Fancy Dance Pants

Change the Way You Blog

2010-02-16T12:31:00.005-07:00

Isn't this the best idea? If you haven't noticed, I haven't been blogging lately. But I HAVE been documenting my stories and pictures with the Heritage Makers 12x12 scrap pages. There just wasn't time in the day for me to blog, too, until I realized that I could get my Heritage Makers pages to also function as my blog posts. I can still have them published in hard copy for our family to look through, but I can also post them here for all of you to see, too! Yay! I love being efficient. :) If you are interested in blogging this way so you can preserve the memories and the photos in a hard copy, let me know. I'd love to show you how easy it is to do!

:) holly

T-Shirts

2009-09-25T14:13:00.004-06:00

Win $100 Toys R Us Gift Card!!!

2009-09-18T22:57:00.006-06:00

My sister-in-law just started a blog called "Little Tots / Big Ideas" and she's got a ton of SUPER cute and awesome giveaways, including a $100 gift card to Toys R Us! Sign up as a follower and you can get additional entries. When you comment, make sure you mention in your comment that I referred you. :) Here's the link: http://littletotsbigideas.blogspot.com/2009/09/100-toys-r-us-contest.html?showComment=1253336218778#c6350959611808389192

She's also got some awesome guest bloggers that will be posting regularly on things like children's books and nutrition. Plus, she also has an Etsy shop where all of the cool things she finds are available for sale. Check it out!

Summer of Love

2009-09-02T18:58:00.009-06:00

Hey there, out there, to all of you. It's been a while.

This summer has been full of Family Fun Days and lots of time spent with Melanie & her kiddos (and sometimes Michel -- he works so hard!). It was so much fun, but it left very little time for much else, including blogging. So I know you've all missed me very much :) but not to worry, I'm back in business.

For a few minutes anyway. I'm actually just stealing a few moments while Hannah goes to the bathroom before I put on a movie for her (on the computer instead of the TV because our DVD player broke).

Hannah says the darnedest and cutest things. Just now, she was writing something on her dry-erase board, and when I asked her what she wrote, she said this: "It says, 'Love her mom and dad, she loves herself, love indeed, love, Holly and Grandma." Then she said, "Mom, you're so happy I can write all by myself."

She's so freakin' cute.

So anyway, here are a few fun pictures of our fabulous summer. Hopefully, I'll be posting regularly in no time.

Ciao for now!

Miles eating his first solid food

Hannah roasting marshmallows on our "gigantic" table grill

Hannah, Gretta and Sienna playing "Please Can I Take Your Order?"
on the 4th of July

"I work so hard..."

2009-04-24T01:02:00.002-06:00

This one's for you Michel... chip off the old block, eh?

For all you out there who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, here's a little background info.

Michel is a hard worker, and he likes to remind everyone about it every once in a while, so he puts his hand on his head, sighs dramatically, and says, "I work so hard!" So the other day, Mel & Mike were over and little Isaac fell asleep in the exact same pose that his daddy likes to do. It was pretty cute. I had to get a shot of it.

(s)Miles

2009-04-05T00:08:00.005-06:00

Check out one of Miles' first smiles. He looks a lot different when he smiles, doesn't he? These two pictures look very different to me. Maybe it's just the hat... Isn't he a cutie though?

He is such a good baby. He is very calm and quiet. He doesn't cry when he wakes up. He just quietly sucks on his hand and maybe he'll grunt. The other day, I was reading bedtime stories with Hannah and I heard a clicking, dripping sound or something, so I went into the hallway to check it out. I thought maybe there was a leak in the roof or the faucet or something. But all it was was Miles sucking on his fingers because he had woken up from his nap and was hungry.

He's so mild-mannered. It's fun to see how his personality is emerging.

Miles

2009-02-19T18:25:00.003-07:00

I've been a major slacker. I know. And this post is not going to be fabulous. I have about 30 seconds to spare, so I'm just posting a picture of my cute little chunky monkey, Miles. He's 3 weeks old. Born on Jan. 26, 2009. Weighed 10 lbs. 5 oz. Went naturally. Whew!

A Kid in a Candy Store

2008-12-17T21:52:00.005-07:00

So I'm not very good at blogging. Obviously. But here's a little something for everyone who may be (or probably isn't) checking my blog.

Today, Kevin and I took Hannah to Gardner Village just to look around at the Christmas decor and go to the petting zoo (which we found out was closed for the winter).

Incidentally, I wanted to take pictures, but our camera is apparently on its last leg, and it only works sometimes and only indoors. It's like the bright light from outside makes it freak out or something. Anyway, so while the picture you see is the cutest one in the world, I think, it was not taken today at Gardner Village. My sister-in-law's friend, Amy Zabrina, took these a few weeks ago and she obviously did an amazing job.

So back to Gardner Village. It was really low-key and so much fun. We wandered around a few stores and ended up in an old-time candy store that was so fun to see Hannah in. She was so cute about asking for the candy.

"Maybe I could share this one with my daddy..." she said sweetly as she reached for a Charleston Chew with wide-eyed wonder.

"I wanna see Dark Vader," she said, as she pointed to the 12"-high giant PEZ dispenser on the shelf.

"I think I wanna buy that," she informed us as she held out a cute little tin lunch box with Mary Englebright artwork on the side.

We told her she could choose one candy treat, and of all the specialty candy in the store, she chose a small KitKat. When she took her first bite of it, she smiled, and then giggled, and then said, "It's yummy..." How fun is that? I wish we could have had it on video.

Of course, we couldn't resist buying more of the candy she had her eye on for her Christmas stocking when she wasn't looking. Next we went to a bakery and Kevin got me a chocolate covered chocolate donut (my favorite) ... and one for him too ... and we all got drinks. By this point, Hannah was finished with her KitKat, so she we let her nibble on our donut crumbs so she wouldn't feel too left out.

It was just so simple and so fun. And even though the petting zoo was closed, the animals were still there, and we got to show Hannah the pigs and llamas and geese. We can't wait to take here there again when the weather is warmer.

What Are YOU Thankful For?

2008-11-28T22:17:00.004-07:00

We were helping Hannah say her prayers tonight, and she wanted to do it by herself, but she got stuck pretty early on, so after the first couple of things she always says at the beginning of her prayers, she stopped and with one eye closed and the other half-way squinted open, she asked, "And what else?"

So I whispered, "What are you thankful for?"

She paused and said, "Ummm... monkeys?" And then back to the prayer.... "I'm thankful for monkeys..."

And then she thought for a moment and continued, "...and, um, somebody else..." Apparently, she wanted God to just pick for her who he should bless this time. Just somebody else. Whoever is most deserving. :)

It was pretty cute and funny. I had to cover my face because I didn't want her to see me (with her one squinted-open eye she always prays with) laughing at what she had said.

Anyway, just thought I'd share (and just get it written down so I didn't forget it). She is so DARN cute!

We Will Miss Him So Much!

2008-11-07T14:04:00.002-07:00

Mini Me?

2008-11-04T20:03:00.004-07:00

Ah, the mind of a 2-year-old.

