An Extra Day

What did you do with your extra day? Something extraordinary? Something challenging? Something life-altering?

I had a pajama party.

You heard me. My husband, the Godfather of the LANily, decided to spend his free day (evening) playing computer games with his friends. So I decided we should have a LAN widows and orphans party. And since spending a free day in my pajamas sounded really appealing, that's what we did.

I served a gourmet salad suitable for both kiddos and mommas - all the regular salad toppings plus chicken nuggets. (Fancy, I know!) Everyone else brought goodies to share that were super yummy. Extra kudos to Melissa for her Oreo Cake and Gigi for her Monster Cookies.

I forgot to take pictures of everyone during the party. Too busy gabbing and living in the moment, I guess. (So lame, right? And I call myself a blogger!) But I did get a picture of the aftermath of a house full of kids.
And that's not as bad as it was before I cleared it a bit so Spencer could make it to bed! (I know what chore I'm doing tomorrow - nagging Spencer to clean his room!)

And yes, that is Spence sleeping in his bed. He was out like a light and didn't even stir when the flash went off. That boy can sleep.

Side note: sadly, a lot of the regular widows and orphans couldn't make it because of this terrible flu season. (We were 'lucky' and had our bouts of the flu a couple weeks ago.) Heidi, Margot, Heather, Misty - I hope you get better soon!

At Least the Car Doesn't Scare Him

I had to get a few groceries this morning. While I was putting them into the trunk, Spencer crawled into the front seat and played with the steering wheel. When I was done I opened the door and had this little exchange with Spencer.

Me: Okay Speedracer, get back in your seat. It's time to go.

Spencer (most sincerely and with true surprise): But I thought I was going to drive!

Me: Ha! Right.

Spencer's face gets truly sad and his bottom lip starts to pout out.

Me: Spencer, you're not big enough to drive.

Spencer: But I'm a big boy! You said!

Me (starting to get impatient because it is raining and I am getting wet): You are a big boy! Just not big enough. You have to be 16 and you're only 4. Twelve more years.

Spencer: Awwwwww... But I'll be careful and won't bonk any signs!

Me: Ha ha, very funny.

Spencer: What?

Me: Spencer, get in your seat. If I let you drive, the police man will come and put me in jail.

Spencer looks at me as if my jail time wouldn't be a very big deal.

Me: And then you wouldn't get to play computer when you get home.

Spencer (finally moving to his seat): Okaaaaaayyy.

Josh: Lunch!

***
Side note: I got my Camry back last night, and it's as good as new! Hooray!

Hand Me Downs

Remember the cute Freddy Krueger sweater Spencer wore for his four year old pictures?

Well, in the six weeks since then he has grown about an inch, and I think the sweater shrunk a tad (but just a tad!) in the wash. And now look who's wearing it:
Yeah, that's my 17 month old, wearing his four year old brother's clothes. From the same year.

Good thing there's only about six weeks of winter left. We don't have anybody left to hand down the sweater to this season.

That's A Killer Prom Dress

As we were walking through Sears today Spencer was whining about something. I don't know what it was about because I wasn't really listening; all I know was that it was bugging me.

Anyways, I tried the good ol' distraction technique.

Me: Look at all those pretty dresses! Aren't they pretty? (We were walking by the formal dress section in the juniors department.)

Spencer: Ummm... no.

Me: Why not? I think they're pretty. They have sparkles.

Spencer (in a small yet totally serious voice): They scare me.

Me: What?! How can a dress scare you? You're not afraid of a dress!

Spencer: Yes I am. Those dresses scare me!

So I wheeled the stroller closer to a dress to see what he would do.

Spencer (in all sincerity and very distressed): AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!! Those dresses are scary! They are gonna get me! Waaaaaaaaa!

Me (quickly wheeling him to the safety of the boys department): It's okay! I won't let the scary dresses get you.

Well. We have 12 years until his first prom. Let's hope he's over his vestiophobia by then.

