Sunshine in December

So this time instead of complaining about how my ward takes all the people who excel in their callings and sends them to the youth programs, I am going to give a rave of how talented and wonderful our now former Relief Society Teacher Krista Evans is.
I guess you could say I never met a Krista I didn't like. Krista and I have been in the same ward for about five years now. We have never been the closest of friends but every interaction I have had with her has been uplifting and enjoyful. She is a beautiful petite mother of four. She has the flawless skin of a 20 year old but the wisdom of someone in their sixties. She is gracious, smart, and humble. Every time we have run into each other at playgroup or the pool we have talked and laughed until time has flown by and it is sadly time to go. She is one of those few people that you know you could count on in a time of need to help and it would actually make her happy to do so. About a year ago we met for a playgroup and she was not in the best of moods, in fact she was a bit cranky for her, but instead of that making me uncomfortable, it made me like her more. She is one of those ladies that are not saints, but that you know you need to be more like them. For the past year I have been attending Relief Society and she has been my favorite teacher. She teaches the Teaching for Our Times lesson and I can't put into words how much her lessons have reached me. For the first time in months I had a reason to look forward to church. I was so shocked when they released her on Sunday and to be honest I was tempted to protest her appointment to the Young Womens because I didn't want her to go. I need her lessons. So thank you Krista for your Spirit and I am a better person for knowing you.

Talk Talk Talk

My kids are slow coming out of the gate when it comes to talking. I worried quite a bit about Max's speech up until a few months ago. But I was reassured that he was just a normal boy. Surely Mae being a girl and a younger sibling would speak more. NOPE. Up until today she only babbled mama and mostly dada. No other words. Today as I was scooping her up to change her diaper I hugged her kissed her and lovingly called her stinky. Well what a beautiful word for my baby girl to pick as her first. STINKY! Yup, she says mama, dada, and STINKY. I am so proud.

Max talks a lot now. He is either making up for lost time, or has become one of those kids with an internal word limit that they must hit daily or their little heads explode. He is still difficult to understand, I am excited to get him into school and have him looked at by a speech specialist. Recently he has taken to referring to his kids. I am not sure what he means by this but he is usually upset about them, or on their behalf. I caught Max half babbling, half yelling at my dad yesterday over the phone, about his kids.

Merry Christmas

Have had a good holiday so far. We had the Sister Missionaries over for dinner last night and decorated Christmas Cookies for Santa. Max woke this morning and was so patiently waiting in his room for us to come get him.
He loved his stocking and toys. Mae loved her toys, except the Build a Bear Outfit that my parents got her. Mae is obsessed with her Build a Bear Bunny and I suggested that they buy her an outfit for bunny. Well when we put it on she flipped out! Started tugging on the clothes for us to take them off. I am sure she will love it in a bit, but right now they are no good.
But she has lots of other toys to make her happy.

Baby vs. Snowman Donut

Things That Must Go XIII

Just in time for the Holidays!

1. Sirens in Music: Jeff has kept on me to post this one for awhile. He hates songs that have sirens cause he always ends up looking around for the emergency vehicles.

2. The Singles Branch Program Guy: This guy always comes into the library during my shift and prints off his ward's programs. This always coincides with some teacher in my ward needing like 5 copies for a lesson and having to wait til he is done, or having to make him stop and getting a dirty look from the guy about it. He needs to come in before the wards meet or Saturday night. He is a jerk.

3. Jeff's Christmas Lights: If it wasn't for my constraint our house would rival the Griswalds. Jeff is THAT guy. For the past two years I have allowed him to put lights up on the inside of our windows, mostly cause you can see our house from a very busy street in the winter. This would be fine, except for two things. 1. The strands are too long for the windows and so always look messy, and 2. Baby Mae is constantly finding and playing with the plugs. We will be lucky if she isn't electrocuted by the 26th.

4. Bank of America: Shortly after we bought this house the mortgage was sold to Bank of America. Fine, but now we have received notice that we will be charge and additional six dollars a month to pay the mortgage online from a non-Bank of America bank account! That just seems illegal and totally wrong!

Hmmmm as a side note, I often observe a Thing That Must Go and then store it until I have a bunch and the inclination to blog. So these get stored up until used. This morning I had about a dozen good one's to do an extra long edition of TTMG but as soon as I began almost all of them have slipped my mind. I am not sure why, maybe the Spirit, maybe it is too early, maybe I am already suffering from pregnant brain. Regardless, I have a feeling that they will come to me as soon as I leave the computer, so expect another edition shortly.

Each Year

2006
2010


2010

We don't have a lot of traditions but we do have one. Each year we take Max and Mae to Chick-fil-a to have their pictures taken with Santa Cow. Today we took the kids and they were both excited to see Santa Cow. Jeff was excited to eat his chicken biscuit.

Me? Polite?

Now if I asked my readers to describe me in one or two words I can guarantee that polite would not be found anywhere. Now I am not saying that I am always rude; I can be nice and am probably more polite then I am rude, but I say what I think and that comes across as rude sometimes. Anyway, I joined a playgroup last spring that I was introduced to by my friend Dandi. The ladies are great, and it is refreshing to be with non=Mormons once a week. Max is the oldest kid in the group, but he gets along well with everyone. I think it will be a good group for Mae over the next few months. Well so last Thursday one lady hosted it at her house and it wasn't until I was in the car on my way that she mentioned that she and the kids have colds. Okay, colds.....hmmm....what to do? Well it is just a cold so I continue on. You can't keep your kids from everything. I show up at the door and yeah it was WAAAY more then a cold. She sounded like death. Now every ounce of my body wanted to turn around and save myself and my kids, but I didn't want to be rude. So we ventured in. Now I love her boys they are so adorable and sweet, but they were DRIPPING with snot and for some reason all over me. Like they hadn't been hugged their whole lives they were clinging to me. ARRRRGGGG! I just wanted to throw them off of me, but I didn't want to be rude. We stayed and played. When the polite amount of time had passed we left. And big surprise, I got sick. So so sick! I was so dripping sick this week. I even had fever and chills yesterday. If this is the price I pay for being polite maybe I need to rethink this new policy and go back to my true self.

