Baby names

Tonight I was talking to my grandma on the phone and we started
on the discussion of baby names. We were laughing at some of the interesting ones we have encountered. And not just outlandish and crazy, but some poor children who have parents that seemingly did not say their first and last names together enough times to realize how it sounded. It made me wonder what are some of the best you have heard? And remember, please keep your remarks tasteful, this is a family blog you know.But really, if it is too inappropriate to share on this blog, I pity the poor child that carries that name around their whole life.

Bowling baby

Yesterday morning Matt asked me if I wanted to play bowling with him on the Wii.
Well really, who wouldn't want to? It was great fun and once again, I was schooled by a
five-year old. While we were playing, Ben showed up and decided he wanted a part of the
action. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Because they sure made me laugh.

I really should have been on Broadway

I very much love music. And I love a variety of music. But there are a few songs or CDs that make me especially happy and have the ability to instantly bring back memories.

I recently bought the Les Miserables CD on Ebay for the grand amount of six dollars. I'm not a big Ebayer, but was reminded of this CD recently and went looking to see what I could find. Do you know how much I love the music from Les Mis? A lot. It reminds me of my childhood. It reminds me of standing in my room, with the music up as loud as possible (but only when my parents were gone), singing at the top of my lungs. And to my dramatic teenage self, I had a good voice. No, actually a GREAT voice. For those that have heard my voice, this is funny on so many, many levels.

Anyway, the second I put the CD into our player a few days ago, I went back in time. Back to a time when the drama of high school was super real and deathly important. Back to a time when I thought my life would end if I didn't get straight A's in every subject, every semester. Back to a time when I drove a small gray truck that would stall at stop signs and shake convulsively whenever you drove above fifty miles per hour. Back to a time when Jacob Allen playing soccer made my heart beat fast (still does). Back to a time when I would listen to songs on this particular CD and think they were the most romantic songs I had ever heard. Back to a time when life was incredibly simple, but I was too young to realize it.

Happy memories, funny memories, embarrassing memories, just plain fabulous memories...

Speaking of Les Mis, I have this huge desire to read and watch it again. Reading no problem, but which movie version is the best? I'm not sure I've seen any of them and I'm not planning on attending the live show anytime soon. Any thoughts?

My boy

This morning my baby sat on my lap while I answered some emails. He was wearing his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that looked a little small on him. I knew this because his chubby little belly stuck out above his diaper. Although that could just be because he seemed extra hungry this morning. His hair stood up in the back, in every place that his pillow had touched. He had crumbs on his cheeks from breakfast. He kept pointing and laughing at the computer. Over and over, he would turn around to look at me, his big blue eyes looking out from under his insanely long eyelashes. And I had one of those incredible moments of complete happiness and teary emotion—all mixed perfectly into one.

From the deepest part of my heart, I love being a mom.

Like father, like son

Some of you might remember this post. Apparently this is a gene. Last Friday, Campbell came home from school with a treat from his teacher. Before they left school that day, she had given each of them a piece of candy and told them to have a wonderful spring break. After arriving home, Cam showed me what his teacher had given him and then proceeded to take it up to his room for later. (Later? My life handbook says there is no such word when it comes sugar.) And there it sat, in plain site, for seven days. Unopened. (Seriously, there are times like these when I wonder if I am truly his mother.)

This morning, I went to check that his room was clean and noticed that finally, his spring break reward had been opened. And a bite had been taken. (One bite. I mean really, where did I go wrong?) And as of this evening, there has still only been one bite out of that piece of licorice. To be honest, I really shouldn't be surprised. He has candy in his treasure box that has been there for months and months. I once had a piece of candy that went uneaten for two hours. But I think I was away from the house and couldn't get to it.

So near as I can tell, the moral of the story is...if you have anything that contains sugar that you need "watched" for a minute, you might want to avoid using me as your sucrose babysitter. I would highly recommend Jacob or Cam though. They seem to have some crazy, nonhuman control when it comes to food of the sugared variety. Skinny little punks.

Deliciousness

Nothing says deliciousness like food on the forehead.

Inspiring

This morning we took the train into Boston to watch those running in the marathon. By "we" I mean my cute friend, Rachel, and her five kids. It was awesome. Two moms, nine kids, big city, absolute craziness. Gratefully, the craziness came from the excitement of the marathon and not from our kids. They were awesome.

That being said, not sure we will be making-the-trek-to-Boston-on-marathon-day a tradition in our family. It was so completely worth being there and trying it once, but unless you are willing to get there super early and wait around for hours and hours, you are not able to see much. Or anything in our case.

Luckily, the man I married works in an office on the less crowded side of the street and he was able to see more than we did. In fact, he took the cool picture below. Because we were not able to get close enough to see anything, Jacob got as close as he could and waited around trying to catch a glimpse of our friend, Colleen, running by. But unfortunately, it didn't happen. So just pretend that one of the fine runners you see below is Colleen. Thanks. I mean really, isn't she amazing?

Rachel and I and our numerous children did hang around the "family waiting area" for a very long time hoping to run into Colleen, but no such luck. The time was not wasted though as it was definitely entertaining and awesome to see the other runners. Some were dressed up in crazy costumes (Captain America graced us with his presence), but mostly it just made me a little teary to see these cool people and what they had accomplished.

That evening, we were finally able to meet up with Colleen, when she came back to our house. I snapped the picture below at that time. Seriously, who looks this good after running a marathon?