CB2

Crate & Barrel has come out with a line called CB2. I don't get Crate & Barrel catalogs and I didn't request one for CB2, but one came in the mail today. Boy, did they pick the right target - I love it! I loved just about everything in the catalog! I feel like I'm in a decorating rut around the house, and desperately want to change things up a bit for spring, so this was perfect timing.

But you probably don't want a play-by-play of the love fest that was me going through page after page. Instead, I'll just show you some of my favorite things that were under $20.

Now my only problem is choosing what I'll buy first! (Heaven... I'm in heaven...!)

Rental Car

I'm driving a Nissan Sentra rental while our car is in the shop. It's definitely a bit sportier than my Camry, and the boys think it's really cool to be in a "new car". (Well, Josh was bit nervous at first, but then I gave him a mint (the kind we always keep in the car) and he was fine.) But I miss my car. My car knew the way to everywhere we go and practically drove itself. The Sentra doesn't. It drives differently, and I am constantly reminded that it's a different vehicle.

And it has that weird rental car smell - a cross between faint wet dog and old luggage.

Magazine Review

Remember way back when I bought a subscription to Organize Magazine? Yeah, I had forgotten, too, but my first issue finally came last week! I didn't have a chance to really look at it until the weekend. The verdict?

Meh.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't truly love it, either. (Like I was hoping I would!)

The articles either didn't apply to me because I would never need them (like "How to Hire a Professional Organizer") ((quite frankly, I think I could be a Professional Organizer!)), or because I'm already organized in that part of my life (like "Tips for Weekly Meal Planning").

But the layout is pretty good, and the photography is very Real Simple-esque, which we all know I love. And, it actually had a lot of great ads for stores/sites that I had never heard of but am happily perusing in my spare (ha!) time. (Like Smart Furniture, and See Jane Work.)

The more I think about it, I think this magazine is geared more towards people who are perhaps a bit less organized than I am. Whether or not that's who they really want to target remains to be seen, as there are a few letters in there from professional organizers singing the magazine's praises as a tool that they use in their profession and for themselves.

The thing to remember is that this is only its 4th issue - it's still a newborn in the magazine publishing world. It really does have potential; it just needs to find its groove and grow up a bit. (I was in the advertising industry when Real Simple launched, so I had kind of an insider's look at the whole process. ((The sales reps were pushing us hard to buy ad space!)) It took several issues for me to fall in love with it.)

So real verdict:

Wait-and-see: it has potential and could be really good. Or I might never love it and not renew my subscription. I'll let you know.

Oh yeah - the picture has my first issue of Everyday Food in it because I thought about reviewing that, too. But no need - everyone knows Martha rocks!

p.s. I forgot to mention one more thing that I don't like about the magazine. It's dumb, but the front and back covers aren't smooth; they're a rough paper that I really don't like to touch!

Animal Hunt

Josh is really into stuffed animals right now. Every day he hunts for a new one to be his "Beby", which he then carries around and snuggles with. (Although his bear is still his favorite.) Right now he is in his crib with at least two teddy bears and possibly one moose. And maybe a cougar or two.

Finding new animals every day is not that difficult, as we seem to have acquired around 594 different animals in our seven years of marriage. (Anyone who has been to our house and seen just one of our Rubbermaid bins of stuffed animals can attest to this!)

Anywho, the larger the animal, the better. So you can imagine the squeals of Joshie joy when he finally discovered the Emperor Penguin by Spencer's bed. Seeing him walk around with it is a hoot, although he would never let me get a picture of it. (In true Joshie fashion.)

Joshie Talk

Joshie has been talking a bit more lately. He really is turning into a little man! His favorite words include: juice, baby, poop, night night, tandy (candy), and (surprise surprise) no.

I'm not sure if he knows that it's him in the mirror. I think he does, but usually when I say it's Josh (instead of a baby) he gets really mad. (Okay, not in this video, but usually.) He's also learning the names of body parts. Of course, with that comes the hazard of getting poked in the eye or having a small finger shoved up your nose. Ah, the perils of parenthood.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cabin Fever

We've been having major cabin fever lately. It's all this dang snow. The boys were crawling up the walls the other day. (No, really, they were. They were playing Spiderman.) So I let them play in the sink for a while, which is a rare treat because the whole kitchen gets soaked. They played for at least an hour!