A few weeks ago, Hannah had been playing in her room by herself for a little bit -- with me periodically checking on her, just in case you were thinking I was being neglectful -- and I came upstairs to find this in the hallway outside her room. I asked her what she was doing and she basically said that she put all her toys in the hall because she didn't want them in her room anymore. I tried to have her explain a little more, but all I could really gather was that she just couldn't take it anymore to have all the toys in there. She even, singlehandedly, dumped her rocking horse upside down in the toy playpen. The only thing she left in her room (aside from her bed and bookcase) was her doll cradle & all the doll paraphernalia. I guess the other toys were just cramping her motherly style or something. Isn't that funny?

I had her help me put everything back, and when we put it back all in the right places, which made the room a lot cleaner, she seemed to be okay with the toys being in there again. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, does it?

The Ar-TEEST

2008-10-20T11:37:00.003-06:00

Look at these cute faces Hannah made today! I didn't even realize she could draw a face, and then I went over to her playing with her MagnaDoodle (which she calls her "maada-goo-doo" by the way) and she had this pretty darn good face on there, so I asked Kevin if he had drawn it for her -- or at least with her. Unaware of what she had done, he said no and -- surprised -- came over to see what she had done.

I had her draw a few just to see if she could really do it or if it was just a lucky doodle, but she continued to draw these cute faces. If you look closely, you can tell her process -- she draws a circle first and then she traces over the circle before she draws the eyes, nose and mouth.

Isn't she the best? I love being her mom.

Simple Pleasures

2008-10-16T21:09:00.004-06:00

Last week or so we took Hannah up to the mountains to see the changing leaves. It was really fun to see her looking at everything and commenting on which ones were yellow, green and brown, and which ones had fallen to the ground already. I know, simple pleasures, right? She's so great. Here are a few pics of the event.

She is a Child of God

2008-10-03T11:39:00.002-06:00

Photo-less Update

2008-09-29T09:17:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted anything for a while, mostly because I am still trying to get settled in the new house, and I can't seem to find the little thingy that plugs my camera into my computer, so I keep thinking it will be boring to have a post with no pictures. My goal is to find the camera/computer thingy this week. But until then, here's a quick update on what's going on in my life.

We had our first garage sale yesterday, and I think I'll call it a success. We sold a lot of stuff, even though we didn't make a ton of money, but I don't really know what you should expect from a garage sale. We still have some brand new stuff like a down comforter and a glass bathroom shelf that I guess were just too expensive for garage salers, so they didn't go.
My cousin and his wife, Darren & Jenn, just had their 3rd baby, and she has Downs Syndrome and has a lot of medical problems, mostly (I think) with her heart and her intestines. There's a lot of surgeries coming up for the little gal (her name is Addison) and it is just so sad to see such a tiny thing go through all of that. She's actually already had one surgery at about a week old, I think. Darren & Jenn have just been living at the hospital basically. I need to get up there to see them.
I just got called to be the Service Coordinator in my Relief Society. I guess that's the person who finds out who needs help in the ward and matches them up with people who can help them, like a lady with a new baby who needs dinners brought over for the first few days. SO.... come January, I guess I'll just be calling people to ask them if they can bring over dinner for me! :) I hope I can do a better job with this calling than I did with the last one in my old ward. I was the Enrichment Leader, and I was a pretty lame one.
I still don't know where a lot of my stuff is. I can't find a lot of the lids to our pots & pans and the aforementioned camera/computer hook-up thingy, to name a couple. I did finally find the butter dish, which still had butter in it, by the way. It was in the garage. Melting. Luckily it was just gross butter contained in the butter dish and didn't get all over anything.
I finished my 2nd volume of my Europe trip book. Check out vol. 2 here if you want. I'm so excited to get these first two books published! I will do a third, but that will be a couple of months away. I also just finished a book for my friend Robyn about her 2nd little boy's first year of life. It was my baby shower gift to her, so he's finally one, and his book is so cute.

Well, I have to go make dinner now. Hope you enjoyed this picture-less post. I'm hoping to post a SUPER-CUTEST video of Hannah singing "I am a Child of God" soon if I can ever find the camera/computer hook-up thingy.

10-Second Rule Does NOT Apply

2008-09-11T22:22:00.003-06:00

Do you want to know what I saw in the parking lot at the West Jordan Wal-Mart the other day? Do you? Are you sure?

Okay, here you go... a lady with a toddler in her cart was heading from the parking lot into the store, when her toddler dropped some of her chicken nuggets onto the road. And the lady just picked them up, held them in her hand (making passers by think she of course was going to just throw them in the trash when she got inside -- which she did not), and then her toddler grabbed one of them and started eating it, and she didn't do one thing about it!

What is wrong with people? It was ON THE ROAD. The road people drive on and spit on and drop their gum on. And sure, I have on occasion dropped something on the floor at my house and hurried to pick it up before the germs really get stuck to it, but only if it's a fairly clean floor and only if the item dropped isn't something like a CHICKEN NUGGET that any number of particles could easily stick to in a millisecond.

I just could not believe it. It was appalling. Poor little dirty toddler. I've never seen that at a Target.

Leave a Legacy

2008-09-11T13:42:00.003-06:00

I have no idea who this lady is or where this song came from, but I like the message it brings up. This is exactly why I love doing my Heritage Makers books.

Here's a quote from Doug Cloward, the president of Heritage Makers: "Your heritage is your family's heroes, values and traditions, the things that make your family unique and special. Children from families with clearly defined and celebrated heritage have priorities and make choices congruent with family values. Building and communicating your family heritage is the best investment you can make in your children's happiness, security, self-esteem and success."

So check out the song ...

My First Garage Sale

2008-09-08T11:58:00.004-06:00

Aghhghhhh! I just have to scream ... even if it's just into cyberspace. We moved last weekend, and while it is definitely an upgrade -- it's a great house, a great neighborhood, centrally located, more room than we had before, etc. -- I am absolutely INCREDULOUS as to how much stuff we have! We have SO MUCH STUFF.

And how on earth did we fit all this stuff into a SMALLER place before?

We finally got most of the furniture where we want it, and now we're going through boxes ... and boxes and boxes ... of TONS of stuff that we simply do not need. It is overwhelming, really. The hardest part, I think, is that a lot of it is nice stuff -- some of it is even brand new -- and I just really need to get rid of it, even though I like it.

SO.... I'm going to have a major garage sale in a couple of weeks, and I'll need your help. If you know anyone who might want to come to it, it should be worth their while. Here's a list of things that we should have available at the sale:

drafting table
chest of drawers
lots of kitchen stuff (some brand new)
baby stuff
small side table w/kid-sized bar stools

I'll post more when I know more, but I am hoping to have it the last weekend in September. Please help me get rid of all this stuff. I can't have it in my house anymore. It's making me claustrophobic. :)

It's A Boy!

2008-08-27T16:43:00.003-06:00

Well, it's official! We're having a boy! See....? :)
We're excited to have one of each. It will certainly be an adventure for me, coming from a family of all girls. I just have no idea how boys work! But I guess I'll find out. Wish me luck!

Growing up

2008-08-22T12:02:00.006-06:00

Little Miss Hannah is growing up so fast! She is just so big and talks so much and is really understanding a lot more than I would have expected for a 2.5-year-old. Here are some pics of her so you can see how much she has grown.

She painted her toenails herself.

She's even learning to balance herself in the water with her little life jacket. At first she would always fall forward in it, but now she knows how to kick her legs and propel herself forward and keep her balance. She's so big!

