Thought of the Day

As if I am going to have a thought for you to read tomorrow. But anyhow, I have one for you today.

So, many years ago I heard a friend's mom say that the top of your fridge shows how messy your life is. She also said that your fridge should always stay cleared off with no magnets and such on it. I don't know why I allow such simple "you should" comments to stay with me and allow someone else's standards make me feel pressured to live my life their way. My friend's mom did not have small kids. Sometimes my sister, Karen, likes to come and move my stuff to the side of the fridge that is less visible. This is what my fridge looks like.



Do you know how much I am at my fridge? A LOT! And how much I am in my kitchen? A WHOLE LOT! This fridge holds many items on the top that I want to keep my kids away from, but that I can get to very quick. The top of the fridge is PERFECT for those type items. Those overflowing baskets hold all sorts of crayons, markers, play dough, and other arts and crafts items that I just don't want a 2 year old to have access to 24/7. The front of the fridge has calendars for the kids' schools so that I don't forget library and "show and tell" days. It also has an adorable card that my sister, Amy, drew for my birthday. It is hilarious and make me smile when I see it. The side of the fridge has my visiting teaching assignment, and a nice quote about service (I think. I need to re-read it. But I know I like it and I keep it there to be remembered...b/c I obviously forget). It has my all important shopping list, bc heaven forbid I forget something when I make my trip to the store. It also has my church-key can opener/magnet. It's just where I keep it. It is a small kitchen tool and I like to know it's on the fridge versus at the bottom of some drawer when I need it. The other side of the fridge has our "Johnson Dollar" reward system. Did I blog about that? I should. It's cute.

So, my thought for the day is that I think it is ok to have a messy fridge. It is not indicative of a messy life. My house is actually pretty clean right now. This messy fridge is indicative of a busy mom with 4 small children who is trying to survive. It shows that I care about my kids, their school, my church, and my family.

One day, I will be just like my friend's mom. I will have a clean fridge. I may even be judgemental of someone else's messy fridge (I hope not). But I bet that when that day comes, I will also look back and miss this time in my life. I'll take the craziness.....and boy is it crazy. I could write a few posts just about my day today. It is up there with one of the worst ever.

I often look at that mess and I feel like I am looking at my fridge through that lady's eyes and feel embarrassed, but as of today, I am changing that. I am going to accept and love my fridge bc it serves many purposes for me.

Update

We had a baby!....a month ago. I have been great at updating this blog. Colton Tanner joined our family on Dec 27th. He has been a great baby and all the other kids love him, and they ask when we're going to have another one....really. Kids are so blissfully unaware of how much work they are. I am very grateful for the kiddos I have, but I can't even think of adding to this brew.


I am doing well in my recovery process and feel much more normal these last few days. I can't quite go out running or anything, but I do feel much better. The recovery took a bit longer than the last two. I don't know if it is bc it was a third c-section, that I am older, or that I had more kids to run after and was not able to rest as much....or maybe all of those factors played a part. But, now I've been back to cooking and shopping and doing lots of things that I've been behind on.

I need to put a more recent picture up since he has grown a bit. I'll try to put one up soon.

35 weeks

I am 35 weeks, as of yesterday. I had a Dr.'s appointment this morning and I now have to go every week (yuck). I don't love going to the dr.. They are actually very good about getting me in and out, but I either have to arrange babysitting for Brooke or take her with me. It's all just a bit of a pain. For the most part I have been measuring further along than I am. Today they told me that I am measuring as if I were 37 1/2 weeks. She felt around and said that he felt like her was already a good sized baby, and that he'll be gaining about another pound and a half before her gets here. I had been feeling swollen lately, but the last couple days have been alright and I've had a little more energy, surprisingly enough.

This little guy will be here on Dec. 27th. Having a baby 2 days after christmas has kind of taken nesting to another level. It means that I am super simplifying Christmas. Stan brought all of our Christmas decor up from the basement and I had him take about 90% of it back down. We have our stockings up and our tree and that is it. No outside lights or decor. And it's all coming down on the 26th (if not the 25th, but I'll try to wait until the 26th). But I want this house cleaned of all the Christmas stuff so that I don't come home from the hospital to all of it.

