Random Sampler

I love October, I love the Fall, and I love Halloween. This week we carved pumpkins for our Family Home Evening activity.

The kids drew the kinds of jack-o-lantern faces they wanted on paper, and then I carved them out. But first, everyone had to help scoop out the pumpkin guts. Cora was being very careful and dainty with a spoon, but I finally got her to try it with her hand. Gross!

We've never roasted up the pumpkin seeds before, but this year I wanted to try it. Too bad, our oven died! Just what we need. Remember the nice pictures of my kitchen? Well, it's a construction zone again. Explanation. We have a wall oven and a separate cook top stove. I've always hated that they're separate, and the wall oven is tiny. The oven was going to cost $400 dollars to fix (just what you want to hear right before a string of birthdays and holidays). We knew that eventually we would have to replace the cooktop stove too, so we decided to just get a regular stove/oven and save ourself a lot of money. However, money saved = a lot of work and time. In order to install a new stove/oven, we have to cut out some of our cabinets and re-do them, and extend some of the flooring, and some other stuff. Here's what my kitchen looks like right now.

Anyway, Joe got started last night, and took off work today (good thing his class just graduated). It is a chore trying to keep Alex away from the excitement. He is just drawn to the tools, and the noise, and the tools, and the wood, and the tools. He loves to "fix" things. He "fixes" things a lot. He's very busy. The only time he's not as busy is when he's in bed or strapped in his high chair.

Oh Quirky Me

So I got tagged by Nicole, and I'm supposed to tell 6 unspectacular quirks about myself. As if you all don't already think I'm weird enough, now you're going to think I'm mental. This is just sad. Try to love me anyway.

Unspectacular quirk #1. This one is all Juli's fault, even though she probably doesn't even do it herself. Sometimes I take tweezers and I pull the hairs out of my legs one at a time. It's completely unproductive. I mean, it's not like I ever have time to tweeze my entire leg, let alone two of them. So I just create little bare patches on my leg. Yes, it hurts, but in a satisfying kind of way. Oh, and yes, I have tried waxing. I didn't like it. I know, I'm totally sick.

Unspectacular quirk #2. I can't stand having warm air on my face, so I NEVER sleep with my head under the covers, because then the warm air from my own breath drives me crazy. Even if I'm camping outside, I can't have my head inside of the sleeping bag, no matter how cold it is. In the winter, when I'm driving in the car, I have to have the heater blowing on my feet, not on my face. It makes me feel claustrophobic.

Unspectacular quirk #3. If I am just sitting, or laying down, and not moving or doing anything with my hands (like when I'm watching TV), then I HAVE to tap my fingers or toes, and I do mean I HAVE to. If there's music on, then it's usually to the beat, but I do it even when there's not music. A lot of times I don't even realize I'm doing it, it's just an unconscious movement, like a nervous tick or something. Joe teases me and says I have tourette's.

Unspectacular quirk #4. The temperature of my shower changes with the seasons. During the summer I like to take cool showers. Not cold, not warm, but cool. In the fall and spring they turn to warm-hot. And in the winter I like them almost-scalding-cook-my-insides-hot. This seems completely normal to me, rather than always taking a warm-hot shower. Don't all of you do this?

Unspectacular quirk

#5. I don't like wearing shoes or socks. I do when I have to, but I prefer to go bare foot. When I do wear shoes, it's mostly flip flops, which allow my feet to feel as bare as possible. I wear flip flops for most of the year, even when it's cold. A lot of times at night I sleep with my feet out of the covers, so they feel more bare. Oh my gosh, I'm so weird. I've never put shoes on my kids until after they learned how to walk, so I've passed my weirdness to them. They always want their shoes off. This is probably why I've never gotten into buying a lot of shoes, or caring about shoe fashion. I have 2 pairs of church shoes (both open toed), 1 pair of boots, 1 pair of walking/running shoes, 1 pair of regular closed-toed shoes, and 2 pairs of flip flops. Except for my flip flops, my shoes usually last Forever, so I guess it's a financially sound quirk.

Unspectacular quirk #6. When I have a calling at church I am Extremely well-organized. People always compliment me on how organized I am. Right now I'm the RS secretary, so this is right up my alley. I'm the same way when I have a job (other than being a stay-at-home-mom). However, this great talent of organization does not translate to my home life. My home is not so organized. A lot of the time my house is a complete disaster. Most people don't know this, because if somebody is coming over, I go into crazy-woman-cleaning-mode, and create the facade of an organized home. But Missy and Laurie, and maybe Amy have seen it at it's worse, so they can testify to the truth of what I'm saying. BUT, I'm trying, I'm really trying to get better. I WANT to be organized and it has been a long-standing goal of mine. Slowly, ever so slowly, I am getting better at it. I don't know if that qualifies as a “quirk”, but whatever, it's hard to come up with these.

