But wait, there's more!

There are a few more things I should say about Luke lately.

He's been taking Big Folks by the hand, mostly Ben, Cat, and me, and leading us to the place he wants to go.  Most of the time, this is the fridge since we locked him out and he can't open it by himself anymore.  But he's also brought me over to the family room, turned on a toy that plays music, and grabbed both of my hands so we can dance together.  LOVE IT.

I mentioned in the other post that Luke is more on the destructive side than not.  I thought I should give some examples of things he's damaged.  The list includes, but is not limited to, books, his siblings' artworks and school assignments, furniture, the music box from Valentine's Day, various toys, various jewelry, a picture frame, and my glasses.

He's using words so well right now, both parroting and spontaneously.  I decided that I would take advantage of the current linguistic phase by teaching him something that would keep me amused.  There's nothing wrong with that, right?

And in case you're looking at the three bandages on Luke's forehead and wondering why he would be wearing them, I'll tell you.  Just as I was grabbing my things to head out the door to a meeting on Thursday night, Jack and Luke came in to my room playing and having fun.  A few seconds later I heard a thump and Luke started crying.  According to Jack, they were taking turns holding on to each other and when he was holding Luke, Luke was moving around more than he could control and they both fell down.  (Have I mentioned that Luke and Eliza - the now-5-year-old - are the same weight?) Jack fell down on the carpet, but Luke's head hit the edge of the metal support on the side of our bed.  He got a cut that was about an inch long but didn't bleed very much and I decided to skip my meeting. 

Snuggling with Froggy right after The Incident.

I have a feeling this isn't the only injury that will be suffered by a boy in my house as the result of roughhousing.

Fabulous Family Fun Night

One of Eliza's birthday gifts was a coupon for a Fabulous Family Fun Night, which was tonight.  I'd used a gift card we received at Christmas time to buy tickets to see Pinkalicious The Musical (based on this book, if you've never heard of it) at a local theater.  So we made a family night of it - Pizza for dinner, Pinkalicious, and Popcorn.  Perfect.

Pre-show selfie while Ben and Cat got the popcorn.

Jack's favorite character was Peter, Pinkalicious's brother.
He said to me at one point in the show, "Nobody ever listens to Peter."
Perhaps he felt he could relate?

This actress played Alison, Pinkalicious's best friend.
She was also one of the dancing cupcakes - my
favorite part of the show.

Pinkalicious herself.

Notice Eliza and I made sure to don some pink.
When I was helping her choose her clothes this morning
I asked her about what pink ensemble she wanted to wear
and she chose this dress saying, "OF COURSE I'll wear this one."
Of course.

Though I couldn't get the guys in the picture with Pinkalicious,
they agreed to take a picture with the giant pink cupcake in the lobby.
It is much more manly, after all.

I love that we had a fun night where everyone enjoyed themselves.  Luke was glued to the show from the moment the curtain opened and even Cat told us afterward that she was surprised that she liked it.  Jack and Eliza both wanted to know when they'd be able to be in a play.  Love it.

TBT - A Story from High School

I always feel like I don't have great stories.  Well, it's not that I don't have them.  It's that I don't remember them.  Which is one reason I keep the blog, and also why I'm trying to do better at writing in a journal.  And getting more sleep.

The point is, I have a hard time recalling specific experiences.  Which is why when I remembered this story recently, I wanted to record it here so that it wouldn't disappear again.

I've always tried to be good.  I'm not perfect - far from it - but for as long as I can remember I've had a desire to be good.  But until I remembered this story, I couldn't have told you any specific occasion when my actions made a significant impression on anybody, at least not that I know of.

I was not in the popular crowd in high school.  I got along with them, though, and moved among them in my classes and my (extensive) extra-curricular activities, so I considered them friends to an extent.  My older brother, though, was definitely in The In Crowd.  He was a Senior my Freshman year, so I was able to enjoy some of the benefits of his popularity, which was great.  His friends knew who I was and talked to me, and people of my own age, I'm sure, were a little nicer to me because I was Andy's little sister.

There was an illegal sorority at my high school, which was really just another way for the elite to be more exclusive, and party.  They tried to mimic college sororities with a super humiliating pledge experience culminating in a large group of people going to a field and throwing whatever they want at the pledges - rotten food was the most popular choice from what I heard.  It sounded awful.  But being part of the sorority meant certain acceptance by the popular crowd.  A ticket to social success.

