Little Monkey

Annie is just about to take off walking. Right now, she's in climbing mode and manages to get everywhere she wants (wherever Cole happens to be) and into everything (whatever Cole happens to have). She is lots of fun. Here are a few pictures of the places we have found her in or stuff we have found her with lately:



We have a lot of stairs in our house and Annie could spend the whole day climbing up and down them if we would let her.


She absolutely HATES getting her diaper changed, but apparently playing in them is lots of fun.


About to take off up the stairs.


She loves the fridge. Sometimes when I make dinner, I just open it up and let her play. Is that bad? I made sure to put the eggs and anything harmful on higher shelves, so aside from being a waste of energy, I don't think it's such a bad idea.


The dishwasher is another favorite spot. She particularly likes pulling the spatulas out and playing with them.

Her current favorite is the toilet. Gross. Without going into too much detail, I'll just say that it's time for some of those obnoxious toilet locks!

endorphins

Oh how I love endorphins! Floyd and Cole were going fishing today, and I needed to go on a long run. I didn't feel like pushing Annie in the stroller for 12 miles, so I dragged myself out of bed for an early run. And it was so worth it. I love mornings, but I rarely take the chance to enjoy them. I ran in the foothills and watched the sun make it's way up over the mountains - such a great way to start the day. It really set me up for a good day.

There was one bad part - Floyd took my Ipod to work and downloaded a bunch of the music from his computer for me. It was really sweet - he has pretty good taste in music. Except for one thing - he likes Michael Buble, which I totally don't understand. Which of Floyd's musical favorites doesn't belong - the Eagles, Neil Young, Van Morrison...or Michael Buble? I do not like Michael Buble. He makes me want to pull a Van Gogh, actually a double Van Gogh so I can't hear him at all. And even if you like Michael Buble, his music is just not meant for running. Thank goodness for the skip feature.

On another note...I was tagged...about movies...(as a preface, I'm not much of a movie person)...

1. The total number of movies I own:
75, give or take a few. That's how many fit in the drawer of our entertainment center, so when we get new ones, I usually get rid of an old one we never watch (but NEVER one of Floyd's).

2. The last movie I bought:
The Land Before Time. I'm not sure which one, but between my mom and me, I think we own them all. The last movie I bought that I enjoy was The Office season 3.

3. The last movie I saw:

The Lion King, last night for movie and popcorn night. The last one I saw in a theater isn't much more exciting - Alvin and the Chipmunks. So sad.

4. Five movies that mean something to me:

1) Meet Me in St. Louis. I watch it every Christmas, and always wanted a dress just like Esther's.

2) Dumb and Dumber. Enough said.

3) BYU vs. Miami football game 1990. Not really a movie, but I have the video so it counts, right? I was at this game - for those of you who don't know, I was a crazy BYU fan as a kid. My dad, his buddy from work, and me, went to the game together and sat on the front row. Miami was ranked number 1, but BYU won 28-21. Such a happy memory for me. You can even see me cheering when BYU scores a touchdown (wearing awesome flourescent green shorts). Thanks again, Dad, that was so much fun.

4) Remember the Titans. I love a good sports film, this one is one of my favorites. I especially love the soundtrack from this show.

5) Home movies - of my kids, of me when I was a kid, and of me and my roomates in college. They are so much fun to watch.

And now, I'll tag...Kimberley, Heidi, and Lindsay.

random things

I've been tagged - this one is 7 random things about myself. Only 7? Shouldn't be too hard, I've got plenty...

1) I can't tell left from right. Well, sort of I can. I know which hand is my right hand and which hand is my left hand (wedding ring on the left, CTR ring on the right), but that's about it. I use to drive my mom crazy when I set the table. Surprisingly, I am very good at north-south-east-west.

2) Two things I didn't try until college - broccoli and "Star Wars". Brooke made me try broccoli (I LOVE it), and Rob Child made me watch "Star Wars" (it was okay).

3) I love Hot Tamales. They are probably my favorite food, and yes, they are a food and not just candy. I first had them at a 4th grade read-a-thon and have eaten a Mt. Everest size mountain of them since then.


Me at age 3 or so...

4) I can't swim. Please don't anyone ever need me to save them, I am an absolutely terrible swimmer. I failed swimming four years in row and was passed up by my little sis. I don't really float too well either, so I try to stay away from water.

5) In the 5th grade, I was a founding member of a "nerd club." Actually, we had two different nerd clubs. In one, my name was Winston Eggert Green and in the other, my name was Takie Sirtisenhanc (re-arranging the letters of my name). I'm pretty sure these clubs coincided with the Steve Urkel years (at least I hope there's at least that much explanation for it).

