Crayon Trouble

This morning while out riding my bike and towing my heavy boys in the trailer, I stopped at a friend's house to beg for a drink of water. We chatted for a minute and she told me about how her husband got upset with her because she was relaxing at the computer instead of cleaning up the house.

Mind you, her kids have been sick and yesterday she completely disinfected her entire house... sheets, bathrooms, everything! When we get together I usually go to her house because it is always SO clean! It actually looked better than my house this morning...

When I got home I was inspired to do a little cleaning to make my home as spotless as hers is. Since we are mostly recovered from our virus, I thought a little clean up was overdue. I cleaned up the kitchen, tidied up the upstairs, vacuumed and cleaned the toilets. While I was vacuuming I discovered this:

Apparently Jonah decided that our walls could use some more color. The sad thing is that I have no idea when exactly he colored the walls. I know it wasn't today! Hmm... I guess that goes to show you how things have been going around here!

I knew my husband would NOT be excited about this development. So I told Jonah he was going to have to clean off the wall and gave him a warm soapy washcloth.



I guess I have now reached the mothering milestone of walls colored with crayons! I had to go look up on the internet how to get the crayon off so my husband wouldn't have to get upset about it. Of all the suggestions, I tried the one with the ingredients I had at hand. Did you know that WD-40 will get crayon right off your wall?

Too bad it doesn't smell a little nicer!

Haiku Friday- My baby boy

This week it seems that little Eli is the only one at our house who isn't sick (knock on wood).

Friday evening when we were visiting my parents for our weekend bike tour in Wyoming my two-year-old Jonah came down with a fever. The fever persisted with loss of appetite so I took him to the doctor Tuesday. They did some checking and said that he didn't have appendicitis, strep, or an ear infection... which means he has a virus and they can't do ANYTHING. I hate that! The fever finally went away yesterday and now it seems he has a bit of a head cold. Poor boy.

Early Tuesday morning (we are talking 4:40 a.m. people!) I woke up with sinus congestion and pressure that was so horrible I couldn't get back to sleep. I keep hoping that it is allergies and not a cold, but the verdict is still out on that one. Ok... I probably have caught the virus because on Wednesday my husband was complaining about his stuffy nose too. *sigh*

I guess it must be the change of season sickness.

On a brighter note, Fall is here! I LOVE this time of year. The weather is perfect! Cooler at night so we can sleep with the windows open and daytime highs in the 70s. Now I can actually go outside with my kids during the day. I can wear jeans AND my hair down without getting hot and sweaty! Soon the leaves will be changing color... ahh, heaven!

Bobbleheads Ate My Money

Yesterday morning I was busy making and canning salsa in the kitchen. Eli was asleep in his crib, and my two year old was playing in the living room.

So I was up to my armpits in tomatoes, blanching them, peeling the skins off, and cutting them up when Jonah walks in to the kitchen and says "What's Jonah doing?"

Uh Oh! I thought.
That question is a dead giveaway that he is doing something he shouldn't be doing. I guess it's like his way of telling on himself.

I said, "I don't know buddy, what are you doing?"

To which he says, "Ohh! Where's Jonah's money?"

He has a jar that serves as a piggy bank and he was playing with it in the other room. When I peeked into the living room I could see that the jar was almost empty.

"Jonah, where did you put your money?" I asked him.

He gestured at one of his toys, you know the kind that pops up when you pull the lever or twist the knob? Our version of this toy is particularly obnoxious because not only do they pop up, they giggle and sing a song... AND the pop up animals have bobbleheads!


Anyway, Jonah told me that his money was "in there".

So I picked it up and gave it a shake. Clink-clank clink! Sure enough, all of Jonah's missing money was now inside the toy. I couldn't figure out how he got the money in there, let alone how to get it out!

When my husband got home from work I told him this story and he just laughed. Upon inspection we decided that Jonah probably inserted the coins in the crack behind the doors. Either that or he put the money in when the bobbleheads were up and then shut them... and the bobbleheads ATE the money. I always knew they were evil.

