'Ot. Paaah.

It seems like the only exciting things that happen around here involve minor injuries.

Start with yesterday morning: the boys and I were on our way downstairs for breakfast. Drew had made it down two or three steps, so he had about 10 to go. Our cat decided it would be fun to attack Drew's head (which Drew usually finds funny), catching him off guard, throwing off his balance, and sending him rolling down the remainder of the stairs. I wasn't able to get between him and the bottom, so I just had to chase him down and scoop him up when he stopped rolling. He was pretty shaken up (literally), but not actually hurt.

Our afternoon went pretty well, as did most of the evening. We were sitting in the play room reading books, when suddenly my newly enhanced sense of smell* kicked in. Is someone baking a doll? I looked around, and there was our laundry basket, pushed up against the baseboard heater, slowly melting away. So I moved it, glad that I had caught it before it started some kind of fire. I went back to reading with Drew, when Owen started crying. I looked at him, and there he was by that nasty heater, holding his little fingers and saying, "'Ot." (He doesn't do the letter 'h' I guess.) So I picked him up and gave his fingers a little kiss and he blew on them, paaah, paaah, and he was fine.

Now that I think about it, there's more exciting stuff going on than injuries (well, it's exciting for me...'cause I'm the mom...). Last Saturday, David and I left the boys at Grandpa's and went to Salt Lake to watch the Celtics lose to the Jazz (we didn't expect them to win, but we hoped...).

The boys had a lot of fun at their grandpa's. The first thing Owen did when he got there was grab the Christmas tin which held some popcorn. The tin is almost as big as he is, but he hauled it across the room and put it at Grandpa's feet. Then he waited. Grandpa didn't do anything, so Owen hefted the tin up onto Grandpa's lap and yelled, "More!" Who could ignore that? Grandpa obligingly opened the tin so Owen and Drew could dig in.

At dinner time, the boys got pizza, cut into bite size pieces. I guess they just had the pieces on napkins, but that was too uncivilized for Drew. He grabbed a little toy plate, the kind that comes with a kid's tea set, piled all his pizza onto it, and ate off of that.

It's just fun to watch the little things that they learn; things that I've been doing for a quarter of a century, but are so new to them. Fun, fun.

*more on this in a future post; today's is too long already.

How Dare You Give Me a Pretzel?!

Sometimes I have to try so hard not to bust out laughing at Drew; especially when he's having a tantrum for reasons that are beyond me. A lot of times, I can understand why he gets upset; he's just little, he can't help himself to things, he can't walk or talk, can't tell me what he needs and I sometimes don't understand his clues. That can be frustrating. But we deal with the issues as well as we can without too much of an outburst from anyone*.

This afternoon's tantrum, however, seemed a little bit unwarranted to me. The boys and I were having a little snack before nap time. We had some juice and graham crackers, and I decided I needed some salt (what American doesn't need more salt in their diet? most of us...), so I busted out some pretzel sticks. I gave a few to Owen. He was grateful and made some cute eating noises: mmm.mmmm. I handed a few to Drew. He proceeded to throw his sippy cup on the floor, get on his hands and knees, and kick the dishwasher. Oh, and scream. And scream, and scream and scream.

I was stunned. I didn't know what to do for a minute, so I just laughed. Then I came to my senses and decided I didn't want to put up with these kinds of tantrums, so I put the sippy cup in the fridge, grabbed the flailing Drew and put him in his crib. He screamed for about five minutes more, but he's asleep now. I think that's really what he needed.

*3 out of 10 major outbursts have been avoided.

Drew's a tough kid to deal with sometimes. I try not to give him his way if he's having a tantrum, but a lot of times he's tantruming over things I was going to do for him anyway... Like, when I'm serving breakfast, he screams until he gets his food. I don't want to withhold food, because he does need to eat, but I don't want him to think I'm rewarding him either. It's just that I was already going to feed him. Any suggestions from people who've been through this would be great.

*Untitled*

This will be a boring post, not even deserving of a title. I just wanted everyone to know I'm still out here...

The past week seemed to drag on and on. I've been a little un-well lately; just not feeling up to snuff, so it's very hard to be motivated to do anything.

