Checking Out

I have been M.I.A. in the blogging/cyber world lately! I assure you, I am still doing well in the real world. I took a little break from life, and now that it's Monday, and spring break is over, and the kids are back in school, it's time to get back to being regular.

Back on the 16th, I took off for Utah. Just myself. And a friend who's family lives in Utah. It was time to visit my family and check out for a few days. Thanks to my parents who let me do just that, I am feeling great now, and ready for the next few bits of time. It was so nice to just sleep in, pet Dieter the dog, watch basketball all day Saturday, go to their ward where Neal and I used to live, hang out with siblings, nieces, nephews, and old friends. Ahhhhhhhh! It was awesome. I think Ginger and my Mom will kill me for this picture, but I thought it was funny. We were visiting my grandma's grave on her birthday, eating cinnamon bears. Thanks for the shot, Dad! Ginger's three cute girls look great. What's up with the adults? Can't manage gummy foods anymore?

I would never choose to get married at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I hear it's perpetually windy over there. But it was great being there with my parents and some of my siblings.

Since we ditched Laurel when we went to the temple (I still feel so bad about that, La!), I went shopping later with her and my Mom. It's so nice to go shopping with honesty. I need it, because I'm a shopping retard. Thanks to their honesty, I didn't buy the cardigan that showed off my growing muffing top. And thanks to them, I did buy the striped cardigan and a couple of blouses (yes, blouses), that I never would have bought if left to my own devices. And I love them.

Laurel always helps me with that stuff. Last year, I said to her, "Laurel! You'd be so proud of me! I have 3 purses!"

And she said, "Yeah, but are they all made of cloth?"

"Umm, yeah. They are."

"That doesn't count then," she said. Then she gave me an old leather purse of hers.

And she's not afraid to help me with my brows. Those dang brows.

Just last night, Kate told me that if Neal and I ever got a divorce, she would totally live with her Dad, because, "We do WAY funner things when you're not here!" I think she's right.

Neal took the kids to the zoo. It was a wet, rainy, cold day. But they had fun. And you can totally tell that Neal dressed Abigail. Those pants aren't capris. They are 18 month pants. When I got home, she had a closet full of all of the clothes that fit her, and when I did laundry, there was a hamper full of old, non-fitting clothes. Oh well! They had fun with their Dad and grandma. And I had fun without them. But it's always oh, so wonderful, to get back home to their awesomeness.

Neal has about 10 or so pictures of Abby licking water off of things. Display glass, bronze goats, you name it. She would say, "I taste the water!" Maybe he should have given her a water bottle.

Dude, I want that cheeto.

Give me that Cheeto, or I'll eat your face off!

She's listening to the lions roar. It reminds me of the old phone interactive pioneer miniature displays they used to have at Temple Square. I loved those things.

We have a stair project going on at our house. It's a good thing for cheap labor! I love that the bottle of insulation said "cracks" on it. There were a lot of cracks under the stairs. Especially with Kate crawling around in there.

Yet another discovery. It took a few days for the kids to notice.

Poor Fishy

It's time for the library to get a new fish. Some of the older kids were concerned. My little one didn't even notice. But, the parents noticed when the librarian removed the fish, went into the bathroom, and came out empty-handed.

For two days in a row, there was an old, beat-up custom van parked in front of our neighbor's house behind ours. It was a business van. The name of the business was, "Life After Death Spirit Seekers." It really got my imagination going. Did someone just die there? Is the house haunted? I was so curious! I wanted to peek inside the van, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Now I will forever wonder why that van was doing business at that house.

Sarah was being her usual open-self the other day when she asked Neal, "Dad, after the baby is born, are you going to get a dissectomy?" We know what she meant. She knew what she meant. But she was mixing up the dissecting units of science class with the sexual-health units of health class.

Neal blushed and told her to mind her own business. I laughed.

I'm going to miss this little thumb-sucking-set-up someday. She's very particular. It has to be skin against her nose. So, all of her sleeves get rolled up really high.

I'm also going to miss when she learns the proper pronounciation of "shirt." For now, the above shirt is her "doggy shit." It gets a laugh outta me every time.

Speaking of "doggy shirts," she was playing at a friends house the other day and insisted on wearing the 18 month size doggy costume. She was sweating, but she didn't care.

Abby's latest craze is Bambi. I think I've mentioned it before. As she watches the movie, she finds all of the skinny legged baby horses she can get, and pretends they're deer. So, I ordered her some toy deer on the interweb. Naturally, a mommy, daddy and baby deer. She loves them! They go everywhere with her. And she sings the Bambi song as she plays with them. There's a Bambi song, you might say? Yep. It's some tune with trombones and stuff. It's really cute. She does the same with Harry Potter. Every time she hears anything about Harry Potter, she says, "Scarry Potter!" and proceeds to hum the theme song.

Last Sunday in church, when the sacrament was passed to our row, Abby took a piece of bread and said, "Jesus bread!" Then, later, while "going potty" (which is her excuse to get out of nursery), she saw someone's shoes in the stall next to us and said, "What the heck, shoes!" And while chasing the neighborhood cat, she yelled, "What the heck, Kitty!" (Kate used to say "Titty." My sister, Laurel, would always say, "Kate, do you love kitties?" And Kate would yell, "Yes! I LOVE titties! I LOVE titties!").

Last pregnancy, it was pickled beets and pears. This time, it's pickled ginger and mangos. I could eat that stuff straight out of the jar.

One of these days, we'll re-finish the table. To add to the wear-and-tear of our almost 15 year old table, Kate spilled a bottle of nail polish remover on it a few weeks ago. There's a nice finish-free spot right in the middle of the table now. I'm thinking of just putting the table in the garage, and acting like I'm starting the job. Then, Neal will feel bad and say, "I'll do it!" It's a new trick I'm learning. For those things that need to get done and are kind of bugging me, and Neal says he'll do them, I just start, and he says, "Hey! Don't do that! I'll finish!" It's a handy trick.

But, I've been so freaking tired and sick lately, that I don't think I'll be dragging the table into the garage anytime soon. I can barely walk up the stairs without having to sit down and take a breather.