Interrupted

When you have two kids you take whatever romantic time you can get. It is not always planned as it should be but you do the best you can. This afternoon Jeff was home for lunch, Mae was napping, and we stuck Max in front of a video game. Yadda yadda yadda the phone rang. Yeah I should have taken it off the hook or turned it off, but again this wasn't planned. Ring Ring Ring. It was my Relief Society President. Grrr talk about a buzz kill. If I let it ring for too long Max would get the phone and come looking for us. So I hit talk then hung up. A few minuets later...ring ring ring. Seriously!!!! If I get hung up on then I'll wait for that person to call me back and explain. This chick was not gonna give up! I answer and told her, "YES! I AM GOING TO BRING THE DESSERT I SIGNED UP FOR TO THE WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY! " She didn't like my tone.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes, Fine!"
Now here is the kicker, I can tell from her voice that she was way pissed off at me. So again I have another situation where I have offended someone in my ward when all I want to do is keep a lower profile. Grrr... if she asks me anything about it on Saturday I am gonna give her the full story and then things should be interesting.

Not all is wrong in the world

A lovely lady in my ward brought me dinner last night. It was so wonderful and unexpected. I mean I complain all the time about everything but I never expect anything to come of it. Hmmm maybe she thought with a good meal I would be less cranky. Good Plan. I love kindness.

You can't handle the truth, or atleast a differing opinion.

Oh snap! I was just de-friended on facebook! I am not terribly sad since we disagreed on many subjects, but I will always miss people with a wicked sense of humor. My main surprise is how the Internet seems to insulate people into a bubble of their own ideas. She posted a "medical" article on how the H1N1 vaccine was causing miscarriages. I was game, I went to the site and read the article. I then followed their links to their actual "data" and it was totally unsubstantiated. There was no direct link in any of the cases just suspicion and guess work. There was certainly not enough to deserve the slant the website had given the article. Well this former facebook acquaintance I guess didn't want to hear that the government was not out to get us. Okay. Live in your self sustaining bubble, preach to your choir. If you don't agree with me on facebook that is cool. I appreciate a good well researched debate. I can't think of a blog comment that I have not posted because I disagreed with the thought. In fact I encourage people to disagree with The Things That Must Go, if they really want them to stay. But hey, if you feel better in your bubble then have at it.

And Baby Makes Three!

Yup, we are offically stupid, I mean pregnant. Number three is on its way and will see us all around July 7th. Now I know that many of you were told; "we are only having one," or, "two is it. " Well, I have offically given up on saying how many children we will have. (But I would be shocked if it were more then four.) This baby was actually planned. I always feel just a bit guilty about the ease with which I get pregnant. We knew we wanted another and I decided that it would be nice if the kid could start school the year after Mae, (who like Max misses the August 1st cutoff date in Arkansas.) Today we had an ultrasound to make sure the baby was in the correct position, a precaution after my ectopic pregnancy. It was fun to see the baby's heartbeat and it even kicked its' little foot. I have been SO SO SICK! I haven't been this sick with the other two pregnancies. I am quite miserable most of the time. Most nights I am in bed by eight just cause I am so sick I dont want to be awake anymore. Poor Jeff hasn't had a good meal, or evening company in awhile. As always he has been a champion through out the whole thing. We will be happy with either a boy or a girl and I can think of good reasons to have either. It is nice not to care one way or another, but not to fear we will find out. I just don't get the people who don't find out. We have bounced some names around but nothing set in stone. Unless people complain or whine about our choices then it will be either Mohammad or LaKeshia.

Happy Holidays

Holidays in this house take place not based on when they fall on the calender but when they go on sale at the Associate Store. About two weeks ago these haunted house kits went on sale for a buck fifty. Sold! Max and I had some fun this afternoon while Mae was asleep and Jeff was out Christmas shopping.

Tired Little Teddy Bear

Girl Crush

Do you remember your last crush? For most people it was probably high school. I remember in Jr. High School having a HUGE crush on K.C. Keller. He was cute, nice but kinda runty. In elementary school I had a crush on Jared Auger. I even sent him a love letter. I was really void of common sense. I have also had various celebrity crushes. It started with Harrison Ford, then Heath Ledger, I mean have you seen that guy smile? I have a soft spot for Alan Rickman after Sense and Sensibility, which has always made the Harry Potter films a bit weird for me. Well recently I have discovered that I have a girl crush.

Now what constitutes a girl crush? Well a lot of it is the same as a regular crush, you like the person and you want them to like you. You get insecure around them but still want to be around them and hear what they have to say. You basically just want to be their friend but feel so hopelessly out of their league. How could someone so awesome like you. Looking back I have had a few girl crushes before. Julie Cope from elementary school. For 3+ years I wanted to be her friend so badly, but she choose others to be her BFF. Maybe I tried too hard, looked too desperate.

Well now I am an adult. I shouldn't have any reason to feel insecure. I bagged to world's most caring husband, and have a very fulfilling life. I may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think I can be pretty fun. So about a year ago this amazing woman Catania moved into my ward. Catania is my girl crush. She is just so cool. She is a super talented artist. I love how she chooses different medias to work in and has a large variety of subjects. She even has a blog just for her creative works. I get flustered when I am around her, for no good reason. She is lovely to me, this isn't about her. I am not quite sure what is going on with me, I am not looking for a BFF, always just for more friends and I would consider her one. But I still get flustered and worried that I am going to say something stupid, (I bet my other friends wish that I would worry more about that around them.)

She invited me to her house for lunch this summer and I must have changed my outfit and the kids outfit like 4 times. She said she was making bagels so I went and got cream cheese schmere, but it didn't go with the kind she made. My heart fell. (But the bagels were FANTASTIC!) Mmmmm bagels......anyway, she was a sweet hostess and we had a good time, but again I still feel the same way. So bizarre. So blurkers, have you ever had a girl crush? Do you have one now? How do you get over the inadequate feelings? Have you meet Catania? She is so awesome.

Baby vs. Pudding Cup

Book worm

Okay so the last post was a bit awful. Here is a pic to balances it out. Everyone, Jeff and I included, loves our bookshelves. There are a real showstopper. Mae is also a big fan for other reasons.

