forty-three years

Happy anniversary,
Grama Bama and Grandpa!

I'm sure if you were here,
Dan would treat Grama to a little of this...

and this...

and this.

There's nothing like a good pedicure
by your loving son-in-law
to make you feel special, huh?

outside

relaxing in the grass
with
Maggie the dog

and Peaches
the cat

finding some
nature
to eat

inspecting
the find

on its way
in

tasting

regretting

pondering
what to eat
next

rejoicing
over a
new find

savoring the flavor

happy to be outside

mowing

I bought this lawnmower for Danny.

A half-birthday present.
Or just because I thought it was cute.
Or because I felt like he needed the practice.
Mostly because I like to spoil him sometimes.

Look what Cate's getting for her birthday in 26 days.

So what if she can't walk yet.
She will be some time soonish.

A first birthday present.
Because I think it's cute.
Because she needs the practice.
(walking, not mowing...that'll be Danny's job)
Mostly because I love to spoil her.

All the time.

this little piggy

Do you like

Cate's new

hairdo?

I do.

today

a visit

from Grandma

a visit

to remember

the dearly departed

a visit

from a friend

Cate and Chomper

Meet our neighbor, Chomper.
He's seven months older than Cate.


I'm trying to get him to like her
so they can date in a few years.
(Well, more like at least 15 years from now.)

I told Chomper about my plans for him and my daughter.
He wasn't happy about it.

Maybe he isn't ready for that kind of commitment.
(Or maybe he really needed a nap.)

chicken dance

Cate turned eleven months old today.
To celebrate,
she got her groove on with Elmo.

She's waving at Dan in this picture. She holds up her hand with her fingers open. Then she makes a little fist.
Too cute.

two and a half

Happy

Smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-the-terrible-twos

Day

to Danny!


him: Mama, me need mife.
I need a knife.

me: Why do you need a knife, Danny?

him: Duz.
Because.

me: Because why?

him: Me nant dut dis pour Day-et and Dis.
I want to cut this for Jarrett and Kris.
(He was holding up a slice of apple.)

me: Wow! Are you going to share your apple with Jarrett and Kris? That is so nice, Danny!

him: Ummmm. I mean nope.

So much for positive reinforcement.

missions and monopoly

Our neighbor left for his mission today. He's going to the MTC in Brazil. We saw him leaving for the airport with his family. As we drove by, I rolled down the window, honked, waved and yelled "Bye, Taylor!" I guess I should have called him Elder Tuckett.

Jarrett asked, "Who's that?"

"That's Taylor," I said. "He's going on a mission today."

"Why's Taylor going on a mission?"

I told him that Taylor is going because he wants to. "He's going to teach people about Jesus."

"Oh." Then there was a long pause. "I'm going on a mission. When I go my legs will be longer than this," Jarrett said, rubbing his legs. "I'm going to New York. (That's where Uncle Dave served.) I'm going to play Monopoly. No, I'm going to play chest. (I'm going to assume he meant chess.)

Then there was an even longer pause. "That's good that he's going on a mission so he can get away from girls."

Looks like Jarrett knows a lot about missions already. Long legs, New York, playing games and no girls. When he goes, he probably will have long legs (thanks to his mother). I'm hoping he remembers that part about staying away from girls, too. As for New York and Monopoly, only time will tell.

Then he moved on to pointing out all the massages on the road ahead of us. I'm going to assume he meant mirages. Maybe he'll be called to serve in France. He seems to know a few words already.

my vacuum

Meet the cutest vacuum cleaner I've ever had.
She crawls all over the house, picking up tiny pieces of stuff and putting them in her mouth.

I'm all for it.
Just one less chore for me.

Just call her Baby Hoover.

busy day

We went to the zoo on Saturday. Danny walked around holding his map. He was more than thrilled to be out of the stroller.

I rode the carousel with him.

Cate chilled in the stroller. She knows how to put her feet up and relax. That is not something she learned from me.

After the zoo, we watched Kris perform his amazing skills at his gymnastics meet.

Then we took a trip to Lowe's. The kids and I checked all the kitchen faucets to see if water would come out.
It didn't.

Later we attended a 50th wedding anniversary open house for a couple who used to live in our ward. They were Grandma Helen's home teachers.

Oh, and before the zoo, Dan took Cate to the doctor because I thought she might have an ear infection again. She does.

A busy day indeed.

church

Church with Danny has been somewhat of a struggle for me lately. By "struggle" I mean that it's no fun at all and I dread Sunday. By "lately" I mean the past two and a half years. Dan has a proposal for a two hour church block. I think Danny would be totally on board for that.

I am pleased to report that he made it through the first hour and ten minutes of church without leaving the room once! That hasn't happened since Rusty's baby blessing in March. Before that, I have no idea when the last time was. Don't judge. I'm doing my best. I'm trying to keep church somewhat reverent for everyone else.

Today he let me read books to him and even color a little. He has a spiral notebook and some pens to scribble with. Usually the notebook just stays open to whatever page he was last coloring on. Today he closed the notebook and was startled to see what was on the cover.

He looked at it and said (quite loudly, of course),

"Oh, my goodness! That is Kris!"
(It obviously didn't come out of his mouth sounding like that. I translated for you.)

It's a Spider Man notebook.

And just to top it all off, during the special musical number by the choir, Danny sang "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

You guessed it.
Quite loudly.

Someone needs to teach that boy how to whisper.

(I realize that the monkey costume has nothing to do with church. He's just so stinkin' cute. And it goes with the picture at the top that also has nothing to do with church. But the picture at the top shows Spider Man...who also has nothing to do with church.)

mayday

Yes, I realize that May Day has come and gone.

I had planned to take some cute pictures of my kiddos dressed in their springish outfits in an attempt partially quench Grama Bama's insatiable thirst for pictures of her favorite grandkids.

Maybe write a little something about flowers blooming and birds singing. Possibly reminisce about the May Day celebration at my old elementary school. Then I remembered that I wasn't chosen to be one of the May pole dancers and was totally devastated by the whole ordeal. You only get one chance. Third grade. That's it. I was left standing with the other rejects, holding a stupid basket of flowers instead. Should third graders really participate in an ancient fertility ritual?

Anyway...

My plans for a May Day message about spring and happiness (not counting the May Day Fiasco of 1982) took a detour.

You know, more like when the pilot in the movies says, "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!" because his plane is going to crash into the water. Kind of like that. Severe distress.

Cate had a doctor's appointment to get a shot for a lingering ear infection. Because of that darned ear infection, she decided to skip her morning nap and just fuss and cry instead.

In typical doctor's office fashion, the only appointment we could have was smack dab in the middle of afternoon nap time.

I came home and took some cute pictures anyway. I'm not sure if Danny was trying to hold her...

wrestle her...

or hug her.

It's two weeks later and I can't for the life of me remember why it was such a distressing day. I just know that it was. It was probably just all the regular annoying things that happen, but magnified because of an extremely unhappy baby.

I was screaming mayday all day.
(not out loud, that would scare the baby)

When both kids were finally asleep for the night, I sent Dan out for the only medicine that would make me feel better. Ben and Jerry's. He got the wrong flavor. I ate the whole thing anyway.

Thanks, Dan.

Thanks for helping me put the
May Day Fiasco of 2009 behind me.
(and add a few pounds to my behind in the process)

p.s. In case you're wondering what the right flavor is,
New York Super Fudge Chunk.