I never considered I'd have a chance to join this group, and part of me knew I didn't really want to anyway.  I didn't want to pledge.  I didn't want to party.  I had friends of my own.  So what was the point?  But when I found out that my name had been suggested as a possible pledge, I had mixed emotions.  It would have been awesome to be included.... right?

Apparently, at the meeting where names were discussed, my name came up and someone who knew our family well - a good friend of my brother's - told the group that I wouldn't want to join.  End of discussion.  She knew our standards and she knew what the sorority was all about, and she didn't think I would be interested.  And of course she was right.  I didn't want to be associated with an illicit organization that existed for the purposes of being exclusive and getting drunk.

The interesting thing is, there was a pair of LDS sisters in my high school who I was very good friends with.  And they did pledge the sorority.  They claimed it would look good on their college applications because it was a "service organization."  I was floored when I found out.  Why would they want to be associated with this group?  I knew I preferred being excluded because of a good reputation than being included and risking a bad reputation.

I'm glad I had this experience as a teenager.  It helps me remember the importance of living what you believe.  You never know who's watching.

The Big 0-5

Eliza had great birthday!  It ended up being a day of Mom breaking many of her food rules (Frosted Sugar Bites for breakfast?  Sure.  Boxed Mac & Cheese AND Cheetos for dinner?  Why not.) but I didn't mind too much - one good thing about being a bit of a stickler most of the time is that the kids really appreciate it when I back off.  Eliza told EVERYONE that she was having macaroni and cheese for her birthday dinner.  "The kind my Dad makes.  Not the kind my Mom makes."  Our pediatrician may or may not have referred to it as "yellow death."  Hmm....

Anyway, she had a fun day.

See?  Kellogg's FROZEN sugary cereal for breakfast.
And since I was trying to get some sleep the night before, I draped streamers on
the table instead of hanging them up.  Eliza was puzzled about their placement,
and by lunch time she had directed my efforts to properly hang the streamers.

I asked Eliza if she'd rather go to story time at the library or go to Krispy Kreme
for free doughnut day.  She chose the doughnut.  Sugary treat #2 of the day.

I brought birthday treats to Eliza's class for snack time and saw everyone sing
to her.  For snack, she chose large chocolate chocolate chip cookies, apple
slices, and Capri Suns.  Sugary treat #3.

The only things Eliza would tell me she wanted for dinner were "the macaroni and cheese
out of a box that Dad makes" and Cheetos puffs.  I insisted on a fruit and a vegetable.
After quite a bit of thought, she chose strawberries and carrots.  Oh, and root beer.

Eliza wanted a Frozen cake, so we looked at some simple ideas online and decided
on one I thought I could pull off.  The green "ice" candy was supposed to be blue.
I think it was a mistake to a few drops of brown vanilla extract for flavor...
Also, the back completely came off of the cake.  But Eliza didn't seem to mind.
Sugary treat #4 (earned by eating The Junkiest Dinner Ever).

We saved the presents for last, and it worked out well to end on a high note.
Eliza was having a down afternoon between the chaos of getting the cake ready
and helping Cat and Jack with piano and homework, and Luke kept hitting Eliza
over and over again.  She was just sure that her birthday was a bust.  But after a yummy
dinner, fun cake, and wonderful presents, she told us it was the best birthday ever.

Luke at 21 Months

Luke, oh Luke.  It's not too much of a stretch to say that Luke is the king of the castle right now.  He runs our lives in the way only a busy toddler can.  We whisper and tip toe around the house when he's sleeping, hoping to stretch that time out as long as possible.  And we are on pins and needles when he's awake, wondering what kind of trouble he's going to get into next.  I feel like I'm constantly telling The Bigs: "Put that away or Luke will get into it." And "Maybe next time you'll remember to put that away because Luke got into it."

Guess who found Eliza's makeup?

We've been keeping chairs and stools away from counters and tables for months now, but Luke has finally started sliding things around on the tile, or carrying other climbable objects into the kitchen so that he can get onto the counters and table.  He still loves to pull whatever he can out of drawers, but about a month ago he became more interested in pulling food out of the fridge - things like yogurt or relish or butter - and then dumping them out.  So, after three kids who never gave us trouble with the fridge, we have splurged on a pair of baby-proof-your-appliance gizmos ($5 at Target) and have to keep the fridge latched at all times.  (Side note.... one day Jack chose to yank the refrigerator door open with all his might instead of unlocking the latch, and broke the baby-proofing gizmo.  Luckily, Cat was around to fix it.)