Wear the Eye Patch

2008-08-03T23:06:00.004-06:00

I think I've become a "regular person" -- you know, just a typical suburban mom who doesn't really have a personality that stands out?

No offense to typical suburban moms everywhere -- in fact, this post is for you. All of you. All of us. I think everyone has a fun, silly personality within them somewhere that real life just sucks right out of you. I swear, I do have a really fun, adventurous wacky person somewhere inside me who laughs a lot and doesn't care what other people think. But ever since college graduation, I've been on a slow path toward boringness.

Well, no more! Okay, that probably isn't realistic. I'm sure I will still be boring tomorrow, but at least I'm aware of my problem, right? As my old roommate Trish used to say, "Now ya know. And knowing is half the battle."

So with that, I dedicate this "Flight of the Conchords" clip to all of you out there who have that crazy sweater in your closet that you love but never have the guts to wear. To all of you who have always thought you should do something different with your hair, or whatever it is that you want to do or be but you're too afraid of what the "regular" neighbors might think.

"Wear the eye patch, Brett!"

Oh my.... I don't know what it is about these guys, but I just think they are the weirdest, funniest things ever. I haven't ever even seen the show, but I think now that I absolutely must find it on DVD and watch some of it. It seems as if I would like it. I might even need to own it.

We're Moving!

2008-08-01T14:14:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the offer went through and we are under contract for our new house! CRAZY. It has been less than a month since we even started thinking about it. We're moving over labor day weekend. We're excited about getting into a house instead of a condo. It will be a much better environment for raising a family. There's a yard with a swing set and everything. :) Anyway, gotta go. Just wanted to check in.

Livin' on a Prayer

2008-07-17T16:59:00.006-06:00

Sorry it's been a while since I posted anything. I'm sure most of you have just given up on ever seeing anything from me again.

Things have been a little crazy for the past couple of months. The top of the list is that 1) my dad has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2) we have decided to move and 3) I'm pregnant and can't seem to get on top of anything.

The cancer thing is something I have just shoved into the back of my mind and have been trying not to deal with. I'm sure it's manifesting itself in other ways, but I'm just not able to think about it right now. The doctors caught it really early, so they aren't even doing anything about it for 3 months to see what happens. So that's good, right?

Then the moving thing -- It really happened so fast. It wasn't until July 3 that we even considered the possibility of moving, and then by July 14, we had sold our condo. It was CRAZY! Basically, it was an answer to prayer.

We had always thought we could never afford to move right now. Not unless we downgraded to a trailer park or something. But on Thursday, July 3 we were on a walk in a nice neighborhood and noticed a house that was really cheap, and we thought, "Maybe we should consider moving?" So we prayed about it and felt like we should look into it, and then a few days and prayers later, one of our answers was to put our house on the market ASAP.

Sorry for the extreme detail, but I want to express how incredibly fast this process was. Here's a timeline for a few days after we had seen that house that made us think about moving:

Tuesday: decided to list house ASAP
Wednesday morning: called agent friend to list house on Friday
Wednesday afternoon & Thursday: cleaned house to get ready for walk-throughs
Friday morning: looked at a few houses with agent
Friday around 1:00 p.m.: started taking pictures for listing house on MLS
Friday around 2:00 p.m.: received call from other agent saying they heard we were going to list our house that day and wanted to come see it. Spent the next hour frantically shoving things into closets and getting it ready to show.
Friday at 3:00 p.m.: people came to see house & loved it
Saturday: we received offer on house
By Monday afternoon, we were under contract.

I'm not sure you understand how incredible it was to clean my house in a day & a half, but I had been sick with being pregnant for the past couple of months and had not cleaned pretty much anything in that time. There was something very nasty lurking underneath the pile of dishes in one side of the sink -- not to mention the dishes piled on every single inch of counter space.

I'm amazed and grateful to the people who helped me. My dad came over and helped a ton, my in laws watched Hannah for me so I could clean, and my friend Emily in our ward offered to come help me clean my kitchen. I could not have done it without all of them.

So now, today, we are putting an offer on a house in the valley. It hasn't even been a full month since we started thinking about moving. It's a little crazy. But we feel like it is the right thing for us to do right now. So keep us in your prayers that we'll be able to take care of the whole thing, physically, financially, mentally, emotionally, etc. :)

Until next time...

Wind

2008-06-27T10:07:00.002-06:00

I just found the best quote on some random person's blog, and I thought I'd share.

"A pessimist complains about the direction of the wind, an optimist hopes the wind changes, but a leader adjusts the sails."

So much to think about in that.... I'll have to post about that later.... I'm taking Hannah to the park now.

A Cute ABC Book I'm Working On

2008-06-25T13:39:00.007-06:00

Click this link: http://www.heritagemakers.com/?event=projectBrowse&projectId=47008bf3-60f4-4c66-936c-b8c9f31509d0&productId=1&projectSponsor=234927

Romance 101

2008-06-24T21:39:00.005-06:00

It's several days late, but I thought I'd post about our anniversary, just for kicks.

Do you want to know what we did? It was super romantic. You might want to take notes. It's really good. Ready...? Okay, here it is.

We took our 2.5 year old daughter to the mall to get my ring inspected. Then when we got there we found that the store we bought my ring at is closed. So we ate sandwiches at the food court and people watched. We noticed all the trendy teenagers and then the other moms pushing strollers and trying to keep their kids in line. We wondered aloud why they had moved "Hot Dog On a Stick" to a different slot in the food court. We splurged on a couple of cookies to share. Then we went to the bookstore across the street and bought our little girl a set of nursery rhyme flash cards to help her learn her numbers. Then Kevin went to work.

I guess this is what it comes to. I mean, don't get me wrong. It was a good time. But I kind of thought we would be older or have more kids or something before the big anniversary celebration started to become more of a stress than an excitement, so much so that we just said, "Screw it. We'll just go to the mall and take care of a few errands together as a family."

It probably sounds a lot like I'm complaining, but I don't really mean to. It is, after all, probably my fault that we aren't doing anything super fun. I'm about 10 weeks pregnant and I feel like crap for most of the day. A good day is one where I have an hour or two where I feel good.

It's actually pretty funny to me that this is what we ended up doing. We did go to lunch alone a couple of days later, and that was nice. I'm thinking that when I move into the second trimester and start feeling better, maybe we'll plan something fun. But for now, our food court fiesta will have to do.

Hannah and Jane: BFF

2008-05-17T09:49:00.005-06:00

Check out this super cutest book I am working on. It's SO cute. Hannah's little friend Jane is moving in a couple of weeks, and we wanted to make something for each of them to remember the other by, so Jane's mommy and I have been taking pictures of them playing together and now we're making this book. Of course we're doing it through Heritage Makers, and it's just so much fun. Check it out!

Spot the Tot

2008-05-07T23:25:00.001-06:00

My sister posted this on her blog, and I thought it was important to share with as many people as possible. Here's her blog entry -- take a look.

This is too important for me to pass up. A friend of mine from high school and college did an interview about her own family's tragic story to help inspire others to remember to "Spot the Tot." When you open up the news website the video is on the top right, so just push play! And please, be careful driving and especially backing up!

