Finding the Good in All Things...

One of my favorite books is "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom. It is an excellent story. I especially appreciate the message to be grateful for all the things that come into your life, no matter how horrible they may seem.

I have been a foster parent for several years now. I have had wonderful experiences and terrible experiences. But today, I experienced a first.

Today we discovered that Miss Nita had lice.

Now, with Corrie ten Boom's story in mind, I am trying really hard to find something to be grateful in regards to the lice. This is what I've got so far:

I am grateful that only Miss Nita had lice. I checked and double-checked every person's head in my household. Then I triple-checked using a magnifying glass that came in the little Get-Rid-of-Lice Kit I had just purchased.  The rest of us are lice and lice-egg free.

I am grateful that Wal-greens is so close to my house. And I am extremely grateful that they had seven boxes of the all-in-one kits in stock.

I am grateful that five of the ten people in my house are males with short, short hair. They will be so much easier to de-lice!

I am grateful that only three of the five females in this house have excessively long hair. I am grateful that I am one of those three, so Hubby is stuck doing my hair, which means I only have to de-lice four gals!

I am grateful that the de-licing of nine out of ten family members is purely precautionary and not because they have lice. The pharmacist and my mother concur that if one person in the house has lice, everyone has to get the treatment...just in case. That is fine by me. I am always happier being extra precautionary.

I am grateful that my family jumped into action to help sanitize the bedding, stuffed animals, towels, and so forth.

I am grateful that my new washer and dryer have built in Sanitize functions that will blast any hiding bugs to smithereens.

I am grateful my friend who watched Miss Nita, Cakes, and Baby Jim this morning so I could get some teacher observation hours in didn't yell at me or call me any bad names when I called to tell her that Miss Nita had lice. 

I am grateful that Hubby only freaked out for five minutes.

I have been wanting some time to just focus on cleaning my house. But other things always get in the way. Kids need to be taken places, homework assignments have to be completed, Baby Jim was sick for a few days and just wanted to be held, and so forth. My house has not had a truly deep and thorough cleaning in quite a while. I am grateful that cleaning the house now gets to be a first priority and my kids support that.

I am grateful that Miss Nita won't have to go to preschool for a few days. I'm pretty sure they won't want her back for a while after I tell them she had lice. And I am absolutely certain that I don't want her there since that is where I think she must have gotten the lice from in the first place. I mean really...the only places she goes without us is to preschool and visits with her parents.

I am grateful that Miss Nita's Mom noticed the lice at their visit today. I thought Miss Nita just had dandruff. When the weather starts getting cold, myself, Hubby, and a couple of our kids get dry scalps for a couple of weeks. Using Head and Shoulders always fixes the problem promptly, so I don't usually think much of it. I am grateful that Miss Nita's Mom recognized the little bugs for what they really were.

Well, I think that is enough to be grateful for now.  Hubby just got back from de-bugging the vehicles, which means it's my hair's turn to be de-liced.

Wish us luck!!!

Winter Reading

I love to read. It is one of my favorite things to do. In fact, it is kind of an obsession. As a child, teenager, and young adult, I would become so engrossed in reading that everything else would fall to the wayside. My Mom used to use this obsession against me as a punishment. When I hadn't completed tasks or if I'd done something truly awful, my Mom would take away my books. It was a truly horrific punishment for me! I became emotionally invested in every book I read. The characters came to life in my mind and I had to know what happened to them next. It seems like my Mom would always take away the books right when some character's life was in danger or when they were at some major crossroad in life. I don't know how she did it, but it seems like she always knew the optimum time to use this particular punishment.

As a youth I was a very eclectic reader. Novels, biographies, history, sci-fi, fantasy, and classics. I would read anything. I usually read by author, if I liked the first book they wrote. An example, after reading The Three Musketeers and loving it, I read every other book that Alexandre Dumas had written.

When I entered college, I had to prioritize my reading. No longer could I pursue the novel or biography of my choosing. I had too many other things to read. Friends of mine were confused as to why I couldn't read both. The answer is simple...I am one of the few people on this planet who actually read every single word in every single textbook I was ever assigned, including the optional texts. I read from the title page to the index and bibliography. Even when teachers would say, "We'll only be using chapters 3, 6, 10 and 14", I would still read every single other chapter. I had to. Weird, I know. And very time-consuming!