Trying to help clean up after dumping Greek yogurt on the couch.

Luke hasn't yet learned to express his anger and frustration in healthy ways.  He usually resorts to hitting and biting other people, or flailing around on the floor.  When he's hurting someone else, it often ends up being Eliza since he's around her the most.

Tantrum time.

Sometimes it's not even out of anger that he gets physical.  The other day they were playing on the couch and she suddenly walked up to me with a bloody nose.  Luke had stuck a headband up her nose!  "Not the whole thing.  Just the end," she told me.  I can't believe she puts up with him so well.

Luke has started enjoying sitting down and reading books with us, but if I'm reading a book to one of his siblings he'll come up to us and close the book, then take it away.  Sometimes I'll be on the couch with Jack on one side and Eliza on the other and we'll go through 3 books.  We'll start one, read a few pages, then Luke will come over, close it, and walk away with it.  So we start over with a new book, and he does it all over again.  We usually give up after the third book and find something else to do.  And when we try to include him in reading books with us, he's not interested.

In the last couple of months Luke has developed a love of All Things With Wheels.  This applies to both toys and real vehicles.  When we're in a parking lot he usually exclaims over and over again "TRUCK!  TRUCK!  TRUCK!"

Which leads me to the next point - Luke is talking!  In the last month his vocabulary has grown immensely.  He's finally parroting words, and uses words on his own a lot too.  I love it!  He
probably knows about 40 words now and is learning new words all the time.  We all get such a kick out of it.  Tonight at dinner he spit the chicken he didn't want into a napkin, handed it to Ben, and said, "Trash."  The kid is a genius.

This is such a fun development, though the kids really enjoyed it when he only had a few words and the one we heard most of the time was "No." They loved asking him questions that required affirmative answers.  It was one of their favorite games.

"Luke, do you have ears?"
"NO."
"Luke, are you wearing pants?"
"NO."
"Luke, do we have the best family ever?"
"NO."

I mentioned the trouble Luke gets into in the kitchen, but really there is nowhere in the house that is off-limits for Hurricane Luke.  The kitchen is a popular spot - have I told you about the time I came home from running errands to find that Luke had dumped out at least one entire box of spaghetti in the family room?  Possibly two boxes.  That wasn't very fun to clean up, but at least Luke tried to help.

The yellow patches on the carpet are spaghetti noodles.

But Luke also loves dumping out DVDs and pulling books off of shelves.  He rifles through drawers, has been known to unroll toilet paper, and may or may not have put a variety of objects in the toilet (though in his defense, he currently really likes "cleaning" the toilet but swooshing the brush around in the bowl).  He still throws food on the floor, or spits it out, if he doesn't want it, but I think he's beginning to outgrow that one.  Knock on wood.

Luke loves electronics and is good at changing settings on phones and computers.  Thus, we do our best to keep him away from them.  It always takes us longer to fix the problems he causes than it takes him to make problems.  He's started watching a little bit of TV (I think "Blue's Clues is his favorite show) but generally it doesn't hold his attention for very long.

Luke has started to show some interest in using the potty, and I'm quite anxious to potty train him, but I don't think he's quite ready yet.  Soon, I hope.  Also, he's been staying in the nursery at church without us for several weeks and recently began going in without crying.  Yeah!

Luke has a pillow-ish stuffed animal frog that he always sleeps with and it's so sweet to see him snuggle with it when he goes to bed.  Sometimes he is literally kicking and screaming when I'm taking him to his room to go to bed and as soon as I hand him Froggy he hooks his right arm around it, sucks his left finger, and snuggles right into bed.

We sure love this kid, messes and all.  We love his cute little voice and his contagious laugh.  We love the way he hugs someone whenever they're sad.  We love his dimple.  We love his cute toddler run.  We love his adventurous approach to life.  And we're so grateful he's part of our family.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Tonight we attended a Chinese New Year party at our friends' house.  When the kids found out that there would be prizes for the best-dressed (costume/festive clothing) attendees, the party suddenly got much cooler and more exciting.  Cat really wanted me to make her a Chinese dress.  Or buy a cool fan.  Or dye her hair black.  Or put on a lot of eye make-up.  Eliza had less specific plans, but really wanted to look like "an Asian girl."  I let both of them wear a little eye make-up and blush, and Cat put her hair in a bun with chop sticks sticking out.  E wished her hair was long enough for a bun, but no such luck.

