The Very Best Part of Christmas

I'm back. I made this blog private for a while because I was debating taking it down. I just never felt like I had much to say. But perhaps it's getting all those fun Christmas cards recently that makes me want to get in touch with my friends and family again.

Last night we hosted a Christmas Party for Joy School. It was great. The kids did a simple skit of the Nativity. They were adorable. Then they sang a few songs. One of the songs was "The very best part of Christmas." Some of the lyrics are:

"The very best part of Christmas time, the very best part I know

Is not the tree, and not the treats, and not the lights that glow.......

The very best part of Christmas time is the present you give away."

So after singing this song, the kids were to give the parents and grandparents a card they made. When the kids finished singing I told the small crowd "We've been learning about the very best part of Christmas." Turning to the kids, I asked "Is the very best part of Christmas the presents we get?" Bailee answered with a resounding "YES!" Everyone chuckled. Andrew had responded with the appropriate "No," so I turned to him with another question - "Andrew what is the very best part of Christmas?" With smile, he said:

"The best part of Christmas is when we give away the presents that we don't like."

It just made me realize, once again, you just don't know how the kids really understand things. This whole time we'd been practicing that song, Andrew was probably just fine with the fact that he was giving presents to others -- because they were the ones he didn't like! (:

This should teach me not to ask leading questions -- at least in front of an audience.

Biography anyone?

I am hosting book club next month and have decided that rather than choose a specific book for everyone to read, each person can read a biography of their choosing.  I thought it would be fun to do something different -- the problem is I have no idea what biography I'm going to read.  So I'm asking you -- have your read a great biography?  If you were to read a biography, what would you read?  

And just FYI - an update on our water softener.  I tracked down the phone number of the people who installed it and called them.  When I told her that someone else told us we would just have to replace it, she said "Well if you already have a water softener, let's just fix it."  So, it still wasn't an inexpensive fix, but it was MUCH cheaper that a new $1500 water softener! Hooray!  It's been a few weeks and nobody is sick, so I guess we're algae-free.  And let me just say it's doing good things for my skin.  Some days I don't even use lotion once and my knuckles still aren't bleeding.  Lotion several times a day used to be the norm.  Nice!  

Father's Day

On Father's Day we have a tradition of going to the cemetery where Brian's dad is buried.  The first year we went Andrew was checking out this sprinkler.  I've decided to take a picture each year by the same sprinkler to show how they've grown.  

  

It was a really nice day -- hope all you great dad's out there had a nice day too.  I'm lucky to have a great dad and husband, and great brothers and friends who are good dads too.  Way to go!

May Highlights

Another month has rolled by and I haven't posted anything.  So, here you have it -- more highlights!  

Joy School "Graduation" -- not sure why it's graduation when he still has another year of Joy School.  But whatever, the program was cute.  When I saw this picture I immediately thought of some pictures I've seen of Brian when he was a kid.  Everyone always comments on how much they look alike, and in this picture even I can see it!

Trying to come up with some creative things to do this summer.  Here are the 3 R's we've been working on:  Race Cars, Rockets, and "Rock Stars" (Yes, that's Andrew's very own rock star interpretation....what do you mean, you don't get it?  Let me explain -- Sun glasses, obviously.  Mom's necklace, you must be a rock star if you're a boy and you're wearing a necklace, hawaiian shirt -- Andrew just insisted on wearing a "people shirt" and this is the one I gave him, and some Converse Allstars - people size, of course.)

And Eric had tubes put in his ears for the second time and also had his adenoids removed.  The surgery went well and he seems to be hearing and talking more.  He was a trooper -- although very upset when he woke up from surgery, after we left the hospital he took a long nap and woke up as if nothing had ever happened.  Not even Tylenol was necessary.  Yeah!

I've also managed to paint the basement.  It took me forever to decide what color -- after spending $25 on samples I ended up deciding on a color that I already had in the basement.  It's really light yellow and it's doing just what I wanted -- warming up the basement without making it too dark.  I love it!  

April Highlights

I feel completely blah lately and can't figure out what to blog about.  I should call this a blahg.  ha. That just came to me.  I might have to change my oh-so-catchy blog title!

But when I downloaded pictures from my camera, I saw that we had quite a busy month.  So here are some highlights:

First, there was the big Easter Egg hunt with cousins.  Each  time Andrew found an egg he'd go racing across the lawn yelling "Dad!  Dad!  I found one!  Look Dad!"  And Eric of course had to carry a sword around with him the whole time -- just in case the Big Bad Easter Bunny showed up.

Here we are enjoying the nice weather at the farm with friends.  The boys are watching the ducks.  Hooray for Spring!

And on one big Saturday Andrew had his first soccer game.  He did a good job, and ran over to Brian several times in the middle of the game -- he was very thirsty!  Below is a picture of him doing a "super move" for the camera.   

After the soccer game we headed to a combined Graduation/Birthday party for my sister-in-law and nephew.  We had a great time visiting family and riding horses.  Brian was a trooper -- first time on a horse.  Andrew wouldn't get on without him at first.  I love the picture of Eric on the horse -- he looks so little! 

Looking at these pictures is a good reminder of how lucky we are -- fun times and good opportunities.  

Eric is 2!

This week Eric turned 2.  Unfortunately, he had a nasty cold on his birthday.  But we still celebrated and he had a good time.  He's does this "camera face" every time I tell him to smile.  Squinty/closed eyes and pursed lips.  Cracks me up.