After college, I was burned out. You would be too after reading all those textbooks! Haha! I've stuck mostly to children's stories, which I read diligently to my children. As they've grown and their reading skills have expanded, I've started branching out again in my reading. (I average about two to five adult books per year. that is a low number compared to what I used to read.) I am thrilled to say that my children love to read as much as I do. We have wonderful conversations about plots and characters. Theorizing the author's thought process and reasoning out where we think the story might lead.

This winter break provided a wonderful opportunity for my family to read. I am still stuck trying to think of a name for my baby boy. I confined my personal reading to baby name books. I also read stories to Joe and Cakes.

Joe's current favorites are the Black Lagoon series written by Mike Thaler, illustrated by Jared Lee. Joe gets the biggest kick out of these stories! He especially likes The Cafeteria Lady from the Black Lagoon. That one makes me a little nauseous to read. ;)

Cakes' current favorite is Curious George. He loves that little monkey.

Miss Q is new to the whole "reading for pleasure" concept. I assigned her a book to get her started. And what better book is there for a young girl to read than Anne of Green Gables. She had a hard time getting into, but after a few chapters I couldn't pry her away from the book. This was one of my favorites as a girl. :)

Rose is a goosey reader. She will often be reading three books at the same time. I could never do that! I always had to finish the one before I started another. Over the winter break she finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It has been so much fun to talk to her about these books. She was pretty upset about Severus Snape killing Dumbledore. But when Snape cursed off George's ear, Rose was livid! Her funniest reactions have been about Harry and Ron though. She couldn't believe it when Ron abandoned the quest. A few chapters later, she kept muttering to herself that Harry is an idiot. Hahaha! I know exactly where she is in the book just from her reactions and comments.

Anne began The Lightening Thief before school let out. She is currently reading The Battle of the Labyrinth. She has really sailed through the Percy Jackson series. She is loving the Greek Mythology. The name pronunciations are a bit confusing at times, however this has not slowed her down in the slightest. In fact, she and Rose (who already read the series) checked out Greek and Norse Mythology books from our local library...just so they could learn more about the stories! We have all decided that if we were to choose any of the gods to worship, we would choose Thor. My girls stated that Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and the rest of the Greeks are just to selfish to make good gods. Thor seems like the most caring in the group. Haha! Studying the Greek gods has made both girls very happy to have Heavenly Father as their God. :)

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We are counting down the days until the movie version of The Lightening Thief opens. We are super excited! After seeing the trailers and listening to Rose and Anne talk about the series, Miss Q decided to start reading the series too. That is a big deal!

Just a side note, we saw Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel over the break. We were excited to again see the trailer for Lightening Thief. We were even more excited when a trailer came on for How to Train Your Dragon! We first discovered good old Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third last year. We listened to most of the series via Book on Tape/CD. (this is why we are also interested in the Norse Gods) I would highly recommend these books, especially for young boys. They are hilarious, with just the right amount of adventure, mayhem, and gross. Haha!

The final book worth mentioning is To Kill a Mockingbird. Hubby decided to re-read this book. This is one of my all-time favorite books. I even considered naming Joe and Cakes "Atticus". (I'll tell you in a later post why that particular name was cut from the list.) Hubby first read this book as a class assignment in high school, or, as he puts it, "a long, long, long, long time ago." I was going to wait for him to read it first, then steal it and read it again myself. However, due to work reading assignments, it is taking a long time for Hubby to finish. If I wasn't stuck on names, I would have stolen it by now and read the whole thing already. Haha! Luckily for him, I have to keep re-reading the name book instead. ;)

I'm always on the hunt for a good book. What have you read lately??

Grateful

Last year many of my friends participated in a Thanksgiving challenge on their blogs. Each day in November they were to write about one thing for which they were grateful. It made my heart glad to read their entries. I haven't seen this challenge circulating this year and only thought of it when I was trying to cheer myself up this weekend. The old "Count Your Blessings" trick is pretty consistent with its results. In that spirit, I wanted to list a few of the things I am grateful for this year.

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1) My dear Hubby. He is such a great friend and companion.

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2) My four kind and interesting kids. I'm so grateful that my kids are interesting! They like to explore, go on adventures, and learn new things. Hooray!

