Six Random Things

My sister-in-law tagged me (Hi, Arlynda!). I'm supposed to tell six random things about myself, but I'm having a hard time coming up with six things that are both random and interesting. Oh well, here we go:

1. I hate scary movies. Harry Potter is about as scary as I can handle. No kidding, I was looking over my shoulder for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for several weeks after seeing the latest one.

2. I'm seriously considering home-schooling my children for many, many reasons, but am not sure if I'm cut out for it. Quite frankly, the thought scares me to death. But I truly am considering it for the sake of my children.

3. I'm pretty good at keeping up with washing, drying, and folding the laundry, but I have a hard time putting it away. I'm not sure why, but it will sit clean, dry, and folded in the basket for a week before it gets put away.

4. I prefer natural child-birth to using an epidural. In my experience, the side-effects of an epidural are not worth the relief, and I think it's better both for the mother and the baby (mom has faster recovery time, baby is born alert and undrugged). But that's not to say I think women shouldn't use epidurals. If that's what suits your fancy, go for it. 5. I used to be able to leg-press a thousand pounds! The key words here are used to. I'm ashamed of how I've let my muscles turn to Jell-o. That was back when I lifted weights three times a week and ran the other three (I rested on Sundays). These days my idea of a workout is chasing my toddler up and down the aisles of the grocrery store. 6. There are a few things I'd like to do but never have: earn at least a purple belt in karate, graduate from beauty school, and become an awesome photographer. Is that random enough?

I tag: Heidi, Laura, Heather, Andy, Jefferson, Marie, and Leslie (I'm supposed to tag ten, but don't know that many bloggers).
Copy and paste the cute graphic below, write your six random things, and then tag ten people!

Proposition 8

I've been hesitant to write about this subject because there's so much to be said and I've been afraid I'd say it all wrong. Lucky for me, my husband's cousin (my cousin-in-law?) said it all right. He posted this on his facebook page, and I hope he doesn't mind me posting part of it here.

. . . . how will legalized same-sex marriage affect you? Here are some things to consider (see http://www.whatisprop8.com/ for full details):
1. Children in public schools will have to be taught that same-sex marriage is just as good as traditional marriage. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLHWBWSaW-4

2. Churches may be sued over their tax exempt status if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their religious buildings open to the public.

3. Religious adoption agencies will be challenged by government agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father.

4. Religions that sponsor private schools with married student housing may be required to provide housing for same-sex couples, even if counter to church doctrine, or risk lawsuits over tax exemptions and related benefits.

5. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages may be sued for hate speech and risk government fines.

6. It will cost you money. This change in the definition of marriage will bring a cascade of lawsuits.

Please thoughtfully consider this issue, and remember these points (from http://www.protectmarriage.com/:

1. Proposition 8 is about preserving marriage; it’s not an attack on the gay lifestyle. Proposition 8 doesn’t take away any rights or benefits from gays or lesbians in domestic partnerships. Under California law, “domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections and benefits” as married spouses.

2. If Proposition 8 is defeated, the sanctity of marriage will be destroyed and its powerful influence on the betterment of society will be lost. The defeat of Prop. 8 would result in the very meaning of marriage being transformed into nothing more than a contractual relationship between adults. No longer will the interests of children and families even be a consideration. We will no longer celebrate marriage as a union of husband and wife, but rather a relationship between ‘Party A’ and ‘Party B.’ The marriage of a man and a woman has been at the heart of society since the beginning of time. It promotes the ideal opportunity for children to be raised by a mother and father in a family held together by the legal, communal and spiritual bonds of marriage. And while divorce and death too frequently disrupt the ideal, as a society we should put the best interests of children first, and that is traditional marriage. Voting No on Proposition 8 would destroy marriage as we know it and cause profound harm to society.

"New" Couch

Would you believe me if I told you I got a brand new couch for thirty-three dollars? If not, good for you. I didn't get a brand new couch for thirty-three dollars. I got an old couch for free, and bought a brand new slipcover for thirty-three dollars, and . . . voila! It's like a brand new couch! I love it!

The couch came from my sister-in-law's garage. She got it from her sister-in-law, who, upon getting a new job across the country, decided to get rid of all her old furniture and buy new stuff. Score! The upholstry was all ripped up (the obvious work of a cat), and the color didn't match my existing furniture.

The slipcover came from Ebay. It is a pretty blue slate color, and so soft! It retails for around sixty-five dollars, but I paid only 24.99 plus shipping. Don't you just love Ebay?

