Tomorrow You'll Be Older

More Evelyn Cuteness

2011-12-20T11:06:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's been forever since I've last written. I'd have an excuse....but...I don't.

Those of you who know my family well, know that Evelyn has imaginary friends. Not just one, not just two, but multiple. Her favorite changes periodically, and she occasionally adds more to her list. Well at the beginning of December, she had quite a few, consisting of Batman, Woody and Buzz, Jack Skellington, and the Furious 5.

Is Evelyn a tomboy? Just a bit...But I have some hope: she has no female imaginary friends because she plays those parts. For instance, we had a little Catwoman slinking around our house for a couple weeks. While she was being Catwoman, Evelyn would tell us, "I am a very sneaky Catwoman, and I steal anything I want for my parents."

Obviously we had to put the kibosh on that. After a little while, Catwoman became a person who snuck around doing anonymous acts of service instead of stealing things.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Evelyn got a new favorite imaginary friend. Can you guess who it is?

That's right! Jacob Marley! We got this for our yearly ornament, and Evelyn has also been watching the Disney Christmas Carol, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and she watched Scrooge this year. She calls him, "Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Spirit." I think it's a very appropriate name!

Jacob Marley has been accompanying us everywhere: he runs (or rides a bicycle which would be very difficult with all those chains...) beside our car, and she shares her dinner with him. He wears the same flowery-pink jacket as Evelyn when it is cold outside.

So the other night, Evelyn was having me tuck Jacob Marley in bed with her. She told me, "Be careful with Jacob, Mommy; he has terrible chains!

Dem Bones Dance

2011-11-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

This is what Evelyn performed on Halloween for Michael's family.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:22

2011-07-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Evelyn could be a soap box preacher. That is, IF she could remember the reference...the little goofball!

And here is a more reverant version:

Percy Pugshire

2011-06-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Meet Percy:

Percy the pug/yorkie puppy stayed with us for a whole week! What a lucky Evelyn! She adored Percy, and when I would punish the puppy for biting (even if he would bite her) she would come passionately to his defense. "MOMMY! Don't punish my puppy! He is just a sweet baby! He doesn't know any better!" When I asked how he would learn what was right and wrong if we didn't punish him, she couldn't argue though. I have never seen a little kid so defensive of a dog, though. Anytime we got within a block of a person when we were taking him for a walk, Evelyn would yell, "This is MY dog! His name is Percy and he's sweet. But you can't take him home!"

He was a sweet puppy, but unfortunately we had to sell him so I could remember how to breath again. I don't know if I developed dog allergies or if just having to take him out so frequently was making my allergies act up, but it wasn't much fun. We will have to try again when we have a yard.

Evelyn handled it well when we sold him, though. We just dropped subtle hints like: "Did you have fun having a sleep over with a puppy for so long? Did you know it's almost time for him to go?" She didn't even cry when he left, but she has mentioned that she is really sad, "because Percy hasn't come back!"

"If it hasn't got a tail..."

2011-05-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

Due to a lesson learned from VeggieTales, Evelyn now knows the difference between a monkey and an ape. As a consequence, anytime Michael or I tell her to stop monkeying on the furniture, she corrects us:
"I'm not a monkey, I'm an ape! See the way my body puffs out?" (as she protrudes her rear in our general direction,) "See? No tail!"
By the way, Barrel of Monkeys isn't really a barrel full of monkeys. It's a barrel full of APES!

(P.S. Michael says that due to the fact that he didn't know the difference between a monkey and an ape before VeggieTales, I should include the fact that primates with tails classify as monkeys, the rest are apes.)

Expressions

2011-05-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Disgusted

Happy

Excited

Mad

Exasperated

Sad

Wiggly

More of Disneyland

2011-04-29T09:20:00.001-07:00

This time from my perspective!

We were quite the little group of lazy-bones this year. Dad rented himself, mom and me all little motorized scooters. We had fun driving through the park in a little line. Michael was the only one who got any exercise the whole week, because Evelyn stayed on my lap the whole time.

Here's our non-traditional picture in front of the castle (Dad was taking all the pics):

Our Vacation went as follows:

Day 1 (Saturday the 9th): Rent Van, pack up and drive to Henderson Nevada

Day 2: Go to Church and drive to Anaheim CA.

Day 3: Disneyland!

Day 4: Disneyland!

Day 5: Rest in hotel and in the evening go to Medieval Times and watch the Knights

Day 6: Disneyland!

Day 7: Relax in Hotel, Play in Park and Feed the ducks

Day 8: Drive to St. George

Day 9: Go to Church and drive home.

The driving wasn't bad. My mom bought 20 presents for Evelyn so that every hour she couldn't have a new toy or project. There was everything from a Pez dispenser to stickers to fingernail polish. And a million books from D.I. So Evelyn loved driving. It was like a really extended Christmas morning, with Disneyland to look forward to.

(We are so spoiled, especially Evelyn!)

My favorite part was the World of Color. It was actually really nice to sit and wait for it and just chat with Michael, but the show itself is awesome too.

We got Evelyn to go on most of the rides--mostly by bribing her to go on Smallworld. "Do you want to go on Smallworld again?" "Yes!" "Then you need to go on Casey Junior first!" etc. The only one she wouldn't go on was Haunted Mansion, and I certainly didn't push her. She was scared enough of Snow White's scary adventure. But even after going on all the rides, she really only wanted to ride Small World (and occasionally Pirates.) On night I said "ok, we can go on smallworld and one more ride. What would you like to do best?" And she told me, "I just want to go on Smallworld and then go to bed."

By the third day of Disneyland she was getting a little punchy:

The medieval times show was really fun too. Especially watching Evelyn. She loved cheering on our Knight with her flag and spitting at the bad guys...she was so enthusiastic I actually have wondered if bringing was wise...especially yesterday when she chased cousin Maxwell around the yard with a 2x4 and when we told her to not hit people with sticks--she might kill someone! All she replied was, "But I'm the King!"

She fell in love with our Blue Knight when he threw her a carnation. You should have seen her face! She just melted! But sadly, our knight didn't win. Actually he was pretty much killed. I thought Evelyn was going to burst into tears. But she remembered it was all a game, and we consoled her with the fact that she could meet her "Blue Prince" and give him a hug after.

Evelyn brought all of her money this year to buy a souvenir and had fun looking at all the hats at Disneyland. She found one like her Grandma was wearing (a coonskin cap) and wouldn't take it off until Grandma saw her in it. Later, Mom and Dad took her to the hotel to get some groceries and go to bed and when they walked into the grocery store, Evelyn got the giggles and said, "Grandma! You still have your funny hat on!" She just thought that was too much!

