Princes and Princesses

Rachel was laying on the kitchen floor drawing while I was making dinner. After each picture Rachel would declare what she had drawn. When Rachel said, "This is Kate. She is a princess," Adam came in and took a look at her drawing. Rachel started another picture and said, "This is Adam. He is a princess." Adam immediately objected and said, "Mom, Rachel called me a princess and I am a boy." I said, "I know. You are a prince." Adam went over to Rachel and said, "I am not a princess. Princesses are girls. I am a boy. I am a prince." Rachel continued to draw another picture. She said, "This one is Johnny. He is a princess." Adam said, "No he is not. Johnny is too old." Then Adam added, "Johnny is a boy."

The Straw Pig

Yesterday John suggested starting a business called, "Straw Pig." We joked about that for some time--how it would be funny to sell crappy items that would just fall apart. Then it occurred to me that there is already a store that should be called Straw Pig and it is wildly successful-- Wal-mart. We've decided to call Wal-mart Straw Pig now. John went to Straw Pig last night and bought some donuts and viola they are really kind of gross. Some of them were even stale. Thank goodness for the combination of Target and Home Depot so I do not often have to settle for the quality of the straw pig. I much prefer the stabibity of a stick even if it does cost a little more :).

Conversation in the Car

John (the dad): Diane, did you blog about what Adam wants to do for the rest of his life?
Me: yes.
Johnny: What does Adam want to do?
Me: He wants to be Spiderman for the rest of his life.
Kate: That is good because in elementary school you always have to do projects on what you are going to be when you grow up. Now Adam will be prepared for when he starts school.
John: That is great commentary on elementary school.

Anya truns 1

Anya had her birthday on Friday. She was pretty happy about cake and presents. Dad made her a milkshake to go with her dinner which she loved too. Anya had to go to the doctors on her birthday because of a fever with a runny nose. She got an antibiotic for a sinus infection, and we found out that Anya has gained three pounds in the last two months. She now weighs 16 pounds and is up on the growth chart. She still is a happy smiley baby, but she is definitely starting those one year old tantrums. This morning, while I was putting Rachel and Adam into the bathtub, Anya put her pacifier in the toilet. When I pulled it out she tried to take it from me and screamed for some time because I would not give it to her. So we need to remember to close the toilets once again. When Anya was first born I would look at her and see such a sweet beautiful baby, but I would think, "In a year she will be playing in the toilets." That year has come. I just need to remember to enjoy the smiles and laughs. And maybe someday like President Monson said, I will miss the toys everywhere and the piles and piles of laundry.

About Me, Change and Twilight

Here is a blog about me. I have to have change. I have moved around a lot for most of my life and have become to rely on that. So I find that I get tired of things when they do not change. For example, I get really sick of the way my furniture is arranged if we live in one place for more than 2 years. So I rearrange it all of the time. I also get tired of our dishes. I like new dishes. I threw away a bunch of our plastic dishes and got new glass dishes just because I knew the kids would break the glass dishes and I would get to replace them. That way I would never get too sick of the same old plates and cups. Fortunately, clothes wear out and we use up soap quickly enough, so I can count on change in the wardrobe and in the smells. I am also always continually wanting to paint our walls something different. But that crosses the line of how much change my husband can handle. (I thrive on change, but John seems to thrive on consistency. It makes John nervous when I move the furniture around. But that statement is about John, not me. :)) Recently, I have realized that I need my blog to match the seasons. I have been struggling to find a theme that fits winter. I think I will have to take more wintry pictures. But it does not snow much in Wichita. Hmmm.... maybe I should picture surf the web.

Now, about me and Twilight. I have held out on reading The Twilight series because I have heard that there is a fair amount of making out. (I am also not a fan of teenage romance or vampires.) Since I felt guilty reading Dear God, It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume when I was 12, I felt certain that I did not want Ruth and Kate reading the Twilight series. In fact, I have not let them read Judy Blume books. However, there has been a fair amount of peer pressure on the matter. Most of my family on both sides have read and loved the books, basically all of the women in relief society read the books and went to movie together, and all but one of my friends outside our ward, as far as I know, have read the series. Now the one friend of mine, who has been holding out, read the first book over Christmas break because her 11 year old daughter has been begging to read it. Well, I have felt pretty good with my decision until now. I do not like being the only one. When I told John about my friend, he praised my decision and I had to tell him that actually, the pressure is getting to be too much and I am thinking that maybe I should read Twilight after all. My friend that just read them said they weren't as bad as we have heard on the making out side of things. So now I have to decide-- do I want to be the last man out, or read the books and then let my preteen daughters read the books?????? If Ruth and Kate are going to read the books then I should know what is in them. And if I read the books then I cannot tell my daughters that they are inappropriate for them to read and expect them to respect me. Alas, I feel torn and like a bit of a loser for caving in so easily to peer pressure at the age of 33. Don't get me wrong, no one has actually said that I have to read these books, it is just that everyone else is doing it. Fortunately, once you reach adulthood you can expect your friends to remain your friends even if you don't do what they do. Everyone has been very respectful to my decision. I just don't like to be 'the only one'.

?????????

Why is it that Sunday through Friday I have to force my kids out of bed at 7:15am for school and church and on Saturday's when they can actually sleep in they wake me up at 6:50am to ask if they can watch TV?????????

The Most Important Thing

This morning we woke up late and had to rush to make it on time for the bus. Johnny was having a particularly hard time going fast enough. He took a long time to get dressed, and a very long time to eat his breakfast. Because of this, he did not have time to make his bed, and I am not sure if he got his teeth brushed or not. Just before the bus pulled up I told Johnny to get his socks and his shoes on. He said that he did not have time to put on his socks. About the time Johnny argued about socks the bus pulled up. Johnny grabbed his backpack and I said that he could not leave the house without his coat. Ruth began yelling at Johnny to get outside as she and Kate were running for the bus. Johnny grabbed his coat, shook his backpack and stopped in the doorway. "I don't have my ds," he yelled. I said, "the bus is waiting for just you--GO!" But Johnny would not budge. So I went and grabbed his ds for him. He then fumbled in the doorway trying to get the ds into his backpack. We told him to just go and get on the bus and finally he did. I just thought it was so funny that Johnny declared that he did not have enough time to put socks on, but that he would not leave the house without his nintendo ds. The kid is obcessed!!!