I am quite enormous this pregnancy. People ask how much longer I have, and when I tell them they are always surprised, expecting me to say much less, as if I am supposed to have him tomorrow. Or they ask me if there are two babies in there. (That only happened once though...at the temple.) I have had a lot of discomfort thie pregnancy, but as huge and uncomfortable as it is, I still think it is better than the first trimester. So, 4 weeks from today our little boy will be here, and maybe we'll have a name for him....hopefully.

So that's the update. Sorry I don't have a picture. I skyped with my sister, amy, and she laughted when she saw me stand up. It's a little out of control is all you need to know. 2012 might be my year of starving myself and getting rid of all this baby weight. For the last 5+ years, I've had only 1 month of not nursing or being pregnant. I think I might give myself some time after this one.....maybe a LOT of time. 4 is a good number, right? I think so too.

Dear Blog.....

I have not forgotten you. Yes, I know I have not written anything about Halloween, or Jake's birthday.....or anything for that matter. Here is my issue. I am always tired. I have a quiet time during my afternoon when it is just me and Kate. She is nice and doesn't complain if I nap on the couch. She will cuddle up with me or just play. It would also be a good time to blog, but my mind weighs my options (nap? blog? nap? blog?) and napping wins out. It probably always will. Then at night I am also super tired. This baby is sucking the life out of me. And at the same time making me bigger than life. Forgive my lack of attention to you. We did have some family pictures taken. Maybe I'll throw them on here once I get them. I can't make any promises though.

Youuu?? Meeee?

I wasn't going to put this video on my blog. (I take random videos mainly for Amy since she loves Brooke and lives in Hawaii now.) My last post was a video of Brooke, but I feel like I need to throw something on my blog bc I haven't been the best about blogging. So, my kids are not the earliest talkers in the world and Brooke is finally starting to talk a lot more recently. This is a video of the whole you/me thing she does. It cracks me up and we go on like this for a minute or two whenever she starts.


Tomorrow, I am having a bunch of family over for our annual pumpkin carving contest. I'll try to blog about that.

Brooke Singing Happy Birthday

Brooke has taken a while to talk. She loves music and she loves to sing, although we don't understand her most of the time. However, this song I was able to figure out what she was singing and got a little video of it.

Our Treasure Hunt and Chest

This evening the kids were wanting to do a treasure hunt. Their hunt involved digging in the backyard, which I was not cool with bc I did not want them getting all dirty...or digging in my backyard. So instead, we decided to go on a walk down to Huddleston Pond. Once we got down there I gave each kid a small brown paper bag to collect any "treasures" on our walk. Jake and Brooke barely picked up anything. Kate, on the other hand, filled her entire bag plus some extras on the side.

When we got home we sorted through all of their treasures (of which 98% came from Kate's findings) and made our very own treasure chest. We busted out the hot glue gun and assembled this thing of beauty. Kate thinks out chest is perfect, and Jake thinks it doesn't look like a treasure chest at all. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Excuse or Enjoy

I was browsing Pintrest and came across some poems that I love. It reminded me that there was a Rudyard Kipling poem that I loved. I couldn't remember the name or what it was about, only who the author was and that I loved it. So, as to not lose it again, I am posting it on here. So, please excuse this post that does not really give you any information on our family life or what we're doing....or enjoy.

Recessional (A Victorian Ode) by Rudyard Kipling
God of our fathers, known of old --
Lord of our far-flung battle line --
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine --
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies --
The Captains and the Kings depart --
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away --
On dune and headland sinks the fire --
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe --
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law --
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget -- lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard --
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.

Life Update

The kids are in bed. We put them to bed closer to 6:30 tonight, a Saturday night. They played hard today, and they needed it...and I needed it. Stan is at the Priesthood session of conference. And I am here, on my couch, with college football on the TV.