Our Vegas Story

On our way home we passed through Vegas and bought our first two bottles of wine. We almost bought five, but figured that was a little extreme, I mean one for each of us and Evelyn's too young anyway. If you don't believe me, here's my proof:

(Cheap prices, huh?) It really wasn't all it was cracked up to be, though. It just made all of us ornery for the rest of the day. Evelyn spent the day in the doghouse. Serves her right though for dropping those five bottles!

From the View of a Child

2011-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

From Evelyn's Memory:

"I went to Disneyland for 5 days. {We were only in the park for 3, but it was an 8 day vacation.} And I am not going anywhere else in Disneyland but the Tiki Room. *sings* In the Tiki Tiki Tiki room, in the tiki tiki tiki room, all the birds sing words and the flowers croon in the tiki tiki tiki room! And the ones (tikis) said 'kuk, kuh, kuh-kuh-kuh!' and the daddy ones said, 'Oop! Ha! Oop! Ha!' Like that. And the bird said, 'I sang so beautiful!" Like that. It rains in the tiki room, but when you are done, it's not raining! And it's magic, huh?

"We go on Jungle Cruise and the animals said 'roar!' and the elephant said, 'whoo! whoo!' and the monkeys said, 'ee-ee-ee!' And the tiger and the lions were not here again, just Hippos! My favorite part was the tiger, because I have a tiger like in the cruise. My tiger's name is Tissy. It is a girl.

"Then we went on Small World again. My favorite ride! We go on boats and see silly indians with masks on. --And belly buttons. We saw baby pandas and Ariel and Nemo and Dori.

"And besides that we went on 'Pirates,' then we waited 5 days to go on 'Pirates' again. We saw two slides and we go, "Splash! Splash!" and I covered my eyes so I don't get water in my eyes. And they sing, "yo-ho yo-ho a pirates' life for me!" My favorite part was the slides but they almost splashed my eyes. And they were a little bit scary, Mom.

"Now I have to tell you about Small World again. Did you know Small World is my favorite ride? When I get bigger and bigger, maybe I can go on Indians-Joneses.

"On Dumbo, we FLY! With a magic feather. Uh, huh.

"We went on Horsies. They went down. And Up!

"We saw Woody! That was in my movie. And we saw belly-buttons with the indians. Because they don't have clothes on. We saw Jessie and Bullseye and Woody in Disneyland. We killed Zurg dead with shooters!"

"And we saw Cruella DeVille! Cruella DeVille! She's a little bit scary. But she was a nice Cruella, not a mean Cruella.

"We were waiting for Repunzal to come out and we said, "*gasp!* Who's that? Is that Repunzal? No, that's a silly boy!" Then she came out and she gave me a hug and went to her tower. But she didn't see my shirt!

{Did we see the knights at Mideval Times?}

"That was not at Disneyland! But we got a Blue knight with blue flags and we whipped with them. And Daddy took my flag away because I whipped with it. The Green Knight said, "I'm going to kill you, Blue Knight!" and we said, "Boo! You naughty garbage, Green Knight!" I don't like Green Knights. They're really naughty, like Ursula is a naughty witch. My Blue Prince gave me a flower. He loves me so much! He is my favorite boy in the whole world!" {Even more than Maxwell?} "Yes. And the bad guy said, "I'm going to throw you in the garbage!" You can give him to me! *giggles* Just Kidding! I will get rid of the green Knight and throw him in the garbage and in your big white toilet. And we say, "Woohoo!" and *spits*. And we are mad at the Green Knight. Some Green Knights are Naughty. Some Blue Knights are nice. Some Yellow Knights are naughty, too. We will have to go see them again because they will be lonely. Poor Blue Knight!

"Do you know a special thing? The special thing is: *whispered* I love you!

Grandmas Mary and Papa Dail came with us. We drove, drove, drove. Grnadma had presents for me, but not right now! She set the timer and it said, "Beep, beep, beep!"

"I got a hat from a store in Disneyland. It looks like blue and purple with a big, big flower. I buyed my hat with lots of money; and a sucker too.

"We trade pins! And I was crying and I got two pins! Tinkerbell pins. They were my favorite."

Isaiah 53:3-5

2011-03-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Come on, Little One, look at the camera!

What Monkey?!

2011-03-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

People are fascinating. What lengths they go through to convince the rest of the world that they are "cool."
For instance, the other day Michael and I were out on a date, and we were at the University Parkway/State Street intersection in Orem when I noticed a sign dancer. You know, those people who get paid for standing out on a corner holding a sign that you can't read anyway because they are swinging and spinning it. But this wasn't just any sign dancer...oh no! It was a guy in a full monkey costume! I thought it was a pretty effective attention grabber.
Since we were stopped at the light, I had an opportunity to watch this monkey for some time and observe the effectiveness of his costume. I watched--I kid you not!--5 people walk next to this monkey, close enough to shake his hand, and not one of them even appeared to notice the monkey! They passed him with bored expressions, and didn't give him a second glance!
I can only bet that once they got out of ear-shot those who were walking together hissed, "Did you see that monkey?!"
So tell me, why do they pretend to not see the monkey?? Why this studied indifference like, "I've seen it before. You can't shock me"? At the very least they could laugh, or say appreciatively, "Hey, nice suit!" Is it threatening to see a monkey? Or would your image of coolness be crushed because you raised your eyebrow at him and walked as far from the monkey as possible? Come on, people, Give a reaction! Don't they know they look more ridiculous when they don't notice the monkey? For heaven's sake, how can you NOT see the monkey?!
So next time you're walking down state street, I want you to ask yourself this vital question:

Do you acknowledge the monkey?

"Wishing You Were Here"

2011-03-11T08:20:00.000-08:00

...The most depressing words you can find on a postcard. They might as well put "nanner-nanner" in parentheses below it. It doesn't even help if you know the person who sent you the card really does wish you were there...there's nothing you can do but stare at the picture of the tropical paradise and wish it would stop snowing outside as you pout into the early morning hours.
Michael just had a business trip to Puerto Rico. His hotel was a 5-star hotel right on the beach. Originally the plan was that I would accompany him without Evelyn. But Michael (being the practical man he is) decided he would be in meetings the whole time, and therefore I would be bored. BORED?! On the beach with 80 degree weather?!
To add insult to injury, Michael WASN'T in meetings the whole time. The first two days they met for like an hour, and then were released to go do whatever they wanted. The rest of the week they were released somewhere between 1 and 3. So Michael spent the whole week on the beach and came home all tanned, with stories of holding crabs and having 50-year-old ladies flirt with him. (Ha ha! At twenty-eight it was high school girls...at twenty-nine it's old ladies...Michael must be getting old!)
Anyway, Michael did bring us home presents. He brought me a beautiful hand carved necklace/earring set of flowers and for Evelyn he bought a monkey that chatters when you push a button in it's tummy. She fell in love immediately and dubbed it "Peachy Rico" after her favorite specialty drink as Los Hermanos.

