Oh,

and while we were at the doc's office, Gracie spilled 1/2 a bottle of water on a chair and the floor. Thankfully, the only thing noteworthy about that is that it wasn't noteworthy enough to remember to put it in the last post. That kind of thing doesn't bother me anymore. Now, if it had been my first, or even my second I would have been embarrassed and probably upset. Now I know better. I just ask for paper towels and start cleaning.

It took a lot of paper towels.

I wonder what won't bother me anymore after this next baby comes.

The Latest

Our stake's boundaries just got changed on Sunday and our ward got smaller. (Still the biggest ward in stake, though.)

I think my 3 oldest had swine flu and just got them swabbed today to find out whether I've been exposed.

While at the doctor I was told (by the doctor) that Tanner may have pneumonia.

As soon as we got home Tanner threw up.

kids

I love kid conversations.

Just this morning, while the kids were putting together every puzzle we own (in order to chuck the ones with missing pieces) I heard Tanner confess to Amanda that when he sings certain songs he purposefully mumbles the words he doesn't know. Amanda told him she does the same thing.

As they continued working on the puzzles, they also continued their conversation. At one point I heard this:

Amanda: Yuck! Mom! Tanner's asking disgusting questions.
Me, having heard the question, which was, "If you're a boy, what do you do when you ask out a girl?": That didn't sound gross to me.
Tanner: What do you do?

I used that opportunity to preach (in a disguised form, of course). I talked about the appropriate age to start dating, double-dating, and the fact that you first think of a nice girl who dresses modestly, uses appropriate language, and treats everybody kindly. Then, because I'm always concerned that our kids may be being steered in a more USC-ly direction vs. BYU (that would be because Nate gets much more excited to watch USC games than BYU -- I've done my best to counter by painting the boys' room BYU colors and getting them a BYU rug for Christmas a couple of years ago) I mentioned that when they're old enough to go to college, they go to BYU because it's easier to find nice, LDS girls (and boys) there. Then, this conversation ensued:

Tanner: I'm going to BYU because it's like a mall. Recess is like an hour and you can go shopping and buy whatever you want in their big store.
Amanda: I'm going to BYU because I love the creamery and I'm going to go there every day.

Well, I'm glad they're sold on BYU. Now I just hope they can get in.


Oh, and Chris is a major Psych junkie. Every blue car (of the correct hue) is Gus' car, and just today Chris saw a picture of pineapple in an "I Spy" game. He said, "Mom, if this picture was real and Shawn saw it, do you know what he would do?"

"What?" I asked.

"He would take this pineapple because he loves pineapples so much."

And he was right, that's exactly what Shawn would do.

Naomi

"Is that enough? It says 'double acting.'"

That was Naomi, when she saw that the can of baking powder was empty, and my teaspoon still wasn't quite as full as it should have been.

It wasn't enough, but I had a spare can.

Yea, right

The word "shortly" is such a relative term. As in, "The Dr. will be with you shortly."

Halloween Pics

This year we had:

Amanda the cowgirl,

Napoleon Dynamite (thought of it too late to get a "Vote for Pedro" shirt -- next year, perhaps),

Naomi the cowgirl,

Police officer Chris,

and Gracie the cowgirl.




And here are some from our trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday:









And because so many photos of Gracie turned out so darn cute, here's a little Gracie bonus:

Favorite Halloween Quotes

Naomi, sitting down on a neighbor's driveway last night: "I don't want anymore candy."


then, this morning, this short conversation:


Chris, this morning, offering me 4 pieces of gum: "Mom, do you want these?"

Me, pleased with how generous he's being, and figuring any candy given to me can just be thrown in the trash: "Sure, thanks!"

Chris, "'cause they're disgusting."

Butter Rum LifeSavers - Proof of a Good Marriage

I've had some weird cravings this pregnancy. Mostly sweets, unfortunately. (I've really got to step up the exercise or I'll have no choice but to get fat.)