On Friday we decided to play outside rather than drive on the icy roads and go swimming. We don't have a snow suit for Josh, so we literally stuffed him in his baby one - it was pretty funny. But he didn't seem to mind, he was just happy to be outside with us! Both of the boys were pretty well wrapped up and could barely move. (Just like the kid brother on A Christmas Story!) But with wind chills below zero, it was either that or stay inside. I'm a pretty mean mom that way.


Spencer loved being pulled on the sled and saying "Mush, Daddy!" He especially liked the "rocket launches" going down the driveway.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was pretty fun, so I guess the winter isn't all that bad.

But don't think that means I like February any better.

February Is The Longest Month

I know February is the shortest month - but it just seems to go on and on. I mean, for the love of Pete, is it really only the 22nd? It feels like at least the 5th or 6th week of the month.

I am sick of February.

I think it's because February doesn't have much going for it. January is like a breath of fresh air after the mayhem of the holidays. March brings the first promises of spring. (Plus March Madness.) But February? All it has are cold, bitter winter days and goofy holidays that involve unusually large weather-forecasting rodents, dead presidents, and overpriced flowers and candy.

I am tired of February.

February puts me into some sort of walking coma; I am up and about, getting the basic necessities done. But I don't want to do anything. Unless anything involves a large down comforter and a good book or TV show. I just want to curl up and sleep through February. (Those pesky kids of mine make it next to impossible, though.)

I am bored of February.

What I need is a project. But the weather, combined with the above-mentioned coma, makes that next to impossible.

Does anyone else feel this way?

More importantly, does anyone have a cure for these February blues?

The only thing I can think of is spending next February in Hawaii.

Then I would lurrvve February.

Those Wild and Crazy Germans

**Update: someone let me know that the site is actually Dutch, not German. Oops. Oh well; "Those Wild and Crazy Dutch" just doesn't seem to have the same ring, does it?**

Check out this awesome catalog site. (Wait a few seconds for things to start moving.)

I have no idea what anything says, but it sure is fun to watch!

A Child's Prayer

Tonight we started reading the illustrated Old Testament Stories with the kids. We read about the pre-mortal existence and the plan of salvation. Then we read about the creation of the earth. Josh was especially enamored with the picture of all the animals. (I feel a trip to the zoo this summer coming on!)

Anyway, I guess Spencer was actually listening. (Miracle of miracles!) Well, kinda. In his own four-year-old way. Because here's an excerpt from his bedtime prayers:

"... and thank you that I could have a body that can jump on the bed. And I like to jump on the bed and not get hurt. And that Mommy has a body and Daddy, and Josh, but he is small. But he will get big. And thank you for the earth and for the planets. And bless rockets, so I can see the planets. The planets are really far away..."

Bedtime prayers are a lot more interesting now that Spencer says pretty much whatever he thinks. :)

Can 4 Year Olds Be Sarcastic?

I decided to get "back on the horse", if you will, and drive the car tonight. (Let one little fight with a street sign scare me from driving? No way!) ((Okay, maybe for the afternoon. But by this evening I was fine.))

The entire trip Spencer kept saying things like "Watch out for that sign, Mommy!", "Look out, Mommy! A street sign!", "I think I see some ice. Be careful!", and "Don't let the car bump into the sign, Mommy."

Tres annoying.

I had to keep telling myself that Spencer does not yet understand the finer points of sarcasm, so he didn't really mean to bug me. He was just being helpful.

Or maybe he's already a sarcastic mastermind. In which case, my hat off to you, son. Now go to your room.

The Most Traumatic Massage Ever

It snowed about three inches last night. But it was really fluffy, powdery snow, so I decided to still use the massage gift certificate Lance gave me for my birthday.

