Bass Pro Shop Santa

This was our FHE last night. We went to the Bass Pro Shop in Spanish Fort and got to see Santa. All day long the kids were so excited to see him.

When we got there though, we found out that you have to get an appointment card, which was 2 hours away. They just about bust a vein in their heads from screaming when we left to grab dinner so we could kill some time. Emma was especially distraught, she screamed and flailed all over the store floor. We had to physically pick her up and drag her out. She didn't stop screaming until we drove into Chik-Fil-A and she got sidetracked by the man in the cow suit waving to passerby's.

When we finally got back and it was our turn to sit the kiddos on Santa's lap, Miriam planted her feet, Hannah went into frightened convulsions and Emma who was so adamant to see Santa up close was now screaming to get away from the jolly man in red.

Santa was really awesome about it though and suggested a family picture. As long as Mom and Dad's bodies shielded the girls from the terror of St. Nick they were fine. I think we got a really good family picture out of it.

Tobie on the other hand was quick to get to Santa to tell him the first item on his list; a laptop. Santa looked at Tobie and said, "You're a little young for a laptop, don't you think?". As we left I told Tobie that I didn't think Santa does electronics. He looked up at me and said, pretty smug I might add, "We'll see.".

We'll see indeed. Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! We miss you and hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season!

Christmas Card Time

I was looking for pictures of our cross-country move to use for our Christmas card this year. This is what I found:




Miriam's abstract art photos. I just might have to use them since I couldn't find any good family shots.

Why You Should Have a Dog

I'm all about letting our kids explore the textures of food. I have never had any problem stripping them down and letting the loose, especially on a big plate of messy spaghetti.

But I have to admit having a dog makes cleaning the mess just a little less daunting, as shown below:

This is Friday's dinner post, right at the feet of Hannah. And Hannah does not disappoint, dropping and flinging food all around her, even hand feeding/sharing her food with the faithful pup. I know Hannah is grateful for the hand cleaning before she shoves another fistful of food into her own mouth.

(I know when/if my mom reads that last line she just may throw up a little in her mouth.)

I highly recommend a dog to anyone who has a munchkin with the same table manners as mine.

Blah and then Enlightenment

Lately I have been feeling really 'blah'. I haven't been motivated to do much of anything. When I get this way I look for inspiration from either the scriptures or from a wonderful magazine that my church puts out called the 'Ensign'. I get to read what the apostles and prophets have to say on so many topics, and every now and then I'll find one that was meant just for me.

I've had this June issue of the 'Ensign' since, well...June. And I know I have skimmed through it then, but tonight when I picked it up there was a talk in there that really hit home. The article is entitled "Our Refined Heavenly Home" written by Elder Douglas L. Callister of the Seventy. He spoke of ways that we can make our homes reflect our heavenly home. He touched on the type of language we use, the literature we read, the music we listen to and the type of art we have hanging in our homes. Just by being more choosy in these areas we can make our homes a heavenly home.

I am the worst about having the television on. I don't even watch it half the time, I just like the noise. And I'll admit that I use it from time to time as a babysitter for the kids when I have chores around the house to do. I even used to say that my kids learned their numbers 1-5 because we have a 5 disc DVD changer. Pathetic, I know. In Elder Callister's talk he posed the question,

"Could our society today produce an Isaac Newton or a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Can 85 channels and uncountable DVDs ever fill our insatiable appetite to be entertained? Do any unwisely become addicted to computer games or Internet surfing, thereby missing the richer experiences of great reading, converstaions, and enjoyment of music?"

I can tell you that in my house if I keep going the way we are going then there is no way a Newton or a Mozart could come out of here. I have had the feeling to get rid of the television, or at least scale back t.v. time for a long while now. I'm admitting it now that why I haven't done it is out of fear. I am afraid that I will not have anything to do with the kids once they have been snapped out of their digital comas. I read so many other blogs where mothers are having adventures with their little ones and I freeze up with the doubt that anyone would have any fun, or heaven forbid, I wouldn't have any fun.

Theo suggested reading more books and listening to music. I used to love listening to Classical music, and I still do. But there have been times when I want to play my music and all I get is gripe from the kids because it bores them. To lessen contention I usually back off and turn on "Yo Gabba Gabba". Elder Callister mentioned something that is making me change my mind and now I want to be more adamant about having the kids musical horizon broadened.