The couch is a little funky. Instead of a regular backrest, it has these huge pillows, which make it a little hard to get the slipcover to fit snugly, but it works.
Here are the before and after photos:

A Little Daydreaming Never Hurt Anybody

I was running errands the other day with both boys in tow. We had to make a trip to Fred Meyer, which happens to be my three-year-old's favorite place ever since he found a ride-on airplane there. He has his heart set on it for Christmas, but he's not getting it. For starter's, it's too small for him (though he doesn't think so). It's really more geared toward a toddler, not a preschooler. Secondly, it costs fifty bucks and looks like it would break after about two hours in our house. But I figure there's no harm in letting him "look" at it when we go there. He actually does a lot more than look. He drives it up and down the ailes like there's no tomorrow. My one-year-old loves it, too. Luckily, there are several there, so they each get to "look" at their own.

Now, the toys just happen to be right next to the baby clothes; Carter's, to be exact. I love Carter's baby clothes (but rarely buy them because they are overpriced). So while the boys have fun with the airplanes, I drool over baby clothes. Baby girl clothes, to be exact. Carter's new Little Denim collection for girls is adorable! I found the cutest red ribbed sweater. I couldn't resist taking it off the rack, carressing the soft cables, and imagining a baby girl in it. A sweet little bundle of cuddly softness. I could almost smell that new baby smell that I love so much. I could almost feel the warm softness of her baby skin against mine. I imagined the peacefullness of nursing her at night, the moonlight falling on her cute little face. . . I was in baby hunger heaven.

I was suddenly jolted out of my heaven with a high-pitched scream from my toddler- my boys were fighting- again!! In no time at all, my thoughts switched from cuddly softness to red-faced screaming baby. From sweet baby smell to the smell of baby puke that's been on my shoulder for two days because I haven't had a chance to shower. From peacefullness to absolute exhaustion and sleep-deprivation.

My baby hunger heaven didn't last long. I collected my now crying kids and dashed away from the baby clothes as quickly as I could without looking back! Another baby? Now? Are you kidding me!?! I made a mental note to stay away from the baby girl clothes for a while.

But sometimes I think back to that sweater . . . and once again imagine my little bundle of sweetness. Maybe not any time soon, but someday. Someday.

A Bale of Fun!

We took the kids to a local corn maze the other evening, and we all had a great time. Aside from the corn maze, they also had a string maze, a straw pyramid, and a bonfire.
The kids loved the straw pyramid. It was made of over 200 bales of straw and had tunnels all through it. I got scared a few times going through those dark, narrow tunnels because I am a bit of a claustrophobe, but I had to put on my game face to keep the kids from being scared. It really was a lot of fun.


Me and my boys sitting on the pyramid.

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A close-up.

My three-year-old running out of one of the tunnels.


After playing in and on the straw pyramid, we braved the corn maze. After going in circles for about ten minutes, my three-year-old started begging to go back to the pyramid. My one-year-old was enjoying wandering through the corn, so we split up; I took our oldest back to the pyramid (via the entrance to the maze), while my husband and the little one continued to search for the exit. We met up later and decided to try our luck in the string maze. It was harder than it looked. I was totally lost, but my conscience kept me from jumping the strings and just getting out. Not that it would be morally wrong; I just like to stick to the rules (which drives my husband crazy when we're playing games*). He made it out first, and then coached me to help me get out.
After that we sat around the fire for a while, played on the pyramid a bit more, and then headed home. We all had straw all over! In our hair, our pockets, our shoes, and in our clothes. I was itching like crazy. I wanted to put the kids straight to bed because it was late, but the sensible part of me (okay, my husband [did I honestly just call him the sensible one? wow, that rarely happens]) said we should give them a bath first. So they took a bath and after not too much protesting (they were really tired) went to bed.

It was a fun family night. We've been to corn mazes before, but this was by far the most family oriented . I think we'll make a tradition of it!


*Take Monopoly, for example. He (like so many others) seems to think that when you pay money to the bank, you should put it in a pile in the middle and then when someone lands on Free Parking, they get to keep it all. You can't do that! It's not in the rules!!

Getting Settled

Well, we made the big move. We had a lot of help loading the truck from members of the Elder's quorum, and help funloading from neigbors and my brother once we got here. Now it's just a matter of getting all our boxes unpacked. I've made a pretty good dent in it, but there is still a lot to do.
It's great to be back home and to be living in a house rather than an apartment. I'm so excited to plant a garden in the spring! But for now we are enjoying fall. It is a beautiful time of year.