Honey Daddy managed to get the coins out by turning the toy upside down, giggling it, and repeatedly opening and shutting the doors (to much giggling and fanfare, which cracked me up!). Eventually the bobbleheads coughed up all the money.

Maybe I'll have to put that toy out of reach somewhere. Who knows what the bobbleheads will get hungry for next?

Make your own hair clips

You have probably all seen the adorable hair clips they are selling in online boutiques nowadays. They can cost from $4 to $7 or more, plus shipping.

Why buy these clips when it is so EASY (and less expensive) to make your own? All you need are some basic supplies and a little imagination and you can come up with your own adorable clips for your girls to wear (or in my case, your sister's girls or your friend's girls :o).

Aren't these hair clips great?!










One of my friends asked me how I made my clips, so I went to her house and we did a little workshop. I'm telling you anyone can make clips like these. Here are the detailed instructions if you are interested.

Materials Needed:

Ribbon
Buttons, flowers, beads, and other embellishments
Aleenes Tacky Glue
Hot glue gun & glue
Metal double prong clips (I got a box of 100 at Sally Beauty Supply for about 5 bucks)







Instructions:

First cut your ribbon. To measure the length of ribbon, start with the ribbon in the clip and wrap it around the top, over the prongs and around to the back side. You want the clip to look like this when you are done:

Use a lighter to burn the edges of the ribbon so it won't fray.

Next use the Aleene's Tacky glue to attach the ribbon to the clip. Start on the inside of the clip and work your way around. (You could use hot glue for this step if you are really talented. I found that I could not get the ribbon into place before the hot glue dried. Aleene's glue takes a little while to dry, but the ribbon stays put!)


You can use your extra clips to hold the ribbon in place while the glue dries. I usually put ribbon on all the clips that I plan to do at the same time. Then when you finish with the last one, the first clip you did is usually dry.



You can leave the clips plain, but why? Now comes the fun and creative part! Use hot glue to attach ribbons, flowers and anything else you would like to make your clips adorable. You can find nice inexpensive embellishments at your local craft store, or even the craft section of Wal-Mart. It is also relatively simple to make a bow with extra ribbon. Think out of the box and have fun!

If you would like, you can also glue a little rectangle of craft foam (or even shelf liner) on the inside of your clip (on top of the ribbon). You can buy a large sheet of white craft foam for next to nothing and then cut it up and use it as you need it. My sister does this to make the clips stay in fine hair better.


You will be amazed at how quickly you get the hang of it and can make your own adorable hair clips... for a lot less money!

Rock the CASVAR!

Wahoo! I have successfully completed my first ever bicycle tour!

Friday we drove up to Star Valley, Wyoming to spend the night before our ride at my parent's house. We were all ready for the next day. We had our bike clothing, energy bars, Gatorade, our bikes were all ready... I guess the only thing we weren't ready for was this:

When we got up in the morning it was COLD! I am talking about 35 degrees! We decided to wait for an hour to see if it got any better (you could start whenever you wanted as long as you could finish in time). The weather warmed up a bit, but it was still windy. We got tired of waiting (I was ready to go, go, go!) and decided to head to the start.

Check out that bicycle chick!

We got to the starting point and went to check in. I was in for quite a surprise... it seems that they had to change the routes a little bit from what we had expected. My husband's ride would be pretty much the same distance, but my ride was going to be 45 miles instead of 38! My thoughts were along the lines of... "WHAT?! You've got to be kidding me!" My face probably looked something like this -> ->

But after you've gone 38 miles, what's couple more right? At least that's what I had to tell myself! So we took our bikes off the rack and got ready to go.

My husband decided to ride with me until our routes split up. I really appreciated that, especially since I knew I would be slowing him down a little bit. What a guy!

Ready? Set...

GO!

