"I am foreseeing... a bus full of children..."

Some funny things Carter has said lately...

He was shining a little laser into Kaitlyn's eyes and I told him he shouldn't do that cause then it could blind her and she wouldn't be able to see (a little dramatic I know). So then he tells me, "And mom, if I shine it in my mouth then I won't talk!"

That WOULD be nice sometimes...

He was racing to the bathroom shouting, "I have to go poo poo!!" After a few minutes he flushes the toilet and tells me, "Mom, I didn't go poo poo cause it said [Carter talking in a low voice], 'I don't want to come out.'"

One day he told me, "Mom, if we go outside for a long, long time you will get hurt. And die. That's what daddy said." Oh really?

Here are some other good lines:

"When we get old and die then our head doesn't go up anymore. Cause I saw Yoda when he died, and his head went down."

"Mom, how come daddy gets to have lots and lots of popsicles? Is it cause he has a big, big belly?"

Getting into the van: "Mom, if more babies come out your tummy, then we need to get a bus."

He was laughing really hard when he chokes a little bit and says, "Mom, I got throw up! But I chewed it back in my tummy!" (yuck!)

A couple weeks ago at church I noticed Carter licking his palm, then patting the nape of his neck. He did it a couple times, and I am like what is he doing? Then I see him lick and smooth down the top of his hair. Lick, smooth, lick smooth, and I am laughing because OF COURSE, he is making himself "handsome"!


I love my Carter!


And for kicks here is what I came downstairs to a couple days ago. If you can't tell, it is my treadmill.



I am trying to think of a funny caption for this and all I can come up with is, "Noah's ark"?

The Librarian Within

You see these people?

I LOVE THEM! They will always be my library family.

I worked at the library for over 5 years (with a break for BYU-Idaho in the middle there). It was my first job. And it was the one I left behind to move on to my job of motherhood.

My old co-worker, Nikki, just had a baby shower and so I got to see a bunch of these awesome ladies again, and it had been awhile! I whipped out my camera to take a picture, but the dang batteries were dead, so I had to pull out some old photos.

I am very pregnant with Jenna here.

I worked at the Kaysville City Library. I worked with some of the best people I know! I LOVED being a librarian. I loved handling books. I loved reading books. I loved knowing what books were popular. I loved our Kaysville patrons. I loved helping them find what they needed.

(I didn't so much love telling people about their huge fines.)

BUT everything else I LOVED!

My co-workers were like family. I have so many great memories there at little Kaysville City Library. You know, the basics, like being on the look out for creepy stalker guys so Nikki could hide in the janitor's closet. Also of that same guy telling us he was about to embark on a workout regimen and showing us his "Before" pictures, which YES involved UNDERWEAR! Good times I tell you. I remember some of the sweetest little kids ever... as well as some pretty awful ones. I have fond memories of Nate coming to visit me there, giving me flowers, and Sandy saying, "Well what do WE have to do to get flowers?!" and Sherma says, "Die." Oh my heck these people were hilarious. I loved the downtimes and chatting with the rest of the librarians. It was so comfortable there. When the new Harry Potter books came in a bunch of us had a little "sleepover" (ssh!) at the library in order to "protect" them before they could officially be checked out. We were a super friendly, easy going, quaint little place. I am telling you it was the best job ever!

WELL as you may know, Kaysville City Library is no longer a city library. The county, after many heated city council meetings (where most in attendance, our loyal patrons, wanted to keep the city library a CITY library) took over, thus firing all of us from our positions. I may or may not have been quoted in a couple newspapers about what I thought of THAT. We actually had to go through the county's application process if we wanted a chance at getting our jobs back. I did get hired back on with the county and thus got transferred to Farmington. Change was hard, but the county was not bad at all and I worked with very nice people. But nothing could compare to how things were!

This is one of the last days at Kaysville City Library, before they remodeled everything and fired everyone. :)


I worked for Davis County Library for a year and then had Carter and quit. Davis County Library is great, of course it is. BUT Kaysville was better! I am NOT biased! :)

I SO miss coming home with a pile of books to read. I so miss READING! Someday, hopefully, I will have time again. BUT, what I DO make time for is taking my own kids to the library. They LOVE books and what do you know, I have become one of those moms who brings back children's books with ripped pages and big fines AHHH now I understand! But I hope my kids grow up loving the library just as much as me! I will always be part librarian, for sure.

Hello I'm Blonde. Smart Blonde

So my vision history is semi funny... starting in 10th grade I really started noticing that I couldn't read what was on the chalkboard in class. Yeah when I had to start asking people around me what something said that was a good clue.