"If a young person grows up on a steady diet of hanburgers and french fries, he is not likely to become a gourmet. But the fault is not with fine food. He just grew up on something less. Some have grown up on a steady diet of musical french fries."

I love that! "Musical French Fries" Yes!!! Today is all about entertaining the masses with empty lyrics and mundane tunes. I like what Handel said after recieving a compliment after a performance of his famous Messiah,

"My lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them-I wish to make them better."

If only all performers and entertainers were like this, to make the listener a better person, not how popular they can become. And I am being the enabler by purchasing or listening to these 'musical french fries'.

I want and need to give more to my kids. Of course there will still be some fries on the side, just to keep it fun. But the main course should be hearty and thought provoking.

If you have any fun, educational, thought-inducing and imagination-building ideas I would love to hear any. Starting tomorrow the t.v. stays off.

A Happy Halloween and a Funny Photo

Like a knucklehead our camera's batteries died right when we get to the ward chili cook off party. I managed to squeeze just enough battery juice out to get one shot of Hannah in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. Isn't she adorable! I thought I did have another shot of all the kids together, but apparently my camera gave all it could give and gave out while I was pushing the button as they grouped together for a photo. Ah well, I guess those images will remain in my head at how cute the rest of them were. So in the meantime I decided to just post some other pics of Hannah just because she is so stinking cute!
I got this romper at Target for $5! I love it so much! And look at that bow! Can I use any more exclamation points? YES! She is that precious!!!
This is my all time favorite pose. I got a wig for Emma because she wanted to be Ariel, then she wouldn't put it on and Theo ended up using it for his Pirate costume (which was AWESOME! Sorry, no pics of that either. :( ) But we had a ton of fun with it when I brought it home. Everyone tried it on, but Hannah was the only one who I thought resembled E.T. after Drew Barrymore's character dressed him like a woman. She even has the walk down. It was the funniest thing ever!

We had a great time Trick-or-Treating. We went to my parents neighborhood since ours is still under construction. There were so many people there that really got creative with their decorations, and even a few Haunted yards, one in particular scared the be-jee-bers out of the kids. It was one of the best Halloweens to date. I hope everyone had a great holiday as well!

Driver's Ed 102

Okay, Part II of our education on driving safely. I swear, if I believed in past lives I would have thought I was a Driver's Ed instructor. Or maybe it is my calling in this life. Who knows.

Anywho, next lesson:

It doesn't matter if you can still see when it is twilight outside, you should still turn your headlights ON. People may not be able to see you!

I have heard people say, more often than I would like, that they can see just fine and they don't need the lights on. It's not a question of whether you can see or not, you have to be sure that everyone around you can see you as well.

A few months ago my mom picked me up for some party we were both heading to that started in the evening. The sun was going down and people were starting to turn their lights on. But as we were pulling out of my neighborhood my mom pulled out in front of a car who did NOT have their lights on, therefore she did not see him. I freaked out as the person had to slam on breaks to miss us. This is a classic example of why you should have your lights on, even if you can "still see".
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It's quiz time!

In a previous post what did I call the left hand lane? And no cheating!

Oz's Birthday Cake

This is my latest creation. My sister's son just celebrated his 2nd birthday and she asked me to make the cake. I knew it was going to be a pirate party so we came up with a skull and crossbones. It's a chocolate cake with my cookies 'n cream filling.

She had the idea to make the eye sockets deeper so we could put candles in the cavities. It was a really cool effect when it was lit up. I wish I had a picture of that, but I forgot my camera at the party, just take my word for it...it was AWESOME!
I even made little individual cakes for Oz and his friend Parker shaped as treasure chests. These were really cute too, and really easy which is what I loved about them.