Just another ordinary day

Okay so this is going to be a bit of a departure from all the other blogs out there telling you everything they are thankful for...but surely not a departure from my other blog posts. Thanksgiving is not really one of my favorite holidays. In fact, all things considered, I wish it didn't exists. I wish it were just another ordinary day. Maybe this year is a bit worse since I don't feel great and Max has entered a really ANNOYING phase lately. He has to talk constantly and is always in my personal space demanding attention. So first off I hate that because of the holiday preschool was canceled taking away my few hours away from him. (Not that I begrudge his teacher.) So here we have a whole day where nothing is open, no where to go, but a whole day of Max. Then there is the meal, which in my opinion is way more work then the payoff. Lastly it is just a lonely long day, like a really long Sunday. I am either busy cooking a meal I am not that jazzed about, bored to death watching Max play video games, or annoyed by Max as he pesters me. I just wish it were an ordinary day.

*a side note....I do get invited down to Little Rock by my lovely Aunt Mardie each year, and we sometimes go, but 4 hours each way is a long drive with Mae. Perhaps the holiday wouldn't be bad if we lived close to family. Alas the one flaw to Arkansas.

*I do not want to see any comments about how we should have just flown to Utah! I do not want to spend any day of my life watching my kids get molested so the federal government can look like they are doing something and thereby improve their public image instead of actually doing something useful like racial profiling.

Gerber House Party

I guess it is time to blog again. So I have been a bit preoccupied by other things lately. A few weeks ago I was picked to host a House Party. For those unaware, house parties are where companies basically send you a ton of free stuff and ask you to throw a party using it. I attended a Fisher Price one a bit ago and there were all the new toys for the kids to play with and we even got to take a toy home. It was great cause there is no pressure to buy anything. No sales pitch, no catalogues. Just free stuff. So when I saw there was going to be a Gerber party I signed up. About a week ago I was sent two HUGE packages full of free food and goodies. Friday morning I invited some friends with small children, babies, and those going to have more babies. (yeah, I didn't invite everyone. How could I? Do you know how many women in those categories I could have invited? The fire Marshall would have had to stop by. If you didn't get an invite, I am sorry. I just kinda picked randomly.)



The kiddos seemed to have have fun playing with all Max's toys. The ladies seemed to have a good time eating and chatting. My friend Tia, who is pregnant with her first, came and I hope we regaled her with good stories and info. Others have been sharing their scary stories with her.



After last week I think the best part of the party was that I did not stress about it. I decided that it was really no big deal and I didn't really need Jeff to texture and paint the dining room for one party. As funny as it sounds working hard not to stress actually made it more enjoyable.



So hooray for free stuff!


This picture was not actually mine, I was too lazy, (or not stressing,) to take a photo. But it does show a lot of the stuff we got.

Bad Timing

So I would have to admit that my day to day life is fairly free of excessive scheduling. Which is a fancy way of admitting that I don't usually have a lot going on. This month has been quite the exception. This weekend was a definite exception. Friday I was lucky to have my cousin Joe, his wife Teriney, and their three adorable children come up an visit from Little Rock. (Now for those of my readers who happen to think that Little Rock is close by, that would be like saying St. George is close to Odgen.) So visits usually only happen once a year. Teriney and I had a super fun day just hanging with the kids and then everyone came over for dinner. Now Saturday I had quite a day planned. I was supposed to teach two classes at Super Saturday. One class on gift wrapping, (I used to do this at Dillards, so I know how to make really big bows.) and the other on pie making. After that we were going to take my family up to Tanyard Creek, a really pretty little hike and waterfall and then get some Thai food. BIG BIG DAY! I was excited though. So here comes 4:30 a.m and well to save you the gruesome details I was in the bathroom the rest of the morning. (Poor Jeff probably had legal grounds for divorce after that night.) So all my fun plans were dashed. I did get a bit of relief when I found out that it was not my cooking that made me sick, and no one else got sick. So not only did I not get to have another great day with my cousin and his family, but I had to bail on the Relief Society and look like a total loser/flake! Why did this happen? Like I said, I am not a busy person, so I kinda feel like maybe there was a reason why this happened. But what could it be? Humility? Maybe, but I am not sure about that cause it wasn't so much embarrassing as much as I just felt like I let everyone down and now they either think ill of me or have their prior ill feeling once again confirmed. I don't want to be the shining star of my ward, I just kinda wanna fade into the background. It is hard for me to tone myself down. Believe it or not, I have been trying for a bit, but I feel like life keeps throwing me into situations where I have less of a chance to fade. Maybe it was just really bad timing. It was funny being at church today cause I kept seeing all these people I let down and on the one hand I wanted to say I was sorry, but on the other hand, why should I apologize for being sick. I was actually torn about apologizing, cause then I would have been admitting that there was something I could have done about it. Which there wasn't. I am sorry that things turned out the way they did. I'm not really responsible, (right now I am placing the blame on the Taco Bell by the Promenade,) but I am sorry things didn't turn out. Hell I am sorry that my day was screwed. I was gonna have fun. Next weekend is kinda big too; I wonder how it will turn out?

Trick or Treat

We surprised a lot of our neighbors by trick or treating this year. People in Bella Vista just don't trick or treat due to many factors, the lack of sidewalks, the steep hills, and the fact that it started out as a retirement community. Most people were nice and even excited to see the kids. We also went to Jeff's work and did a trick or treat around the cubicles, which is not terrible fun. The building is basically a converted warehouse of cubicles and it is jammed packed with kids. We skipped the ward party cause I am still really pissed that after last years PERFECT small trunk or treat, they would attach it to the lame chili cook off again and force all the kids to stay up past midnight to trunk or treat. (Okay maybe not that late.) I am sorry, but my kids are in bed by eight. Anyhoo...we had a good Halloween and Max was super cute. He was supposed to be Buzz Lightyear, but then a couple days before I went to TJMaxx and they had a Anakin Skywalker costume for 2 dollars since the mask and belt were missing. I bought it and made a belt out of an old bleached black sock of mine that was missing a partner. See it pays to never toss socks! Buzz can wait til next years since it was a bit too big. I got a lot of good Twix out of the holiday so really it was a good weekend.

Waaaaaaa!

Caution some ugly whining is about to commence.

I MISS T.V. and I am not too ashamed to say it! It has been over two months now that we have gotten rid of our satellite and I am still not used to it.

