Oh, to be 5 again: Week 6

Erc holds verbal sharing daily. The class discusses a topic and it gives each child a chance to say something in front of everyone (vital for those overly shy children). This particular day, everyone was supposed to name something that started with a “G.”

Bob*: Gecko starts with G!
Erc: That’s right Bob, great job.
Sue*: What’s a gecko?
Erc: It’s kind of like a lizard.
Ryan*: Gecko also means something else.
Erc: I don’t think so Ryan. I’m pretty sure it is just a lizard.
Ryan: No, it is also when you hear yourself over and over and over.
Other kids: Yeah, it means that too!

Erc now has to ponder for a moment about what they could possibly be talking about—then it comes to her.

Erc: Oh! Ryan, what you are talking about is an ECHO.

Gecko, echo—it’s a good thing we got that straightened out.

*Not the children's real names.

It's Finally Here!

Enjoy this darling video! You'll notice at the end, when I try to get a face-on shot he sees the camera and never performs again.
Stinker.

I guess I should live in Germany

In high school German class, we learned about the culture. I only remember a few key things:
Their houses are BEAUTIFUL in the old parts of town.
They have incredibly clean cities.
They don’t offer ice in their drinks.

I remember thinking back then how strange it would be to not have any ice in drinks. Now I think they are brilliant. Drinks are never watered down and they aren’t forced to chew the ice at the bottom of their glass (What? No one else feels the need to do that?).

Ronnie—he loves him some ice. I’m sure he would put ice in his milk if the ice were made of milk. I have to add ice to any beverage I serve him (even if it has been in the fridge for over a day).

Me? I would rather leave the ice. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t drink lukewarm beverages. I like a cold drink just as much as the next guy, but if it is cold—then that’s all I need. No extra chilling necessary.

So tell me, how often do you have to refill the ice trays at your house?

Blessing Day Part 4

Easton with Grandma and Grandpa Cali
Aunt Kari, Grandma and Grandpa with precious Easton
Grandpa and Easton take a little snooze on the couch (Ronnie must be taking notes as he tells me he frequently takes naps with Easton during the day)

Are you prepared to be a POW?

There are years of my adolescence that seem to be completely absent from my memories. It is not because I was drunk. Cuz I totally wasn’t. Really, I wasn’t. (I should probably just erase that sentence since it has now given you all the wrong idea).

The best idea I have as to why this is the case is because they weren’t especially fun times for me. Not bad times. Just not the best times.

Seventh grade is one of those years.

New school, new friends, new sports—and I don’t remember much at all.

I do remember two days in Geography class. One was the day we gave our very first class presentations and when I went back to the teacher’s desk to get my grade, he asked if I was LDS. Apparently the LDS kids don’t pee their pants when they give a presentation because they have been giving talks in Primary* since they were four.

The second day was when we talked about Southeast Asia. Mr. J** fought in the Vietnam War and after a particular battle he was captured by Americans (he fought for America, but was of an ethnic origin that made them wonder if he was the enemy in a stolen uniform). During questioning, he was asked a variety of questions to prove that he was who he said he was. I’m sure there were lots and lots of questions, but he only shared two. After they discovered he was *supposed* to be from Wyoming he was handed a piece of paper with the name of two Wyoming towns. They asked him the pronunciations.

Kemmerer (pronounced just Kemmer)
And
Dubois (pronounced Do-boys—we don’t believe in correct French pronunciation around here)

Since that day, I have been somewhat obsessed with knowing the *correct* pronunciation of the towns around where I live. I suppose it is so that when I am captured during battle***, I can prove my Americanism (I know, not a real word—but it sounds good). Towns such as Tooele (to-ill-a) and Eureka (ur-ick-ah) in Utah, and the above mentioned towns in Wyoming.

So tell me—are you prepared?

*The children’s class during church. Every so often each child will give a 1-2 minute talk on a gospel subject. When they are really young words are fed to them by their parents.
**Not his real initial
***Probably only a battle against a brunette, freckle-faced, pale army should worry me.