Way to go Colleen! Thanks for staying with us and thanks for being so incredibly awesome! 
You are completely inspiring. So inspiring in fact, I am thinking about watching someone 
else train for a marathon. Yup, that is how impressed I was by what you did. Don't let anyone
else know though, I can't handle the pressure in case it ends up being too lofty a goal.

Our temple

Some of you may know that Jacob and I were sealed in the Bern Switzerland Temple. Without question, the happiest day of my life. I mean truly, who doesn't want to be married in Europe? It was a fairy tale for sure.

But being married in a temple that is so far away, obviously means that going back to visit doesn't happen often. (Well, it hasn't happened yet for us, but it will and I cannot wait.) And even having those we know visit has only happened two or three times. But this past weekend, my parents had the opportunity to visit Switzerland for a couple of days. And they took the time to go to the temple in Bern and my dad took several pictures for me. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have these pictures. They brought back so many happy, happy memories.

Thank you Dad and Mom! I love that you were able to attend a session in the temple 
where we were sealed. And thank you for taking the time to take pictures of 
"our temple" and send them to us. We love them and we love you!

My sweet little baby...

...has pneumonia. May I never witness one of my little ones put on a wooden seat, surrounded
by a plastic container of sorts and forced to keep his hands above his head for the time it takes
to capture several x-rays. All the while sobbing, with the saddest look on his face you have
ever seen. My sweet little boy. He was so excited to see his crib. That I can definitely relate to.

Although I think I'll go with the bed option instead. How many hours until bedtime?

My new favorite song

Mr. Matt has been walking around the house singing this song this morning.

Some of you may think it sounds familiar, but will soon realize you have
been singing the words wrong for many years. Let me enlighten you.

Cupid, draw back your el-bow,
And let your arrow go-whoa,
Straight to my mother's heart,
For me.

Cupid, please hear my cry-yi.
And let your arrow fly-yi.
Straight to my mother's heart,
For me.

Involving Cupid makes the whole thing seem sweet, but the arrow headed toward
his mother's heart? Hmm, not sure what to make of it. But at least Cupid knows that
 if he uses his elbow, his form will be outstanding and his accuracy sure. Phew.

The Boston Marathon

I am so incredibly excited for next Monday. My friend, Colleen, is flying out this weekend and will be running in the Boston Marathon. I could not be more impressed. We are so glad she would stay with us while she is here and especially glad that we will be able to be a small part of it.

Oh and the best news of it all? The finish line is less than a block from Jacob's office building and the kids are off that day for spring break. Come next Monday, we will all be waiting by the finish line. I'll have my camera charged and a big old smile on my face. Which will probably turn to some tears as I watch all those amazing people finish their 26.2 mile run. Awesomely inspiring...to say the least.

I'm a dork and I don't even care

Because this made me cry. I just absolutely love the underdog. You have to watch the entire
seven minutes. And then tell me if I'm the only doofus who cried. And yet, I'm not sure
 I would care if I was, because this just made me so very happy.

Easter morning

Easter

Christ has won the victory.

More visitors

Jacob's dad and brother came to visit this week. They needed to come out to Boston for an
important appointment and they happen to know some people who live here who wanted
to have them stay with them, instead of a hotel. Lucky for us for sure. It was so fun to
have them and the kids definitely loved playing with their Uncle Danny and Grandpa.

Thanks for coming Rex and Danny! We miss you!

In case you were wondering...

Annie and Matt are home with sore throats and are watching The Backyardigans. They keep complaining that watching TV is "boring." Um, I believe someone forgot to check their birth certificate this morning.

Cam is at school being smart. He is also counting the seconds until he gets to ride the bus home by himself. Which appears to be an event that is way cooler to do alone and not with your sister.

Ben alternates between lining up trains on a wooden track and taking cereal boxes out of the pantry and lining them up in the family room. I think the theme is "lines" here, folks.

I am writing this blog post. And as you can tell, my talent is astounding. Please feel free to be impressed with this riveting subject and the way I draw you into our lives.

Jacob is at work. He is working.

Jacob's dad and brother, who are visiting us (another post on that coming), are in Boston at an appointment they had this morning. My guess is that they are freezing. The sun is apparently working about as hard as my children with the red throats.

Asking for your opinion

As some of you may know, our Matthew boy will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. A day or two ago, I received a letter from the school letting us know the deadline for requesting either the morning or afternoon session. And even though I have given it a lot of thought, I'm not sure which one I want to request. Our two oldest didn't have the option, because in California, Kindergarten is an all-day affair. I have several pros and cons for both the morning and afternoon option and I'm still not sure which is best. I know it isn't a huge deal and either will be fine, but I was hoping some of you could help me out with my decision here.

Which option did you choose and why? Or which option did you get assigned and why did you like/dislike it? Or even if you are too rushed to give reasons, I'd love to just know your preference. Thanks so much! I so appreciate it.

Just to me

As millions throughout the world pause to listen to our Prophet, I feel so very blessed to be one
of them. It is overwhelming to me that being only one of millions throughout the nations of the
earth to hear the words of our inspired leaders, does not make me feel any less that they are
speaking to me. Just to me. The Spirit has touched my heart and I cannot wait to do better.

An early gift

Happy April! I hope it has started out lovely and warm and Aprilish.

So, I have been thinking. And I think this little habit I've started of writing annoying posts, here and here, is really not very nice. And it is frustrating a lot of people. And that makes me feel bad. And so I know I said I was going to wait until the end of August to reveal what these numbers mean to me, but I've changed my mind. There is something about the beginning of April that makes it seem like the perfect time to share important information. So, with further ado, here you go...

April Fools.