The very first part of the ride was the hardest. For the first 11 miles the headwind was awful and it was a bit cold. By the time we hit the first rest stop I was plenty warm, let me tell you! So we shed our jackets and continued on.

After the first stop I really started enjoy the ride. Honey Daddy and I were cruising along around 20 miles per hour and it was awesome! I LOVE my new bike. It makes cycling a lot more fun! My husband and I probably looked like and advertisement for Trek with our new bikes. His is a 2009 Trek 2.1 and mine is a 2009 Trek 1.2. (Wahoo Trek!).

They had plenty of places for us to stop, refuel our bodies, or use the restroom. Before I knew it we had gone 30 miles and it was time for us to split up. I gave my honey a big kiss and told him I would come find him after I had finished.

On my way to the finish I caught up with my dad, who had started before we did. He was also doing the 45 mile ride. I would have stayed with him, but he told me to go on and finish. So I went to the finish and was the first one there from my family!

I got to watch both of my parents finish their rides. My dad finished the 45 mile ride, even though one of his legs was bothering him. My mom managed the 25 mile ride. I was really proud of them both!












I kind of wish someone had been there to see me finish! In any case, I was especially proud of myself. In 2 hours and 32 minutes (not counting stops) I went about 41 miles!! (I somehow missed a four mile detour that was only for my route) That is the longest I have ever cycled.

Then I went and found my husband. He was doing really well and had about 25 miles or so to go. I played leapfrog in the car with him and got some really nice pictures of him.

Can you believe that he went about 81 miles on his first bike tour? It took him about 4 hours 31 minutes of pedaling (not including stops). My husband is amazing! I am SO proud of him.

We had a great time on our first bike tour. The amazing thing is that neither of us is really sore! I guess we're in better shape than we thought! Don't get me wrong, I can tell I used my muscles a lot, but I don't feel stiff at all!

We are already planning for our next bike tour. We are going to do one in Heber Valley on my birthday (September 27th). This time I think my husband and I will do the metric century ride together (that's a little over 65 miles). My parents will probably participate too.

Are we crazy or what?

Anticipation

Anticipation
Tomorrow is the big day
I must be insane

Beautiful new bike
Road stretching out before me
On my first bike tour

I won't be alone
Honey Daddy rides with me
And my parents too!

Anticipation
Miles to go before I sleep
Many, many miles.

This is it! Tomorrow is the Cycling Association of Star Valley's Annual Ride (CASVAR). I am going to ride 38 miles on my new bike (the farthest I have gone so far is about 22 miles). My husband is more buff than I am, so he is going to ride 85 miles. We are both slightly crazy because we think it should be a lot of fun!

Wish me luck!

Afternoon Delight

It is 2:15 p.m. and I just got out of the shower.

The shower was lovely... until I reached out to get my towel and remembered that I just put them in the washer. Drat! So I tiptoed across the bathroom, dripping along as I went to get fresh towels. I can't tell you how many times I do that to myself.

My two boys are in their beds asleep. The house is blissfully quiet. Almost as quiet as it was at 5:30 a.m. when I was getting dressed for my morning bike ride. Except now there is the occasional sound of neighborhood children and cars driving by.

The peaches I canned this morning are sitting out on the back porch... beautiful. At the moment I will ignore the fact that there are five times as many peaches still on the tree, not quite ripe. Next week they will become jam.

One load of laundry is hanging on the clothesline above the peaches. Another load (with towels in it!) is in the washer, waiting for its turn to dance with the breeze. Maybe I will do one more load today... later.

For now I get to relax and do whatever I want. I think I'll go read some blogs, drink a Diet Coke, and maybe work on cutting some fabric for Jonah's quilt. It is only my second pieced quilt, so it's still fun for me. I hope to finish before it snows.

All too soon the baby will wake up, needing to be fed. So I'm off to enjoy MY time.

I Have Not Lost My Mind OR My Keys!

I was right all along! I didn't lose my car keys... they were in fact stolen and then hidden from me.