We did get out of the house on Saturday, which was nice. We went to the Simplot Games, which are Track and Field events. The best high school athletes in the country come to our tiny town and compete. I was amazed at how fast they were. And the girls shot put throwers were awesome, too. We didn't get there in time to watch, but I heard the awards ceremony. The girl who got 6th place threw the shot (put the shot?) 39 feet 6 inches. When I did shot put in high school*, I used to get 2nd or 3rd in our local meets, and my personal best was 31 feet. And if I remember correctly, the girl who won state threw around 41 feet. The girl who won the Simplot games? 49 feet, 11.5 inches. Incredible.

Well, that was the highlight of my week, other than the little electronic keyboards the boys got from Grandpa. But I have to have something to write about tomorrow, so I'll save that story.

*Shotput was my "just for fun" sport, especially since I wasn't very good. Diving is the love of my life. And would you believe it? There is not one diving board in our town. Not one. The closest one is 30 miles away.

I Need a Vacation

...You might, too, after reading this.

For some reason, I always come home from a vacation feeling like I need a vacation. I think it has something to do with packing too much fun into too little time. Next time we go somewhere, I think I'd like to go to the beach where I can lay there and do nothing. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

But the Vegas vacation was fun. Here are some of the details:

Friday:

~We dropped the boys off at Grandpa's and headed to the airport. We arrived two hours early, as requested, got our tickets, left for some breakfast, went back to the airport, went through security, and waited 1 1/2 hours to board the plane. It's a very small airport; I really don't know why we needed to be there so early. I had my first experience with air-sickness. I even got to use one of their special baggies. Yuck! Luckily, it was a short flight and we were soon in Vegas and on our way to Caesar's Palace,* where we enjoyed a large room with an equally large bathroom. I wish I had one like it at home.

~We were pleasantly surprised by David's sister, Jen, showing up; it was especially nice for me to have someone else there who doesn't want to just gamble the whole time. Jen also had a bad plane experience: the airlines lost her luggage on a direct flight. So ridiculous. But she finally got it back at about 2 A.M-- a mere 12 hours later.

Saturday:

~We surprised David's grandparents at the bingo hall. We sang "Happy Birthday" as they came out the doors. I thought Grandpa W. was going to cry. He said it was the best birthday ever, and the most memorable day of his life, replacing the previous winner: being circumcised at age 13.

~We just kind of bummed around casinos all day while the Aunts and Uncles gambled**. I played a few penny slots and even won $100 at a Wheel of Fortune machine. After that win, I was back in the black for the trip.

~Went to Margaritaville. I got a virgin Mango Margarita. It was delicious, apart from giving me brain freeze, and I got to keep the glass, which is about a foot tall.

~We met up with our friend Josh, who is the guy that introduced David and me. We had fun hanging out and catching up...

~In the evening, we went to Fremont Street and watched the giant TV. They put on a pretty lame show this time (I've seen better), but it was huge-- 2 blocks long and one street wide. Fremont street has a ton of musicians and artists that are always fun to watch, so that was one highlight.

Sunday:

~Got up way too early, went and played bingo with David's grandparents. I got the second bingo of the day, and won $50, which almost covered the cost of David and me playing.

~Jennifer, Max (a cousin) and I went to the Shark exhibit at Mandalay Bay. Very cool; probably the highlight of the trip for me. I decided that my second favorite animal is Jellyfish. They are weird and fascinating. I hope my pictures turn out.***

~I decided that rather than gamble away the rest of my money, I wanted some ice cream instead. But on the way to Swensen's, I saw a little kiosk with pearls for sale. For $13.99, you can open up an oyster and there's guaranteed to be a pearl inside (the oysters just come from a farm, but they're still real). So I got one. My pearl was very beautiful, and the gal at the kiosk was avery good saleswoman, so for a few extra bucks ($4o, to be precise), I had it mounted to a pendant. It's my favorite souvenir.

~We met up with a good friend of mine, Tina, who I've known since middle school (we were locker partners a gazillion years in a row). She and her husband live in Vegas, and we went out for Thai food with them.

