Saturday, February 28, 2009

Giveaway game

My friend Lindsay posted this on her blog and I thought it sounded like fun. Plus, as a fan of free stuff, I thought it might be nice to give things to other people. Here's what she posted on her blog (with some extra input from me to give you a better idea of what to expect).

The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (But of course I'll try. In fact, if you comment, I'd even accept your requests or suggestions.)

2- What I create will be just for you. (I don't know what this is supposed to mean. You can do what you want with it.)

3- It'll be done this year. (Sometime in the next 10 months.)

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be a joke book, autographed picture of myself, handmade bag, or a little invention of my own! I may create you a blog header or paint something for you with my food. (Who wrote this? Doubtful that it will be any of those things. Have no fear.) I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows?

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind! (Okay, really. If you respond to this you're probably someone I like. Not even probably. I do like you. So it won't be extremely strange.)

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! (I don't care if you do this or not. I'm not really into the chain-blogging sort of thing. Although maybe participating in this contradicts that. Oh well.)

Edit: Just to clarify, don't think you have to post this on your blog and give things away if you want to be one of my five. I just want to try to make and give away fun gifts, and don't really feel like obligating you to do the same!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

What are YOU doing?

I was doing some chores and things about the house yesterday when Benjamin asked me, "What are you doin', Mama?" I replied something to the effect of, "I'm cleaning up. What are you doing?" With the slightest hesitation as if to say, Well that's a silly question, Benjamin responded, "I'm . . . standing on the ground."

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

For Grandma Key



Thanks, Mom! Benjamin loved it!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Love Day

Consider yourself Valentine-d!


Valentine's Day 2009 kicked off on Friday night when Paul and I went on a DATE while the boys played at our friends the Katschkes' house. A night out sans children was Paul's gift to me. We took a nice stroll in downtown Bellingham prior to our delicious dinner at Anthony's Hearthfire Grill, and enjoyed the hands-free quiet of being together without the kids.

Saturday morning's Valentine's breakfast featured pink love-you heart pancakes. We ate all but one before I remembered to document our festive meal on film. (Can I still say "on film" since it's not really on film?)


The boys and I whipped up a construction-themed Valentine for Paul.


And Benjamin was absolutely delighted by a surprise Valentine balloon.



Next time there's a call for balloons, we'll get two.




We spent the rest of our morning on the beach at Birch Bay looking for sea shells (or "sea stars" as Benjamin calls anything found on the beach, including rocks) and mostly just enjoying being together. Who could ask for more than a peaceful Valentine's stroll on the beach with the most loveable boys (and man) I know?




Finally, we returned the favor to the Katschkes and watched their kids so they could go on a Valentine's date. We all enjoyed special Valentine's cookies thanks to Paul's mom and dad who sent the boys an awesome Valentine cookie kit!


Hope your day of love was good, too!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Peek-a-boo fun

Benjamin has been a real ham lately. A couple of days ago he found the roll of brown paper I use to mail packages and wrapped himself all up in it. He thought it was hilarious!


At this point he was on a roll (Ha ha! I just noticed this! No pun intended!) and decided to let Rhett play, too. (Notice how he peeks out and looks toward where Rhett is to see if he's watching. He loves to make Rhett laugh.)



Rhett wasn't too jazzed about the idea of being covered up by loud, dark paper with his crazy brother. He was crying after Benjamin covered him up, but this picture is a lot cuter.


Here's a video taste of the silliness. You probably would have had to be there. You also would probably have to be home all day with these kids to even think it was funny. But I love that Benjamin acts so silly (usually), and I love spending all day with these boys.



Rhett thinks this game is a lot cooler.

Big Boys Don't Cry

This kid is a champ.


He got his flu shot booster today.


When the nurse stuck the needle in, he looked like this:


Ten seconds later his eyes were dry and he was back to looking like this:


And the best part? He's always like that for shots. He cries for a moment, then is back to his usual smiles and wiggles in seconds. He hasn't even felt a little yucky after immunizations like Benjamin sometimes did. I won't count on this to continue into childhood, but wouldn't that be awesome?

(For the record, Benjamin also did great for his flu shots this season.)

Friday, January 30, 2009

Embarrassing things to show kids when they're in high school


I hope he doesn't think this is really what I look like when I'm nursing. At least I wear pants.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

About my husband

I feel a little weird answering a "tag" because for me they're so reminiscent of all those chain e-mails that get so obnoxious. But when I get tagged to talk about my husband, how can I pass that up? (However, while the e-mails get on my nerves a little bit, it is fun to read people's responses to tags, and I often insert my own answers as I'm reading them. So if you love tags, or ever want to tag one of us, don't be put off!)

