Valentine's Day

I know most of you had a wonderful day full of love and cards, candy and flowers. Not me. I did have the love part, but none of the traditional valentine's kind. My day was kind of a downer (to no fault of Rob's). Ben has had an ear infection for the last two weeks and since he has tubes that means his ear is a constant drain. Well, on Wednesday it started bleeding and I had to take him in to the doctor yesterday. The kids were running amuck and being soooo loud in the doctors office. The doc, who was wonderful with the kids, turns to me and says, "I never know whether to blame the parents or the kids". Thanks, buddy. The kids were just on one. The climate of how my day runs is determined by Noah. If he wants to be nice, then all the kids are nice. If he decides to instigate, then the day is a shambled mess. Any advice? So, one nice thing was that the boys somewhat let me have down time while Isabella slept. I popped in a movie and they were relatively quiet. I had to pick up Ben's prescriptions at the hospital after her nap and that means more sitting in a quiet place with sick people all around. They were okay in my book, but people around me were sure having a fun time laughing at us. I always catch attention when I go out with all of them. Rob came home from his CE course in San Diego after that for some much needed R & R for me. He is so productive. He got the kids to clean up the tornado that swept through the living room and then we all had a nice dinner together. He had an important home teaching appointment last night so he was off and I had to deal with getting Ben to take his first dose of amoxicillian all by myself. He was so tired and cranky, but I did it. As soon as the kids were down, Rob came home, finished a table presentation that he had to do while I read The Kite Runner. Our romantic evening was topped off while we folded this gigantic pile of laundry together while watching Survivor.

There were actually two more loads than this. We then fell asleep reading together in bed. Ah, romance. It was my fault as much as Rob's for not planning a smashing evening. To my credit, though, we did just have a great birthday last month and we are going dancing on Saturday night at a ward valentine's party. Sometimes feeling loved is being comfortable just being yourself. Oh, and Rob got up at 6am to do the enormous pile of dishes this morning. That's the best valentines day present I could ask for. I love you babe!

Wii Champion

We have found Ben's next talent. He's a professional Wii bowler. Rob's brother, Justin, let us borrow his Wii until Amy's wedding in March. Sooooo nice. Anyway, it's been fun to play a round of Wii bowling before bedtime. At first Ben couldn't figure out how to work the remote, but was insistent upon "doing it all by myself". Well, he has figured it out indeed. The last time we played he bowled a 209. Rob was the 157 and Noah was the 77. We were so proud. Although, I do have to put a plug in for myself. I bowled 203 right after this. However, no one has been able to beat Ben's 209. Way to go kid!

Books

So, I just finished reading all the recommend books that people have given me and I need a new read. What do I like you ask? Well, I am relatively new to the enjoyable, hobby reading world so I'm still fine tuning my likes/dislikes. Here are the books I have read lately and what I thought of them.
A Kite Runner is the book I finished last night and, like A Thousand Splendid Suns, it was haunting. I loved both books, but I think I need something a bit lighter next time. If you haven't read these, you must. They take place in Afghanistan over the last 40 years and it is astounding to hear about the atrocities that are happening there. It has also helped me understand the war and why it is so important to stop the Taliban.


I do love John Grisham and all his courtroom tales. There really isn't a Grisham book I don't like. I know I haven't read them all so I can get my fix again sometime. Maybe it's the wanna-be lawyer in me. I've wanted to go to law school for a long time. Anyhow, something like The Rainmaker are the type of books I really like.

Then there are the Stephanie Meyer series of Eclipse, New Moon and Twilight. This is a huge rave, especially in the LDS community and every girl seems to be in love with Edward. Not me. I thought the series was okay and I'm sure I'll read the next one scheduled to come out in August '08, but it was a bit too fairy tale/unrealistic for me. The lawyer in me wants truth and facts, mixed in with a bit of fiction. This series is too far fetched for me. I know I have offended some Bella/Edward/Jacob lovers out there, but that's my opinion and this is my blog. So if you can recommend something UNLIKE this then I am all ears.



So, has anyone read a good book lately that they want to share? I love getting into something that I just can't put down and that I would rather read than sleep for. Suggestions?

I've been tagged...

All of us bloggers have had it happened to us at least once. Here is my latest "tag" from my cousin-in-law (that's sounds funny, Katie!)

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B: Each player answers the questions about themselves. C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 YEARS AGO TODAY

I was 21 and a senior in college getting ready to graduate and unable to shake the unmistakable feeling that I was supposed to serve a mission for my church. This went against everything I wanted at the time, but I knew the Lord needed me to be at Temple Square and that obedience has forever shaped my life. I was student teaching and had just moved out of the dorms where I had lived for 3 1/2 years and moved in with my best friend, Melissa Walker. She was getting married soon and I would then live with a chiropracter friend, Sheila, until graduation. It was fun having my first apartment and getting excited about life after college.