Sticker-y

2011-02-22T09:58:00.001-08:00

Evelyn is so big now; she did her own hair! I thought it was very beautiful! And there was something about doing it herself that made her brave enough to stand it when I had to pull all the stickers out again. That is quite miraculous because she can't even stand me to brush her hair.

Little Moments that Make Being a Mom the Best Job in the World:

1-Evelyn carrying her imaginary pink kitten around in the palm of her hand. (She brought it to Los Hermanos and introduced it to the waiters and fed it some Peachy Rico drink.) When asked what her kitty's name was, she replied, "Jane Michael Adams," then changed it to "Shhhhmmmm."

2-The way she calls everyone "Sweetheart."

3-Sunday when she ran up to a complete stranger in a different ward and lit up his day by shaking his hand and giving him a hug like he was her best friend.

4-She calls tap dancing "Clickity-clacking," and wants to learn to dance like Fred Astaire, but not any girl tap dancers, because they're "naked!"

5-When I ask her to help me clean up the house and she tells me she won't help me because: "There are no damsels in distress in this family." Rats. I gotta watch what I tell her.

6-When she is throwing a tantrum in bed, screaming that she wants Mama to give her another snuggle-hug! I tell her I'm not coming in there because I already gave her a snuggle-hug, and besides, I don't reward tantrums. So she tells me, "Mommy, I want you to give me a spank and then a snuggle-hug!" That girl knows what she wants! So I gave her what she wanted and she went to sleep with no further protests!

7-I love how she sings "Count your Blessings" fortissimo in church--going red in the face and leaving everyone around her in giggles.

8-Her parting words at bed-time are: "Now Sweetheart, you be nice with Daddy, or I'll have to come put you on a time-out!"

9-Her evil laugh that she's practiced since she was 18 months old. (It's pretty scary now...)

10-When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she replies earnestly, "A Turkey Farmer." What?!?!

11-Her original Valentines: "Dear Daddy, Fear Not! I will go to Grandma's if you want me to." (Right before Michael's surgery.) and "Welcome! Welcome to Presents, darling! I will love you if Maxwell does!"

It feels just like I'm bowling for the first time!

2011-02-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

The other week, Michael decided to do something a little different with Evelyn and I and took us bowling! I haven't been bowling in soooo long! Evelyn was so excited! She couldn't hardly pick up her 8 lb ball by herself, but there was something so thrilling about being able to throw something that heavy at things and knock them down and...have your parents CHEER you on! But she was young enough to not understand the game at all, so after a few turns, she started taking everything as a matter of course.

For instance, this was her reaction when she got her strike!

She got one strike and a couple of spares! Pretty impressive for someone who's throwing the ball at around 2 mph! (I might have actually won her if my pride allowed me to use the bumpers too. Granted, I could hardly lift my 8 lb ball either...)

And at the end of the game, when she beat us by 20-30 points, this was her victory dance:

The coolest thing I ever saw while bowling was when Michael was trying to show off when we were first married. He chucked the ball as hard as he could with a twist, but he threw it right into the gutter. Just as he was about to turn away in disgust, the twist popped the ball back out of the gutter and he ended up getting a strike!

Greensleeves :D

2011-01-29T10:01:00.000-08:00

Glimpse into the Adams' household

Mama: "I am the world's best mom and you know it!"

Evelyn: "Yes, I do. ...But you still can't sit on me!"

Alma 37:37

2011-01-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Three!

2011-01-18T09:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Little Pirate Stubby-Jane!

We asked her what kind of party she wanted, and she said pirate! I am sure her boy cousins didn't mind so very much. Of course, after a couple days she started telling people she was having a princess-pirate party...so I guess she isn't completely a tom-boy.

We played all sorts of Piratey Three-Year-Old games including "Ring Around the Treasure," "Skull, Crossbones, Sword and Boot," And "Don't Eat One-Eyed Pete." Then we sunk a ship with a slingshot and had a piratey dance competition. Then Stubby-Jane opened billions of presents and ate cake (we forgot to eat ice cream! Bad Parent award! At least she is too young to know what to expect for Birthdays).

Here is the most fearsome Pirate of them all: Deathly Daisy!

Over all it was a thrilling party for Stubby-Jane. She got lots of crafty stuff: Paints, markers, pens, stickers, coloring books, puzzles, etc. She has been spending her time since mastering the ability to paint in the lines. It's so fun to have a little girl!

And here's a funny face picture:

Beauty and the Beast Game

2010-12-31T13:36:00.000-08:00

Evelyn got Beauty and the Beast dolls for Christmas. They are some of her favorite presents. She plays with them all day. The Beast is especially fun because it transforms from the Beast into the prince. Has anyone noticed the Beast doesn't really have a name? It's just "Beast." Well, Michael solved that problem. He is now officially named "Brutus."

Last night Michael was playing with Evelyn. She let him be the Beast, and she was Belle. Evelyn had Belle pass a domino to the Beast and said, "The phone is for you, Beast."

Michael put the "phone" next to the Beast mask and the conversation went as follows:

"Hello? Who is this? You want me to scare your children?! Uh...I've never done that before. Ah, they didn't eat their vegetables, huh? Ok. How much will you pay me? $22?! Ok! I'll be over there in a jiffy!"

How the junk does he come up with stuff like that? When I play with Evelyn, it always turns out eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping....and any time I try to add some drama, she solves the problem instantly and then we go back to eating and sleeping.

Anyway, Michael and Evelyn got in an argument about how you can't scare children. Belle insisted that the Prince would never turn into a real boy if he acted like that, and the Beast insisted he was helping the parents teach their children, "And I got a smooth twenty bucks!"

The argument ended in a compromise: Beast can only scare boy children.

Here is Evelyn with her new dolls:

And this is just a cute snuggly picture:

Christmas Morning

2010-12-26T17:35:00.000-08:00

For Christmas morning this year, we knew Evelyn would wake up earlier than us, so we put a blanket up so she wouldn't just go straight in to open presents. She was very confused when she started for the bathroom and she noticed the blanket blocking off our kitchen and living room. She turned on the hall light and stared at it in consternation. I explained about how it was hiding Santa's surprise and then she was excited!