Monday:

~We were supposed to arrive at the airport two hours early, but didn't quite make it. We spent an hour in line to go through security, and had to run to get to the plane in time to board. I made it through this flight with no incident; it helped that I slept, and did not drink any ginger ale prior to going through turbulence.

~I saw a little boy at the airport greeting a relative with a hug and a kiss, and for the first time all weekend, I really missed my boys. They were napping when we got home, and when they woke up and I went to get them, they just looked at me like, "Where have you been?" A trifle disappointing, but we've had lots of hugs and kisses since.

*David's uncle got comped a room at Caesar's, and let us stay there while they stayed at their timeshare. It was so luxurious!

** There really is so much more to do in Vegas than gamble. There are shows (clean ones!) to see: magicians, comedians, musicians; all for any price you're willing to spend, great or small. There are amusement parks, zoos, exhibits (clean ones!) . There is shopping galore, and even if you don't gamble, every casino has such incredible architecture, they're amazing to walk through and just admire. Every time we go, we say, "We should do this or that..." but we mostly just gamble. So sad...

***Would you believe we forgot our camera?? So David's uncle gave us a disposable one he'd gotten for free. I don't think the flash against the glass aquariums will make for great photography, but maybe I'll be surprised.

An Extra Week Will Do That...

My friend Madeline finally had her baby! She was induced yesterday morning and was in labor for somewhere around 24 hours or more; I'm not sure on the specifics because her husband was too tired to go into much detail (Madeline is sleeping, of course). But both Mom and Baby Girl are healthy. The baby weighs in at an astonishing 11 lbs, 1 oz. I guess she had plenty of time to grow, since she was a week late arriving! We're going to go visit later today, when everyone's feeling rested.

Tomorrow, we're off to Las Vegas for a much needed vacation! My Dad is taking Drew and Owen up to the farm to hang out. I expect them to work hard up there just like I always did-- building hay-stack forts and chasing cows is pretty tiring "work." But I imagine they'll probably spend most of their time indoors since Drew still isn't walking (I hope he starts walking before his 18-month doctor's appointment; otherwise, we have to do a bunch of "neurological tests." That sounds less than fun).

I wish I had more exciting news to report, but we're pretty boring around here lately. Hope everyone has a great weekend; I know I will!

The Housework's Wife

They say the housewife's work is never done. How true that is. Especially if you are a slacker, like me, and do the bare minimum just to get by*--like with laundry. I don't know how I got so far behind, but suddenly I've got all these hampers full of dirty clothes--I didn't even know we owned that many clothes (I haven't seen some of them for so long, I don't even remember wearing them). So for the last two days, and it will most likely continue today, I've been doing oodles of laundry. It's not too bad, thanks to the guy who invented the automatic washer and dryer, but couldn't someone come up with an automatic folder and put-awayer? That would be a lifesaver. But we have to have all our stuff done so we can have something to wear on our vacation. So if you'll all excuse me, I've got a date with the washing machine.

Here are some pictures of the boys I found. I just thought I'd share.

Right: Drew's bed-head.

Below: Owen's crown says, "I am a child of God." He helped me color it in nursery a few Sundays ago. I'm not sure what's with the tongue.

*Here's my rationalization (and I'm sticking to it): I would just rather spend time playing with Drew and Owen than folding a pile of clothes. The practical person (a.k.a. the person who doesn't have kids) would say I could fold while I watch them play, but they tend to forget about toys, preferring instead to tear apart neat little piles of clothes and throw them on the floor. So there has to be a separation of clothes and kids.

Making Some Updates

When I was in school, I would sometimes stay up til the wee hours of the morning rearranging my bedroom. I guess I get bored with things and have to reorganize. It's a nice cost-efficient way to get a new look. I haven't done that recently, because I feel like the way the floor plan of our house is set up, with the baseboard heaters, there's really only one way to set the furniture. Also, I'm not as strong as I used to be, so I couldn't just go around moving things by myself.

So instead of rearranging my house, I made some updates on my ol' bloggie. I changed my display name* and I picked a new silly question to answer in my user profile (who comes up with those questions?). I also picked a new Steven Wright quote. I might even mess around with the color scheme, except that I think I should probably get off the computer and do some laundry and sew some quilt squares. So this is my exciting post of the day.