Cemetery Fun

Beautiful, isn't it? When we were younger we didn't take your conventional nature walks. If we were in the mood for outdoor adventure this was our destination. We would take the trail through the woods behind our house that would put us out here at the Mobile Memorial Gardens Cemetery to feed the ducks at the pond. (I don't find this morbid in any way.) I always enjoyed coming here with my mother when I was young and also when I was older whether for personal reflection or time-filling recreation with friends.
I brought my girls here to share my childhood memories of the place. We brought bread to feed to the swans and ducks. To my surprise there were several seagulls there as well, even though I don't remember there being any seagulls here when I was younger. The word must have gotten out that there was people here throwing free food.
This was the furthest Emma got from me, and only once. As soon as the ducks started coming closer for the food she came running and screaming towards me and permanently attaching herself to my leg.

The turtle population has really taken off as well. I remember the rare occurrence of spotting a turtle, but that day we say several, even baby ones. That was super cool for the girls.

This huge oak tree is right beside the pond. We had so much fun climbing on this when I was younger. It's a kid magnet. Miriam saw it's climbing potential right away and as soon as she ran out of bread she headed straight for it.
I wanted a picture of my girls sitting on the limb, but Emma was still glued to my leg at this point. Miriam loves, LOVES holding Hannah that she couldn't resist holding her while she sat there. I assure you that Hannah was wearing a full coverage shirt, the choke hold Miriam has on her has pulled her shirt up to make it resemble a pink halter. Not the case, but still that is one cute belly!

Sinful

I think my subconsciousness know when I am trying to loose weight and it comes up with all these decadent mouthwatering sinful creations that I just simply cannot deny myself of making. I don't know if anyone has had a Double Doozie before from the American Cookie Co., but they are DELICIOUS!!! They are a piece of cookie sandwich heaven. The problem was one day when I realized that they are very simple to make. Now I make Double Doozies almost every time I make cookies. (When you know how to make them this way is there really any point in just having plain cookies anymore??? I didn't think so.) I've made chocolate chip with chocolate frosting Doozies and white chocolate chip with vanilla frosting. The picture is of my newest thing, chocolate white chocolate chip Doozies. SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD! I did take these to a party, so don't think I sat there after taking this picture and scarfed them all down, all though I was very tempted.

I highly recommend making these. Simply make your favorite kind of cookie and let them cool. Pipe or spread your favorite kind of icing on the back of one and then place another cookie making it into a sandwich. I recommend eating these with your eyes closed, it enhances the flavors. Enjoy!

Twinkle Toes

I don't know what has possessed me, maybe too much "Dancing with the Stars", but I am venturing to sign Theo and I up for Ballroom dancing lessons. They offer them through the community and I would love to try it out.

The funny thing about this idea is that I have no rhythm and two left feet. But I have this memory from when I was a teenager at one of those dreaded youth dances. A Brother was there who knew how to dance and he graced some of us Young Woman on how dancing really feels like, none of that swaying back and forth in a mundane circle. He twirled and glided me all over the dance floor. Of course I did my fair share of toe stepping, but he was more than gracious about it. I felt like I was flying and I have to admit that even though he was 20 years older and married and completely not my type I fell in love a little.

So with this memory I have decided that I want that connection with my Theo. He has reluctantly but timidly agreed to humor me in joining a dance class. I still haven't committed to it myself, but the idea is there and I am almost dedicated. I just have to get over the jitters about making a fool of myself.

(Having this dress that Ginger Rogers has on would make it all well worth it, but I'm not confident enough in showing up to my first lessons in it. Maybe one day.)

Had to Share

I was reading on C Jane's blog and she included a link to this place. They make your photos look like polaroids. I tried one out and thought it was just too cute not to share. This is Hannah really enjoying her birthday cake. In fact I think she may be washing her hair with it she liked it so much. (It's what I like to do with my cake.) Isn't this just too adorable!

Rainy Days

It was funny when we first moved to California, it was sunny...every...day. No clouds, no rain. After awhile it got a little boring. I missed my summer thunderstorms. I missed seeing the lightening dance across the sky and the feeling of the cooling off the very HOT summer days. To quote the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou" I truly do believe that "Sweet summer rain is like God's own mercy.". I would curse the sunny cloudless skies after awhile yelling for some kind of a break from its perfect sunny blue.

Ever since we have moved here it's as if the southern skies are welcoming me back home. Almost every day has not disappointed me with an afternoon shower, lightening and thunder to boot. I have been in thunderstorm heaven. I've discovered that I am a rainy day kinda girl. I love the smell as the clouds roll in, the static in the air and the light breeze that cools the most sultry of days. It's exhilarating and comforting all at the same time.