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3) My house. I'm still getting used to it, but having four good-sized bedrooms is fabulous.

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4) Quilts! How else are you going to keep warm in the winter? And nothing beats a quilt to snuggle up in while watching a movie or hanging on your wall to beautify your home.

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5) Books. I love reading and learning. I am especially grateful that I am no longer in school and can read for pleasure again. So far I've read Beowulf, a couple of books on the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, and Yoni's Last Battle: The Rescue at Entebbe 1976. It is wonderful to read a book, learn from it, think about and digest the content, and NOT write a five to ten page essay dissecting it!

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6) How National Adoption Day was celebrated in my little town. Our two family judges worked hard all last Friday. They conducted 30 adoptions! Isn't that wonderful? Reading the stories of a few of the families that participated made my heart happy.

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7) Trees. I adore trees. Particularly fruit trees. In my backyard alone I have a lime, lemon, grapefruit, Arizona sweet orange, tangerine, Anna apple, Dorset apple, plum, and peach tree. I had an apricot tree, but it didn't survive the Arizona summer. In the spring one of my apple trees produced three little apples. This winter, my lime tree produced one lime-which was picked prematurely-and my orange tree has about twenty oranges on it. They are currently a light orange. We have to wait a few more weeks for the orange color to deepen then they'll be ready to eat. Yum!

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8) Being outdoors. I am fascinated with the world around me. It drives my kids and Hubby nuts, but I am content sitting outside all day just observing nature. Watching the clouds drift and change, the leaves move with the wind, the birds flying overhead, insects moving in the grass, a spider building a web...I love it all!

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9) The Sonoran Desert. What a beautiful place to live. I feel so lucky to be here.

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10) Variety. Wasn't our Father in Heaven wise when he designed such a diverse earth and population. Deserts and Rain Forests. Tropical Islands and Mountain Ranges. Horses and Tigers. Elephants and Ants. And of course the variety of personalities in the peoples of this planet. It's just so interesting! I am grateful for interesting things. :)

A Quick Review

Place Your Bets!

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Tomorrow afternoon is my "official ultrasound" appointment. The one where you have to drink 32 oz. of water then do your best not to die while a technician firmly presses the ultrasound wand all over your abdomen. It's also the one where they tell you (baby's position permitting) if your having a Boy or a Girl. Anyone want to take a guess??? Personally, I am not placing a bet. Being 0-4 kind of puts a damper on the guessing game. The family, who have guessed correctly on occasion, have already put in their opinions. So far the results are 3 Girl, 3 Boy. Cross your fingers that I'll find out who's right tomorrow.

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Hubby's Busy Schedule

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On a side note, even if I do find out what I'm having, I might not tell. Why?? Well, I don't want you to tell Hubby.

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See, Hubby's work is super busy right now and he won't be able to attend the ultrasound. I think this is the first one he'll miss. I love Hubby dearly and can honestly say he's my best friend. However, in our relationship we have a lovely time harassing each other every so often. And now I will have the perfect ammo to get him and get him Good! It will kill him to know that I know the gender and he doesn't. Oooh! I can have such fun. Mwhaha!

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Of course, I might let him earn the knowledge. I'll have to think up something good. Something like back rubs on demand for a month or taking me out for a dinner at some yummy place. ;)

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Morphing Studies

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As part of my Bachelors, I studied marital relationships. In one class, a study was reviewed that claimed the married couples, as they age, grow more and more similar in taste, personality, and appearance. Scary!! I laughed at the time and kind of shuddered to think about morphing into my Hubby. Bur Horror of Horrors!!! The morphing has begun!!! Thankfully it has only reached the taste buds and I'm praying will only last the duration of my pregnancy.

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I have never in my life eaten a Big Mac. I prefer a petite hand-formed patty loaded to the brim with veggies. However, during my first trimester when I was so sick and everything I ate sat wrong, I saw a billboard for a Big Mac and it looked good. I chided myself and kept driving. But a week later, I found myself in the drive-thru ordering a Big Mac. I took it home and ate the entire thing. It was delicious. My tummy and my mouth felt so happy, and my heart felt like crying. I called Hubby practically in tears to confess my grievous behavior. He didn't believe me. When he came home and saw the wrapper, his eyes bugged out of his head. I have since had at least one Big Mac a week. Usually two or three. It's disgusting and delicious all at the same time. I am really at odds with myself. This is definitely Hubby's child.

