Grace wrote this note to Steve yesterday. I thought it was so cute. The only help I gave her was having her add e's to the end of hope and like. Other than that she did it all on her own. In case you can't tell, it is supposed to say, "Dad, I hope you like this. From Grace." I especially like the frrum part. (Usually she gets the a in her name right though.)
My computer has been having major problems lately. I can't always tell when I'll be able to get on the internet, or when the computer will just magically shut off, so I'm just going to post one big post about a lot of stuff that's been happening lately.
Halloween was fun. As you can tell from the pictures, Grace was Batgirl, Roman was Batman, Steve was an In-n-Out employee, and I was... well I was dressed up anyway. Grace helped me pick a purple wig, some big sparkly glasses and a feather boa. I sure looked nice. ;)
Grace decided a costume birthday party would be fun, so we had one for her last Saturday. Her two boyfriends, Quentin and Spencer, came to the party. Spencer signed his card with xoxoxo, and Quentin drew a heart in his. Grace and Quentin also sat together in one chair during the party. They're pretty cute. Let's just hope that she goes through a "boys are yucky" stage at some point. I don't want her sharing a chair with her boyfriend when she's in eighth grade.
Roman has decided that he doesn't like to be called anything but Roman. He has started yelling at complete strangers anytime they call him anytime they call him anything but Roman. The conversation usually goes something like this:
Random stranger: "Hi cutie."
Roman: "No! It's Roman!"
Then usually I try to appoligize for his rude behavior and explain why he's yelling at them. Nice, huh?
Grace decided a few weeks ago that she wanted her ears pierced for her birthday. I wasn't sure if I wanted this or not. I don't have anything against little girls having their ears pierced, but I didn't really want to deal with taking care of her ears and infections, etc. So after talking to her about how much it would hurt, and how her ears could get infected if she wasn't careful, she decided that she didn't want them pierced yet. Smart girl. She has figured out how to avoid unnecessary responsibilities.
Some sad news. Roman lost his favorite stuffed dog, Baby. If I had been smart I wouldn't have let Roman carry the dog along with him on our errands, but I did, and somehow Baby didn't make it home. Poor Baby. If anyone sees a little white dog with blue and purple spots, bring him home to us please! Roman misses him.
We took Grace out for a birthday lunch yesterday, because Steve will be at school late tonight. She chose to go to Sweet Tomatoes, a favorite of my nieces and nephews. In fact, I don't think I've ever been there before without my sister, Becca, and her family. Grace loved it, but when we were finished she asked if she could go to a buffet for her real birthday. Huh? Isn't Sweet Tomatoes a buffet? So no, we're not going to a buffet today.
And finally, only five more weeks until our cruise to Mexico!
Today I got to go to traffic court as a result of the ticket I received in August. (See: http://romangrace.blogspot.com/2008/08/breaking-law.html)
Okay, first of all, why didn't I know that this was really court? As in "All rise for the honorable..." type court. Couldn't someone have told me what I was getting myself into? I had been thinking that I would go to some place like the DMV, wait for my turn, explain my situation, and be cleared of any wrong-doing. Oh no, it wasn't like that at all...
Grace, Roman and I got to the justice building early. We passed through the security check point with flying colors. The guy behind the x-ray machine said, "It looks like you know the drill, you must have been here before." No, I have not been to the justice building before. I am not a criminal, thank you very much.
So next we headed upstairs. The letter I had said that I should go to department one at 1:00. When we got to the right floor I looked around and had no idea what I should be doing. There was a line of people with numbers waiting to talk to people at windows just like at the DMV. This looked just like what I imagined I was supposed to be doing. So I went and took a number before looking around some more. Then I saw a courtroom with a sign that said department one. A courtroom?? Oh no! So I walked over and looked at a sign posted outside the door. Yep, my name was listed right there. I went and sat down outside the courtroom. See, I was thinking that when it was time for my "appointment" someone would open the door and call me in. Kind of like a doctor's office. Again, I was so not prepared. Eventually, after I noticed a few people walk into the courtroom, I realized that I was supposed to go in and wait.
