Still under construction OR Lotsa changes

If any of you have been reading my blog this evening, you've probably seen some very strange formats on here. My dear BIL is changing things up a bit, and the blog has been a bit interesting as a result. I have full faith that it will look fabulous when he's done with it. Goodness, you all should have seen it after he worked on it last night, before I accidentally screwed it up. It was awesome! I obviously have a ways to go before HTML makes much sense to me.

Thanks, DJ. You rock!

So, what is it?

Making dinner?

Well, yes.

Letting off some frustration at kiddos? Husband? Life?

No.

Extreme trouble with a can-opener leading to having to use a bottle opener to pry the tops off the cans?

That's more like it.

I had a fantastic can-opener from Pampered Chef for several years. Earlier this year it died, so I bought another one. Said can-opener was working fine until I used it to open a food storage can of wheat.

It DESTROYED my can-opener!

Mom and Dad happened to visit from Utah around that time, and Dad heard me cussing (under my breath, of course) the can-opener as I struggled to make dinner. He very kindly bought me another one the next time he went to the store. This third one was much nicer, and it worked great.

That is, until it came in contact with another blasted food storage can. I thought this better one could handle it. No such luck. Now this one is as awful as the first and second ones. Maybe worse! Arrgghh!

So now I'm resorting to prying the tops off cans instead of opening them like a civilized person. I think it's time to buy a new can-opener, but this time I will not allow anyone to use it to open up the steel-plated, rock-hard food storage cans. Maybe I'll get a Jaws of Life for those.

*rolling my eyes*

Baby Shower

My ward gave me a baby shower last night. It was so fun to get together with some of the wonderful ladies that I've grown to love in the short time we've been here, and spend the evening talking and eating yummy food and having a delightful time. The gifts they gave me were so appeciated (6-9 month clothes, a car seat cover for the winter, yummy lotion, etc.)

The group gift was a crib. Want to see it? Here it is.

I chose this one because after 3 boys, our last crib had bitten the dust big-time. Besides, it was 20-25 years old when we got it (being poor college students at the time, we weren't too picky), and needed to be replaced. In some places it was held together with string! Tightly tied, of course. :)

I didn't want to buy a regular crib for our last baby, so that's why I chose a convertible crib that will convert into a toddler bed and then a full-size bed. I may not have to buy another bed for Rachel for years! This will definitely beat having her in a portacrib for the next 3 years.

I can't wait to get it. Unfortunately, Target.com didn't mail it out until Monday even though it was ordered last Tuesday. I'll go pick it up in a few days, and I'm bursting with excitement to see it. Now I just need to dig deeply into our storage unit to find the bedding set I made when Josh was on the way. It has suns, moons, and stars all over it, and I went all out when I made it. Even though the main colors are blue and yellow, I chose a theme that would work with boys or girls. Even though it's gone through 3 babies, it's still in impeccable condition because as soon as the kids could stand up, I pulled the bumpers out so they wouldn't stand on them and crush them. My mom helped me with the dust ruffle, and it's a work of art with lots of piping and plenty of ruffle. I can't wait to dig it out and put it to use again.

The reason all this wasn't ready when Rachel got here was because we hadn't originally planned on having a crib for her. We'd planned on using the portacrib, but we quickly realized that wasn't going to work long-term. When the ladies giving me the shower asked what I needed, I decided a crib was the most necessary thing. When I packed things up at the old house, I packed the bedding very thoroughly, never expecting to use it again. Now I'm delighted that I can, IF I can dig in deep enough to get it. :)

5 weeks old

I can't believe Rachel is already 5 weeks old. Where did the time go? She has gotten so big and beautiful.


I couldn't resist a shot of her toes. They match mine. :)

Yes, I'll admit it. I AM a nerd!

Not that being a nerd is bad, but I do fit the description, even as a 30 year old. :)

I started reading a book yesterday called "A Tour of the Calculus." I know it sounds like the most boring book known to man, but actually it is quite interesting. The author does a masterful job of taking a subject that I developed a mental block to in college, and making it accessible for me. Not only that, I'm having a good time doing it.

I told Jon about all this last night, and he said, "Oh great, I married a nerd." My response was, "Of course, didn't you already know that?" :) Unabashed, as always.

Anyway, I am quite proud of myself, too. At one point, the author was explaining a proof. It required some algebra, and I wasn't understanding his reasoning as I read it so I pulled out some paper and a pencil, and went to work proving it to myself. I got stuck when I got to this:

2-c + (2-c)c/2 + c²/16 = 2/(7/16)c².

I didn't see how to make this work, at least at first. I know this doesn't make a whole lot of sense on a computer, especially since I can't type it how I would write it, but the part that I'm proud of myself about is that even though it took a bit of mental digging to figure out how to make this work, I did it! What fun!