6) I'm right-handed and left-footed. I don't know how common or unusual that might be. The only time it's a hassle is when I go to try on shoes because my left foot is also bigger and so I have to try on a left shoe and they never have the laces done up on the left foot.

7) I have eaten ants. On purpose. When I lived in Ecuador, we went to the jungle and our tour guide told us the native people ate the ants and that they tasted like lemonade. So I tried a few. They really did taste like lemonade. But I'm pretty sure they are a different kind of ant than we have around here, so I haven't tried any since.

So there's just a few...now I will tag Karlee (because I think you should update your blog) and Emily.

i hate business trips...

Seriously. Not that Floyd travels that much, but I just really don't like it. And here's why...

1) Bedtime. It's really no big secret that my children are terrible sleepers and trying to get them asleep by myself is like playing whac-a-mole. I almost get Annie down and Cole pops into her room - over and over again. The first night Floyd was gone, it took 2 hours to get them both asleep. And then Annie woke up 1 1/2 hours after that.

2) I have to make up errands so I make sure to talk to an adult every day. The first day, we went to the dino park and I chatted with the other mothers (usually, I'm the mom that pretty much avoids eye contact). The next day, my mom and Kelli took pity on me and came to visit. Who knows what I'll come up with for tomorrow.

3) Paranoia. I'll admit it, I get so scared alone at night. It takes forever to fall asleep. Mostly I'm scared that a crazy man will break in. Usually, I sleep on my right side. But when Floyd's gone, I have to sleep facing the bedroom door (who knows why - as if seeing him 5 steps sooner would save is), which is on my left side. And I hate it - it totally reminds me of when I am pregnant and spend the night either sleeping uncomfortably on my left side or feeling like I am going to cut off oxygen to my baby by sleeping on my right side. And then there are all those stupid noises a house makes which I am always sure are either A) a mouse (oh how I loathe mice) or B) the wiring popping and a fire starting. This situation is aggravated by the fact that since I often get to go see one or both of my sweet non-sleepers during the night, I have to fall to sleep multiple times and it is equally as difficult each time.

4) Cole needs to wrestle every night to get out extra energy and I HATE wrestling, but it's either me or Annie. I just really hope he grows out of this because I really HATE wrestling and do not want to spend any time watching real wrestling matches he may be involved in.

I guess there are some plus sides to business trips. Here's what I look forward to:

1) Not cooking. Last night, I picked up a Happy Meal for Cole while he was at tumbling. I ate banana bread and fruit - and loved it. Tonight, we ate fish sticks (Cole loves fish, all kinds). I didn't love them quite as much, but it definitely beats cooking.

2) Because of number 1, our grocery bill for the week is also ridiculously cheap. Which is nice because I usually spend a bit more time (and therefore money) shopping than I normally would so that I can find an adult to talk with.

3) Last night, I didn't brush my teeth. As I was putting the kids to bed, I thought "I should do something crazy since Floyd's not here." That's what I came up with. I toyed with the idea of sleeping with my contacts in, but decided I better not since I spent last week visiting with my opthamologist because of a stick-in-the-eye injury. I just got to start wearing my contacts again on Tuesday and had a really miserable time with the eye drops, so I decided not to chance it.

And that's all. So tonight, I'm headed to bed to listen for more imaginary mice and worry about crazy men. I really miss you Floyd - thank goodness you come home tomorrow.

my new hobby

Well, it's probably too early to call it a hobby, but I did have fun making Annie's new dress. Remember 8th grade sewing class? Not me. Somehow I ended up in Mr. Housley's shop class making an electric motor and wooden stool. It was lots of fun, but hasn't really helped me in life since Floyd has a very strict rule about me using power tools. Learning to sew would have been much more useful. So I finally have my own sewing machine. Annie's dress was the first thing I made with it, and it is actually wearable. I did have to do a little unpicking - I sewed the facing on the wrong side. I really don't get patterns.

Next up - a bag for me. I found the cutest fabric and can't wait to use it. I think I'll make my own pattern for it though.

little know it all

A sampling of a conversation Floyd and Cole had on their way to go fishing last week. The conversation began when Cole, once again, stumped Floyd with a question about dinosaurs and Floyd said, "I don't know."

Cole: "Well, then I bet you're glad you have me cause I know everything."
Floyd: "But you don't know what 4+4 is."
Cole: "What is 4+4?"
Floyd: "8"
Cole: "Now I know everything."

If only life were so simple...

the office

Welcome back - we've missed you...that's what she said.