I dragged Grace, Roman, and my stroller in, and we found a place at the back. The room was full of people, and it was an actual courtroom, just like on tv only not so big. So not what I was expecting. Roman was excited. He kept yelling, "church!" We all had to rise while the honorable judge entered the room. They started having people come up to the front one at a time. Of course we were in alphabetical order and I was almost at the bottom of the list. So I sat there trying to keep Roman and Grace quiet. At one point a guy in uniform, (I don't know what to call him, bailiff maybe?) came and shushed my kids. It didn't really work though. Roman's a two-year-old boy, and not a very calm one either.
We sat there forever (it seemed). I got more and more nervous by the second. No, I really hadn't done anything wrong, but I wasn't sure if I had all of the right paperwork, and what was I supposed to say when it was my turn? Was I supposed to address the judge as "your honor"? I was completely out of my element. Anyway, the guy in uniform eventually kicked us out of the courtroom for being too noisy. He was nice about it though. He said he'd come get us when it was our turn. So we went back to sitting in the hall waiting for someone to call our name. Hey, wasn't this what I was doing before? That's also when I noticed the sign right on the courtroom door. It said, "No shorts, tank tops or halter tops allowed in the courtroom at anytime. No exceptions." Yeah, Grace was wearing shorts. Couldn't they have told us this before we got there? Are we just supposed to know?
So eventually it was my turn. I went in carrying Roman, and Grace hid in the back, ashamed of her shorts. I went to the front and the judge asked me how I plead. I said not guilty, and that was it. Next thing I know I'm in the hall waiting for someone to come talk to me. AGAIN. The public defender came out and asked me to explain the situation. (Couldn't we have just done this in the first place?) He said it happens all the time and asked me for a letter that the DMV sent to me. Ah ha! I knew I was missing something important! I didn't have it. It was in the car. And so now I have a trial date set for January so I can show them that letter. I really could have gone out to the car and brought the form back in, but that would have been too easy. At least now I know what paperwork I need.
As you may be able to guess, I am extremely frustrated. If at the beginning of this whole mess, when the DMV noticed that the VIN on my insurance didn't match the VIN on my registration, if they had maybe, I don't know, picked up the phone and called the insurance company and asked if maybe, just maybe, there had been some kind of mix up, then maybe we could have saved:
1. The time of the police officer who pulled me over and gave me the ticket.
2. Numerous pages of paper being printed and mailed from the DMV.
3. All of the paperwork going on at the DMV and in whatever department handles traffic citations. (You know there's tons.)
4. The time of the people working in the courtroom today.
5. The time of the people who will have to continue to be involved in this ongoing mess.
6. Not to mention my time and gas money for all this driving to and from court. I'm an innocent party in this, remember?
Okay, I do feel a little bit better now. :) By the way, it's really quite sad that this happened to me instead of Steve. Steve really would have loved it.
Roman is at the point in his life where he just doesn't understand what "real" means. We've been seeing Halloween monsters everywhere we go, and although Roman is fascinated by them, he's also a little scared. We've tried to tell him that monsters aren't real, but he just doesn't understand what we're talking about. I think "real" is a hard concept for a two-year-old to grasp.
Yesterday we went to a party supply store to find invitations for Grace's birthday party. The store was full of Halloween costumes and decorations and Roman was torn between being amazed and being scared. He clung to me as we walked under a very large monster that was hanging from the ceiling, but then in the car he told me that it was fun in the Halloween store.
So last night around midnight Roman started crying. I went in to see what was wrong and he said, "It's Halloween in here!" He woke up a total of four times last night. Then this morning he kept talking about the monsters in his room. Poor little guy! I hope we don't have to keep him hidden in the house until Halloween is over.
It all started about three weeks ago. I can't remember whether it was Grace or Roman who started it, but one of them brought home a nasty cold. Of course, a few days later it was followed by the other child getting it, then by me getting it. It took a long time for us to feel better. Finally, about two weeks after it started, we were all snot-free. Sadly, that's when Grace threw up at school! Poor Grace was sick for about four days with the stomach flu. Luckily, no one else in the family got that! But just as Grace was feeling better, Steve got sick. Not just sick with a little bit of a runny nose, but lay in bed and sleep all day sick. That was last weekend. Now, just as he's starting to feel better, guess what. Roman has caught whatever Steve had. And so the cycle begins again...
