Proud new owners of....

I am probably more giddy today than I will be on Christmas morning because we just made a major purchase that I have been waiting YEARS to get. I've tried to be patient and now it has paid off. Woo hoo! I've already spilled the beans to most of you, but here are some hints for everyone else:

#1

#2

#3

Did you guess yet?
Here's the give-away:
#4

Yep, we got a PIANO!!!
I am ecstatic.
I feel so lucky.
I feel a little bit spoiled.
But, it's a good feeling. :)

Isn't is beautiful?
It's old...I think they said it was made in
1973, so that makes it older than Andrew!
But the previous owners either
a.) never played it or
b.) took amazing care of it
because it looks brand new and plays beautifully.
I'm in love.

The kids are excited about it, too.

As soon as Whit got home from school
yesterday, she took her turn playing it.
She didn't let the broken arm slow her down.

I don't know if B has had a turn yet because I had to pick him up early from school yesterday and head straight to Duke to see Whit's boyfriend....Dr. Buckley. It was a LOOOOONG wait, but we tried to exercise the patience that we're continuing to learn. Her vision has gone down slightly since her last visit. He seemed unconcerned about it and said to just continue our patching routine--two hours a day--and come back in 3 months. He said everything else looks great. Her alignment is good and her coordination (using her eyes together) does, too. He feels like her long-term prognosis is very promising if we could just get rid of this darn lazy eye.

I have not been the most faithful patching parent over the last few months. It's hard to remember to do it for two hours a day, especially when I don't want her to patch at school and then we come home, eat lunch, and take naps.....I'm going to try to do better over the next three months. Ok, I can't promise that I'll try, but I'll try to try. (One of our favorite Simpson's lines ever.)

Out of the mouths of babes--November

This month's post could be called, "THE WHITNEY SHOW" with a small appearance by Brandon. I guess spending all day with her while B's at school is finally showing.

11/2--This is Whit's favorite song she has learned at school and she sings it to anyone who will listen to her. The one-liner at the end is just for you, Uncle Paul. We finally heard that song on the radio and the kids thought it was HILARIOUS.

11/3--Whitney and Andrew were playing up in the bonus room today. First they did a puzzle and then when they were done Whitney said, "Now I want to play a game, Daddy."
Andrew: "What game to do you want to play?"
Whitney: "It's called 'Dead Animal.'"
I couldn't wait to see how Andrew would respond to that one. Well, they invented a great little game out of it. One person was "it" and had to pretend they were a dead animal while the rest of us tried to figure out what animal they were. Luckily, the dead animal could still speak to help give us clues until we figured it out. When we guessed it, the animal would magically come to life! Kind of morbid, but the kids had fun with it.

11/11--When we're on our way to and home from church, I usually have Primary songs playing in the car. One that came on today was "Fun to do." I had forgotten this from my childhood, but one of the verses honestly says, "Cleaning my room is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do...." Are you kidding me? Nice try, Primary song writer. As soon as this verse started, Brandon chimed in from the backseat, "No it's not!!"

Can't fool me!

Then when we got home, that song was still stuck in their heads. I heard verses like, "Wearing other people's shoes is fun to do..." and "Eating candy is fun to do..." They could've gone on and on.

11/11--This was the song Brandon just sang to Andrew, "You're ol---ld. You're ol---ld. You're going to get a mustache soon. You're going to be Pedro." Followed by hysterical belly laughs from B.

11/12--Whitney has a knack for remembering movie lines. Today I heard her quote two goodies. She was in the backseat of the van talking about "Cold, hard cash." Have no idea where she picked that up. Yesterday we were talking about Star Wars and Andrew quoted Han Solo saying, "Yuck it up, Fuzzball!" Out of the blue, Whit pulled that one out this afternoon. Cracked me up.

11/14--Whitney is very musical. She is always singing as she walks around the house. Often they are songs she has come up with herself. Here's this morning's favorite, sung to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it."
If you fart or you burp, say excuse me.
If you fart or you burp, say excuse me....and on and on. Well, at least she's helping reinforce manners, right???