Blessing Day Part 3

I LOVE having a photographer in the family (Thanks Ray!), but it also means that I get used to someone else taking the pictures and never take my camera anywhere.

Sister Sarah, Me, Easton, sister Erica.Group Picture: Ronnie, Me, Dad, Mom, Erica, Dan, Sarah, Grandma, Easton, Grandad, Jordan.

Grandpa Grant, Easton, Grandma Keri.
Easton with his favorite babysitter!
4 generation picture: Great Grandma, Easton, Me and Grandma
And the boys! Grandpa, Ronnie, Easton, Grandad.
What a happy family! (except Easton apparently--he looks a bit bored with the whole thing.)

More pics still coming, and I have it on my to-do list to get that laughing video uploaded (after I read the instructions on how to do that).

Oh, to be 5 again: Week 5

Erc was teaching a reading group and could not get John* to be quiet.

Erc: John! Please turn around and pay attention.
Erc: John, I am talking, you are not.
Erc: John, you are driving me CRAZY!
John: It’s okay Mrs. S., you drive me crazy sometimes too! We can drive each OTHER crazy.

*Not his real name.

Laughs

Guess who laughed for the first time last night?

Yes, we got it on camera.

Now I just have to figure out how to upload it and we will be good to go.

P.S. It really was the cutest thing EVER.

Blessing Day Part 2

Great-Great-Aunt Jean, Great-Great-Uncle Jerre, Easton, KaLee, Ronnie
Aunt Jean, Uncle Jerre and The Star!

Jean, Jerre, Great-Grandma N (Jerre's sister), Great-Grandad N.
Easton with the "Greats"!
Grandma and Grandpa Wyo, Easton, Grandma and Grandad N.

More pics to come!

And now I go shopping

Sometimes, when you live in Wyoming, you fall on the ice and scuff your favorite (cheap) black flats like this.

So then you clean off the gucky (my own word, thank you) and it still looks like this.

So you get out your trusty Sharpie and attempt to fix the problem. (In the past, you may have had success with this kind of fix).

But not this time.
Looks like a new pair of shoes is in order.

Blessing Day Part 1

Easton had a wonderful blessing--Ronnie did a fantastic job. It was great to have Grandpa and Grandma Cali, Kari, Grandad and Grandma N, Uncle Jerre and Aunt Jean in town. I have a TON of pics, so today we are highlighting the star of the show and tomorrow I will post the group shots.

All tuckered out. He wore a darling white tux with tails on the jacket and everything.

Now he's awake! Sporting the blanket crocheted by Grandma Nickell.

We took off that pesky jacket!

There's a happy boy!

3 years

Do you ever have days that as you are climbing into bed you wonder, “Where exactly did this day go?” Yesterday was one of those days.

Since the University of Wyoming doesn’t believe in presidents, Ronnie had school and I had work. Stink.

Family was in town for Easton’s blessing (pictures coming soon to his site), and we didn’t get to spend the day with them. Double Stink.

It was our third anniversary and due to the above mentioned events, we didn’t really do anything to celebrate (unless you count catching up on Prison Break a celebration).

So although this is a day late, I thought I would do a little reminiscing.

Where did you meet your husband/what was the first thing he said to you?
Ronnie was one of the first boys I met in my sophomore year of college (Fall of 2002). He was in the ward and he and his roommate were making the rounds of all of the girls’ apartments. They had both been off of their missions for about 3 weeks. We (meaning my roommates and I) seduced them with a tantalizing conversation about temples. Shortly after that visit I started dating his roommate—it only lasted 3 weeks, but Ronnie and my friendship lasted a little longer. :)

Where was your first date?
Ronnie and I truly were best friends. The cry-on-their-shoulder-when-other-boys-are-being-dumb kind of friends. He was always my emergency date (you know, when you are invited to double with someone and need a date QUICK!), and I was always his. We have to fast forward to September 10, 2004 in order to arrive at our first official date. Apparently, Ronnie had been in love with me for quite some time—but didn’t know how to tell me he wanted to transition to dating. He wrote me a poem and talked to my roommate for thoughts on what he should do. He made her promise not to tell me….so of course she called me first thing the next morning to let me know what was going to happen that night (previously, I thought we were hanging out like we always did). We decided to try the dating thing that night.

