My Wish List (Ryan, this one's for you)

I deserve a fabulous present this year. Now, lest you think me too greedy, let's review a brief history of the Christmases Ryan and I have shared. I think you'll agree that I deserve a fabulous present this year.

Christmas 2001: This was our first married Christmas and we were dirt poor, so Ryan wanted to forgo presents for each other. I didn't think he was serious so I got him a VHS of the Hunt for Red October for 8 bucks at Walmart. Turns out he was serious and he got me nothing.

Christmas 2002: We spent Christmas in Montana with Ryan's family. We were still dirt poor, but I had just graduated and was banking on finding a job soon. I also didn't want to seem like a cheapskate in front of his family, so I bought him a nice (and expensive) sweater. He got me nada.


Christmas 2003: Yeah, I had a job but we were still poor, so we decided to do the no-present thing again. (For real this time.) On Christmas Eve I found a box with my name on it underneath the tree. Not to be outdone, I ran to the movie theater to purchase Lord of the Rings tickets to put under the tree for him. The next morning I opened my present to find an empty box with the word "Love" written inside. Sweet, yes. But once again, he got me zilch.


Christmas 2004-2006: Second verse, same as the first.


Christmas 2007: I got him a bunch of stocking stuffers and a nice shirt and tie. He got me a 3-hole puncher.



I share these stories not to villainize my darling husband whom I adore, but to merely point out that I deserve a fabulous present this year. Perhaps he just hasn't known what to get me in years past. This year he won't have that excuse.

1. New couches. Here is our current couch that will be used as firewood the second we get a new one.

It was originally my grandma's couch and she let us have it when we got married (which we were very grateful for). But now it's falling apart and very uncomfortable. The back leg is broken off so it tilts a little to the left. It's also quite embarrassing to have people over when the cushions look like this:

I don't mend, so that's not an option.

2. A music solution in our living room so we don't have to lug out this ghetto blaster every time we want to listen to music.

Then we have to place this huge book on the top so the CD player works.






3. A new kitchen floor. Our linoleum is peeling up big time. It looks horrible.



4. New cookware. I saw these at Costco.

I'm sure Bed Bath and Beyond has some nice ones too.

5. New clothes and shoes, although I will have to pick these out myself.


6. A new rug for my laundry room. I'm eyeing one at Kohl's that I will purchase in the after-Christmas sale if Santa doesn't pull through.


7. Professional carpet cleaning. White carpet and 3 kids don't mix, and with Sophie on the verge of crawling, it would be nice to have it cleaned. I've left coupons for this all over the house.



I hope you'll agree that I've made a solid argument for a nice present this year. And with gas practically free these days and our thermostat set at a chilly 68 degrees, we should have plenty of money for everything on my list.

PS. What not to get: jewelry, candy, stuffed teddy bears, or anything from Victoria's Secret.

What We've Been Doing

I blinked once and October was over. I blinked again and now it's mid-November. And since I can't blame my not-blogging on a spotless house or a new hobby, here's what I have been doing:

1. Halloween stuff. Costumes, pumpkins, and the like.

Blimey!

2. Baking. My first (and last) attempt at Thanksgiving rolls.

I was stressed the entire time and they turned out awful.



3. Turning our dining room into Sophie's room. It went from this:



To this:



It's not quite done...



4. Loving on my little Hoggle, who is almost 8 months.






5. Spending time with my darling kids.




6. And finally, fielding zillions of questions a day from my favorite 3 year old.

The questions range from, "Mom, where is ancient history? Can you point it out to me on the map?" (think of the Primary song, Book of Mormon Stories) to "Does Santa wear underpants?"





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Up Next: My wishlist 2008

Who will read this Tag?

I'm not sure why tags have such a bad rap. They're interesting to read and fun to complete. For the lazy blogger, there is no easier post. And after a long day, I feel like being lazy.

