welcome to the 21st century

Well, it's about time! Rich and I finally bit the bullet and decided it was time to pay for the internet. That's right, in our almost 5 years of marriage we have not had the internet. I always just went to the library and used their computers or hopped on if we were at my in-laws. It's just getting to be too much with the two boys. For a short while after James was born we were borrowing my sister-in-laws laptop which picked up on a wireless signal but that's as close as we've come to having the internet in our home. I'm so excited to be able to hop on whenever I want now! Hurray!

a little belated...

I know this is a little belated. I just wanted to recognize the passing of our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. I only have vague memories of President Benson and President Hunter. It is President Hinckley who is the prophet of my high school, college, newly married, and young mother years. I am so grateful for all the council, love and humor he has given us. I am especially grateful for his inspiration in building small temples--otherwise I wouldn't be living 5 minutes from one. He will be missed by us all.
If you are interested, here are some slide shows of him:
http://mynews.byu.edu/more/HB_video_16x9_low.mov

http://photo.byu.edu/video.php?cat1=Slide%20Shows&cat2=General&cat3=2008&cat4=Hinckley%20Tribute

walking zombies

For the past several weeks we've been surviving on little and much interrupted sleep. Now I think we've been turned into walking zombies. Rich can't even remember conversations we've had now. James, who used to be the best sleeper around, has now pulled a 180 on us. He wakes up every few hours and sometimes will wake up as soon as we set him in his bed. And then he cries. Not just a "I'm sad" cry... more like a "I'm-angry-and-won't-stop-until-you-come-get-me-out-of-this-crib" cry. So, many nights we sleep, uncomfortably, holding him on the couch. And as if that's not bad enough. William, our "I-finally-learned-to sleep-through-the-night-without-waking-up" three year old decided he needs to wake up several times a night asking for cups of milk. And he always waits till you are back in bed, comfortable, and about to doze off. It's the pits.

James has had several double ear infections and has been teething up a storm. We're hoping that once the teeth come in (please come in SOON) that his sleeping will get back to normal. William, however, has no excuse.

So here's to a nice restful night of sleep... or at least the hope of one.

deceptively delicious

It seems that whenever a kid is a picky eater or doesn't want to eat his veggies you always here an adult comment, "Oh, it's okay, they'll grow out of it." Well, I don't want to be discouraging to any of you who are going through this with your own kids but they might not. I know from firsthand experience. You see, I hate veggies. Growing up I always seemed to avoid eating very many. I must be the black sheep in my family or something because everyone else liked them except for me. They attribute my short stature to my lack of veggie eating (since my sisters are all several inches taller than me--and they ate their veggies). The family rule was "try everything"... so I would often end up with some minuscule portion of squash or spinach or whatever other vegetable was being served. And when I talk small, I mean small... so small most normal people wouldn't be able to taste it. But I could. I remember having to sit at the table until I ate my tomatoes and then, after everyone left, throwing them in the trash or down the sink. Things haven't changed much--except that no one forces me to eat my vegetables anymore. Sometimes Rich will convince me that they aren't that bad so I give them another try... but my face still contorts into a horrible grimace every time broccoli, cauliflower, or asparagus touches my lips. I just can't help it. I say nothing has changed but in reality some things have. In college I learned to like salads. I will, on occasion, eat cooked carrots. I at least try veggies now (except for tomatoes... I will never like tomatoes).

Now, I know that my family needs to eat their veggies. I think I'm doing an okay job... that is, until we go somewhere and I hear Rich say, "Ooh, I love broccoli." Oops, guess I'm not serving that enough. I just don't even think to serve something that makes me gag.

So this is where this wonderful new cookbook comes in. Some of you may have heard of Jessica Seinfeld's (yup, Jerry's wife) new cookbook Deceptively Delicious. The idea is to puree vegetables and occasionally fruits and "sneak" them into your dinners. You still have to serve a veggie at dinner but at least you know that one is being eaten unknowingly. In the few weeks since I've had this book I have eaten spinach, cauliflower, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Some of the recipes are better than others and some I probably won't make again. I like the idea though and will use it in recipes that I know that I already like. I think it's a great idea... and if you can get ME to eat veggies it has to be good.

pay it forward

I love to get free stuff... I probably inherited that from my dad. He's the king of getting stuff for free. So when I saw this game on Katie's blog I thought I'd give you all a chance to play and get free stuff in the process. Katie is going to send me a handmade gift from her and in return I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. You may not get it in the near future but I'll have it to you in the next 365 days! All you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (So, you must have a blog to participate.) If you want to get something from me you have to give to 3 people. Who's it going to be? Leave a comment and we'll see...

sunbeam sunday

For weeks William has been so excited to be a Sunbeam. "I'm a Sunbeam," he'll tell me multiple times a day. Even this morning he was excited to be a big boy and go to primary--until after Sacrament meeting... then he wanted nothing to do with it. It took half of sharing time to get him to sit with his class by himself (we started off sitting in the hallway looking in and took baby steps from there). Eventually I snuck out and then he was fine... now he LOVES being a Sunbeam!

(He really knows the song but he's being a little goofy here and also has a stuffed up nose)

just for Heather...

And because Heather requested it... here are some videos of James!