Vs.

We have learned from sad experience that it's not necessarily cheaper to potty train your children. Diapers vs. LOADS of Laundry. Apartment living- lots of quarters- you do the math.

In A Cage

After Music Makers the other day, all of the hyper kids were playing on the gate of the parking lot. We thought about just closing the door and leaving them there (actually, maybe it was just me that thought this) but then decided that they were too cute to leave.

Photo by my friend Anna, talented artist, wonderful mom, and member of the soon to have boys club.

Awestruck

Yesterday at our music class, my friend's daughter- who just turned one and has been crawling for a few weeks- got on her feet like she was going to stand up. My friend just fell on the ground, awestruck by what her baby had accomplished. I've seen her do this before, and I like that she gets all swoony over what her kids do. I'm not sure what the whole range of emotions are that make her fall over- excitement, wonder, fear, pride, love... but I like the she has them, even for this, her second child. And it gives me hope that I will feel the same for my "second" that I feel for my "firsts". Children are pretty amazing.

Knitting Club

We've started having a knitting/sewing club at my house every other month. Here is a picture of my friend Natalie knitting. How serene!

Ponies and Engines

The girls love to play "Ponies and Engines". The engines go around the tracks and bring food to the grateful ponies. Paul and I play the role of the grateful ponies. The other day the girls had their ponies and engines lined up by color, which I thought was pretty clever.

Look What I Made For Valentine's Day!

Aren't I fancy?

Torn

We visited my family in Hemet yesterday. As I was driving home on my favorite street in Hemet (Stetson) from dropping off my brother at early morning seminary, I realized that there are a lot of things that I missed about that place. The sun rising over the snow covered mountains creating streaks of pink in the cloudy sky created a perfect backdrop for the green hills below and the orange trees covered in oranges that surrounded me. Hemet isn't always this lovely, but after living city life for quite some time, I realize that I miss quiet, empty spaces, mountains, and family.

Although if I moved from here I sure would miss the beach.

Criminal Mastermind

Most of us can think of times there was something that we knew we shouldn’t do, but we went ahead and did it anyway. In Grace’s case, that has happened twice in the past few days—once when she ate the forbidden Starburst on Mommy’s sewing table, and once when she began unwrapping a chocolate that she had been given to hold, but not to eat. As one might expect in these situations, she snuck off to the upstairs so as to engage in this misbehavior under the cloak of secrecy.

However, for some reason in both cases she also felt compelled to yell, “DON’T SEE ME! DON’T SEE ME!” while in the midst of her misdeed, presumably as some sort of a warning to help her avoid getting into trouble. Unfortunately, of course, this was exactly the tip-off her parents needed to realize that something was amiss. Which makes me think that whatever else the future holds, we can take comfort knowing that it appears that Grace is not on the trajectory of the criminal mastermind.

Dressy

The girls are really into wearing dresses lately. They especially love wearing long dresses. The one in the top picture on the right was made for me by my grandma. The skirts in the bottom picture were made by my mom. Cute!

How We Like To Spend Our Weekends

Would a Spilled Gallon of Milk Have Been Better?

Last night Paul got home late from a meeting and came and woke me up. "Do you realize that there is gallon of cooking oil spilled all over the kitchen floor?" No, I didn't realize. Apparently Paul slipped on the deadly trap and nearly killed himself. Now, this sounds like a very discreet way to get rid of my lovely husband, especially after being woken from a deep sleep, although it wasn't actually planned. However, when he proceeded to mop the floor using the mop pictured below and wearing only his gym shorts, I decided that he's a keeper.