This is her pointing at the presents and explaining things to me:

...And dancing to Mannheim Steamroller's 'Joy to the World." She was pretty spastic, turning somersaults as fast as possible.

One of her favorite presents, a little Webkins Himalayan cat. Evelyn first named it "Laya," but she couldn't remember it, so she changed it to "Vernon" (I have no idea where she got that!). Then she changed it to "Silly Kitty," but now it's morphed into "Sally Kitty" which I think might stick.

She was the perfect age for presents this year. She had the cutest reactions:

But by the end she wanted to stop opening presents and start playing. For the last few presents, she told Daddy, "You open it." But she was still very interested.

Despite all the material distractions, we tried to still focus on the real meaning of Christmas. Today Evelyn asked me if it was Jesus' Birthday. I told her "No, we celebrated that yesterday, so it will be a whole year until next Christmas." She agreed with me and then said, "And Jesus will come next year."

I truly hope so, Sweetheart.

Another cute thing she said to me today: "Oh, I love you, little darling! Come over here so I can kiss you! There, now you got an angel kiss!"

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

More Nielson Strangeness

2010-12-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

Beatnik Bacon Folk Songs by Charles "Che" Nielson

Makin' Bacon

Chorus

Makin' bacon. Do you care?
Makin' bacon. Smell the air.
Makin' bacon. Count the ways.
Makin' bacon. All your days.

vs. 1

Bacon with eggs. Bacon just plain.
Bacon fat milkshake. Bacon insane.
Bacon with chicken and a bit of Dijon
Bacon with turkey. Make it your own.
Bacon on pizza. Bacon in pie.
Bacon wrapped bacon. Bacon til you die.

Chorus

vs. 2
bacon with pancakes. Bacon quiche dish.
Bacon with waffles. Bacon stuffed fish.
Bacon potatoes. Bacon supreme.
Bacon on salad. Bacon ice cream.
Bacon on pizza. Bacon in pie
Bacon wrapped bacon. Bacon til you die.

Chorus

Vs. 3
Bacon avocado. Bacon stuffed lamb.
Bacon guacamole. Bacon with jam.
Bacon devil's food. Bacon spinach cream.
Bacon apple streudel. Bacon barf dream.
Bathing in bacon. Bacon perfume.
Bacon Armageddon. Bacon is your doom.

Chorus (x2)

Is it just me, or does 'bacon' look really funny after seeing it written so many times?

Poems by Robert Frost discovered by Marilyn Nielson

The One Not Eaten (Compare with The Road Not Taken)
Two donuts lay on a yellow plate,
And sorry I could not eat them both
and not seem greedy, I had to wait,
Hand hovering above the cake--then leave it with a muttered oath.

I took the other, just as plump,
And having perhaps the better claim,
because of it's frosting and apple lumps;
though as for that the icing pump
Had crowned them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
Untouched by human hand or lip--
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet seeing as they were on display
I doubted I'd get another nip.

I shall be telling this with an ache
Somewhere meals and meals hence:
Two donuts sat for me to take--
I ate the fritter, not the cake,
And that has made all the difference.

Ham and Toast (Compare with Fire and Ice)
Some say the day should start with ham,
Some say just toast.
Since I have small regard for jam,
I hold with those who favor ham.

Still, though I do not like to boast,
I think I know enough of wheat
To say that for digestion, toast
Is good to eat,
And would suit most.

Stopping for Eggs on a Hungry Morning (Compare with Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening)
Whose eggs these are I think I know.
His plate in unattended, though;
He will not catch me eating them
In flagrante delicto.

My little fork will pause just here,
Above them in the atmosphere,
Between the mouth and steaming plate
The darkest morning of the year.
The egg yolks give a little sway
As if to ask if it's okay.

I reassure them with a bite
And quickly make my getaway.
The eggs are gone, my jaws are stilled.
But I have other meals to build,
And mounds to eat before I'm filled,
And mounds to eat before I'm filled.

Candle Light Dinner and Nielson Strangeness

2010-12-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

I love my family. Can I just repeat that? I LOVE my FAMILY!!! Every year we have an annual Christmas party (usually themed) for my brothers and sisters. Sam and Marilyn were in charge this year. When we got our invitation, Michael thought it was junk mail. He was just getting irate at "the NERVE of these people for inviting us to some breakfast convention thing to get money out of us and asking us to bring avocados and sour cream!" Then he recognized Marilyn's signature. Oops. At least he didn't notice that he was on the list of presenters, that really would have eaten him.

Our theme this year was BACON. We were some group named NOCAB (and don't ask me what it meant, I just remember it tasted good). After a delightful breakfast buffet, we had presentations at which we even had Sen. David Benge speak, a reformed KKK member (who used to be a hater because he wouldn't eat brown eggs, but now he's been converted!), and had a seance by a syrup medium Madam ZaJane Hunt. We discussed in depth how the term "nooks and crannies" is distinctly pornographic, and how brunch is a bastardization of breakfast.

Don't you wish you were a Nielson???

I couldn't understand half of it, which is why of course I laughed so hard. I dare you to claim to understand the financial properties and all the different properties of egg laying from different chickens.

LT Gen. Michael Adams talked about the pancake and waffle battle formations and his time as a POW. I was assigned to be a theater critic and talk about Breakfast on Broadway. That's about the time that I stopped getting excited to go. I was thrilled to watch everyone else make fools of themselves, but ask me to be creative and expecting me to be funny...that's a little too much.

Anyway, I did a preview for the new smash-hit Broadway musical: Green Eggs and Ham. My family wants me to post the lyrics, so here goes: (Each song goes to one page of the book, give or take a few pages.)