5 THINGS ON MY TO-DO LIST TODAY (WEDNESDAY)

1. Make sure someone is teaching at MRE today (it's a church thing...once a week our ward has a military enrichment. Other sisters come and babysit our kids, feed us lunch, have a lesson and then, mostly, just chatting. There is always something fun we learn like sewing, cooking, scrapbooking, crafts, etc). I will really miss that in this ward.
2. Get my dad's 80th birthday present while down in San Diego tomorrow and ship it off so he gets in by Monday.
3. Make sure Ben isn't freaking out during his doctor appointment in San Diego tomorrow.
4. Get my TB shot checked out (got all my shots for Okinawa yesterday)
5. Drop my taxes off at the free tax prep place on base

5 THINGS I ENJOY

1. 7pm- when the kids are all asleep and I have "me" time or "me and Rob" time.
2. My hobbies--quilting, reading, Internet surfing and running
3. Spending time with Rob. There is nothing more precious to me.
4. Taking walks on the beach as a family.
5. Calling home

WHAT WOULD I DO IF I WERE SUDDENLY A BILLIONAIRE

1. Pay off student loans
2. Buy a second car
3. Buy some new clothes. Every single pair of jeans I own has a hole in them.
4. Hire a housekeeper and cook
5. Travel

3 OF MY BAD HABITS

1. I'm bossy
2. I'm a horrible housekeeper
3. I spend too much time on the computer

5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1. East Aurora, NY
2. Hiram, OH
3. Salt Lake City, UT (including Provo and Sandy too)
4. Prineville, OR
5. Cleveland Heights, OH
(although, I've recently realized that I've lived in 13 different apartment/houses over the past 10 years, NOT counting different places on my mission)

5 JOBS I'VE HAD

1. Driver for the transportation department at Hiram College (yeah, I was the person standing with a little sign at the airport)
2. Manager at Kaplan Test Prep (where I met Rob)
3. Dance assistant
4. Office assistant in the Student Life office at Hiram College
5. Client Manager at iAccess (a CD replication company)

5 THINGS PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME

1. I can't grow out my fingernails to save my life. I've tried. They always break before they get pretty.
2. I have to eat in order to think straight. If Mama ain't fed, no one is happy.
3. I always do to our taxes every year, but I don't do anything else with our finances (checkbook balancing, etc). I always mess it up.
4. I never knew either of my grandfathers. They both died before I was born.
5. When I was 2 years old, I would take off my diaper and spread the poop all over the wall (like fingerpainting). Disgusting, I know. I think I would seriously kill Isabella if she did that on a regular basis. What does that mean about me in Freudian terms?

3 PEOPLE I TAG

1. Shelly Bennion
2. Julianna Viegas-Haws
3. Angela Wilpula

Get Ready For The Storm

For some unknown reason, Rob Tivo'd Gladiators the other night. A highly entertaining piece of footage. At any rate, he thought he'd teach the kids some "manly" moves. They are supposed to be saying, "Meet Thunder, meet Lightening, get ready for the Storm."

Listos, Tarzan and Henry Weinharts

I've taken a bunch of pictures over the last week and finally decided to post them. The first few pics are of the boys playing their new favorite game...Tarzan. Tarzan's Treehouse at Disneyland is one of their favorite "rides." They decided they needed to strip down to their skivies in order to play this properly including jumping off the couch into the vines of the jungle. Next, they fell asleep on the couch together....a rare moment of peace. Third, Rob is teaching them the fine art of drinking Henry Weinharts rootbeer. They had a hard time grasping the concept of letting a little air in the top of the bottle so it wouldn't all come up after your sip. Lastly is a little unknown place in Oceanside called Listos (means something in Spanish that I can't remember). It's funded by the Oceanside School District for kids 0-5 years old. It reminds me so much of the Heights Parents Center in Cleveland (which we frequented OFTEN), but it doesn't have as great of a staff and it also has lots of money to put into it. They have about 20 different stations with everything from arts and crafts to dress up to painting to books to tea party and so on. The amazing thing is that they change these 20 stations WEEKLY! That's right. Every week is a new theme. This week it was Castles and the boys had so much fun with it. Next week it's Valentines Day. They've had diversity, Chinese New Year, stars, etc. So cool. It's open for drop in play from 9-3 daily. Anyone in the area should definitely check it out because it's FREE!!!! Enjoy.

Misc video of stuff

Hey All!
My mom was asking for some video of the kids, so here it is. It's a bunch of misc stuff from over the past two months. The first bit is Noah quizzing Ben on the content of some flashcards. I love how he gives hints when Ben isn't sure what something is. Second is Noah getting down with the newly discovered Wiggles guitar that we found in our garage. Third, there is a bunch of video from our Christmas visit to NY to visit my parents. Ben's birthday, sledding and a visit to the bounce houses are included. This is about 10 minutes long and, really, I think only my family will find entertaining. Grab some popcorn and enjoy.