Did you have a long or short engagement/courtship?
For us, the decision to date was essentially the decision to get married. We knew each other well enough that dating included no “get to know you” activities. I think the first time we talked seriously about getting married was the beginning of October—which means we courted for less than a month. We didn’t get engaged until December 1st, so our engagement was 10 weeks long.

Where did you get engaged?
Ronnie had told me that we were doubling with our friend Steve. At this point I knew he would propose anytime so my guard was really up. Of course I suspected that it would happen that night—but then he kept on doing things that would sway me the other direction. He didn’t change his clothes for the date (we worked together, so I knew what he was wearing—and it wasn’t anything fancy), and on the way to Steve’s house (we were supposedly picking he and his date up) we talked about farts. That had me convinced that tonight was not the night. As I opened the door to Steve’s apartment, I was greeted with “our song,” candlelight, lots and lots of roses and an Olive Garden dinner. Ronnie led me inside and sat me down on the couch. He then pulled the ring out of the couch cushion*, said some nice things (which I’m sure are in my journal, but I can’t remember now) and asked me to marry him. It was perfect.

Where did you get married?
We were married in the Salt Lake Temple on February 18, 2005. The weather was freezing (although it did stop raining RIGHT before we got outside), but it was still wonderful. I still regret not taking off the cloak I had to ward off the cold for at least one picture! If I could get into my wedding dress I would totally go back and take some.

*I only include this detail because it is Ronnie's very, VERY favorite. If I ever tell the story and leave it out he quickly corrects me. I don't think I'll ever understand the love affair he has with that detail, but I love him anyway!

Oh, to be 5 again: Week 4

There are two kindergarten classrooms in Erc’s school. They break into reading groups with the two classes based on skill. The other teacher has a little boy (we’ll call him Fred) who has been a little obsessed with religion lately and brings up Jesus, etc. quite frequently. Another boy in the same reading group is from Erc’s classroom and is LDS (we’ll call him George).

During reading group time, Fred came running up to the other teacher.

Fred: Teacher, George says that Jesus is his brother and I know that isn’t true.
George: Jesus IS my brother.
Fred: No he is NOT!
Teacher: Boys, Jesus and religion are things that you need to talk to your parents about at home; we don’t talk about them at school.
George: But Jesus REALLY is my brother!

The class moved on and the subject was dropped.

Little George is in my primary and for the last two weeks we have been talking about the pre-earth life, the Plan of Salvation and how Jesus is our brother.

Obviously, our lessons are taking hold.

LDS Notes: Primary is the class that children go to during part of church. If you have other questions, you can find answers here or contact me.

Purse Contents Tag

My lovely Aunt Nat tagged me recently—so here we go!

Contents of my Wal-Mart Special Purse (recently, I’ve really changed what I want in a purse. I used to be all about the cute, now I’m all business. This purse happens to fit all but one of my criteria and it was on sale for $11.) What are my criteria? I thought you would never ask.

It must have at least two separate compartments. It must be a neutral color so I can take it every day. It must be large enough to hold my planner (heaven-forbid I leave home without that!), but small enough to be carried comfortably. I prefer just one strap (this one has two—and it’s livable, but not my ideal). The strap must be long enough for the purse to sit comfortably over my shoulder, but not long enough that it can go across my body diagonally. Oh, and I do try to find cute.

Got all of that? I’m a little extreme, I know—but you gotta love me anyway.

Now for the contents.