It's the feeling of home.

Dreamland Skate

I haven't posted in so long that I forgot to post backwards and this jewel of a picture came up first instead of last as the last bit of evidence that my kids had a wonderful time at the Skate Center. Last Saturday Theo suggested coming here for the family time. This skating rink is right by the house I grew up in and if there were any skating parties this was the place. Let me just state for the record that I absolutely HATE skating and I am no good at it. But I love seeing my kids excel in areas that I am weak. It was a great idea and lots of fun, regardless of the picture you see above. That fit was brought on by the fact that we had to leave.
Roller skating babies.


Tobie was such a trooper. This was his first time on skates and he kept falling down. He couldn't even do the marching thing they tell you to do when you are first learning. He complained a bit, but if we ever asked if he was done he said 'no' and kept on truckin'! By the end he was really getting the hang of it.

The calm before the storm.

Hannah's First Year!

Hannah has been a true blessing to me. Her sweet spirit and smile has brightened my life immensely. She is instantly loved by her brother and two sisters. Just like a favored toy they fight over who gets her attention. This has been a wonderful first year, and I feel very blessed that I have the opportunity to be with this little beauty for all time and eternity.

Happy Birthday Hannah Banana!

My Second Grader

Look at my handsome little man! School started last week, but I just found my USB cord and I just downloaded all my pictures. I was sitting on the fence as to whether I liked the idea of having a uniform or not. After seeing Tobie all dressed up I thought he looked pretty darn spiffy if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately good looks don't get you everywhere in this world. By Wednesday the teacher came out to my car when I came to pick him up to ask if he was on medication back in California. I told her that he had been checked by his pediatrician and was told that he was just a normal active boy. Personally I think he has a form of turrets. That poor boy just can't seem to control his outbursts. Seriously, I still wonder about him sometimes.

I am loving his school already though. For drop off and pick-up all you have to do is sit in line and then the teachers pull the cars up in waves. Once as many cars that can pulls up the teachers yell, "Load Up!", that's at pick up. I just sit there and wait for Tobie to come to me. Before at Hamilton I had to unload all my girls, get the double stroller out, push it all the way to his class room and then pick him up at his class door. Then walk out to the car load and buckle all my girls back into their seats, load up the stroller and then try to pull out of a very congested parking lot. I have been ecstatic at the fluidity of their system.

Also, when Tobie started the first grade at Hamilton his stuttering started getting really bad. I was constantly asking his teacher about getting him into Speech Therapy. It was like an act of congress to get him in there and it wasn't until after the Christmas holidays before they finally got the ball rolling for his therapy. That only gave him half a school year to work on his speech. I was not thrilled about this, so when we moved here I was a little nervous about how they would go about handling his therapy. But then last Thursday Tobie comes home and tells me he had his first Speech Therapy class! I was so excited and grateful. I didn't even have to tell them about his obvious stutter, I didn't have to have 50 meetings just to get him in speech. They saw a need and they got it done. I was actually in Speech therapy when I went there in my youth and I LOVED it, so I really hope this is going to work for him also.

I'm really loving this school and I really hope he creates as many happy memories here as I have.

My Soapbox

I tend to get on my little soapbox a lot. There are several postings I would like to make based on my soapbox, but I didn't feel like using my family blog ALL the time to post my issues. I have let some seep out like "Drivers Ed 101", but that is just the tip of the iceberg. I decided it would be a good idea to start another blog completely devoted to my opinions on how I feel about certain issues.

I already had my first posting planned out, "The Disillusion that Topless Women Equals a Feminist Milestone.".

I tried "mysoapbox.blogspot.com" and "thesoapbox.blogspot.com" to get the venting started. But unfortunately both were taken. At first I was just a little disappointed, then curious. I typed the names into the address field and found out that "thesoapbox.blogspot.com" was completely blank. Maybe the whimsical thought from someone who was going to have a lot to say and then decided against it, leaving that poor blog to sit there unamusing.

I tried "mysoapbox.blogspot.com" and found that some young thing was going to use it to rediscover herself.....back in 2007. One posting and then the whole self discovery thing was abandoned. Perhaps she already found herself, wow, all after just one posting. Blogs can do miracles apparently.

