A Tidbit.

I haven’t written for a while so I thought I would post a little nutshell of my life as of now.

1) Our trip to Denton was GREAT!!! We basically spent the five days going to malls and eating at nice restaurants (neither of which exist in Carlsbad). There’s nothing better than food, family, and shopping!

2) I am so sick of my “baby weight”, I’ve started doing the three mile walk around the river and I am feeling great! Barry and I have also renewed our “Sweets ONLY on Fridays” goal, and I am working on a better diet. I want to (at least) lose ten pounds before we start working on the community musical. Wish me luck!

3) Barry and I just recently discovered that we will probably have to stay in Carlsbad a year longer than expected. We blame the school for this mishap and we are a little frustrated, but life goes on (And we are still LOVIN life!)

4) If you looked up “pathetic” in the dictionary, mine and Barry’s name would probably be found. We have a serious addiction to “Smallville”, a T.V. show I promised myself I would never watch because it looked so stupid! Some friends of ours own the entire series and TRICKED me into watching it and now we can’t STOP! We can watch an entire season in like two weeks! SHEESH! We are now halfway through the fourth season and going strong! Talk about needing to get out more!

4) Grayson has learned the last three things he needed to know in order to destroy our apartment. He can now open cabinets, unravel the toilet paper, and today he turned on our television… I’ll never be able to sit down again!

Where are we going to put it?!?!

Lately, I’ve been getting the strongest feeling that Barry and I needed to start a food storage. I’m talking a “burning in the bosom” kind of impression. We found a great sale at Albertson’s last week and bought tons of soups and chili, but didn’t know where to go from there. A few days ago, a friend of mine sent me an e-mail with a bunch of warnings from LDS leaders about the need for a food storage. I started to get a little worried. So yesterday, I went to a lady in our ward’s house, because she is the GURU of food storage, and asked for advice and tips on where to start. Last night, Barry and I were talking about my impressions, so in his nightly prayer he asked for counsel on following my feelings.

This afternoon my mom invited me to go to a going away luncheon for a friend of hers. I didn’t really want to but did… for the food. Halfway through the meal, the woman who is moving said, “I have tons of wheat that I don’t want to take with me to Albuquerque. Does anyone want it?” No one said anything so I piped in, “I Do!!!” So we stopped by her house tonight, and she gave us six 25 lb. buckets of wheat, two 25 lb. buckets of sugar, and three 25 lb. buckets of beans!!!

I’m going to assume that this was the Lord’s answer to our prayer!

WEIRD.

My Mom bought the WEIRDEST books I have ever seen for Grayson. They have holes, so you can put youself IN the story... literally. Well, they made for a good time!

There is Hope.

Lately, the same topic has come up in nearly every conversation I have had with friends. We are scared to raise our children in such a dark world. It seems that kids are just getting worse and worse and we were all thinking of ways to prevent our kids from immorality. In one conversation, I said that I didn't date anyone until I was 18. But this wasn't my choice... I was a nerd! If I could have dated earlier, I would have. So we decided that maybe this is the key. Maybe we should raise nerds. Take Grayson for instance. I could dress him in tight, high-water jeans, plaid button-up shirts with a sweater vest, glasses with tape, part his hair down the middle and teach him to be completely awkward. Then, after his mission, we'll sit him down and explain what we did and why, then go on a huge shopping spree. Turn him into El Suave, and then he can meet a beautiful girl and get married. Isn't that a great plan! It is completely flawless!

On a side-note, I've been reading my chapter for psychology today, it's entitled: "Intelligence". I read that 75% of mentally retarded children are this way because of social- cultural deprivation. Meaning, it's the parents fault. "Almost all persons with mild retardation come from families (who) fail to provide them with adequate intellectual stimulation, such as discussing current events with them, encouraging them to read, helping them with homework, and taking them on trips to the zoo, museums, and other educational settings. They are also more likely to attend inferior schools, suffer from malnutrition, and lack adequate medical care- all of which can impair intellectual growth." 75%!!!! I couldn't believe it! All this week, I've been talking about how scared I am to raise my children in this world, but this chapter made me realize why I am raising my kids in this world. Look what my husband and I can offer! Look what my friends can offer their children! We don't have to be geniuses, rich, own big houses, or be perfect to be what our kids need. They just need our love (and some intellectual stimulation) and they'll be better off than those 75%. The world is a SCARY place, but that doesn't mean our kids will contribute to it. But just to be safe... I'm still gonna raise some nerds.

