A Girl Who Knows What She Wants

Savanna brought the curlers to me, grabbed my hand, set them in my hand, and reached up to sit in my lap. She sat so still as I put them in her hair. Then she followed me and Bryan around, begging for compliments.

We own one video game that you plug straight into the TV--Tetris. Anytime anyone is playing, Savanna comes and helps.

Brushing her hair.

Again, begging for compliments

And Bryan put a piece of toilet paper on her head and told her she looked pretty. So she walked around with the toilet paper on her head for 2 minutes!

A Singer's Worst Nightmare

I was supposed to sing at this Stake Relief Society Conference. But when I got there, I realized that I had forgotten the music. There was no time to run home and get it. So I frantically searched for the accompanist to see if she had the music, and if we could by any chance make a copy of the music before the meeting. You wouldn't believe this, but she forgot the music too! So I frantically looked for a pen and paper, because I could still sing the song a capella if I wrote down the words. But people were coming up to me and asking me questions, and I couldn't think of the words. You won't believe this, but my good friend came up and miraculously had a copy of the music! I started to write down the words, but then realized that she had given me two copies. Relief! All would be well. But the accompanist had stepped out and was nowhere to be found. So my friend offered to play, but she had never seen the music before, and she isn't a fabulous pianist anyway. It wasn't too hard a song, so what the heck! I didn't have much time to be picky: it was almost time to start. But as I sat waiting for my turn, I realized that someone else was already singing the song. That's just weird. So I checked the program, and sure enough, the same music was listed on the agenda twice! Why would they do that? By the end of the song the congregation thought the program was over (they figured it was a mistake on the program too); and it was so miserably hot in the chapel without air conditioning. So they began to get up and leave quickly as I walked up to the microphone. So the Stake RS President ran to the podium and told everyone to stop because there was one more thing on the program. By then, I felt so frustrated and flustered, annoyed and embarrassed; but what could I do? So the accompaniment began, but I didn't recognize it. It was either a different arrangement, or my friend was playing in a minor key. She was playing horribly! Then the lights began to dim, and I couldn't see the music or the words. So like any good singer, I tried to wing it and pretend like nothing was wrong... I just began making up a melody to match her and tried to make sense with as many words as I could remember (and then some). I was singing horribly! I have never sounded that bad in my life. I wanted to stop, start over and accompany myself, because then maybe I could redeem myself. But I remembered my mom telling me that accompanying oneself at a church function is inappropriate; not to mention that everyone in the congregation was so eager to leave. Then, when I thought it couldn't get worse, it did. The mic broke off, and almost immediately after, the podium began falling toward me because the wood was rotting at the base. So I grabbed the mic with one hand, held up the podium with my body, and finished my mortifying experience of a song.

This really happened. Last night. In my dream. Thank goodness!!! And all is well. The song turned out just fine and the accompaniment was superb (thanks, Angela!).

At Last

We finally know where we are going!!! If you haven't received an email from me, leave a comment with your email address, and I'll write you.

Funny Phrases

Caleb

• Salting Crackers
• Fingers (without the g sound)
• Masagna
• When Bryan and I pretend to fight over who gets to have Caleb, he'll say, "What about we just share boys?"

Savanna

• Boop (book)
  

Where We Are Going

Ha! Tricked ya!

We actually don't know where we are going yet.

I was going to wait until we did know where we are going before I wrote this post, but then I started thinking that I wasn't going to disclose the location for the whole world wide web to see anyway. Maybe I'm paranoid or maybe my kids are just so stinkin' cute (okay, maybe I'm biased); either way, I don't want anyone to stalk us. (Maybe I should stop watching conspiracy theory movies...)

So here is our plan. Even though we don't know the end location yet, we will at least know before we make the trip. Maybe we are impatient, maybe we are just planners. But we wanted to get a head start on our move since we may not know the location until 2 weeks before we leave. And I got a plane ticket for $99, with Savanna on my lap. That is why we have a plan without a location. Maybe we are crazy. Maybe is a weird word.

I am flying with Savanna, and Bryan and Caleb will begin driving in four weeks. If where I land is the official location, yay! I will start looking for a place to live immediately. If not, then my sweet sister has consented to take a road trip with me to look for housing. I hope to find a place to live while Bryan is en route, or soon after he arrives so that the 7-day truck rental won't expire first.

Then we'll have just over a week to get settled before Bryan starts his new job.

Don't worry, if you are good friends of ours, we will tell you the location as soon as we know.

After Lunch

This post is for me. You can read it if you want to, but it's for me. Sometimes I beat myself up because I think, "Why can't I keep my kitchen (or any other room, for that matter) clean?" This is why. This mess was made in less than 10 minutes. If you click on the picture, you will get a larger, more detailed image: macaroni and crayons all over the floor, paper, scissors, lunch, and other miscellaneous on the table; you might even see the army of ants on the countertop that we have been battling for weeks). Now, if I spent my entire day cleaning, I might have a clean home. But if I spend my day doing a little cleaning and a lot of other mothering, I have a messy house. And that is okay.

It helps to have people come to visit, because then I tend to clean things more often. So call me, come visit me, and you will be doing me a service.

Bryan and I literally spend half an hour every night just cleaning the kitchen. Every night.

What's Brown and Sticky?

Do you ever remember silly jokes that you heard a long time ago that make you laugh in certain moods. One such joke told to Brianne and I many years ago, was a riddle that asks, "What's brown and sticky?" The answer: "A Stick" - (Duh!)

So I thought I would put Caleb's creativity to the test and asked him, "Caleb, what's brown and sticky." Without the slightest hesitation he responded, "Peanut Butter!"

Who is this kid? Some type of Jeopardy prodigy? Who has these random answers ready to spit out at any moment. In all the hundreds of times I've heard or told this riddle, I've missed the most practical answer of all. Maybe even more obvious than a stick. Stories like these just make me laugh and truly enjoy being a dad.