I realized that my last few posts have not been that informative on our lives. I have kind of neglected this blog bc I have been much more focused on my recipe blog, which also means that I have been busy cooking. I am trying to keep a schedule, plan, menu, what have you. I really like having a plan. I like having all my ingredients on hand and not having to run to the store to get the 2 ingredients I need bc I have finally figured out what I want to make for dinner with the stuff I have on hand (minus those couple of things that I have to go to the store to get). Anyhow, the plan is: Sunday I make the plan, Monday I shop Wal-mart, I cook or eat leftovers all week, Weekend I go to Publix for a few sale items and any fill-in items I may need. - Stan is very appreciative of all my cooking. I don't mind it so much, pretty much bc I have a plan. So, that's one thing that's been going on in my life.

Another thing going on in my life is being pregnant. I am getting big. I am tired. I finally have one pair of pregnancy jeans that should help me through the next three months. This is my first winter baby and I haven't had to worry about preggo jeans in the past. I don't think any woman loves finding the perfect pair of jeans, but I always have huge issues. I am tall. They don't make too many maternity jeans in the tall area, and if they do, often times they are awkward on me. I ordered some from Old Navy, and they were too small. I found some Gap one on Ebay and they are great. Pregnancy is painful. My back often hurts, and there are other pains in other areas that I won't tell you about, but they hurt a lot. Although, there are ligament pains that I am used to being constant in other pregnancies that have not been that bad with this one, so that is good. It was those pains that made walking so horrible for me, but this time I can actually take a walk and it isn't too bad. I am just really slow.

I went yard-saling today with some pretty good success stories. I found a great glider that is usually super expensive for $20. It even reclines. I got some cute kid patio furniture for $2 that I might spray paint a cute color. I got some great shoes for Jake that are in great shape, but those actually ended up being too small. But hopefully baby boy can wear them one day, so I'll hold on to them for 5 years.

I made curtains. My house finally has 1 set of curtains. If you're friends with me on facebook, you can check them out. And thanks to Pintrest.com, I have made hand soap, made a soap dispenser out of a mason jar, made a prayer jar for the kids, have ordered cool lids that you can put on plastic bags (that probably doesn't make sense but they are cool), I've ordered jar sealer attachment for my foodsaver, then realized my foodsaver didn't have the port I needed, then ordered a new foodsaver off of ebay. (I saw that same foodsaver at a yard sale today for $5, and a part of me died.) Although, I got a good deal on mine too. I spray painted a cute shelf that is now in my living room, and it helps control the kids' book collection that is out of control. But I kinda like having lots of kid books around.

I took Kate out of the state funded Pre-K program and put her in at the Methodist church right down the street. This solved my huge problem of having to wake up Brooke, to leave early, to sit in carpool forever bc I have to be first in line bc I had to rush home and be at the bus stop when Jake got off...and that I often still missed. I would have to call my mom and have her hurry there to get him. It was frustrating. Now she gets out at noon, I put Brook down for a nap, and then I am home when Jake gets here. It is so nice when a solution is found that makes life run so much more smoothly. This is part of the reason I have my kids enrolled in 0 extra activities. I am sure I will have them in more things one day, but they are young. I love having them at home. It makes it much easier to have meals at home, have FHE, and have them in bed at the same time every night.

Are you still reading?? I am impressed if you have gotten this far in all my rambling. You must be a true friend. But chances are that if you are one of my true friends, that you already know close to 90% of all I have already said. But chances also are that if you know a lot of this stuff that I like you.

I love that it is cooler. It makes being pregnant a little more bearable. I have my door open as I type this and the temp outside is 58 degrees. It makes my toes a little chilly, which is 5000 times better than being hot. I LOVE it! What I don't love is that Clemson is beating Viginia Tech. C'mon Hoakies!

We took the kids to Partner's Pizza in between conference sessions today. It made me realize how much I enjoy my kids and that they aren't all toddlers anymore. They were silly, but not out of control and screaming. And a cup of water got spilled, but that was actually Stan's fault and not one of the kids. It was quite pleasant. And we went on the golf cart which was so nice since it was a little cooler.

Ok, so that is my life. I am behind on cleaning, and laundry. I am finally getting out the kids warm clothes. I lay on the couch a lot. Stan is my third and fourth arm and is over the top more helpful than I deserve. He really picks up my slack. Mostly, he is great at picking up and straightening up, which I relaly appreciate bc bending over for me suck about 1/2 of the entire energy I have in my body. Getting off the couch take up 75% of my energy. Ok, so not literally, I just have a hard time being as agile as I normally am.