A- Age: 28
B - Best Friend: My sister
C - Cake or Pie: Both. I like every kind of cake, but I only like pumpkin or chocolate pie.
D - Drink of Choice: Ice water. Milk if I'm eating brownies.
E - Essential Items: Chapstick, lotion, and a microwave. Oh yes, and pajama pants too. They're pretty sexy, so of course Ryan loves this about me.
F - Favorite TV show at the moment: Lost and Friday Night Lights
G - Gummi Bears or Worms: Worms
H - Hometown: Sandy, Utah
I - Indulgence: Peanut Butter anything
J - January or July: July
K - Kids: 3
L - Life is incomplete without: Family
M - Marriage Date: August 21, 2001
N - Number of Siblings: 3-- 2 brothers and a sister
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples. I like oranges too, but you always gamble on an orange. Apples require no guess work.
P - Phobias or Fears: Extreme sports. I'm a HUGE wuss. Also, I hate snakes.
Q - Quote: There never was a child so lovely, but his mother was glad to see him asleep. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
R - Reason to Smile: There is a big bag of candy corn sitting in my cupboard that no one knows about
S - Season: Fall
T - Time you woke up today: 5:45 ish
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I consider sleep a necessary evil and only do it because I have to. Also, I dislike getting wet. This includes swimming and being out in the rain. Yeah, I know it's weird.
V - Veggies or Fruit: I like all fruit except melons and I like most veggies. Frozen green beans are out because they're squeaky on my teeth. Lima beans are out too.
W - Worst Habit: Wearing the same pair of contacts for months and months
X - X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds. I live for them when I'm pregnant.
Y - Your Favorite Food: Anything I don't have to cook myself
Z - Zodiac: Libra

TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fall)

Fall is the best season ever. It's long-sleeves-only in the day, an extra blanket at night, crunchy leaves in the yard, and most importantly, it's candy corn season. I bought my first bag today. My teeth feel like wool sweaters, but let's just say it's not by chance that my dentist appointments are scheduled every November and May (after Halloween and Easter). Here are a few other reasons I love fall.

1. Jonathan apples. They're small and sweet and don't need caramel dipping sauce to enhance the flavor like most apples do.

2. Apple attire suits me just fine too.

As you can imagine, Marissa looks super cute in this outfit despite not allowing me do a thing with her hair. It was well worth the bundle I spent on it.
Private note to Ryan: By "bundle" I mean something very tiny, small, and minuscule.

3. Pumpkin bread, cookies, cake, seeds, and the newly discovered waffles out of Simple and Delicious magazine. I just made a double batch of these last night and YUM! They were better than I thought they'd be.

Pumpkin Waffles
1 cup plus 2 T. flour
2 T. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 T. butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients; stir into dry mixture just until combined. Bake in preheated waffle iron until golden brown.

4.It will soon to be too cold to play in the sandbox.
The Great Offender
I have no problem admitting when I'm wrong and boy was I wrong about this. I thought the sandbox would be a great opportunity for the kids to play by themselves while I took care of things in the house. But as it turned out, for every minute they played out there I spent a minimum of 10 minutes on damage control. So much for a break.

Initially the sandbox was filled with 15 bags of sand.

Four of those bags were washed down the bathtub drain.
Three were dumped into the kiddie pool or on the grass.
Two went through the washing machine.
Three were thrown at playmates/siblings, and usually at their faces.
Two were vacuumed or swept up and thrown away.

That leaves one bag of sand remaining in the sandbox, and it's filled with spiders, ants, dead leaves, and more than likely, cat poop.

What do you love about fall?

What do you do when your lawnmower won't start?

First, try starting it again. Then, check to make sure it has gas. Twist the cap off and peer inside. Finally, shriek out loud because the entire gas tank is filled with dirt and grass.

To Ryan's credit, he was quite calm about the whole matter. Much more calm than I would have been if, say, I had discovered my washing machine filled with dirt.

It's a fact that kids wreck stuff. It's just what they do. They don't grasp the concept of choice and consequence-- that the lawnmower won't run if it's filled with dirt. As a mother of 3 little people, I understand this. Nevertheless, there is a 3 year old up for sale today. If you come this morning we'll throw in his sister for half price.

8 Years Ago, I Kissed a Boy and I Liked It...

He liked it too. So we decided to get married.

The weather was nice right up until it was time for our outside reception to start. There was a thunder and lightning storm followed by sheets and sheets of downpouring rain. A tornado touched down somewhere in the valley. But everyone who braved the weather kept telling us that a rainy wedding day is good luck.

And it was.

It was good luck at How to Host a Murder parties.

It was good luck on the beach.

And on graduation day.

Christmas time too.

And pretty much all the time.

Now 7 years and 3 kids later we are on our way to living happily ever after (well, most days).

A few things you may not know about Ryan and me:

1. We've lived in 5 apartments and 1 house.

2. Two of the apartments were HORRID. I could go on and on about them. One didn't even have heat and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

3. Today we look back on those poor newlywed years with great nostalgia.

4. We would both be willing to pay an obscene amount of money to sleep in one morning until 8:00. Make that 8:30.

5. Our 2 recurring arguments are: a) Ryan's less than perfect punctuality near the dinner hour, and b) when we are moving back to Utah. He says never. She says tomorrow.

6. We went on our honeymoon to Idaho. It wasn't as bad as it sounds.

7. Our first date was to a Ukrainian dance concert.

8. Neither of us are big on birthdays, anniversaries, or Valentine's Day. He'll probably stop by the gas station on his way home from work tonight to pick up a card. And that's OK.