Well what comes in 10th grade, DRIVERS ED! To get your permit you had to take an eye test. So the teacher had us line up at the front of class and cover each eye and say one line of letters. Well hearing the SAME LINE of letters over and over, yeah I totally had it memorized. So when it was my turn and I covered up one eye and COULDN'T SEE A THING, I PANICKED and just spit out the letters I heard everyone else say. Yes I cheated on the vision test and therefore got my permit! SO I learned how to drive practically BLIND!!! I remember my instructor would say stuff like, "Okay now you're going to make a right at that stop sign." And I would be like WHAT STOP SIGN!!! It was BAD, really bad. Well somehow SOMEHOW I actually barely passed my driving test, (getting marked down a lot for being "too cautious" oh probably cause I didn't want to run anyone over cause I COULDN'T SEE!) and I knew to get my license at the DMV I'd have to take THEIR eye test, and figured I probably wasn't gonna be able to cheat on that one. So the inevitable happened, and my mom took me to the optometrist.

That day was like the most magical day EVER! I walked in having no idea what I was missing out on. I walked out of Target Optical looking at a WHOLE NEW WORLD!!! A world that was 3-D and full of vibrant color! A world where leaves and grass and carpet had texture! A world where I could see who people were in the school hallways! The gift of sight was pretty awesome.

ANYWAY. I've been wearing contacts ever since. Well, I was on my last pair of contacts so I went to the eye doctor last week cause I hadn't been since 2008 (at which time I am pretty sure they gave me a one-year supply of contacts, so you can see how horrible I am and wear them for months at a time.) I also had not had glasses since then (yeah I totally sleep in my contacts. 98% of the time. Just call me THE CONTACT REBEL, WHA HA HA) cause my kids broke both pairs I had, shortly after I let them wear them for fun:




Yeah so I decided I definitely needed new glasses. And I thought I'd go for some cute plastic frames and really be stylin. The thing is, I am not sure they do look cute on me! Maybe I am just not used to it. Nate went from "oh, um, yeah they are cute" (liar!) to like the next DAY saying "You know, I really do like them!" I asked Jenna and Carter, and Jenna said they were cute and Carter said they were weird. Okay. And then I put my faith in my sister who needed to pass off a weave at cosmetology school and I let her do my hair, so I am just a little blonder (KIMBERS you done good!!) with glasses. I am a changed woman.


This is me being dorky, I mean, smart.





Dorky?! Not dorky?! Should I wear them in public! For the price I paid for them YEAH I better.

OH YEAH and on the permanent marker front... I have gotten GREAT suggestions (even from high school Jen, THANK YOU and who are you??) and I wish I could tell you I tried them, BUT NO I have not yet!!!! Slacker slacker slacker. Just haven't had time to deal with it yet, and it is nicely hidden, so out of sight out of mind. BUT don't you worry i will follow up on it and for sure let you know if the couch cushion can be saved. Stinkin kids!







Gotta love em.

Permanent. Marker.

Black

Sharpie

King Sized

Permanent Marker.

Meets.

Logan.




If Kaitlyn were not sleeping in the pack and play 10 feet away, believe me, Logan would look a lot more frightened than he does in those pictures. Whispered screaming just didn't have the right effect.

Thank you. Thank you thank you so much, Logan.

Oh yeah and thank you too marker, who said, "Hey little boy, come here. Come here and play with me, hee hee ho ho hee hee this is too much fun."

And let's not forget to thank my mommy brains who somehow left a PERMANENT MARKER within the reach of your TODDLER. I MEAN WHERE WERE YOU ON THAT ONE?! HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING, NOTHING AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem. So. I did what anyone would do. I got right down to it and figured out a way to fix my couch.



It's called, the Mighty Cleaner of "Flip The Couch Cushion Over."

If anyone has any other solutions PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!

My resolutions: let's be honest here

SOOOO how are my resolutions?!!! In a word: NOT GOOD! (okay that was two words.)

I'm barely scraping by on the scripture reading. I have not missed a day, so GO ME! The problem is my timing is terrible. I usually forget until I am exhausted and so I am not getting too much out of it. Something's gotta change. How can reading your scriptures every day count when you can't remember what you read? Some days are better than others, but honestly most days I am so tired I am reading only a verse or two just to say I read my scriptures that day. SEE HOW HONEST AND BAD I AM?! AHHH I will do better. The one good thing I am doing though is going to a Book of Mormon class my friend Malissa holds once a week. There are only 3 of us that consistently go. I was so skeptical at first when I began going last spring. How could we study the scriptures together when we had like 10 kids who were all screaming about to kill each other?! I almost gave up going, and I thought, this is ridiculous and not worth it. Then, slowly things changed. The kid wars sort of fade away (I said sort of.) No our kids don't get along much better, but miraculously the discussion overrides that and I honestly find myself feeling the spirit and going home each time thinking, wow I learned so much today, WOW I got so much perspective today. I mean Nate and I read and talk about the scriptures with our children on their level, but the best part about three moms going through the scriptures verse by verse is relating it back to life--we relate it to OUR lives, as moms and wives, and it is so interesting. I realize I understand God so much better now that I am a mom. After all, I know what it is like to love my children so much that I want what is best for them, what it is like to see them hurt, what it is like to see them make mistakes (not any huge ones yet, I am sure that is coming, dang it), what it is like to have to punish your children who do not listen. It has been so enlightening to talk about the scriptures with not only two strong, spiritual women, but with my good friends. BUT I MUST read on a personal level too, of course. And I will, preferably while it is still light outside. I will promise myself to make it more of a priority.