Unmotivated

So here I am, sitting in my house that needs a good cleaning.  But I feel completely unmotivated...why?  Because I don't have a Kirby Vacuum.   On Wednesday some Kirby people stopped by and offered to shampoo my carpet, if I'd watch a demonstration.  So I let them in. Here's what happened:

First, the salesman asks to use my vacuum.  He vacuums with my Hoover.  He puts his vacuum together with a special little filter to catch all the dirt. He vacuums for about 2 seconds while I watch the filter fill up with dirt.  Lots of dirt.  He proceeds to change the little filter papers over and over, continually picking up dirt.  He only vacuumed a strip of carpet about 10' x 2' and pretty soon I have about 30 paper filters covered in dirt. 

The salesman proceeds to tell me that other vacuums don't have enough air flow to actually pick up anything more than surface fuzz and dirt.  He also informs me that all that dirt will wear out the carpet.  Using a Kirby vacuum will prolong the life of my carpet, and rather than spending $5000 on replacing my carpet in a few years, I can save money by spending $2495 on a new Kirby.  

That's right, a $2495.00 vacuum.  I thought to myself "It can't be $24.95, so it must be two-thousand-ninety-five dollars."

So here's the problem.  I'm totally convinced that a Kirby is an AWESOME vacuum.  And the guy practically had me convinced that it would be worth $2500.  Seriously, I was embarrassed by my dirty floors that I do vacuum regularly.  

So the guy left without making a sale (after giving me a lecture about how I shouldn't have to discuss this purchase with my husband because he wouldn't want me to spend that much money on a vacuum because he doesn't do the cleaning, and just wouldn't understand.  His wife can buy ANYTHING she wants for the house, because that's her job -- taking care of the house.  His job is to make the money.....etc.)  

However, he did sell me on one thing -- I want a Kirby vacuum.  Seriously, it was impressive.  So I've checked them out online and they have some refurbished vacuums for much, much less than a new one.  Still more than a vacuum at the store, but I'm pretty sure we need one....after all, our carpet is FULL of dirt.  

So that's why I'm unmotivated.  Why vacuum when it's not even going to pick up the dirt?  So instead of housework, I'm writing this kind of boring blog.  (:  I guess the moral of the story is this:  Don't watch a Kirby Vacuum demonstration or you may never vacuum with your Hoover again.

I just can't seem to come up with anything interesting to write these days.  After reading other people's blogs -- their funny stories and comments, I feel so boring!  But in an effort to update my records, here's what has been happening around here:

- Lots of visitors to our house.  This weekend we had 2 of my sisters and their 12-year-old daughters fly in to go to the Young Women's General Conference meeting.  It was unfortunate that Karen was pretty sick, but it was still great to see all of them.  We mostly just hung out and visited, ate out, and did a little shopping.  (No, really, just a few hours this time!)

- I've been working on a quilt made from old dresses that were sister-in-laws' when they were kids.  I've only made one other quilt before, and have very little sewing experience.  It will be a far from perfect quilt, but it's been a fun learning experience.  I'll post pictures later of the 60's-70's style quilt. 

- Andrew has been singing the "My Eternal Family" song constantly.  It's pretty cute.  He loves it because it's about "building."  He's still enjoying Joy School.  And we're all looking forward to some nicer weather to go to the park more often.  

- A few months ago I had Eric's speech and hearing tested.  His hearing was fine, but his speech was delayed.  They don't know for sure why, but it's likely that it's due to poor hearing the first year of his life due to reoccurring earaches.   So a couple of times a month a speech therapist comes and plays with him.  It's really fun and I've learned a lot from watching her.  Most of it is stuff I've heard or read, but it's so much more helpful to see a pro in action.  He's added several words to his vocabulary and a few signs too.  

Speaking of Eric, I have wanted to post this picture of Eric.  He looks like such a little boy now!  He's standing by the basketball hoop -- he love playing ball (or carrying one around, or even sleeping with one.)  He will shoot hoops for 20 minutes at a time all by himself, yelling happily when he makes a basket.  

How embarrassing!

So most of you know we're pretty clueless when it comes to home repairs.  Here's my latest "duh" moment:

Our water softener hasn't been working for years.  We don't even know if it's ever worked since we bought our house 5 years ago.  So last week I finally got around to calling someone to come and look at it.  Monday morning he came....and guess what the problem was -- it was unplugged!  Yes, that's right, it's been unplugged!  Argh.  I was so embarrassed.  The Water Softener guy didn't seem too impressed, or amused.  

So anyway, I'm admitting this because I want to know if any of you know about water softeners.  This guy said that because it's just sat their for years that it's not worth fixing.  (Something about the sponges growing algae and bacteria which could make us sick.)  He didn't actually look in the tank.  He just said it would need to be replaced.

Do you think he is just trying to sell us a $1000 water softener or is it really not worth fixing?

Happy Birthday Spiderman!

We celebrated Andrew's 4th birthday last week.  The day was full of fun -- pretty much wore me out.  I thought I'd gotten some pretty great gifts for him, and he received them graciously (after BEGGING for days to open them.)  Unfortunately a few days after his birthday, Andrew very kindly told me "I think I got the wrong stuff for my birthday.  But that's okay, Mom."  

I'm so glad he's so forgiving.  (:  

I do love that kid.  He makes me smile every day.