Moo!

It's a pretty common sight here in Kansas to see an old barn in the middle of new construction. Take this barn in Olathe next to I-35 for instance. This is what it looked like last august. (If you look closely, you can see a hawk on the tip of the roof.)

There were, until a year or two ago, cows grazing here. Every time we would drive by with our toddlers they would yell, "Mommy! Cows!! Mooooooo!!" and then I would say, "Moooo!!" and everyone was very happy. Now they are building freeway exits and bridges.

This is what the barn looks like now.

My guess is that eventually, it will be gone all together. Kind of makes me sad.

Music History

This morning I played music while the kids were getting ready for school. But let's back up a bit...

For Christmas this year, my parents got me the most wonderful gift. I had no idea what it could possibly be, so when I opened it and realize what it was, I shrieked! It was wonderful! It was fantastic! It was the most glorious site I had seen in many, many days! It was a record player.

Oh how I love my new record player, I could go on and on and on, but that is not what this post is really about. This post is about my parents falling in love and how I have in my possession a little piece of that.

The music I played this morning was a Carpenter's record.

So as I flipped the record over and Superstar began to play, I told my daughter about her grandma and grandpa when they were students at BYU. I told her how my Mom told me, that when they would go out on dates, whatever they did, they always seemed to end up at her apartment, listening to these records. Their song is We've Only Just Begun, I've known all the words for as long as I can remember.

So I don't know, it just hit me this morning how incredibly romantic this story is. I'm so happy to have these records. It's like owning a piece of history. It's all part of the reason I am here.

And I think that is fantastic.

Public Speaking

So, remember when you were a kid in Primary (basically, Sunday school for ages 3-12), and every now and then it would be your turn to give a talk? Here, let me tell you about one of my experiences giving a talk, an experience that I remember particularly well.

Well, I don't know how old was, but there I was, in the old Sandy Hills Ward Primary. A mysterious Primary leader (I say mysterious cause I can't remember who it was.) signals me that it is now, right then, my turn to stand at the microphone. So I did, I took my trusted copy of 100 Talks for Children (given to me on the day I was baptized by old Brother Adams, and the older Brother Hart), and I went and stood at the microphone.

It was my moment!

(Earlier, I had stood on the fireplace at home and practiced my talk so when this moment came, I would be ready.)

So there I was, standing, like I said, at the microphone. I looked out into the faces of my friends and neighbors, even my older sister and you know what happened?

I busted out laughing. Laughing so hard that I couldn't control it. AT ALL.

I still remember the look on my sister's face, I had embarrassed her. A LOT.

But still, I kept laughing. The mysterious leader came up to help, but still I was laughing. Surely there were a few, "okay, okay...."'s in there, but laughing was the only significant thing I was able to accomplish at the microphone that Sunday morning.

Now, suddenly, I have a daughter and now she goes to Primary! Can you believe it? Some say she is just like me, but I say she is much better.

Case in point: Last Sunday, my daughter gave her first talk in Primary.

So as you can imagine from the story I just told you, going in, I was feeling some apprehension for her. How would she handle this situation? Would she shine or would she be a puddle of nervous giggles like me?

I did not know.

But she did it! She was fantastic, she stood up at the right time, she spoke every word clearly and loud enough for the people in the back to hear her.

See?

She is totally better than I am.

More Exciting than Christmas

The anticipation is over, the day has arrived!!

The lilacs are blooming!!

My husband came bustin through the front door with these beauties.

The smell is fantastic. FANTASTIC.

My most favorite smell in the whole world.

Sadly, I don't have my own bush. My husband pulls over on the side of a dirt road and pulls them off a row of gigantic lilacs bushes that were abandoned when an old farm house was torn down a few years back. He will bring me two or three more bunches (atleast!) before they are done blooming. Soon he will bring me peonies from an old cemetery.

I really think it's better than Christmas.

We're Not Morning People

(well, he is...I'm not.)

Scene: We had just woken up and turned off all the fans which left our room QUIET. Then a rumbling sounds starts up.

Conversation:

Me: What is that? Is it a train?

