the latest and greatest, and some deep soul-searching questions

Here's what we've been up to lately. Did some geocaching (or deo-tassing, as Hazel calls it) tonight in the beee-YOOtiful weather. (Jethro has a bear in this picture that he got to take home for the weekend from kindergarten. So far in the bear's journal, no one has taken him geocaching, so we thought he'd enjoy it.) By the way, those of you who asked, you can go to geocaching.com to find out all about it, but in general, people hide 'caches' filled with cheap-o goodies, then enter the name of their cache, with it's coordinates, on the website, you use your GPS to find the cache. Kids love the loot (you bring some to trade) and after the initial cost of a GPS (ours was free from my awesome brother-in-law Blake, cause he had one from his work), it's free, it's everywhere you can think of, and it's FUN!

Jethro and Hazel being goofy.

And then falling off the train table which is where they were sitting for all those goofy pictures. (No kids were harmed in the shooting of this photograph.)

My cool kids.

I made some orange rolls today. I've never made them before, nor even had them before, to my recollection, but I saw them while flipping through the cookbook, and they looked tasty. And they were. (Though of course, I added chocolate chips, because really--I add chocolate chips whenever possible. Which reminds me.....sometimes life is really good to me. Like the other day, I was looking through the pile of old hats in Brett's closet for no reason at all, and I found a half-full bag of cadbury mini eggs. Which I ate immediately. They were sort of stale (I don't know what year they were from) but still--unexpected chocolate??? It's like a direct blessing from heaven!)

Hazel in the fridge.

Jethro, Hazel and I ran around the blocks several times the other night because it's been so lovely out. It was really fun. I enjoyed myself a lot. I was barefoot. I think that helps you loosen up and feel more like a kid. At least, for me it does. Here's a cool action shot of Hazel.

And now, on to the deep, meaningful questions for all of my readers. These are things that I've always wondered about, and I hope you will ponder, search your soul, and answer with all due sincerity so that my mind might be troubled no longer.

First, what's your favorite kind of apple? Mine has always been red delicious, because really, that is The Apple. Don't you think? But since being married to Brett, I have come to eat other kinds of apples because he believes red delicious get soft easier than other kinds. So, now I also like cameo a lot, and gala a little. But a red delicious in perfect ripeness and sweetness and crispness CAN'T be beat.

Second, do you usually eat cold cereal for breakfast, or something else? I'm a cereal fan all the way. I'm not fond at all of pancakes, and I don't like to eat too much in the mornings at all really. My dad never eats breakfast, and I'm kinda like that. Except when I'm pregnant of course, I have to make myself eat then or I get a little sick. My next favorite breakfast food is egg-in-a-basket, and then german pancakes.

Third, Do you wear rubber gloves when you do dishes? I never did until very recently, last winter, when my hands started getting super dry, and now I still do.

Fourth, how do you wake up in the mornings? I try to never wake up to an alarm clock. First, I like to sleep in, and secondly, it's such a rude awakening, and thirdly, my kids wake me up. Oh, except on Sundays when Brett wakes me up. He's an early-riser. Me, no. But I still love him.

Fifth, do you prefer facial hair on your spouse, or clean shaven? (Or, if you're a guy, do you prefer facial hair or not?) I think I've mentioned before that I'm all for the scruff. I like it muy much.

That is all. Please, PLEASE tell me your answers in the comments. It will mean so much to me. I will write a reminder comment so you don't have to try to remember all the comments when the screen changes. Have a nice day.

Baby Anika

My friend had a baby the other week, and I brought them over some dinner, so I got to see her whe she was brand, brand new. She was TINY! I think she was 5 lb 15 oz when she was born, so she was a little smaller than that when I saw her. And she was GORGEOUS!!! Just so cute. So cute that when I saw her my stomach did that little she's-so-precious flop and I thought, "I MUST take pictures of this doll!" so I begged my friend to let me take pictures. And I finally was able to (after a rainy, overcast several days), and I think they turned out cute, although whenever I try to take pictures it makes me mad that I don't know more. I really need to get working on the technical side of things--where I'm pretty lost. Ruff. Anyway, here is sweet little Anika.