I really am rambling. I'll be done now. 10 points to you for finishing.

Things are cooler when they get a new name...I guess.

There is a trend out there that I don't quite understand.


What would you call this pattern?

A zig zag?

Nope.

It's chevron

Oh, you thought this was Chevron?

I did too.

And this?

You didn't just say zig zag again out of habit, did you? I told you, it's CHEVRON. Don't make that mistake in a group of girls. You'll be totally embarrassed. They'll like think you don't pintrest or something.

And it's everywhere. Everywhere. (Just check this site out if you don't know what I'm talking about.) It's like owls were last year. It is cute and go ahead and paint a nice chevron pattern on your wall, or make some art in this super cool pattern.


But you might have to repaint next year when chevron is out and my new pattern is the new thing. I'll see if it catches on. So this might just look like a lot of triangles, but it's not.

I call it citgo.

What I Just Made

So the earlier post made me want to look for other purposes for all my Mason jars. I came across this idea. I just used the tools I had on hand and made this. It would be super cute spray painted a cute color too. I think it is the country girl in me that loves this kind of stuff.

How smart is this?

I picked up 6 boxes of Mason jars at a yard sale a few weeks ago (for $1 a box!) in hopes to can more. Today, I saw this! I have a Food Saver and all I needed was the jar attachment. How great will this be to store lettuce, leftover, and all sort of stuff. It will all last so much longer. Plus, who doesn't love the look of Mason jars? They are so classic. I don't think I am going to mind having these nicely lined up in my fridge and freezer.

Our Prayer Jar

Our kids love saying prayers. Kate usually needs help and Jake will say the same 3 things each time and that's it. Yesterday, for FHE, we made a prayer jar. We put 2 different size sticks in our jar. The big ones are thing we are thankful for and the small ones are blessing to ask for. The kids pick 3 of each before their prayer. Jake wanted to be sure that he got the one that said he was thankful for school. Hopefully, this will improve our prayers and make them a little less repetitive.

Also, I am trying to knit.

One day, Kate saw an episode of Clifford where a lady knitted a scarf. Suddenly, she wanted me to knit her a scarf. I actually had on hand some yarn and knitting needles that I had picked up at a yard sale in hopes to someday learn. I grabbed my stuff and pulled up 'youtube' videos and tried to figure it out on my own. It wasn't happening. I was frustrated. Kate showed me that all I needed to do was wave my hands around a bit with the needles and yarn and that magically a scarf would appear. I had to explain that it wasn't quite as easy as it looked on Clifford. Luckily, my sister, Kristen, came over a couple days later and showed me a simple stitch. It is all I know, but it is a start, and enough to make a scarf for Kate. Now I just need to finish it so she can use it this winter. I don't have visions of become a great knitter. I just figure it is best to make things for my kids while they want me to, and while they're willing to wear them.

Funny

Today's Project

I picked this up at a yard sale for $2. At that time it was ugly and brown. I gave it some paint and glaze and now I love it. The little sliding doors slide really well, even after painting it. Cute, functional, cheap....it's how I roll.

Cruise

We just got back from our cruise. It was a 5 night cruise to Progreso and Cozumel Mexico. I really wanted to go on a cruise before baby #4 comes. Cruise lines won't let you cruise past 24 weeks and I wanted to go after I was 20 weeks and no longer nauseous and sick. I had a small window to work with, but we found this little cruise that worked well for us. It ended up that my parents along with 2 of my sisters and their husbands also went with us. We had a great, relaxing week. The park that we went to in Cozumel was one of my favorite places ever. The snorkeling there was fabulous! Here are a few photos from the trip!


Breakfast on the ship before we head out to see Mexico!

Our first stop was Progreso. We got a ride on the local bus (being the only Americans on it) to Merida. It is a large city with great architecture. This Cathedral was amazing.




Then we went to a local Mayan restaurant that was highly recommended to us. I had the cochinita (roasted pork wrapped and cooked in banana leaves). It was awesome. There was a cute lady making fresh corn tortillas.

At dinner on the ship.