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/specialreport/story.aspx?content_id=51095dba-dbc1-4ccc-8691-13b1c1f7629c&articleID=38705

Laughing Fit

2008-05-05T15:20:00.002-06:00

Here you go friends -- Kevin and I stumbled upon these bloopers online last night, and I was crying I was laughing so hard. The whole things is pretty funny, but wait until the lady at the end. What is up with that noise she makes at the very end?! I couldn't see through all the tears! Enjoy!

I love you Uncle Denny

2008-04-30T12:16:00.003-06:00

Hannah talked to Uncle Denny on the phone I believe for the first time last night. She was in the bathtub and was telling him all about the bubbles and how much fun she was having. When he hung up, she said, "Where did Uncle Denny go?" I thought it would be fun to post a video of her for Denny so he could see her since he has never met her in person. So here you go Den -- we love you!

H is for Hannah

2008-04-30T12:06:00.002-06:00

Would You Like Fries With That?

2008-04-22T23:03:00.002-06:00

Hannah and I went to Sam's Club tonight. While we were wandering the aisles, someone came over the loudspeaker and announced something I don't remember anymore, but as they were speaking, Hannah looked up at the ceiling and listened intently. When they were finished, she looked at me and said, "Yeah, I want fries."

I guess Hannah really likes fries, wouldn't you say? The funny thing is that we don't really eat fries that often. I would say we've probably gone through the drive through with her about 4 or 5 times in the last year.

She's VERY perceptive. It's a little scary.

Our Baby Genius

2008-04-20T11:28:00.003-06:00

Okay, I know she's probably just a regular kid, but Hannah amazes me almost daily with the things she is learning and understanding.

For example, Hannah has never made anything more than blobs of various sizes with her PlayDough. But last night, she was just playing around with her PlayDough like normal, and we weren't really paying that much attention. We were just watching TV and she was at her little "craft" table, when suddenly she came up to us holding this beautifully crafted PlayDough creation, and said, "Look, an elephant!"

Is she amazing or what? She's 26 months old, and I just didn't think she was capable of molding anything remotely recognizable out of clay. But apparently she is. It was just so cute to see her little brain working with no help from us at all. She is so great.

BFF

2008-04-15T21:51:00.006-06:00

Hannah has a best friend named Jane. They really enjoy each other's company, and they love to hold hands and take each other on walks around the condo complex. I caught this video of them as they were discussing pretend plans to go to the circus. (FYI, on the video, it sounds like I introduced the circus idea, but they really were talking about it, and then when I started filming they said they were just going to the neighbor's house, but I steered them back to the circus discussion.) Anyway, here's a fun little clip.

Disclaimer: No Children Were Harmed in the Making of this Movie.

You Don't Know Who You're Dealing With

2008-03-24T23:47:00.000-06:00

What Old People (and College Students) Do For Fun

2008-03-24T22:45:00.004-06:00

My sister just sent me this clip, and I love it! My other sister e-mailed me and said that she loved the clip as well -- mostly because it reminded her of when she and I used to do the same thing!

I used to have a 1966 Dodge Dart when I was in college, and I just happened to have an extra steering wheel for it... (why I had an extra steering wheel is a story for another day...) so when Melanie would come up to visit me, she and I would drive around and she would pretend that she was driving over on the passenger side. Good times....

Anyway, here's a blast from my past.

Hola Mis Amigos

2008-03-03T19:34:00.003-07:00

Hello. I just thought I'd say hi in Spanish to the 2.3 people who read my blog. :) The Spanish is in honor of a fun kids song I heard today called "La Cucaracha" -- and it's not the one you're probably thinking of. It's a super fun version by a guy named Mr. David. He does kids music that is not just tolerable -- but I would even say very enjoyable -- to listen to by adults. Hannah and I were listening to it today, and his cockroach song was really fun. It made me want to make a rattle with pinto beans, duct tape, and an old toilet paper roll. So I did. And Hannah helped. :) And then we danced around the living room with our new-found instruments. The way Hannah said, "La Cucaracha," was so cute -- something like, "cah-cah-da-cha-cha" or something. It was really funny. She was an awesome dancer, too. She was totally feelin' it -- you could tell. I wish I had taken a video of it, but I didn't. And even if I did, I am still too technologically backward to be able to actually upload it to the blog, so you wouldn't get to see it anyway. :( I'll work on being better at that. Anyway, check out Mr. David. He's cool.

A Picture for Megan

2008-02-11T17:01:00.001-07:00

I just told my friend Megan that I had pictures of Hannah on my blog, and then I realized that it really was a long while since I posted a picture of Hannah, so here you go. This is Hannah on Christmas morning with her new stroller ("dodo") and a bow she put in herself. :) She LOVES her stroller, and pushes Elmo, her baby, her phone, anything she can, really, in it down the hall every day. It's so cute.

Things to Do Better

2008-02-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

So I haven't been the best of bloggers. It's been way too long since my last post. (Geez -- I feel like I'm in an AA meeting -- "Hello. My name is Holly; it's been 4 weeks since my last post.")

I haven't been the best at anything requiring consistency, lately, to be honest. And I'm tired of it. So I am writing down my goals for everyone in the world to see (ugh, this is embarrassing) so that I will be accountable for having them as goals.

If I write them down on the back of an old phone bill envelope or sticky note like I usually do, my list of goals will inevitably end up in one of the five boxes of paper I'm supposed to go through and do something with, but instead just hide in the storage closet hoping that if I ignore it long enough, it will go away.

So here you go. My goals. There are really only three of them that I'm thinking of right now, but it's a reasonable list, I think.

Work out 5 days a week. (M-F -- aerobics 20 min. daily/weights Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri.)
Do the Hinckley Challenge by May 10, 2008.
Consistently work my Heritage Makers business every day.

I think if I can get a handle on these things, my life will run much more smoothly. Let's see how it goes. I'm putting a graph on my blog to chart the Hinckley Challenge -- maybe I'll try to find a graph I can use for the working out thing too. If anyone knows of anywhere I can get some html code for that, let me know. (Man, now I sound like a drug addict -- "anyone know where I can get some good code? I'm totally jonesin'!")

Do people even say "jonesin'" anymore? Now I just sound stupid. I'm going to stop now. Really. Okay .... now.

Tequila

2008-01-20T00:44:00.000-07:00

The Diaper Tree

2008-01-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

My sister just posted on her blog a WalMart story that completely tops anything I've ever heard people complain about at WalMart. Here's what she said:

So our friend Eric just called from the parking lot where he is shopping to tell us, "There's a diaper in the tree at Wal-Mart." Honestly, does this news surprise anyone?

Pee-your-pants, laughing-so-hard-you-choke funny!

My favorite was one of the comments by her brother-in-law Marc. He says:

Maybe it's a diaper tree... kind of like the bra and underwear trees you see when you're going up the ski lift.

I have to admit. I shop at WalMart on occasion. But only since they made a new one in the opposite direction but still about the same distance from my house that the other WalMart was. I went there only in desperation.

That WalMart is seriously a dive. I am not exaggerating, every single time I went there they would announce a missing child over the intercom. Every time. And the really sad part was that it wasn't the parents who were searching for their precious child, but it was always the kid who had gone up to the WalMart employee and asked them to page their parents who apparently had been too busy shopping to notice that their kid wasn't around.