Here are some fun facts about my favorite man in the world, and some pictures if I can find some to match:

Where we met.
Paul and I met on July 24, 2004 when we went on a blind date set up by his sister Marianne. I was a Conference Assistant at Deseret Towers, and he was recently home from his mission. Our first "meeting" was on the threshold of the S-Hall office/Marianne's apartment.

Us in Marianne's aparment, but not on our blind date. That would have been awkward.

How long we dated before we got married.
As I said, we met at the end of July. We were married on May 28, 2005, making our courtship-prior-to-marriage ten months long (or short, however you want to look at it).

How long have we been married?
We will celebrate our fourth anniversary this year.

My favorite feature about him.
I assume this is about physical features, since the next one is about qualities. Well, I have always loved his dark hair. I also like that he's taller than me. That sounds lame, but it's true. I like that I can feel shorter and feminine standing next to him and his manly muscles. I like that his build is not too gigantic and not too soft and skinny, if that makes sense.

My favorite qualities about him/what I admire most about him. (I combined the two because I think they're the same thing.)
I love his excitement for things. I love his enthusiasm. A couple of years ago we went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which I'd been to several times growing up, and Paul was so into it! It really made me take a second look at something that I was "used to" and say, "Hey, this really is pretty cool!"
I love his confidence in himself. Whereas I'm one who doubts my talents and good qualities until experience or other people affirm that they're true, Paul just knows, but not in a stuck-up sort of way. He knows that he's skilled with tools. He knows that he's good at music. He knows that he has talent with a camera. He knows that he's qualified to do his job. I think confidence like that is so empowering, and I wish I had more of it. Rather than feeling so-so about whether he can do something well, he just does it and learns from what happens.

This is the ottoman/chest that Paul made for us when we were living in Wyview.

I love that he's no stranger to serving others. If someone needs help, he never hesitates to offer his services if he's available. When people call me when he's not around, asking if Paul can help with something, I know that I can say yes for him without asking him first because I know that he would say yes if he were there. He's just that kind of person.

His nickname for me.
I'll share the less-embarrassing ones. Lovey is most common. Sweetheart, too. He calls me Dear most often when we're in public.

His favorite color.
Cougar blue!

His favorite food.
Paul is a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. He loves a good burger, a good chocolate chip cookie, and a cold glass of milk. He's pretty easy to please, lucky for me. He's also a fan of good camping food, particularly Dutch oven cooking.

Speaking of his favorite foods, this is his favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Add salt, baking soda, and flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for about 9 minutes.

His favorite sport.
Need you ask? BYU football, of course! He'll watch almost any sport, but I think football is his favorite. In high school he was a swimming and lacrosse champ.


Who said "I love you" first?
He did. We were on a walk near BYU campus after dating for a couple of months. We ended up at the Marriott Center and were talking near the Victory Bell when he said it, and I said it, too.

When and where we had our first kiss.
It was Homecoming weekend in October 2004. I'm pretty sure it was Sunday because I think I had been expecting it all weekend and he finally did it on Sunday night. He was dropping me off at my apartment, and just before I went inside he smooched me! I really don't remember all the details since I was quite surprised. But I do remember this: Before he did it he said, "What would you say if I asked if I could kiss you?" And I said, "I would say no because I'd be too scared!" And then he kissed me anyway, which is why I was surprised and don't remember much about the following moments.
Another thing: One of the first things Marianne told me about Paul, before I had even met him, was that he had decided that he would only kiss the girl that he would want to marry. So you can imagine the significance of that kiss for me.


Favorite thing to do as a couple.
I joked with Paul that I was going to say "watch TV." But thankfully that's not really our favorite thing to do as a couple. We used to really like playing games together, but that has become really hard now that we have little kids who want to "participate." I guess I could say one of our favorite things to do is just talk. When it's hard to get out and do other sorts of "couple" things, we can at least just talk about stuff that's going on.

Our kids.
We have two little boys. Benjamin is 2. Rhett is 7 months old. We love them both to death. My favorite "dad" thing about him is that he is such a proud father. He loves to tell people the boys' latest developmental feats, and could go on for hours about the potential for this or that that he sees in each of them. I know that our kids will never be without a supportive dad who will be cheering for them no matter what.


His hidden talent.
I really can't think of anything hidden. He has a lot of talents that not everyone knows about but many people have seen. None of the ones I'm thinking of involve strange body talents, but when I asked Paul what his hidden talents are, he said, "I can burp on command."

His age.
He is 25 years old.

His favorite music.
He doesn't really have a favorite. He's fairly well-rounded when it comes to music. The things he doesn't like to listen to include country, rap, and heavy metal music.

His favorite pastimes.
ESPN. Dutch oven cooking. Riding his mountain bike. Camping. Constructing things with his power tools. In no particular order. I think.


Will he read this?
Oh yes. He's been dying for me to write it for a week!

I love you, Lovey!