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!