I feel like a smoker trying to quit after a lifetime of smoking. Seriously I am not one of those sweet Molly Mormons who was never allowed to watch t.v., or even a normal kid who could only watch say, an hour a day. I grew up watching hours upon hours a day. (Not to make my parents sound like bad parents, I think it is more a case of the research not being out about how bad it is for a kid. Like how they didn't used to make six year olds sit in booster seats.)

I get the shakes bad. Some times I just want to flip on the tube and watch mindless Friends reruns. But no, I am at the mercy of Netflix and Hulu Plus, (which sucks by the way.) There is something stressing and depressing about knowing that you had to make a serious effort to choose the crap that you are watching.

Yes, we do have a patch. We stream netflix to our PlayStation and can watch stuff over the Internet. We even got an antenna a week ago that gives us access to Fox, NBC, and some weird local channel that only shows t.v. shows from the 60's and 70's.

A few things I have learned from this experience.

You can only watch so many episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress," before wedding dresses become unspecial and boring.

Masterpiece Theater existed before I starting watching it in 2006, and it is awesome, but I am still not going to contribute like "viewers like me." (especially since I can't even get PBS)

You can miss something you never watched. And by this I mean now that I don't have ESPN anymore I suddenly want to watch college football. There have been several games I have wanted to watch this year. Last year we had so many ESPN and sport channels and had taken them all out of our flipping rotation.

Only good thing from this experience.

Well besides the money we are saving.

Max is very cutely confused by the mail Netflix. Max loves to get the mail and will even get bugged if you get it before him. He gets terribly confused when he puts the red Netflix envelope in the mail box, and then sees it returned two days. Mean as this makes me sound I crack up every time he get upset over this. Yes, I have tried to explain, but he forgets and doesn't really understand.

Have to Have

Sometimes in life you see something you just have to have. I saw this clock in Garden Design Magazine. At $495, it is not gonna be mine unless I win powerball. But how awesome is it? I love that the bird comes out at the hour except at night cause of a light sensor. I can't remember the last time I saw something I so adored that was totally out of my price budget. Oh Well. Maybe it is good for me to want something I can't have. Seems like frequently I have just bought the things I want, even if I didn't need them, cause they didn't cost that much. This will be a good lesson is self control, and taming my desires.

All Our Dead

Some random musings from church.

I love love love the song, "High On A Mountain Top," but I hate that it ends on the word dead. I don't think any song should end on the word dead. Even though it is a "happy dead," really no dead is a good dead. It's like a really good meal that leaves a bad aftertaste.

For once we had a good combined 5th Sunday meeting and it was all about being good visiting/home teachers. I could improve for sure, and so could Jeff, but I gotta say I'd bet a thousand bucks that our home teachers that we have had for like three years couldn't tell you my kids names. I always get above average visiting teachers though.

So my freshman high school English teacher was a real jerk! I hated this class and the teacher but one day he said something that I always think about. He was an avid people watcher and pointed out that if you watch people you tend to notice that more often then not the listener isn't really listening at all but just waiting to say their part. I have noticed this in others and myself. I am so so guilty of this at times. I recently had a very important conversation with someone in my ward, "(or at least I thought it was important,) and I gotta say that as I was listing my concerns I could see this firm steel wall in this ladies eyes. She was not listening to me at all. She knew what she was gonna say and was not hearing me at all. I almost wish she would have said that from the beginning, but that would have been really rude.

I love the classic lines of our church building, over all it is a lovely building where the Spirit is in abundance, but I need to be honest and say I really hate that Burgundy color of all the benches and seats.

Tee hee hee. I have brought treats for the Library the past few weeks and today when the Bishop came in he said I was magnifying my calling.

My friend Krista teaches Relief Society once a month and it is becoming my favorite week of the month. Her lessons are so touching without any gimmicks or tears. I feel really blessed to have her as a teacher since I am not getting to much out of Sacrament Meeting and I end up in the Library for much of Sunday School.

Mae goes into Nursery in March. I have been counting down for a year now.

Arg! So we now have sisters instead of elders and I want to have them over for dinner, but they don't pass around the calender anymore. Now I was told by the sisters this is because they were in such high demand that the calender was getting full before it got around. Okay, fair enough, but the solution was that the ward mission leaders wife now controls the dinners. NOT COOL! I have to call this chick up and what be deemed worthy to fill a slot? This is WAY WEIRD! It kinda reminds me of last Christmas when we had signed up to feed the elders on Christmas Eve and then got booted very rudely by another family who had a tradition of feeding the elders on Christmas Eve. Yeah well if it was that important then they should have signed up first! We were totally dumped by the elders to accommodate this family. Yeah I am still way mad. But anyway, I feel this is really uncomfortable and so I will probably not get to feed the sisters while they are here, which is sad cause I really loved having them here.

I hate when people ask me to cut strips of paper for them with the paper cutter. I have a HUGE phobia of paper cutters. My parents worked with a family business for many years durning my childhood and we were often in the office. My mom made a big deal about how dangerous they were and well, it stuck. Does anyone else remember a Josh Harnett horror movie called The Faculty? Well I didn't see it, but I remember the trailer where someone grabbed the blade off of one of those things and used it all machette like. I can't use them. If you need something cut please come and do it yourself.

April Showers Bring Mae Flowers

And Mae Flowers bring...pies and gift cards. I would like to thank you all for your comments and continued support of my blogging efforts. For the most part I do enjoy blogging and it just wouldn't be the same if I had no readers. Now as for the good stuff. I had a total of 15 entries in the contest divided between the local pie contest and the far away Walmart Gift Card Contest. Mae was kind enough to draw two names and the winners are ...

Far Away

My cousin Joe. (It probably didn't hurt that he got an extra entry for being the first to correctly identify the pumpkin.)

Local

My friend Hannah (Local being a relative term since technically she lives in Missouri.)

I am excited to deliver both these goodies especially since my cousin Joe is actually coming to visit soon! (Although I promise that this trip did not interfere with the integrity of the contest.)

Thoughts on your comments....

HA! Jason, I have always thought of you as the most Bad Ass person I know so this just added to that identity.

This was a good reminder of how sisters can always find/remember an embarrassing moment of your life to make you remember what an idiot you are. Thanks Lu.

My Uncle Karl and Aunt Barb must really love the beach boys.

Krista E. Yeah that totally sums up my memories of Young Women's leaders.