Under Construction

As you can see, this blog is getting a face-lift. Unfortunately, since I have no idea what I'm doing and my sister is helping me from Utah, it's taking longer than if we were in the same room. But I'm not complaining since she knows what she's doing, and I don't!

Thanks, Ash. :)

Stay tuned for fabulous changes.

Matt's new friend

A new family moved in across the breezeway from us this weekend. They'll only be there for a month or two until their regular apartment is remodeled, and for that we are sad. You see, they have a little boy just Matt's age, and those two have taken to each other like flies to honey. His name is Dominic, and he is absolutely delightful. Unlike when two little girls (aged 3 and 4 1/2) lived next door, I haven't heard a single fight since Dominic, Matt, and Ben have been playing together. It is so wonderful.

Matt and Ben took several buckets of their toys outside this afternoon, and the three of them set up a huge play area in the breezeway. I looked outside to check on them, and saw this.

I really like this little boy, and I hope he sticks around for a while. I'm not sure about the parents as I've only met them once, and they didn't seem very friendly, but I guess that could be chalked up to the stress of moving.

I do have to share one little story. On Saturday, I let Dominic and Matt go and play. I heard Matt telling Dominic a story, to which Dominic responded with "Oh my G**." Matt immediately piped up and said, "Don't say that." He then encouraged Dominic not to take the Lord's name in vain. Then, while we were putting on kick stands this afternoon, Dominic said it again, and immediately he, Matt, and Ben got "Oops, I/he shouldn't have said that" looks on their faces. It was so cute. I'm proud of Matt for being a good example to his friend.

Mastering a new skill

I have a fun story to share with you. One of the training wheels fell off Matt's bike last week. (Blame the mechanic who did such a masterful job of bolting it on. Only... that mechanic would be me! Sheesh.) This morning he asked me to take the other one off, too. I did, and he climbed on to see if he could ride his newly two-wheeled bike. To his utter surprise and amazement, he could! It was so funny, too, because he rode about 20 feet, and then looked back at me with an expression of complete, delighted shock on his face. I wish I'd had my camera to take a picture of it. :) From that point, he was off!

Well, then Josh decided he wanted his training wheels off, too. So, I took them off, and he, too, went riding off like an old pro. I cheered and whooped and hollered for a few minutes, and then ran in to get my camera to take a picture of the auspicious occasion. (Why did I not learn my lesson after Matt's face? Who knows!) Anyway, in the literally 30 seconds it took me to run in and run back out, Josh decided he wanted the training wheels back on. You see, Josh likes to line things up, especially all the bikes. It is a daily sight to see him out on the back porch carefully lining up all the bikes so the wheels are perfectly straight. With the training wheels off, his bike no longer stood up, and he DID NOT like that. Enter huge fuss.

In a burst of inspiration, I got the idea to walk over to Wal-Mart, and buy kick stands for the bikes. I grabbed Rachel and locked up the apartment, and we headed out. Josh and Matt rode their bikes, totally pros by this time (a whole 15 minutes after getting their training wheels off - I was so proud of them!), and Ben and I trotted behind them trying to keep up.

We got to Wal-Mart, and Josh asked the first employee we saw where the kick stands were. He, thoroughly uninformed as he was, told us they didn't sell them individually. We went to the bike section anyway to take a look, and lo and behold, there were the kick stands! Josh has a red bike, but he chose a purple stand - purple being his favorite color. Matt's bike is blue, and he chose a more conventional blue one for his. We looked for a bike for Ben, too, but they didn't have any. We'll have to keep looking, though, so he has a chance of keeping up with his brothers. Little red tricycles just don't cut it anymore. :)

We just put the kick stands on, and they are a hit! Josh can stand his bike up now, and Matt feels like a grown-up with the new addition. I've even decided to bend my own rules, and am letting them, and their new friend whom I will post about soon, play in the front of the apartments riding their bikes up and down. Ben is valiantly trying to keep up on his little red tricycle.

I'm so proud of my boys!

Dedicated to Judit

I found a post talking about our sojourn in Saudi Arabia when I was a teen-ager. It was truly an interesting time in my life.

If you have more questions, let me know and maybe I'll dedicate an entire post to the experience.

Calling all curious cats

I just ran across a really cool website yesterday, and spent a few minutes exploring it tonight. It's www.ipl.org. Way cool! It's the Internet Public Library, and it has a wealth of information about many, many subjects. I just learned some of the history behind the Magna Carta, and tomorrow when I have more time, I'll go read some more. So interesting!

This would be really great for homeschooling or helping with homework or just satisfying curiosity.

Thought you'd like to know...