Use good manners...or else

11/21--My nephew, Carson, is staying with us this week. He was out in the backyard playing with my kids and I was in the house. Whitney came running in and the first words out of her mouth were, "I gotta get a gun." It was so surprising! It's not what I expected to hear from my 3-year-old girl. I guess there was a big fake water gun fight going on out there and she felt left out.

Watch out, Carson. I'm armed!

11/24--Two more verses for "Fun to do" from Whit today: Drinking water is fun to do....
and Making tortillas is fun to do...

Dressing up like Princess Trapeze is fun to do

11/24--I took the kids out shopping today and told them that I would let them have a dollar to spend. Whit picked a little Hello Kitty doll from Target's $1 section and Brandon picked a candy bar--no surprise there. He chose Twizzlers Rainbow Twists. When we were driving home he was making disgusted sounds from the back seat and said, "When we get to the house, I need to rinse out my mouth BAD."
Me: You didn't like your candy?
B: No. Well, three of them were good and the other three tasted like shampoo.

11/29--Tonight Andrew, Grandma Cuca and I went out to dinner. BIG Thanks to Natalie and David for coming over to watch the kids. When it was time to put the kids to bed, Whit asked David to sing her a bedtime song. David told her, "I'm not a very good singer." She said, "Well, I am, so I'll sing for you."

11/30--I was reading the scriptures with Whit before bed tonight. We were reading about how Christ is the Good Shepherd and we are like his sheep. W. thought that was the silliest thing and said, "People don't say baa!"

No, Brandon, there is no Santa Claus

That's not exactly what I said, but I might as well have. Brandon came off the bus this week with one of the dreaded parenting questions: "Mom, is Santa Claus real?" I froze. How was I supposed to respond to that? I'm torn!

I've always struggled a little with the whole Santa Claus situation. Here are the main pros and cons, as I see them.



PROS: *It's a way for parents to serve their children anonymously. I think that's a great lesson for me to keep learning.

*It adds to the magic of Christmas.

*Who doesn't like to talk about reindeer and elves and the North Pole?

CONS: *Eventually your kids will figure out that it's not true and that can be a crushing discovery.

*I feel like I'm perpetrating a lie when I build up the whole Santa side of Christmas.

*The Santa legend detracts from the true meaning of Christmas--celebrating the birth of Christ.

Is it just me or do the CONS completely outweigh the PROS here? Call me crazy, but that's what I think. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Santa. I just haven't taken an active role in spreading that story in our family. Trust me, the kids get enough of that from movies, school, and friends.

When we lived in Tucson, I had a born-again Christian friend who told me that she was going to tell her children that there was no Santa right from the beginning. (We both had babies at the time.) Her reasoning? "If I tell them there's a Santa and they find out that there's not, how are they going to believe me when I tell them that Jesus is real?" You know, I think there may be some merit to that line of thinking. Am I so far out there?

So, what did I do when faced with the big question from my own six-year-old son? I waffled.
B: "Mom, is Santa Claus real?"
Me: "Well, what do you think?"
B: "Yes!"
Me: "If that's what you think, that's what's important."
B: "Well, is he real or not?"
Me: "If you believe he's real, that's what matters."


AGH... Did I fail in my parental responsibilities? Is it just a normal part of being a kid to look forward to Santa's visit every year? Did I just crush that hope for Brandon? I didn't technically tell him that there is NO SANTA, but he's a very astute child and knows that I am generally very straight-forward in the answers I give to his questions. I have a feeling my beat-around-the-bush technique failed to inspire any confidence in Jolly Old Saint Nick. Could be an interesting Christmas Day around here.

Book Review: Grayson

Here's my most recent finished book: Grayson by Lynne Cox



I'm a member of Borders Rewards and every month they send me an e-mail with some of the latest and greatest titles that are out. I make note of the ones I think I sound interesting and reserve them at the library when I get a chance. That's how I heard about both Mayflower and Grayson.

Grayson is a true story about an experience the author had when she was seventeen. She was an elite swimmer and had already swam the English Channel by that age. She trained by swimming in the Pacific Ocean every morning. This book is about her adventure on one of those mornings when she encounters a baby gray whale. It is a very quick read--150 pages--and the entire books takes place in the span of several hours. If you like the ocean and/or whales and/or have ever been interested in Marine Biology, I'd recommend this book for you. I love the ocean and have always been fascinated by whales. I enjoyed the book. It grabbed me right from the beginning. The author is very descriptive and I love the way she took me right to the beach. But towards the middle, she got a little too flowery in her descriptions. It came across as if she were trying too hard to sound like a good writer. Even so, it makes a fun and fast little read.