The Horsepower of Light

My sister Kami said in a comment about Jethro that he's like a micro-engineer already. Yeah, well, look at this. Our ward is having an extreme pinewood derby, and we got the car the other day, so Brett was saying to Jethro, "We have to start making our plans!" After Jethro was in bed, Brett took out a notebook and started making some sketches.

The next morning, Jethro found the notebook, saw the sketches, and started making *several* of his own.

But the best part of all? When I was scanning these (I picked a very few of all that he had colored), I asked him what their names were. I don't remember which name goes to which, but here they are:

The Coolest Racecar in the Whole Earth

The Horsepower of Light and Space

The Horsepower of Stain and Braveness (I asked him several times if he meant "Stain" or something else--but that's all I got)

The Spirit of Life

Hazel bean.

It's interesting, since Jethro's been going to kindergarten, it seems like Hazel has gotten a bit pushed aside. She's not going to school, but she's not the baby either. I need to find things to do with just her and me.

She's also lately been really kind of ditzy. Walking into walls and stuff like that. At Enrichment, I had been just telling that to some ladies sitting by me, and later on, someone came to tell me that Hazel had gotten hurt in the nursery. I went in and one of the brethren was holding some paper towels on her foot. She had somehow cut it and there was a pretty good chunk of skin flapping open. Anyway, we band-aided it and Hazel thought it was as good as new.

Last week I was trying to get my floor swept (only swept!) and Ethne kept crawling into the pile of dirt. It was a very big pile because this was after all of our kitchen renovations, so I finally pulled the couch around to block off the entrance to the kitchen. She did NOT like that. But at least I could finally finish sweeping. Meanwhile, Hazel was outside getting into mud. Nice. What would have happened if I had tried something crazy like mopping?

When Hazel and Jethro both cheese it really big like this, I realize that they actually do look quite a bit alike. ;)

My son.

I just love this kid. The other day was school picture day, and I didn't buy any because they're so out-of-control expensive (even though I kinda wanted just to see how they turned out), so I took some myself and got some cute smiles.

He's getting to seem much more mature to me. I can talk to him more like you talk to an adult. (Not all the way, of course, just more so.)

Here's a funny story. The other day I grabbed his hand and was shaking it up and down saying, "Nice to meet ya, nice to meet ya," and he jerked his hand away and said, "You've ALREADY met me!!! Cause you're my MOM and I'm you're SON!!"

And I said, "I'm not you're mom--where'd you get a crazy idea like that?"

And he looked at me with a condescending look and said, "I KNOW you are."

And I said, "How do you know?"

"Cause you pick me up from school." hee hee.

So I said, "That's what makes me your mom? What if someone else picked you up--would they be your mom then?"

And he growled in agitation and said, "I've known you for YEARS and YEARS and YEARS and years and yeeeeeeears." Well, alrighty then.

At Enrichment, we got goldfish as prizes for a game, so I came home with two. Jethro named his Speedy Fish, or Fishy, and I named Hazel's Daisy. Anyway, Brett put water out to sit for the night, and before he left for work he put the fish in the water. Unfortunately, the letting it sit all night didn't work, and at 7:30 I was awoken by Jethro telling me that he thought his fish was dead. I told him something, I don't really remember what, and he left. But soon he came back really upset this time, crying, and said, "The other fish is eating my fish!" So I had to go flush his fish down the toilet and try to tell him it was okay. Then Hazel's fish died within another hour or so, and when Jethro told her her fish was dead, she said, "No, it's resting!" Mmmmm, nope.

This picture is of Jethro explaining to me what kind of fish he wants to get next. (I'm not really planning on getting another fish, so maybe after several years he'll forget about it.)

Ethne's headband.