Anyway, recently I've been really eager to suck on a Butter Rum LifeSaver. I've been looking for years, off and on, but have really vamped up the search lately, as my craving has been felt more acutely since becoming pregnant. Well, after weeks of looking in every store I enter (including hardware stores -- you never know whose buyers will have your same taste and stock their impulse-buy section with those quirky little treats that too few appreciate), I gave up and looked to the internet.

I love Amazon.

The only problem is I didn't pay very close attention to the size of the order or the price. The price alone ($19.50) would have tipped me off that I was buying a very large quantity, but unfortunately, between the facts that I was too excited to be able satisfy my craving to pay much attention, the picture only showed one single bag, and I was submitting a big order anyway, I didn't notice.

So, now I am the proud owner of 12 (6.25 oz) bags of Butter Rum Lifesavers. Each bag serves 12, with a serving size of 4 pieces. Funny thing is, I sucked on one immediately (of course), and my craving was satisfied. At that rate, that means I have in my possession enough Butter Rum Lifesavers to satisfy 575 more pregnancies. That's some major food storage. Or maybe, since Halloween is just a day away, I'll give handfuls of them away, being wise to keep a small reserve (maybe just 2-3 bags) in case the craving arises again. I hope our neighborhood kids appreciate the best LifeSaver ever made.

Something else, in all of this, that I think is pretty funny, is the fact that if I were ever tempted to hide anything from Nate (which I'm not -- in fact, he already knows, he already chuckled, and in fact, he's the one who added them to our food storage supply -- with no direction from me), it would be this kind of silly little act.

Wow. If the worst thing I do in our marriage is spend almost $20 on a lifetime supply of Butter Rum LifeSavers, I think I'm doing a pretty good job.


By-the-way, I'll be happy to share my confession after I have confessed it to my parents. It will likely be called something like, "True Confessions," or "Breaking the Silence," or something else just as dramatic and Dateline-esque.

Sugar Sneak

We have a sugar sneak in our house.

Many times now, I have found my sugar jar in the pantry, unlatched, with sugar crystals all over the shelf around the jar, and a spoon also left at the scene of the crime. Sometimes the spoon is still in the jar.

Nobody's fessed up yet, but I've put a sign on the jar that says, "You know who you are. Stop eating sugar. Eat an apple instead."

I'm sure this will be one of those things that somebody will confess to 20-25 years from now when we're all gathered as a family for a reunion with grandkids and everything. Somehow, the topic of our conversation will turn to old family stories and legends, and somebody will say, "Do you remember when somebody used to sneak sugar?" We'll all remember, of course. Then they'll say, "Well, it was me."

Most likely, at least 2 or 3 others will say it was them, as well.

We'll all chuckle and that will start off a string of harmless confessions. It will be a great evening. I'm looking forward to it.

Maybe next time my whole family is together it will be time to make my confession to my family. It wasn't quite as funny as finding a spoon in the sugar bowl, but it's been long enough that my parents just might chuckle. Maybe.

Stubborn Standoff

A conversation from yesterday:


Chris, while showing me his bowl: "I finished my food, Mom."

Me: "Did you eat it or did you dump it somewhere?"

Chris, very animated and upset: "Great! Now I'm in really big trouble! I dumped it on the floor!"

He may have started off with a lie, but he sure cracked quickly.


The standoff finally ended at 6p when he really finished his food. He had had nothing but a spinach smoothie (which has recently inspired the same kind of standoff, but I guess he prefers that to pot pie) and a couple of bites of pot pie since Tuesday's dinner (which was pot pie).

I'm glad he surrendered after only 24 hours although I was prepared for a much longer standoff. He's got enough meat on him that it would have been a long time before I would have worried about his health.

Repeat

Last year we did this. (Not travel to South Africa, donate shoe boxes full of all kinds of stuff.)

This year the kids are all excited to do it again and I'm really glad.