Keys to a successful Thanksgiving

We had a really fun Thanksgiving week. Yea, in keeping with our new family tradition of stretching out holidays as long as possible, we pretty much started celebrating Thanksgiving last Saturday, when my family came into town. And we finished it up yesterday morning when they left. (All except Grandma Cuca, who we get to keep for another week--yea!) Here's what made it a very fun and memorable Turkey week for us:

*GOOD FOOD--This is, of course, a necessity for everyone on this holiday. And our Thanksgiving feast was quite a success if I do say so myself. We had all the traditional foods--turkey, dressing, yams, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls....mmmmm. But throughout the week we also had rice and beans and tortillas--my favorite meal EVER. And enchiladas another night. I'm not looking forward to stepping on the scale at the dr's office this week. What, I'm not supposed to gain 5 pounds a week at this point in my pregnancy???

The feast...moments before being devoured.

*A whole bunch of family members--We had a house full and I LOVED it. With the majority of our family members living two thousand miles away, this isn't a chance we get frequently.

This was our Turkey Day crew:
Brandon, Carson, Avery, Whit

Andrew, Destinee, Mason, Ryan

Daneen and Paul (who look SO happy to be here),
Grandma Cuca, my Dad and Mom.

It was great to always have someone to:

play Guitar Hero

or Singstar with,

shoot hoops in the back with the kids,
(even Grandma Cuca got in on the action!)

take us geocaching,

(We even found one cache!)

go to the park, play cards or Mad Gab.....never a dull moment.

*Lots and lots of Football--Andrew even faked a back injury so that he could lie on the couch and watch his favorite spectator sport for three full days. OK, I'm totally kidding about him FAKING the injury, but Old Man Sweat really was down and out with a bad back for three full days. He was in A LOT of pain. But I don't think he mind being forced to take it easy for a while.

*Using the internet to do my Black Friday shopping--I decided that unless you are going to save hundreds of dollars on a big ticket item, it is just not worth it to fight those crowds, the cold, and lose that sleep to shop on Friday morning. So, this time I stayed up until midnight playing Singstar with my family and then hopped online and did my shopping. I still got some great deals and most of the sites I used offered free shipping. Can't beat that!

Unexpected Perks: My dear, sweet brother was brave and repaired a slow-draining tub in the bathroom they were using by digging out 4 toothpaste caps and a band-aid among other disturbing items....I'll stop there. Some people will take the initiative and fix problems like these. Others (like me) will continue to use Drano every other month and wonder why it is still draining sooooo slowly.

THANK YOU, PAUL!

My awesome Dad repaired the taillight that burned out on my van last week. It had been driving me crazy because the blinker goes really fast, but I hadn't taken the time to fix it yet.... Who knows how long it would've taken.

THANK YOU, DAD!

We feel extremely blessed to have people travel such long distances to be with us for this holiday. Thanks to everyone who came and for the sacrifices you made to be here. I think everyone else around here is so done with eating the leftovers. As for me, I'll enjoy the turkey and the yams for a couple more days and remember the great Thanksgiving we had.

Not quite what they were looking for

I have a couple different counters on this blog that I use to monitor my traffic and see who's been looking at the blog. It's just kind of fun to see which posts get a lot of hits and which ones don't. It's also fun to see when people from Germany or Brazil stumble upon your blog and leaves me wondering what in the world they think about it.

One of the counters I use is by Google Analytics. It has a very business-like layout and includes an easy way to see what search engine keywords have been entered to find your blog. Ok. My results crack me up. I had to share some of the searches that people have done to end up at this blog site. I'm sure many of them were sorely disappointed.

*ebeneezer beesley--When I saw this show up, I had to think, "Do I know an Ebeneezer Beesley?" I racked my brain and couldn't recall that name so I googled it myself and found my blog and found that it was a name entered by Grandpa Hiatt in a comment when I had posted about "High On The Mountain Top" being written by our great big Grandpa. However, our grandpa wrote the lyrics and Mr. Beesley wrote the music. Oops.