The massage was great. I was feeling great. Lance was staying home from work for the morning with the kids, and that was great, too.

I was driving down CR 400 S and pulling onto the street that I live on when all of a sudden the car started sliding. I couldn't turn and breaking was pointless; I had hit a nasty patch of hidden ice. And even though I had only been going about 20-25 mph, it was still pretty scary to have no control over the ton of plastic and metal in which I was encased.

My thought process during this was something to the effect of, "Turn! Dang! Brake! Dang! Turn! Dang! Whhhhaaaaooooooooooooaaaaaaaaa!!!"

*CRUNCH*

Like I said, it was a pretty low-speed, low-impact collision. But the street sign that I collided with still decided to put up a fight and show its displeasure by embedding itself into the fender of the passenger side of my poor car. Then it dropped it's sign on my hood, for good measure.

A few choice words ran through my head.

A neighbor came out while I inspected the damage. She said another neighbor had just done the same thing, only hitting the fire hydrant instead. This was only a little comforting as I realized that I would need a tow truck to pull my car sideways, out of the pole.

While I was standing there, trying to figure out what to do next, a police cruiser pulled up. This pleased me quite a bit because I had no clue what to do next, but knew that he would! After I explained what had happened and assured him that I was alright, I gave him my license, registration, and insurance card and he started filling out the right paperwork and taking pictures of my car.

He explained that he had been coming to investigate and take a report on the car that had hit the hydrant earlier. (They had gone home and called the police.) He also said that I was his fourth accident report for that morning; the roads were proving to be a lot worse than anyone (including the city and their salt trucks!) had thought. Again, small consolation; but at least I wasn't the only one!

So the tow truck came and pulled my poor car free. (Incidentally, the tow guy slipped twice while there! I'm just sayin', if a guy who spends his life in situations like this finds it too slippery, what chance did my Camry have?) I paid him, got the paperwork from the officer, and drove home. I've called my insurance company and had the whole claims process started.

I've decided not to be too upset about this. Here's why:

• With our insurance, the most we'll be out is $500 (the deductible for collision)
• I wasn't hurt
• No one else was involved, making it much simpler
  
• The kids weren't in the car (I suspect at least one of the boys would have freaked out)
• The whole thing took less than an hour
• It could have been a whole lot worse

In fact, the only thing that I am upset about is the fact that we finish our car payments next month. What a great way to celebrate that, right? Right...

What's My Name?

This is a real conversation Spencer and I had in the car on the way home from preschool today.

Spencer: blah blah blah talk talk talk blah blah blah talk talk talk blah blah blah talk talk talk blah blah blah talk talk talk...

(Okay, he wasn't really saying that. But the kids talks so much that I just have to tune him out before my ears start bleeding. Every once in a while I'll catch something worth pursuing, though. Like this.)

Spencer: blah blah blah... My daddy's name is Lance. You call him Lance.

Me: Yes, Daddy's name is Lance. But you call him Daddy.

Spencer: Yeah. But you call him Lance because he is Lance.

Me: Right. Do you know my name? What's my name?

Spencer: Mance.

Me: Uh, no. My name is Maren. Can you say Maren?

Spencer: Maren. But my daddy calls you sweetie.

Me: That's true! But you can call me Mommy.

Spencer: Daddy's building my new red super computer... blah blah blah talk talk talk blah blah blah talk talk talk blah blah blah talk talk talk blah blah blah talk talk talk...

(At this point I tuned out again, since the conversation (at least the part I was interested in!) was obviously over.)

Side note: it took me several weeks to convince Spencer that Josh's last name was also Madsen.

Side note the second: I won the high score prize for bunko tonight. Woo-hoo!!!

Jewelry Tree

While Lance was in the temple the other day I made a quick trip to The Container Store.

Love love love!

I couldn't prove my love as much I wanted to, though, since I had two little boys with me. But I did find this excellent jewelry tree. I had been wanting something new for my jewelry for a while. I had my earrings and miscellaneous stuff in a cute (but difficult to get into) box and my necklaces hanging on a nail in my bathroom closet.

