A word from Hunter...

On Sunday, in Primary, the leader was talking about families and important qualities in families. She asked why 'love' is important in a family and Hunter was called upon. This was his answer...
"Love is very important and it is a part of a family. And you need love to make babies."

LOL!

It was soooo hard for all the leaders to not giggle at his sweet response. And no, we have not had the talk about the birds and the bees yet.

Thanksgiving and thanks... and a little shopping

I love having my parents close to us. What a treat to load up the kids, all the pies, rolls, and other goodies, and be there within a half hour to enjoy being together! I love my family. I am so grateful for a family who loves each other and loves to be together! We missed having Shayne's family by us this year and we send hugs to each of them!

On Friday morning, I started a WEE bit early... 3:05 am to be exact. I decided to set the alarm for 3:05 cause it looked just a little better than 3:00!! Anyhoo, I think it's mean that Sears did a 4am opening, but I had success and managed to get us a brand new washer and dryer for the price of 1! It was a SWEET deal and I'm still dumbfounded that I managed to get it. I waited outside for 1/2 hour, then inside at another line to get to the register for 45 minutes. That place was CRAZY!! At least I thought it was crazy till I decided to drive past Target - considering the prospect of running in to get a little thing I saw for Danny. Ummmmm, that line has about 1500 people... probably more!!! That was MIND BOGGLING and I was so grateful that I wasn't in that line! And it was definitely not worth a $10 toy!!

I just have to list a few things I'm grateful for:
my hubby
our kids
our dog
our warm house
our working cars
our extended family
the sunshine!
Hawaii.... just wish I was there!
my friends
my clarinet and piano
my memories
my Heavenly Father
my Savior
for all who inspire me to be better than yesterday
and for tomorrow - it is a chance for a clean slate to be a better mom, friend, and wife.

Only Cole...

#1:
Cole let in one of my clarinet students last week. As the student made her way to go downstairs, Cole very kindly introduced his dad,

"That's my daddy. And he's bald."

#2:
We went to Farm Country and as we were leaving, they brought in a real cow and let the kids come up and try milking her! Each kid got to squeeze twice and then let the next child try. Well, as we got in the car, Cole very excitedly exlaimed,

"I got to squeeze the cow's penis!"

It took the next 10 minutes to convince him that girl cows don't have such a part.

Oh, the conversations we have at the most improvised moments.

only cole.

New Rules + 5 minutes

So, after the big "FORTS" of Tuesday -I laid down new rules.
1) You can build a fort with blankets and pillows from your room only.
2) Toys are not part of a fort (just blankets and pillows!)

5 minutes later, (seriously, just 5 minutes) I went to see what they were doing in Cole's room and here's the result:

Why hasn't my kid figured out "forts" are not piles of things? I have built him several forts in our family room - but he prefers these forts. They just need a new name.... like..... "I want to build a pile of destruction!"

Quote of the week from Cole

C: "Mommy, when you are going to have another baby."
me: What?
C: "When are you going to have a new baby in your tummy?"
me: Not for a looong time!
C: "Yeah, cause you need to eat lots of vegetables and good food to make a baby in your tummy. Cause vegetables make babies."
me: oh, that's how!
C: "YUP!"

Toilets and hard water

So, I'm curious, does anyone have a magical solution for hard water stains in a toilet bowl? I've tried several different cleaners and my latest fad is a big bottle of COLA just soaking all night. It works ok... but I keep thinking there's got to be something better out there. I can put in the elbow grease and get the hard water lines to be gone... but they come back within the week!! I want an easier solution! : - )

What can 2 FOUR year olds do in an hour?

I cleaned the kitchen while they played downstairs. Little did I realize that their play meant bringing every toy OUT of the toy room to build a fort....

Then this afternoon (YES, in the same day), I taught a couple of clarinet lessons and once again, they were just playing in Cole's room. What could they possibly do? I didn't think they'd take every pillow, blanket, and toy from a three room radius to one spot!
Here's a little highlight from last week. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL.

This is a very full car and noisy!
As you can see, we're a busy house and it's hard to keep up with us!

RUNNERS!

I need help from all you fellow runners, working-out fanatics, bikers, ETC. I need new music. I've been running to the same music for MONTHS and MONTHS. It drives me nuts how I hear a song and I already know what's next... and it isn't very motivating. PLUS, only a few of my songs are really fast enough for me. Not that I'm a fast runner, but I guess I'd prefer a faster pace (I don't go far, I am a short girl!). So, PLEASE, start telling me your favorites to run/workout/whatever. I'm hoping for lots of great new ideas!