Kasey After my freshman year at the dorms I had a policy of paying more to not share a room. My first semester my roommate Leilani kept me up one night writing a paper, so I decided to listen to my garbage CD while she was studying for finals.

Max also has songs he loves from Rock Band and Guitar Hero. He loves Slow Ride and Blitzkreig Bop. HEY! HO! LETS GO! He has also replaced the lyrics to Follow the Prophet with Star Wars the Clone Wars. Which is really great cause that has always been my most hated church song. No matter who sings it or how, it always sounds like chanting. Get the organ going with it and you have got a serious cult thing going on. And some of the lyrics are a bit glib so together it is just a really dark sounding song.

Yes, I don't remember what the occasion was, but we were in southern Utah and I believe Billy Jean was also not the Governor.

Lindsay that bathroom was awesome.

Don't Forget!

You can still enter to win a $15 walmart gift card or home made pie by going to the post, "Another One Bites the Dust," and sharing your funny/interesting music story. Family and friends are eligible to win, cause really who else reads this thing.

Hold On to Your Hats and Glasses

Cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness.

Ahhh it saddens me greatly that it has been over seven years since I have been to Disneyland, (Big Thunder Railroad is where the title of this post comes from.)

Often at night Jeff and I will look at each other and remark about how Mae's personality is defining itself more each day. While only a year old, it is quite clear that she has inherited her father's temper and her mother's stubbornness. Whaaat? Jeff has a temper, you ask. Yeah, me too, but he and his family swear it is so. I honestly haven't seen it in our seven years of marriage, but I am told it was really really bad, like get this kid to counseling bad. I am sure his family can fill up the comments board on this subject. Hmmm I don't suppose there will be any protests on my stubbornness....oh well. Mae will do what she wants when she wants to. And don't mess with her. As I have mentioned earlier I signed us up for Baby and Mom swim class at the fitness center as I did with Max when he was her age. She likes the water but that is it. She HATES doing anything. She doesn't want to reach and pull, kick her legs, or blow bubbles. When I try to engage her in these activities she just looks at me annoyed. At one point the teacher comes around with a bag of toys which the babies are to choose from. Mae likes this, until the activity continues. They are supposed to throw the toy around and reach and pull to get it. She does not want to throw the toy. She fights me and you can tell she thinks this is a very STUPID game. WHY ARE WE THROWING THE TOY JUST TO RETRIEVE IT?!?

This afternoon she had finished a snack and I detached myself from her to get her something else to eat. She started squawking as soon as I left. I was off and on my way back from the kitchen when I saw that she was walking after me. When she made eye contact with me she dropped to the ground and threw a tantrum. What are we in for? I suppose this is just what happens when you get one super mellow good kid.

Acceptance Speech

We won! A huge thanks to all my friends and family who voted for our picture. Our prize, a photo shoot with Erica that includes many free prints. (A several hundred dollar value.) I am really excited, but now stressed about what to wear and getting everyone haircuts...there will always be something to stress about. A few thoughts on the contest. I learned a lot about my self and others in this.

First, I need to read more carefully. I didn't pay that much attention to the judging part only the entry part, so I don't know if I would have entered a popularity contest.

As some of my family will recall I have never been popular. I was actually cruelly bullied in Jr. High School. This did bring up a few of those feelings of inadequacy and lameness.

But on the flip side, when people started to vote for me it was awesome. Just as I thought being popular is all it is cracked up to be. Good Self Esteem Boost.

Conversation between myself and a friend Friday....

ME: "I feel like I am running for Homecoming Queen."

MEG: "Yeah, but this is way better, you get a photo shoot and all Homecoming Queen got was pregnant!"

I was surprised by which people voted for me easy-peasy. My sister-in-law Megan was like the first person to vote. THANKS!

Some people were total BUTTS about it! Now I can understand if you do not look at your account that often. Some people don't, or if you have a hard time working facebook. But for the few of you who moaned about this, REALLY?!? How hard was it, you were already on facebook, just slide over a few pages and bounce your finger a few times. If you hate liking stuff then just unlike later!! It is so easy to hide feeds on facebook. One friend just out right refused cause he thought it would set a bad precedent of helping others....whatever.

But the large majority of my family and friends were very supportive. A big shout out to all my cousins! Toblers Rock! I knew having so many first cousins would pay off some day. And as promised, if I ever need a kidney, I will seek elsewhere. And I only had one side to hit up.

Another shout out to Jeff's extended family cause he isn't even as close to them as I am to mine.

A big thanks to my ward. See we were really working with a large disadvantage from the start. Most of the other entries came from the photographer's home ward. So people from her ward were already fans and getting updates so of course they would vote for her. Way to best the Cenerton Ward guys!

Thanks to all my friends who were friends with my main competitor who voted for me, or voted for me and her. Also I respect my friends who knew us both and just choose not to vote at all.

Dan Flemming you are dead to me. We have known each other for almost six years and you voted for someone else, they had better have given you a kidney! But thanks to his lovely wife Tara who voted for me.

It was a very close race, and I got a smidge desperate at the end. I promise that I will never hit you guys up for anything on facebook ever again. I really wouldn't have done it, if it wasn't so close and such a small race anyway. I mean I always enter my kids in the GAP KIDS model contest, but I never ask anyone to vote cause it is such a pie in the sky thing. This facebook thing was possible. And WE WON!

I am now going to retire a bit from facebook. I will post the pictures once we have them taken, and if you need me to vote for you for something feel free to email me and I will get on and do it. Thanks to everyone. And all my ward members can expect treats in the library today and probably for the next few weeks.*

(I do have a strict policy of not giving library treats to those under 18. That is what Primary and Young Women/Men is for.)

Yup, I'm that person

Yup, I'm the person who dresses up like a cow for free food. Cause hey, free food! I am the person who knows the names of the employees of the Walmart Associate Store cause I am there so frequently. I love a good bargain. Now I do have limits. I would not take a free left shoe if the right one didn't come with it.

A lady who was in my ward is a very talented photographer and recently had a "Christmas in October" contest for her business, Erica Kirby Photography. The rules were simple, take a photo of your family and somehow display the words Erica Kirby Photography or the letters EKP in the photo and be creative.