Not exactly optimal jewelry organization. (And I am all about the organization!)

Plus, I seem to get invited to a Lia Sophia party about every six weeks, so my jewelry collection was in desperate need of some kind of make-over.

Now I am so happy! I put the jewelry that I wear the most on the tree and everything else went back into the box and in the closet. Not only is everything really easy to put away, but I love that I can see it whenever I go into the bathroom. Because what's the point of having this cute jewelry if it's hidden all the time?

Teddy Beby

Josh has a new favorite toy - his Teddy 'Beby'. He loves to cuddle and walk around with it. He sings incomprehensible 'Beby' songs and talks to him. (Or her, I'm not sure of 'Beby's' gender. Then again, I don't know if Josh knows either; or cares.)

Amazingly, he won't cry when going to bed if he has 'Beby'. And he's instantly cheerful if he has 'Beby' when he wakes up. Miracles!

Kudos and thanks to Dad and Susie for giving him 'Beby' last October!

(Side note: 'Beby' isn't a cure all. We went to the temple today and even 'Beby' couldn't stop Josh from crying most of the way home.)

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day isn't huge in our house - we don't go all out, no grand romantic gestures, no candlelit dinners, no huge teddy bears holding red satin hearts (thank goodness!)... you get the idea.

But we do like to have a good time.

So our good time started with heart-shaped French toast for breakfast. Yum! (Spencer was especially glad, because he's going through an anti-hot cereal phase right now.)


And you know all about what we had for dinner. But you haven't seen how cute I decorated the table! Okay, nothing fancy. (We were having pizza for dinner, for Pete's sake.) But I think it looked cute with our red and white gifts on our plates. (Except for poor, poor me.) ((Okay, I didn't really expect Lance to wrap my gifts. And that's okay.))


While we waited for the fulfillment of my life goal, we opened our gifts.


I like to give the boys books: one Valentine book and one regular book (preferably one I found on clearance during the summer for $5. Score!)

Being the oh-so-romantic wife that I am, I bought Lance The Simpsons Movie and a Wii Nunchuck. (Hey, we saw the movie on our 7th anniversary, so it's a little romantic by association, right?)

Lance gave me the 8th season of ER on DVD. Woo-hoo! (Now that's love, since Lance knows that once I get a new season I basically shut down for however long it takes me to watch them all!) He also got me some super cute slippers that I really needed. (Okay, I asked him to buy them for me, but he got to choose the color.)

Of course we also got some candy. Spencer scarfed his down in typical four year old style, but Josh was a bit more entertaining:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After dinner we had some of the Lurrvve Cake. It was everything I thought it would be; namely, yummy. Mmmm... Lurrvve Cake.


And then the kids went to bed and I watched 38 episodes of ER. What a great Valentine's Day!

And The Winner Is...

Papa Johns! We ordered the Tuscan Meat Pizza. (I'm more of a fan of veggies, but since there were fresh tomatoes on top, and Lance and the boys adore anything meat, meat it was! Plus, there was a special on it.)

So, I ordered it, had it delivered, and ate it for Valentine's dinner.

Life goal accomplished!

p.s. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I suspect we will be trying Pizza Hut and Mad Mushroom in the next few months. :)

Big Boy

Tonight we put Spencer on a scale to see how much he weighs. We wanted to see if he's big enough to finally get out of his big 'ol car seat and start using a relatively minuscule backless booster seat. He's four pounds shy, dang it!

Anywho, after Spencer it was, of course, Josh's turn. (Because whatever Spencer does, Josh is sure to follow.)

The results?

Spencer (4 years, 3 months): 36 pounds
Josh (1 year, 5 months): 31 pounds

That's not a typo.

Despite being at least 6 inches shorter, Josh only weighs 5 pounds less than Spencer.

This could get interesting.

Be Mine

Cake of the Month - Luurrrvve Cake

Luurrrvve Cake is also known as Deeply Chocolate Almond Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Same difference.