Today in a Nutshell (mostly pictures)

Nate's day started out like this:


After following him around all morning (rental car, insurance adjuster, body shop) we were all tired, Gracie especially:


After Nate got off to work I ran one errand then took Chris to the doctor to get his week-long cough checked out. The doc gave us a cough suppressant and found an ear infection while she was at it:

Chris finally had it come dinner time (he's sleeping):

But revived when I reminded him about the $5 he found in the parking lot at the doc's office. I had to feed him dinner, get him ready for bed and give him his medicine (which he loves) or I would have let him sleep. (By-the-way, if you ever have good fortune and want to share it with somebody, Naomi's your girl. I've never seen a more genuinely sincere smile on somebody's face when hearing good news. She was so happy for him which made him even more happy.)

After the office visit I filled the prescription and did a week's worth of grocery shopping. I considered picking up something to eat but wanted to use the butternut squash I bought from Costco before it went bad. I'd put in about 20 minutes of work before I found I was too late -- the squash was bad. Darn squash didn't even last 5 days. We had cereal for dinner. Just like last night.

Besides feeling tired, I'm sounding tired. This evening Chris corrected me after I said, "Go lie down on the counter."

"Do you mean the couch?" he asked.

"Yes."

A little bit later I caught myself saying, "Put her [Gracie] in the refrigerator." I meant her crib.

And the last indication of how tired I am is found in how I'm going to exercise tonight. (I'd skip it altogether if it weren't for the pain I get in my back when I take too long a break from exercise, and two nights ago I hit the "too long" point.) Anyway, to rid myself of the pain I've got to exercise at least 15 minutes a day for awhile. Last night I ran and today the pain is already quite a bit lessened. Tonight the thought of running or even walking makes me cringe -- I'm tired of being on my feet. I'm going to do the exercise bike. That way I can at least sit down.

Exerpts from a recent email I wrote to a brother

Just to catch up a bit:

Things are going well right now. I always seem to be busier than I'd like to be, but I'm not sure where to cut back. I think part of that really does just come from being members of the church with a chunk of kids. Coupled with that is all the "life" stuff that just happens. You know, car maintenance and repairs, need new appliances, kids to the doctor, Halloween costumes, homework, etc., etc. I read a book once called, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and Remember, it's Mostly Small Stuff" (or something to that effect, anyway), and one of the author's tips (good book, by-the-way) was to never answer the question, "How are things going?" with the answer, "Busy." If I didn't answer that way, I probably just wouldn't answer. That would be rude.

However, I do think he's on to something, so I'm really working on focusing on the positive. If I can do that, my whole family will be happier. I recently realized that I tend to focus on my shortcomings vs my strengths, or what I didn't accomplish vs what I did accomplish, and what's worse is that I do the same to my kids -- focus on what they need to improve, what I'm responsible for correcting as their mother, and what they didn't do, rather than the good. It's been bothering me badly enough to be really praying about it right now, and as always, God, in His mercy, is so willing to answer our genuine and righteous petitions, and has already started to give me what I'm asking for -- a mind and heart that focuses on the positive. *sigh* I still have way too much of that nasty trait named perfectionism in me. Maybe that's why God keeps sending me more kids -- there is still more of me to cure. Well, to my credit, I am more than willing to admit and confront my own weaknesses -- something I never would do before, and I'm sure this new baby will point out new ones to me.

Then, there was this part, in response to dating questions:

Nate and I started out just as friends. On both sides it was really just a friend relationship, but I ended up liking him so much better than anybody else and preferred spending time with him head and shoulders above anybody else that eventually that friend feeling turned to love. The same friendship, but better. There was one evening I broke off a date (totally last minute) under the pretense of needing to study for a final I had the next day. That guy had been quite interested in me, and at one point, I in him, and we'd even gone on a couple of dates and had a really good time, but somewhere in there I fell in love with Nate. (And thankfully he in me.) Well, I never did study for that final -- at least anymore than I would have had I gone out with him. Instead, I bought Nate and package of twinkies and a slurpee (inside joke) and delivered it to his apartment. I visited with him for a little while, but not even that long. The fact that I had a better time during a brief visit with Nate than I would have at a play with a nice, cute guy, AND that I didn't feel too guilty to break that date (which was very uncharacteristic of me), spoke worlds to me.