Yesterday, Jeff and I took our annual trip to the Right Choices Pumpkin Patch in Missouri and decided that their Cow Train would be the perfect back drop for our contest entry. I wish the words on the sign I made had come across more clearly, but all four of us are looking at the camera so I say it is a good photo. I think it clearly deserves to win the contest cause

A. it is the only photo that has both the whole family (some people just did the kids)

B. we embarrassed ourselves to show the sign, giving her the free advertising, (Most of the other entries photo shopped the words or letters in.)

There are only seven entries total, so I think we have a shot, but I need my readers help. It is so easy to help me. Go to facebook and vote for us. Two easy steps.

1. Become a fan of Erica Kirby Photography

2. Like our family photo in the Christmas in October contest.

You don't need to leave a comment or anything; just "like" it. And pass it on to anyone else who may know us, or people who you know who just do stuff like that. Do not feel like you have to strain any relationships over this. Special attention to my parents and Jeff's since they will no doubt be getting copies of the winning pictures.

BLOG CONTEST: Another One Bites the Dust

I love music. Yes, that was a really groundbreaking announcement. No other medium can get me to calm down a relax quite like music. Part of the reason I go into town almost everyday is because I love to hop in the car and listen to the radio. Yes, I could just listen at home, but then I feel like it is a waste of time. I enjoy it more if I am going somewhere. I love the memories that music evokes. The following songs remind me of loved ones and times.

My dad worked at Hasting Entertainment Store for several years at the end of the 90's and the beginning of the new millennium. So being forced to hear pop music he picked up a few he liked. Every time I hear them on the radio I totally think of him.

Closing Time by Semisonic

How Bizzare by OMC (he even bought the CD!)

and of course any CCR song

The summer I came home from my first year at BYU my mother added a new song to her aerobic routine. There is nothing quite like waking up to the walls shaking to Cher's Do You Believe, every morning. My mom and I also share a love of the Bee Gees and I always smile and think of her when they come on.

My sister Suzanne is a total romantic and her musical tastes swing that way, or at least they did in high school. Whenever I had the house to myself I would get out her CD's and pop in Sophie B Hawkins, As I Lay Me Down.

Krista and I have lots of musical memories. Driving home from Disneyland listening to the Wallflowers, One Headlight. (What happened to Jakob Dylan? I really liked him.) We first really started hanging out together in Provo my sophomore year of high school when Fastball's, The Way, was all over the radio, so that song is really special to me.

Remember when Ally Mcbeal came out and suddenly everyone had a theme song? Yeah well Krista's was The Police's, Don't Stand So Close to Me. Of course when she got her mission call to Brazil we switched that to Dave Matthew's Band, Don't Drink the Water. My theme song is Queen's, Another One Bites the Dust. Still fits after all these years.

Songs also remind me of specific places. I am sure you could do a study and find that at all times there is at least one Utah station playing the Cranberries, Dreams during the hour. I couldn't go a day at BYU without hearing this song. When Jeff and I first came to Arkansas The Reason by Hoobastank was playing here and I have always liked it since. My daily commute to and from teaching at my Utah alternative High School always forced me to listen to Pink Floyd's, Another Brick in the Wall. "HEY, TEACHER! LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE!" Thanks oldies 103.5 that really helped me feel good about myself.

What about Jeff you say? Well we dated for such a short time, two weeks, that I don't really think of him separately. He likes Savage Garden, shudder, (I blame the mission in Australia for that.) but since I really don't I quickly turn from them when alone. Again our dating time was so short that we never had a song, so a year after we got married we came up with something we thought would be good to dance to on our 50th wedding anniversary, so our song is Hot in Here by Nelly.

So readers I turn this over to you. Today's post comes with a giveaway. Two actually, one for my local readers and one for those farther away. Rules, post a comment telling me about a song that evokes a memory for you. The funnier/unique/more bizarre the better. Now don't just tell me your favorite song, I want a memory and story. The Prizes: The local winner will receive their own Emily Apple Blackberry Pie. The far away reader will receive a $15 Walmart Gift Card, cause now matter how far you get from Bentonville, AR, Walmart will be there to get you. errr make that serve you. Submissions must be received by Saturday October 30th for a Halloween announcement. Winner will be picked randomly out of a hat by Mae. One entry per person.

The picture was of a pumpkin Lu and I dropped off at a friends house one Halloween in college. Bonus entry to the first person to recognize the pumpkin pop culture reference. Or to the first one of the poor ladies that got a fright from it, I think a few of them read my blog.

Height of Fashion

Mae has always been the height of fashion. Thanks to my friend Dandi, Mae is once again ahead of the curve. Don't you love these hair flowers? All designed and hand made by Dandi. This once again brings up questions of what exactly I do in my spare time while my friends are running business', running marathons, and remodeling houses. But that is self pity for another post... I will be posting a link to my friend Dandi's site and she is carried at the 3 Monkey's store in Rogers.

Things That Must Go XII

1. Non-acknowledging Pedestrians: I often swing by Jeff's work to say hello for a few min. when we are in town. This requires navigating the large Walmart ISD parking lot which has people coming in and out all the time due to it's size. What I really hate is when you are stopped at the crosswalk waiting for John Doe to cross and he just continues walking at his slow crawl oblivious that you are waiting from him. Sure he has the right of way, but that does not mean his time is more valuable then mine. Ideally I want an increase of speed, but will settle for a wave and faux hustle. I am the queen of this. Acknowledge with a slight head bob then put a slight spring in one of your steps, or swing your arms a bit. This makes the driver feel valued, and that can only be good. This is similar to the wave you give when driving and someone lets you in. (Tee Hee Hee just after writing this I picked Jeff up for lunch and got a faux hustle from an overweight Indian.)

2. Line Cutters: There will be a special level of Hell reserved for the people who cut into a merged highway line. How do these people live with themselves. This is perhaps the highest level of rudeness I can even imagine. You know, you're sitting in your car and see that everyone in merging into one lane. You do the right thing and move over. Soon things empty up in the cleared lane and everyone must wait for traffic to move ahead past this problem. Then some self centered numskull scoots all the way up to the point of merge just expecting to be let in. Yeah I would rather risk killing myself and my family then let these guys in. I sit myself right on the bumper in front of me cause this behavior is just not acceptable from grown adults.