So now I am on my soapbox about people who take very good blog titles and then completely waste them by not using them. Do they not know how to delete that blog? Come on! Share the love by not hogging all the cool blog names.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Technical Difficuties

I know I haven't posted in a while, but there is a reasonable explanation. I have all these photos that I was wanting to post, but with the move into our new home I can't find my camera's USB cord. Also we have just been connected to the world wide web again. Every time I have gotten online the connection was so weak from a neighboring wi-fi I haven't been able to stay on. Now that I have been able to get back on I have been doing my blog updates. I usually get sidetracked writing on my blog because I have spent my free time reading up on all my favorite blogs.

Speaking of, I was on my friend Annie's blog. She is currently in S. Korea now (her husband is in the Army) and she has 2 kids with one on the way. I have always admired her energy and ability to do things. She was talking about stay-at-home mothering and she made a comment that really hit home for me.

"Stay-at-homing is so unstructured that it's too easy to underachieve. Where there is no accountability, there is no progress."

I completely agree with this statement. Unfortunately I tend to take the low road because there is no accountability. I get good ideas for fun and education, but I usually get sidetracked by either laziness or dread. Dread because we all know the stories of taking the family out for a fun outing that turned into a whine fest and nothing worked out. I get stressed out easily so I tend to avoid things that may cause some sort of panic.

I realize that I need to try more and get over this annoyance I have. I get agitated that they all want something, and it's usually something different all at the same time. Sometimes I just want to read a book, or watch the news, or go to the bathroom without being bothered with someone hitting the other. I mean really, what can I do about it while sitting on the toilet???

But I only have them for such a short time and this won't be forever. I don't want my kids to grow up and I have regrets for not taking advantage of the time I have with them.

I'm going to work on it first thing tomorrow. That is...if I'm not too tired.

How Do They Know?

How do kids know when there is an important day the next day? Is there some static in the air that something that requires me to wake up early is going to occur? Therefore sending them into a late night adrenaline rush? I don't get it?! It never fails, when I have to get up in the morning and my sleep is vital to my success for the following day they stay up and cry and whine and demand things;

"Drink!"
"Songs"
"Book"
"Pee"
"Lay with Me."
"I don't like these PJ's."
"I'm hungry."
"I can't sleep."
"I hurt myself."
"Cut my nails."

On and on, over and over, they say the same things and fight sleep tooth and nail. Why can't they just lay in their beds and slowly drift off into dreamland? WHY???

Our Story

I had just gotten out of a pretty serious relationship. I was dating a Baptist and we had discussed marriage despite our religious differences. We were in love, we thought we could make it work. But our relationship became more strained and when he gave me the ultimatum to leave the church or leave him, I picked my religion. The whole time we were dating I had immersed myself in scripture growing closer and closer to the Lord. When the relationship ended I relied completely on the guidance of the Holy Ghost and swore off guys for a while. I was going to enjoy being single!

I had noticed a guy at Institute (yes, Institute. It really can work.) and he was really cute. He was quiet and at the time I first noticed him I was involved so I didn't really think too much about it. After my breakup I was called to be the Singles Representative and make sure our Stake was involved in all the activities in our area. I got the chance to meet and become close with so many singles in our Stake. It was a fun calling. There was this one girl in particular that I tried to connect with. I could tell she was not in a good relationship and needed someone to reach out to. When she finally broke it off with her guy I was on the ball trying to play match maker with the guys from church.

"So, who do you think is cute?"

"I really think that guy Theo is kinda cute."

Crap.

He was my go to guy when I was done being happy with my single hiatus. Well, I had to ask and now she just called dibs.

"Okay...well how about we all carpool to the dance this weekend and you can sit in the back with him and you guys can get to know each other better."

The plan was set, and off we went. But there was something not connecting. At the dance I tried not to pay him any extra attention so my friend could have a fair shot. But I couldn't help notice that whenever I was around Theo shifted his body to face me. If I came to sit at the table for a break from my mad dance moves he would turn in his seat so we would be face to face. As we were getting in the car to go back home my friend told me she would like to sit up front on the way back.

I gave her a quizzical look and said, "Are you sure?"

