Out of the Mouth of Babes

Will is saying the funniest things tonight... like:

Will: I've looked everywhere and I can't find my John Deere tractor. Will you buy me a new one tomorrow?
Me: We'll see.
Will: See ONLINE that means look for a new tractor online!
???How does he know about online shopping???

Levi: Who is this picture?
Will: It was me when I was a baby. I was a cute baby that day and I am still cute now! Katie was a cute baby and she is cute now. Ashton was cute back then and is still cute now! We were all cute babies and cute now! (Getting more excited with each sentence.)

Will: Mom, you aren't fat.
Me: Thanks, Will.
Will: But Dad is fat.
(Let's just hope Jeremy doesn't read this post. Ha ha.)

Will: Levi, did you know your brother is my uncle?
Levi: Yeah. Did you know I'm your uncle.
Will: Oh.
Me: What brother is your uncle.
Will: Andy and Steve-o!!!!

Will: Mom, our house is just great!

Will: Levi, where is your car? Is it the brand dan? (Grand am)

Will: Levi, my mom is going to look online for me a new tractor tomorrow.
Levi: Why don't you ask Santa Clause for one.
Will: Okay, I will.
15 minutes later...
Will: I'm going to play with my new tractor when Santa bring it to me tomorrow.

Important Post!

On my much-neglected "other" blog I have an important post for ALL parents. Here is the link: http://readstome.blogspot.com/2010/05/dumber-in-summer.html.

p.s. If you have success stories/habits that help with summer reading or developing the reading habit in general please leave a comment on that blog and share them. I will compile them into a post later. Thanks!

Vacation!!

Last week I had a book party in Green River, WY. Instead of making the 4 hour drive to and from the party myself we decided to take the opportunity to take a tax deductible vacation. We pulled the kids out of school an hour early and drove to WY. While I was in my party, Jer & the kids swam at our hotel, enjoyed a free dinner at the hotel, and watched some nature shows. Our hotel room was AWESOME and we had a wonderful time! The next morning, we visited Fort Bridger and then ate lunch and visited the Olympic Park Museum in Park City. We learned so much at both locations and had a wonderful time!







Because of our busy "wedding schedule" we won't be taking a regular summer vacation this year, but hope to do some more excursions like this one.

Half of a Year!

Calvin is 6 months and it has been a very eventful month. He mastered sitting up in the first part of May, cut his first tooth, and the next day had surgery to open a clogged tear duct. He also started eating vegetables... he likes carrots and hates peas (so far). He is big kid... 93% for height (26+ inches) and 82% for weight (18+ lbs). The last six months have flown by, but at the same time it is hard to remember a time where he wasn't part of our family... we love him so much

For a Good Cause

I donated these baskets for the Sanpete Gives Back fundraiser. I thought they turned out cute and was grateful that I was able to help in some way.

The Treasures Inside the Piano

Our piano is really old. It was the first piano my Grandpa and Grandma Heslop got when they first got married. It is not fancy. It is was made even less fancy by brothers who carved their initials in it when they were kids. Last year, Katie discovered this and decided to add her initials to the wood.

Because it is so old and crappy I wasn't too surprised when it started sounding like the pedal was down all the time. This was in spite of the fact that the pedals wouldn't work at all. The kids complained about it so much that one night Jer decided to take it apart. We immediately saw the problem. Laying across the strings were:
1 DVD
A business card
2 puzzle pieces
Letter "G" from a kindergarten letter bag
1 coupon
1 sticker
The metronome stand... this was the real problem
A bobby pin
1 red pen
$.27... one nickle, one dime, and a bunch of pennies
A piece to a VERY old game... I'm thinking from 1950 or so...
A note my mom wrote to person about 15 years ago
LOTS and LOTS of dust and cobwebs (which we vacuumed out).

We also discovered that the last time the piano was tuned was 1957... Yikes!

The Best Walker Ever

Calvin loves his walker. We bought first bought it for Matthew when he was about 4 months old because he wanted to be able to sit upright and play. Within a couple of days he had learned to walk in it. All of the kids have just loved it. We have another "cheaper" walker that we bought when Katie was a baby and we were moving and couldn't find the good one and they just don't like it as much. This walker is the BEST ever.

Anyway, one day I had to sort my book inventory (I have to do this about 3 times/year) and I thought the driveway would be a good place to do it. Calvin enjoyed "walking" in the garage with his walker, falling asleep in his stroller (with Ashton pushing him around)... definitely a different experience for the little guy.

Diet & Exercise

I've been exercising faithfully, five days a week, for about five weeks. In the first week I lost five pounds, then I gained it back in the form of muscle and then I lost it again in fat. Then, I plateaued. I am still THRILLED with my exercise efforts because I am so much stronger, toned, fit, have more energy, and feel better all around. I also have LOTS more clothes that I can wear, which was my initial motivation for exercising... YEAH!!

But I would like to lose more weight (like 15-30 lbs) and I realize that I need to both diet AND exercise. So, I joined the Biggest Loser Club. I am excited because it gives me customized menus so I don't have to think about food choices. This is really helpful to me. (I would do Slim Fast because it is so easy that way, but it just tastes gross.)

I don't diet very often... I've dieted five times before... once when I worked at the Malt Shop and then after each of my other four kids were born... because generally I eat a healthy diet and don't really gain weight very often. But when I'm pregnant I eat for TWO and so I've got to get rid of that extra weight. Then I can go back to my generally, "healthy enough" diet and be happy.

Anyway... the diet starts TUESDAY. Wish me luck!