Allergic Reaction

Look at that face!

With my super savvy medical mind it only took me about 32 years to figure out that my skin reacts badly to bandaids. Armed with my new found knowledge I try to avoid them; however, I will on occasion use them on my heel while breaking in new shoes.

Yesterday I was putting a bandaid on my heel when Nate came in and started thoughtfully observing me. After a few seconds he said, "I thought bandaids make you sneeze?" I was totally confused and asked, "Why would bandaids make me sneeze?"His perfectly logical reply was, "Dad said you are allergic to bandaids."

Patriotic Program!

Today we got to attend the 1st grade's patriotic program. It was really cute. They sang a lot of songs, including each of the armed service songs. Abby is so cute to watch because she LOVES to sing and perform, but still gets quite self-conscious so she just gets this shy grin as she sings her guts out. She knew every word and really poured her heart into it. We love Abigail.

The bad news is that on my way to the program I managed to slam my camera into the car door and ruin it! Eliza was kind enough to drag her two little kiddies to the program and came to the rescue by having her camera with her and snapping some photos for us. Thanks, Lize!

Look carefully she's right there in the middle bottom row.

Abe, Abby (with matching but totally unrelated -other than some shared klutzy genes- bruises, Belle and Ben.

Presidents' Day

We had a fun President's yesterday starting with a trip to the newly renovated State Captitol. I had big plans of taking all kinds of pictures. Uh, I finally remembered at the end when we were in the lovely cafeteria. Somehow I missed getting a picture of Eliza, Brennan and Abby. Anyway, my Dad is a State Senator so we got to go watch him in action for little while on the senate floor and then he joined us for lunch. It was so neat to catch a glimpse of what goes on there and to see the beautiful building. Good times; however, trying to move two almost-two-year-olds who insist on walking every step including huge staircases unassisted, and 6 big kids (with a healthy genetic dose of ADD) through the Capitol with our fearless leader, Mom, (who with her impeccable navigating skills led us through more than a few detours:)) and then once Dad was with us and couldn't walk two steps without seeing someone who wanted to chat with him, was like herding 250 head of cattle through New York City.

Macy (SIL) and Rex (nephew)

Dad, Mom, Abe (nephew) and Lucy (niece)

Nate and Ryan (brother)

Molly (niece) and Anna

After our Capitol adventure Rex came home with us and Lucy went with my Mom for a nap and then joined us at our house. The kids had so much fun playing with each other. During mine and Ben's nap Abby, Nate and Rex watched "Night at the Musuem" and while I slept on the couch my subconciousness happily registered the three of them cracking up the whole time. It was so cute.

Ryan and Macy came to pick them up that evening and we enjoyed visiting and trying to convince them to move closer to us while the kids soaked up every last second with their cousins. It was a perfect day!

Tag?

Okay, while I feel so special to have been tagged, and love reading others' tag posts, I feel a little weird about doing it myself. However, I'm going to ignore my weirdness and just do it. Here goes:

1. 10 years ago I was living in our first house, expecting our first baby and working as a legal secretary.

2. To do list: lose 700 pounds, talk Brennan into one more child and then have twins and therefore get my 6 kids I've always wanted for the price of one final pregnancy, make my laundry/mud room not the pit of despair.

3. 5 places I've lived: basement apartment in Sugarhouse; different basement apartment in SLC; house in Farmington, UT; Mesa, AZ; Gilbert, AZ.

4. 5 jobs I've had: Dairy Queen, United Savings Bank/Western Mortgage loan document clerk, Title Company person, legal secretary, and my current and favorite occupation -- SAHM.

5. If I had a billion dollars I would, pay off home, set aside missions, college (some, I want my kids to pay for some), weddings, etc. maybe buy some new furniture and get our home just the way we want it and then maybe start a foundation or two. I also think it would be so fun to just help random people with random expenses, like pay for someone's medical expenses, pay the bill for a cute family at a restuarant etc.

6. Bad habits, too many to list. The main one is not productive enough, kind of lazy and undisciplined.

7. I love, people. I love meeting new people and I LOVE talking and laughing with the people I love.

8. People may not know that I love, order. I'm kind of incapable of it, so I do really appreciate those rare moments I have it for a second.

Weekend Goodies

So the other day Anna was getting ready for school and she asked me for some hand-sanitizer to take with her because she was pretty sure she had to dance with a boy for Gym. Cracked me up.