3. People who move furniture in pick up trucks: This is so reckless and dangerous. Last week Jeff was driving home and actually had to swerve out of the way of a falling queen mattress. Most people just think that the worst thing that could happen is that their stuff will fall out and break. It isn't about the stuff it is about the people who hit the stuff. Cough up the 50 bucks and rent a moving van people!

4. Defensiveness: Now sure, I am totally guilty of this. That is kinda the point of Things That Must Go, it is a spot to question, gestate, and hopefully evolve. The following example comes from a few recent events surrounding my feelings of slight (also a bad behavior)from the male population. Remember the whole "only a man in our ward can say the opening prayer thing?" Yeah well as noted in the comments section of that post, that is nowhere in the Bishop's Handbook, just stupid tradition. Well so flash forward to my new calling as librarian, Jeff was called in first to approve/disapprove/give permission. So I asked about the prayer thing and the permission issue. Jeff was just as curious as me. I think we asked very calmly if I do say so myself. Well, you would think that I had slapped this member of the bishopric in the face. He got very put out and defensive, and then brushed us off as heathens. Well so lets move forward to a few weeks later when a friend informed me that a couple is supposed to meet with the Bishop before getting a vasectomy (Tee Hee Hee, you should have seen the way I tried to spell this before spell check got to it.) At first, as always, I got a bit riled up. That didn't seem right that the man gets to decide. So I was talking to my incredibly wise sister who gave me a new perspective. That it is actually helping the women protect their right to reproduce by keeping the men from just going off and getting this procedure done. I hadn't even considered this because Jeff would never do such a thing. I will totally admit that I am human and have a hard time seeing outside of my limited experience. That is why I just need an explanation sometimes. And yes, I do realize that there are some things you just do and accept on faith, but I firmly believe that it is okay, that it is in fact our duty to ask for explanations when we do not understand. Maybe if someone, i.e. my bishopric leader could have gently explained why they feel my prayers are not as Spirit evoking as Jeff's, then we all would have felt better. Yeah this is something I need to work on too. I do give an excellent faux hustle though.

Sisters

A bit of trivia for all my readers outside of Arkansas. Here in Northwest Arkansas we are actually part of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Mission, being only two hours from there and three and a half from Little Rock. Well, while I knew there were sisters in the Tulsa Mission, in the past five years we have never had any over here, until this month. We now have sisters! Funny that I put an exclamation point there cause to be honest I never really cared. We fed the Elders about once every other month and they were fine. The last few were great because they were all big sci-fi geeks like Jeff, so everyone had lots to talk about. Wanting to be different, we always serve the missionaries breakfast food; waffles, pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon. It is cheap, easy, filling, and different. But would girls want that? I mean I like it, but girls can cook and generally have a more refined pallet right? Well I went ahead and made waffles and the ladies seemed to like it, but you never can tell with missionaries. I greatly enjoyed the conversation and maturity of the sisters. The evening went well and I hope the sisters enjoyed theme selves and I plan to have them over again. Okay so SUPER boring post. This is why I don't post daily. I promise to devote some nap time tomorrow to an installment of Things That Must Go, and don't forget to tune in on Friday for the giveaway announcement.

Intervention

I think it may be time for my friends and family to hold a hoodie intervention. They may need to retain the services of Clinton and Stacy (from What Not to Wear,) because I need professional help. It is not that I think hoodies are the height of fashion. They are just comfy, cute, and have pockets. Last count and I have seven in rotation. So since I know this is a problem why do I keep buying them? Well, I can't stop. Yesterday the GAP had a 40% off everything sale, now how could I pass up a purple hoodie on sale? Do you have a fashion violation that you are aware of? What would your loved ones say?

Sunshine in October

I just returned from a kiddie group soccer game put together by my lovely friend Jill. Never have I known a woman so devoted to giving her children amazing experiences. Jill is a superior example of motherhood that I am grateful to have in my life. My memory is a bit fuzzy on how we met, but it seems like ages ago. Jill was one of the first friends I made here in Arkansas. We have been each other's visiting teacher at different times, she threw me a shower for Max. I remember how helpful she was when I had Max. She took me to Target a few weeks before he was born and showed me around the baby section, teaching me what to buy and basically raising my parenting level to competent. It was so helpful! Jill never has a bad thing to say about anyone, (I am shocked we have anything to talk about!) I never feel judged around her and that says a lot cause she knows so much about me. A few months ago when I went crazy I was driving around not sure what to do crying and driving, generally going nowhere, and when I called her she directed me to her house and took me in. She then watched my kids while Jeff took me home. Jill has excellent taste. Her house is lovely, warm and always smells good. I know that last one sounds weird, but houses' smell, some good some not so much. One nice thing about Jill is she is married to Nate. We seem to be hit and miss with couple friends, but Jeff and I love Jill and Nate. We even went to Dallas together, 10 hours in a car with me will test any one's friendship. Two years ago when our power went out in the great ice storm we were taken in by the Messicks and kept warm. (Hence the above picture.) These guys love game nights and we are so excited every time we get asked over. Jill rocks.

Fight Entropy

I must compose at least two or three blog posts in my head each day. I spend a lot of time mentally adding things to Things That Must Go. Yet, my laziness usually keeps me from posting. I have a goal this week of posting something every day. This will be a small way for me to fight my laziness, mental discipline if you will. This week will be reserved for my thoughts and musings, and will not be about the kids unless something spectacular happens. I think I will also add a give-a-way at the end of the week so watch out for that also.

Random thoughts for the day....

1. Despite my new calling as ward Librarian, I have absolutely NO power to order or do anything other then make copies and hand out chalk. This was made VERY clear to me on the first day, so I am making a conscience effort not to care. So that being said, it was not my fault that there was no toner today.

2. I have always been rather snarky about Fast and Testimony meeting. I appreciate a really good testimony, but those seem to be few and far between. I often feel that it is more like Open Mic Night. The worst is after youth conference or the camps when all the weepy girls get up cause they were coached to. Yuck! I do like it when someone gets up there and says something crazy. Like a lady a few years ago who talked about the Negros in Northwest Arkansas. I mean who doesn't love a bit of entertainment? Anyhoo, I was wrongly skeptical today when a reactivated lady in our ward got up, I was genuinely moved by the loveliness of her testimony and will now try to rethink my preconceived ideas of people and their testimonies.