Well, there you have it. Usually I don't tag people, but I can't embarrass myself like this and not make you do the same. So I'm tagging ALL of you. Here you are in alphabetical order – Adreann, Aleath, Amy and Amy and Amy (yes, there are three of you), Ashley, Harmony, Jeanette, Jullie, Laurie, Marissa, Missy, Niki, Rachel, Tara. Am I missing anyone? If we can't laugh at ourselves, who can we laugh at?.....Well, we can laugh at each other. Good Luck, and I hope you're happy Nicole:)

The 80's

Well, as you can hear, my new playlist is 80's music. Joe helped me with this one a little. He didn't help me at all with the 70's playlist because he had the audacity to say there wasn't any good 70's music. I think it's fair to say I proved him wrong. But he Does know his 80's music, that's for sure. Have you ever gotten the mass e-mail titled, “You're a Child of the 80's if...”? Yeah, that's me and Joe. Good times, and oh so funny. It was before home computers and the internet, CDs and DVDs, Ipods and BlackBerrys. So, here's to the memories – do you remember?

I watched Saturday morning cartoons – REAL cartoons - Hanna-Barbera cartoons like Smurfs, Flintstones and Shirt Tales, and also He-Man and She-Ra, Care Bears, Looney Toons, etc.

I watched TV shows like Love Boat, Chips, A-Team, Dukes of Hazard, Family Ties and McGyver and The Muppets. I loved David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider, but I very much doubt that the new re-make will be successful. We laugh when we see the commercials for it, and I wonder if I'll see Tom Selleck in a new Magnum PI soon (he might be able to pull it off).

Movies that I loved were Goonies, Back to the Future, The Karate Kid (“wax on, wax off”), Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, E.T., and of course the 5th and 6th episodes of Star Wars. I remember renting a VCR at the store so we could watch rented videos.

At my friend's house I played Pac-Man and Donkey Kong (because we didn't have an Atari), and I watched MTV videos (because we didn't have cable).

I played with Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony....you know, all the toys they've brought back in the past 5 years, and that I've bought for my own kids. I thought that Garbage Pail Kids were stupid. Mostly we played Outside, though, and used our imaginations.

I practically learned the English language, and all about the country, watching Schoolhouse Rock, and I learned to read with Dick and Jane. I read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume.

I had posters in my bedroom of Corey Haim and Kirk Cameron.
I liked New Kids on the Block, but I'm not excited they're back. And I almost died when I found out that Milli Vanilli wasn't really singing?

I wore pegged jeans, layered socks, velcro hightops, leg warmers, jelly shoes and bracelets, banana clips, blue eyeshadow and mascara, and feathered bangs. If my scanner hadn't broke, you guys would be in for a real treat. I didn't have parachute pants, but I thought they were cool. I felt very fancy when I bought my first pair of Lee Press-On Nails. And I envied the kids with braces who wore colored rubberbands.
I said things like, “Gag me with a spoon” and called people “hoser”.
Before mini-vans, We took rode trips in our big tank of a car, facing the cars behind us (because we didn't have to wear seatbelts), or laying on the floor.
And now kids at restaurants and supermarkets call me “ma'am”, and I say things like, “When I was a kid....”. It all went by so quickly, didn't it?

3rd Time's the Charm

Okay, I know ya'll are gonna laugh at me, but oh well. I can grow things - It's true (see my previous post, "Me vs. Mother Nature" to really appreciate this). A couple of moths ago I was reading an article in LDS living, and it struck a chord. In it, Eldon Cannon likened gardening to learning how to ride a bike. He said, "A beginner will likely crash a few times and earn some scrapes before figuring the right way to balance and steer". Cannon oversees the gardens on the grounds of the LDS Church headquarters in downtown Salt Lake City, so you can assume he knows what he's talking about. I decided to test his theory, because Heaven knows I'd already crashed, and so I planting my "garden" (mostly just tomatoes) for the THIRD time, even though it was so late in the season here. Well, miracles do happen, because I grew plants! I did not know whether or not they'd actually produce anything edible, but that was really beside the point. I was just excited that I grew the roots, and stems, and the green leaves. I consider it one of my greater accomplishments in life. I think the key this time was my unconventional greenhouse.