It always made me angry to even shop there, to be honest. I almost broke up with my boyfriend (now husband) after a trip to WalMart -- not so much because of anything he did, but that what he did seemed so much more annoying after trying to weave in and out of the madness in the WalMart aisles. And the clueless and less than helpful employees didn't help either. Luckily, my roommate at the time pointed out that I had become very upset about something different the last time I went to WalMart and wisely suggested that maybe I shouldn't shop there anymore.

But like I said, that was the old WalMart. The new one is much better and I actually enjoy shopping there sometimes.

I have no plans to boycott the new one anytime soon. But, I'm telling you, (picture this being said with my fist shaking with an idle threat into the air) if I see one diaper in any of the trees even close to the new WalMart .... there will be hell to pay....

Retroactive To-Do List

2008-01-16T15:31:00.000-07:00

Not that anyone is even reading this, really, but I am writing to apologize to cyberspace for not blogging in over two weeks. I don't know where all the time goes, so I thought I would write a list of the things I've been doing since New Year's Day so at least I would be posting something.

go to the library
go to the post office
go to the HOA annual meeting
buy and wrap sister's birthday present
visit family for sister's birthday
go to the dentist
take the dry cleaning
go to the bank several times
call the bank and the credit card company to fix the mix-up
create schedule for myself with blocks of time set out for particular tasks in order to hopefully make some kind of order out of the chaos of my life.

Okay, I'm too busy to remember all the other stuff. This is just what I wrote on my calendar. I have to go now. Have a nice day. :)

Happy New Year from Darth Vader

2008-01-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! You have to watch this. We were crying! I thought maybe it was just because it was after midnight last night and we were just so tired that everything was funny, but I just watched it again, and it's still funny. In fact, it gets funnier every time I watch it. So here you go.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous New Year's Day.

How to Be Cute

2007-12-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, as promised, here are some very easy and useful style tips from my sister. She used to work at JCrew and she was the best at helping people pick out the perfect outfit for themselves, along with just the right accessories. She's my style guru. Or at least someone I like to watch and then copy. :)

So here are some tips from her on how to be cute (and how to dress your little girl like a Gymboree model) without spending a ton of money. And I quote....

"The key to having style is just being cool. If you're not born with it, I don't know what else to tell you."

JUST KIDDING. (Well, she did say that, but she, too, was kidding.) Here are her real tips:

Accessorize. Accessories tend to be cheaper by nature so if you find some nice ones, they typically don't break the bank. Headbands make hair being pulled back look like something you did on purpose, plus it controls fly-aways. Have a few pairs (I have 3 total) of dangly earrings. It makes you look more dressed up when your hair is pulled back.
Don't skimp on shoes. Shoes are a very important accessory. Cheap shoes are typically uncomfortable and sometimes ugly. Buy your specialty shoes at Payless, like for certain outfits, but buy your everyday shoes from somewhere a little nicer. Buying on sale is fine, but don't buy something you don't absolutely adore just because it's on sale. Especially being a mom, you want something that you can wear every day (nearly) that you feel makes you look cute.
Have a good pair of jeans. I'm still working on this one. One pair that is totally flattering can make a slobbered-on T-shirt look cool, especially if your shoes are good!
Have a few good pieces. For example, I have a cute black jacket from JCrew (a purchase from back in the day). Something nice. Then I just wear it with a plain T-shirt that was probably $7 or something. Then pull your hair back with a headband, put on your dangly earrings, and you're set!
Be picky. Just because you don't have a lot of money doesn't mean you have to buy whatever you can afford. Buy what you want, just find things you want that you can afford.

This works for kids too. A lot of Gretta's tights, shoes and shirts are thrift store finds (like about $1 each, if that). Then you just pick one cute thing, like a skirt (Gretta has one I got at JCrew on sale for about $13) and that makes the whole outfit. Then for accessories, I get a lot of Gretta's hair stuff at Gymboree, which is expensive. But their hair accessories are always buy one, get the second one 50% off, and most stuff is $5 regular price. So for $7.50, you get two sets of super cute things. If you get fairly versatile colors, then you just put it with lots of different outfits and it suddenly looks cuter than it did by itself. It can dress up a t-shirt. You can also get ribbons from the sale ribbon bin at Michael's. That's a great place to find ribbon for your kids' hair and then you can use the rest for wrapping gifts. That's what I do anyway.

So there you have it. Style tips for real people with no money and slobbered-on T-shirts.

Enjoy!

Five for Saturdays?

2007-12-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, I totally was not in the mood for Five for Fridays by the time yesterday evening came around, so I skipped it. I know. Not that cool of a thing to do to just skip being thankful because you're in a bad mood. But I've recovered from my temporary malaise and I'm ready to be grateful again. :) So here goes:

I'm so glad that I got to go to my family Christmas party tonight. My mom's side of the family gets together every Christmas for what has turned into pretty much a family reunion since we don't see some of the relatives during the rest of the year anymore. It's my mom's sisters and their families and even my mom's cousins and some of their families. It was just so good to see them. And we had this fun auction where we all got points by answering this questionnaire and then we bid on the items using our points. I got a cute Christmas plate, a cool no-battery flashlight that you just shake up for it to work, and a cute silver earring and necklace set. Not to mention all of the cute and very nice gifts from some of the relatives. I have a nice family.
Kevin had to work tonight :( but I got to bring home a bunch of leftovers for him to eat so now I don't have to fix him anything for when he gets home from work. Yay! :)
I'm still plugging away at the de-junkification and organization of my house, and about 10 minutes ago, I just found an e-mail I had printed off exactly a year ago today from my cute sister who always looks really cute and hardly ever pays full price for anything. She had given me some great style tips (because I asked her to) and I wanted to remember them. Too bad they've been sitting in a pile for a year. So I'm going to remember them now and try to be cuter this year. :) They really are great tips. I think I'll make a separate post for them because why not share them with you all (hopefully that sister is not the only one reading my blog.) :)
I am almost done with my Christmas shopping! I have just a couple of people to buy for, and then I'm done. I think my nephew and my husband are all I have left. Oh, shoot. And my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. And two nieces and another nephew. Okay, so maybe I'm not that close. But at least I'm this far, right?
Hannah had so much fun tonight running around the gym with her cousins. And she was mesmerized by my second cousin's baby (whatever that is to her) and seriously stared at her for about a half-hour straight. She LOVES babies. I guess we better get another one around here. I think about 7 people said that same thing to me tonight when they saw how upset Hannah was when we had to leave the baby. Anyway, I'm just glad she had so much fun tonight. It was so cute to see her running around, following her bigger cousin Sienna around and laughing at everything she was doing.

Okay, that's it. I'm going to bed. How about a style post tomorrow?

I Wanna Be a Toys R Us Kid

2007-12-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

We went Christmas shopping at Toys R Us today with Hannah, and it was so fun to watch her with some of the toys. She loves pushing things with wheels, and we were debating between a doll stroller and a toy shopping cart. She pushed that toy shopping cart up and down all the aisles, and it was so cute. But we ultimately went with the doll stroller because I KNOW she loves it (her friend has one, too) and it folds up so it stores easier than the shopping cart, which I have no idea where we would put it away.