We all wanted to wear red, but Cat didn't feel like the couple of red items she owns were suitable for a party, so she begged me to make her a skirt to wear, which I did.  Then we all decorated our own masks, showing the Chinese Zodiac animal of the year we were born.  Jack is year of the rat like I am, but he couldn't find his mask when we were ready to take the picture.  It's hard to see Luke's picture - it's a snake that's pinned to his shirt.

The food there was really yummy.  There was a surprising variety of Asian food, and we ended up bringing both the most and least popular dishes.  My friend said she needed desserts, so I immediately thought that we should bring the only kind of sushi my kids like - the kind made with gummy worms, rice crispy treats, and fruit roll-ups.  Those were completely gone before the party was over and we got lots of compliments on them.  Since that's a lame Asian knock-off dish, I decided to bring store-bought fortune cookies also.  These were not as popular.  We probably brought about 40 home with us.

We had a great time with our friends, eating yummy food, meeting new people, and learning more about Chinese customs.  AND we were honored with one of the Best Costume prizes.

Happy Year of the Goat!

Sunday Morning Reading Time

TBT - Ben & Brett's Story

Even though Valentine's Day is over, I wanted to include in one more quick Love Story.  And since this one is mine, it's the hardest to tell.  I've been thinking about how to go about this for weeks and still don't have a great approach, so I'll give it a shot tonight, and if I don't quite get it right then I'll try again another time.  Here goes.

The "One Fish, Two Fish, Me Fish, You Fish" dance in our Singles Ward.

Ben and I met in the Singles Ward in Tallahassee when I started school at FSU.  We met right away - in fact, my first memory of an interaction with Ben was during the Back to School dance Labor Day weekend, but I'm pretty sure that we met at the Institute even before then.

I was pretty excited to be in college and away from home and around lots of guys.  I wanted to go on a mission so I didn't plan to get married any time soon, but I did want to date.  I wanted to date lots of people.  But not Ben.  Ben was good and nice and fun and everything, but I compare myself to Price and Prejudice's Elizabeth Bennett in that I made judgments about Ben before I really knew him, and it took several months for me to give him a fair chance.

Ben called me - frequently - to talk about various Ward activities and to shoot the breeze.  He seemed to be everywhere I went: Institute activities, get-togethers with friends, teaching Sunday School, School of Music concerts.  He happened to be around when my mom and I were walking to a football game one day and she happened to invite him to sit with us.  (My Mom liked Ben long before I did.  She's always been much better at reading people than I am.)  I had a hard time avoiding him, but I made the most of it by letting him give me rides, since I didn't have a car my Freshman year.  Aren't I a good person?

The good thing is, he didn't give up on me.  I didn't find out until we'd been married for several years the reason that he didn't give up on me.  One day when he'd dropped me off at my dorm, he had a witness from the Spirit that we would get married.  Thank goodness he kept that to himself because I doubt I would have reacted positively to that news.

Well, as the school year continued I gradually started to see that there were even more admirable qualities about Ben than I thought at first.  Hard working.  Smart.  Outgoing and friendly.  Righteous and knowledgeable in the gospel.  Helpful and selfless.  Hmm.

At the end of the Spring semester, I asked Ben to deconstruct the loft in my dorm room and help me deliver it (read: deliver it) to someone I was selling it to.  In exchange, I took him out for ice cream.  That was our first unofficial date, and the first official date was a little later when I was living in an apartment off-campus.  He took me to see "Star Wars: Episode II" at Tallahassee Mall.

That was the beginning of a fun, if inconsistent, summer romance.  I kept trying to break up with him but he wouldn't have it.  I just knew our relationship wasn't going anywhere and I didn't see any point in dating if there was no potential.  But he was so patient with me.  I still remember one of his Best Lines.  I was back in SC for the second half of the summer, living at home and working at my Dad's law firm.  Ben and I were on the phone and I was trying to help him see reason.  I said, "What would you say if the girl of your dreams walked through the door right now?"  He didn't hesitate a bit.  "I'd say, 'Hi, Brett!'" Well.  It's hard to break up with that.

We continued to date during the Fall Semester amid busy school/work schedules.  Ben was teaching early morning seminary at the church building near campus so a few days a week he would come over to my apartment after seminary and we'd eat breakfast together before we went to school.  We had study sessions together, he'd attend performances with me for various School of Music requirements, we'd go to lots of Ward or Institute activities together, and we'd just hang out.  I started spending more time at his house, getting to know his family, and Ben would travel with me to see my family.

