Pictures of the Boys

I am posting pictures of the boys, mostly for the benefit of the grandparents, but everyone will hopefully enjoy them. These pictures are some good ones, I just didn't post a blog about them on their own. But, they deserve to be seen... they are all from this summer. Enjoy!

This picture was one of the first ones I took with my new camera! June 30th. I love the look on Eric's face, and how I was able to get it to focus on him but still see Michael in the background.These next pictures were taken July 7th. The boys were eating yogurt. Michael gave me this grumpy look and told me "I'm not cute!" Apparently he didn't want his picture taken! (gee, Jim, I wonder where he gets that from?) I think this is a good picture of my sweet pea Eric. Yes, he does have vanilla yogurt on his nose, but I still like it.
This is a face Michael makes that I think is from my side of the family...specifically, something about him here is Mom-O. Yes, this was just moments after he told me he wasn't cute. Yeah, as if I believed that!

The boys were playing outside on the grass on July 7th. They were having such a good time with our new, red, hose. It was really hot and they needed some fun with water, so I sent them out to play and water the dead spot in the grass while they were at it. Here is Michael. Eric really enjoyed moving the hose around and watching the water follow the design he made. I think it was one of those cool learning moments he was having. I'm quite pleased with the camera's ability to capture the drops of water, too. Most of the pictures I caught of Eric show him slightly smiling, but mostly thinking somehow about it all. Here he is.

The boys and I did a before-church photo shoot Aug 24th. The boys were being so funny and adorable, hugging and kissing each other! Eric is in his new church clothes, and Michael has taken a serious liking to that bow tie!
This was August 7th. Eric and Michael were trying to skate outside... here is Eric in action!

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing the boys! And, yes, if you are wondering because you saw the date and time of this post...I am up in the middle of the night, and I have been for a few hours. Kate is acting up and I'm not sleeping, so I thought I'd do something besides lie in my bed feeling miserable and wondering if she's trying to come early. We'll see...

Have a good day everyone!

Jicama, Pineapple, Cantaloupe, and Honeydew

I get emails from a website that inform me of what is going on with Kate's development each week. I got them when I was pregnant with Eric, and they helped me know what parts of our little one were developing each week. They told me when he had little fingers and when he was growing hair on his head, etc. I got the emails when I was pregnant with Michael and it helped me stay in touch with what was going on, but it did seem a little redundant because I'd "been there, done that."

This time around, I read them for one reason - to find out how big our little one is. In the first few weeks/months they compare the baby's size to things like kidney beans. But, lately I've been looking forward to our emails to find out which fruit we are most like this week. The email will say something like "baby is ___ lbs. this week, about the size of a ___" I was happy to find out one week that we were a pineapple! So, naturally, I used it as an excuse to buy a fresh pineapple that the boys and I devoured while trying so hard to save some for Jim when he got home. Here is a picture of our little one, taken Sept 5, which was the week Kate weighed "about the size of a pineapple!"

Didn't they look like they were the same? So, if you're curious about what fruit we are this coming week, email me Tuesday and I'll let you know after I get the email!

Kate's Quilt!

So, pretend I actually posted this blog on Sept. 12...that is when it was written, but I haven't put the pictures to go with it until now...

I woke up one Monday morning in June and was almost frantic about having to make a quilt for Kate, and I just HAD to paint the boys' room. Well, the boys' room is painted, but now I'm working on other projects to finish it off to be a "complete room". So, sorry my friends, no picture of that until its done.

Last night I finally finished binding Kate's quilt! I am so excited! I was surprised how quick and relatively easy it was for me to make without someone holding my hand...although I did make a few phone calls in the process. But, it was finding the time and "the moment" to do it which made it take so long. I patterned it after one I found online for $160 that looked within my ability to create. I must say that I'm happy with my work - we won't talk about the struggles or the imperfections that make it definately Lisa-made.