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Other things I now eat that I didn't eat before:

1) Dill Pickles. I can't get enough. They used to give me heartburn.

2) Mayonnaise. I never used the stuff. Just mustard and a little ranch and I was happy. Now I'm slathering my sandwiches with mayo.

3) Soda or Lemonade with my Big Mac. I never ordered drinks. I always got water. But now I need the sugary junk!

4) Pepperoni Pizza. I always ordered a small veggie pizza for myself. But now I can't eat mushrooms or bell peppers. Those are two of my favorite foods!!! I am so sad. For the first few weeks I kept trying to eat them. Thinking that a different recipe wouldn't make me sick. But no. Mushrooms and bell peppers are no longer my friends. And I miss them. A lot. :(

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I tell you, my taste buds have morphed. Hubby still can't get over me eating a Big Mac. He thinks me eating Mayo is even weirder. He was seriously concerned about my mental state when he saw me slathering that white stuff on a slice of bread. :(

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Tess of the D'Urbervilles

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This book has been on my "to read" list for years. Once I started college, extracurricular reading was put on hold. By the time I started reading for pleasure again, I wanted to read light and happy stories. Life was just too emotionally demanding for me to read anything dark or heavy. I must confess that I become very obsessed when reading. I really get into the stories and become quite invested in the characters. I also notice (and am irritated by) typographical and grammatical errors, inconsistencies in storyline, and other fun stuff like that. Books I have read lately include the Lightening Thief series, re-read the Anne of Green Gables series (except the last book about Rilla...it's sad!), and the ever popular Magic Treehouse, Captain Underpants, and A to Z Mysteries. All fun, light, and easy reads.

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Then I read about Tess. It was AWFUL and INFURIATING!! The writing was superb. The story well-thought out and executed beautifully. It was thoroughly engaging, moved at a nice pace, and had an actual conclusion (something many of today's authors think is optional). The awful part was everything that happened to Tess. Holy Cow!! I don't want to give anything away, so I won't elaborate on the awfulness. Just know that when you read this story you are going to hate a man or two passionately and curse their names every time they appear in their self-righteous glory.
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My kids were laughing at me because every so often I would put the book down and start storming about the room yelling about those awful men. I gave Hubby an earful when he asked me what I was talking about. Lecturing him on the values of a good man and condemning arrogance, self-righteousness, and hypocrisy. He made no further inquiries after that. ;)

i is busy.

I haven't posted for a few weeks. I keep meaning to, but I have been super busy. And when I finally do have a break, I want to read about YOUR life not write about mine. I don't think my break would actually count as a break if all I did was re-hash everything going on in my life. But my little sister wants an update. And I love her. A lot. So I will comply with a list of all the things keeping me busy.

1. I has been Painting.

My living room, dining room, and kitchen are now completely painted.

Next on my list are the kids bedrooms. I've already started the girls' room.

2. I is in a turf war with a pigeon couple.

Several weeks ago, Hubby and I knocked down their nest containing one egg. Good job us. The pigeons kept coming back. We kept shooing them away. This went on for a few weeks until I realized they'd probably laid another egg. Hubby and I knocked the second nest down to discover zero eggs, but two little chicks. Hubby is a baby-killer and I is his accomplice. :(

We figured that would be the end of it. But no, within a week the pigeons built another nest and laid another egg. We knocked that one down too. And the pigeon couple keeps coming back.

3. I is supporting my Hubby.

The whole family went to his work's summer BBQ. I am usually wary of events like this because even though they say "family-friendly" or "family oriented" they are usually referring to things teenagers would like, not little ones, and are often held in confined spaces where the voices of my children are echoed and amplified to the tenth degree.

Well, Hubby's work BBQ was completely family friendly. It was held on a football field. They had an alley of games for the little ones to earn prizes. And they had a giant slip and slide manned by a bunch of firefighters. We will definitely be attending next year.

4. I is being a baseball mom.

I am chauffeuring three children to weekly practices and games. I am helping at the concession stand, cooking up hot dogs and hamburgers, handing out candy and Gatorade and chips. And I am now trying to plan end-of-the-season parties for our teams. Funny thing is, I LOVE IT! And my kids are having a great time. If the kids all want to sign up again next year, I will totally do it.