The cake is actually for Valentine's Day (in case the large, cherry heart didn't clue you in), but I made it a day ahead of time because the recipe recommended it to give the flavors "time to meld". I think I did a pretty good job this time - the cake is pretty even all the way around and the frosting even looks pretty good. I was going to pipe some frosting around the bottom to give it a finished look, but then Josh woke up from his nap and I knew my cake decorating was done for the day.

I used The Cake Mix Doctor again, and again I was not dissappointed. Josh, however, was very dissappointed when I caught him trying to climb up and have a taste.
Sorry Josh - you're just gonna have to wait until tomorrow night to get a little Luurrrvve!

Best Pancakes Ever

Today was free pancake day at IHOP. Yum! You can't beat 3 free pancakes smothered in your choice of syrup. My favorite is Butter Pecan, while the boys preferred the unnaturally-hued strawberry and blueberry. (Hey, to each his funky own.)

While IHOP makes a decent stack of pancakes, I happen to have in my possession the world's best pancake recipe.

I am not exaggerating.

Okay, maybe a little.

Nope. I'm not.

It's my dad's recipe. Legend has it that he sold his soul to the devil for the recipe. (Some people make deals with the devil for love or power or to play the guitar really well. But my dad has his priorities in order.)

However he got the recipe, I'm really glad that he did. The pancakes are nice and fluffy, but also solid enough to make for a good meal. They're just... gooooood.

And in the spirit of the upcoming holiday, I'm going to share the love and share the recipe. (Hope you don't mind, Dad!)

Now before you ignore the rest because you think homemade pancakes are too much work, I'll let you in on a little secret:

You're wrong.

Homemade pancakes are easy to make and taste so much better! I make them all the time for breakfast. The night before I mix all of the dry ingredients together, and then I mix all of the wet ingredients together and put them in the fridge. In the morning I combine the two; it takes all of 30 seconds. Easy peasy.

So, without further ado, here's world's best pancake recipe. (No, really.)

1 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbl sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 1/2 C buttermilk
2 tbl veggie oil

1. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Combine the wet ingredients; mix well.
3. Add wet mixture to dry; using a whisk mix the ingredients together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.
4. Pour onto a greased 350 degree griddle. Cook until the edges are firm and the batter is bubbly. Flip, and cook a minute or two until done.

*If we're feeling a little wild and crazy we add toppings to the pancakes just after pouring the batter onto the griddles. Our favorites include fresh blueberries or chocolate chips.

Thank You Beary Much

Thanks, Dad & Susie, for the the fun bear slippers! (We had some white ones already.)


My little cubs loved to wear them! (Well, for about 15 minutes. Then they decided they were more fun to throw at each other.)

Another Lifetime Goal

Okay, remember when I admitted that I was an un-American freak who had never ordered a pizza and had it delivered to me? Well, not for long, baby!

That's right, the Madsens are having an oh-so-romantic Valentine's dinner of delivered pizza. Usually I make a really nice dinner with a nice centerpiece and Valentiney foods. But hey, why should I have to cook and do all that work? I think Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse to take the evening off.

Okay, maybe I'll make it a little more special by using the good china.

Or maybe we'll just use paper plates. Or just eat it out of the box. With just our mouths. Like a pack of starving dogs. (Which is what Spencer would love to do every night.) Who cares?

What eat off of is not the point.

The point is, who should I order from?

And in the spirit of the ever-present political season that is upon us (and seems to have been upon us for the past three years), I am polling you for the answer. So take the poll (to the left) and then comment to let me know why you chose what you did.

How you vote won't change the world - but it may determine what we eat for dinner on Thursday. (And to my boys, that's just as important as any presidential election!)

Primary Proverbs - The Birds and the Bees

A part of our Primary lesson today talked about how Jesus was born into a family. Part of the discussion went just like this:

Me: Joseph was a very righteous man. When he found out that Mary was going to have baby Jesus, he was still willing to marry her. Back then you could get into a lot of trouble if you had a baby when you weren't married. (Side note: I have no idea why I said this last sentence. It just popped out.)