Chankanaab park in Cozumel. This place was amazing and had the best snorkeling right at the shore. Plus sweet little guys waiting to bring you any food or drink that you want. It was heaven. I had some great steak tacos.



Lastly, this was the picture hanging above our bed in our stateroom. Nothing says 'sleep well' like a weird guy hiding behind some bushes with a mask. Creepy.

My Favorite Sunbeam

Kate is in my sunbeam class at church. It is actually 2 age groups combined, and Kate is on the younger end of the kids in the class. She cracks me up with the things she says and does. Here is a snippet from last week's lesson:

I am holding a picture of Moses.
Me: Who is this?
Kate raises her hand and I call on her.
Kate: Ummmmm, Joseph Smith?
Me: No, this is Moses.
Kate: Oooohhh....Let me try again.
Me: Ok. Who is this?
Kate: Joseph Smith?
Me: No, it is Moses.
Kate: Oh yeah! Let me try one more time.
Me: Ok. Who is this?
Kate: Joseph Smith!
I shake my head.
Me: No, this is Moses.
And I continue my lesson.

Then this week's lesson was on 'Love one another'.

Me: How does Jesus want us to treat each other?
Kate raises her hand and I call on her.
Kate: Ummmm, Moses!

Kids' Reaction

Here is Jake and Kate's reaction to the news that we are having a boy. Jake is obsessed with this crazy hat lately, so please excuse his crazy look.

We're having a......

BOY! I really felt like we were going to have a boy and I really wanted a boy. I have been right with each of our other children, and was very happy to be right again. It will be nice to even things out. We had our ultrasound this morning. Here are a few pictures. He was lying on his face, making it difficult to get any cute profile shots, but it was very definitive that he is a boy. He'll be arriving a few days after Christmas! We are very excited! Jake wanted it to be a boy, so it will be fun to see his face when he hears the good news!

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for these guys. Jake is starting kindergarten at Huddleston and Kate is going into Pre-K. Jake rode the bus to school and I told him I would meet him at his school. When I got there to drop off his mound of supplies, he was at his desk already working on a coloring sheet. He did great! I was worried about how he would do getting off the bus, but they have a great system at his school. He seemed confident and happy....which calmed my nerves a bit. Stan took Kate to school on his way to work. He said she went right in, which I knew she would. The girl has been wanting to go to school for so long. I took both kids to their orientations last week which really helped to prepare them for today.

So, I know so many parents complain that time has gone by so fast, but I have to admit that I have looked forward to this day. Yes, I shed a few tears putting my little boy on the bus and I love my kids more than anything, but being sick and pregnant all summer with 3 little kids at home, I haven't been dreading this day. I know both of them are in good hands, and I love that I get a lot of one on one time with Brooke.

And in other news...Today, I am 19 weeks. Next Monday we have the 20 week ultrasound and get to find out what's swimming around in there. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it's a boy. It would just be nice to balance things out and have a change since the last 2 were girls. However a girl would be just fine...and probably easier since we have a ton of girl stuff. And a part of me would be very interested to see what girl #3 would be like, because Kate and Brooke have such very different personalities. Either way, we are excited to find out. Stay tuned to find out!

Salt and Pepper

My son, Jake, loves noodles with salt and pepper. He will eat a bowl halfway and ask for more salt and pepper bc he loves the stuff. Today Jake wanted more salt and pepper on his noodles. I asked him to bring the salt and pepper over and a few minutes later I realized that he had just added it himself. There was a mound of it in his bowl. I refused to let him eat it. I rinsed the bowl and his noodles and added more salt and pepper. He then commenced to throw a fit. I couldn't figure out what his problem was, bc he kept telling me that I was supposed to add salt and pepper, which I had. Well, it took me a few minutes, but I realized that he was upset bc I put the pepper on before the salt and it is supposed to be "salt and pepper" not "pepper and salt". Then I went back, added a dash of salt THEN pepper and he was happy. - Will there be a day when I don't have to deal with such irrational behavior??? This kind of stuff wears me out.

Don't ____ Your Thumb

I never realized until today that Kate doesn't quite say the word "suck" correctly. Just don't take any offense at the video please.

Mike and Katie get Sealed!

