Must Have?

Sometimes I leave the television on all night to help me sleep. I am often amazed by the infomercials that are on in the wee hours of the morning. I am even more amazed that I am even able to function in my daily life without these items.

Do you know that with this Shark carpet cleaner thingy you can vacuum up spilt nails? And to think that my entire life, every time I have spilt nails, I just picked them up. Who knew?

And for those of you with back problems, this thing can vacuum under the couch (since the only thing keeping us from vacuuming under the couch is our inability to bend at the waist?)! And for special treat it is so light that whenever the mood might strike you can heft this thing above your head and do a little jig (except those of you with back problems).

Another item that I guess I have been living in the dark-ages without is Mighty Putty. This stuff is really amazing. You can use it to re-attach the head of your hammer if for some reason it falls off. You can bang and bang and that thing will not come off! But wait, there's more, if for some reason you break the handle off a hot chocolate mug you just fashion a new one out of this stuff and presto good as new!
But wait it gets better ,if you ever scoop up a glass of water from your fish aquarium and suddenly find a hole in the glass just quickly grab a dab of Mighty Putty and patch the hole. It is convenient and attractive. Do not worry I saved the best for last, if a link in your huge, heavy duty chain breaks you can just make a new one out of Mighty Putty and it will hold up an entire cinder block! Can you imagine that?

Another apparent must have is the Tater Mitt. This thing seems almost too good to be true. You can peel a potato by just rubbing it around in your hands while wearing these spectacular mitts(yes, you read that right). It doesn't get any easier than that.


I don't know why they only advertise these things during the 3-5am hours. Don't you think people need to know about this stuff?

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was our anniversary. We tried not to mention it to much and we will celebrate when we get to Utah. It was an interesting day. I was trying to keep myself away from posting something about it, but I am feeling so full of gratitude for my husband right now that I could not let another day pass without acknowledging it.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Rich:

He smells SOOO good
He is kind
He is smart
He loves to learn new things
He has to rig all our electronics up to be super amazing
He adores me
He adores his girls
He is supportive of everything I do
He cheers me on when I feel inadequate
He has very beautiful eyes
He has a testimony and unwavering faith
He likes to surprise us with little gifts
He has never forgotten any important dates (birthdays etc...)
He teases me
He cracks me up
He sings well
He is a computer whiz
He can type really really fast
He knows how to fix everything!
He is strong
He is humble
He doesn’t complain
He does not talk badly about anyone
He is my very best friend
He is willing to do what it takes
He is not afraid of a little hard work
He loves to serve
He has the best eyelashes
He has BEAUTIFUL golden hair
He is adored by his girls
Well, I could go on forever and ever, but I am sure he is pretty embarassed already so I will stop. I love you Rich. I'll see you soon.

President Hinckley

I have been thinking about what I wanted to say about the passing of our beloved prophet. I am not nearly eloquent enough to express how much I loved and learned from him. He was an example to all who knew him of service, integrity, faith, learning, humor, and many other important things. I have been buoyed up by his teachings and always looked forward to hearing what he had to say. He will be missed in our home for sure, but we are grateful for the knowledge that he is now with his sweet wife and we all know that he would have it no other way.

We're Having a Heat Wave

It warmed up to a balmy 40 degrees today so the kidlets had a good time outside! It was a relief after a week or more at WAY below freezing...to cold for playing outside when its that cold. I got a chuckle at their handywork-

It takes a long time to grow an old friend~John Leonard

I am so lucky. I have the best friends a person could ask for. I guess the Lord just knows exactly what I need. I was the benefactor of a really special gift today(and as usual, pictures DO NOT do it justice) Thanks again! You made my day!