5. I is getting sunburned.

First I got a funky tan line from sitting at the baseball field each Saturday. I've been wearing jeans rolled up to just below my knee, socks that go above my ankle, tennis shoes, and a high-necked t-shirt. I'm sure you can imagine how funny that must look when I actually don a swimsuit. But this past week, I wore a wider-neck t-shirt and got burned. Funny thing is, my sock line is still in place.

6. I is celebrating Popeye's birthday.

The Babycakes turned two. We celebrated with cupcakes and a visit to Chuck E. Cheese's.

7. I is being creeped out by Hubby.

He is rehearsing his lines and movements for Into the Woods. He plays Cinderella's Prince and the Wolf. The director has given Hubby some creep-tastic moves to perform as the wolf. He keeps trying to practice them on me. He is giving me the heeby-jeebies. I sure feel sorry for Little Red. :(

8. I is sewing costumes!

Into the Woods is feeding my sewing addiction. They have provided me with material, patterns, notions, and free reign to produce three costumes. I was very excited. This is the material for the first costume I made, a Steward. It was almost done, but the man I made it for is extra-wide and whoever took his measurements told me he was 50 inches in his chest & 56 inches in his waist. So I gave the guy a few inches extra when I made the costume. Well, somebody measured wrong and I need to add 8 to 10 inches somewhere. But no worries. I has a plan. ;)

9. I is helping the Hubby get in shape.

Yes, I know this book has a picture of a girl on it. But it's not just for girls. it was recommended to Hubby by a male coworker who is ripped to the extreme. Hubby is trying to follow it diligently. He does not want to be a pot-bellied Prince Charming. So far he has lost ten pounds and his tummy is looking firm and toned. His wife is very pleased. :)

Hubby is also growing his hair out for his role. I am liking that very much too. I have never seen him with hair longer than an inch. And I am loving the new length. It's about four or five inches long in some places now. Hubby looks HOT with his longer hair. I am doing my best to convince him to keep the length, but he has informed me that he is shaving it all off as soon as the play is finished. :(

10. I is tending my orchard and grove.

I purchased three citrus trees within weeks of moving to my new home. A couple months ago I added five fruit trees, two citrus, and four hibiscus. The look of the Nursery Worker's face cracked me up when he saw my mini-van. He told me that the 7 trees and 4 plants wouldn't fit in a mini-van. Good thing I have a Safari. I fit everything in plus myself, two kids, and two bags of mulch. And I could still see out my mirrors. Safari's rock. I hope GM will still make them...

I added another hibiscus a few days later for aesthetic reasons. :) I currently have 5 hibiscus: 1 white, 2 red & 2 hot pink; 5 fruit trees: 1 Anna apple, 1 Dorset apple, 1 plum, 1 apricot & 1 peach; 5 citrus trees: 1 Mexican lime, 1 lemon, 1 ruby red grapefruit, 1 sweet orange & 1 tangerine; plus an Indian Laurel in my front yard along with three giant hedge bushes that produce orange flowers. We also have carrots, strawberries, tomatoes and peppers growing. I love, love, love the outdoors. :)

Oh! When we moved a year ago, we left our lawn mower with a neighbor. So when we arrived here, we got to buy a new mower. Hubby just wanted to get a regular old mower. I insisted we get a self-propelled mower. It turned into a bit of a heated discussion, but I won in the end. The new mower is fabulous and so easy to use. I never mow the lawn. I tried to once, about six years ago as a surprise for Hubby. Yeah. That was stupid. Severe asthma and allergies do not like Bermuda grass. I managed to get the backyard done before collapsing into a wheezing, hacking, sneezing, itchy mess. That's how Hubby found me when he got home. Surprise! It took a round of steroids, albuterol, multiple breathing treatments, a shot in my bum, and a week resting to recover. I vowed to never mow again.