(To the music of Honey Bun from South Pacific)

"A hundred and onePounds of fun, That's your little honey bun!
Get a load of Sam-I-Am tonight!"
(To Can't Help Loving 'Dat Man of Mine from Porgy and Bess)
"Fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly; I gotta be one man til I die.
Can't help being the Sam-Am-I"
(to You Can't Get a Man with a Gun from Annie get your gun)
"Oh you can't shoot a man with a gun! With a gun! With a gun!
Even though that man may be Sam-I-Am!"
(To I Feel Pretty from West Side Story)
"Are you Hungry? Oh so Hungry?
Why not try these fresh green eggs and ham?
I just made them. Made by hand, by the great Sam-I-Am."
(To Any Dream Will Do from Joseph)
"I close my eyes, And I plug my nose
'Cause I'm sure I'll puke At the sight of those."
(To Merry Widow Waltz)
"Would you like them Here or there Or anywhere?"
(To I Hate People from Scrooge)
"I hate green eggs! I hate ham!
Green things are despicable entrees
Looking Gross and flickable on trays
I HATE green eggs! I deplore them!
(To All I ask of You from Phantom)
"Just Say you'll eat some with me now and always.
Say you'll eat some with this small mouse too.
Just one bite and you'll be hooked forever.
Anywhere: perhaps this house will do.
Green eggs won't give you stomach flu!"
(Poor Unfortunate Souls from Little Mermaid)
"Well those green eggs and that ham are rather nasty!
I wasn't kidding when I said that I'd throw up!
And my darling, please don't laugh, but they'd prob'ly give me gas!
They are slimy, undercooked; I might blow up! (Putrescent!)"
(Master of the House from Les Mis)
"Eat them in a box, Eat them with a fox.
If you wait too long they'll be as hard as rocks.
Food beyond compare! Food beyond belief!
If it will help ya eat it, you can call it beef!
Everybody loves these green eggs! Everybody loves this ham!
You can try to win those cravings but they'll beat you in the end!"
(I Like Him from Man of La Mancha)
"I don't like them. I REALLY don't like them!
They give me gag reflexes just to smell, I won't like them!
You may say how healthy they are; Pack'd with protein and...caviar!
But I'll yell to the sky, tho' I can't tell you why That I won't like them!"
(Adelaide's Lament from Guys and Dolls)
The average uncultured male Spoil'd and hyper tense
Due to some long frustration may react
To flavorful exotic cuisine Like he cannot endure
The salivation such aromas one might present!"
(page turn)
"In other words just from looking at food and offered to try a bit,
A person....might throw a fit!"
(Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man from My Fair Lady)
"Why can't my answer be just a 'No'? No's are so simple! So obvious and low.
But here I must shout it, for your brain is slow! Why can't my answer be...a 'no'?!"
(From the train song in Music Man)
"You can talk, you can talk, you can bicker, you can talk
But it's different than you think..."(page turn)
"No it ain't no it' ain't! Is my whole face turning pink?!"
(Memory from Cats)
"Eat some! my dear boy won't you eat some? All alone in this dark cave
So the rats will not come.The rats love them as I am sure that you will too.
Eat them quickly, Eat them, do!"
(Rollerskate Rag from Funny Girl)
"I will not eat them with a fox or a mouse!
I will not like them in a box or a house!
Not in the rain!Not on a train!
I will not eat them here or there or anywhere!"
(page turn)"You do not like green eggs and ham?
No I do not like them, Sam-I-Am!"
(Who Will Buy from Oliver)
"Who will eat my green eggs and ham?
Who will try; he'll be a great guy!
Who can help but love the spices"
(page turn)"Of wonderful green eggs and ham!"
(How do you solve from Sound of Music)
"How do you solve a problem like Sam-I am?
How do you get him to accept a 'no'?
How do you stand a man with green eggs and ham?"
(page turn)"I do not like it! You make me sick! Go Away!"
(Tomorrow from Annie)
Tomorrow, tomorrow! I'll eat some tomorrow! Just leave me alone today!"
(Poor Judd from Oklahoma)
You don't like them so you say,
But if you really try them then you may! (Then you may!)"
(Stars from Les Mis)
"All Right. I'll eat that ham.
Though I don't want to. Though it disgusts me.
I'll eat it right up.
Don't suppose you'll look away? All right, you're sure?
Must I eat the eggs too? Even all of the goo?"
(Transformation from Jekyll and Hyde)
"7:53 AM. I have just ingested 2.8 ounces of green eggs and ham. No noticeable behavioral differences...Bwahahahaaa!"
(Getting to know you from King and I)
"Getting to taste you Getting to taste all your flavors.
Getting to like you Getting to hope you like me.
Haven't you noticed suddenly I'm smiley and bright
because of all the beautiful and new things I'm tasting within you
bite by bite."
(For we need a little Christmas from Mame)
"For we need a little breakfast
Right this very minute!
Parfaits in the cooler; Bacon on the skillet.
And we get a little snappy if we do not eat it.
We need a little breakfast now!"

Dance Recital

2010-12-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

You would think we went to a comedy club instead of a dance recital. I laughed so hard all my pictures turned out fuzzy. Evelyn was adorable: she did all the dance moves with a dead-pan expression. At least she wasn't one of the kids who sat there and sucked on her fingers the whole time.

And right at the end, we got a smile:

But the best part was when she stole the show. During the next performance, she came out on stage and just about joined in their song. Her teacher was able to get her off the stage and tell her it was the other kids' turn to perform. But that didn't stop her from sneaking back on stage and watching the rest.

She certainly isn't stage-shy, is she? Like mother like daughter, I suppose.

Little Ballerina, I love you!

2010-11-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

Evelyn,
I love your silly stretches.

I love that you listen so intently to Miss Kim that it looks like you're glaring at her.

I love that little tongue sticking out of the side of your mouth as you practice your ballet positions.

I love it when you get so into the dance, you lose your balance and while flailing, knock the girls around you down before you finally succumb to gravity and fall.

I love your free style dance: spastic, hyper and joyous.

I love your wrinkly dance tights and your saggy leotard.

I love your hip wiggles.

I love your floppy tap shoes that might fly off when you are kicking.

I even love it when you won't dance because you tell me your shoes are shy.

I love that you have the dance positions song memorized, but you still struggle with actually getting your body to do them.

And yes, I even love you monkeying on the ballet bar.

Our Pet Owl

2010-11-22T12:14:00.001-08:00

Ok, it's not really our pet. It's more our community's owl. ...Except we haven't seen it in a week. But we'd like to claim it as ours, because it was just too darn cool!

Here it is in all it's splendor and glory: A Great Horned Owl!

It was in the tree ten feet above us. It was just waking up at dusk. I guess it had been there all day.

The only reason I wouldn't want it to move into that tree permanantly is I would probably get pretty sick of Michael and Evelyn dissecting all the owl pellets.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2010-11-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

Has anyone else noticed how eager toddlers are to learn about Jesus? Evelyn's second word she spoke after she barely turned one was, "Jesus." How is it, that these young people with an extremely limited attention span have an incredible capacity to learn about the Saviour? My answer: They just came to us from His presence. How else could they recognize pictures of him in all their variety and different renditions, but it's always: "That's Jesus!"