A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.
~ William Arthur Ward

A true friend knows the song in your heart, and sings it back to you when you have forgotten the words~ Unknown

We can get mighty rich, but if we haven't got any friends, we will find we are poorer than anybody.
~ Will Rogers

A real friend is someone who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.
~Proverb

A friend is someone that knows everything about you and loves you anyway.
~unknown

No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth.
~ Robert Southey

Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say.
~Unknown

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.
~Ed Cunningham

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.~Unknown

It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.~Marlene Dietrich

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.~Flavia

Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.~Oprah Winfrey

A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself.~Frances Ward Weller

You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.~Laurence J. Peter

A Puzzleing New Hobby

I have never been a fan of puzzles. Whitty has always LOVED puzzles. She has tons of 100 piece kitty puzzles. She is really good at them. I have always admired people who "put a puzzle on" and diligently work on it a little here a little there until it is finished.

I had this memory of Rich's family having a "puzzle on" at Christmas time. They would gather round and work on it. To me it was really hard. I would get so frustrated when I could not do it. I could not look at the piece and tell where it was supposed to go by its shape, and only rarely could I tell by the picture. I am not a puzzle person....until now.

Whit got a new 700 piece puzzle for Christmas and so when Grandma was here we got it out and worked hard on it. It was a lot of fun, just visiting and working. I found out though that Grandma was not the one who loved puzzles like I thought. So the two puzzle dis-likers and the one puzzle lover (and occasionlly Grandpa) would plug away. We didn't finish the 700 piece one. It was too hard once we got to the part where all the pieces looked alike. So we took it apart and started an easier one. 300 pieces! Perfect!

Here we are witht he 700 piece one-it was so cute! But really hard!


This is more like it...300 pieces (and they were sorta big)!


All finished--Hooray!


Whit's favorite part...destroying it.



And this one I did all by myself yesterday...550 pieces even. I know, no reason to get all full of myself...but hey, this is a major accomplishment for me.


So there you have it. There were a few more that we did in there that I did not photograph. One of them we were so close to finishing and then someone wanted to come see the house so we took it apart. Man, that just about killed me. Maybe I will do it again someday.

I am going to the store today and I am going to buy more puzzles. Weird.

Weather... to be or not to be...That is the Question?!?

My job as a mother does not allow much room for error and guess work. If I were to be wrong about say, the amount of laundry detergent we use or, heaven forbid, not using soap at all we would all stink. If I forgot to feed my children they would boycott. Etc.

Doctors can not just guess, they'd get sued.
Chefs can not be wrong, they would go out of business.
Cashiers at Wal-mart can not just guess,they would be fired.
Teachers can not be completely wrong or just guess, none of us would know our ABC's


ETC ETC ETC

Now, all of these people are not perfect examples and are occasionally wrong I realize...unfortunately even me. Luckily for everyone I never have forgot laundry soap and I have never have forgot to feed my children. Granted, as my kiddos love to tell people, I have let them have ice cream for lunch a couple times, and we have been known to have cake for breakfast the day after someones birthday, but that is not wrong. That is a CELEBRATION. That is called FUN. They wont remember the thousand and twelve times I made pancakes for them but they do remember the three times I let them eat cake.

But let me tell you someone that can just guess pretty much all the time, someone that we not only accept that they are wrong a lot, but we EXPECT it,someone that even though they are wrong a lot we still let them keep their job and pay them handsomely for it. This person is the

W E A T H E R M A N!

We were supposed to wake up to snow this morning, 2-3 inches in fact. NOTHING! We were not supposed to have any snow the other day...mini blizzard. They say we might get a light mist of rain, we get a tornado...on and on it goes.

I know that unlike a wrong doctor,it will not kill us to have a wrong weather guy, it will not give us salmonella, it will not effect our checkbook,it will not keep us from getting into Harvard, but I get excited when he says it will snow. I get all twitterpated and have visions of the kiddos out sledding and coming in for hot chocolate and curling up with a new book. But no. We get nothin'.

My uncle owned a weather rock. It told the weather with perfect precision.
If rock is wet, it is raining.
If rock is white, it is snowing.
If rock is shaking, there is an earthquake.
If rock is dry, the weather is fair.
If rock is wiggling, it's windy.
If rock is warm, the sun is out.
If rock is not visible, it's dark outside...or your eyes are closed.
If rock is under water, there is a flood.
If rock is gone, there is a tornado (Run!!)

I guess that is what I need. If only I knew where he got it.