9. Our ideal date is a nice dinner and a movie. Our typical date is pizza and Netflix.

10. We love sweets and always split a dessert when we go out to dinner.

11. He's in charge of the yard work; I'm in charge of the housework. Neither has any desire to do the other's job.

12. He's in charge of making the money; I'm in charge of spending it.

Look Who's 2!

The Sister McBaby turns 2 years old today!

Marissa Cynthia Parker
Born 8/11/06 7:35 am
8 lbs. 7 oz
20 inches long

Favorite Foods:

Waffles

PB&J

Mac 'n Cheese

Cookies

Strawberries

Pears

Loves:

Dora and Diego

The Christmas song, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." I have to sing it all the time!

Water slides

Jumping

Swinging

Bedtime and Nap time (really)

Trying on clothes and shoes

Her binki, much to my chagrin

Does not love:

The produce section at Costco. She screams like crazy if we even get near it (cold, mommy, cold)

Running through the sprinklers

Veggies

Brushing her teeth

Doing her hair

Socks

The Reason I Can Never Lose Weight

Yesterday I went running without my music or one of my kids in tow. I rarely have a second to myself these days, so I thought it would be nice to be alone with my thoughts. You know, maybe I could set some goals, fantasize about a clean house, the usual. Strangely enough I found myself thinking about food and how I couldn't wait to snarf the dinner that was waiting for me at home. Then it hit me: Every time my clothes start to feel a little loose, or the scale drops a few pounds, I think, " Yes! Now I can have 3 peanut butter ice cream sandwiches instead of the 2 that I was going to have."

This is completely the wrong mindset. What I should think is, "Sweet! My jeans aren't snug anymore, so if I lay off the junk food I can drop a dress size by my 10 year HS reunion!" The same problem exists outside of my own thoughts. After Sophie was born, someone said, "You look great!" What they meant was: "You look great for just having a baby", while I took it to mean, "Sweet! Now I can make cookies and eat half of the dough!"

So there you have it. You know why I can never lose weight, and you know what I think about when there is nothing to think about. Now get to Walmart and buy some peanut butter ice cream sandwiches!

P.S. You can tell I have been feeling nostalgic about high school and reading through my old journals because "Sweet!" is my exclamation of choice. I have been using it like crazy.

What's in a Name?

Sophie is only 3 months old and already has a nickname. This, of course, is Ryan's doing, so brace yourself.

Here it is: Sophenhoggle.

I don't even know how to spell it.

Not only is it a mouthful, but it's a horrible mouthful. More often than not just gets shortened to "The Hoggle." As in, "Where's The Hoggle?" Or, "Can you put The Hoggle to bed tonight?" Or my personal favorite, "Don't hassle The Hoggle." Because here's what happens when The Hoggle gets hassled:

Unfortunately Ryan's nicknames have a knack for sticking. That's why 3 1/2 years later we still call Riley "Bruiser" or some variation thereof.

On a side note, today is July 4 and I am blogging instead of watching fireworks because Ryan has been gone all week on a 50 mile Scout hike. He missed seeing the kids in their darling outfits (thanks Grammy!) and someone needs to appreciate their cuteness.

Bruisey, Sissy, and The Hoggle. Perfectly normal sounding names. Right?

One Great Week

Last week was great! Ryan had the week off while he was waiting for security clearance for his new job, and I never have anything going on these days, so we decided to have some family fun. Typically our free time gets frittered away by yard work or errands, so it was a nice change of pace. Here are a few things we did:

We took up mini hike up Wade Mountain (although I use the term "mountain" very loosely). The older kids ate wild raspberries and had fun jumping off rocks. Sophie slept the entire time.

Marissa slept on the way down. Is that a familiar image or what?

It kind of reminds me of this one 10 months ago.

Ryan built a sandbox. It took a little pestering on my part, but now Riley and Marissa will play outside without me being out there with them. The downer is that now we have sand EVERYWHERE all the time. I didn't think about the mess beforehand, but I still think it is worth it. So far the sand-throwing has been kept to a minimum.

We went to the water park--twice!

I love baby cheeks.

Lastly, Ryan and I finally had some adult time together. Whenever the kids were napping we sneaked into our room, closed the blinds, shut the door, and....watched as many episodes of Friday Night Lights as we could before the kids woke up. Ryan likes it because it's about football. I like it because of the OC-like drama. (Ryan also enjoys this factor although he won't admit it.) Yes, it's a complete waste of time-- especially since all I've done lately is complain about how I have no time for housework--but now we're addicted.

Thank you Netflix on-demand. Go Panthers!

We had a great week and loved having Daddy home!