Him: Uh, I don't think so.

Me:It sounds close. It sounds too consistant to be a train.

Him: It sounds like someones out there with a grater or something.

Me: Oh.  Is there one of those street vacuum things out there?

Him: No.

(we sit in silence for a minute, well silent except for the rumbling sounds.)

Me: Is it the heater?

Him: oh. hee, hee, YES!!

So apparently the weather is nice for a few days and we forget what our heater sounds like. We then started to make fun of ourselves for the next few minutes.

Me: Sounds like one of them there farmin' graters. Hep, hep!

Him: Ho, ho, but it sounds like a vacuum thingy out there!

Me: Well, whatever it is, it sounds close. And consistent. Very consistent.

Him: And close!

Lets Blow This Taco Stand

What up, March?

Let us list....

1. My little brother and his wife had their first baby on Thursday. I am so excited for him. My Mom is in Boise to help with the baby, and she is totally awesome help after you have a baby, let me tell you.
2. Spring Break wasn't that great, it wasn't horrible either, I guess. I read three books, folded 12 loads of laundry, ran the dishwasher nine times, and I also cooked and cooked, and then cooked some more. I had made plans to go tour the Harley Davidson factory, but true to form, the person I made plans with cancelled at the last minute. Why do they have Spring Break so early here in Kansas anyway?
3. Anyone interested in going to see Yann Martel up in KC in May with me? Send me a text, (or an email, if you must) we'll chat.
4. I caught a quick workout with Heather at jazzercise at 8 am. It is now 11:45 am and my calves are still burning. Yowza!!
5. I got a signed copy of the UK edition of Sea Glass from Maria V. Snyder. It came in the mail last week. I won a little contest on facebook awhile back because I posted that cute little Glass Trilogy widget on my sidebar. Then she mentioned my name (along with the other winners) in her newsletter. It was all terribly exciting for me. (I don't get out much.)
6. You know, I don't like going to church. What's that? You are SHOCKED to hear that? Shut up, you are not. But we have been going anyway, EVERY week. I don't think any of us like it. It's really hard, but man do we love it when they cancel cause of the weather, like last Sunday. God bless the Bishopric.
   

He's Gonna Turn Into a Pancake

I made a tuna noodle casserole for dinner last night. Well, not tuna, canned turkey chunks. Very kid friendly, right? Right? Ahem....

Conversation between the husband and the little boy, at the dinner table:


Husband: Come on, eat your dinner.


Boy: No!!! I want pancakes.


Husband: Pancakes? No, this is dinner, eat this. (He scoops a little bite of casserole on the boy's fork and holds it up to the boy's mouth.)


Boy: (covers his mouth with both hands and shakes his head no, frantically.)


Husband: (gently moves the boys hands and puts the bite in the boy's mouth.) There! See? Not so bad, right?


Boy: (with mouth full of food.) Noooooooooooo!!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!! (chews his food. Swallows) ewwww.......that's disgusting!



So then my husband made him take another bite and the boy ran away from the table as soon as it was in his mouth. With impressive defiance, he sat at the computer and started playing a game on Disney.com. Look at those chipmunk cheeks full of food!

So then my husband went and did some weird thing that husbands do or something, but then he was back a few minutes later. The boy is whining about pancakes again so my husband went over to him, picked him up, tucked him in like a football and then brought him over to me and set him on my lap.


Husband: Here you go wittle baby boy, here's your Mommy.


Boy: (whimper)


Husband: Hey, you can't eat nothing but pancakes your whole life, you will turn into a pancake, you know that?


Boy: (nodding his head in confirmation) uh-huh.


Husband: You do? You want to be a pancake?


Boy: uh-huhhhhh.


I watched these exchanges with a big grin on my face, thinking how adorable my little boy is, but also wondering if I gave this much trouble about eating dinner to my parents. (I'm pretty sure I would never eat the canned peas. Okay I'm pretty sure I never ate ANY kind of pea.)

So then, I waited till the husband went out into the garage and I......



made that boy (who wants to be a pancake) some pancakes!!