How did I figure this out, you ask? Well, the culprit not only returned to the scene of the crime, he tried to become a repeat offender!

For the past week I have been using our spare set of keys because mine were just gone. I cleaned and searched the entire house. I was SO annoyed because I may misplace my keys occasionally, but they always turn up after an hour or so. I was convinced that some sticky little fingers ran off with them.

My suspicions were confirmed yesterday. I came home from an errand with the boys. When we got in the house I set the spare keys down on the table and picked up the laptop. My two-year old was just reading books and playing with his toys. The next thing I know, he comes up to me and says, "Where's mommy's keys?"

At first I thought he meant MY car keys... the lost ones. This question has been asked a lot at our house the past six days. Then my eyes turned to the spot I left the spare keys and sure enough, they were gone!

"Jonah, No! Give mommy back her keys, NOW."

His eyes widen as he realizes that I am serious. So he walks around the coffee table and I follow him. There are the spare keys, inserted between the lid and the base of the coffee table.

In a flash I know where MY car keys are. I completely forgot that our coffee table opens up! There is a small spot underneath where you can store remotes, magazines, etc. We never open it up... but apparently my two-year-old is smart enough to figure it out by himself because when I lifted the lid, there were my keys!

I was SO relieved... not only that I had found my keys, but that I had never really lost them in the first place! I was starting to feel like such an idiot.

Needless to say, now I don't plan to EVER leave my keys where little hands can get them. Who knows where they could end up the next time?

Marriage 101

The past week has been one disaster after another. Last Friday we got a statement in the mail saying the insurance company denied an $880 claim. So I got to fret about that all weekend before calling on Monday and confirming that it was THEIR mistake, not mine.

Then after running errands and taking my two-year-old to play-group, I lost my car keys... and I still haven't found them (even after cleaning the entire house this weekend). It's been driving me crazy!

Then this Friday we got our cell phone bill, which was $232! Honey Daddy and I both about fell over. Apparently we had somehow gone 300 minutes over, even though we NEVER do that. Go figure. So I got to call them and work things out there.

Then Absolutely Bananas posted that the topic for this Monday's post was "marriage in real life" and I was thinking... it doesn't get any more real than this! Sometimes it seems Honey Daddy and I are riding through one mini-disaster after another... luckily we have each other and a little bit of humor to keep us sane.

I knew before I met Honey Daddy that marriage wasn't all roses and sunshine. That said, I think there are some things that didn't really penetrate my brain until AFTER I got married.

1. YOU will have to decide "What's for dinner?" at least 350+ days per year. Prepare to think about it a lot and then eat a lot of the same things over and over.

Tell me, oh refrigerator, what's for dinner?

2. Phone calls (related to billing problems, scheduling appointments, etc.) will most likely be made by YOU.

3. It is amazing to find someone who tells you that you are beautiful, even when you have serious bedhead, morning breath, and absolutely no makeup on.

What a guy!

4. Guess who gets to do the laundry (including ironing!) for you, your spouse, and children? That's right... YOU.

5. There is something magical about having someone know you well enough to know that doing the ironing for you is a great way to say I love you.

6. Your husband probably won't get you what you want for Chrismas/birthdays unless you tell him EXACTLY what it is you want. (But then again, sometimes he may surprise you with the perfect present.)

Surprise! He got me an early birthday present last week!

7. Children tend to cry (a lot), spit up, throw up, throw tantrums, throw toys, break things, make messes, etc. The person who gets to deal with most of this is YOU.


8. Knowing that somebody loves you...even when you ruin dinner, lose your keys, lose your patience, or go a little crazy occasionally.

9. Guess who gets to do the majority of the cleaning (including bathrooms)? That's right... YOU.


10. Not everyone shows love in the same way. His way of showing he loves you may not include flowers, letters, love songs, etc. (Instead it may be taking care of the cars, shoveling the driveway, taking care of the yard, etc.)


11. Did you realize that being pregnant is not fun... and neither is labor and delivery... or the first couple of weeks at home with a new baby?