Stan's sister, Katie, and her husband, Mike, were sealed in the temple this past Saturday. Katie is very pregnant and was experiencing some contractions so they moved the date up, giving us a couple days notice. Luckily, we were able to figure things out so that we were able to attend. It was great to be there and to see them be sealed together for eternity.

Now, I haven't spent too much time around Mike, but it doesn't take much time to figure out that he doesn't get embarrassed very easily. I thought I didn't get embarrassed easily, but I have nothing on Mike. He has no hesitation in making a spectacle of himself, and I actually find myself getting a little embarrassed, and that doesn't happen very easily. For example: While outside the temple a couple asks me to take their picture. I suddenly see Mike's face all cozy in the picture right next to this set of strangers! Poor couple had no idea how to react and were nice enough to go along with having their picture taken with this crazy guy. It's all harmless I guess....just a bit odd.

Well, after the temple, we went out to lunch at Maggiano's and had a very interesting lunch filled with more of Mike's antics. He asked us if we dared him to get up on his chair and announce to the entire restaurant that he had just gotten married today. I wanted to crawl under my chair at the thought of it, but then I thought about it for a second and remembered that my phone had a video camera. At that point, I was totally on board with the idea and even encouraged him a bit. That was all it took. Two seconds later this is what happened:


The lovely folks at Maggiano's then brought us a bottle of wine and glasses. We informed them that we don't drink and they promptly brought us sparkling cider. It was nice to let all the kids join in on the fun of toasting. I told Richard that he should lead us in a toast. The place was so loud that I have no idea what he said, but here's the video anyhow...you know, in case you can read lips.


And then, when we thought that things had calmed down, a lady who was just at the restaurant eating lunch came over and offered to sing a song for Katie and Mike. Apparently, she is a singer in a band called the Sunlight Alchemists. I found a page of theirs on MySpace. Here's her cute song for the happy couple:


And thus concluded the crazy day. Congrats Katie and Mike! I am sure that the future will be filled with many funny (and interesting) memories!

Water Park!

Yesterday, Stan took a day off of work and we took the family up Lake Lanier Islands Water Park. It was perfect for the kids, and they had an amazing kiddy area that was great for Brooke. She was in heaven. Well, they all were. Stan and I took turns taking Jake down some big water slides which he loved. They also had a huge wave pool that Jake says was his favorite. There was even more to do there that we didn't get around to. We all had a long day in the sun and now I am sunburned.

Shun! Un-shun!

For the time being, I am back on Facebook. I actually didn't miss it very much, but I was getting complaints from friends who use that as their main method to communicate with me. I also use it as one of my main ways to casually stay in touch with Jake's birth mother. I am not going back to scrabble (sorry Wendy). I also plan to use my blog much more for sharing pics and such. Which brings me to a little dilemma I am having with my camera. It's on the fritz. I'm so frustrated. I use my camera a good bit and can't figure out why it is acting all screwy. I guess I have the camera on my phone, but it's not that great....and I hate hooking it up to my computer.

So, while I am blogging, I guess I'll update my life a bit. I am now 15 weeks preggo, and I think I might be on the upswing from all the first trimester crud that I've been suffering through. I've done a few loads of laundry lately, so that's a good sign. I was sick for 18 and 20 weeks with prior pregnancies, and I am not in the clear quite yet, but it has been more manageable. I guess taking my anti-nausea medicine everyday probably hasn't hurt. I also have more energy, not as much as usual, but more than I've had.

Also new.....My sister, Amy, is expecting! She is very early, but it is cool to be preggo with her. Although, she's about to up and move to Hawaii. :( And, my brother, Tanner, is moving to GA! He is going to be starting a graduate program at Georgia State in the fall. I still haven't seen their little baby boy and really want to hold that little guy.

That's about all for now. We're just trying to get through this summer and the crazy heat. I'm kinda ready for fall.....but I think I have a while to wait still.

Kids Dancing

My kids love to dance....if you can really call it that. They each have their own unique style, that's for sure. Here is a sample from the other day when they were getting down to the music from the Dora video game music, that you can't really hear, making their dancing all the more awkward.

Kate cracks me up with her dancing skills. She never picks her feet up off the floor and it kinda looks she is playing with an imaginary hula hoop. I was trying so hard not to laugh.

