Confession #11 -- I Don't Know Everything

Even though Piglet thinks I do.

Piglet is at that fantastic age of 4 where children learn not only better coordination, and social skills, but masses of knowledge as well. I actually really like to see him learn. He is doing really well with recognizing the letters and knowing what sounds they make. He is not so keen on writing, but that will come in time. I love it when he picks up a new skill or somehow applies the new knowledge that has learned.

But, he is also at this lovely age of 4 where they tend to ask a lot of questions. I usually try to answer them to the best of my ability because I believe that it helps him learn and it conveys the idea that asking questions about life is a good thing. I also try to answer them so he knows that I'm paying attention to him.

This is the hard part because sometimes, the questions are so many and they come so fast, that I really do start to tune him out. And he often asks questions when I'm trying to concentrate on something else...driving during rush hour, cooking dinner, typing on the computer. And sometimes I really do get irritated when he asks so many questions. I try my hardest to not let him know that I'm irritated, but that doesn't always work. And my rule of thumb is that I never ask him to stop asking questions, no matter how much I don't like it.

I'm afraid I don't always follow my rule of thumb. Peter asked if I was going to share this next little quip with you and my first response was. "No!" mostly because it was really irritating at the time and I was really angry about it. But in looking back at it, I suppose there is sort of a funny side to it. Here it is:

We were madly trying to get ready for stake conference. Because we have afternoon church, it was much earlier than we normally get ready for church. In all the hustle and bustle of gathering snacks, toys, and other things to occupy their time, Piglet was asking questions incessantly. We finally got in the car and were on the way to the church and I had HAD it with the questions. I said, much more grumpily than I should have, "Piglet, stop asking questions! It's irritating!"

His response: "What does irritating mean?"

Confession #10 -- It's almost 10am and I'm still in my Pajamas

I LOVE PAJAMAS! And being in them is the greatest thing. But I have to admit that I don't usually stay in them until 10am. I usually have already left the house with the kids for whatever errands need to be done or for a playdate with some friends. As much as I love pajamas, I still feel guilty every time I wear them past 8am. Somehow I think that I should be more on top of it all. And I know that I would get more done if I didn't stay in them and that's what makes me change out of them by 8am. I guess I just have this thought that morning people are somehow better than night people.

I am a night person al the way. I could stay up reading a book until all hours of the morning. I could start a movie at 11 and stay up watching it. I could start to bake something at 11 and stay up until it's done. But ask me to get up early?!?! That's almost impossilbe. And once I'm asleep, you better not bug me until I am good and ready to get up. Unfortunately, my kids often wake up before I'm ready to get up and end up being the recipient of a few grouchy comments. Gotta work on that!

I suppose that it doesn't really matter whether you are a night person or a morning person...as long as you are a person working on making yourself better. Even if, for me, it means trying my hardest to be at least a tolerable morning person!

My Encounter with President Hinckley

Because of the recent passing of President Hinckley, I have been reflecting on some of the things he's meant to me. Although he's not the first Prophet I remember, he is the one that guided me through my most formative years. The years that I was trying to figure out just who I am. I have always appreciated his sense of humor because he was able to be funny without being crass or inappropriate, which seems to be a hard thing to do these days. The following experience with him illustrates that.

At BYU I worked in the Marriott Center where many of the CES firesides took place. I had the chance to meet several General Authorities through this job. I often worked in the elevator, pushing buttons and making sure people got to all the right places. On a day that President Hinckley came to the Marriott Center, I had less than a minute with him in the elevator, but the following conversation ensued:

President Hinckley, shaking my hand, "What's your name?"

I told him.

President Hinckley, "Are you married or single?"

Me, "I'm single."

President Hinckley, "What's your major?"

Me, "Family Science."

President Hinckley, "Maybe you should be in engineering where all the young men are!"

I didn't take that advice to be prophetic...I did finally find my Peter Priesthood after I graduated, but I learned a few things about him from this encounter.

1. President Hinckley was truly interested in me as a person.

2. He cared deeply about young people pursuing and education, AND wanting to be married.

3. His jokes and sense of humor didn't have to be offensive.

How I love that man and I'm sad to see him go. As a family, we have been praying much for his health and that he would be able to do all that he is asked to do. I think Heavenly Father answered our prayers in a way that's better than we imagined.

Goodbye, President Hinckley!

Confession #9 -- I Have a LOVE/HATE Relationship with Food

I LOVE cooking food.



I HATE cleaning up after making food.



I LOVE trying new foods.



I HATE how some new foods (new spices in particular) give me horrible heart burn.



I LOVE crunchy cold cereal...especially Honey Bunches of Oats.



I HATE that no matter how long I wait to put milk on my cold cereal, it always gets soggy because I'm getting stuff for the kids.



I LOVE anything with milk chocolate and peanut butter.



I HATE how the calories of milk chocolate and peanut butter add up fast.