12. You can discover new things that you enjoy doing together, even after you've been married for five years (or more!).

Key-words

Have you seen my keys?
No? Well I haven't either!
I've searched everywhere

The last time I remember using my car keys was Tuesday when we went to playgroup in the park. Wednesday I didn't need to go anywhere so I didn't think about it. Yesterday I wanted to go grocery shopping... no keys. I have searched EVERYWHERE. I checked all the usual locations (diaper bag, counters, pants, couches) as well as the ridiculous ones (refrigerator anyone?). It is SO frustrating!

I think I searched for over an hour yesterday while "tidying up". Then my husband looked when he got home... no keys. Honey Daddy came up with a spare set of keys for me to use today, but it still drives me crazy that mine have disappeared.

I am a little afraid that my little boy ran off with them... or put them in the garbage. Who knows? Apparently I have also been reading "Green Eggs and Ham" too much recently because this is what has been running through my mind this morning:

I could not see them on their hook
I could not see them by my book
I did not find them on the stairs
I did not find them on the chairs
I could not find them here or there
I could not find them anywhere!
It seems my keys are on the lam
I am frustrated, yes I am!

There you go. A double dose of poetry today.
Let me know if you find my keys, ok?

Swim with the duckies

Swimming Pool Saga

This summer as the temperatures have climbed up into the nineties we have been playing in the sprinklers quite a bit. More often than not, Jonah ends up picking up the sprinkler and walking around with it pointed away from him.

He acts more like he is watering the lawn than trying to get wet and cool off. I finally decided that he didn't like getting water splashed in his face. So last month I started to look for a little swimming pool.

Apparently even though it was blazing hot outside, the buying season for swimming pools in Utah is OVER. Everywhere I looked they either had absolutely no pools, or some lame ones on clearance.

I was completely disgusted. All I wanted was a little pool for my boy to play in. I checked at all the logical places... Wal-Mart, Shopko, K-Mart, Target, etc. No swimming pools.

So I was telling my mom about the utter lack of pools and asked her to look and see if they still had pools at the stores there in Wyoming. She called me back to ask me WHAT KIND OF POOL I WANTED! Apparently there were about 6 different kinds of pools at the store there. Who knew that Wyoming was the place to look if you want a swimming pool?

Doesn't make sense to me, but then again neither does selling Halloween decorations at the beginning of August and all the stores are doing that... so, whatever!

At any rate, Jonah and I have been having a blast playing in the pool. We have been splashing, playing "Ring around the Rosies" and swimming like fishies. Wanna come over for a pool party?

Cooking Catastrophes: Mac & Cheese edition

I love to cook. No, that's not really true... I love to bake. Anyone who wants to can cook dinner and I will bake dessert, ok?

I have had my share of cooking faux pas... like the time I was going to double the cookie recipe so I put in twice the amount of butter called for an then forgot to double everything else. It wasn't until the cookies turned out flatter than pancakes and slightly oily-looking that I figured out my mistake, and by then what can you do?

My most notable cooking catastrophe was the time I messed up the Mac & Cheese. I know you are thinking, "How do you mess up boxed pasta??" Well, I'll tell you...

My new husband and I we were both still in college, so we weren't exactly raking in the dough. I was new to the whole concept of having to come up with dinner EVERY night and having someone else eat my concoctions with me. One particular night I couldn't think of anything good to make for dinner.

Tentatively I ask, "Love, is it ok if we just have Mac & Cheese for dinner?"

"Sure." he replies.

Awesome... good man! I thought.

So I got down to business. I followed the directions and everything... I boiled the noodles the right amount of time, drained them, and then added the milk, butter, and cheese powder (Yum-O, right?).

My downfall occurred when I tried to get FANCY with the Mac & Cheese.

Mac & Cheese is SO boring... There has to be SOMETHING I can add to make it a little tastier. Hmm... oh! I know, season salt!

