Great friends

I always say that when we are rich and famous, we are going to get a couch you don't have to put a slipcover on. Thus far in my married life, nice furniture just hasn't been a priority, so we have had a lot of functional, hand-me-down couches. In fact, I was at a friend's house the other day admiring her beautiful brown, microfiber couch, when I told her my "when we are rich and famous" ambition. Imagine my surprise when she came over a few weeks later and asks if they we would like, not only the couch, but the love seat and ottoman to go with it! She and her husband bought a model home and got the furniture to go with it, so they wondered if we could use theirs! I know she technically didn't know us when she bought them several years ago, but I think she must have been thinking of us anyway. They look like they were purchased for my home! Thanks Stacie and Dave for being SO thoughtful and generous!

More stuff

• I just spent literally 45 MINUTES filling out paperwork for the family dental appointments today. Maybe they are hoping that the actual appointment itself will not seem so bad in contrast.


• Brigham is a bit obsessive. Many of you know we had to put away all letters because he became obsessed. Well, the obsession seems to have transferred to Blue's Clues. He regularly designates John as "Joe" and himself as "Steve". Today, I became "Side Table Drawer". He used those names exclusively until after breakfast.


• Speaking of breakfast, we had a great one today. I put frozen blueberries and raspberries on oatmeal in the mornings for a nice change. I was visiting teaching the other day when one of the ladies said they put a little scoop of ice cream on theirs. Yum! So, this is what we had.

• This is my peace lately. When I get to feeling stressed or angry or grumpy, I just play with my cute boy. Doesn't he make you feel better too?

• Lastly, the boys and I decided to paint today. I bought canvases back in MN on a good sale, and I have some blanks laying around. So, we pulled out some acrylic paints, donned some old shirts (not long enough, though), put the paint on an old cookie sheet, and went to town. After the boys got bored, I finished up. I will post that after it dries and I get a picture.

Facebook

So, recently I had a friend from long ago send me a request to be her friend on Facebook. I had a Facebook while John was in Iraq so I could communicate with him more easily, but I closed it down once I realized that I was much more a blogger. Well, I decided to reactivate my account with Facebook and I was amazed to see all my friends there. In fact, I felt really out of it for not having done it sooner. As the days wore on and my time started to be more fractured between Facebook and Blogger, I realized that I really did like blogging better. I think I was, and am, feeling guilty for not being more aggressive about entering stuff into Facebook all the time like everyone else does. And, I don't have time to make and keep my friends that are around the block and in my town, so I just don't feel like I have time. Wow, I really sound like a whiny baby. The jist, I think I am going to shut down Facebook so at least I don't have to face up to all the friends I am ignoring!

Mahna Mahna

How many of you remember this from Sesame Street?



Well, the kids love to watch this bit. After a while, we started to branch out. John found this one and it has become a household favorite, so I thought I would share.



We start out the morning with it, and things just seem to go right. Watching Hyrum dance to it just puts a smile on my face!

This and That

So, I have had a bunch of things rolling around in my head that I wanted to post. Instead of doing them all individually, you get a bulleted list.

• I can can-can. Okay, not really. But, I can can meat. This week I have done pork, beef and chicken, and I am SO excited. I feel all self-sufficient. And it is really easy! And, just think about the possibilities for long-term storage. I am getting dizzy just thinking about it. And yes, I did taste before I canned a bunch. YUMMY!
• Since nothing else in my life seems to be progressing, I have been working on improving my Rock Band skills. I used to be petrified to play drums. This may have something to do with the fact that I have NO RHYTHM what-s0-ever, or it may have to do with the fact that my Rock Band buddy Chivan is a real drummer. Anyway, after trying the drums once or twice, I never attempted them again. I tried again the other night and really enjoyed it. On the easy setting, of course. Well, the next time we played, I got gutsy, and our last set I played medium. I scored 95%, 96% and then 90%! I am so pleased with myself!
• I finished the Twilight series and enjoyed it more than I care to admit. In fact, in spite of all the bad reviews I have heard, I am going to the drive-in Saturday to see it. And, I finished "The Host" last night. That one was definitely my favorite.
• A cool trick to pass on. I love to make bread, but since it is so cold here, I have a hard time getting it to raise. Isn't winter when you really want homemade bread? I found a great tip though. Put a hot pad (like the kind you put on your back when it is aching. Wait, am I the only one whose body is breaking down enough to do that? Yikes!) under the bread bowl/pan while it is raising. This provides enough heat to allow the bread to raise nicely but doesn't cook it or require you to turn up your thermostat.

I know there was something else, but I can't remember what it was. I know, no big surprise! Guess you will just have to check back later to find out.

Yeah Dr. Wright!

We started a round of optometrists appointments today, with Paul and Brigham. Brigham was great, but Paul, as expected, was concerned. Paul has a thing against big pieces of equipment, of which there are plenty at an optometrist. So I went with concerns about how our visit would go. And, I was surprised at how well it went. Not that Paul would submit to the big machinery, but I was impressed at how well Dr. Wright did with Paul. Brigham went first, and I saw and worried about what Paul would do. Instead of trying to force Paul into the machines, Dr. Wright used other methods to get what he needed. I am sure it took more work on his part, but he did the extra work. Instead of a horrifying experience, it was a tolerable one. Thanks for the extra work, Justin.

What do you do on ANOTHER rainy day?

For Christmas, Mom and Dad gave the kids some wooden cars they had painted. They were really cute cars! After Christmas was over, Mom asked if we wanted the remaining un-painted cars. And, we decided to paint today. It turns out that these were a perfect painting project for the boys. (I know, I too was surprised to learn that there was such a thing.) But, since we watered the paint down to make a wash, all the boys had to do was slop the paint on any-which-way and it worked. They both did about 3/4ths of a car before tiring of the activity, but it only took me a few more minutes to finish up. Paul worked pretty intently during his working time, but Brigham was constantly distracted by the paint he was slopping on himself. It is pretty cute to hear the word "disgusting" being used by a three-year-old with a noticeable lisp!

The once was a girl...

Did you ever hear that nursery rhyme that goes:

"There once was a girl, who had a curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid."

Well, we used to say that rhyme was written about Joy. And, when she came home from school, she had a perfect boingy curl, right in the middle of her forehead. We had to get a picture. There are some advantages to curly hair, I always wanted ringlets like that, and could never get them. Anyway, since we took Joy's picture, all the boys wanted theirs taken too.

Rain, rain, go away...

Really. I mean, I think my front yard has turned into a sponge. Far be it for me to complain about the rain, but the kids need a break!

Hyrum punched my tooth out!

You noticed, I am sure, that in the pictures of Joy's birthday, she was missing her two front teeth. The morning of the day before (I know, confusing) she was only missing one of those front teeth. The remaining tooth was quite loose, but as John has a thing against pulling teeth, Joy was hoping her tooth would come out on its own on her birthday. So, Thursday morning, I was upstairs for a minute, and I was interrupted by a cry from downstairs. No one sounded hurt, but Joy was definitely excited. I ran down to hear Joy yelling, "Hyrum punched my tooth out! Hyrum punched my tooth out!" She was playing with Hyrum and he was reaching his hand back and forth from her face. As was inevitable, he made contact, and the tooth came out. Joy was ecstatic, as was I. However, as penance, Hyrum cut TWO teeth on Joy's birthday.

Joy's Birthday

Today was Joy's 7th birthday, and she couldn't have been more excited. I wish I could think of something more interesting to say about it, but too many long nights in a row have rendered me mentally exhausted, so you will just have to get the jist of things from the picture!