A couple weeks ago, Joe wanted to mow the yard. I helped him get the lawnmower out and started the thing for him. He took off like a rocket. The next week, I tried that mower while Hubby was pulling weeds. It was a snap! And the new mower didn't affect my asthma or allergies at all. Hooray! Except now I am a vow-breaker and a baby-killer accomplice. *sigh*

11. I is registering Joe for Kindergarten!

He is so excited. He can hardly wait to start. The only downside...his first MMR shot was given to him three days before he officially turned one. So it doesn't count according to our State's educational health policy. Meaning Joe had to get an MMR vaccination. Poor little Joe. He cried. A lot. Which is super funny to me because when he was a baby, he never cried while getting shots. Not once in his two years of getting vaccinations. He just always gave the doctor and nurse dirty looks. I guess he's making up for not crying back then. ;)

12. I is being held up in the grocery line.

For a long time. This would not be unusual except that the lady in front of me already had her groceries bagged while my groceries were sitting on the conveyor belt ready and waiting while she and the clerk discussed the Twilight movie! So I got to wait and wait while they gabbed about Twilight. Ugh!

The lady's check finally cleared, but they kept gabbing. Then I coughed, kind of loudly while looking away, trying to be discreet but get the line moving at the same time. Well, I looked in the wrong direction. I looked at the magazines as I coughed and the ladies assumed I was looking at this magazine. *exaserbated sigh*

They then felt the need to include me in their conversation. Yes I have seen the movie and yes I have read the books, but I so did not want to discuss it with them. I just wanted to get my groceries and leave. Fortunately, the first lady's husband finally got sick of waiting and told his wife to get moving. Actually, he said it in Spanish so I'm not sure exactly which words he said, but I understood the tone and whatever he said...it worked!!

13. I is visiting the doctors & dentist.

I think this picture says it all.

14. I is being amazed by Hubby's skills.

Turns out Hubby can sing in his sleep. I just discovered this talent of his last Sunday. His sacrament job is to hold the snoozing Babycakes. Unfortunately, Hubby sometimes falls asleep too. This past Sunday he started falling asleep while singing the rest Hymn. It was hilarious! We were singing "The Spirit of God" and Hubby's voice would fade as his eyes drooped then I would pinch him and he would come back singing full volume for a few seconds then start to fade again. Best part was he always came in with the right words on the right note. My man has skills! Hahaha! And I will never let him live this down.

15. I is screening books.

Rose wanted to read the Lightning Thief series. It was highly recommended by our local bookstore. Since it deals with the Greek gods, I figured I better read it first because those Greek gods were not very moral and got up to all sorts of trouble. We now own all of these books. They were a great read. Very compelling story and I loved how the author wove the Greek gods into the story. Wonderful. Rose just started the fifth book this morning. But I'm not going to let Anne read them yet. She'll need to wait until she's a little bit older.

16. I is supervising cake making.

Rose made this cake all by herself. It was a chocolate double layer with cherry frosting.

I think she did a pretty good job. I especially like the decorating job.

17. I is teaching preschool.

We learned the 70 phonograms using the Spalding education technique. We executed many science experiments including blowing up various objects, making volcanoes & goop, growing salt crystal gardens, watching yeast rise and bread bake, and mixing chemicals to watch the reactions. It was great!

18. I is in a talent show.

Rose, brave girl that she is, decided to be in her school's talent show. She sang "Every Star is Different" and I accompanied her on piano. Rose did a great job. She has a beautiful voice. Her school held three sessions: two during school and one evening performance. I showed up for each one. Another busy thing here was the dress she is wearing. Rose is at that wonderfully awkward stage where she is too big for the little girl section but too little for the women's section. And since she is not a stick-child, Miss clothing is definitely not an option. We found this beautiful dress thanks to a JC Penny saleswoman who actually knew her inventory. Knew what clothes she had, where they were located and what the best options would be for my daughter's body. Thanks to her we were out of the store in under an hour and the Rose-girl looked beautiful for her talent show.

I wish Hubby would have told me I would be in the shot. I would have sat up straight and sucked in my gut.

19. I is encouraging male bonding.

Hubby took the boys on a Father & Sons outing. They had a blast.

20. I is watching the harvest.

The boys and I have faithfully watched cantelopes grow in a field near our home. We were excited to see the harvest. A medium-sized John Deere tractor pulled this huge trailer and attachment while workers walked behind it picking the melons and tossing them up. I love agriculture.

21. I is dealing with my Ugly Daughter.

That's right I said ugly.

