Many topics.

So I decided I need to really REALLY exercise. I would say exercise more, but that would lead to the wrong idea that I actually exercise at all, which is untrue. But I can feel my muscles start to atophy, and I probably can't throw a football across my backyard (okay, I really HOPE I can, since my backyard is pretty small), but anyway--back to the point--I just don't find my Cindy Crawford workout video at all exciting and I don't like jogging and with three kids I don't know how to do anything more fun. Brett said I need to buck up and do it anyway, cause it's not like most people really find exercise fun. But I do find lots of exercise fun---sports, swimming, dancing, hiking, it's just hard to do those things right now. So. Anyone want to go play raquetball with me every morning?

I'm probably on this rampage right now only because I just spent the entire weekend curled up reading the Twilight series, and so didn't move or walk or do anything to get any energy out so I was feeling like a convalescent by the time I was done. The first night I finished Twilight at midnight or so and then, because the dumb thing has a chapter of the next book in the first one I got the next book out and started reading it and read till 3:45 when Brett woke up and realized I was still reading and yelled at me to get in the bed right then. Ooops. It's not my fault! I take no responsibility for my poor behavior--I blame it all on my genes. My dad stayed up reading whole nights when he read the Work and the Glory books--then went to work, then came home and slept on the couch.
Anyway, my opinion on the books is fairly low. They do (obviously) keep you turning the pages, but I simply canNOT sympathize with someone who can't figure out who she's in love with. The whole last book was Bella saying "oh, I'm breaking everybody's hearts but can't seem to stop myself, wah-wah-wah" over and over. Get a grip. Anyway. Oh, and the talk about immortality made me think of the book Tuck Everlasting (which is a PHENOMENAL book), and the talk about the vampires extra senses made me think of X-Men, and there was a vampire book by Robin McKinley that came out only a few years ago that was much the same too. (Not that I'm saying no author should ever write a book that's similar to another--otherwise there'd never be any new books, I'm just noting that all of these things came to mind.)

Anyway, if you want to read a TRULY good fantasy novel, read The Perilous Gard. THAT is worth reading over and over and over!
So, last week there was snow, and today was soooooo WARM! It was awesome! It was Jethro's first day back to school and so I took the kids in the stroller to pick him up, and we stayed and played on the playground for a while. Jethro pretended to be a pirate, and he started chasing me and Hazel, and then Hazel and Jethro became pirates and ganged up on me, and I really had to actually run fast to get away from the two of them--Jethro was SOOOO mad. He kept screaming, "That's no fair!!!! You can't run at top speed!!!" And I was like, "But I have to run at top speed or you would get me!" Anyway, it did much good for my lazy self. Jethro finally grabbed me at the end, and then Hazel came barreling into me and we all fell over and I was laughing so hard I couldn't even get up. So so so fun.

Hazel is so clutzy--seriously it is amazing. One of the nursery workers was saying how he was going to miss Hazel, how she's always happy and then his wife mentioned, "and she's such a great colorer--she has such amazing fine motor skills," and Brett's like, "Yeah, too bad she doesn't have any gross motor skills." hee hee. But he told me about this conversation at dinner time, and then he was talking on the phone with his parents later, and during the time he was on the phone she fell over or ran into something about 4 times. We laughed so hard every time. That girl really needs to learn to watch wear she's going. :)

Ethne has been SOOOOO ornery lately. It's not really her fault, since I think two or three teeth have been coming in at once, but really, she's been a bear. Last night she was being a little bit nicer, and giving Brett a few half-smiles, and Brett and I were shocked and decided it was like seeing the sun after 40 days and 40 nights of rain. Poor girl.
I made chore charts for the kids and it has seriously been FANTASTIC!!! I can't figure out why I didn't do this sooner. Hazel and Jethro have been making their beds everyday, their clothes actually go where they're supposed to go, Jethro sweeps under the table every day, has done dishes almost every day, they set the table, and Hazel has started putting her dishes in the dishwasher WITHOUT being told. It's AWESOME! Who knew that all I had to do was print out a silly little paper. Jethro says I should make one for me, and maybe that would be a good idea, then again, it would probably only help if my mom was checking it.

Hmm, what else is new? My little sister Lindsay, who's turning 19 in a month, just got braces. She SAYS it's because she's always wanted them (her teeth are not crooked, well maybe on the bottom a little, but not noticeably), but I know that it's because she thinks that way no one will ask her out for the next 18 months, thus making it a lot simpler to wait for her man while he's gone. Don't deny it Lindsay. You know it's true. ;)

One more story. This morning when I was still in bed, Jethro and Hazel came in to ask if they could watch a movie (what do they think I'm going to say---no, I think I'll get out of my warm cozy bed and actually take care of you--ha!) and when they were walking out, they started arguing about who got to choose the movie, and Hazel started getting upset and I heard Jethro explaining to her about Choosing the right, how that means doing what Jesus would do--I can't really remember if he was trying to persuade her to let him pick, or if he was letting her pick to set the example--but I thought it was so sweet! He just got his CTR ring from church yesterday, so I was so impressed.

Well, that's all, folks.