She gave me a smile and said, "Yeah."

Okay, I thought. I guess that didn't work out. As we were sitting in the back we were going through the CD case and I noticed a scab on his right hand. Without thinking about it or even realizing my hand was moving towards his, I scooped up his hand in mine and asked him what happened. Instead of just holding his hand out straight while I examined it, he cupped his hand around mine. I started to blush and butterflies started fluttering in my stomach. "What was that?" I wondered.

It was really late when we drove home and it was a couple hours drive, so being exhausted from the evening I fell asleep with my head up against the back seat. I woke up a little when I felt a pressure on the top of my head. It was Theo, apparently I had slid on to his shoulder as I slept and now he was falling asleep with his head rested on mine. It was such a sweet moment, and we rode all the way home like that.

He called the next day, of course, and we had a first date on March 12, 1999. We were sealed in the Orlando Temple on July 17, 1999.

It has been a wonderful 10 years and I grow to love that man more and more every day. I thank my Heavenly Father constantly for preparing me to be worthy for the covenants that we were able to make in the temple. Now we have 4 beautiful children and blessings beyond comprehension.

I love you Theo and I am yours for all time and eternity.

Driver's Ed 101

I have a pet peeve that has the ability to turn me into the Hulk with rage. I don't know how many people out there are aware of this so let me just educate anyone who does not remember this section of the Driver's handbook.

On a two lane road the left lane is the "passing" lane. NOT the 'fast' lane. I have to stress that it isn't the 'fast' lane because some people are under the notion that if they are going 5 miles above the speed limit this qualifies them to occupy this lane. This is an irritating misconception, especially when I am trying to pass someone who is in the right hand lane only to be deterred by another slow driver in the left lane.

Do you see my frustration?

It's even worse if the driver in the left lane is going the same speed as the person in the right lane and I am stuck behind two slow drivers without any chance to pass. Talk about just wrong!

I don't consider myself to have road rage often, but when this happens I just start seeing green and the veins throughout my body pulsate as I feel myself transform into a huge green ape in purple pants.

Remember, Left lane = Passing Lane. NOT Fast Lane. You'll be quizzed on this later.

Hola!, Bonjour!, or Guten Tag!

I have had this strong desire to learn a different language. I think it all started when I almost failed French in High School. It stirred something inside me that I should try harder, and how wonderful it would be to speak another language. Now it's been a little over 10 years and I have only made feeble attempts to learn another language, (that is except for baby talk which I have actually find pride in translating my kids, especially when it is to my husband.). I have come to the conclusion that it's not the actual learning part that is hindering me from starting, it's deciding which language I really want to learn. I'm torn between Spanish, French and German. Since I can't commit it keeps me from buckling down and just doing it.

I think Spanish is beneficial for everyday use. The area we live has a Spanish Ward, and that would be awesome to be able to communicate with them. Also it is the second most dominate language in the U.S. I would love to go to Spain, and they speak Spanish. =) S0 all in all some pretty good points.

Then there is French. Like I said I attempted it in High School, but the outcome was grim. I find that now that I'm older, I understand the phrase, "You need to apply yourself.". All the time my Dad would say this and I really didn't know what it meant. You mean I can't learn while I'm jamming to my tunes on the radio, or watching my t.v. shows and doing my homework in between the commercial breaks? I get it now, so I think with this new found enlightenment I could really get into French. It's the language of love, it's also a European language as well as our neighbors to the north. It could be beneficial...right?

I feel a bit of attachment and loyalty to Germany since I was born there. I was born a U.S. citizen in Berlin, Germany while my Dad was working over there for the Army. I was there for the first 3 years of my life. My parents loved it, yet they didn't learn the language. I would love to go back and visit, so knowing the language would be a good thing to have. It's an awesome language, but other than the fact that I may go there one day, I can't think of any other reason to learn the language.

I thought I had committed myself several times to any of these three at one point or another. But then I feel guilt for neglecting the other two languages. Why can't I just pick one? If I was really ambitious I would just learn all three! But then which one would I learn first?

Since this question is just too hard for me to answer I am taking it to my friends, family and random readers. There is a poll to the right of my postings asking which language I should learn first. I really need your help, so I hope I get a lot of votes!