*I have a little friend named Zach who is about 4 years old. He can't say his "er" sounds very well, so he calls me "Heathie." I kinda like it. There aren't very many good nicknames for Heather. I never really liked being called "Heathe." My dad used to call me "Creature" and i liked that (when I was little I couldn't pronounce my last name so I told everyone my name was Heather Creach. It's not really even close. And I used to spell my name "H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-R; it sounds close if you say it out loud...). Well, this is turning into a post-inside-a-post, so I'll sign off for real now. Toodles.

My Funny Nephew

My nephew, Westley, turns 2 tomorrow. Happy Birthday! They had a birthday party for him yesterday, so the boys and I drove down to Logan to share in the festivities. Drew and Owen really enjoyed the cake and ice cream. Drew made his eating noise the whole time (MmmMmmMmm). I think Westley had a lot of fun, too, but I think he got a little over-excited and overwhelmed.* He was eating his cake, and he'd just let out a big ear-splitting scream then go right on eating. His mom would say, "No screaming, Westley," and he'd look like he was sorry, then a few minutes later he'd do it again... Then, while he was opening presents, something made him mad and he screamed and flung his present across the room and yelled, "No screaming! Go to time out!" I had to try hard not to laugh; I didn't want to upset him more or have him think I was laughing at him (I was). My brother said he'd already put himself in time out earlier. I guess it didn't work. Silly, silly.

Speaking of laughing at kids, this is one of my favorite stories; I hope Laura doesn't mind if I share (I hope I get it all correct, too): Laura's little sister Kathryn used to say some very funny things (she probably still does, but I haven't seen her for a while). So one time she said something funny, not really meaning to be funny, and everyone laughed. She got pretty upset and yelled, "Everything in this family is about me!" It always cracks me up when I think of that--especially since most little kids want everything to be about them.

Well, I guess I'll sign off; we're going to head over to the in-laws for a Super Bowl "party;" I think it will be Dave, the boys and me, and Dave's uncle there, besides the in-laws. So it sounds like a rockin' good time, and I need to go get ready. Go Colts!

*Is it possible to be just plain whelmed?

No News Is Good News

...or maybe it's just boredom. I haven't had a whole lot to write about lately, hence the lack of updates on the ol' blog here. So let's see if I can scrounge up enough stories and quips to make this at all interesting.

I did go to the meeting with the personal trainer last Friday. It was really fun and she gave me a good workout routine. It consists of squats, lunges, some triceps and bicep workout techniques, some crunches and some "Supermans" (I really can't decide if that should be "Supermen"...), which are the opposite of crunches, to work my lower back. I'm supposed to do the workouts twice a week. I have done them zero times, so far. I was set to go Tuesday, but the boys have nasty colds, so I didn't want to take them to the nursery at the gym and have them get all the other kids sick. Today is my other workout day, and it's not over yet, so hopefully I will get feeling like I can go; I've been a little "under the weather" lately (I love that phrase, even though it makes no sense to me).

Tax Season is upon us which, this year, means a new mattress perhaps, or new couches. I can't decide which; we definitely need all of the above (by need, I mean want, except in the case of the mattress, which we really do need), but we'd also like to put some money back into savings. There's a furniture store in town that's having a big sale, so we'll be able to get a pretty good deal on whatever we decide to buy.

We're going to Las Vegas next weekend. I'm so excited! I'm going to put $1 in a video poker machine and draw a royal flush on the first try and win $4,000. Then I can get new couches and a new mattress! And have leftovers for savings! This is the plan, anyway. I think what will really happen is we'll get up everyday before the crack of dawn to get in line at the bingo hall; we're going for David's grandpa's birthday, and bingo is his game. And he and Grandma have to be the 5th and 7th people in line, and they have to sit at a particular table, and have a certain number of cards... I guess they're a little superstitious. But I'm looking forward to it; haven't played bingo since high school, and I don't know how long it's been since I've played with numbers instead of history dates or elements from the periodic table so it should be fun.

I guess this is enough boredom for today. I'll try to do something exciting before my next post.