In other randomness, Joaquin, out concrete-guy-turned-friend, came to church today after a number of invitations. He showed up completely on his own. Thank heavens Nate was there and saw him in Elder's Quorum (that's another thing -- he stayed all three hours). I was home with hacking kids (Chris and Gracie), but when I dropped off the older three at church (Nate had been there since 6:30a) I even had the thought cross my mind, "Joaquin will be there." Then I thought I was crazy since we'd been inviting him for months. Glad I wasn't crazy, and really glad he was there.

Oh, and happy birthday to Naomi today. But I'm going to cover our October birthdays once we've had our final one.

Oh, and another random, yet noteworthy piece of info. Every since we got our trailer hitch installed on the mini van we've had to put up with the painfully obnoxious rattling of the exhaust pipe against the hitch. It was particularly bad when going in reverse, as though it were determined to announce our departure to the entire neighborhood.

After three months of enduring the awful noise, I finally found out where to take it to have it fixed -- a muffler shop. (Who would have known?) Three days after I was given that piece of info, Nate followed me in to Speedway Motor Sports (I'd been told it would take 1 - 1 1/2 hrs to fix and cost $35-40). About 15 minutes later and down only $20, we both drove home. It has been so nice to back out of my driveway ever since.

Whirlwind Weekend

Nate and I escaped this past weekend and flew up to General Conference. We left the kids in good hands with our great friends, Lonna and Julia, who are so loved by our kids that they were eager to have us leave (I love that feeling).

We got off to a bit of a rocky start when Nate called me at 2:15 on Friday afternoon, just 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave our house, saying that he just got out of his meeting. His meeting was in LA and we were flying out of Ontario.

I quickly packed his bags (omitting some key personals that I didn't think about 'til the airport) and called our go-to friend, Debbie (surrogate grandma) for a ride to the airport. She was in my driveway before I was done explaining the situation, no kidding. Debbie followed me to our other friends' home, the Jacques, who were the in-between babysitters for the kids before Julia got off work, where I dropped off Chris and Gracie, left my car behind and jumped in Debbie's car.

Once at the airport and checked in with the admonition that I had better be on that plane whether or not my husband was, or the skycap guy would be personally fined $11,000 for putting a bag on the plane that was not accompanied by the bag-checker-in-er, Debbie parked her car and waited with me for Nate so that she could park Nate's car, saving him the park time. (She's wonderful!)

Thankfully the 10 freeway was decently on our side and Nate drove up 30 minutes before our flight was to leave. Thankfully, also, Ontario airport is even quieter than Burbank, and nobody was waiting for security. The man even called us by name and wished us a nice flight -- that's how not in a hurry he was.

We flew in just 20 minutes before Becky and Rob, (who are living in Michigan now) so we met them at their gate and drove into SLC together where we spent a really nice evening with them. Later I told Nate that that evening was reminiscent for me of our early married Provo days where we spent many evenings in good company with Becky and Rob. It was a nice flashback.

We retired decently early that night, were joined by Angela and her daughter Hannah who were gracious enough to let us crash their room, and slept well.

The next morning we met everyone (save Jared and Yanni who couldn't make the trip) for breakfast in the hotel's restaurant and enjoyed a great buffet. Conference tickets were divied up and Nate and I ended up with Sat morning and afternoon sessions, Nate also got Priesthood session (with all the men), and I got a ticket for Sun morning.

Then began the whirlwind.

