In Which I Give You Another Reason To Hate Me

So I never told you this, but I have started another blog.  I've been really good about letting my Facebook friends know when I have posted on it, but I have never mentioned it here.  Maybe I should have.  Oh geesh.  I'm sorry.  But don't feel obligated to read it either.  It's just for fun.
I used to write a lot.  Then I don't know.  Life happened.  I'd rather not get into it.  But all those years I worked to become a proficient writer have been wasted because I am no longer that proficient of a writer.  At least, I really don't consider myself to be.  So I was lamenting this fact one day, on Facebook - I think.  I'm not really sure anymore.  Anyway, not important.  My sister suggested I start a poetry blog.  She meant that I should start writing again, but I didn't have any new material.  I decided that it could be fun if I shared all the poetry I wrote when I was fourteen, fifteen and all the way up into my (two) college years.  Then I could remember what I wrote about before and transition into writing again.  I figured it would help me to start over - in a way.  Because let's face it.  Most of the time when I sit down to write, I'm like:

So go check it out.  Here's the link to the first post which explains the purpose of the blog a little better.  I posted it on November 25, 2013.  I'm also considering changing the title of the blog.  You can leave suggestions in the comments if you want. I was thinking "Crappy Poetry."  But Kurtis said that wasn't very nice.  You'll be able to get to it on the sidebar once I put up a link.  Which will be a couple hours after I finish posting this.  I want to make a cute button to go with it, and I'm not sure what I want yet.

In Which I Discuss My Hatred for Exercise

I think I have a problem.  Just so you know, I'm not asking for advice.  This is just something that I am going to have to figure out how to live with and do it any way.  Today, I have a confession to make.  There are some things that I really, really hate doing.  I mean I really loathe doing them.  If I know it's something I have to do, I will procrastinate getting up in the morning.
I hate cleaning.  I hate gardening and yard work, and I hate working out.
I hate all of those things.  I hate the working out thing the most.  I really need to loose weight.  And I'm not just whining here.  I do.  The health test I took for my insurance says so.  It says I have borderline high cholesterol and the way to fix that is to loose weight before it gets worse.  We'll see if that's true when I do loose weight, though because my dad has high cholesterol and he got that from his mom.  My cousin told me he has it, too and he's only two years older than me.  It's in our genes.
Back to hating loosing weight so I don't ramble any more.  Well, actually, that's pretty much all I ever do. But back to exercise.  I don't really know why I hate it so much.  I said this to Kurtis the other day, and he said, "Really?  You hate exercise?"  He didn't believe me. "Why?"
"I hate feeling sore afterwards.  I hate that I feel so awful, but I haven't even lost a pound the next day.  I hate that out of breath feeling I get in my chest.  I hate that it hurts.  I mean, I know: 'No pain, no gain.' But that is the stupidest thing ever."
"What about a sport.  Do you like playing anything?"
"No."  He still did not believe me, so he began to list some.
"Basketball?"
"No."
"Tennis?"
"No.  I used to like tennis, but I haven't played it since I was 12."  That's true.  I had a friend who I played tennis with until we moved, and I never saw her again.  Except there was that one time Kurtis and I played together after we first got married and he was kind of a jerk (and by a jerk I mean he didn't go easy on me even though I had told him to go easy on me because I hadn't played since I was 12), so I didn't want to play with him ever again.
"Well, I'm sorry."
"Me, too."  I said grumpily.  "Well, I do like yoga, and I do like walking.  But I hate running."
He laughed with an exasperated sigh and said, "Well, there you go."
"I just want to do all the crazy yoga poses that I can't do right now because I am not that good at it yet."
Then, as we were going to bed, I said, "I have always wanted to be good at gymnastics too."
"Really?"
"Yeah.  That'd be cool."

I mean really, who wouldn't want to be able to do this?

In Which My Child Tries to Become One With the Couch

For awhile now, one of my children has been trying to deceive me.  It didn't work.  Granted, he thought he was getting away with it for a long time because he wasn't home when the evidence was right in front of me and I kept forgetting to confront him.  But not today, my friends.  Not today.

