Prompt #3

"Describe your year(s) as a child...did you help with yard work? Make a diagram of it."

Okay, first off, I'm not going to be making any diagram. I don't really even know what that means.

Second, I had a great childhood. My parents required all of us (me, my 5 older brothers, my oldest sister, and my younger brother and sister) to work, inside and outside. For example, my mom assigned each of us, among other things, 1 hour of weeding per day (my parents had/have a huge - HUGE - yard). She saw nothing amiss with the expectation that we get up at 6 a.m. during the summer to get our weeding done before it got hot. We also had an enormous garden that we had to water/weed/tend, which was great fun with my brothers who had fabulous imaginations (they turned everything into a game). We also had to water trees around the perimeter of our yard, which involved the very easy albeit time-consuming task of lugging a hose to each tree and waiting about 10 minutes per tree to fill the dirt "bowls" so the trees would thrive. That took about 3-4 hours to get all the trees. We dug all the ditches for and put in the 13+ line sprinkler system, picked produce from 10+ fruit trees and our garden, mowed sections of the yard (it was too big to do by oneself, or in one day)...then we tackled our inside chores (we each had sections of the house assigned to us to clean, in addition to our bedrooms. I had the bathrooms, including the boys' bathroom. Ew.). Basically, we were slave labor. That was us.

In fairness, though, it wasn't torture. My parents were the epitome of hard workers. They also loved and thoroughly enjoyed a well-deserved relaxation/rest time once the work was done -- we all did. We'd go swimming until dark, play/hang out with friends or each other, play army or build dirt caves, read, nap, make movies, bake cookies, play night games, pretty much whatever we wanted. I'd say there was a great balance between work and play.

This is making me feel a bit guilty...I don't think I'm instilling a very good work ethic in my kids. But, yes, my childhood was one I look back on with extreme fondness.

some pics

with those big baby blues, addie's a natural beauty who just hasn't yet learned to accessorize (as in, growing teeth or hair).


a must-have for every kid: a water squirt bottle. carson & layla spent HOURS this weekend watering stuff, including (especially) the holes in our fence.

i love toddler humor. not only am i extremely funny to my kids (hey, i'll take what i can get), but they are often doing funny things that make me smile or laugh out loud. exhibit a:

exhibit b: (p.s. it's subtle, but carson thought he was soooooo funny to be wearing that pair of shades around his neck like that. we're all about that kind of sophisticated, not-everyone-"gets"-it humor around here.)

Prompt #2

(my kids are hanging out happily, so i'll take advantage of the situation...)

(ahem) "Describe the most serious illness you have had."

I've had a pretty healthy life. Other than stitches on my chin following an extremely embarrassing biking incident (which hardly counts as an illness), I've never been to the hospital for anything other than labor & delivery. So, the most serious illness I've had would be either the common cold (which, actually, can be pretty brutal, especially to a wimp like myself) or chicken pox when I was 5. Given that I inherently love to pick scabs, and I can't handle itchiness, my recovery from that was, shall we say, prolonged.

Knock on wood.

Prompt #1

So, I have nothing really exciting to blog about. Therefore, for times like this, I will be using "prompts" given me by my mom several years ago. (Not that they'll be all that exciting, but I'll get points for "family history," right?)

Today's prompt (drumroll please) is: "How did you become engaged?"

Paul and I were "engaged" a couple of weeks before telling anyone...that is, we knew we were going to get married, we just didn't have a ring. The official engagement was: we went to the jewelry store and picked out a ring. I didn't want diamonds, but Paul seemed like he wanted me to have diamonds, so we settled on a small anniversary band-type ring, with a plain platinum actual wedding ring to go with it on our wedding day. Then we drove up to a bench, and he asked me to marry him. I said yes. We probably kissed, but I don't exactly remember.

Then we went home and called/told parents. I'm sure they were shocked.

i've heard

that the best way to prepare for a performance of any kind is to eat a bowl of cereal and three (or was it four?) cookies - big ones - the day before.

almost makes you want to come to CELTIC NIGHT to see the after-effect, doesn't it?

sometimes i'm amazed at what they internalize

we've been working on respect and kindness around our house. the other day, carson was frustrated with layla because she wasn't doing what he wanted, and he yelled something to the effect of, "YOU CAN'T PLAY WIT DEM ANYMORE!!" we had a little chat about respect, and how it was much more important to help layla feel happy and part of the fun, even if she does things differently, because people are always more important than things.

it went like all these "teaching moments" go: pretty much a failure.

until today, when i was trying to work during quiet time (in which carson and layla are allowed to stay up IF they can play quietly and nicely). they were building all these lego robots for "the lego game" (carson's got some great game ideas lately...but that's another story for another time), and carson said:, "mom, we're about done and den you can play duh lego game wit us!"

me: nuts, carse. i've got to get some of this work done right now. maybe you guys could just play without me this time.

carson: no, mom. we can't. because you're WAY specialer dan dust [just] legos!

awww. i want that on a plaque.

the world through a 4-year-old's eyes

carson: i want to watch duh movie 'transformers.' can we get it next time?
paul: i don't think so. that movie is too scary.
carson: no, it's not. i won't be scared because in duh end duh good guys ALWAYS win!
me: the good guys win in star wars, too, but those movies kind of scared you.
carson: dat's because der were SCARY parts in star wars.
paul: there are scary parts in transformers, too.
carson: no, because duh good guys win, and dey're not even guys! dey're robots!

suggestions, anyone?

what are YOU doing for st. patty's day?

might i suggest:





ellen eccles theater, saturday march 14 & monday march 16, 7:30 p.m. i'll be dancing, and i won't be pregnant this year! bonus.

heaven vs. hell

my old college roommates and i would sometimes play a game in which we described what heaven/hell would be like, in non-traditional ideations. for example: in hell, we'll have to wait in 45-minute wal-mart lines to purchase a pack of gum, and once we buy the gum, we'll realize it's the wrong kind and have to wait in another hour-long line to return it, and the cycle repeats times infinity with the number of hurried, cart-smashing shoppers increasing as the years go by. or, hell will be full of wallpapered rooms, in which you will spend the eternities peeling off one sq-cm shred at a time.

but, in heaven, i'm pretty sure that we'll have an idea for a delicious dinner by 10 a.m., we'll have all the ingredients on-hand, and by 11:30 it will be in the crock pot, to be ready for the 5:30 p.m. "viola" dinner moment. today i'm in heaven.

anyone else want to play?

you could try to tell me you're not jealous of this 'do

but we all know you'd be lying.