Not a bad idea, right? What I neglected to remember is that the taste of salt becomes stronger as food cools down. So the Mac & Cheese tasted fine when I added the season salt, but by the time I got it into the bowls and on the table it had cooled down quite a bit.

As we sit at the table I take a bite of my "gourmet" Mac & Cheese and nearly gag.

"So what do you think?" I ask.

"It's... um, interesting. What did you add to it?" He replies.

"Season salt... It's awful, isn't it?!" I said, letting him off the hook. We both started to laugh.

At first I was terribly embarrassed because WHO on earth can't cook Mac & Cheese? My attempt at creative cooking for my new husband had completely backfired.

But it we both got a really good laugh about it because it was so ridiculous. Honey Daddy teased me about that one for a LONG time. He told me that I wasn't allowed to make Mac & Cheese unsupervised. Hey, at least I didn't BURN it, right?

Apparently even thinking about cooking catastrophes can throw you off-kilter. I was thinking about writing this post yesterday afternoon while making bread. While the bread was raising I remembered that I forgot to ADD the salt that the recipe called for. Oh well! I guess maybe I have finally achieved some sort of cosmic saline balance or something. I just hope the bread is still edible!

Olympic Oblivion

So did you realize that the Olympics in Beijing have already started? Me too... um, as of yesterday when we went out to eat at Chili's and it was on every flat screen in the place!

We got there as they were playing beach volleyball and I asked my husband "what are we watching?" He looked at me like I was a little crazy and said "the Olympics". I didn't want to look like a total idiot so I said, "Oh! That's what I thought... just checking", even though I hadn't a clue. He then proceeded to tell me that he recorded the opening ceremonies on the computer the previous evening so we can watch it later. I smiled and nodded as though that was exactly what I had hoped he was going to do.

Am I the only clueless one here? I knew that the Olympics were in Beijing this year, but somehow I never acquired the "when" of the whole thing in my busy brain. I guess I kind of live in my own little bubble. We don't watch tons of TV at our house, especially in the summer because there is NOTHING on. I keep pretty busy just keeping up with my boys and everything I need to get done!

Anyway... the Olympics are happening... RIGHT NOW! I think I am going to go watch some swimming, volleyball, and cycling. They are some of my favorites. We will probably end up catching up on some Leno too. My husband has been recording The Tonight Show (among other things) so we don't have to stay up late and watch it. I think we have about two months worth of shows that we haven't gotten to yet! At least he edits out the commercials, so it will take us less time to watch them!

So get a clue and go watch the Olympics, will ya?

Cloud Watching

cool summer breezes
tickle toes and the green grass
as we watch the sky

little blonde-haired boy
his head on mommy's shoulder
blue eyes on the clouds

look! there's a fishy
swimming there with the airplanes
high up in the blue

his eyes scan the sky
not fishy! I see tractors!
that's my little boy

he scampers away
and plays oh so busily
while life hurries on

*Inspiration: I was laying outside on a blanket with my baby boy while my toddler played in the sandbox with his trucks, tractors, etc.; unexpectedly my boy came and lay down next to me and we shared a nice little moment.

2009 Trek 2.1

Today's THE day!
Honey Daddy's new road bike has arrived. It is a brand new (next year's model!) Trek 2.1 and I think it is gorgeous, don't you?

These are probably some of the first pictures of this bike on the internet. I know we couldn't find any photos when we looked because the bike hasn't officially been released yet!

When he got the news, Honey Daddy rode his old roadie home as fast as he could. We dashed over to the bike shop and they adjusted everything for him. Unfortunately as soon as we got home I had to go to work, so he is watching the boys and can't even go out and ride it yet! I guess we'll see how fast his new bike is when he rides it to work tomorrow morning.

I am sure it will be super-fast because the old roadie he was riding weighed 30 pounds, and his new bike weighs 21 pounds with all the extras attached. I think that he will really enjoy this new bike. I think it's sweet!