*church marquee sayings--This by far has gotten the most hits from my keywords. Now I feel kind of bad for bashing on them. People were probably looking for great saying to put on their own marquees. Oops again.

*things that bug me AND *things that bug me about my mom--I guess some people enjoy reading about the things that just absolutely drive other people crazy. I apologize to the second searcher. I try to avoid mom-bashing, especially on the blog. :)

*purple cast--Now if they were looking for a pic of a cute girl IN purple arm cast, these searchers got exactly what they wanted.

*andrew brandon oh no not the nativity--I didn't know people did keyword searches that were this lengthy. What kills me is that it turned up on TWO different searches. Interesting.

*car air freshener enjoy a pleasant scent anywhere you go--This one wins the record for longest search term. I don't believe you can call this a "keyword" search anymore.

*3 things never to mention in a conversation--Oh, man, I am DEFINITELY not a reliable source for etiquette information!

*andrea's affair with andrew--Now this one was looking for some SCANDAL. Not too much of that going on in our lives. (knock on wood)

*athlete duane's syndrome AND *dr. buckley duane's AND *duane's syndrome vrt--I was actually very happy to see these hits. It is hard to find info on Duane's Syndrome and I would be happy to help another parent who is dealing with this. I guess they need to be brave and post a comment or question if they actually want any advice, though. Maybe they figure I already share enough on the blog.

*sandelwood keep mice away--Have I ever written about sandelwood? I don't even know what that is.

*baby's face looks funny at 12 weeks scan--I guess I'm not the only person out there who thinks this!

*top 10 gross men sweat moles hairs--Ewwww....someone is actually searching for this???

Here are some of the other random searches that found me:

*alternate names for a toilet

*feed a zebra

*gecko pumpkin

*glass iron corning

*her monocular

*i can't get lasik

*just say whatever is on their minds

*trey sweat

*two wise children activities

*andrea woodshop

*batting cages bavaria

*catchy sayings about exercise

*cruise moments

*daneen spoiled pretty

*funny pictures about frequency of tooth brushing

*how to make balloon lightsabers

*photo of mom using power washer

*pokemon corning ny sale or shop

*pros and cons of being an athlete

Well, if you've made it to the end of this post you are undoubtedly a devoted reader....or the IT guy in charge of google analytics. Which search term did YOU use to find me? Or which do you think was most appropriate?

Grateful for Health Insurance

We could call this "Family Health Care Appreciation Week" around here. Three of us have been to the doctor. And none of us are sick. Andrew's back is really bothering him and he might take visit #4 if it's keeps hurting.

Tuesday--Whitney went back to the orthopedist to get her hard cast on. I think Dr. Buckley might have some competition on his hands, because Whit has developed a little crush on Dr. Norris, too. She was SOOOO excited to go see him and then when he came in the room, she clammed up and wouldn't say a thing. Already playing shy. What is it with this girl and her doctors???

We got a glimpse of her little arm before
we had to say goodbye to it for the next month.

She chose a pretty purple cast and she is thrilled with it.
She doesn't have to wear a sling anymore and is adapting
well to doing things one-handed.

She took her silver marker to preschool
today, so her little friends could sign it.
Pretty funny when preschoolers try to
sign a cast.

Wednesday--Brandon had his well child check-up. It's so nice to still have one child who is UNBREAKABLE.

He even had to get two shots and didn't
throw a fit about it. He took them like a
man and hardly even winced.
Way to go, B-train!

Thursday--I went in for an ultrasound and bloodwork.

I made it to the twelve week mark.
Yeah for the second trimester!

And am looking just a little bit pregnant,
ya think?

Here are the pics of our little peanut:

He or she was very laid back--would just
hang out with his/her legs crossed for a
while as the ultrasound tech got the
measurements she needed. Then
got the hiccups and was bouncing all over the place.
It always surprises me at this stage to see how
much they move around and that I can't feel a thing.

This one's a profile shot of the baby's face.
Then toward the end of the test, the baby started
sticking out it's tongue. The tech thought it was
so funny that she printed up a pic.