Here are my plants in my kids playhouse thingy. I never intended it to be a greenhouse, it was an accident. But I'm sure that's what did the trick, somehow, because they kept growing.

When they got bigger I replanted them in a nice shady spot, to shield them from the harsh Texas sun. And guess what? They kept growing! Here they are now.

They have flowered, and I now actually have a few tomatoes growing. I love the smell of tomato plants, and I start salivating at the thought of eating my first tomato.

Of course, at any time now, my cute, and potentially delicious, little tomatoes could be killed by the first frost. However, if this happens, I will still consider myself a successful gardener. I have learned from my mistakes, and by golly, next year I'm going to have the best garden ever! You know what they say, once you've learned how to ride a bike, you never forget.

Through the Eyes of My Child - Part 2

1. What is something dad always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes dad happy? Spending time with us (the kids) on our dates.
3. What makes dad sad? When we're doing bad stuff.
4. What makes your dad laugh? Jokes, and he makes himself laugh (he is pretty funny)
5. What was your dad like as a child? He was a brother, and
he had brown hair and he lost all his teeth (good thing they grew back).
6. How old is your dad? 10 (really, I'm such a cradle robber)
7. How tall is your dad? Taller then Mom and the kids.

8. What is his favorite thing to do? Eat out (I think this is actually true).
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? Go to work.

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? Making my favorite toys.
11. What is your dad really good at? Sports

12. What is your dad not very good at? Hard games.

13. What does your dad do for his job? Be the teacher.

14. What is your dad's favorite food? The kinds of foods I don't like (don't you like pizza?)
15. What makes you proud of your dad? When he plays sports, and I watch him,

and I cheer for him, and I want him to be on my team

(JT has never seen Joe play any sport, so I don't know where this came from, but it's cute).
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Superman.
17. What do you and your dad do together? Spend time and have dates.
18. What does your dad like most about your mom?

They got married and had babies, so he should love her (priceless).
19. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? Mr. Gatti's

(this is a pizza buffet place, and it's actually the kids' favorite place to go).

20. What is your favorite thing about your dad? He buys us movies.

Through the Eyes of My Child

1. What is something mom always says to you? Be Quiet (it's true)

2. What makes mom happy? Going on a Date with Dad (so true)

3. What makes mom sad? When We (the kids) do something Bad

4. What makes your mom laugh? JT (see JTisms in a previous post)

5. What was your mom like as a child?

She had short brown hair and brown eyes

6. How old is your mom? 42 (really?)

7. How tall is your mom? 30 inches
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Reading Books

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Babysit
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

Writing children's Books, like a Thousand of them (that would be nice)

11. What is your mom really good at? Playing Video games (huh?)
12. What is your mom not very good at? Drinking drinks Fast
13. What does your mom do for her job? Clean up the House
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Artichokes and Pizza with Vegetables

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she Cleans up the Whole house

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Sandy the Squirrel on "Spongebob Squarepants". She knows karate (hmmm)

17. What do you and your mom do together? Make things

18. What does your mom like most about your dad? That he's funny (he really is)

19. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? The Movie Theatre
20. What is your favorite thing about your mom? That she looks Pretty (oh thanks)

Fixin' It Up

We really enjoy owning our own house, at least most of the time. We have learned so much. We have worked really hard to make it nice - it needed a LOT of work - and to make it our own. The room we have worked the hardest on, and that we are the most proud of, is the kitchen/dining room. So now I'd like to show it off to ya'll. Here are the only pictures I could find of what it looked like before.

The cabinets were two-toned, mint green and a dirty off-white, with gold hardware. The appliances and sink were the color of that range cover, a yellowish cream. And you can see on the back splash there is a nice marble-effect mint green laminate, which was on the counter tops too.

Here's a good picture of Madelyn on the old floor. I guess they were going for a stone look, but it just looked rediculous to me. And it was very old and stained. But, here is what our kitchen looks like now. Drumroll......

Not bad, aye? We painted the cabinets and trim a nice cream color. We changed the hardware to silver. Tiled the counter tops. Put in laminate wood floors. Did venician plaster on the walls. We got a black sink, and painted the oven black. We did it all ourselves, and I even made the curtains (a little pat on my back).

Now, as long as we're on the subject of fixing things, today I had to fix Madelyn's hair. She got a hold of the scissors again; I don't know where from. She did a real number, on the same side as last time, and I had no choice but to cut it - short.

Yep, it curls up right under her ears. She loves it, which just means that she learned NOTHING! I don't know if I can fix that.