We started talking seriously about marriage around Christmas time but I had some issues to overcome before I was ready to commit.  Once again, Ben didn't give up on me.  We did lots and lots and lots of talking.  I counseled with people I looked up to, prayed, received Priesthood blessings, and finally broke up with Ben one more time.  But then I knew.  Ben and I got engaged in February of 2003.  We were married in the Orlando, FL LDS temple a few months later, and we've never looked back.

I am amazed now at how well-matched Ben and I are, and how hard it was for me to see it for such a long time.

I love you, Ben.  And I'm so glad that you continue to have patience with me!

Valentine's Day

We had a pretty fun day on Valentine's Day.  I had a festive breakfast planned, but Cat beat me to the punch!  Before I was up for the day, she brought me breakfast she made all by herself: grits, bacon, a fried egg, apple juice, and hot chocolate.  With a cute little note.  Is she not the best kid ever??  I found out later that she'd planned it out with Ben, but Ben had taken over a certain child's bed early in the morning when said child took up residence in our bed.  So Cat couldn't find Ben when it was time to make breakfast and, assuming he'd gone to the gym, did it all herself.

I didn't do as much decorating or gift-giving as I have in the past, but put out a few little things for everyone.  The fun part was rice krispie treats "Hershey's Kisses" I made, complete with little labels for everyone.

And the kids enjoyed reading the love notes they'd collected in their envelopes.  We made these envelopes two Mondays before Valentine's Day for an FHE, and talked about using kind words with each other.  We added love notes to the envelopes here and there leading up to Valentine's Day.

Each child had a coupon for a day out in his/her envelope.  Ben took the boys for a Man Day - seeing the fish at Cabela's and getting a hot dog at JDawg's.  I took the girls for a Girls Day - getting haircuts, eating lunch at the food court in the mall, then getting makeovers at the Clinique counter at Macy's.  Obviously I need to practice my selfie skills because the below picture doesn't do justice to our haircuts or makeovers (except perhaps the RED lipstick Eliza chose).  Cat chose very subtle colors, and said she felt a bit self-conscious getting her makeup done in a public place.  We talked about how Eliza has more of a dramatic style and Cat is more subdued.  Eliza couldn't understand why Cat and I weren't wearing more showy makeup.  She has said over and over again that she wants to go back and get another makeover.

When we got home from our outings, we put together our customary fondue dinner.  Every year Ben and I talk about doing traditional fondue, cooking our meat and vegetables in oil, but we always chicken out.  Hopefully our kids will be able to handle that in a few years.  So once again, we stuck with our tried and true Alfredo dipping sauce with bread, pasta, chicken, and broccoli.  We added roasted asparagus this year and that was delicious.  Then it was chocolate fondue for dessert with strawberries, marshmallows, and graham crackers.  We did some dancing after dinner, but Ben (who'd been fighting a cold) was done by then and it wasn't as fun without him.  We'll have to have another dance party when everyone feels better.

All in all, it was a fun day.

We just had one setback - Luke broke a music box that I've had for 15-20 years.  It was a cool wizard with signs of the Zodiac etched on the glass globe, and played "Music of the Night." My parents gave it to me when I was a teenager, when I had a small collection of music boxes, and I really loved it.  Cat had been keeping it in her room and liked to play the music before she went to sleep.  Luke found it on her shelf and toddled all the way upstairs with it, just to drop it on the tile at the top of the stairs.  We mourned briefly, but we moved on.  By now we've just accepted that this is part of life with Luke.  And we love him more than music boxes.

Valentine Festival

With Valentine's Day falling on a Saturday this year, I felt like it was more of a 3-day festival than a stand-alone holiday.  Cat and Jack had no school on Friday, so they had their school celebration on Thursday, with parties and Valentine exchanges and everything.  After school, Jack told me about how a friend had been extra nice to him during recess (bringing him a ball he'd been playing with) because we're celebrating Love Day.

The funniest thing that happened on Thursday was on the way home from school.  Cat was in her seat eating a little bag of chips.  When I asked her where she got the chips, she said they were a Valentine from a classmate.

"Did it have a note or anything attached?"

"Yeah, it says, 'You're all that and a bag of chips.'  What does that mean?"