Addicted to Foreign Goldfish

Earlier this week my boys and I went to visit my friend Stacy and her son. The boys had a great time playing with their GeoTrax train set. I am trying to decide between those tracks and the wooden ones, but that is not what this post is about.

Anywho, Stacy's brother (or brother-in-law, or some such male relative) works for Pepperidge Farms so she told me she could get a good deal on goldfish crackers. We like goldfishes now and then, so I said that would be great. Then she pulled out a box of giant goldfish like the one pictured here and asked me if I had ever had any.

I was intrigued, so I tried one. They were really good! She told me that they don't sell them in the U.S. because they weren't popular here. Apparently they only sell them in Canada.

So she gave me a box to take home. I have to tell you that my son and I finished off the box yesterday... which was about 48 hours after we got them! Jonah loves them, but the worst part is that I love them too!

Now what I am supposed to do? I am addicted to foreign goldfish.

Spider in My Towel, Lizard in My Tub

Why is it that creepy things always happen to me when I am naked? Um... nevermind. That didn't come out right (sorry Honey!)

Anyway, the other day after my morning bike ride and getting the boys breakfast I decided it was time to take a shower. Luckily my two-year old is pretty well behaved, so I can shower while he is awake without fear of getting out and finding the house destroyed.

So I took a lovely relaxing shower. I turned off the water and opened the curtain, relieved to hear that no one is crying or unhappy. I reached for my hair towel on the rack and started to open it up. That's when I saw the HUGE spider. Ok, it probably wasn't any bigger than normal... maybe it just seems that way when you are naked and vulnerable.

Now my normal reaction would be to scream and fling the towel as far away from me as possible. However, I really didn't want to freak out my little boy or pass on my phobias. So I quickly dropped the towel on the floor. Then I called for Jonah to bring me a shoe.

I am standing in the shower, unable to get out of the tub because I don't want to get anywhere NEAR that spider. Jonah brings me the shoe and I squash the living daylights out of that spider, pick it up with a tissue and put it in the trash. I almost felt like I needed to take another shower, but instead I got new towels and put the ones on the rack in the wash. I just couldn't stand the thought of little spider legs crawling all over my towels... *shudder*

This incident reminded me of a time just after I had gotten married a little over five years ago. We were living in Tucson, which has all sorts of interesting fauna. This time I was just about to get into the shower in our little one bedroom apartment. I pulled back the curtain and stepped inside. As I reached to turn on the water I spotted it; there was a lizard skulking around in the bottom of the tub.

I had a very different reaction at the time; I screamed and yelled at my new husband to come quickly. I don't know what he thought was wrong, but I can imagine it was pretty funny when he saw me standing there outside the tub, naked, pointing out the lizard in the tub. He told me it was just a little lizard, then he picked it up and carried it outside. I promptly got in the tub and soaped away the itchy twitchy feeling going up and down my skin.

What can I say? I just can't handle creepy crawly things... especially when I am nude.

10 Things I've Learned from My Boys

I grew up in a house full of girls. Now that I am raising two little boys, I have found that I am learning a lot about the differences between girls and boys.

1. Everyone should have a best friend.


2. Boys' eyelashes will ALWAYS be longer than girls... and no, it's not fair.


3. Vehicles of any kind are WAY more interesting than dolls. You should know the name of ALL different types of vehicles and where it fits on the "Look Mommy!" hierarchy.

Trains/Airplanes
Emergency Vehicles
Large Transport Vehicles
Construction Equipment
Farm Equipment
Motorcycles
Trucks/Cars
*this list subject to change at any time*

4. Boy + playing outside = dirty boy

5. You can never have to many CARS (or trucks, planes, etc... see #3)


6. Can we build it? YES WE CAN!
Can we clean it? Huh? You talking to me?


7. Work hard, play hard!

8. It's OK to take a Nap.


9. Always weigh yourself when naked. You'll feel better afterward.


10. Regardless of what the scale says, Enjoy your food!