The worst part of having sick kids this week is that we're getting our pictures taken on Saturday. I'm now worried that our kids are going to have red, runny noses and grumpy faces in their pictures. I can't reschedule either. The girl who's taking our pictures is coming from Utah this weekend only. (She's great by the way. If you want to check her out, her website is: http://heathergibbphotography.com/. She's a little expensive, but well worth it in my opinion.) So, wish us luck! We're going to need it.
Today as Roman and I got into the car and drove away from playgroup, my phone rang. It was the nurse at Grace's school. She had been trying to call for the last twenty minutes. I guess Grace decided to throw up all over the play kitchen in her classroom. Poor little girl. I hope the other kids in her class don't give her a hard time for messing up their kitchen.
So anyway, Colette blogs about Grace Parke sometimes, and recently a friend of hers, who happens to be in my ward, told her that she knows a Grace Parke. Colette got my number and called... It turns out our girls were in a class together at a rec center last year! We arranged to have the two Graces meet at the park today. The picture above is the two of them after they were reunited. They had a great time!
Grace finally lost her second tooth. Just in time for picture day at school! If you look closely, you might notice that there's probably only enough room for one tooth in the space left by her two missing teeth. Braces are definitely going to be part of Grace's future. (You might also notice a juice mustache, but we'll just ignore that.)
Last night Grace and Roman each started swimming lessons. This is Roman's first class, a parent and me class, and I don't think he's going to learn anything he doesn't already know. It's still fun for him though. And then there's Grace. Oh, Grace!
Last summer I signed Grace up for six weeks of swimming lessons in St. George. The first two sessions were level 1, and the third session was supposed to be level 2. Of course, that was assuming that Grace would pass level 1 after going four times a week for four weeks. But no. She wouldn't put her face in the water. So she didn't pass.
They gave us a credit for the level 2 class that we didn't use, and last month we went to St. George where Grace did two more weeks of level 1. She finally passed! Hooray! Hallelujah! She made amazing progress, and not only can she put her face in the water, she can now swim underwater by herself.
So, I decided that while she was doing so well, I'd get her into level 2 asap. That was supposed to start last night. However, at this place, they test each child at the beginning of their lessons to determine what level they should be in. Guess where they placed Grace? Yep, level 1. Again.
Last Tuesday, Grace had "the best day of her life." The reason why: she noticed two loose teeth that day. She was so excited. She's wanted to lose a tooth ever since her cousin Lauren lost some a couple of years ago. All Tuesday and Wednesday she told everyone that she talked to the great news. Then Wednesday night it all went downhill. Forgetting her loose teeth, she put a toy in her mouth to try to take two pieces apart. One of the teeth came part of the way out and hurt her. She cried and cried and worried about how she would ever eat again. Luckily that tooth came out Wednesday night, and a visit from the tooth fairy made the pain almost worth it.
I've been waiting to post about this lost tooth, because I was sure the other one would follow right after, and it would make a better picture. :) But now she doesn't even want to touch the other loose tooth. She's too afraid of it hurting her. So, it may be a while if that tooth has to just fall out on its own.
I guess I've got Twilight on my brain, but I was looking at this picture today and I started thinking about how my kids could almost pass for vampires. They already have the pale white skin and the dark circles under their eyes. All they need is a different eye color. Silly, I know, but I had to share.
Here is Grace's outfit for the third day of school. I managed to get her to wear plain shorts to tone down the shirt, but the socks were the real clincher.
She told me when she was going to bed tonight that she wants to wear these socks everyday. Yikes! I think they may just end up getting lost in the wash.
Completely unrelated to Grace's clothes, Roman said the cutest thing today. He's had a rash on his leg for the past few days. Tonight I tried putting lotion on it to see if that would do anything. My little guy, the same one who hardly talks said, "Thank you. Feels better."
So today I got pulled over by a police officer. Of course I immediately started to panic. Had I been speeding? I was pretty sure that I hadn't been. I had noticed the police car and made a point of following all traffic laws while he was not-so-subtly following me. (Not that I don't usually obey the traffic laws. I actually haven't been pulled over once in the last 13 years. Until today that is.) So I nervously waited while the officer got out of the car to tell me what I had done wrong.