He really does listen!

I've been telling Barry for months that I think it would be fun for us to take up tennis. I loved playing it with friends in High School, and I would love to play it again. This morning, I walked out to my car to find two brand new tennis raquets and a bag of tennis balls displayed on my passenger seat with a little love note. Sigh... I'm so lucky.

Satan's cookies

Do you know what's evil? Girl Scouts. Think about it! You can usually look at a person and judge whether or not they are of shady character. This is not so with girl scouts. They are cleverly disguised as delicate little children, trying to make a difference in their community. You'd expect these endearingly green-uniformed adolescents with their sweet little cookies to be crowned with halos of light, but this is just a facade. This weekend, our town was engulfed with boxes of girl scout cookies. There was a booth on every corner with little girls standing close by tempting the innocent passersby to partake of their forbidden fruits. Naively, Barry and I made a quick stop to Walmart yesterday for the sole purpose of buying one item. After purchasing the item, we left the store and entered dark territory. Before we knew it, we found ourselves sucked into their dark world and coveting the "thin mint". We asked for one package, but the bright cardboard boxes with their alluring visuals of baked goods called to us. Instead of the one box we wanted, we walked away with five! FIVE BOXES OF COOKIES! Any organization that is that crafty... is of the devil. Beware of the girl scout.

Chubby Bunny

Yesterday, Barry and I journeyed to Roswell to get four wisdom teeth removed. I don't remember much after that... I was a "little" loopy. Apparently though, I asked to take my teeth home in a cup (Gross!) and I asked for a chocolate marshmellow shake (Yum!). Fortunately, my mom watched Grayson for us all of yesterday and today. I woke up this morning feeling a little, I don't know... Bulge-y? When I stood in front of the mirror I was stunned... and I thought I was swollen yesterday. I look like I'm about to go into anaphylactic shock from a bee sting! I started to put on makeup... but seriously, there's no hiding my sudden ten pounds of face!!! So anyway, Barry comes home for lunch this afternoon, kisses me on my every actresses' dream-sized non-collagen gigantic lips, and tells me that I'm still beautiful. Now that my friends... is love.

I bid you adieu.

Goodbye cruel... teeth. I received a phone call from a highly booked dental surgeon today. They called to say that someone had cancelled their appointment and was wondering if I could make the hour and a half drive to Roswell tomorrow for a 9:15 am appointment! Sheesh-Early morning! I am getting my wisdom teeth out that have been KILLING me for months and I am soooo SCARED!!!!Plus this will be the longest I have ever been away from my son... Pray for me! If I don't come out of this alive... know that I love you :)

The Law of Gravity

Ever since he was a newborn, Grayson has been hitting developmental milestones very quickly. I have been fine letting him advance at his own pace but the other day, Grayson woke up from a nap and when I entered the room I found him holding onto his crib. He was on his knees and I was so shocked! He just learned how to crawl and all of the sudden he thinks that gives him an excuse to try something new! I’m starting to realize that he is growing TOO fast! Last night, as Barry and I were getting ready for bed, Barry said “tomorrow I should lower the crib”. I agreed with him and we crawled into bed, serenaded by our crying himself to sleep baby. A few minutes later, we heard a loud THUMP, followed by silence. This uncomfortable stillness was broken by a harrowing wail. Barry rushed to Grayson’s bedroom and gasped at the doorway. It scared me to death to hear that kind of noise come from my husband, I just knew something was wrong. I heard him rush to Grayson and pick up our son from the floor. Apparently, Grayson knows more than how to get up on his knees. The only explanation was that he could stand! Barry carried him to our bedroom and checked his body to see if anything was broken or bruised. Finally, Grayson stopped crying and went on exploring our room. Barry and I just looked at each other and laughed at our silly little adventurer. We scooped him in our arms and knelt down together and gave a prayer of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for watching over our family.

After church today, we had just finished telling my parents the past evening’s tale, when lo and behold we turn to see Grayson pull himself to standing. Our jaws dropped. He just popped up with no effort! For the rest of the day, Gray practiced this new feat a million times and each time I feel more and more apprehensive. If I blink one more time Grayson will be moved out, married, and have kids of his own!