Abby had a water spray bottle and Nate was teasing her. She told him he better watch out or she would spray him with "peppermint spray". I asked her what peppermint spray was and she said that Anna told her it's what police spray in bad guys' eyes.

I told her it was really pepper spray. Nate asked if police only sprayed it in bad guys' eyes and I said, "Yeah, they spray bad guys and Nateys." He smiled and said, "Mom, you're teasing me, they don't really spray Nateys." About three minutes later, he said, "Mom, I know you're teasing me, they don't really spray Nateys." Again three minutes later. Poor little guy, 99% sure, but that 1% was eating him up.

Yesterday Chloe, Anna, Abby and Nate put on a fabulous production of "Cinderella." Abby was Cinderella, Nate was the prince and Anna was a stepsister and the Fairy God-Mother, Chloe was a narrator and stepsister. I thought I was being called in for a two minute production, but about 20 minutes later I really regretted not having rolled tape! It was killing me. Anna spoke with a pretty darn good British accent, Abby had a dramatic crying scene and Chloe rebuked Cinderella for preparing Ball gowns that were "so last season!" Nate was a bashful prince, who was mostly mute with voiceover work by Anna and Chloe. One of the best parts was an original song by Cinderella about how she could be anything the prince wanted her to be. "I could be a cook, a dentist, a waitress, etc. Wouldn't Gloria Steinem be proud?

"My Funny Valentine"

I love Valentines Day. It was right during this time of year that Brennan and I fell in love. Our first date was Feb. 1, 1997 so this time of year brings it all back. Shortly after we got married I wrote the story of Brennan and me and if you can stomach it, here are a few excerpts:

"Let me admit here that from the first time I saw this Brennan guy, I was at once both attracted to him and suspicious of him. I could tell immediately that he was very charming and knew it. He had an air of complete confidence about him. He was tall and although he was very lean, he was nicely built with broad shoulders. He had short blond hair and incredible deep blue eyes. I perceived that he was used to being sought after and played it for all it was worth; hence, my suspicion. In spite of my perception of him, I couldn't help being drawn to him which bothered me to no end. In fact, I refused to accept the fact that I was affected by him as I was not the average girl that could be flattered and wooed to fall into his trap -- I was above that."

"I was in awe that I had talked to Brennan W. for 2 hours. Even though I had always had a little crush on him, I never ever really thought anything would come of it, but after our phone conversation I sensed that our paths would finally cross. I was right."

"...We roller-bladed to a near-by 7-Eleven and drank hot chocolate on the curb in front of the store. The whole evening was wonderful. We talked so naturally together and he was one of the few guys I had ever been out with that actually seemed interested in what I had to say. It was exhilarating to be with him, for never before in all my life had I been with someone whom I felt so free to be myself with. I never once checked something I wanted to say for fear it would not be recieved well or racked my brain to find something to say. Conversation just poured out of both of us and flowed as naturally as could be. He was charming, complimentary, fun and he emanated warmth. I felt vibrant and charming; I felt like I had a personaltiy, a charcteristic I, and many others, had often doubted I possessed on so many previous dates."

(my description of our Valentines date) "Everything thus far had been wonderful, but this night sealed our fate to spend eternity together and we both knew it. I wish I could adequately describe how I felt that blissful night, but I could never do it justice."

Everything I felt and wrote 11 years ago is truer than ever. There are so many other things I didn't know then that are what I love most about him today. He makes me laugh all the time, even if sometimes I'm too mad at him to laugh right then, I laugh later. He thinks I'm funny and laughs at me a lot. He is crazy, which I love. He doesn't waver, he gets anxious and stressed out in difficult times, but he always stays the course. He is loyal, not just to me but his Mom, his friends, my family, and me and our family. Even though he sometimes appears eccentric, he is actually amazingly balanced. He's the most non-materialistic person I know, except maybe my Mom. He is extremely tender-hearted and sensitive. He's the perfect husband for me. I love Brennan.

Funny

Last night I was trying to get Abby to get her homework done while I was making dinner. She kept yelling for Nate so I said, "Abby, why are you calling for Nate? Just get busy." She replied, "Mom, I need him - I don't have eleven fingers!" Evidently she was doing a little math.

Brennan took the three big kids to the high-school basketball game last night and when they got home Nate was telling me all about how they parked in an "eagle" spot, but they didn't get a ticket. I finally figured out he meant "illegal".