It turns out that our car registration had been suspended. Huh? Have you ever heard of a car registration being suspended? I hadn't. After a trip to the DMV, (made by my kind husband who came to my rescue,) and several calls to our insurance provider, we learned that our VIN number was wrong on our insurance policy. The funny thing is that it's been wrong the entire time we've had the policy, which has been years. Why did the DMV figure it out just now and suspend our registration? I wish I knew. I also wish I knew why the police officer just happened to check my license plate number when I was being a responsible, law-obeying citizen. Do I really look like a criminal?
So anyway, I'm still supposed to appear in traffic court to explain what happened, and supposedly, the DMV will waive $1100 of the $1132 fine. As for the other $32... my lawyer-in-training husband says there's no way we're paying. I guess we'll just wait and see.
Here is Grace's second day of school outfit. I guess it really isn't as bad as I made it out to be. She ended up not wearing the Vans, which did help a little too.
Today when I was taking Grace to school I asked her if she wanted me to walk with her to the playground like yesterday. She told me just to drop her off by the gate and she'd go by herself. Oh, my little girl has grown up. Sniff, sniff...
Today was Grace's first day of kindergarten. I can't believe it. I got a little emotional when I left her at school. I really didn't think I would; it's not that I'm sad that she'll be going. But I just was hit hard by the evidence that my little girl is growing up. Grace, on the other hand, was thrilled. She turned five last November, and she would have liked to go to kindergarten last year, so today was an exciting day for her.
Grace is used to picking out her own outfits, and sometimes she comes up with very unique combinations. I was hoping that I would be able to just hand her something to wear for the first day of school and have her go along with it, but Grace had other ideas. She wanted to look extra special for her first day. Her special look was going to include a long-sleeve purple and black floral shirt with black lace, (it's supposed to be a nice cool 103 degrees today,) a neon, lime-green skirt, and lace-up Vans. Oh boy! Normally I wouldn't mind, but I wanted her to look cute for pictures and to make a good first impression. Luckily Steve's mom had given Grace a fully-coordinated outfit to wear to school, and luckily I was able to convince Grace that it was a good first day of school outfit. She's going to wear the purple and green tomorrow.
The teacher let all of the kids pick out their own desks. Grace marched right up and grabbed a seat in the front row. Next to her is her "Target friend". We met her at Target while we were buying school supplies. She also knows a little boy from some of her rec center classes. We don't have any other kindergarten kids in our ward that go to the same school as Grace. Hopefully she'll be able to make some good friends.
Here's our sad little Roman, who was so insulted that he didn't get to stay at school with Grace. We told him that he's too little to go to Grace's school, but that he'll get to go to his own school soon. (He's going to take an art class and a tumbling class from the rec center.) After we left Grace at school we went to the bank and then later to playgroup. Both places Roman asked if we were at Roman's school. Poor little buddy! He just wants to be like his big sis.
For those of you who haven't had the delightful pleasure of cleaning a dozen crushed eggs from your kitchen floor, let me tell you, it's not as simple as it sounds. First, you have to deal with removing the oooey, gooey, slimey mess from the floor. I've found that it's easiest to just use my hands. As disgusting as it is, it works a lot better than smearing the eggs around with paper towels. Second, wipe away the remaining eggs with wet paper towels. You may have to do this several times. Third, mop. And mop again. And then mop with bleach. I've found that if you don't use a strong chemical, your kitchen will smell strangely like meringue later in the day.
And now, you're probably wondering, did Roman do it again? Yes, yes he did. He managed to sneak into the fridge, find the eggs that I bought just a couple of hours ago, and smash them all over the floor. Then he proceeded to smear his egg-covered hands all over a plate of sugar cookies that were stored in the fridge. He also managed to take a few bites from various cookies in the process. Didn't I learn my lesson the first time? I guess not.
Those were Grace's exact words today. "Are you going to eat that broccoli?" This was said after she ate all of her first and second helpings. Steve was kind enough to give her his last two pieces. Who knew my picky eater would ever eat broccoli at all, let alone ask for more? I'm so proud.
So we've been thinking that we would wait until Roman turns three next April to start potty training. Grace started at two and a half, and we had quite a few accidents in the process, so we thought waiting might be better for Roman. After a couple of friends mentioned potty training their boys, we decided to get out the training potty a few days ago, just for fun. We haven't really tried to get Roman to sit on it or anything, but he's done it on his own. It's like he thinks it's some fun game or something.