I laughed and laughed, and then struggled to explain what that expression from my high school years means.  It turns out, Jack had a bag of chips with the same message attached.  He wasn't interested in the message though, so I didn't have to try to explain it a second time.

Cat had to make a Valentine's box again this year.  She came up with this
idea all on her own.  It's a book,  and the author's name is whatever candy
you put inside.  Perfect for my little bookworm.

On Friday, Eliza's preschool class not only exchanged Valentine's, they had a program for parents.  And of course, since Cat and Jack were out of school, we all went and enjoyed a very entertaining presentation by Eliza and her friends.

All the kids used Blow Pops as their Valentine's this year, with tags printed
from HERE.  And Eliza and I made some simple white chocolate dipped
pretzels to bring to her music class friends on Thursday.

First, the class acted out a love story: The Paper Bag Princess, which Eliza starred in.  Her teacher told me that they debated about where to use her because she knew all the parts so well.  She was a wonderful Princess Elizabeth, then sang loud enough for us to pick out her voice during all the songs.

The class sang "Tony Chestnut," which had us all cracking up.  We all loved this song and found ourselves singing it all weekend.  I'm tempted to type up the lyrics but I'm afraid that would give away the cuteness of it.  So let me know if you can't understand the words and I'll add the lyrics.

The kids were also super cute singing "A Tooty Ta."

When Eliza asked me one day recently if we could square dance, I told her we couldn't because you have to have 8 people to square dance.  I wondered where she heard about square dancing, and then I found out during the program.  They did what I'll call a quarter-square dance, in partners, which was simple enough for 4 and 5 year olds.  First the students were paired up together, then they got to choose someone in their family to dance with.  Eliza wanted Jack, and when Jack refused at first, she started to gather Luke to be her partner.  Luckily, Jack changed his mind and they had a great time quarter-square dancing together.

"Yeehaw!"

Cat helped Eliza hand out her Valentine's, and you can see Luke in the picture below trying to see what was going on.

Between all of the candy the kids brought home and the treats we had in the house from (or for) friends, I started thinking of Valentine's Day as Halloween Junior.  Kinda not cool when Mom is trying to eat fewer sweets, but at least I know that I have some amount of will power now.

That night we made heart-shaped pizza for dinner and watched the second half of "The Parent Trap."

February 5th

One day recently I got a 6:30am phone call from Cat and Jack's school saying that school was delayed due to a power outage.  Cat had gotten up early to practice piano before school, so I sent her back to bed and adjusted my plan for the morning.  We knew the outage wasn't weather-related, as we've had beautiful, unseasonably warm weather the last few weeks.  We soon found out that there had been a fire in the vicinity of the school the night before which had knocked out the power in the surrounding blocks, including that of 5,000 residents.  We were told that utility crews were working to restore power, school would begin at 10am, and to please send lunch with the children because lunch will not be provided in the cafeteria.  Jack, who had told me the night before that he wouldn't be able to go to school the next day because he'd broken his armpit, was ecstatic at the thought of missing any amount of school.  Cat, on the other hand, was disappointed to be missing any amount of school.

About two hours later, I found out that school had been delayed until 11am and that children should eat lunch before arriving at school because there would be no lunch period.  Jack was even more excited at this news, and hopeful that school would be canceled altogether.  Cat grew forlorn.

Then, at about 10:20, we found out that school had been canceled and we would make up the day in March.  While Jack jumped for joy, Cat burst into tears.

We went about our day in a relatively normal fashion.  We dropped Eliza off at her music class, made a quick trip to the library to get some books and movies, picked Eliza up, had lunch, took Eliza to school (since her school was not affected by the power outage), and picked her up at 3:30.  Then we went to the playground for a bit before taking Cat to her piano lesson.  When we got home from the piano lesson, the kids got to watch the first half of "The Parent Trap," which we'd picked up at the library in the morning. I was pretty excited for them to see it, since I remember watching it as a kid.  (BTW, am I the only one of my generation who can't see Hayley Mills without thinking of "Saved By The Bell" ??)  It turned out to be a pretty good day, even if Cat didn't get to see any of her friends.

On a related note.... The kids only watched the first half of "The Parent Trap" that night, but on the night we finished it, I had a memorable conversation with Eliza.  Toward the end of the movie, she turned to me and said, "This movie will help you be nicer to Daddy!"  I was a little surprised.

"I think I'm pretty nice to Daddy."

"Well, like more hugging and kissing."