OKAY and then my second resolution: AHHHHH let's be completely honest here, it is going AWFUL!!!! So, YEAH I have been running consistently! But I am still at THREE MILES! The marathon is in MAY!! CRAP!!! Okay well my first mistake was not beginning my marathon training until January. I signed up in September and boy am I kicking myself for not getting on the ball. I could have had 3 more months of running under my belt!!! To give you an idea of how far behind I am, my mom is signed up too and she just ran 12 miles. TWELVE! YOU SEE WHY I AM FREAKING OUT!! It is not for lack of trying. It has taken me a month to get comfortable with 3 miles. You see despite my love for races, well, my love for RUNNING-- it DOES NOT come easy for me. Believe me I wish it did! So while it's nice to say oh yeah, I am a runner! sometimes I feel like I am a cheater, a liar, cause geez I am not a very fast runner... I don't even own any fancy running clothes, I just run in sweats with holes in them and the exact same sweaty hat. So let's just say it, right now, I am totally down on myself right now. I am doubting myself. And in the back of my mind a little voice is telling me, "YOU CAN'T DO IT." And the scary part is, that voice might be right! Can I go from 3 miles at the beginning of February to being ready for 26 in 3 months??!!! What if I just CAN'T?! I'm very frustrated. I wanted this to be a good experience for me. But the truth is I am FREAKIN OUT. And that pure terror is what is keeping me on the treadmill or outside in the frigid temps. Every little bit counts so I will just keep trucking along and trying to build miles even though it is taking me awhile to build up from having a baby again. Argh. I will try not to tell myself I can't anymore though, cause that is just depressing. So I will say, I CAN. And I WILL. I am NOT backing out of this. I don't know where I will be training-wise on that day of the marathon, but I do know I will drag my feet to the finish. And it will be good enough. (or I will convince myself it will be good enough. And then I will cry...)

SO all in all, consistency is happening in scripture reading and running. But I have a ways to go in both areas...

Top 10 ways to tell you have a teenager in a 4-year-old's body

1. WHOA if you look at her wrong, WATCH. OUT.

2. She says in a whiny voice 10 times a day, "But mo-oom, that will take FOR-EVER!!"

3. She throws a fit when I try to get her to wear something ELSE in her closet FULL of darling clothes other than the outfit SHE wants to wear (cause she already wore it 4 times that week and it's dirty!)

4. HEAVEN FORBID if you laugh at the wrong time!!!! She will MOST definitely think you are laughing at her!!!!

5. She talks about her hand me down "High School Musical" jammies like she's actually seen the show.

6. "That is so freaky!" has suddenly become one of her favorite phrases.

7. Every morning she asks me, "Where are we going today?" and the days I say "nowhere" you'd think home was THE most HORRIBLE place ever.

8. She has a bunch of little purses that she stuffs all sorts of her little trinkets in and totes around everywhere. Oh and don't forget her SUNGLASSES.

9. When she has done something good, oh and she definitely knows when she has, she loves to rub it in Carter's face "Mom, IIIII didn't forget to put my dishes away!"

10. Then there's the "Mom can I wear your necklace? Lipstick? Ring?" yep.

SO okay it is not really this bad, my little Jenna is and was born practically perfect in every way, (after all she is the firstborn, just like I am!) She is the sweetest, most caring, genuinely good little girl.

She IS growing up, BUT here are the signs she is most definitely still 4… (almost 5!):

She is still pretty darn attached to her blankie! Seriously! When do I let Blankie go off and "see other people"?!

She screams bloody murder when I comb her hair.

She tears her rubber bands out of her hair as soon as we are home from preschool/church/anywhere I try to make her look cute for.

She still loves to give me hugs and kisses!!!!

She LOVES to please me and make me happy. She does whatever I ask her to--talk about the most obedient child, she colors me countless pictures and tells me she loves me lots and lots. :)

It's ALL about princesses and barbies, has been since she was 18 months old.

I LOVE my Jenna to death, she's my happy girl and makes my life complete. Growing up too fast. It makes me sad thinking of life changing in the fall when she starts kindergarten!