Jim says "that's a lot of pink" even though I told him there was the exact same number of pink diamonds as there were green diamonds. He'll get used to it or just not sleep under it. I'm glad to have it done and feel like she can come now (except for the fact that we don't have much else for her or a hospital bag packed yet). I did buy some diapers last week...and we have a few ADORABLE outfits...and we have the car seat still, so she could come home in one of the 2 or so newborn/0-3 mos. outfits we have for her. Despite not being very "prepared" I'm just about ready for her to come-I'm getting tired of being fat, pregnant, tired, having heartburn, not sleeping well, and I'm getting a "little bit" emotional. Its still much better than I was feeling with Michael at this point - the last 8 weeks or so are hard. But, we only have 6 weeks to go!

Here are pictures of the quilt: the front with diamonds and the back with the brown (I tried to make it so the back could be used as the top if we wanted a change).

I Am A Material Girl!

Eric and Michael have a Nintendo DS that they love to play when we let them. One of the games is called Elite Beat Agents. It is kindof like dance-dance-revolution, except you use your stylus instead of moving your body. So, one of the songs they play is "Material Girl". We all remember this song. I remember being in my bed (the big one in the big room) growing up when the song was new. Chris' room was the "funny room", and he had a radio. I didn't. Every time I would hear this song playing - lying in bed when I should probably have been asleep - I would yell at Chris to turn the radio up so I could hear this song. It was so cool. Well, here I am as a mother, YEARS later, and the song has come full circle. We even heard it on "the jet station" on the radio and the boys got all excited about their song being on the radio. It got me thinking - now that I'm old enough to understand the lyrics - about the message...and about this blog that I needed to type...

So, I know that being a "material girl" isn't cool or even good if you're a "good Mormon" and you're not supposed to be into material things. I know that things of a more spiritual nature are definately more important in life than "stuff". I've lived quite some time without "stuff" that I've wanted (and I still do, but thats ok). But, I have finally reached a point in life where I have a few material things that some of you may think are common or silly to be glad for...but, for me its a big deal! I've come to finally own, and appreciate, a few things that I have been dreaming about having for quite some time (most of my married life at least). So, I want to pay tribute to the simple things in life that can make me so happy. There are some objects that I now have that really have helped me find moments of joy and happiness! And, please realize that it is because of my husband's going to work and making money that we are finally able to afford some of these things in life. So, thanks Jim for being a good provider and allowing me the chance to have and enjoy some nice "things" in life!

Here are a few of my favorite things...while I am "living in a material world."

Garage door opener! I haven't been allowed to pull the truck into the garage yet - we're refinishing the floor so that when it leaks it doesn't ruin the garage - but I own a garage door opener! It goes to MY garage that I am going to pull into and out of, without having to scrape the truck in the winter or run through the rain to get into. No more going up and down slippery outside stairs or getting cold between the house and the car. I can't wait to move into the garage!

Dishwasher! I own a dishwasher! For the first time in my married life - 8 years - I don't have to hand wash every dish, pot, pan, spoon, etc. we use. It's not a fancy one, definately not the best quality out there, but I'm glad to have it. I'm hoping to have less chapped hands this winter. Doing the dishes isn't really a chore anymore. In fact, I enjoy my dishwasher. It stores the dirty dishes - they don't sit in my sink anymore until I get around to washing them...all I have to remember to do is turn it on and unload it so the next dirties can go in. The picture above is of me turning it on for the first time-in June. Yeah for a dishwasher!

A couch! We didn't move our couch with us out of the basement. The only way it was going to come out is in pieces, so we left it there. We therefore didn't have a couch in our house, which I didn't think would be any big deal. Then I reached a point with this pregnancy where I needed to lie down for a few hours each morning (and this was not my nap time, either). Its really hard to lie down on a chair and get any kind of rest - especially when you need your head to be as low as your feet. One day, while out garage sale-ing, I saw a "free" sign on a couch, and after taking the camper shell off of the truck Jim and I were able to bring this really nice couch home. It turns out that the previous owners were planning to put it in their basement, but it didn't fit down, and they had to get rid of it because the new couch arrived the next day. How nice to have a couch - especially as I'm pregnant and I'm at the point of needing a couch to prop my feet up!