Anyway, it was just so cute to see this tiny little girl pushing that cart around. I'm so excited to give her the stroller on Christmas. She has been talking about it all afternoon, and I hope she can wait for a couple of weeks. I guess I should wrap it up soon so she doesn't see it and start screaming for it. :)

As much as I hate Kevin's weird work schedule, it was really fun to have him available on a weekday so we could go Christmas shopping together as a family (and not on a super-busy Saturday).

I guess we better get to putting the Christmas tree up now. That will be the big task for tomorrow.

Five for Fridays (iv)

2007-12-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Another week (or two) has passed. It's been a rough week, but here are five things I'm glad about:

I'm glad it's not last Friday anymore. There are several reasons, but one of them was that last Friday was the deadline for all of my clients to get their books submitted in time for Christmas delivery. It was a little crazy.
I'm also glad that it's finally next Friday. :) Last night was this Christmas party for the women in my church group, and I was in charge of it. It went really well, and everyone had a great time. It was beautifully decorated and we had good food and good entertainment. And now it's over and I don't have to worry about it anymore.
I'm glad our house is warm.
I'm glad our cars are in running condition.
I'm glad we have the Internet at home.

Five for Fridays (iii)

2007-11-23T21:57:00.001-07:00

So tired. Big day tomorrow. Short list. Here you go:

I'm thankful for leftover turkey sandwiches. Mmmmm. They're the best.
I'm thankful for my friend Stefanie who has been encouraging my recent obsession with de-cluttering my home.
I'm thankful that my family is safe and relatively well.
I'm thankful that Kevin got to come home early from work today just in time to help put Hannah to bed. He read her a story (her favorite, "Fidgety Fish") and she was so cute with him. It was nice to have him home.
I'm thankful for all of the opportunities I have to improve myself every day.

The end. :)

Thanksgiving Goals

2007-11-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

My Thanksgiving goals have nothing to do with dieting, as you might expect. I gave up on that a long time ago. Plus, it's Thanksgiving! The point is to eat ALL day long, squeezing in one more olive, one more roll, one more bite of pie every time you feel remotely hungry.

My brother-in-law started a tradition a few years ago where we all share our goals for the next year at Thanksgiving instead of at the New Year. It's kind of nice, but I can't really give you any reasons why. It's just a change from the ordinary goal-setting time, which is refreshing.

So here are the goals I came up with at after Thanksgiving dinner:

Free my life of clutter.
Find balance between work and home life.
Figure out a walking and/or Pilates routine and commit to doing something active for 20 minutes every single day.

I also have one more goal that maybe you can help me with. It is (if you'll forgive the split infinitive) to never have my blog comment link say "1 comments" ever again. :) There's nothing I can do about it -- apparently, Google has decided that "comments" is always going to be plural, and if only one of you comments (thank you faithful "buddens"), then it will display the unpleasant phrase.

So please, if you read this blog, comment. And then tell your friends. :)

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all!

My Favorite Pastime

2007-11-20T12:30:00.001-07:00

More Gratitude

2007-11-17T18:33:00.001-07:00

An excellent take on teaching gratitude to your kids: http://arizonaromneys.blogspot.com/2007/11/teaching-gratitude.html

"person"

2007-11-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

I was just looking on Amazon for the Finding Nemo DVD, and I was a little taken aback when I found this person's review of the movie. At first, I thought, "Seriously? Get a life. It's just a movie." I thought this reviewer (named, "person," by the way) must certainly be a sad, lonely marine biologist or something completely removed from social situtions (human ones anyway). I could totally see a great Saturday Night Live skit coming out of this.

But then I decided to check out the rest of "person's" reviews, and whether it's true or not -- ohmygosh it's hilarious! If you have a few minutes to kill and/or need a good laugh, you should check them out. Just don't base any of your purchases on these reviews. :)

Five for Fridays (ii)

2007-11-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Here's another list of five things I'm grateful for this week:

I got to give away even more stuff again! I'm really liking this. I love being able to make someone else happy and at the same time freeing myself from the stuff that is clogging up my life. I went through all my clothes (well, I started going through my clothes -- I started yesterday so I could only get so far in one day) and if it didn't fit -- even if it was super cute Ann Taylor stuff -- I gave it away. My body is just not the same since the baby, so I'm just going to have to deal with it. It was SO nice to be able to free up some closet space and find old stuff that I forgot I had that does fit.
I lost my cell phone on Wednesday -- well, I should say I thought I lost my cell phone, but I'll get to that in a minute. I spent the entire evening with my dad at a farm down the street with flashlights trying to retrace my steps and search through the fallen leaves at dusk for a black cell phone. I'm so glad I have a dad nice enough to a) go with me to help me look and b) not be annoyed that he spent his entire evening looking for something we never found. I'm also glad I have a mom nice enough to, on a moment's notice, drop everything and play with Hannah while my dad and I went searching.
I'm so grateful that I found my cell phone! :) After searching for most of the afternoon in various places (my purse, the diaper bag, the car, my mom's kitchen, the farm down the street), I finally found it on Wednesday evening. It was in a very simple place: my coat pocket.
I'm so thankful for my friend Lynn! She is learning how to be a photographer, and she is always taking super cute FREE pictures of Hannah for me and putting them on a CD for me. This week, she took the whole family (Kevin, me and Hannah) to that farm down the street mentioned above for an hour-long photo shoot for our Christmas card. It is just so nice to have nice friends, isn't it?
I went to a Play & Go (a play group where some of the moms stay and some of the moms can leave and get stuff done for a couple of hours) and it was so nice to know Hannah was in good hands. She loves her friend Jane as well as Jane's mom, who was there, and Hannah had so much fun with her and the other kids. I'm glad I have friends I can trust with my child.
I know it's called "Five for Fridays" but I have to add one more. I love Heritage Makers! I am so lucky to be involved with a company that is so supportive. In all of my other jobs, it was more like, "Are you sure you can't stay 10 more minutes? Can you come in on Saturday? We really need you. Can't you stay?" And I'm sure a lot of it was my own self offering to work extra, but for whatever reason, I always felt so much pressure to be at work or bring work home with me. But with Heritage Makers, it's different. I just went to a Leadership Training today, and it is just SO cool to have the president of the company truly believe that your family comes first. In fact, everyone in the company is totally supportive of you making sure your family -- not just family obligations, but even just making sure you spend enough time with your family -- is right up there on the top of the motivational to-do list. There were others in the list, but these were the maxims that stood out to me the most (and, hence, the only ones I had time to scribble down):

Know who you are and what you want in life
Make yourself accountable
Family First
Never give up

There was so much good stuff at that training today, but I just came away feeling not only completely motivated to continue to work the business, but also feeling like it was okay to make sure I'm focusing on my family first.

Once a Writer, Always a Writer

2007-11-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Guess what? Kevin finally started writing articles to publish on the web, and here's one of the first ones! I'm so excited for him to really start doing what he loves to do and get paid to do it. The way this works is he gets paid a portion of the ad revenue from the page where his stuff is published, so the more clicks he gets, the more he gets paid. So if you like the article, tell your friends! :)

Most of you know this already, but he's also been working on a screenplay for several months now, and I think it's going to be a good one. It should be finished by next summer, and then we're hoping to sell it within the next year or two after that. It's a crazy business though -- even if you sell it, it's not a guarantee that it will actually be made into a movie. Either way, I'm just glad he's doing it.