Conference is great already, but I really enjoyed it in the Conference Center. I'd been on a tour of the Conference Center, but I'd never been to a General Conference session anywhere, so I really had a great time. The building is beautiful, the weather was cool, but wonderful, and I was in great company. The crazy time was darting in between sessions to eat. We had tickets to eat in the church office building and they are amazingly efficient there so things ran very smoothly, but with just two hours in between sessions time goes very quickly. By the time we were able to exit the Conference Center, make our way through the crowds to the office building and eat, it was time to head back so that we could be in our seats early enough for the next session to start. The men got to repeat the pattern an additional time with Priesthood in there, so I'm sure they were even more worn out come evening.

Both Saturday sessions were great, but I have a particular fondness for the afternoon one. I think Tad did a really wonderful job and it was so nice to be there to see him in person.

While the men headed off to Priesthood session the women changed from their heals and walked down the street to the Gateway Plaza for some shopping. Shopping has never been my strength (much to Nate's pleasure, I'm sure), and I was especially worn out that evening, so I headed back, bagless, with the first people to finish and just lay down.

We all gathered again (including the men back from Priesthood) at the restaurant again for dessert and to celebrate Becky's birthday. (Incidentally, Tanner was born on the same day, so Nate and I missed that, obviously -- not to worry, he got an early birthday celebration.) After dessert we visited a bit in one of the hotel rooms while dividing some of Neenie's belongings, then parted for the night.

That night was like a sleepover. I'm not quite sure how it started, but Nate and I got talking and laughing with Angela. We told story after story (Ang's Black Angus one topped them all, I think) and just really had a nice time until we got too tired and finally fell asleep. Actually, I guess we told stories until Hannah told us to be quiet so she could keep sleeping. (Sorry, Hannah!)

In the morning I wasn't feeling that great (still too worn out from the day before, I guess) so I gave my Sunday morning session ticket up and Nate and I headed to Dominic and Jen's for some of the best omelettes I've ever had. (Whole milk and lots of butter -- that was the trick. Too bad Dominic didn't confide his secret until after I had enjoyed my second. Oh well.) We also had some of the best entertainment I've ever had -- Iris and Jimmy kept racing and showing us how fast they were and Jimmy kept a constant narration going of what was happening, and football something or other was happening a lot. It was very fun to see them.

After morning session we all headed to my folks' house in Draper where we watched/dozed through Sunday afternoon session. (Holland's talk was really great.)

We only had an hour and a half after the session ended before we had to head to the airport, so it was a quick visit, but still great to see everybody who is still in Utah.

We ended up at the airport unintentionally early (I looked at the boarding time, not the departure time) which turned out to be really nice since we ran into Tad and Kathy. Tad was dropping Kathy off early so he could drive up to Provo for a last minute fireside and Kathy had about four hours to kill before her flight left. We visited with her for quite some time then met up with Beck and Rob whose flight was delayed since their intended plane had been hit by lightening. It was nice to know that Kathy wasn't alone killing time for hours by herself, and it was nice for the extra visiting time.

We were a little delayed ourselves, so all the kids were asleep by the time we got home, but they were happy to see us in the morning.

It really was a whirlwind weekend and I'm so glad to have been able to experience it.

Of course I carried my camera with me in my purse the whole time but didn't get it out once. The only photos we have from the weekend are thanks to more great friends (Sully and Laurie, Lonna's brother and his wife) and their camera phones:


The kids doing their conference packets while Grandpa speaks (I love this picture):


Tanner's face being held for the camera (I can only imagine that that happened after he was called to look at the camera multiple times) for a birthday cake shot -- the Stacey's made a cake for Tanner when they realized it was his birthday. Good for his sisters for remembering, and many thanks to the Staceys for being so nice about it!:


Oh, and totally off the subject, but just for documentation:

I'm due the end of April. I'll be 12 weeks along this Sunday. Oh, and I've been showing since before I even knew I was pregnant (no kidding), and finally, since I hit about week 10, I've been feeling much better. More info to come.