I LOVE ice cream with loads of chunks in them. Especially Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup.



I HATE ice cream made out of berries.



I LOVE fresh spinach. I eat a lot of it.



I HATE green peas. My poor children are going to grow up not eating them at our house. I can't stand even the smell of them.



I LOVE reading recipes. I check out cookbooks from the library often.



I HATE the smell of burned popcorn.



I LOVE the smell of freshly baked bread. That's one of the reasons I make all of ours.





And that's about all I can think of to illustrate my LOVE/HATE relationship with food. I'm sure as I go along with this blog, I'll think of a few other things I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with.

The Coolest Paper Toy Ever

If you need something to do with your kids, try this link out!


http://www.metacafe.com/w/962261

I can't figure out how to put the video in my blog...maybe one of my new blog friends can help me?!?!

Confession #8 -- I Wasn't Always Like This

I love reading Laughadaisy's Retro Pages because I am a product of the 80s and 90s, too. Reading her last post, it reminded me of my college days, too. When I was a much more wild person. Peter often tells me that if he had known me during my college days, he would have never been interested. Truth be told, at that point, I would have never been interested in him, either. Good thing we met after I was done.

Anyway, back to my college memory. I had two roommates that I did everything with. I still keep in touch with them, too, because they are cool like that. One of them was just like me (at the time). We giggled a lot, and we were always on the look out for the really cute guys. You know the kind that were way out of our reach. Whereever we were, we were being goofy. The other roommate was tall, black, and beautiful. She was the one that toned us down. She was always more serious and I think she wondered about our sanity once in awhile.

We lived in a complex that had a pool and one summer there was a really, really, really good looking guy that was hired to keep the pool up. He knew he looked good and he often strutted around without a shirt on. We liked to watch him out the window. One day the three of us were watching out the window and the two of us sillies got the idea to whistle at him. Well, we did, and then we ducked really fast. Our roommate was left standing at the window, mortified that the pool guy thought she had whistled at him because she wouldn't have in a million years. We had a good laugh, but I'm always glad that she forgave us for that one!!

Confession #7 -- I Don't Clean My Bathrooms as Much as I Should

Of all the cleaning jobs throughout the house, the bathroom is my most dreaded one. I get dry heaves just trying to clean the toilet. Usually dear Peter ends up cleaning the toilets and I do the rest.



But because this is about cleaning, I thought I'd tell you about some of my favorite cleaners and tricks.



1. My all time favorite is any brand of disinfectant wipes. Right now I use the Clorox ones, but that's because they were on sale. Usually it's the Costco ones. I have a container of those under every sink and I use them constantly. I especially like them in the bathrooms when I'm wiping down the bathroom sink after my kids have done a whirlwind through there. I also like them in the kitchen to clean up after doing things with raw meat.



2. My next one is a great product called Bar Keeper's Friend. I have copper bottomed pots and they work great for getting rid of the discoloration that happens when you cook. They also are great for getting the burned crusty things out of the bottom of your saucepans. And it even gets out things that you think have permanately stained your counter. But be careful with that because it can take the finish off. Test it in a corner or something.



3. Number three is a laundry cleaning trick to get out the grease stains on clothing. It's just plain dishsoap. I put a bit of it on the grease stain, give it a good scrub, let it sit for about 3 minutes and then throw it in with the rest of the laundry. I also usually hang dry the things that are treated just in case. But never fear, I have used it on grease stains that have been dried in and it works for those, too.



4. This one is also a laundry trick that my RS Pres told me. It gets rid of ink from pens on clothing. Just spray a bit of hairspray on them, give them a little scrub, let it sit for about 3 mintues and then toss it in with the rest of the laundry. As with any stain, these come out better the sooner they are treated, but I've had it work with stains that were set in, too.



5. And my all time coolest one is called Mostenbocker's Lift Off. There are different numbers (1-5) that each target something different.

1. Removes food, beverage and protein stains.


2. Removes grease, gum, tape, and adhesives


3. Removes permanent marker, pen, and ink


4. Removes spray paint and grafitti


5. Removes latex paint.

I've used #2 and #5 and I love them! One day I wasy painting my bedroom wall a dark blue color and I got latex paint on the carpet. And it wasn't just a little. It was a stain about a foot long. Of course I panicked! We're renting!!! I found this stain remover at Home Depot and it worked magically! There is still a little bit of blue, but if you aren't looking for it and you don't know where to look, you wouldn't find it. And it got rid of the paint so well that even the towels I used to clean it up didn't have blue left on them either! And the best part is that it advertises that it works on dried latex paint, too! I've never tried it, but I just might have to try it on a baseboard or two that the previous people got paint on!

So, what's your favorite cleaners? Has anyone tried the Scrubbing Bubbles shower cleaner? The one that is supposed to spray all of your shower every day? I've just gotta know if that one works, but I'm too cheap to buy it and try it myself!!