TV Days of Christmas

I must admit, one of my favorite things about the holidays are all the Christmas specials on TV. True, most of them have nothing to do with the reality of what Christmas truly is--a day to celebrate the birth of the Savior, but I like them just the same. They give me that "no place like home feel" and I recall memories of watching them with my family as a kid. This year has been fun as Alex has now joined me in my quest to watch as many hokey "Santa movies" ( as he calls them) as possible.

The days before Christmas.....

Life is crazy! Or maybe I am crazy. I sit down to do something and my mind starts to wander and the next thing I know 2 hours have past and all I've done is watch mindless TV and eat reduced-fat wheat thins. Maybe I am just in Christmas overload since we'll be spending the holidays in Iowa. My house is decorated..no tree due to aforementioned holiday travel...my Christams cards are purchased ( but not addressed or sent due to impending Duffin family photo shoot. I bought all my "Arizona people" gifts. Hmmmm....maybe I am not crazy...maybe I am just exhausted!! That sounds much better.

Book Club Beauties

The above pic was taken at our semi-annual ( read: whenever we can get away) bookclub overnighter in Payson.We had a fabulous time and at the most yummy food.I took pictures of the food but can't get my computer to give them up so I can post them here. Why am I forever technically challenged?? We slept in, went antiquing and returned home refuled and ready to rock..actually I was ready for a nap but my kids had other ideas.

Halloween 2007

My two cutie tooties all ready for trick-or-treating. Alex had a blast, although he pooped out pretty soon. Emma had fun riding in the stroller and checking out all the costumes. Can't wait for next year...we scored big on some post Halloween costumes!

Soccer Mom

I am officially a soccer mom. Alex started soccer last week. He's on a team of 4-5 year olds....8 boys and 3 girls. Their uniforms are green & yellow. I think they are calling themselves the green alligators...or crocodiles, lizards...it keeps changing. Sadly we missed the first game (hence no cutie picture of Alex). Games are on Saturday's so look for photos next week. Alex loves playing with the other kids and actually does a good job manuvering the ball and following the number one rule of soccer...."No touching the ball with your hands mom!".

Little boys LOVE Diet Coke

I think I may have created a Diet Coke monster. The other day I was craving a Sonic Diet Coke. As I am in the drive thru line

Alex asks.."Are you getting Diet Coke?"
"Yes, I reply."

He then says "Little boys love Diet Coke (emphasis on the love). Is it bad if we can't walk down the beverage aisle without Alex picking out all the different soda brands that he and his immediate family enjoy...probably so. I do give in more than I should. The other day I gave him his own can of caffeine free Diet Coke and he was in heaven. I think I'll allow him the indulgence for awhile. After all..little boys love Diet Coke...and so do their mommies.

Brian & Miss Emma

Read or blog....

Well, reading has been winning over bloggig the last few weeks. I still haven't finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan...but I did read two other books.

Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella
The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg

My "books to read" shelf at home is dwindling which means it's time to hit Half Price Books. Honestly, their $1.00 rack is a goldmine. Has anyone read "Banker to the Poor"? It's by the Novel Peace Prize winner who started lending money to the poor in India and has amost single-handedly changed the lives of thousands. I saw the guy on Oprah...Muhammed somebody. Anyway, it's on my list of books to read. Yikes, time to get a move on the day...

One more thing.....

Okay, it was bad enough that I got swept up in the whole blogging thing.....now I am being introduced to the whole book thing! Welcome to the world of Shelfari, where you can list, rate and suggest books ranging from The Little Engine That Could to the Book of Mormon. JUST ONE MORE THING to fill up my overtaxed brain cells. I did manage to post 3 books...2 that are 1/2 read and are calling out to me to finish them. The third, The Hornet's Nest by Jimmy Carter is alluring because it was written by a former President ( and it was only $1.00 at Half Price Books---which BTW is my favorite place to pick up books). I think I may have to choose between blogging and reading. I guess reading blogs is technically reading right? Hmmmmm. Maybe I could blog m-w-f and read t-th. Saturday & Sunday could be a free-for-all. Maybe I should just stop obsessing about it and grab a good book. Snow Flower here I come :)

Just becuase....