Shopping while hungry

Today I went to Trader Joes while hungry and bought bakliva, dark chocolate mints, cinnamon graham crackers, a pear/gorgonzola salad, their vanilla pudding mix (thanks to their sample), and a couple of other gems. Still, even with all those goodies, I felt the absence of those cocoa-powder-dusted truffles very keenly, darn it.

Then I topped it off by buying Chris, Gracie and I our own Handel's ice cream scoop (bubble gum, mint choc chip, and pumpkin swirl, respectively) which ice cream was voted #1 ice cream in the world by National Geographic. One of their top ten came from some place in Sri Lanka, so when they say "world" they mean it. I don't think you'd need their acclaim to feel that way yourself, however. It's that good. And of course I bought a few pints to bring home with me.

I'm the worst when shopping hungry. And pregnant. That probably didn't help any either.

Unbelievable

Christmas has been on display and for sale at Costco since early September -- unbelievable.

What's even more unbelievable is that amidst all their early Christmas madness, they aren't offering their cocoa-powder-covered truffles yet. I know because I've looked in depth.

September or not, I'd be buying those things.

I'd buy those year-round.

I've been teaching Gospel Doctrine for the last little while, splitting every other week with another teacher, Cheri Rievley. At first I felt a little daunted jumping into the Doctrine & Covenants since I don't know it well, but I have really been enjoying myself and have had some great experiences. I've enjoyed every teaching calling I've had, but teaching Gospel Doctrine is my favorite so far. (Especially in my current ward -- we've got a great group of people.)

The last couple of weeks have been spent on the pioneer trek west to Utah, and just this past Sunday I covered the Martin and Willie handcart companies. Nate remembered seeing a clip made from one of Hinckley's recountings of the story (he has many) and after Eden located the clip for me he made a DVD for me to share with the class. This is the clip:



I love this message.

And I love this story:

A man who crossed the plains in the Martin handcart company lived in Utah for many years. One day he was in a group of people who began sharply criticizing the Church leaders for ever allowing the Saints to cross the plains with no more supplies or protection than a handcart company provided. The old man listened until he could stand no more; then he arose and said with great emotion:

“I was in that company and my wife was in it. … We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? … [We] came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities.

“I have pulled my handcart when I was so weak and weary from illness and lack of food that I could hardly put one foot ahead of the other. I have looked ahead and seen a patch of sand or a hill slope and I have said, I can go only that far and there I must give up, for I cannot pull the load through it. … I have gone on to that sand and when I reached it, the cart began pushing me. I have looked back many times to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there.

“Was I sorry that I chose to come by handcart? No. Neither then nor any minute of my life since. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.”

I hope and pray that one day my kids will understand and appreciate these messages.

Naomi and Chris

Naomi was practicing piano yesterday, and suddenly Chris ran away from the piano screaming. I asked him what happened and he said that Naomi screamed "right in [his] face." I asked Naomi what happened and she said, "Well Mom, you told me to scream if anybody ever tried to cut my hair.*"

I then asked Chris if he was going to cut Naomi's hair and he answered, "Yes, only a little."




*Naomi let Amanda persuade her to let Amanda cut a chunk of her hair quite some time ago and I told Naomi that if anybody approached her to cut her hair that she needed to scream. She remembered.




Oh, and Naomi got three stiches this morning. The little chef had her first accident in the kitchen. Not only did it change my plans this morning, it made me realize I need to toughen up my girls. It was a pretty painful experience -- more so for me than for her, I think, although she screamed an awful lot.

Simple, but not Trivial

I love that when I'm typing quickly and accidentally misspell "good" I end up typing "God." It's just a nice reminder to me that God is good.

Goggles & Boots, Simplifying, Bed Frames, More is Better, Photos, A Long Walk, Student Council Speech, and Fudge

Goggles and boots, two of her favorite things:

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Simplifying gone really wrong. Recently I bought a bunch of cold cereal in an attempt to simplify our mornings. With messes like this (which are a dime a dozen when we've got cold cereal around) I've decided to go back to oatmeal, pancakes and waffles.