Evelyn is constantly shocking me with her love for Christ. I would like to take credit for this early devotion, but I can't. It's just her own sweet personality. When I put her in bed, I usually sing her some songs and on a certain night I started to sing her old favorite, "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree." She quickly cut me off by putting her hand over her mouth and stated, "Actuwee, I would like a song about Jesus." The first song she had memorized was "Jesus the Very Thought of Thee."

Once I was having a great old pity party for myself because the doctor said I couldn't take ibuprofen for my arthritis pain anymore because my stomach was getting to weak to handle it. I was really discouraged and not sure what to do, and generally feeling picked on. Evelyn caught on at the dinner table that something was wrong.

"Mommy, are you mad with daddy?"

"Oh, no, Sweetheart! I love your daddy. I'm just a little sad right now."

"Mommy, don't be sad! Jesus gave you a body so you would be happy!"

She was right! I have no idea how she knew what to say at that point.

Today I was preparing my lesson for Relief Society on Sunday. Evelyn started climbing all over me and my chair and chiming, "Play with me, Mommy! Play with me!" I told I was sorry, but I couldn't. I had to prepare my lesson so I could teach people about baptism. Then, I got an urge that I couldn't resist. "Evelyn," I asked, "Why do we get baptized?" I was extremely curious to know what she would say. You never know when she is going to say something profound or whether she's going to talk about how Jesus always washes His hands after using the bathroom.

"So why do we get baptized?"

"Because we love to!" She exclaimed.

"But why does Heavenly Father want us to be baptized?"

She went very still. If you know Evelyn, you know that only happens when she is violently ill or thinking very deeply...sometimes only when she is violently ill.

Then she looked me in the eye and said, "God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

I was astounded! She is familiar with the song "God so loved the World" but I didn't know she could quote the scripture exactly! The thing is, later I asked her to say it again, and she couldn't say it.

Here is another favorite scripture of Evelyn's:

Sob or Smile?

2010-11-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

Evelyn just got her first real haircut! I was not sure whether to bawl when they cut off her cute little curl. She still looks adorable though.

She surprised me how brave she was. She kept protesting all the way to Cookie Cutters that she didn't want a haircut; "it's too scary!" I just told her it would be fun, and she would watch a movie and get a treat. She was surprisingly brave. The only part she got scared and clingy to me was when they had to blow-dry her hair. She hates the blow dryer. But she did pretty good, considering.

Heaven and ... the Other Place

2010-11-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

When Evelyn is mad at me, she screws up her face and says one of two things:

1. "Go back to Heaven, Mommy!"

(This is also the same face she uses while singing in God So Loved the World "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world!"

2. "The Lamanites will KILL you, Mommy!"

Evelyn playing with her dried blueberries at breakfast:

"You want to marry me?! NAAAAH!"

Evelyn can say "Scrumptious" (ie. "Dese pancakes are really scrumptious, Daddy!") but she can't say "Delicious." She pronounces it "Allicious." Why? I suppose we don't use delicious in normal conversations. We use synonyms (or cinnamons) such as scrumptious, yummy, "makes my taste-buds do the hokey-pokey," and if something is REALLY good, it's "scrumptulescent!" Evelyn only knows the word "delicious" because of the "5 Speckled Frogs" song. And if you say "Allicious" it sounds perfectly correct when you say "Most Allicious Bugs, yum yum!"

HALLOWEEN and Fake smiles

2010-11-03T09:51:00.001-07:00

We had a Halloween party with Michael's family. It had been a long time since we had entertained anyone, so I decided to go all out. But Michael's poor family had to put up with all my juvenile party games. I'd like to claim that we played them for Evelyn's benefit, but no, I would have subjected his family to them anyway. I am just not sure how to throw a party without playing silly games. Any good ideas?

Anyway, here are our costumes:

Guess Who?

What is it about Evelyn's fake smiles? Will I ever get a natural smile again?!

We played a good game of Pin the Skeleton.....Together. Here is Evelyn's attempt: (we let her do it with her eyes open.)

Still doing a pretty good job!

....And the finished product. Beautiful, eh? (And another fake smile!) Here is the adults' attempt:

Next we went on a Witch Hunt: a gag pinata (I have no idea how to get that little squiggle over the "n"). How was it a gag? Well, we had to choose our weapons out of a hat. There were little poems assign your weapon to you. For instance,

"The Boomerang of Wonder,

Will likely never blunder,

'Cuz our witch comes from

Way down...

...in Australia."

We had all sorts of weapons from toothpicks to an oven mitt; from a pen to a needle nose pliers.

Here is a picture of Cory biting the witch like a dinosaur:

And Carl using the rolling pin:

Evelyn with a rolled-up newspaper:

The toothpicks' destruction:

Finally, once we ran out of weapons, we passed out the last poem;

"I have a clue that will make you sick:

The living room, You, and the Candlestick!"

That brass candlestick sealed the witch's doom.

Next we painted pumpkins. Evelyn was so excited! She almost took longer than anyone else painting hers, and she definitely used more colors. I actually got a blister on my thumb from opening all the different paints she wanted!

And here are the finished products!

Kitty Obituary

2010-09-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

Star Kitty

June 2009-Sept 2010

Our little kitty princess has been taken from us;

Taken from us in the prime of life

At church (of all places!)

She only had semi-raggedy fur,

And there was no more stuffing in her tail

Because some little girl liked to have her

Swing and Twirl.

Star Kitty occupied an honored position

In the Adams' household;

That of best friend, companion, and comforter

Playmate, snuggler, and projectile.

The paint from the star on her paw was quite faded

from being rubbed on tired eyes and lips.

She is survived by her best friend Evelyn,

and her co-kitty Tabby.

"Both of us are sad!"

Remarks little Evelyn.

Michael has been shopping all day for a replacement Star Kitty. Of course all the stores just sold their last one. I knew we should have bought a backup long ago! But we are determined to replace her, because there is only so much of Evelyn moping around and discarding all her other toys in disgust that I can take.

Our last experience with Star Kitty, recorded right before church on that fateful day:

Star Kitty Opera

Starring Michael Adams as the Prince

Star Kitty as the Princess

Jane Evelyn Adams as the Dragon

This was a game Daddy and Evelyn were playing all morning before church. It was so cute I finally had to record it. Evelyn was camera shy though, screaming "MINE!" instead of singing back to Daddy like she did before. ("You cannot have my Star Kitty, She is mine! No!" "Yes!" "no!" "Yeeeesssss!" "Noooooooooo!: etc.) Michael even had to kiss the sleeping princess kitty to wake her up and find the right princess that fit the ring ("Does the ring fit on the puppy? no...Does it fit on the doornob? Nope, can't marry the doorknob. Does it fit on daddy's toe? No...". Then Evelyn would turn Daddy into a monster by spanking him and he'd sing "I'm going to eat the Star Kitty! And grind her bones!" Then Evelyn or Mommy would kiss Daddy and turn him into a prince again.