3. Having won all the hair products this weekend, I decided to blow dry my hair. This is something I do so infrequently that I actually had to search for the dryer. It looked fine, but I guess it looked fantastic to everyone else, cause everyone was complementing me on my new haircut. All everyone said to me today was about my hair, which leads me to the following possible conclusions...
a. my hair looked better then I thought.
b. my hair looks so awful most of the time, that people feel the need to encourage me with praise when it does look good.
c. most people have nothing else to say to me and this is the best they can come up with. (I know this sounds snarky, but I have been known to do it to others.)
d. I am a very forgettable person, and people aren't sure how my hair looked last time they saw me.
e. my hair looked better then the fat rolls beneath it.
Honestly I think it is mostly c. I come to this conclusion because I am in the library and I have noticed that many people feel they need to add chit chat to their chalk orders. Don't get me wrong, I like the chat, but if you have nothing to say to me that is cool too.

As a special treat for you all I am enclosing a recent picture, as I have noticed that I don't have many on here of me. Max took this last week. It is small, cause I look fat and the smallness helps with that.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!

It has been quite the week of luck and prizes. Last week I attended the grand opening of an Ulta store, (it is like a big Sephora, but with less expensive brands and more drugstore stuff,) at the Promenade. The lady in line in front of me got a $50 gift card, I got a $5 card and the lady behind me got another $50 gift card. Oh well. I bought some stuff and filled out random stuff. Then proceeded to forget all about it. Well I got a phone call on Friday saying that I won a gift basket in the drawing! Whoot! So I head down not sure what to expect. When I inform the ladies at the register that I am here for my prize I do notice this HUGE basket behind the counter fill with awesome stuff like a CHI straightener and full size perfumes. I was hoping that was mine, nope, the ladies went back and brought mine out. It was full of lots of nice stuff; all their own brand of hair products. The thing is, I don't really use a lot of product. So hey, free stuff, but I just hope this wasn't my life's best win.

Also a winner this week was Jeff's co-worker. Apparently this guy and his family eat a Chick-Fil-A a lot. So much so that they we in a special exclusive club and won a free dinner for family and friends! And we are their friends! So here we are at Chick-Fil-A yesterday, the tables were set up for us and menus laid out. Our orders were taken at the table, and weirdly enough Max was not seated next to either Jeff or me. Well not to worry for Max. Not known to us at the time, Max just pointed to what he wanted when the waitress came to him. You can always count on Max to take care of his own food. I love free food. We had so much food. Yum Yum Yum!

Sunday Morning

Baby Alert!

I see that Mae's Birthday post got hijacked by a grandparent's visit post, so I think I need to share a bit about my favorite girl. Mae went to the doctor and is in the 50% for weight and height. She is a bit of a chunk, but it is all of the fun to squish kind. Mae is one and already has her own distinct personality. She wants to do things her own way. She wants to feed herself and dress herself and she gets frustrated when we have to help her.

She wants to know what is going on and follows me everywhere I go. When Jeff or I go into the other room we often send out baby alerts to let the other know we are being followed. When she hears these alerts she speeds up cause she knows she is about to be caught. She loves to take the books off our bookshelves and loves to play with toys. She can spend an hour or so just playing in Max's room.

Grandpa Tobler amused her with making a clicking noise and she was determined to figure out how he did it. She would stick her hand in your mouth trying to solve the mystery. This led to me almost choking when I yawned and she shoved her arm in my mouth. She has now mastered the sound and loves to make it.

Mae isn't perfect she makes a really ugly squawk when she is mad. She is the world's lightest sleeper. She sleeps not in her pretty nursery, but in the spare room downstairs and wakes up if you try to go downstairs at all. She still loves Max. Last night she and Max were in the bath and Max decided to spout water in her face. She laughed so hard I was afraid she was gonna fall over into the water and drown. We all love Mae and look forward to what the next year brings us.

Baby vs. Chocolate Cup Cake

Her feet still smell like chocolate.

You've Had a Birthday, Shout Hooray!

Mae is now One! Happy belated post baby girl. This lucky girl can't complain though, she got lots of good presents and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Tobler. It was really special to have my parents drive 15 hours out to visit us. My father hadn't seen the kids since they came out last year for Mae's blessing. There was lots of hugging and attention to go around for the kids, Max seems to be having a bit of attention withdrawl now that they are gone. We didn't do much, but the visit was rewarding anyway, or maybe because of that. I always seems to strike out when it comes to taking anyone who visits somewhere good. This time we tried the "World Famous AQ Chicken House," Meh, but it was cute to see Mae dance and groove to her birthday serenade at the resturant. We got her a strawberry cupcake to celebrate, but waited until the next day to let her dig in, as pictured above. We attended Max's soccer practice which sounded a lot more fun then it actually was, but he did look cute as he always does. As with all parent visits I scored some great stuff. The folks actually stuffed a full size freezer and a twin mattress into their Toyota Landcruiser! I also got a lovely picture and all the family Christmas Ornaments. Mae also recieved some wonderful gifts in the mail. Special thanks to Michele for the cross stitch and toys. Mae loves her pink septer and headband! And a very special thanks to Carol for the SHEEP HAT! Mae looks adorable in it. Picture to come soon. Speaking of picture....I was going to get a family portrait done of the four of us, since I figured the 2:1 ratio of adult to kid would help, but no one wanted this to happen and by no one I mean Jeff. I bascially post this fact to absolve myself from my mother-in-laws missing birthday gift. Sorry Carol. Will send a belated gift soon. To top off the visit we managed to pass on a cold to my parents thus continuing their tradition of getting sick every time they visit grandchildren. Sorry. It was a good visit and I hope it will not be too long before we see them again.

Joy to the Fishes

We started swim classes today. Mae and I had our class first. We had such a good time. She is not as adventurous as Max was at that age, but she does well. She has no interest in what the other babies are doing she wants to do her own thing. She does not want to blow bubbles and does not want to reach out her arms. Oh well. She is so stinking cute in her swimwear. Max had his first class without mommy. He seemed so big. I only watched from outside the room, but he seemed to listen well and have fun. There were only three other kids in the class so he got lots of good one on one time. Hooray. He was a bit timid at first but I think he will be leading the class next week. It was a really fun way to start the week.