Jake saw me taking Kate's video and needed to show off his skills. However, it is still Kate who cracks me up with her commentary. She was watching Jake on the camera with me as I was recording him.

And, so as to not leave Brooke out...here are her skills from a couple months ago. I don't know how the youngest of my kids has the most rhythm.

Look Who's 2!

My little Brooke is 2 today! Before she was born, all I wanted was a little girl with curly hair and chubby cheeks. I got what I wanted. This little girl keeps us hopping, for sure. She does not slow down and is constant trail of destruction. We have to keep a careful watch of what is within her reach, which, since she has discovered how to move the chairs around to reach things high on the kitchen counters, she is virtually unstoppable. This little girl is fearless, doesn't care if she were to get lost, has a death wish around pools, and is fond of the taste of dirt. She does best in a contained area with lots of toys. Occasionally, she will curl up on my lap and watch Little Einsteins with me. She gives great hugs and cute kisses. She loves to play, dance, and jabber. She has quite a limited vocabulary still, but does great at communicating what she wants. Brooke was dealt a triple dose of personality, is so silly, and makes the funniest faces. She makes us laugh all the time and we love everything about our little Brooklyn!

Twirly Rope?

I am not quite sure what to call this. Kate got a jump rope at the dollar store. After my children proved to have absolutely no coordination, I think they had to improvise the way in which they could play with this toy. And we did try to play with it correctly. I would hold the rope with Jake so that Kate could jump. It just wasn't happening. I still don't think that Kate has jumped over this rope once. I think she is more likely to strangle herself before she learns how to jump rope. It looks like Brooke has a better idea about how to use than Kate does, but at least she seems to be happy with her new toy.

Busy Brooklyn

Today we took the kids to Fernbank (or as they call it, the dinosaur museum). This is our 2nd year of having season passes there and the kids love it. Today we even watched an IMAX movie about surfing in Tahiti. It was pretty cool, and really made me want to go to Tahiti. Back in March, Fernbank reopened their kid area that had been closed for a year and completely redone....and really well. The kids LOVE it. Stan was watching Jake and Kate while I chased Brooke around. This is nothing unusual, but I thought I should probably record just how busy this girl is. Nothing holds her attention for very long. Here is a 3 minute video of her just going and going and me trying to keep up with her. One cool thing with this kid area is the fake river that runs through it. When you step on it, it makes ripples as if it were real water...quite a cool effect. I try to show it a couple of times, but couldn't stop too long because...well, I was chasing Brooke.

Side note: After Fernbank, we went over to the Dekalb Farmer's Market. On the way we saw a marquis sign at a church that read: Jesus Saves, Obama spends. Love church marquis signs.

Farm Envy

I would post this on my recipe blog, but I'll let my sister, Tricia, add it since she is the one who told me how to do this. See Tricia lives in nowhere Oregon surrounded by farm land. Her and her husband live in a house for free (seriously) and pay no utilities(seriously!), they have 3 pigs, 1/4 of a cow, never have to buy potatoes or onions, fill their gas tanks from the farm, and they are renting land to farm corn. I love to hear about her life! This is my sister who, I always thought, would end up living in a sky-rise apartment in some downtown area of some big city, where she could keep up with a fast paced life. Well, now she teaches math at a community college and drives a tractor from time to time. - Ok, but to get down to the real reason for this post....Tricia was telling me how they cut and froze some several hundred ears of corn and that it was soooo good. I had an "I want to live on a farm" tinge of jealousy, but then I realized that I can still get corn. So, I ordered 2 cases from a produce co-op that I help with. I had 102 ears of corn.

Stan helped me with this arduous task.

You boil the corn for 3 minutes then put it in cold water to keep it from cooking anymore. (A process known as blanching.)

Then you cut it off.

And bag it and freeze it.

I have 29 bags filled with corn.

This actually went a lot faster than I thought it would. Having an extra set of hands around really helped. Once the corn is shucked, the blanching and cutting goes pretty quickly. - There is a great sense of industry in tasks like this. I love it! I am so excited to have this all stocked in my freezer to make creamed corn with this winter!