Me, me, me.

Please indulge me while I copy this list of "25 Random Things About Me" from my Facebook, for the sake of my kids who occasionally read our family blog, and for my parents, who are not on Facebook.


1. I attended 7 different elementary schools.

2. Matt is my first and only kiss.

3. I read between 70 and 80 books a year, and I've kept a list of them for the past eight years.

4. I changed my major four times before being brave enough to settle on the one I wanted from my first semester: Family Science. (The others were English, Linguistics, and German.)

5. I took eight years of German, still love the language, teach bits of it to my kids, and hope to vistit Germany someday.

6. Most days, I can hardly get enough of my kids...I love watching them grow, but sometimes wish they wouldn't grow up so fast. I'm so glad they're part of my life, and even hope to have a couple more if they keep turning out so darling. (Note: Today is a good day. There are plenty of days that I think I might go crazy, or that I want to hide away for a while; they are, after all, normal kids, even if they are great.)

7. I can wiggle my nose like Samantha on "Bewitched".

8. I crave stamps on my new passport. Right now the only stamp is from Iceland...Iceland, where I had only an hour layover on my way to 10 days in Denmark. No Denmark stamp, dang it. And no Sweden stamp, even though we drove over the bridge and spent a fantastic evening there. Iceland, my foot.

9. I am almost always nervous about saying the wrong thing in a conversation; and I think I usually say too much when I do start talking.

10. Jane Austen is my favorite author, but I didn't discover her until I was 23ish.

11. I eat way too many treats.

12. If I were to start a career besides mom/homemaker, I would be a librarian.

13. I truly love being Mormon. Here is goodness and truth.

14. It takes me so long to finish a home decorating project that I sometimes find my taste as changed by the time I get to the end.

15. I worked at Pizza Hut throughout high school and after my freshman year at college.

16. I miss the trees of Pennsylvania, but also love the mountain views right outside my window. Wish I could have both at the same time...do you think the neighbors would mind if I planted a forest in my yard?

17. I wish I had appreciated college more fully.

18. My only extra-curricular activity in high school was colorguard (flag & sabre--loved it). I have never played any sports, starred in any plays, sung in any school choirs, or played any instruments (except saxophone during 5th grade, but I don't count that).

19. I recently got glasses for the first time, but they tell me I need them only for driving, so it's not likely anyone besides my kids will ever see me wearing them.

20. I love Christmas music...from the first ones played on the radio before Thanksgiving to the lingering ones I play on the CD player until mid-January.

21. I cannot stand the movie "Titanic". And others, too, but that one always sticks out as one of my least favorites.

22. I always look forward to weekly dates with Matt, even if it's just watching a movie from Netflix.

23. I'm trying to understand poetry and Shakespeare, but not making much headway.

24. I was once--no, actually twice--mistaken for a boy. I will never have a pixie haircut again.

25. I ran out of things to write around #14, but pushed on because I must finish and post this thing before I analyze and agonize over my "randomness" too much.

A fuzzy-brained day.

I think it is obvious from the above photo that Nathaniel is equal parts adorable and mischievous.

He awoke me at 2am this morning (last night?) with sleepy, upset calls of "Wet, wet!" I stumbled to his room and found him naked, and, yes, very wet. His body, his bedding, his mattress: absolutely soaked. After dressing him, carrying off his sheet and blankets, and spreading a dry blanket (I wasn't undoing the crib bumper and pulling out the mattress right then), I replaced Nate and returned, still stumbling, to bed.

Alas, this was just the beginning. For the next two hours he alternately sang in bed, pounded on his bedroom door, called for milk or crackers, "rested" on my bed when I was desperate for at least a doze, and called for Daddy, who sleeps amazingly well. I don't know exactly when Nate fell asleep, but the last time I heard him was at 4am.

I awoke with a start late at 8:20am, scrambled to get the kids ready and to the bus-stop, turned on a show for Dallin, and went back to bed...for about 15 minutes. Because apparently middle-of-the-night parties don't affect Nate the way they affect me. I ignored his cheerful calls for another 20 minutes, gave up, and got up. Now, the difference, I find, between waking with newborn babies and waking with toddlers, is that newborns at least sleep during the day, thus giving mom a chance to recover; toddlers, however, run with their usual energy while mom drags around in her pajamas, looking forward to naptime.

And now it's naptime, and that monkey is playing in his crib as my own nap plan goes out the window. I'm off now to coax him one more time, with hopes that my brain will clear sometime today.

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Budding talent.

As her brothers nap, Jamie Beth sits quietly at the table and copies the words from a picture book. "This is good practice for me, so I can be an author and illustrator when I grow up," she explains. She then asks me to sign her up for a special class this summer, "one where I can read the stories to the kids at library storytime." I'm pretty sure there is no such class, but apparently there ought to be one; I'll keep my eyes open for ways to encourage this unexpected desire.

(Previously, Jamie Beth wanted to be a princess "in England, because that's where they live now.")

A little inspiration.

When I saw this picture as I flipped through the Eddie Bauer catalog, I made an instant decision: I'm taking yoga. I have never taken an exercise class, really never exercised (unless I count dancing with kids or putting the shopping cart away), and honestly, never had a desire to work out and sweat and hurt. However, I have enjoyed every dance class I've ever taken, mainly because I love the feeling of control and balance. So, maybe that's why a graceful, peaceful pose struck my fancy.

I'm writing this post partly to be accountable for my sudden burst of interest in exercise. Be sure to bug me until I follow through.

(And, by the way, when I tried this pose to show Matt what I was talking about, I flopped right over.)

Sigh...

Anyone else reluctant to pack up the Christmas decorations?

Oops

I have just committed my first leave-behind-one-of-my-kids offense.

We had just walked into our house after church yesterday when Dallin asked me, "Where's Matthew?" I closed my eyes as I suddenly realized that I had left Matthew at church.

Every Sunday, as soon as church ends, my family scatters: Jamie Beth and Dallin go with their aunt for an hour to play and have snacks. Matthew races home to pick up his bag of "regular clothes" that he prepared and left in the carport, and then races again to Papa and Nana's house. Matt stays behind to do his financial clerking. So, most Sundays, it's just me and little Nate quietly driving the two blocks home, or the three blocks to Papa and Nana's.

But yesterday was different because it was so cold. Tired Dallin just wanted to stay with me, and Matthew wanted a warm ride to his destinations. I remembered after I arrived home that he had said something like, "I'll be right out, Mom. Wait for me!" Unfortunately, those words barely made it to my brain; I just continued to bundle up the little ones, rushed them to the frigid car, and drove home. Didn't even think about stray 9-year-olds. Lucky for Matthew, he has thoughtful relatives who gather and deliver forgotten children.