We got a couple of those 3D shots that they can
do now. This is the first child that I've had that
experience with. They're kind of creepy. The
baby looks slightly alien-ish. I think I'll keep
them to myself. :)

Other than visiting doctor's offices, I've been frantically trying to get the house ready to host six house guests for the next week. Fun stuff!

The festivities

Andrew enjoyed an extended birthday celebration this year. It wasn't just one day of fun. Oh, no. It was three days of non-stop partying....Sweat style.

On Friday, the kids stayed the night with Mary and Steve, a saintly empty-nester couple from church. Andrew and I went up to Raleigh and actually got to go to the temple together. It was WONDERFUL! I wish that could happen more often. We went out to P.F. Chang's afterward. I forget how much I love the food there until I'm actually sitting down and devouring it.

Fun date night.
And, the preggo girl didn't even give out early. We didn't get home until almost 1 a.m. and I hung in there. Very impressive.

On Sunday after church we did the actual birthday dinner/cake/presents. Sometimes I wonder why I even try when it comes to making cakes. I don't think I've had a successful one yet. The kids and I decided to make a nice little two-layer cake for Drew. I couldn't find my round baking pans, so we used square ones, which I thought would be fine and make it a little unique. Well....the baking part went OK, but when it came time to frost, we had a disaster. One of the cans of frosting had the seal broken and was completely crystallized. Agh! One can of frosting won't cut it for a double layer square cake!

So instead, he ended up with 1 1/2 layers. It kinda reminds me of the Mesa Arizona temple. Rather than pile 33 candles on, we put three on the top layer and three on the bottom. I love how Whitney is helping him blow them out in this pic.

Here is the adorable card that Brandon made.

Can you read the left side? It says, "Happy birthday Dad.
You are the 2nd best Dad ever. You Rock. B"

So, of course Andrew had to ask the question,
"Who's the best dad ever?"
B: "Heavenly Father, of course."
Also love the sentiment on the right side:
33 is fun!

For his gift, I got Andrew a print of "The Patriot"
by Nick Greenwood, an artist we go to church with.

Isn't it an awesome picture?

To keep the fun going, Andrew took off work on Monday. The kids already had it off for Veteran's Day. We took a family trip to the zoo.

This was the scenery on the side of the road the
whole way down there. It was breathtaking! Loved it.

And throughout the zoo, the fall foliage was just as gorgeous.
Since we didn't take our annual drive up the Blue Ridge Pkwy

for fall pics, I figured this might be the best opportunity we'd have.

Oh, and there were some animals there, too.
If you look above Whit's shoulder, you can see a rhino.

Her favorite animal is the giraffe and she
loved seeing them in real life.

Brandon loved the gorilla, but I didn't get any
pics of him.

Andrew and I loved the sea lions best.
They were complete show-offs and were swimming
back and forth and doing acrobatics the whole
time we were watching. Very fun.

Today it was back to work and school as usual. Party's over, folks. And I guess I better get to work myself, too. It would be nice to have more than a blog post to show for my morning alone. :)

Lucky 33

My hot husband turns 33 this week! We're starting to get up there, huh? Andrew says he actually enjoys aging because now fewer people will ask, "You're only 30?" with shocked expressions when they find out how old he is. In honor of his big day, I thought I'd share 33 things you may or may not know about Andrew.

1. He needed surgery when he was two years old to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. I hear that before the surgery he had a deep little froggy voice. Wish I could've heard that.

Wasn't he the cutest little boy?
And can you believe how BLOND his hair was?

2. He was a guest on the TV show "Romper Room" when he was a kid. Have you ever heard of that? I guess there was a generation gap between the two of us here, because I never had.

Who knew he was such a celebrity?

3. He also co-starred in a movie called "The Rabbit." It was made by a man that Andrew went to church with who still works in film, mainly editing LDS documentaries.

4. Has been in three bands--Deaf Dogs, Fatheads, and JUSTUS. They are not famous for such hits as "Blue Haired Old Ladies," "Twelve-year-old Gangsta," and "Burnt Biscuits."

JUSTUS rocks!

5. Was voted "Most Athletic" AND "Best Looking" at his high school. The powers that be made him choose just one to spread the wealth. He chose "Most Athletic." (Did I score or what?)