Curtains! It's been a pain for me to get the right curtains, and then to get all of them the same shade of brown (you would think that if you bought 5 at the store you would get at least 3 the same fabric dye, but that's not the case!). Now that they are up, its great. We finally have some privacy, and they block out the very bright morning sun coming in our back door and window by the kitchen table. And, it also prevents the neighborhood children from coming by at all hours of the day, sticking their faces against our sliding door windows, and leaving dirt marks as they invade our privacy by watching us!

A mail key! We have our own mail key and our own little box #14 we get to open every day. Its been 6 years for us, sharing one with Jim's family. Yes, it does get filled with bills more than letters from friends and family, but its kindof a daily ritual for us to get the mail. That picture of Eric was taken in June, when he and Michael were still fighting about who "gets to" check the mail - not who "has to" check the mail. How fun it is to have our own slot in the box (and the house belonging to the number attached to the slot!)

Washer/dryer! How nice it is to have a washer and dryer. No going to the laundry mat to put in coins and wait forever while your clothes wash. I love being able to put laundry in the wash, go about my day, and switch it later at my own convenience. I can wash while I'm sleeping, and I don't even have to wait for someone else to take their clothes out of the dryer before I can use it. Yeah for having a laundry room with a washer and dryer in it!

A bedroom that isn't a hallway! I came out of our master bathroom the other day and it brought a smile on my face to see how big my master bedroom is! It's not huge, but it is probably twice the size of any of them we've been in our whole married lives. Our bed isn't the focal point of the room, it seems to be a piece of furniture now that it doesn't take the entire room by itself. And, with our dressers in the room, we still have a good sized piece of carpet in the middle of our room! No more "hallway" created by the space between the bed and the dressers!

A closet - of my own! Jim and I have always had to share our closet. The last time I had a closet of my own was when I lived in Cox with my roommates. I now have a closet that is twice the size of the one Jim and I shared in the basement - with plenty of room to fill it up!

Crockpots and rice cookers! You can cook a whole meal in less than 10 minutes of effort if you use these amazing appliances! I don't have to be "cooking dinner" when we're all hungry - and it cooks dinner (or breakfast, or lunch, or even dessert) without turning on the oven...which has been really nice on days when its hot already! Talk about 2 great inventions!

Since I've started this post Aug. 24th, and not finished yet, I've been able to add a few things to my listof what I'm grateful for! These are things that have made life even easier than before, and its great! Here they are...

A deep freezer! What a nice thing to have! September 5 I had a 14.5 cu ft chest freezer delivered to my garage! Let "normal" life begin! I'm back to my normal way of shopping the sales and stocking up! Yes, I do have 20 1/2 gallons of milk in the freezer (at $1 for a 1/2 gallon, it was a huge steal) - but I don't have to go to the store for a long time now! Between the frozen milk and bread, we're covered for a while (unless there is another good deal I need to stock up on!) The part that I'm really appreciating right now is that I've been able to double a few recipes and freeze them for when baby comes. My goal is to double 2 meals a week, so by the time she comes we'll have 2 weeks of food in the freezer ready to pull out and eat when I don't have the time/energy to cook, let alone get to the grocery store. YEAH for freezer space!

Epoxy coating on the garage floor! The picture above is oil, which dripped out of the truck (which was finally allowed in the garage!), and sat for 5 days on our epoxy coated garage floor. All it took to clean it up was a wipe of the paper towel. I kid you not, it was that easy! What a great thing! It was totally worth all of Jim's effort to put it on the garage. Thanks everyone for your advice on the way-it was a success!

That was a long list of stuff, I feel like I was bragging. But, that is not the intent at all. I am truly grateful for these things. I've been surprised at the random things I've found myself so happy to have. I've had almost child-like joy as I've used these things that have helped make life easier or more enjoyable for us. I've realized that sometimes in life, having things does make a difference. The trick is to remember to be grateful for them and enjoy them, and not take them for granted. And maybe the even harder part is not feeling sorry for ourselves that we don't have something. Let's be glad for what we have, finding joy in our simple and commonplace things

So, the question to you, my friends and family: are you "a material girl...living in a material world" or do you appreciate the things you have around you?