1. Red Wallet (holds checks, cash, credit and debit cards, bandaids, coupons, pictures, gift cards, etc.).
2. Five dollar sunglasses—if I spend any more than that I always regret it a week later when they break.
3. Keys—too many.
4. Planner—necessary for my breathing.
5. Little bag of Tylenol. I really need to change this out for the good stuff (ibuprofen), but during pregnancy this was my only option.
6. Inhaler—do I use one? No. But Ronnie does and I love him so I want him to live when he has an attack.
7. Chapstick.
8. Diaper and ziplock bag of wipes. I’m a mom now, and this is what moms carry. (Plus for quick trips I don’t have to take the diaper bag).
9. Pen and Sharpie—you never know when you are going to need a good permanent marker.
10. Small mirror and concealer.
11. Hand sanitizer—for when I actually have to use that diaper.
12. Hairtie
13. Floss—I really am trying to be better.
14. Large bag of Epic gum. (I use so much of this stuff I have to buy it in bulk).
15. Razr cell phone. It’s cute. It’s pink.

You may be shocked to know that literally the only thing in my purse that did not make it into the picture was a paperclip. No trash or anything.

I’m as shocked as you are.

This was fun—now I tag Bethany, Cheryl, Jen, and anyone else who wants to give it a go!

That thing in the middle of your face

And surprisingly, I’m not talking about a zit.

I’m talking about your nose.

We all know that smells are connected heavily to memories—so here are some smells that take my brain to a person, place or time.

New carpet smell reminds me of Ronnie (considering he always smelled that way after working in a carpet shop all day).



Eternity (perfume) reminds me of my Aunt Nat during her high school years (Nat—do you still wear that?)

Simple Green takes me straight to Baskin Robbins during high school (is it strange that the smell of ice cream doesn’t do that?)

I smell saw dust and am transported back to Rocky Mountain Forest Products—making wood moldings.

Calvin Klein One (perfume) and I am once again walking the halls of my junior high (did anyone NOT have a million friends who all wore that in junior high?

What smell-induced memories do you have?

Two Months

Yesterday Easton turned two months old--can you believe it? I sure can't.
We went to the doctor today and he is a heathy 11 lbs. 2 oz, and 23 inches long. He is smiling and cooing all of the time--and just getting to be a whole lot of fun.

He's currently losing all of his hair (his sheets are covered in little hairs every day--which forces mom to do more laundry). It's a good thing that what he does have is dark, since it makes him appear not quite so bald.

His eyes are different everytime I look at them. Some days I think that they will definitely be blueish and then the next I am sure they will be more brown/hazel. I guess we will just have to be patient and wait it out.

He also got four shots at the doctors today. Saddest. Thing. Ever. Easton really doesn't cry, ever--and it was heartbreaking to hear his little howl. In keeping with his good disposition, he cried for about one minute, settled right down and promptly went to sleep. He has even been his happy self this evening (I was preparing for the worst). We'll see how the night goes.

Here are his official two month pictures.


You want to just eat him up--don't you?

Wheeeee! or is that Wii?

The birth of Easton threw a little loop in my holiday planning.

I normally have my presents to Ronnie decided in November, I purchase them and I am relaxed.

This year, it just didn’t happen. We live in a city with only a Wal-Mart, I was 9 months pregnant and…well…that is all of the excuses I have.

Around December 20th, I finally admitted to Ronnie that I didn’t have a single thing for him yet. He looked at me with glee on his face and said “Really? I don’t have anything for you either.” We then decided that we would make things easy and get a “together” gift.

We determined that gift should be the Nintendo Wii.

One problem. Everywhere was sold out.

No big deal, we would just wait until after Christmas to actually purchase it. (We assumed at the time that we would be able to acquire one by mid January.)

Not so.

We were calling three different stores at least twice a day in the hopes that they had just gotten some in and we could run and buy it.

I was getting impatient, so I looked for alternative solutions.