Nativity in September

2010-09-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to teach Evelyn more about Jesus because she just loves to hear about him. So I watched the nativity movie released by the church with her, and I explained about how Jesus was born. I was pretty sure she wasn't catching on though. There I was: bawling my eyes out and all Evelyn can find to say is: "Where did the sheep go?" (there was a sheep in one part of the movie and that is what she hyper focused on.)

But after the movie, she decided she wanted to play Mary. And she got out a baby doll to be Jesus. She asked me to put a blanket on her head.

I love that sweet girl!

Eya the Flying Monkey

2010-09-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

First parents are typically neurotic. First parents whose first child knocks out her front tooth at age two are comparably more neurotic, bordering on paranoid. But parents whose child refuses to be cautious and performs death-defying acts as a normal routine become calloused and start yawning when their children taunt death and dismemberment.

This has become me. (Michael is still in the paranoid category.) There is only so many gasps allotted to mothers and Evelyn has used my quota for her lifetime. I do feel at times somewhat guilty when I'm at the playground and Evelyn's leading a bunch of children four times her age in a game of "Hey, I can do that!" The parents of these 8 to 12 years old glare at me as I shrug my shoulders and allow my two-year-old to be a bad example. They may wonder why I don't stop my kid; don't I see that she's likely to kill herself?! My answer is it is more healthy for my heart to look the other direction. Besides, she doesn't stop. If I pick her up and pull her away, she starts using ME as her jungle gym. No thank you.

But in a few more months we will be enrolling Evelyn in a tumbling class so she can at least learn how to fall without hurting herself. (Actually, she's already become quite good at it.)

Husband vs. Wife

2010-08-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

Michael: "Women! Here I am having an epiphany, and she's over there rolling her eyes! They just don't get it!

Puppy Dog

2010-08-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

Evelyn's been pretending to be a puppy. She's the world's squeakiest puppy. She's worse than a chihuahua. But she has some cute tail-wagging! Observe:

Little Mermaid and more Summer Fun

2010-08-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a busy summer. You'd think with all my lack of recent posts that I was having the lamest summer ever, but on the contrary, I've been so busy I've had no time to catch up!

We took Evelyn to Thanksgiving Point, We went on a few days trip to Cedar City to visit family. Then we went to the Aquarium with Nana and Papa Adams. Then Michael and I got away for a week to Atlanta, GA. There we spoiled ourselves rotten going to a jousting tournament, the world's largest aquarium, movies, dinner....and generally had the time of our lives! Evelyn spent the week at Nana Mary's and got spoiled rotten. Then we went mini golfing and had Abby and Gwendy (Evelyn's cousins) sleep over. Michael has been to Ogden Utah, Kirtland Ohio, Spokane Washington, Fort Eustis Virginia, Columbus Ohio, Georgia, and next week he'll be in Colorado. Last week was Michael's and my anniversary: #6! We again ditched Evelyn for a couple days and went to Tucanos, Lagoon, and had an all night movie-going-marathon.

All these things (minus Michael being away so much) have been so much fun and so many hilarious things have happened, but I can't even remember half! So here's pictures:

The above pictures are of the jousting tournament at Medieval Times in Georgia. It was so amazing! The stunts were incredible! If you ever get a chance to go, do it! It's worth the price! The carnation I am holding was thrown to me as a favor by our knight (pictured above). I was all flattered until I found out that they bestowed favors to random people in the audience the whole time.

This was our 5 star hotel in the heart of Atlanta. 5 star meaning everything costs a ridiculous amount of money. But it was okay because Michael's company reimbursed everything!

It had 27 floors and a glass elevator--It was disorienting to ride from the top floor to the basement!

Evelyn and her green snowman made of play dough. We got Evelyn presents for everyday we were away from her. This was one of them.

Nurse Shark in the Georgia Aquarium.

Manta Ray with about an 8 foot wingspan!

The hammerhead sharks were the most intimidating to me, because they chased the other fish all over the tank.

Two fake smiles, but still happy to be back together!

I'm sure my neighbors appreciated all the chalk art on the sidewalk outside the condos. I don't think there was any sidewalk area spared from these little blooming artists. Come to think of it, I don't think there was any skin that was spared either. Evelyn and Gwendy especially were covered from head to foot with chalk. This picture was actually taken AFTER we cleaned them up!

The other day Evelyn announced, "I'm a Mermaid!" So I looked down, and sure enough, she WAS a mermaid! But I think she got SEAshells and EGGshells confused.

Evelyn has just been adorable. She comes up with the funniest things to say! In church on Sunday, Michael and I were doodling pictures for her to guess what they were. We were on vegetables, so I'd draw a tomato: "It's a tomato!" Michael would draw a carrot: "It's a snowman's nose!" I would draw an eggplant: "It's an eggplant!" Then I drew a potato, and Evelyn shouted, "It's DADDY!"

Later that day, Evelyn was saying that Daddy couldn't wear Mommy's lotion, and I said, "Yeah, it would make Daddy smell funny, huh?" "Yes," she replied seriously. Just out of curiosity for what she would say, I asked her, "So what do Daddies smell like?"

She thought for a moment or two, then stated decisively: "GARBAGE!"

So I guess Daddy looks like a potato and smells like garbage!

Daddy took her into a public bathroom, men's of course, so she could do her business. Evelyn noticed there was a strange toilet in there and pointed it out to Daddy. Michael told her that only Boys can use that toilet, not girls. Evelyn pouted and said pityingly, "Oh! Poor, Poor Evelyn!"

Magic Kisses

2010-06-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

What is it with kids thinking kisses are magic? They fall and get a huge goose egg and come screaming in to get a kiss from Mommy (Daddy kisses are not nearly as magic) and then every thing's instantly better. Even when the goose egg hasn't diminished in size? Even if they're still bleeding profusely. Okay, maybe that one requires a Magic Band Aid as well. I never cease to be amazed that the power of my own kisses.
There are times, of course that I must refuse to distribute my Magic Kisses. Like the time Eya sat down too hard in the tub and wanted me to kiss her bum. Or when she hurt herself in the car seat while I was driving. Then came the birth of Magic Blown Kisses! Believe it or not, they work just as well!
Eya has Magic Kisses as well. They really are! There's nothing quite as comforting as smacking a sore joint and having Eya come up and kiss it better.
"Oh, get hurt, Mommy? Poor Mommy! I kiss it better? *kiss* There. Okay now?" She does this all stroking my hair and face. It's so cute! I honestly forget about my pain!