Tonight, a few minutes after I put him to bed he started calling, "Mama, poopy." I went in to check him and he wasn't poopy. I tried putting him back to bed but he got pretty upset when I did. So I asked him if he needed to go poopy in the potty. He said yes. So we got it out and he went! Not poopies, but he did go! I was pretty amazed! Now if we could just get him to do that everytime.
Steve is working at the district attorney's office this summer, where he spends his days sitting in a cubicle, filling out TPR reports. I couldn't resist posting a clip from Office Space. It's the first thing I thought of when I heard about the TPR reports. Strangely, none of the people Steve works with made the connection between TPR reports and TPS reports. TPR in this case stands for termination of parental rights. Steve also gets to go to court occasionally and watch the loser abusive and neglectful parents trying to keep their kids. Fun, huh?
A couple of days ago, right before lunch, Roman came up to me saying, "Eat, eat, eat!" This is something that happens more than a few times a day, so I don't ever rush to get him something. We were also waiting for Steve to come home so we could have lunch together, so I told Roman he had to wait. A couple of minutes later I found him in the kitchen eating uncooked egg noodles. Mmmmmm. There's nothing better than crunchy noodles is there? Oh, and see that door latch that is hanging from the door knob? That was latched. I learned my lesson after the fridge incident. (See http://romangrace.blogspot.com/2008/05/oh-buddy.html) I guess there's no stopping Roman when he's REALLY hungry!
Here's a yummy and refreshing drink recipe. It was inspired by the mojito, which is a drink with rum and which I've never tasted. I've always thought that the lime and mint in it looked good, so I made up this drink. As you can see, I didn't measure anything.
Just a little over a year ago, we packed up our moving truck and drove away from Draper. We haven't been north of Cedar City since then. I really didn't know whether I would like living in Las Vegas (well, techinically we live in Henderson), but I have to admit that I like it. I have started to miss Utah though. So here's a list of things I've been missing:
In all fairness, I should post things I do like about Henderson:
I'm sure there are more things that I miss about Utah, and more that I like about Henderson, but that's all I could think of for now. Maybe it will make some of you appreciate what you've got! :)
"God had a divine purpose in placing this land between two great oceans to be found by those who had a special love of freedom and courage." Ronald Reagan
As some of you know, our backyard consists of concrete and gravel. Because we're renting, we really haven't wanted to do much to the yard, but it was so ugly I had to do something. So I bought three little trees in the end of May and planted them in pots. They looked so cute at first, but sadly, two of them are now dead. (See above picture.) I guess I didn't inherit my mom's talent for gardening. Oh well.
Ah summer. It's been so hot lately, we can only stand to be outside if we're getting wet. This makes the time pass very slowly during the week when Steve's busy with an internship, night classes and community service (through the law school). But the weekends he has free! We've been packing in all the activities we can during our weekends, so that we can stand the weekdays.
We've been using the pool at the Green Valley Ranch, which has it's own beach and is so much nicer than our community pool.
We also made the trip to Red Rock Canyon, which claims to be the prettiest place in all of Nevada. It was nice, but if it's the prettiest place in Nevada, then I feel sorry for Nevada.
This past weekend we squeezed in a trip to San Diego. We went to the beach, SeaWorld, Old Town, and the temple. The highlight was when Grace got a dolphin to wave to her. Really!
...your son grows up thinking a lawn mower is the same thing as a vacuum. I guess Roman's future wife will appreciate the fact that he's not opposed to doing a little vacuuming, even if he does try to use a lawn mower to do it.
Somedays I wonder if maybe I'd like to have another child. Most days I think probably not. Today was one of the few days that I absolutely, definitely do not want anymore kids!
This morning Steve and I were both busy with our own things, not paying attention to Roman. That was a mistake. We found him in the kitchen where he had emptied half of the refrigerator, sprayed the walls, cupboards and floor with chocolate PediaSure, and smashed about ten eggs on the floor.
Notice how he's hanging his head in shame? He knows he's in trouble. What a mess! So Steve took Roman upstairs to clean him while I started cleaning the kitchen. Steve left Roman alone for a minute in Grace's room, where he then proceeded to break Grace's nightlight.