Sally: Why?

Me (in my head): Because you're not supposed to have sex before you're married! Wait - wait - edit yourself, Maren. These are seven-year-olds.

Me (out loud): Oh, because you're just not supposed to have babies before you get married. Heavenly Father wants us to have babies when we're married so we can have families.

Me (in my head): Score! Our lesson is on families and I snuck that whole families reference in. Moving on...

Billy (speaking as a total authority on this): But sometimes babies just sneak up on you. You don't know they're coming.

Me: Wellll... sometimes they're a surprise, yes... But people still know that they shouldn't, um...

Me (in my head): Dang! How do I edit this for their age?

Me (out loud): um... people who aren't married know they shouldn't have babies.

Billy: But sometimes they don't know that the babies are coming! They sneak up!

Me: Well, grown ups know...

Billy: But what if the lady just eats and eats and eats and then her belly gets really big and then the baby starts growing?

Me: Um, let's move on.

Patriotic Purchases

Lance and I did our taxes last night. Hooray! (Actually, I really don't mind doing our taxes. There's something gratifying about seeing your net worth for the year, and then raging against The Man for taking so much of it.)

We decided that I wouldn't edit for EditMyEnglish anymore, since I now get taxed at 50% for it. (It's that dang The Man again.) Kind of sad, since that was my last link to the grown-up working world; but then again, I don't really have that much spare time anymore and what precious little I do have I don't want to spend working. (I'd rather read or sleep (hah!) or blog.)

We got a decent return, and decided to do our patriotic duty and spend it. Hey, just doin' our part to help boost the economy, right?

So what exciting purchase did we make? A family cruise? A pony? New Wii games?

No - way better.

A water softener.

Woo-hoo!

We've been wanting to get one for about a year now. But we didn't know anything about water softeners, and then all these guys came to our house and told us our water was slowly killing us and then tried to sell us $2500 water softeners. And we just weren't willing to spend that much on an appliance. And they made them seem so complicated and important, and it was just more than we wanted to deal with.

And it still seemed like we really didn't know that much about them, and none of our friends or family knew much either. (Water softeners are like the red-headed step-child of the major appliance kingdom. No one notices or pays attention to them. They're just kinda there. Or not, as in our case.)

Anywho, we knew we needed one because our water is so freakin' hard. And we were tired of waiting. And we had been putting it off because we just didn't want to deal with it.

So we went to Sears, talked to a salesman named Gary for a while, and then made Gary very happy.

Like I said - just doin' our patriotic duty. I feel like singing the national anthem. :)

A Few of My Favorite West Elm Things

It seems like a lot of the blogs I've been reading lately have featured the blogger's favorite things. I don't know that I could narrow down my favorite things enough for one post - but I can certainly narrow the category!

One of the only catalogs I don't mind getting is from West Elm. I love just about everything in there. Totally modern, clean lines, and actually reasonably priced. I've only bought a bamboo bowl (that I lurrve) from them, but some day when I can have adult couches (read: the kids will no longer seek to destroy my furniture), I'm pretty sure I'll get something from West Elm!

So, here are a few of my favorites. Well, at least for this month.

ABACA PENDANT
Remember those paper mache spheres you made with balloons in elementary school? Same concept! (I'm pretty sure I could make an orange and black one of these for Halloween.)

BELL JARS
I am absolutely in luuuurrrrvvve with the curved bell jar. It would look perfect on my mantel. I am totally buying it as soon as I can figure out what I would put in it. (Or perhaps it would make a good Mother's Day present. Hint Hint HINT!)


THOMPKINS SECTIONAL
I would buy this in the Clay colored fabric. Love the chaise. See? Grown up furniture.


PLEATED DUVET
So pretty! I'd love to have it on my bed. But I wouldn't like having to wash it every other day because it's white and I have two little boys who love to play on our bed.


BOOKCASE
If this came in a lighter shade I would totally buy it now. (My living room bookshelf is the last piece of furniture in our living left from our grad school days.)