Let me make something clear right now.  I am not posting this in order to shame or embarrass my child.  I am only here to entertain you, and I really do find this incident hilarious.  And because I do not want to shame or embarrass my child, he shall remain nameless.  Now, back to my story.

I have been trying very hard to get my boys to change their underwear.  I don't understand why this is so hard for them.  I've tried many tactics over the years.  Praise, yelling, etc.  But to no avail.  I've tried telling myself, this will work itself out and they will just do it someday and I really shouldn't worry about it.  But I don't think I will ever know that they change their underwear every day.  

Then one laundry day, one of my children had changed his underwear every day!  Oh, my goodness!  I told him I was grateful to him that he had finally learned how to change his underwear every day and that this was a really good thing.  I think I said, "Good job." and gave him a thumbs up, or something.  Then for a really long time, he stopped, or was really inconsistent about it.

Then I started noticing as I was sorting the laundry that some of his underwear was put in the laundry basket still folded.  "Hmmmmmm."  I thought.  "I wonder if he is putting his clean underwear in the laundry.  To try to make me think he'd changed his underwear."

He was home today by the time I finally got around to sorting the laundry, and was on the couch playing Halo 4 while I was doing so.  I turned to him, "When you put your underwear in the laundry basket still folded, it makes me think you didn't really change your underwear and are trying to deceive me."  My kids are terrible liars.  He looks at me like he'd been caught, and starts trying to sink into the couch and somehow become one with it. Sort of like this:

"Dude.  Just say it.  I can tell that's what you've been doing.  Isn't it?"  "Yeah.  I have." 

I don't.  I can't.  I mean.  REALLY!!?  What?  WHY?!!  I mean, if you are going to try to get away with something, at least try to make it look convincing!

Turkey For Me! Turkey For You!

I had a really great weekend.  Of course I did!  It was Thanksgiving and I didn't have to get up and take the kids to school!
Yes, it was Thanksgiving.  And we had a great time being together and snuggling with The Boy Who Hung the Moon.  He's getting so big and he's such a smiley, happy, little talker (he's only two months old, people)!
Wednesday, I made pie.  I mean, I made four pies.  Caramel Pecan, Banana Creme, Chocolate Truffle, and Pumpkin.  I tried all of them except the pumpkin because I don't like pumpkin pie.  But the others were divine.  Ben (my brother) made a frozen yogurt pie which turned out to be every body's favorite, so thanks a lot for upstaging me, you jerk!
Friday, I slept in and finally after waiting for hours and hours while Kurtis taught Zach to program something and then make him do an assignment and then check his assignment, we went Christmas shopping.  We are almost done, too!   I'm so excited.  I've never been almost done with my Christmas shopping this early before.  Every year, I say, "Oh, it's October!  We need to start shopping for Christmas!" and then never do.  This year, though.  I did.  I'm glad, too.
Saturday we went and saw the movie Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.  It was awesome!  I can't remember how closely it followed the book (but I'm pretty sure they too a great deal of liberty with this story) because I lent the book to my friend over a year ago and she still hasn't given it back (even though I have asked her to).  I wanted to read it before we went to see it, but I didn't.  Oh, well.  I still had fun.
Sunday, I got to see the Boy Who Hung the Moon again.  His daddy was giving him a name and a blessing in his church meeting that day.  It was a really awesome blessing and my brother did a great job.
After the meeting, we went to his home and ate food to celebrate.  He did hang the moon after all.  He deserves it.  I got to hold him and love him.  Emily said to me, "You are baby hungry, aren't you!"  I said, "Yes!  But I am done."  And I am.  But let's face it.  I have seven siblings!  I am supposed to be surrounded by babies all the time, and I'm not.  There is a seven year gap between the Boy and the last grandchild in my family.  I think I'm allowed to be enamored with him.  At least a little.
I didn't take a lot of pictures at either event and I forgot my video camera on Sunday and couldn't vlog the after party, so we'll just have to be happy with the pictures that I did take.