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For some time now, our bed (Nate's and mine) has been squeaky and rickety -- like a roller coaster. It was being held together by four brackets that were each down to just an inch of holding us up.

It was finally really, really bothering me, so when Nate was out of town last week I took the whole thing apart, bought four new brackets, drilled holes through the brackets that would line up with our bed frame and fixed the bed frame. At least I thought that would fix it because the guys at the hardware store said so. After I assembled the bed again, sheets, blanket, pillows and all, I moved the bed closer to the wall. That's when I found out that each corner would need an additional bracket. When I lifted up the second side to move the bed closer to the wall, the entire side pivoted on the bolts and the bed slats came crashing down. So did the mattress and everything else. Once again I disassembled the entire bed, trudged back to the hardware store, purchased four additional brackets, and drilled as many holes as possible to match our bed frame (again) before our drill died. The next morning, with the help of our friend's drill, I was able to finish the bed and get it all put back together. No more rocking, no more squeaking, it's amazing. And it's after times like these that I usually tell Nate how lucky he is.

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Sometimes more really does mean better:

Just ask her:

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Photo shoot from this morning:















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Last Friday I asked the kids if they wanted to go on a long walk. (I always think of Persuasion whenever I say "long walk.") They were excited and came along with me. We made it 4 1/2 miles before I had to start praying that I could keep being nice to Chris in spite of his whining. (His whining started at 4 1/2 miles and I had to start praying immediately -- his whining can really grate on you.) Nate joined us just about then (he had just come home from his out of town trip) and put Chris up on his shoulders, making the last 1/2 mile must more pleasant than it would have been otherwise. I am so lucky.

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Amanda gives her student council speech today. Here it is:

Hi! My name is Amanda Callister, and I'm running for student council.

To best illustrate the qualities I possess that will help me succeed as a student council representative, I'd like to share a short story from my youth.

One afternoon when I was just 2 years old, my mom put me down for a nap. Instead of going to sleep I found the Desitin, a diaper rash ointment, and painted it on everything in my room, including me. After finger painting for about an hour, I walked over to my door and started calling out to my mom, "Dirty, dirty." Puzzled, my mom retrieved me from my bedroom and found me looking a lot like this, only worse*. (hold up picture)

As trivial and silly as this story may sound, I feel it illustrates some of my positive attributes.

First, it shows how innovative I am. Rather than reserve the Desitin for diaper rashes, I chose to finger paint with it. Obviously I think outside the box, a trait that will help me to come up with new and exciting ways to accomplish great things for our class and school.

Next, it shows I am not afraid to accept responsibility for my actions. Rather than attempt to hide the mess that I most assuredly knew my mom wouldn't like, I faced the issue head on, which is exactly the way I will handle any unpleasant issues that may arise while I serve on student council.

Lastly, but possibly most important, as you can see by the smile on my face, I know how to find humor in sticky situations.

I'm innovative, responsible, and can laugh at myself. Vote for me.

*Since Amanda was my first child, my first reaction, upon finding her mess, was to start cleaning. Now it's to take a picture. That's why she looked a lot worse when I found her. I had already cleaned a lot of Desitin off her face, hands, neck and arms before it occurred to me to take a picture. Nate suggested we douse Gracie in Desitin and take a picture since nobody would have been able to tell the difference. I was fine with that if he was fine cleaning it up since I've had that experience 3 times. (Amanda once, Tanner twice -- I'm a slow learner, but at least I got better photos.) He decided against it.

When coaching Amanda on her speech I found myself sounding a lot like my mom. "Now, if you don't win, don't be upset..." Funny how that happens.

Here's the speech giver:

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And lastly, yesterday Tanner, Naomi and Chris made fudge start to finish all by themselves. The project was spearheaded by Tanner and they did a great job. The only thing they forgot was that they had agreed to clean the kitchen following their project. *Sigh*