Hottie

6. Came THIS CLOSE to playing college basketball at Ricks College. It was down to two scholarships and three players. Andrew was the unlucky guy that got cut.

How could they turn down a guy who can dunk like this?

7. When I met him, he was studying pre-dental and driving a black Jeep Wrangler. What a catch, right? (Especially for me, since I was pre-dental, too!) By the next semester after we had started dating, both the major and the Jeep were gone...but I was in love by then, so he was stuck with me.

8. Is afraid of heights, which just seems ironic to me since he is SOOO tall. We lived in Vegas one summer and for my birthday he rode the rides at the top of the Stratosphere with me. Now that, my friends, is true love.

9. Is also afraid of dogs and has been bitten on several occasions.

10. Worked in an Audio/Visual studio on campus when we were at BYU. He would have to film business students giving presentations. Many of them drove him crazy and he would come home complaining about how precocious and demanding the "business boys" were. The following year, he applied for the business program and became one of those boys.

11. Lived in the Atacama desert of northern Chile for two years while serving a mission for our church. It didn't rain the entire two years that he lived there.

Lots and lots of dirt!

12. After giving it up for a year, is back to playing Madden on the playstation every chance he gets. (Read: he stays up late after the kids and I are in bed.)

Football fan for life

13. Snores very loudly. Thankfully, I'm a heavy sleeper....usually.

14. Never listens to the radio, unless he's in the car with me. He prefers to listen to podcasts about sports and/or politics.

15. When I was in hygiene school, I had to practice giving anesthetic injections to a certain number of patients. As the end of the year drew near, I hadn't reached my allotment, so Andrew volunteered to come into our clinic and let me give him SIX SHOTS in the mouth so I could pass. Again, I knew that man loved me.

16. I don't think he ever goes to bed before midnight.

17. Favorite candy bars include Almond Joy, 5th Avenue, and Charleston Chew.

18. Favorite dessert is ice cream--hands down.

19. Worked at Baskin Robbins when he was in high school. This may or may not have anything to do with his lingering love of ice cream.

20. (knock on wood) Has never been in a car accident.

21. Is an amazing Boggle player. I feel like I should be good, but he kicks my butt every time.

22. Enjoys wrestling matches with the kids. (This activity has been put on hold for the next 4-5 weeks while Princess Thunder aka Whitney recovers from her injury.) Brandon and Whit team up on him and they have some pretty sweet match-ups.

23. Favorite restaurant meal of all time: King Crab Legs from the Deck House in Carolina Beach.

Mmmmmm...the Deck House...
I wish I was eating there right now.

24. Is a great guitar player and singer. I'm still trying to convince him that we could perform on a cruise ship when he retires.

25. Does NOT consider himself a handyman, but has learned a lot of things from hands-on experience (and the help of friends) about how to fix things over the last few years: replaced a faucet, installed a new garbage disposal, re-built a fence, patched a muffler, and replaced a porch.

26. Has been known to talk gibberish in his sleep.

27. Loves to read and is always in the midst of a book. When he gets a lunch break, he goes out to his car and reads while he eats. Favorite author: Orson Scott Card.

28. Does not enjoy cooking and spaghetti is about the only meal he feels comfortable making EXCEPT for Thanksgiving dinner. Two years ago, I told him that we could stay in town for Turkey day if he would do ALL the cooking and he agreed. It was awesome. I'm over my little fit and I help out a little with the sides, but he's still in charge of the turkey.

29. Most embarrassing moment: Andrew used to ride to and from school/work when we were in college. One day on his ride home from BYU, his shoelace came untied and got wrapped around the pedal. It was right in between classes so there were students all around. He was on the ramp by the Maeser Building and unfortunately started tipping in the direction where his foot was tied to the pedal. He just slowly tipped over, not being able to catch himself. Several people came up, "Are you OK?" He got his shoelace out of the pedal and continued to ride home.

30. Has the most striking blue eyes. I think he's so tall that most people don't get to see them. Plus, he usually has his glasses on.

LOVE those blue eyes.

31. Loves the beach and dreams of retiring there.

32. Favorite sports teams: Los Angeles Lakers, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and BYU football.

33. Is my dream guy and I'm so lucky to have him as my husband, even if he is getting old.

Happy Birthday, honey!