Tradition, Tradition

I love traditions. Love them. love them. love them. I love traditions because they give me something to look forward to when holidays or other special occasions roll around. Over the last six years, Marc and I have created great traditions for Christmas and a few for some other holidays, but Easter has always been a little lacking perhaps because I've been out of town for the last few since Carter was born and prior to that it was just no big deal. But, now that we have kids I really want to do some things to make Easter memorable. If you have a fun Easter tradition please share and help my family find some that we can look forward to.

Quote(s) of the Day

Recently, Carter has picked up on a common dinner table conversation piece. He'll often ask Marc, "So how's work going?" The first time he said this, I think I laughed kind of like Dick Van Dyke does in Mary Poppins--the "Pah!" explosive kind of laugh. He sounded so grown up all of a sudden and we were both caught off guard. The other day he asked me the same question while I was loading the dishwasher. I told him I don't really work (I know that's not true, though.) I asked him how his work was going. He responded similarly.

Today Marc and I were discussing babies and I don't even remember if we were discussing them generally as in there are tons of babies being born right now or specifically as in the eventual growth of our own family, (no this is not an announcement or even an announcement of a soon to come announcement, we don't anticipate anything of the sort for quite awhile) but Carter piped in only to say "We don't need any babies, Mom we have my baby brother, Aden!" Thank you, Carter. That is exactly why there isn't an announcement to make.

In-N-Out

Marc's front desk help is a really sweet, soft spoken girl. It's funny to say girl because she's actually the same age as Marc, but everyday Marc comes home to tell me another funny story that makes us want to say to her, "Girl, do you know how clueless you are?!?" He cringes when she opens her mouth to start talking, especially about politics. He says that patients often give her looks too and to tell you how clueless she really is, she doesn't notice. Poor girl. Anyway, one of Marc and her recent debates is this--she insists that an In-N-Out is being built somewhere here in Colorado Springs. If you don't know what In-N-Out is, it's a burger drive-thru that does things the old fashioned way. They grind their own beef for their burgers, use REAL cheese, make their own sponge dough buns, and make their own fries from straight-from-the-gound potatoes (these aren't that good, but they're ok once you get used to them). And their milkshakes--to die for, literally! (The calorie count in one shake should definitely be ignored in order to enjoy one!) The chain's commitment to freshness is the exact reason In-N-Out has not expanded across the nation. They are spread across California pretty heavily, but have only expanded a little into Nevada and Arizona. :( So, last night, Marc was thinking about their debate again--it's been on going for a few weeks--and decided to check things out once and for all. Lo and behold, she is once again clueless. We wouldn't be so lucky and since Marc left In-N-Out's website up and I glanced at it this morning, I'm writing this only to say--I want a Cheeseburger, animal style, (grill the onions, please!) and a chocolate milkshake. The picture above is the location that was only 1.25 miles from our apartment in Northridge.

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

They say that little girls are made of this, but I have to argue the other way. Carter is the sweetest little boy!

Puppy Love

A few weekends ago, we spent the evening with some friends at their house. They have a little girl, Mia, who is just days younger than Carter and ever since we met them, they have been good friends. While we were eating and chatting at the table, Carter, Jen, (Mia's mom) and I, Mia brought down a new dress she wanted to change into. As Jen slipped it over Mia's clothes she was already wearing, I caught a glance at Carter. He was staring at Mia with adoring eyes and a wide smile. Then, he said, "I really like that dress on you, Mia." As soon as he said those words, a pre-arranged marriage was as good as done in my book!

The Magic Words

Ensuring that your child is a grateful child is quite challenging and even though I try to enforce using "thank you" often, sometimes pre-schoolers in general and Carter specifically can seem selfish, spoiled, and ungrateful. Except for the occasional time when he totally surprises me. This has happened two times since last night.

Last night my parents stopped by to give the boys valentines. They brought Anderson an orangutan puppet and Carter "Darrel Cartrip" (one of the Cars cars). During their entire hour long visit, he kept asking my parents what his car's name was and why they had brought it for him. He held the car, stared at the car and loved the car. When they were leaving, Carter was sitting at the kitchen table trying to finish his ice cream before bed and with Darrel Cartrip in hand he said, "Thank you for bringing Cartrip for me." Wow! I didn't even have to remind him.

This morning was Carter's preschool Valentine's party. I wanted so badly to be there, but seeing as how yesterday I couldn't move and today I still have some residual stuffiness and coughing, I didn't go. When we got home, Mia's mom called to tell me how cute Carter was during the party. While they were passing out their valentine treats, he was heard saying, "This is so exciting, Miss Amy! I love it." Then while everyone else was getting their coats and backpacks on, Carter ran over to Miss Amy to say one last thing: "I just wanted to say thank you for my Valentine." How sweet.

Go Figure!

Yesterday was the warmest, nicest day we've had so far this year--it was 54 degrees! Where did you find our family? Sitting on the couch watching cartoons. I was so sick I couldn't move. I'd look out the window and try to will myself to feel better so I could take the kids to the park, but it didn't work. Booo!

Quote of the Day

This morning after eating his morning snack, Carter explained to me, "Mom, my teef hurt. You need to cut them out and give me old ones." (to him, old means new) Nice. Where on earth does he come up with this stuff?

The Sneak

We just put the boys to bed, but Carter had wanted to sing before he went down. We didn't oblige his wish so he began singing when the light was off and the door was closed. I sat outside their bedroom door to listen to him sing and after a few minutes I saw the light coming through the crack underneath the door. I waited a bit, all the while Carter is still singing, and finally told him to turn the light off. It took a little bit too long for him to obey, so I told him again and then opened the door. He was climbing down off of the top bunk which until Anderson transitions into a big boy bed or can climb to the top of the bunk beds (which ever one comes first) serves as his "Anderson can't get my toys" play area. To give him credit, he was trying to obey. I couldn't help but laugh. These boys will soon be giving us a run for our money, as if they aren't already!

Breaking News

After some intense searching that borderlined on obsession we found a house, made an offer that got countered, made a counter offer that got accepted, had the house inspected, and in three weeks we will officially be home owners. It's a repo so we've got a little bit of work to do before we move in, namely baseboards, door frames, carpet on the 2nd floor, and fresh paint, and then we'll upgrade bathrooms, appliances, and the basement when we can after that, but regardless of that, we are just thrilled to have made the big leap.

The Sweetest Sound

This month in primary, we've been learning all three verses to I Am a Child of God. Since I have the priviledge of being a Sunbeam teacher, and even better, Carter's Sunbeam teacher, (there are 2 FULL sunbeam classes in our ward) I have been able to brush up on that song, too and make sure that we practice at home. Most of the time we practice while we are in the car to keep Anderson from whining. Tonight on our way home from my parents house, Carter asked to sing so we did. Marc and I trailed off and stopped singing. The sweetest sound was listening to Carter sing the entire first verse all by himself for the first time. After a week where I feel more frustrated than content with motherhood it was a very rewarding moment. Now, the test will be whether or not he sings tomorrow during Singing Time. He most likely will not--he doesn't seem to like singing when he's supposed to!