Brown just isn't his thing

As we were walking into the church today, prior to the primary program, I told Quinton how handsome he looked in his suit. Jeff said, "And how about Mom? Doesn't she look great? Doesn't she look hot?" Quinton replied, "Actually...she looks sort of brown." (I was wearing a dramatically chocolate brown dress with brown knee-length boots.)

Other things I love about Quinton:

*He totally nailed his part in the primary program -- with poise even.
*He loves me to read Fablehaven out loud to him.
*He loves Jacey to wake him up in the morning and snuggle with him for a few minutes. She's usually too busy to snuggle, but he gets a quality minute or half.
*He is absolutely thrilled to go to cub scouts every week. (He also looks so cute in his blue shirt)
*He respects his teachers and other grown-ups.
*He loves his friends. He loves to play.
*He loves a treasure hunt. If I could make one every Monday for family home evening, he would never get tired of it.
*If, for a 22 monther (see Jacey's post below), moms should buy an insane amount of toothbrushes, moms of eight year old boys should buy many surplus socks. He puts holes in those things faster than you can say Shia Lebeuf. (HOLES -- get it? Okay, I should not try comedy)
*He has the cutest little belly laugh you've ever heard and a quirky sense of humor (better than his mom's).
*He still loves the color green -- has since he was old enough to talk.
I guess brown just isn't his thing! It's green.



I couldn't find a picture of him in his handsome suit, so I included one from his baptismal day and one from his first pack meeting (Thanks Adrianne.)

Stock up on toothbrushes

I receive cutesy little e-mails from Pampers that say "Jacey is now 22 months old..." and then they go on to say things she might be doing such as "She could be really interested in banging on pots and pans right now." I always think, are you kidding me? They just don't know Jacey. If I were to write these e-mails, they wouldn't be so cutesy. They would actually be helpful. Mine would sound something like this:

Jacey is now 22 months old. Here are some of the things you can do at this age. 1)Go buy an inordinate amount of toothbrushes because she will dunk every single one you own in a toilet. Even though the experts say that toilets aren't the germiest areas of the house, I sure can't put one in my mouth after seeing it go in the toilet. It doesn't matter if you have child proof locks on these drawers, she is so determined at this age that she will do anything to lay her hands on them. 2) Don't try to help. Offers to hold her hand down some stairs or help her open some crackers will only result in a shrieking noise that will melt your ear drums followed by the famous phrase "I do it!" 3) Lay on the floor at your own peril. Enough said. 4) Do not, under any circumstances, take on any extra household project such as painting your house, doing laundry, or cleaning your kitchen. She will see to it that you don't get it done, she will make a mess out of whatever you're doing, and if you do somehow manage to get it done, she will mess it up afterwards. 5) While trick-or treating, do not expect her to let you carry her, her treat bucket, or her Yoda hood. Do not expect to make it to more than five houses per hour. (Jeff had to deal with that one)

Disclaimer: She has now been loved to death for over 22 months.

Jeff is home!

I'm delighted to have my husband back home after he was gone for a week. He had a very sad death in his family. His cousin, Cam, age 35, passed away from Leukemia (a very rare form) after battling for two years in Canada. He left a 10 year old, a 7 year old, and a 4 year old. I will paste in a paragraph from his wife, Coralee's blog, because I think it is so amazing.

""The last two and a half years having been full of hope, stress, laughter, pain, heartache, and kindness. I know both of our characters' grew leaps and bounds because of the challenges we have faced, and not only that, the love that we have for each other fused us together like nothing else. I have been reflecting on Cam's life a lot the last few days. He sure did pack a lot in, in the short time he was on earth. I couldn't have asked for a better husband, father, confidant, encourager, and best friend. I know he touched a lot of you and I feel his impact has been far reaching. I had a friend email me the other day and she said something that struck me to the very core. It was this: Thirteen awesome years is so much better than a life time of nothing. How true. Counting the time we were dating Cam and I have been together for 15 years. We have made so many happy memories in that time. Although I would have liked it to continue much longer, our lives together have been rich and full. He had no regrets. He lived each day how we all should--like it could be our last. Before writing this I just finished reading his good bye letter to me. I stumbled across it while going through some files on his computer. With tears streaming down my face I felt so grateful for the good life he has lived and that I was lucky enough to share it with him. """