The pies I made.

Me and Ben!  He and I are twelve years apart.

Then I hogged the baby pretty much all day.

Seriously, with a face like that, how could I not?

 Then I let Ben have a turn.  Because I wanted some of that yummy pie!

 And when I came back, this was happening!  So cute!

Yes, he's alseep.

 Then Kaleb wanted a turn.

 After the blessing at Michael and Lili's place.

He was such a good baby during the blessing.  He cried a little near the end, but calmed down a bit before it was over.

 He's a little squirmer.  :)

This is our Thanksgiving tree.

Well, it's my Halloween tree and I cut out a bunch of leaves on cardstock and told the boys to write down the things they are thankful for.  This is what it looked like yesterday before I took it down.  I'm in the process of decorating for Christmas.  The time to be thankful is over!  Now it's all about giving!

Yay, Thanksgiving!  Yay, Christmas!

I'd Like To Thank Pinterest For Helping Me Make My Kid's Birthday So Awesome

It's been a busy week.  I had my Stampin' Up! workshop and Riley's birthday party back to back.  Workshop on Thursday and party on Friday.  The party was the scariest part for me.  Because little boys are loud and like to run around the house risking breaking things.  It freaks me out.  I had Kurtis work from home for some back up that day.  He mostly just wanted to play the computer while the boys ran through the house causing my anxiety to spike.  I think he enjoys seeing me freak out (on the inside) a little bit.

 This is the Halloween card we made for my Stampin' Up! workshop Thursday.

 This is the inside.  It's really awesome.

Then we made these cute mummy boxes.  We put candy inside them.

 Riley wanted a Doctor Who themed birthday card.  I already blogged about it and showed you the invitations here.

 This cake is a blue velvet cake that I made from scratch after the workshop on Thursday night.  I frosted it in the morning.  It's the Tardis.  Riley really liked it.  I've never made a cake from scratch before.  It turned out alright.  The food coloring turns your poop a blue-green color if you eat too much though.  Nope.  I'm not lying.

 I used my Tardis cookie jar that Kurtis got me for my birthday as a centerpiece.

 I made this out of the first invitation I made (before I made the ones that open up.  You can see a tutorial of how to make those invitations here.

 I finally put up the Halloween decorations on Tuesday.

It exhausted me.

 Riley blew out his candles before I could get a picture!

 Eleven!  He's such a good looking kid!

 This is awesome!

 Riley loved all of his presents.

The party favors.  Tardis boxes full of treats and mini composition notebooks turned into River Song's diary.  Pinterest rocks.  :)

Nobody Ever Calls Me. So Why Would I Think I Might Actually Need My Phone?