Gracias, Merci (or) Danka!

Blog Me

My little Emma has come a long way in improving her speech. She has a slight speech delay that has required the help of a Speech Therapist. I love hearing her speech becoming more clear especially since I can now hear the thoughts that are swimming around in her little 2 year old mind. My favorite right now is her sentence structure. Everything is "_____ me." For example, we were at a Hotel pool in San Antonio, TX and when it was time to go inside she obediently gets out and walks to where our things were laid and says, "Towel me". Whatever she wants or needs she says that one word followed by "me". The "Towel me." was my favorite, but here are some of her other requests:

"Juice Me."

"Diaper Me." (meaning change her diaper)

"Blanket Me."

"Read Me."

Ah, the cuteness of youth. I don't think Theo would find it as endearing if I started talking to him like that. I'll just leave it up to Emma since she does it so well.

Our New House

For almost a month now my family has been going through a huge transition and have been forced to become nomads in the meantime. Theo, being in the Coast Guard, has been transferred to my hometown of Mobile, Alabama.

In our search for the perfect house we have been staying in an 11'X12' room in my parents house. It's a nice size room, for one person, but for a not-so-small family of six this arrangement can get a little hairy. As soon as we came into town the house hunting began.

Our realtor, Angela Locklier, (awesome!) showed us plenty of houses in the area that I wanted and the school district I wanted. But it was the same old story, too old, too small. We also have to keep in mind the resale value of the house since Theo's job could relocate us in 4 years.

Ironically on the way to church on Sunday I went down a road I have been done countless times in my youth, and there was this new subdivision of these really nice expensive looking houses. I have to admit I wondered why those new houses were being put in this area of all places. Out of curiosity, after church we decided to just take a peek. I told the contractor/realtor what we were looking for and what we could spend. And can you believe that he took us to see this beauty!?! I absolutely LOVE it! The brick, the detail, the space, the newness. Everything on our checklist was checked. It is still under construction, but it's just the finishing touches and will be ready by the time our paperwork is completed.

My parents are going out of town to volunteer in the Hill Cumorah Pageant which will free up the master bedroom for us and will be a relief as we wait another month to get into our house. I have a feeling it will be all worth it!
This is a view of the house as you walk in the front door.
My HUGE kitchen, one of my requirements, with granite countertops. BONUS!
The island that Theo started on for me for Mother's Day 3 years ago will go nicely in here. I just hope it doesn't take him another 3 years because I want to enjoy it now!

The dining room with 12 ft. tray ceilings.
Living room and fireplace that has yet to be painted. On the list of things to do to get in move in ready.
Master bedroom with trey ceilings.
Double sinks, the key to a succesful marriage. :)
Seperate shower and tub and a walk in closet that could be the nursery!

Also the funny thing about this location is that it is in walking distance of the elementary school that I went to growing up. Tobie thought that was so cool that he gets to go to the same school his Mommy went to when she was a little girl.

I'm so excited to get our lives started in our new house, and maybe if we really like it we will be given the opportunity to enjoy it for longer than just 4 years.

The Desert

(In front of the Lemon's house with a HUGE gorgeous cactus in front.)

After our stay at my friend's house we decided to look around this part of Arizona since I have never really been around cactus that much, or the desert for that matter. It was absolutely beautiful with all the hills and tall cactus peppered all over. I always feel when riding in a car the windows are t.v. screens and I don't really feel like I am there unless I roll down the windows so I can feel and smell the air around me. It was really hot and really dry! But there was this peaceful feeling from being in the desert. I told Theo this would be something nice to come to a spa or something of that nature out in the desert. I guess because of the dry dusty air I was constantly feeling dirty, so the idea of being at a spa so we could clean up in relaxation sounded really alluring to me.
I read some sign about the baby cactus and how these mammoth things start out the size of your thumb. I told Tobie about it and we went baby cactus hunting. Here he is sharing his knowledge while Daddy takes his picture.
You can kind of tell in the background how the clouds would cast these huge shadows on the hillside. I just thought that was the most beautiful thing.

No more mountains for us. Kind of sad really.

The all-knowing sign also told me that they don't start growing 'arms' until about 75 years of age. These guys must be pretty old!