He is so happy when he's writing. It really is his calling, I think. He's always loved writing stories since he was a kid. One of my favorite ones is called "March Monster" and it goes like this:

"My March monster likes to pull your hair and chases girls because he hates them. He eats chairs in butter and whipped cream and almost everything he sees. He goes to school but does not learn anything. But that's not why he's there. His favorite food is desks. But watch your lunch boxes! The End."

I love it! I think I'm going to take all of his elementary school stories and artwork and put them into a Heritage Makers book. It's so fun to see how creative he was, even back then. This story is way better than my sorry attempt at the same thing around the same age: "Loving Bananas". But that's another story for another time.

Anyway, I know I'm probably just an overzealous wife, but I'm just excited so I wanted to share Kevin's publishing news. I know he'll do well once people start reading his stuff. So click away! :)

"Five For Fridays" -- a stolen but wonderful idea

2007-11-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

My cousin's wife, Adrian, has started posting five things every Friday that she is grateful for that week, and I thought it was such a great idea, I decided to copy it. It's so great. Plus, it's November and Thanksgiving... PLUS, I just caught the list bug from the To-Do List book! ;)

So, here goes:

I'm grateful for my husband. He works so hard and truly wants the best for his little family. Plus, he's the best daddy in the world to Hannah, and they are becoming best friends. It's so cute.
I'm glad we live in such a nice place. I know it's not exactly what I want it to be most of the time, but when you really think about it, it's plenty of square footage and it is warm and cozy and it suits us for the moment.
I'm thankful that I have a car. I really think I would struggle without my own car to be able to get around in. I know I could deal with it, but it is SUCH a convenience to be able to go whenever I need to go.
I'm glad I have been able to stay home with Hannah and not have to work outside the home. I have been able to see her learn and grow and develop in so many ways that I would be missing if I wasn't here all the time.
I'm glad I was able to give away some of my stuff this week to my neighbor. I'm in this simplification/organization mode right now, and it was so nice to be able to go through my stuff and even though it was super cute and brand new, I just didn't have a use for it or room for it in my house right now, so I gave it to someone who could use it. I have some more cute, new stuff if anyone is interested in it. :)

My To-Do List

2007-11-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

I just found the most interesting thing -- there's a book about lists! It's basically a collection of random people's to-do lists (and other lists like New Year's Resolutions or ideal qualifications of potential mates, etc.) Rory and Loralai would be so proud.

So in honor of this new and fabulous book, here is my To-Do List (which I am totally distracting myself from right now because I'm starting to feel overwhelmed and that's what I do).

Pay HOA fee
Make sure enough leftovers in fridge for Kevin
Get flyers printed for Laurie's Heritage Makers party tomorrow
Find picture of Hannah playing toy piano in Nursery to give to Michelle
Call Lori about her party tomorrow night
Change sheets
Do dishes

I better get on that.

Daddy's Little Girl

2007-11-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Hannah is so much like her daddy. This morning, she wanted plain macaroni noodles for breakfast, and she wanted them cold. Kevin likes to eat a lot of things cold -- things that seem like they're going to be gross to me, but he loves them that way. And it was just so cute to see Hannah, of her own free will, decide that she did NOT want me to put the noodles in the microwave to heat them up. She wanted them cold. She ate two bowlsful that way.

She also hates to sleep in socks, loves nature shows on PBS, and has Kevin's cute brown eyes.

Yesterday, I was doing errands with Hannah and she just started getting super ornery with me. So I called Kevin and asked if he could watch her while I finished my errands. When I dropped Hannah off to "play with Daddy," she was a completely different person. She was so happy to see him and play with him for an hour while I finished my stuff.

Now I Know My ABCs…

2007-11-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

I know I’m the Mom, so maybe my opinion doesn’t count, but I really think Hannah might be extra smart. Do I dare say “genius”? I don’t want to go that far, but seriously, she is SO bright. She is not quite 21 months old yet (in a few days), and she is starting to know her ABCs.

She was reading a book with Kevin last night, and at the end there’s a list of the ABCs. Kevin pointed to the “b” and said, “What’s that?” Hannah answered, “B”. She also knew V, W, H, M, and U. Is that normal?

She is just picking up every little think we teach her. She was also watching me boil some macaroni noodles today, and she said, “boi noo noo” (boil noodles). Is that the cutest?

From the very night she was born, we could all tell she was very inquisitive and bright. She held her head up extremely well and looked around the hospital room, her glossed-over newborn eyes still seeming to take it all in and process everything she was seeing. I know it sounds crazy, but even though she was a brand new baby, you really could see her thinking. I thought it was just me being a crazy, proud mom, but the more she grows and develops, the more I really think it was true. She is very, very bright.

Last night when she was pointing out all the letters to Kevin, I just stood there with my mouth open, wondering how I am going to keep up with this wonderful little sponge we made. I feel like I need to really get my butt in gear and get organized so I can get the things done that I need to get done, and also make sure I focus on Hannah’s educational needs (among all the others) and give her the appropriate attention and tools so her great little mind won't be bored or go to waste.

DNA is a curious thing

2007-10-21T22:02:00.001-06:00

Which one is Hannah? Which one is Kevin?

Okay, I'm sure you can tell, but the resemblance between these two is uncanny, isn't it? I was talking with my friend today about how much Hannah looks like her dad, so I thought it might be fun to show these pics side by side. She really does look so much like him -- the brown eyes, the long lashes, the cute squishy cheeks, the wispy curly hair (although, I must admit, she could have gotten that from me, too). Anyway, it's just kind of fun to see the similarities.

Little Pumpkin

2007-10-19T11:05:00.000-06:00

Here's my little Hannah about a week ago. She's so full of personality, I just love it. She loves to laugh, and says everything is "funny" now. It's really cute. The pumpkin picture was funny because she was apparently hungry for lunch, so when we handed her the pumpkin to hold for the picture, she stuck out her tongue and went to lick the pumpkin. :) I went inside to get her some grapes after that.

Not too much else to say, except that I'm just trying to get organized in my life, especially in my little Heritage Makers home-based business/hobby so I can do a better job at it. If anyone has any home office organizing tips, I am all ears.

Toodles!

My hubby...

2007-10-18T17:12:00.000-06:00

I've been tagged! So here are my answers about my husband:

What is his name? Kevin

How long have you been together? 4 years

How long did you date? depends on definitions, but from the first time we started "hanging out" to the time we got married was 18 months.

How old is he? 34

Who eats more? Him.

Who said I love you first? He did

Who is taller? Kevin by just a couple of perfect inches

Who sings better? He's got a great singing voice when he's in the shower. I'm okay in a choir, but not good in the shower.

Who is smarter? Mostly Kevin. I have my strengths, but he is totally smarter in the "nerdy book smart" kind of way.

Whose temper is worse? I guess mine. We're both pretty even Steven, but he seriously NEVER gets mad. And I do. :)

Who does the laundry? Kevin washes and dries, I fold and put away.

Who does the dishes? Me

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? We trade off -- you know, mix it up a bit so it doesn't get boring, I guess. :) Sometimes we just trade sides for no reason. Or sometimes we'll switch sides depending on who has to get up first and turn of the alarm.

