And the Oscar goes to...

ME!


During busy season, my office puts on various events and activities to help us get through the long hours. I have been lucky enough to win our two most recent activities. The first was the Oscar contest where everyone guessed who would win the various awards at the Oscars. I got 19 right, thanks to google. I have only seen about 3 of the movies that were up for awards and so I googled for an article on who would win and took the writer's guesses as my own. I wasn't the only one to do this, I just happened to choose the right article.

The most recent activity was a "hula" contest. It didn't involve dancing, but it did involve hula hoops. They set up four hula hoops in a hallway worth 5, 10, 15, or 20 points and we each got three frisbees to throw through the hoops. I made two frisbees through the 20 point hoop and won with 40 points.

I hope my luck doesn't run out, I've already won two $10 gift cards.

Ode to Heather and Mitch

Thank You for Babysitting for us
Heather and Mitch
While we visited Carl Bloch's Paintings
At the BYU Museum

Thank You, Heather
For Playing Violin with me
While I Played the Cello
And Holly Played the Piano
In my Ward

I enjoyed playing a Musical Number
With Two of my Sisters
Thanks to parents who paid for
Music Lessons

Decorating the Master Bedroom

All I wanted for Christmas was bedside tables, a new comforter, and anything else to make my room feel decorated.

Before:

After:


We got the bedside tables at Ikea, and the beautiful quilt came from the Quilt Shop. I was so excited when I found it on clearance for much cheaper than I could have made it. The only downside to clearance is that we couldn't find any matching pillows, but I have a few ideas of some I can make. The black furniture was not for Christmas because we purchased it in May.


A closer look at the quilt:

Discovering the Joys of Homeownership

A couple of days ago we had a very gusty storm. It knocked half of our fence over. The wood has rotted over time, and the wind storm busted the posts at ground-level. The funny part is how I figured it out. I first noticed paw prints on our deck. I wondered, "How did a dog get into our fully-fenced back yard?"



And then I looked up and received my answer. I had a new, unhindered view of our neighbors' yard.


Another funny thing about this is that I automatically assumed we would pay someone to fix the fence, and Kyle automatically assumed he would fix it himself-- clear examples of how we grew up. The not funny part about all of this is that we now have to fix a fence. That was not high on our original priority list. But now an updated kitchen will have to wait. I'm just glad it didn't come down on the coolest little house on the block. But we can't play around the house anyway because there are too many scary screws exposed. I hope we can get this thing fixed right at the start of spring so Jason and I can enjoy the backyard.

Stop It

You know your baby is growing up when he tells you to "stop it." Jason used those very words on me yesterday as I was trying to snap up his onesie. He wanted them unsnapped so he could examine his belly-button freely throughout the day. He is growing up so fast now, and always surprising us with new skills and tricks. He's 20 months old and an excellent talker. It is fun for us to hear which words he chooses to imitate. I've learned that I say "alright," "yeah," and "let's do it" a lot because those are phrases Jason has started using.

I was trying to remember when Jason said his first full sentence. It may have been back in December. It was an "I want (fill in the blank)" sentence, which has been incredibly helpful to both of us.

I've started reading a book called "Positive Discipline" so I can better figure out how to deal with Jason when he climbs on the table over and over or throws food everywhere. He knows he goes to time-out for such behavior, so now he continues the misbehavior, but also asks for time-out as he climbs onto the table. Hmmmm. I must be doing something wrong if he's asking for time-out and walking to the corner of his own free will. He thinks it's a big game.

Jason is coming along well with feeding himself. We are, however, always working on expanding the variety of his foods. We figured out a type of reverse psychology that works pretty well on getting him to try new things. If we tell him the food is "Mommy's," then he is more likely to try it than if it is "Jason's." So Jason eats a lot of "Mommy's" food these days, both literally and figuratively. It's no surprise to me that my food tastes more delectable.

The garbage can has become a new fascination for Jason. He checks it routinely throughout the day to see what is in there. I don't worry so much about what he might put in as what he might pull out. He has triumphantly pulled out a half-eaten banana and a smashed piece of bread and enjoyed a few more bites of each. I have to strategically hide certain pieces of trash at the bottom of the garbage, such as candy wrappers or popcorn bags, because he knows he's been missing out once he sees them and demands to have some.

In addition to the garbage can, Jason is also fascinated with cars, dinosaurs, trains, animals, Toy Story, and new clothes. He discovered all the new clothes we bought on clearance for next season, and he prefers to wear them, even though they are a bit large. I wonder if his desire to wear new clothes will stay with him, or if he'll stop caring.

People still comment a lot on his red hair. We sure think it's cute. We love our spunky Jason.

Valentine Date

Thanks, Kyle, for taking me on a be-lated Valetine's date. Thanks to Linda and Curtis for watching Jason on Saturday so we could go.
Kyle took me to Jonny Carino's. We went there for my birthday while we were dating, but we hadn't been back since. It was definitely time to go again. After dinner, he took me to BYU's folk dance concert in Salt Lake. It was totally awesome. I am all jazzed up to brush off my Irish dancing skills again. We'll see if I can teach Jason a few moves.

It was a Dark and Stormy Night

Our power was out for a little over an hour tonight. Luckily, dinner was out of the oven, so we ate a nice, warm meal by more candle light than on Valentine's Day. We are thankful Kyle had to go on the Klondike camp-out because he put new batteries in our dead head-lamps before camping. Hence, we were prepared for the power outage.

Having the power go out occasionally is a wonderful thing, I've decided. It gives you an extra kick-in-the-rear to improve your emergency essentials; I need to work on our water supply. It also gives you an opportunity to focus on doing stuff as a family, rather than watching TV or playing on the computer. We had so much fun practicing Jason's nursery songs over and over, including "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "Once There was a Snowman," "Ring Around the Rosies," "London Bridge," "Sunbeam," etc. Jason was in heaven playing with his parents, singing all those fun songs, and practicing his candle-blowing skills yet again. Good times.