Her whole blog is amazing (filled with testimony, faith, and love) and is linked to mine and named Cam's transplant adventure. Jeff left last Friday night and drove his mother and sister through the night up to Canada for the funeral. Then, he still had to attend his company's big get-together of the year in Georgia. Go Masterwall! He flew out of Montana Tuesday morning to Georgia. Going to Georgia always messes with him because of the time change. They start their meetings like at eight in the morning, which is six o'clock our time. Plus, he usually has to drive at least a half an hour to get to them. For Jeff, the ultimate night owl, that is a huge sacrifice of sleep. Then, they usually fill the day up -- until 9 p.m. So, I picked a very exhausted Jeff up from the airport Thursday night. We're really, really glad to have him home. The kids were good for me while he was gone and things went pretty smoothly.

I did have to brave Parent-teacher conferences alone and the dentist alone, which turned out to be a little more crazy than I would have thought. First of all, my babysitter didn't show, so I had to root out the neighbor girl to come over. It was only for an hour and she didn't mind, so that was wonderful -- thanks Tana. Then, I just had a cracked old filling which wasn't very big at all. The dentist said, "I'm not even sure I have to get you numb." Well, that was the statement that just jinxed the whole night. He said he would give me one shot because although the thing was small, it was kind of close to a nerve. I started to feel a little numb but not much, so he went with a second shot -- fun! Then, he started drilling and I could still feel everything. When he got close to that nerve, I jumped and my eyes got really wide. He stopped and gave me another shot, right into the base of the tooth. Bless his heart, he was really trying. Again, I was still not completely numb and sitting there in terror of when he would hit that nerve. Crazy. It turned out I had taken some Ibuprofen earlier that day which could have messed with my ability to get numb. I was sore from all the shots, and the whole tooth was sensitive for a few days afterward. I've never had even a slight problem at the dentist, so this was a new experience for me.
Lori

Some more pumpkin patch

Here is her little friend, tiny pumpkin, she carried around with her.

The pumpkin patch

We went to Santaquin last Monday for Family Home Evening to pick pumpkins. We had a wonderful time, and the Brackners went with us, so luckily we have wonderful pictures taken by Adrianne. What a benefit it is to have a photographer for a friend!

Jacey latched onto a tiny pumpkin early on and insisted on carrying it around with her everywhere. Everyone in the wagon was laughing and saying how cute she was. Brook and Keanna came with us, so everyone had a good time.

I've been tagged

When I got tagged, I guess it meant I had to write six quirky things about myself.
1. I have a pus obsession. I love to see pus coming out of zits. It seems so cleansing. Wierd, but just ask Sara V. who got her zit squozen in the hallway at church volleyball. Hey, she complained about the nasty zit out loud to me.
2. I may be the only person I know who could spend equally happy hours gushing over wedding dresses in Bride's magazine or playing basketball/sports. An odd combination, but I had to please my dad in some way right? Rock on SportsCenter.
3. Bunions are for old ladies? Wrong. I have a huge bunion on my right toe. Or I could be old.
4. Clutter is for losers. I hate the stuff. I have a quirky older brother who also hates it, but he's a little more extreme. He even requests non-stuff for Christmas. I'm almost there. Sometimes Jeff has to look for his stuff in the garbage or in a bag in the garage.
5. Labor and Delivery. Don't get me started. I love to hear everybody's stories of labor and delivery. When and how much they dilated, how long they had to push, the number of stitches, bring it on. I love it all. Don't know why. Can you say "A Baby Story?" I could watch all day. Cry every time.
6. I dream most every night about one of two things: waterskiing or basketball. Waterskiing dreams are very pleasant, while the basketball dreams are usually frustration, anger, or trying to prove myself. I have very vivid dreams. I notice rich color, story, and sound. Nobody try to psychoanalyze that.
I don't tag anybody. It's not really like me. I guess that's quirk numeral 7.

It's true! There is such a thing as a no-nag husband

And he's mine!!

While I was feeling sorry for myself last weekend as a hockey widow (Jeff had taken Quinton, Tuli, and Brook to Vegas for an NHL hockey game) I went window piano shopping. We had been talking about getting one for Christmas. I found one I really liked, a black Yamaha at a reasonable price, and just looked into it a little bit. I told Jeff about what I had found and whoala...three days later it was waiting for me in the basement. What a treat.