Later, I went to check on Roman during his nap. Here's what I found:
Yuck! I had to wake him up to clean the mess. What a lovely day. :) I sure hope tomorrow goes better.
Steve finished his first year of law school today. YAY! Way to go Steve! The first year was a challenge for all of us, but Steve really did a great job. And the next two years are supposed to get a little better. Let's hope that's true!
The last three weeks have been consumed with intense studying for Steve, so we'll be glad to have him back for a while! We did okay though. We only had one call to poison control and one call to 911!* And we only ate frozen waffles for dinner once. :)
*Side note: The call to poison control was when Roman ate some anti-bacterial soap. That turned out to be no big deal. It will only make a child sick if he eats more than a mouthful. The call to 911 came in St. George when Roman was playing with the phone. I heard someone answer and I went to grab the phone. By the time I got there he had disconnected. So then the phone rang and it was a 911 operator calling to make sure we were okay. I told her yes, and explained what happened. I must not have been too convincing though, because the next thing we knew the police were pounding on the door! I guess that's good that they're so thorough, but I felt bad for wasting their time!
61. Deb has a great sense of humor (she married me).
62. Deb is an incredible mother.
63. Deb was a big fan of the TV show Felicity. http://youtube.com/watch?v=6RF6OkwiA_A
64. Deb has impeccable style.
65. Once while we were shopping Deb was approached by someone & asked if she was a model.
66. Deb is probably the smartest person I know.
67. Deb looks great without make-up.
68. Deb loves The Office. http://youtube.com/watch?v=HuGIgf-ICHM&feature=related
69. Deb was grounded for sluffing school on the day of her high-school graduation.
70. Deb cooks a mean chicken enchilada.
71. I miss Deb when I am not with her, which is most of the time.
72. Deb loves nothing more than reading, sleeping, and being w/the kids (I will not say what order).
73. Once when we were in Paris, Deb was approached by an old man who thought she was Canadian because she was too thin for an American.
74. Deb is always keeping it real.
75. Deb was quite the hot item at SUU.
76. Deb was born in 1976.
77. Deb looks so good in a little black dress (although it has been a long time since she has worn one).
78. Deb won a table setting competiton in high school.
79. Roman and Grace are enamoured with Deb, as am I.
80. Deb worked for OC Tanner in SLC & was sorely missed when she left.
81. At SUU a very short foreign exchange student from Africa(along with many others), had a crush on Deborah & called her Deebaraa.
82. Deb has been bungee jumping.
83. Deb has a great relationship with her Mom.
84. Deb is fantastic with grammar and will likely edit this post.
85. Deb has "if you were here" by Thompson Twins as her ring tone. This song was in the movie 16 candles in the last scene with Molly Ringwald & Jake Ryan.http://youtube.com/watch?v=x5prlwWfXpk
86. I think that Deb see's herself as the Molly Ringwald character (she is not, she is definitely not awkward and much better looking. I see myself as Jake Ryan, sadly I am not that good looking or smooth, or rich).
87. Deb loves Jane Austen.
88. Deb loves Bridget Jones Diary (the edited version of course).
89. Deb claims that she is a Mark Darcy kind of girl. I think that all girls claim they want Mark Darcy but secretly want Daniel Cleaver.
90. Deb should be the one in law school. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acUFdP7N1vw
91. I promised one of Deb's professors that I would make sure Deb continued with a career in communications, as she was one of his most promising students.
92. Deb is extremely generous.
93. Deb does not make good choices when it comes to men (obviously).
94. Deb was once a shoe freak and owned many pairs.
95. Deb rolled her Toyota Tercel on I-15 in Beaver Ut.
96. Deb is extremely organized, unlike myself.
97. Without Deb I would be lost.
98. Deb does not realize how beautiful she is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6IQoOvvc1g
99. Deb hates to be called Debby.
100. See 98. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-TssRlmmBE
Inspired by Meridy and Monica, here is a list of 60 things about me.
1. I think my husband is pretty great.
2. I miss him when he's at school all the time.
3. We will celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary this summer.
4. It was because of me that Steve didn't go to law school earlier.
5. I didn't want to be married to a lawyer because it seems like they all work constantly.
6. I hope he won't work constantly.
7. I would rather be poor and spend time with my husband than be rich and never see him.
8. I have been to Mexico, Canada, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Greece, Hawaii and 12 Caribbean islands.