We ended up ordering a bundle off of GameStop.com (now our Christmas present became a Christmas/Valentine’s Day/Anniversary present).

It came this week.

We have been Wii-ing it up every night, and we love it! (Note to parents: the Wii playing only begins after Ronnie has completed his homework—don’t you worry).

I’m sure you can look forward to some actions shots soon.

And just for the record—I’m the queen of bowling. The Wii does not lie.

Oh, and also I kicked Ronnie’s trash at boxing.
The End.

Oh, to be 5 again: Week 3

I’m sure you all remember how excited you were for Show & Tell in kindergarten. Erc creates a theme each week and the kids are supposed to bring something that fits into that theme. The item also has to fit in a regular brown lunch sack. (She has found that this minimizes the bringing of their favorite toys).

The week before Christmas break her class had the theme of “winter.” The kids went around the circle sharing what they had brought. Soon they came to Sam*. Sam had something very large stuffed under his sweatshirt. He proceeded to pull out his Columbia brand coat.

Erc: Sam, did you forget to bring something?
Sam: No, this is my favorite winter item. It keeps me very warm.
Erc: Sam, it doesn’t fit into your sack, so I don’t think you can share today.
Sam: Well, it’s really special because my mom and I made it.
Erc: Really!?! It has a tag on the inside, and usually tags are only on items that we buy.
Sam: Well, my mom and I bought the fabric and cut it out and sewed it—then we put the tag on ourselves.
Erc: It's a good thing your mom is coming in this afternoon to help with centers, so I can ask her how she made it!

It was at this point that Sam realized he was caught. (Erc says the look on his face was priceless). He quickly tried to backpedal.

Sam: Actually, I just remembered that we did buy this coat. I got it mixed up with another one. You don’t have to ask her about it.
Erc: (moving on with a smile on her face) Sally*, what did you bring today?

*Not the child’s real name.

A Fan!

We took Easton to the Wyoming vs. BYU Basketball game last Saturday. He slept through the entire thing.

The happy little family after the game. You may be wondering why we chose to wear Wyoming colors. We still love our Cougs (a little more--but don't tell), but Laramie is not the place to proudly wear your BYU gear. In fact, we packed ours up in long-term storage in the garage. It really is insane how much the Cowboy fans hate BYU. Note: there are nice Cowboy fans, but we are trying to avoid the few psycho ones.

And here is cutie little Easton in his Wyoming gear (given to him by Aunt Erica and Aunt Sarah). You can't see them very well, but he also has precious baby Uggs on that are to die for. Sorry the picture is a little washed out. Mommy doesn't have mad camera skills.

The Magic Word

I went to the dentist a few weeks ago.

It was the first time that I have been in over a year, so I wasn’t expecting good news.

I got exactly what I expected. Two cavities.

Bummer, I know—but surprisingly cavities were not what I was dreading the most.

There are five words that send my heart racing at the dentist.

“How often do you floss?”

I consider myself a hygienic person (p.s. for those of you who have read the deodorant post, I think I have found something that is working—it’s still in my testing stage, so I’ll report on it soon). I brush my teeth twice a day—thoroughly and as an added boost I chew Epic Dental gum (with marvelous xylitol—if you don’t know anything about that product you really should read up on it—or call me, I worked there for a year).

But alas, I’m not a very good floss-er. My teeth are extremely close together and due to the xylitol (really, go read about it) plaque buildup is a thing of the past.

I’ve never been to a dentist that doesn’t drill you about flossing and so I spend the entire cleaning trying to decide how to answer the question. Should I be honest and say “rarely”? Or should I say “often” and then pledge to make that come true?

I’ve finally found the magic answer. The one word that fits the honesty bill, but didn’t get me the evil eye. I’m sharing it with all of you (on the off chance that a few of you are not *perfect* floss-ers either).

The magic word is…..

“Occasionally.”

Worked like a charm.

*I really am trying to be better about the whole flossing thing—it’s even one of my internal resolutions.