I made a headband thingee for Ethne today to go with an outfit that I bought her for her 1-year-old pictures outfit. I thought it was so adorable that I had to take pictures now, even though I will take more when she really is one.

Anyway, I just used some ribbon that I had, and sewed a small piece of elastic headband stuff on the back. It's not very neat, but I figure, most people don't check. Then I bought some silk flowers from Hobby Lobby that matched SO PERFECTLY! and sewed them on with a button in their center. Sooo cute! And I just think Ethne looks so cute in this dusty rose color. Too bad she wouldn't smile for me. Too interested in eating the fence. ;)

Our kitchen

So, last weekend we were supposed to go to Chicago to visit Kami, go to the temple, and lounge on the beach. I was very excited. But, instead of many beautiful beach pictures, I give you---these. We had a plumbing problem the night before we left, so we had to do plumbing instead--rip out the wall and everything. Luckily, it was a fairly straight-forward fix, but then, since everything was already all ripped up, we decided to do a new countertop (which we had been kinda planning on doing for a while). I wanted laminate, but they didn't have white in-stock anywhere, so we did tile, because when my husband wants to do something, he wants to do it NOW. No waiting for an order. Anyway, the tile looks pretty nice, and once we get it all completely finished (it is MOSTLY finished except for one little spot under the top cupboard that we put in) I will post a larger finished picture.

Jethro helping Daddy glue PVC pipe. PVC stands for poly-vinyl chloride.

Hazel helping wash the cupboards off.

One funny story. At the very beginning, Brett had gone to work on Friday morning just for a meeting, and then he was coming right back. But he had pulled up the bottom of the cupboard under the sink and asked me to clean it up with the (wet/dry)shop vac. So, I was doing my job, but there was this dead mouse that I had to take out. It wasn't newly dead, but it wasn't just a skeleton. It was kinda dried out but it was intensely gross. So I sat there, wondering how I was going to pick it up, and Hazel was sitting beside me, watching the action--or inaction, rather. I kept saying "Ewww, this is soooo gross!" over and over. And I couldn't think of a good way to get it without having to, you know--touch it. Finally I said to Hazel, "How am I going to get it?" and she said, "With a foyk." Which means fork. And I was like, GENIUS! So, I had my rubber gloves on, and I got a plastic fork, and I had a plastic bag ready for it, but I still couldn't do it, it was just so nasty!!! So I said, "Hazel, why don't you get it." And she said, "But......but......but................. it's yucky." I know. :) Then she said, "Daddy can get it!" which was a great idea, except I knew I had to get it myself. And as I sat there, I thought that my mother would think I was being absolutely ridiculous and she would say, "For heaven's sake, just pick it up and throw it out and wash your hands." And you know, I talked to her on the phone later, and that's pretty much what she said. :)

Anyway, I did finally get it and throw it away and clean up. But yeah. That's what we've been up to lately.

Sometimes I have really important things to do with my time.

I'm just trying--really hard--to be as cool as my brother Derek.

*STYLIN'* Ethne and a funny Jethro story

Okay, she's just SO cute.

And here's the funny story. The other day we were all walking into Lowe's together, and I said to Brett, "You know what would be a terrible way to torture someone?" and he said something or other, and I said, "No, I was thinking of wiping someone's nose with a really rough paper over and over until their nose is raw and bloody." (This came to me because Ethne's had a really runny nose lately, and getting it wiped is, well, torturous for her.)

Then Jethro said, "OR you could torture someone by wiping boogers on their arm!" Brett and I laughed so hard. Yeah--that's a good one, Jethro. Then he said, "Or it would just be funny." Nice recovery. hee hee.

One of the best feelings in the world...

is being greeted in the morning by this happy girl. She gets so excited when I come in that she bobs up and down. It's so cute.

Oh no--Jethro already hates school!

Just kidding. He loves it. Especially when Daddy rides him on his bike.

Sometimes, daddy would ride me to school on his bike when we went to USU. Those were good times.