9. Some of the cool things I've seen include The Louvre, The Van Gogh Museum, The Rodin Museum, The Eiffel Tower, The Anne Frank House, The Colosseum, The Vatican, The Sistine Chapel, The Acropolis, and Versailles.
10. I miss having flight benefits.
11. In college I joined Alpha Phi, a greek sorority.
12. I haven't kept in touch with many high school or college friends. I wish I would have.
13. I like living in Henderson more than I thought I would.
14. I don't like cleaning.
15. I do it anyway though, because I hate messes.
16. I'm a lot like my mom.
17. I think that's a good thing.
18. I'm good at math.
19. Actually, I should say that I used to be good at math.
20. My brain turned to mush after I had kids.
21. I love chocolate. A lot!
22. I love bbqs in the summer, with watermelon and corn on the cob.
23. I love drinking hot chocolate and snuggling up in a blanket in the winter.
24. I love s'mores around a camp fire.
25. Being a mom is harder than I thought it would be.
26. I love my kids more than I ever thought I could.
27. I get nervous leaving my kids for too long.
28. I've never spent a night away from Roman (my youngest).
29. I miss having adults to talk to during the day.
30. I can't swim very well.
31. I've been snorkeling a few times, but I'm a little afraid of fish.
32. I took piano lessons for about eight years.
33. I haven't practiced the piano for about 15 years.
34. I love Disneyland, especially in January when it's not crowded.
35. I do not miss winter in northern Utah!
36. I have curly hair.
37. I straighten my curly hair because I don't like the way it looks when it's curly.
38. I really don't like straightening my hair.
39. I wish I had straight hair.
40. I took years of Spanish classes, but I can only remember how to say a few things.
41. I wish that I could speak French.
42. I'm very sensitive to smells.
43. I can't use sunless tanning lotions or sprays. The smell always drives me crazy.
44. I love reading, but I'm particular about what I read.
45. I don't like reading books that I have to think too much about.
46. I don't read books about serious subjects that make me feel depressed.
47. For me reading is an escape. That's why I favor fluffy books.
48. I used to really like reality TV, but most of it seems pretty dumb to me now.
49. I still watch Top Chef and Project Runway.
50. I love The Office and Lost.
51. I don't watch much TV besides those four shows. (Unless you count the endless kids shows that I watch with my kids.)
52. I like renting movies.
53. I love Redbox.
54. I love going shopping without my kids.
55. I do not like going shopping with my kids.
56. I miss the grass and trees that grow in northern Utah.
57. I don't like the yard we have now that consists of rocks and cement.
58. One day I will have a beautiful yard with a pond or a fountain.
59. I don't have a favorite color, favorite food, favorite book, favorite movie or favorite song. I guess I like too many things to have favorites.
60. I really don't think I can come up with 40 more things. My list is going to have to end with 60.
I just had one of those parties kind of like a Tupperware party where you host and someone tries to sell your guests on their product. I don't know why I did it. I hate that kind of party. Anyway, I invited over 30 people and I only had four show up. (Thanks to those of you who did come! And I apologize to all for inviting you to a high-pressure sales party.)
So anyway, I went to all the work cleaning and preparing treats and all of that, and then I felt embarrased that hardly anyone came. I guess I can understand that they don't want to spend their Saturday being sold on an overpriced product. At the end of it all, I didn't have enough people or enough money spent to get any discounts at all. So I ended up buying a book myself so that I could get a free book. What a waste! Oh well, I know better for next time.
Steve and some friends started the Real Estate Law Society at the law school. They've had some cool speakers come, but the best so far has been Mayor Oscar Goodman. He used to be the attorney for the mafia back in the day. He even plays himself in the movie Casino. He wants to legalize prostitution throughout the state of Nevada, (it is currently only legal in a few counties,) and also wants to cut off the thumbs of convicted vandals. What a role model. (ha!)
Steve has scheduled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to come speak in October. He may just push the mayor out of his position as most interesting speaker.