This girl pleaded with me to let her grow out her bangs. I agreed on the condition that she keep her hair out of her eyes. Psh. She completely diregards that condition everyday. Her hair hangs in her face. She refuses to put it in ponytails or headbands. If I try, she cries and says she looks ugly. For example, this picture taken this past Sunday. I put my foot down and and got her hair up and out of her face. As soon as she lookd at herself in the mirror she dissolved into tears, crying over and over that she looked so ugly. Excuse me? I can finally see her face. I think she looks great. She immediately tried to pull it out, but I threatened her with no dessert and a hundred sit-ups, so she left it in. This picture was taken after church. That's why she's smiling. She knows she getting ice cream soon.

22. I is watching movies with my Hubby.

We saw Star Trek in the theater. It was phenomenal. So great. A great cast. A great stroy. Good flow. Good sound effects. Such a satisfying movie to watch. They better be making a sequel or five.

Hubby also convinced me (I don't remember how or why I agreed) to watch some movies he has been wanting to rent. Um. That was not a good idea. He picked some pretty intense shows. First we watched Benjamin Button. That was alright but not my type of show. Then we watched Quantum of Solace. That gave me a headache and freaked me out a bit. And lastly, we watched Taken. That was intense and creepy-sick. Ugh! He wants to rent a few others, but he will have to watch those on his own.

23. I is watching the sun set.

Driving back and forth from ball games has a few perks.

Watching the sun set over fields filled with wheat and alfalfa is a beautiful thing.

24. I is eagerly watching the Airbender fan sites!

There are pictures available now. Hooray! I was so excited when I first saw these. The first picture is Prince Zuko played by Dev Patel. His scar isn't as apparent as I thought it would be, but other than that I think he looks fantastic. I love the facial expression. The scowl is a Zuko trademark and Dev has it nailed. The second picture is Aang played by Noah Ringer. There have been no pictures of Noah available since his name was released. At one point someone tracked down a baby picture, but other than that, no one had any idea what he looked like. And now that we do all I can say is WOW! M. Night nailed the casting. Well, the re-casting. (Thank goodness Dev is in and Jesse McCartney is out. That was just a little weird.) Noah is the perfect picture of Aang. I am so excited to see this movie. The trailer is available in only 20 more days. Hooray!

25. I is visiting teaching.

Umm. Yeah. I totally didn't do my visiting teaching this month. I was so busy with other things that my brain got confused. I thought about calling my ladies a few times then "remembered" that I had already gone visting teaching for May. Well, no. No I didn't. I went in April and then my brain fell out. I am going to need to bake some seriously delicious goodies to make up for my lack of visiting. Sorry ladies! I'll do better next month. I promise. Oh wait. I mean this month. This month. Yeah. I'll do better.

Clarification

My dear sister was kind of ticked at my husband when she read my entry about making cookies. And I felt some clarification was needed. So here's what I didn't tell you about that story...

When we visited our families for Christmas, my sister lent me Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. And my sister-in-law lent me Breaking Dawn. I had, as yet, not read any of the Twilight books. I saw the movie and thought it was great. I didn't want to buy the books yet. I'm trying to not buy books until I've read them first, that way I know if they're good enough for my personal library collection. Some books are not up to par and I hate finding that out after I've purchased them. Fortunately for me, my sister and sister-in-law were willing to lend me their copies.

I LOVE to read. Truly! And I am a tad bit obsessive about reading...when it comes to good books. Truthfully, I should say that I get absolutely wrapped up in the stories I'm reading and everything else is left to go to seed. And when I say everything, I mean everything!

I did not think I would feel that way about the Twilight series. I mean, come on! From what other people told me about the series, I figured it was a borderline Harlequin Romance novel. Yuck! And I thought the book would be very superficial. Why? Because several people I know went on and on about how the vampires were the most beautiful people ever. And that's all they talked about. The beauty of the vampires. Completely superficial. So, I was not planning on liking the books. But when I saw the movie, I thought There's got to be something more to this series. And with the Victoria cliff-hanger at the end of the movie, I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

I figured I could grit my teeth and get through the books in a week. Then I would have read them and I would know if Victoria killed the main characters and wouldn't have to think about it again.

I should have known better.

I started reading the series a few days after Christmas and I could NOT put the books down. At all. It was pathetic. But I had to find out what was going to happen next!!!