Who pays the bills? I did for the first few years, and recently Kevin has taken over that end of things.

Who mows the lawn? Some landscaper guy. We live in a condo.
Who cooks dinner? Me

Who drives when you are together? We trade off. It kind of depends on who wants to drive the least, then the other one will step in and do it.

Who is more stubborn? I guess me.

Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Kevin. Man, I suck. Kevin is so great. I need to take a mental note and follow his example more...

Whose parents do you see the most? It's pretty even on both sides. My parents live 5 minutes away, his parents live 10 minutes away.

Who kissed who first? I kissed Kevin.

Who asked who out? Again, depends on definitions. Kevin asked me out on the first "official" date, but I asked him to go to several things with me before that. I think he just needed plenty of encouragement before he dared to do anything about it.

Who proposed? Kevin.

Who is more sensitive? Kevin

Who has more friends? I do. But most of my friends are one here, one there, not a group of friends who would ever get together. Kevin has a group of friends who would all be totally comfortable with each other if we had them over for a party.

Who has more siblings? Same. We both have 3 siblings

Who wears the pants in the family? We both wear pants :) (I'll steal this one too.)

Now, who to tag? No one. Everyone I know with a blog (i.e., two of my sisters) already has done this. I'm kind of a blog loner. :)

Amen, Sister!

2007-10-01T21:53:00.000-06:00

Oh my cutest girl in the whole world! Hannah is so good at reminding us to bless the food. She loves to fold her arms and close her eyes really tight, and she's pretty good at keeping them closed (mostly) the whole time. Then at the end, she has this totally excited look on her face and her arms open wide and she says, "Da!" which I'm assuming means "Amen" in her cute little language she seems to be making up. Is she the best or what?

Slumber is sweeter than toil...

2007-09-19T09:06:00.000-06:00

I am SO tired. Last night was the first night I have been able to sleep in about 5 days. I went to a Heritage Makers conference this past weekend (www.greatfamilystories.com -- plug, plug) and it was really great. I learned a lot of stuff, and every night I came home with my mind racing with new ideas. I was so excited and I couldn't stop thinking about new project ideas, friends I know who might be interested in doing this with me, ideas about projects other people could do for their families.... the list goes on and on. I was up until about 2 or 3 in the morning for several days, and last night I finally went to sleep around 11:30. I'm still exhausted, but I feel like I'm at least able to do something about it now. :)

This is all on top of a kink in my neck that has been around for over a week now. My neck completely spazzed out on me a few days before the big conference for work, and I was literally incapacitated. I couldn't even dress myself or get up off the bed without major help and major pain. The short story is that I had a physical therapist crack my neck a couple of times and I borrowed my dad's TENS unit (electric impulse machine) that I hook myself up to every day or so to get the MAJOR knots in my neck and shoulder to chill out.

Anyway, I sound like a big complainer. Not my point. I guess my point is that I need to get more sleep. It's a huge factor in how well my brain functions, and I need all the help I can get! :)

Cookie-ing with Hannah

2007-08-14T21:21:00.000-06:00

We made sugar cookies recently for family night, and Hannah was SO cute. She would carefully push the cookie cutter down with one finger, which most every time slipped and poked a delicate little fingerprint into each cookie she cut.

When the cookies were done, she was freaking out pointing to the cookies cooling on the cookie sheet and grunting that she wanted one. How does she know? She's never had a real cookie before (that we're aware of). I guess she's had animal "crackers" and teething "biscuits" -- all epithets for what we all know are just plain old COOKIES. But she's never had an official, adult "sugar cookie."

The look on her face when she finally got her precious cookie was one of pure joy. We let her have the whole cookie. I think we even let her have two! Who could resist that face?

Mmmmmessy

2007-08-07T23:05:00.000-06:00

Ah, the sweet smile of a messy toddler stuffing her face. Look closely though; you might think it looks like whipped cream, but you would be mistaken -- it's sour cream. Hannah loves sour cream and would eat a tub of it if you let her. We were eating tacos that night, and she wouldn't eat any of the meat, tortilla, even cheese which she normally loves. Just the sour cream.

Crazy girl.

1985 - The Debut of Fancy Dance Pants

2007-08-04T23:27:00.000-06:00

The origins of this super-fancy blog name go back to a simpler time, a time when every afternoon was filled with dancing in the living room with my sisters.

I was the oldest of four girls, and we all loved to dance. We spent hours making up dances and performing them for anyone who would watch. We thought we were so amazing, and we felt like princesses twirling and gliding across the rumpled carpet of our living room floor. I, of course, thought I was the best, being the oldest and having the most experience. I also fancied myself a bit of a choreographer, so I made up most all of the dances for my sisters and me to learn.

My grandma got a video camera in the mid 1980s. It was back in the day when the recorders were so big and heavy that you had to rest it on your shoulder like a ghetto blaster. Most of my childhood memories of my grandma include her shuffling around with that big thing perched on her shoulder. I think she would have been a journalist if she had been born 20 years later. (I think she thought her only career options as a woman were teacher, nurse, or secretary.) Her goal seemed to be to document every moment of our lives.

Anyway, near the top of the list of memorable dances was the bar stool dance to "Rhythm of the Night" by Debarge where Wendy fell off the bar stool and most of our moves looked strangely similar to the moves on Hooked on Aerobics. But I'm almost certain that at the top of the list of favorite dances ever recorded in our family is the "gotta-get-the-beat" dance.

I can guarantee that my sisters are laughing already if they're reading this. This dance is a doozy.

My grandma had brought her video camera to our house to get footage of our beautiful dancing for posterity. We put on one of the Fresh Aire albums by Chip Davis and danced away. I felt my body commune with the music; we were completely in sync. It was as if the moves I was making had been waiting inside my body since time began and they were just aching to come out when the tune was right. I was a superstar!

It was coming up on my favorite part of the song, and I stood on the sidelines as I waited for the right moment to jump back into center stage. My sisters impatiently prodded me, saying, "Come on! Go." I awkwardly bobbed my head to the rhythm for a moment and said, "Wait, wait... I gotta get the beat..."

Once I felt that I had "gotten it," I proceeded onto the dance floor to perform what I was sure was the best looking dance move ever invented. This amazing move of mine featured lots of arms flailing up and down in the air and legs kicking back and forth in a sort of jerky pendulum motion. It was kind of like that dance Elaine did on that one episode of Seinfeld, only 100 times worse.

I was not a superstar -- I was just a lanky 10-year-old clumsily bouncing and flailing across the living room and bossing her sisters around.

My sisters are all grown up now and are not willing to let me boss them around anymore (thankfully). And every once in a while if I start to think I'm all that, my sisters make sure to remind me that I am not by imitating that old pendulum move and saying, “Wait – wait – I gotta get the beat…”

It always guarantees a laugh.

Bisou Bisou

2007-08-02T11:11:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd start blogging and see what it was like, so here we are. Mostly I just wanted to post some SUPER cute pics of my cute little girl. My cute friend Lynn is a novice photographer and wanted to practice on Hannah, and the pictures turned out really cute.

She (Hannah, not Lynn) :) loves to give kisses and has started doing this cute puckering up thing. She sits there like this and waits for you to give her a kiss. SO cute!