Tonight was Grace's dance recital. She did one ballet dance and one tap dance. She did great. And she was absolutely thrilled to wear make-up. If you look closely at the last picture you'll notice Grace's tongue sticking out. I guess she was concentrating.
So for the past hour, Roman has been in his crib. Not sleeping and not crying. Just sort of playing. He doesn't have any toys in there to entertain him. It's just him in there, talking and singing and laughing. It's driving me crazy.
He's been doing this for the past couple of months. Most days when I put him down for a nap he goes right to sleep without any noise. But once or twice a week I'll hear him talking to himself a few minutes after I leave. It's then that I know he's not going to take a nap. I always leave him in there; I don't want to disturb his little party. But he hardly ever goes to sleep. What's going on? He just barely turned two, so it's not like he doesn't need a nap. And when he does nap he sleeps for two to three hours. So why won't he sleep on these random days? I don't get it.
Happy birthday Roman! I can't believe my little guy is two years old! Where does the time go?
Here's mine:
"Application of Rule 68 will serve as a disincentive for the plantiff's attorney to continue litigation after the defendant makes a settlement offer. There is no evidence, however, that Congress, in considering section 1988, had any thought that civil rights claims were to be on any different footing from other civil claims insofar as settlement is concerned. Indeed, Congress made clear its concern that civil rights plaintiffs not be penalized for "helping to lessen docket congestion" by settling their cases out of court...
Moreover, Rule 68's policy of encouraging settlements is neutral, favoring neither plaintiffs nor defendants; it expresses a clear policy of favoring settlement of all lawsuits. Civil rights plaintiffs--along with other plaintiffs--who reject an offer more favorable than what is thereafter recovered at trial will not recover attorney's fees for services performed after the offer is rejected."
This book is not yet recommended by Oprah, but I am sure it will be.
Here's another tag. This one's easier than the last. Here are the rules to the tag:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next five sentences.
5. Tag five people
The book I just finished last night is called Uglies. It's a young adult science fiction about a futuristic land where everyone has surgery to make them beautiful when they turn 16. I would not normally read science fiction, but it was recommended by a friend. I can't say if I would recommend it or not. I'm still undecided. I'll wait until I read the second and third books in the series to say. So here goes:
"The thought of what she must look like was too much. Tally collapsed onto the bed, covering her face with her hands and sobbing. Peris sat next to her and held her for a while as she cried, then wiped her nose and sat her up. "Look at you, Tally Youngblood."
She shook her head."
Not very exciting. Okay, I tag anyone who reads this, except Kate since she's the one who tagged me. This one's fun and easy to do so I don't feel bad.
I just finished reading a fantastic book. "These is my Words" by Nancy E. Turner. I don't know why nobody has suggested it to me in the past. It's been out for ten years! So, if you're like me and haven't read it yet, read it! I feel pretty confident in saying that you'll like it.
I don't know where she gets it, (I certainly have never liked cleaning,) but Grace just loves to help me clean. It all started when she first watched Cinderella. From that point on, she has loved cleaning the floor on her hands and knees while singing, "sweeten nightingale". Yes, Cinderella's words are "sing sweet nightingale," but Grace will always sing it her way.
Since then she's wanted to help every time she sees me clean. She climbs onto the bathroom counters to wipe the mirrors, she scrubs the inside of the toilets with the toilet scrubbers and wipes with outside with sanitizing wipes. (She's very into these. She likes the Clorox commercials and is very happy that we have products at home that clean and protect.) She does dishes, she "decorates" (sets) the table, she sweeps and mops, she makes her bed, and she folds and puts away all of her own laundry. She's also very good at putting away toys. Sometimes too good. Sometimes she puts them away while Roman is still playing with them.
This picture is from a few days ago. I came downstairs to find Grace doing the dishes! She had just pulled a chair over to the sink and started by herself! How did I get so lucky? I hope she stays so into cleaning forever!!!
Up to this point Roman has not been much of a talker. But all of a sudden, over this past week, he's saying tons of new words. It's so exciting! It's like he's known all of these words for a while, and he just decided to use them. Sunday when I was getting ready for church he said, "Pretty Mama". Today we were at UNLV and he saw some guys riding bikes. He pointed to them and said, "Bike guys". He's still not talking as much as the average child his age does, but it's a good start!