SALAD PLATES
Wouldn't these make you happy to be eating salad?

Valentine's Decorations

We're not huge into Valentine's Day around here. I mean, we celebrate it, but it's no Halloween. :) I like to put up a few decorations on the mantel, and this year Josh and Spencer helped me make them. Hooray for pink and red construction paper, sticker, and glitter glue! (And baby wipes, which do a surprisingly good job of cleaning glitter glue off of babies.)

The Amazing Mr. Joshie

Josh continues to surprise, amaze, and entertain me. I really wish I had had my camera with me all day today. Here are a few highlights:

Surprise: On the way to pick up Spencer from preschool this morning I was listening to the radio in the car. The song "Hey There Delilah" was on. After a few lines I realized that Josh was singing along! He would sing-songingly babble during the song, and then sing "ooooooooohhhhhh!" during the chorus. It was what you would call Super Cute.

Amaze: I was stealing a few minutes of reading time on the couch today. (I'm rereading Harry Potter 7; I haven't read it since the first time this summer. It's soooo good! And now I'm really sad again that there's no more Harry. Okay, back on track.) Josh came up to me with his diaper wipes and dumped them on my lap. I figured it was just one of the many random "presents" he gives me during the day. (He likes to hear "Thank you".) But right after that he brought me a diaper and babbled something incoherent while pretending to wipe himself. Amazed, I asked "Do you want me to change your diaper?" "Es." Flabbergasted, I did.

Entertain: For dinner we had extra-saucy enchiladas and Jell-o with fruit in it - a rare treat. (The Jell-o, not the enchiladas.) Josh now sits next to me on a booster seat, so he's just below eye level. He'd been having a grand time with dinner. He randomly turned to me, his face covered in enchilada sauce, shredded chicken, cherry Jell-o, and the workings of a runny nose, and says in the cutest voice possible, "Tiss?" I politely declined the kiss and tried my hardest not to crack up.

How Josh kisses (nom nom nom)

Afternoon At The Museum

We Spent another afternoon at the Children's Museum with Misty, Ashton, and Dominic.

All morning I kept praying that Josh would take an early nap. No such luck.

So then for the rest of the morning I prayed that he would sleep in the car on the way to Indie. (He very rarely sleeps in the car.) My prayers were answered!

But... how was I to know that what I really should have been praying for was a happy, cheerful Spencer? (Especially because he's usually so happy at the museum!)

That boy was on one today - so ornery! I mean, tears, tantrums, fighting - all within the first hour. It's like he had reverted back a year and could not share, pay attention to his surroundings, or listen to a single thing I said. (Until I threatened to take him home, that is!)

Oh well. We all survived, had some fun, and I even managed to take a few pics for the grandparents. (Spencer's eyes were red in many of the pictures. Coincidence? I think not.)

The main attraction was the new Curious George exhibit. Spencer and Josh both lurrve Curious George. (And he's one of the only PBS cartoons that I can stand.)

Well, I don't know... you look like the monkey on my map. But how do I know you're the real George?

Why am I sitting next to this fake monkey? Where's the real George?!?

I don't care where the real George is - I'm havin' fun!

Spencer goes down the Curious George rocket slide. I think mankind would be happier if we could all go down a rocket slide every day. Or at least Spencer would.

Josh goes down the Curious George... stairs. Head first, no less.

Spencer playing Curious George Golf. Because when I think curious monkies, I think golf.

Mmmmm... plastic broccoli!

Spencer playing with the computer chef. (If only he were so well-behaved the rest of the day!)

Everyone loves the fake potty! (The lid wouldn't come up, which drove Josh nuts. But he loved that he could flush it and lights would flash.)

Josh wasn't too interested in the wrecking balls this time. (The world is a safer place... for now.)

Riding the giraffes on the carousel.
Josh had a kung-fu death grip on his safety straps, which, unfortunately, didn't stop him from tipping off the sides when I wasn't holding him tight enough. (He refused to hold onto the pole.)

No pictures, please! I'm busy in the sand table!