I ignored everything else. My kids, who were home for winter break, were thrilled that Mom was letting them have movie marathons. Seriously! I don't usually let them watch that much TV, but I was busy reading. They had a Harry Potter marathon, watching all five in a row! Then they had a Veggie Tales marathon. Then they had a Disney Pixar marathon. And a Classic Disney marathon. And a Dreamworks marathon. And I read and ignored everything else.

Hubby was okay with it...at first. He knows that I am an obsessive reader. He knew that it would only last a few days because I was a fast reader. He was a good sport. He made dinner every night for our family. And he didn't complain when I ate as fast as I could then ran back to my bedroom to finish reading. And he did the laundry and the dishes and the other housework. His only request of me...Would I please take a shower because I was seriously starting to smell bad.

Again, he was a good sport. Until I finished Breaking Dawn and started the series Over Again! Then he lost a tiny bit of his composure. But it wasn't until I started re-reading the series for the third time that he really lost it and felt the need to lay down the law, so to speak. Hahaha!! Can you blame the guy! I wouldn't have been too thrilled with him if he hadn't showered for days on end or changed out of his pajamas for that same amount of time. I would have been pretty ticked off if he completely ignored our family so he could go hide out and read a book. Not that he ever would. He doesn't get obsessed by books like I do. ;)

So even though the excuses that I listed in my previous entry for not getting my house in order were true, they were not the reason that the Hubby was irritated with me. Twilight and my obsessive reading habits were the true cause for his irritation. Hahaha! Sorry about any confusion. ;)

Wiped-Out!

I am SO tired! I only got four hours of sleep last night. The reason: Twilight.

I went to a midnight showing. What was I thinking? I am not a teenager. I have four kids who wake up at the crack of dawn. So why in the world would I go to a midnight showing when I haven't even read the books? (sorry mombabe and lauren, don't hate me.)

A woman in my new neighborhood/ward was chatting with her friend about Twilight coming out soon and how it would be fun to go to a midnight showing. But neither of them wanted to deal with a bunch teenagers acting crazy in the movie theatre in the middle of the night. No. If they paid to see the movie and got babysitters, they wanted to enjoy the movie. Their solution? Rent out a theater exclusively for themselves and invite other moms to come see the movie with them. FUN!!

I had planned on seeing the movie before I read the books. So this worked out great for me. I asked my hubby to take a picture of me before I left. He took one of me tying my shoes. Ummm. Okay... ;)

Before the movie they had a tailgate party in the mall parking lot. Here's some of the people who showed up.



Everyone brought a snack to share. There was a trivia contest. The best part was the women's reactions to other movie-goers.

Things I heard:
*Wow, there are a lot of men here. I didn't know any men read the book! (most of them didn't, they just went to see the movie with their wives so they wouldn't be alone in the middle of the night. what nice men!)

*Oh my gosh! I work with that woman. I didn't know she liked Twilight."

*What was I thinking coming to a movie in the middle of the night. I'm not a teenager.

*Oh, I'm going to be hurting tomorrow. I sure hope this movie is worth it.


At the tailgate party they handed out pins. So cute!



After the tailgate, we all headed to the movie theater. The gal I rode with and I wanted seats in the back. So while she parked her truck, I dashed into the theater to get seats. I left my camera in her car because I thought they weren't allowed. They Totally were! Bummer. So I have no pictures from inside. But it was great! At 11:35 they started raffling off Twilight items. It was hilarious! Grown women screaming about Edward and hoping that they would win the prize. They raffled off about twenty items. And then it was over, but wait. Someone was knocking on the door. Who could it be? It was Edward!


The women in the audience Screamed!! And the woman who actually won this life-size cardboard cutout...well, she looked like she'd just won the Price is Right! And I? I was laughing so much that I started to cry. Good times!!

Then the lights got dim and previews started to play. They showed a preview for the next Harry Potter installment. Now THAT I whoopped and hollered for!

As for the movie itself, it was pretty good. I'm glad that I didn't go with my hubby because I would have been SO embarrased with all the longful glances and deep sighs that were going on between Edward and Bella. I felt a little bit like a peeping Tom watching that movie. There were such intense emotions going on. I had to close my eyes a few times because I was so embarassed watching them. Sheesh!

Anyhoo, I liked the story. So much in fact, that I am going to read the books. But not until next week. I've still got unpacking to do. :)