Well I guess I could always do a little more of that...

PS> It turns out, the fire was just the latest in a series of arson attacks in the Provo/Orem area.  You can view the story from KSL here.

Another One from Eliza

Eliza brought this home from school the week her class learned about transportation.

TBT - Pops & Grammy's Story

This is my very concise summary of Mom's rendition of The Story from an interview I conducted with her in 2001.

Mom and Dad met in high school.  Dad moved to Mom’s neighborhood and lived just around the corner from her family.  He started attending Mom’s high school when he was a Sophomore and she was a Freshman.  They quickly became good friends and saw each other through crushes and relationships with other people for a few years.  Even when they were both dating other people, they’d wait until their dates were over and meet up afterwards and talk about their dates.

Dad first tried to date Mom at Christmas time of his Senior year but Mom was seriously dating someone else, so she turned him down.  He told her he’d wait.  When Mom’s older boyfriend broke up with her soon after he started college, she started dating Dad within a few weeks.

Dad's college graduation.

Mom and Dad dated all through college.  When Mom was finishing high school and Dad was going to college at William & Mary, he would come home on the weekends so they could date.  The next year, Mom went to college at Longwood and would visit Dad at W&M on the weekends.  They had fun dating at W&M but also spent time studying on the weekends.

One time Dad borrowed a friend’s motorcycle so he could ride 4 hours to Longwood, surprising Mom during the week.  All of Mom’s friends met him for the first time and it was like a movie star had arrived in the dorm because they were all so excited to see him after hearing so much about him.

Mom, Dad, and Grandma at Dad's commissioning.

Dad first asked Mom to marry him his Sophomore year but she said no, she wanted to finish college first.  He asked again the next year with the same answer and he told her he would only ask one more time.  But Mom was pinned and they were committed to each other, expecting to get married eventually.

Beautiful Bride.

Mom attended Dad’s graduation from college and his commissioning, then Dad headed to Ft. Benning to begin his Army career while Mom finished up her degree at the University of Virginia.  Then one weekend while Mom was in her Senior year, Dad was home on leave so they could attend the wedding of one of Dad’s fraternity brothers.  He wanted to be engaged at the wedding, so on the way he asked Mom if she wanted to get married and she said yes so he handed her the ring in the car.

Mom & Dad's wedding in Ft. Benning.
Uncle Reed did a reading, Uncle Jerry performed the wedding,
and Grandpa was Dad's best man.

They planned to get married at the end of the summer because of Dad’s Army schedule, then the field exercises they were doing were rescheduled for a later time so Dad ended up having to be air lifted out of the exercise and barely made it to the wedding on time.

Opa, Oma, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa

Mom and Dad supported each other through advanced degrees, difficult Army assignments, moves in several locations on two continents, and four practically perfect children (wink, wink).  We had a great family life during my formative years - we enjoyed being together and we laughed a lot.  I love my parents and am grateful to still have both of them in my life.

Taking After His Father

It bothers me that my blogging has been so spotty lately. I just feel like I'm still trying to catch up after Christmas Break. Or something. We've had lots of sicknesses around here and are in the middle of a sick week right now. School schedules have been off lately for various reasons. I've been trying to get the house looking "ours" since the painting was completed, even though the house isn't ours. And of course there's just Life that has its own momentum and doesn't slow down for anything.  Which leads me back to the fact that the majority of my blog posts lately have been in the Requires Two Minutes or Less category. Here's another one.

And I'll just say that in addition to Luke now constructing his own train tracks (and therefore beginning the transition from Demolition Crew to Construction Crew), he's doing lots of other exciting things. But you'll have to wait to hear about them until I can devote more than two minutes to a blog post. Cause I'm already out of time...

Purple Flower Sparkle of the Holidays

Cat's County Poster(s)

Cat's social studies teacher recently assigned the students to complete a poster and oral report about one of the counties in Utah.  The kids were allowed to choose which county they wanted to research and present, and Cat eagerly requested Uintah County because she remembered that it houses a portion of Dinosaur National Monument, where we went camping last summer.  Ben had the idea for Cat's second poster.  Then I had the idea for the first.  The last is all her own.  But all together, I think it made for a pretty good presentation.

"I started working on this poster about Uintah

County, but then a dinosaur came and ate it!"

"So I started working on another poster,

and oil spilled on it!"

"Then I was finally able to finish the third poster I made."

--fill in the rest of the oral report here--