My friend Heather recently mentioned that she felt like every blog entry had to be profound...and the more pictures the better. I am here to say...NOT SO! Yes, it's fun to read quirky posts about the many uses of toilet paper rolls ( okay, I made that up) but it's also fun to just ramble on about nothing ( kinda like I am doing now). Anyway, blogging is for me...not for you all ( sorry!) it's something to do while my hubby watches boring TV shows like Journeyman. (for some reason I just can't get excited about that one). So here's to blogging for bloggings sake. Go Heather!!

Women in the Bible

I attended Time Out for Women last week where Camille Fronk Olson gave a talk on women in the scriptures. She stated that there are 170 women named in the Bible. She spoke of a few----The daughters of Zolofahead (Numbers 27 & 36), the Shunamite(2 Kings 4), Abigail (1 Samuel 25) and midwives Shifrah & Pua (Exodus). I've decided that I want to find the other 165 plus. Anyone want to join me? I especially want to find those that are obscure...although how much more obscure can you get than the daughters on Zolofahead! FYI--I am going to find them by reading and not the easy way via the internet. Should be a long, rewarding journey.

Mailbox bliss

Tonight Alex and I made a mailbox like unto the one from Blue's Clues. Alex sings the song incessantly and so being wise, I thought I would make him a mailbox of his own. It was a true mommy magic moment...one of those moments you thought would occur everyday once you became a mom. Blissfully baking bread, doing crafts, frolicking with your kids non-stop. Well, it lasted 10 minutes but it was awesome. Check out our version compared to the real thing. Not bad for a spur-of-the-moment project.

Alex's first day of preschool 9/4/07

His shirt reads "Big Idea Man".

Emma's first birthday 9/2/07

She didn't actually eat the cake but she sure had fun playing with it.

Day Two--The mama brain

Well I am on a roll...two days of blogging in a row. I now remember why I don't blog...I was up till midnight last night mindlessly blogging and surfing other blog sites. That makes for a super fun day since my Alex usually wakes between 6 and 6:30 AM!! Why he had to inherit his father's up-and-atom early morning genes I'll never know. Emma is much more civilized, like her momma, and prefers to wake at the decent hour of 8am. I spoke to my "blog-a-holic" hubby and he promised to help me make my site look spiffy ( pictures, links, lists etc). Right now it's all I can do to get some thoughts down on paper (I guess this really isn't paper is it).Here is today's thought---How do you turn off the mama brain?

I tried goign to bed at 10:40pm last night...only to have the mama brain begin churning at warp speed....will my kids ever eat vegetables, is Alex destined to bite little kids forever, how much milk do I have, clean the pantry, mop the floor, find the spider in the closet
that ran away from me yesterday, how many calories were in those mashed potatoes, did I line up a babysitter for Saturday, is my house clean enough for the YW Pres mtg on Monday, oh yeah---have you done any of the YW paperwork---Stake Standards Night is coming up...and on and on and on. Finally I just got out of bed and said to heck with sleep---and thus Blog post number one and this site were born. See what the mama brain let loose can do! How is it that my hubby can lie back in bed, take a deep breath and be asleep in 2 minutes? What does he know that I don't? Hmmmmm.

Blogging for dummies

Okay, so I've tried blogging before. I usually post about five or six funny little stories and then
forget my password, go into hibernation and swear off blogging. I have however, resolved to turn over a new leaf. This is due mostly to my book club "super cool" friends Kelly & Melanie who's recent blogs have kept me laughing for days. It's almost like watching your favorite TV show...you can't wait to see what will happen next. Maybe my little musings about life will garner the same respect someday. Stay tuned....