So close

Okay so confession time. I hate chanting. I was reminded of this by the last post since I am not a big fan of saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It is not that I am against the pledge, it is well written and I agree with everything in it. I just don't like chanting in unison with others. It makes me feel weird and it makes it almost feel impersonal to me. I don't feel any strength of group thing, I just wait for it to end. Now from the time that I was 12 til I was 18 I attended Young Women's each Sunday as a part of church. At the beginning of each Sunday lesson we recited the following theme:

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.
We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,
and in all places" (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live
the Young Women values, which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity and
Virtue.
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,
we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants,
receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

Now, I love this theme; it is beautiful, meaningful, and touches me. But I hated saying it in chant form. I was so grateful to graduate to Relief Society and be done with the group chanting. Arg! Last year they decided to combine the Young Women and Relief Society once a month for opening exercises and so we all have to chant! I was so close to being done. So if you are in my ward and have noticed that I don't join in, this is why. Nothing against the amazing theme, just hate the chanting.

Side note the really fun part of moving around so much during my high school years was hearing all the different places people in different places would pause and take a breath.

Why so much apple pie?

Well besides the fact that it tastes so good, I feel that it helps bring up my patriotism. Cause hey, what is more American then apple pie? So why do I need to shore up my patriotism? Some of the following are the reasons.

1. I hate blue collar 80's "down with the man" music ala; Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, and Billy Joel. Not my angst.

2. I hate the Wizard of Oz. Not the book, which I love, but the Judy Garland movie. I love that my mom does too. (The exception being when it is played with Pink Floyds, "Dark Side of the Moon." Then it is awesome.)

3. I hate It's a Wonderful Life. Boring.

4. I hate American cheese. Not any cheese made in America, but the plasticy Kraft stuff.

5. I think E.T. is totally overrated. Which is especially ironic since my maiden name is Tobler and so my initials were E.T. and I was born in 1982 the year it came out. (My dad got me an cool poster for my 20th birthday that said E.T. 20th anniversary.)

6. I think lighting fireworks in the driveway is dangerous and a waste of money.

7. I hate mustard, mayonnaise, and miracle whip. (Sandwiches can be a bit dry for me.)

Now why not list these under Things That Must Go? Well I am an adult and can appreciate that some things I don't like can be just fine for other people. Aren't I so condescendingly generous?

The picture is from a site called Mental Floss, which I love. When I am done with this pregnant thing I totally need this t-shirt.

Teamwork

Max is always willing to help out.

I suppose it would be just too easy to post the snow under things that must go.

Nursery

Miss Mae had her first day at nursery today. I was a bit surprised that she did so well. Unlike Max at her age, Mae hasn't been dropped off many places. She cries when I drop her off at the fitness center day care, (perhaps she can sense the germs she is picking up there.) Which is all really funny, cause she doesn't seem to like me that much when she is with me, so I am surprised she really cares. I guess she is a pragmatist and just realizes that I am all she's got. So we dropped her off and she played hard and did well the whole two hours. Wahoo! Lets hope this was not a fluke. Sunday may become my favorite day. I really wanted to get a picture of her today cause she looked really cute. Like a real live valentine. Unfortunately as you can see she did not cooperate. I was a bit worried that she wouldn't let me put the red shoes on and would demand the mice, but she seemed to just enjoy having shoes on.

Private?

Okay so will the blurker from North Carolina please leave a comment or email me so I can know that you are not some identity theft weirdo out there so I don't have to privatize my blog. It is funny cause on the one hand, I leave my blog open so anyone can read it, but after two years I have learned that only family and friends read it. It makes me a bit nervous to see a return reader from North Carolina when I don't know anyone in North Carolina, especially when they are reading random old posts. So please put my nervousness to rest and save me the time of having to privatize. And as long as you don't have any nefarious purposes, or at least ones that have to do with me and my family, then enjoy the blog.

Girly Girl

Mae is a girly girl. She adores her shoes. We took her to Old Navy a few weeks ago and she walked right over to some shiny gold boots, put them on and wouldn't take them off. Jeff caved and bought them for her. She was so determined to wear them that she didn't mind the elastic keeping the boots together. She just waddled very slowly until she made it to the register. I bought her some shoes at a consignment sale months ago that she has finally grown into. (Mae has small feet for her age.) These mouse shoes are her favorite now. She cried when I took them off to put her in the tub. I am not sure what she likes so much about them, maybe the hard bottom, maybe the mouse faces, regardless she is in love. She wears them all day long even up until bedtime. She doesn't get this from me. I am not a big shoe lover. I appreciate cute shoes, but I get hung up every time I have to throw down 50-100 bucks for just one article of clothing. I realize that shoes are important but it still drives me crazy so I just wear my shoes till they drop dead. In fact I am really in need of new shoes now.

Not Actually That Fun

I had enough guilt after not really taking Max out to play in the snow a few weeks ago, so yesterday I decided to be a good mom. We got all bundled up and after about five min. Max turned to me and said, "Mom this isn't actually all that fun." Too true. I think there is something about being the oldest and not having anyone to really play with that makes snow a bit disappointing. I think later this week we will have to arrange a snow play date with some older kids.