One Stormy Evening....

It was Monday night. The snow was falling and it was beautiful. George and I were enjoying a quiet evening together and then we decided, "Hey, why are we inside with all this great packing snow falling??" So, we went outside at midnight and built a huge snow dude! Isn't this what marriage is all about:) So fun! So here are some pics of the snow and our "snow dude". Oh, and by the way, he's environmentally friendly with recycling items (pulled out of our bin late that night) for buttons, eyes and his baseball cap. Heehee. Good times!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Just a quick blog (before American Idol starts...I have 4 minutes:) about funny things kids say. We have discovered a bit of an ant problem at our house and today, Levi looks down at the floor and says, "Well, I think that the ants will just carry all of the food crumbs away and our house will be much cleaner!" I do believe this will be my new cleaning philosophy:)

The second one occurred yesterday during FHE. Natalie was in charge of the lesson and I was whispering into her ear the story of Samuel being called by the Lord. I whispered, " Eli told Samuel to go back to bed and listen to the Lord talking to him." Natalie says, " And the Lord said, GO BACK TO BED!!!"

The third was the best and I was giggling so hard that I was crying and had to leave the room twice. This was FHE 2 weeks ago and Levi was giving the lesson and George whispered, "Joseph's new sepulchre" and Levi said "Joseph's son is a booger." As I type this, I am laughing so hard that I am crying. Maybe it's the pregnancy:)

If You Break It, Can We Buy a Real One?

George here. So, owning my own stuff has awoken a handyman inside me, that was apparently sleeping while I was between the ages of say, 0-21. Now, if there is something in our house that is malfunctioning, it just doesn't get much sympathy from me. Oh, these devices, large and small, silently offer up all kinds of excuses for why I shouldn't just get out my screwdriver and tear them apart:

• But I still perform several useful functions! What if you break me?
  
• Aren't you afraid of voiding the warranty?
• You clearly don't have the proper tools to take me apart.
• Can't you read the various warning labels on me? Do phrases like "not to be serviced by consumer", "Warning: potential for electric shock", and "TOXIC GASES INSIDE - DO NOT OPEN!" mean nothing to you?

Ok, I'm not actually insane, but there is a certain satisfaction to be had from at least trying to fix something that you have no understanding initially of how it works. This Saturday's project was our digital piano. It is a really nice one, actually, that my parents found for us at a garage sale a few years back. The problem is that for the last couple years, a few notes have been getting harder and harder to play. And not some obscure key down in the Russian bass registers, the main culprit here is actually middle C. So, I decided to open it up. I did find some interesting things inside: paper clips, game pieces, a quarter, what looks like an old coffee stain, and a dead cockroach. None of these provided much of a reason for the particular keys that were not working, so I kept taking it apart.

The guts of the piano after removing some screws on the bottom.

The keyboard part, completely disassembled.

The circuit board that sits beneath the keys. Each of those circles is a rubber cylinder that a key makes contact with.

The middle C key. The silver part there is my hoped-for-solution. That's where the key makes contact with a rubber cylinder on the circuit board. I found a piece of plastic to add some height to it, and attached it with duct tape.

The keyboard part with just middle C reattached.

All the keys back on. Middle C works! And so does the other key that was giving me problems (F#4) also worked using the same fix.

Caution: Gross Pregnancy Info Ahead

I think I lost part of my mucus plug tonight! That means that the baby WILL eventually come out right? Of course, I went right to my birthing books and magazines and it said it could be a couple of days...or quite a few weeks. Is that really all that helpful to know? It better happen in a few weeks...I am at 35 weeks now:) I had a few painful contractions today that got me excited. Though, I am not even full term yet, right? So I shouldn't be too excited. I just need something to get excited about today, so the mucus plug is it! And for those of you that are curious...I am doing the natural thing. Geo will be right by my side and I think that together, it can happen. Bring it on!!

Au naturale...

I am 6 weeks away from my due date. I said to George, not too long ago, "Honey, I really want to go all natural with this one." He looked VERY surprised and said something like, " But that last one was really nice, right? With the planned induction and the epidural?" And I am sure he was thinking, "The one I got to sleep through a lot of?" Well, I was induced for reasons that don't apply to this baby, so I really want to go natural. I have done it one time out of 3 and am scared to death. Plus, the epidural is given between the L4 and L5 vertebrae and that's where my herniated disk was this past summer. I would like to avoid that again at ALL COSTS! I know I could do it if this birth is just like Natalie's. That was fabulous! But I am older, fatter, and much more "broken" than I was then. 4 pregnancies in 5 years will do that to you!

So I guess what I want to know is what worked for any of you? Did you have natural births and how did you do it? I know a few of your stories ( because I got to be the doula:) but does anybody else have one? Can you do it with just your hubby as your coach? George is a great coach I must add:)

Please, send me your birth stories! I want to hear them all!

Sign Language Class

I am the newly called "deaf coordinator" in our ward. This is very exciting for me and I am really hoping that this improves my skills, since I don't have that many:) I couldn't find anyone to teach the class, so it fell on my shoulders and I had my first class planned for tonight. But now it's snowed out! Bummer! And due to new carpet, the church will be closed next week so we won't have our first class until 2 weeks from today. And I am really hoping there is a baby coming real soon after that so that will mean more canceled classes. I was so nervous at the beginning, but now I am just excited and ready to go. I hope the weather cooperates from now on! I am really tired of winter...but aren't we all?

Random Pics and Indoor Activites

Here's some random pictures from trying to find things to do inside. Cannot WAIT for spring to be here...for a few different reasons:) First, we played "Let's See How Static-y Natalie's Hair Can Get" A fun game that works best in the winter time.




Second was kind of like Barrel-O-Monkeys but with hangers. Just happened to stumble upon this while doing laundry. It was a long activity...I will be doing it again soon!





Third , we had hat day when Emily was over...Sam, of course, wouldn't keep his on long enough for a picture.

I love blogging! It reminds me of all the good times with my kids...and this carries me through when it's rough!

You know what I love??

Saturdays!!! George and the kids have been outside for 1.5 hours now and it's been great! I don't know how people raise children alone. Here's some pics of them playing in the snow. Hee, hee! Can you see the story line?


The kids found their very own frozen pond in ours and our neighbor's backyards and they ice-skated on it today. Cute! Sam napped the whole time they were out...it was soo peaceful. Ahhh....