of this music in her head. I was fine with the idea. For one thing, she plays her MP3 so much, I have to change the battery every day - it is an expensive habit. Second, she has The Macarena on her MP3. I hate that song, but she loves it. I can only stand to hear it so many times a day.

There has been very little talk from my daughter about music coming out of her ears the last few days. I wish I could say the same thing. I woke up this morning with Barbie's Princess and the Pauper coming out of my ears.

Sharing is making me crazy!

My children don't know how to share. I've tried teaching the principle. I do my best to live the principle. I've showed them how to share and I've praised them when they do to re-enforce it. I've done it just like the books teach. Still, my kids fight so much about everything.

My two oldest have dart gun with Nerf-like darts. Each gun had four to start with. Now only four remain of the original eight. My oldest claims he has lost none and all four belong to him.

This morning, three of the kids were playing with blocks. Instead of just building something great, it became a greedy fight. Who can get the most blocks? Daughter insisted she needed one certain block that brother had. He would not give it up and declared he needed it more. Screaming and crying soon followed.

Last week at dinner, the table was set. The cups we use for the kids are colored. No color is assigned to each kid. It is just a random thing of who gets what color. After I pour the drinks, daughter announces she wants the purple one that her oldest brother has. He quickly takes a drink out of it and says it is his. She refuses to drink from the red cup in front of her.

When we pop popcorn for a family movie, they eat the popcorn as fast as they can, to make sure one of the others doesn't get more.

At various times during the day or week, you will hear one of the children yell, "Don't follow me! I want to be alone!" Several things happen after this. Either they announce they want to be alone, but stay in common rooms and get mad when they others are in there or they go off to their own room or outside and one of the others will spitefully follow them and knock on the door or yell at them through the door.

They are so greedy. Does anyone else have greedy children or am I the only one dealing with this? I can understand my two year old having a hard time with sharing, but why are my nine and seven year olds fighting about sharing? I'm going nuts with all this meanness that is going on. All these things they are fighting over - the darts, the blocks, the colored cups, the popcorn - are completely ridiculous things to fight over too. It is all so stupid! Ahh!

Farewell, President Hinkley

Last night, President Gordon B. Hinkley died. He will be greatly missed.

I must share a memory I have of him. I attended college in Rexburg, ID at Ricks College, years before it became BYU-Idaho. The very first Sunday after school started was a special fireside. The speaker was First Counselor, Gordon B. Hinkley. We waited in long lines to get into the huge gym. My friends and I were lucky enough to get seats on the floor just a few sections away from the pulpit. In front of the pulpit were about three rows of seats that faced the audience. On these seats sat all the stake presidents from the area. Behind the pulpit sat Pres. Hinkley, the college president and other important people.

When Pres. Hinkley was announced, he came up the pulpit and said he was having a hard time seeing all of us because of the glare coming off all the stake president's heads in front of him. We all had a good laugh over that.

It was my first memory of him. He had been in the General Presidency a long time before then, but it was the first experience of my adult life with the good Prophet. I don't think I've had the opportunity since to see him live and be in the same room with him. Still, everytime I saw him on the TV, he brought a smile to my face and usually a good chuckle. What a wonderful sense of humor he had, to the end.

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we will talk about him. I realized that he has been Prophet since before my children were born. My two oldest have only known him as the Prophet. They will miss him, too. The two younger ones will not remember. Thank you, President Hinkley. We love you.