I haven't been blogging very much lately.  Do you want to know why?  It's silly, really.  I started doing this.
I'm not sure how it will go or if any one will even watch them.  So far, the answer is not that many.  Which is fine.  Talking to a camera is weird still.  I mean, as an actress, we are told to pretend it isn't even there and now I have to look into the lens and pretend it's a real person.  Who am I even talking to?  Meh.  I'll figure it out.  It's fun.
But I have a story to tell that I don't think I can tell quite as well on camera.  I get nervous.
I watch this guy on YouTube quite a bit.  He's kind of the one who made me think I should just go for the video blogging thing.  I have been toying with the idea in my head for awhile now.  He's doing this weightloss challenge thing.  He suggested we set goals.  My goal is to work out everyday - well, every week day.  So far, I worked out every day this week except Wednesday because I needed a break.  I was determined to work out on Thursday, too though I probably should have not.  I over did it and hurt my right side behind my rib cage.  So I Friday I wanted to do something that would not require me to do push ups at all.  I thought I should go walking with my dog, Neji.
Walking with Neji is really not that fun for me because he pulls me and does not walk next to me.  I HATE IT!  So I wasn't going to do that.  Kurtis said I should do it and that Neji could be my workout buddy.  He'd push me into going further than I normally would.  HA!  That sounded awful.
I finished the book I was reading and said to myself, "Just do it.  Just take the freaking dog on a freaking walk.  You will have fulfilled your goal, and that will make you happy and you have Shay Carl's voice in the back of your head telling you to do it and how could any one ever say no to that man?"  Blah, blah, blah.
Finally, I got my work out clothes on and I got Neji in his harness and put his leash on it.  I got on my new athletic shoes that I bought for me to go play racquetball with Kurtis (but he never commits to actually doing with me), but have never worn yet, and we were off.  I thought about bringing my camera along, but then you would know just how out of shape I really am.  It's terrible.  I have no stamina.
I went down my street, around the corner, past the funeral home, up the block with the craft store on it, then up to Fairfield Road and past the Jr. High.  Then around the corner past the grade school, down Mutton Hollow to 700 something.  Then left on 700 and right on 350 and back to my house.  Kurtis thinks it was two miles at least.  I don't know.  It took me about 45 minutes.  I walked and jogged and then walked again.  Neji LOVED it!  He thought it was the best thing ever.  When we got home, he was so happy and dancing all around.  And I loved that he loved it.
I was getting ready to get in the shower when I heard Kurtis' ringtone.  Great.  I almost didn't answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, where are you?"
"I'm home.  I  just got back from taking Neji for a walk/jog.  What do you need?"
"I just got a call from the school that Kaleb is sick.  They left me a message because they couldn't get a hold of you."
"Oh.  Crap.  I was just about to get in the shower.  I guess I'd better go get him."
"Yeah.  Call them and see what's up.  Because it's better if you go get him than me."  Because he is 35 miles away and I'm only, 0.6 miles away.  This is when being a one car family kind of sucks.  Kurtis took the car to work that morning.  I called the school to find out what was going on with him and if he could walk home.  He said he could.  He also said his head felt like it was being crushed.
So, I got my clothes back on and I ran to the school.  Well, like I said.  I have no stamina, so I ran.  Then I walked.  Then I ran again and then I walked.  I probably ran faster than I did when I had Neji with me.
The thing that is ironic here is that when the school called me the first time, I was probably walking right past it.  Geesh.
Luckily, my friend was driving home from somewhere and saw us walking home.  She did the awesome thing and gave us a ride.  I gave Kaleb some Ibuprofen and told him to lay down.  He felt better after a bit.  It was probably a migraine.
Today, though.  My hips and shins are really mad at me.  I'd like to tell them to shut up, but when I move, they just start up again.  Jerks.

My new shoes.  Aren't they cute?  They came untied, so I felt like I was a three year old when I double tied them.  ;)

The Boy Who Hung the Moon

I had a really great weekend.
Saturday night, my brother and his wife welcomed their first child into the world.
Sunday, I got to meet him.  He is quite adorable.
With his parents' blessing, I will now show you the pictures I took when we visited him in the hospital.

 He has captured my heart.

 I told the boys Kaleb gets to hold him first.

"What!? Why?"

"Because he has never held a baby before."

 Zach loved holding him.  Until he started to cry.  Then he didn't want to hold him any more.  He didn't believe his Aunt Lili when she told him it wasn't his fault.

 Beautiful mother and baby.  Kaleb took this one.

 Riley thinks he's pretty cool.

 I do, too.

 Ben is pretty excited, but trying to be cool.

 He kept sticking his tongue out.

 It was so cute. :)  Everything he does is cute.

 Fingers and toes.  Then he got cold and said, "I want to be wrapped up!"

 Grandma got him to burp.  She has skillz.

 Grandpa was pretty excited.

 I love this picture of my mom snuggling her grand-baby.  She is so beautiful.

Jeremy came, too!

I let Kaleb take the camera and take pictures while we were there.  This one turned out pretty cool.  

The rest looked like this:

He cracks me up.