Evelyn still has her obsession with Bugga-buggas. In fact, a lot of the time she won't use the toilet unless she can put an ant in the toilet first. (Don't ask.) The other day she found an ant on the bathroom floor going into convulsions because of the poison we sprayed.
"Bugga-bugga? Are you okay?" She was very concerned. "I kiss you better?" The she leaned down and kissed the floor around the ant. Luckily she exhaled right before and the bug blew halfway across the room, so she didn't end up with a poisoned ant in her mouth.

Romantic Snow White Movie

2010-06-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

Some people sing their wishes into a Wishing Well. Others sing theirs into....well, just watch.

Ride 'Em Cowboy!!!

2010-06-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Play Time!

2010-06-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

Evelyn has just been a blast lately. She's been coming up with the funniest games. When Michael tipped our couch over and turned it into a cave, Evelyn called it "The Cave of Wonders" and demanded that daddy play the alligator pillow who was trying to eat her. Michael is such a good sport and can play on the floor with her for hours....I don't know how he does it, but somehow he finds the energy, and she adores him.

The point of this next game is to hit the ball with a book, while standing on the pillow, of course. It simply cannot be done without the pillow. Evelyn hits the ball every time Daddy throws it. Of course, when Mommy throws it, she misses, because mommy hasn't figured out quite how to throw it correctly. And Evelyn glares at me in a "What's wrong with you, can't you do this simple thing?" kind of way.

Last week we took Evelyn to a Princess Party at the local book store. They gave her a pretty princess crown and ring and she made a bracelet, colored a picture, and ate a princess cupcake. But she never quite felt comfortable as a princess...

Aaah.....that's better!

Pregnancy Announcement

2010-06-18T11:02:00.001-07:00

Now, Don't get too excited. I'm not pregnant. Sorry.

No, it's just that Father's Day coming up in the anniversary of when we announced to Michael's parents that they were going to become grandparents. We had an awesome idea, and I thought I'd share my genius with you ;).

General Conference that spring had a talk (I'm thinking by Pres. then Elder Eyring, but I'm not sure) in Priesthood about how it was the priesthood's responsibility to assembly emergency essentials: food, 72-hour-kits, etc. So we decided to get Michael's dad an Emergency Preparedness Kit.

So on Father's Day we gave him his Blue-Tupperware Emergency Preparedness Kit. Honestly, he didn't look too excited for it; kind of that politely Do-I-have-to-be-grateful-for-this look, until he opened it and beheld the contents. We had filled it lovingly with all the things a grandparent needs.

It took Michael's parents a few minutes to figure out what was going on. The first thing Michael's dad saw was a package of diapers, and he was busy thinking, "What kind of a cruel "Old-man" joke is this?"

But when it finally sunk in, we got the reaction we wanted:

A Whole New World

2010-06-16T07:26:00.000-07:00

This is Eya playing Pyincess Dasmine, flying on her magic carpet (actually, I think she's flying on her magic purple alligator named Starsong).

"Over, sideways and under on a magic-purple-alligator ride! A Whole New World!"

Imagination

2010-06-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

I watch suspiciously as Evelyn pushes the chair across the kitchen toward the stove. I wonder when I'll have to launch myself out of my comfortable chair and prevent tragedy from striking the Adams' household once again. My daughter who, by the way, is a notorious klutz--even for a two-year-old, stops the chair directly in front of the oven and clambers up. As I laboriously pull myself out of my chair and start making my way toward her, I notice she's not moving. She's standing on the chair, not touching the stove top, staring up at the microwave.

"What are you doing, Evelyn?" I ask.

"Watching a movie!"

Evelyn has been absolutely shocking me with how well she is doing at potty-training. She's just a natural. I'm really wondering why it took me so long to acquiesce to her sitting on the toilet. We've been doing it for almost four days now, and the last two nights she woke up dry! She hasn't made any wet mistakes in two days either.

I really think that the method I've been using suits her. I let her practice sitting on the toilet, and for every five times (she gets to stick stars up on a chart to keep track) she gets a practice treat (a single skittle). That way she doesn't get sick of sitting on the toilet with no rewards. If she actually does her business in the toilet she get a big potty treat (a taffy or smarties) and a cheer. If she makes a mistake we practice five times in a row and then she gets a practice treat. But if she starts to wet her pants, and catches it and holds it until she makes it to the toilet, we count that as making it, because those are the muscles she needs to develop. She loves all the attention.

Yesterday she was drawing pictures. I asked her what she was drawing and she said, "A snakey on the toilet."

"Did he go potty?"

"Yes! Hurray for snakey!"

"Did he get a potty treat?"

So she drew him a little candy.

The Big "M"

2010-06-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

Proper Motivation. That's all I needed. I didn't think I'd find it in me to potty train Evelyn until she started kindergarten. But lately, feeling pushed and prodded and a wee bit competitive, I decided to make my preparations. Nothing serious, you understand, just enough to enable me to start potty training whenever I felt the urge to.

But I found, much to my surprise that the preparations I made were all I needed to get myself excited for the task. And what preparations did I make? Observe:

We coated all our carpet and our couches with sticky plastic! Now you ask, "But Pamela, was spending $50 in order to potty train your daughter worth it?" YOU BETCHA!!! There was no way I was going to let her do such a thing on my brand new carpets. Plus we like popping the air bubbles as we walk down the hall.

Evelyn, I don't think, will ever want to go back to real carpet again. She lounges and rolls around and makes plastic-flooring angels. I think she likes the feeling of the cold plastic.

For Sebby

2010-06-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this is Evelyn giving her blue balloon a car wash.

Apples

2010-05-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

While we were driving down a neighborhood road today, Evelyn suddenly exclaimed: "Mommy! I see apples!"
"Apples?" I asked. "In the springtime? Incredible!"
Evelyn responded, "No, it's not increbible, Mommy, it's apples!"

I wonder what she thinks "increbibles" are?

Cute Things Evelyn Said

2010-05-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

During the sacrament at church, I usually read to Evelyn from her New Testament Reader, to get her to calm down and be reverent. It's worked really well so far. Today, Evelyn opened to the page of John the Baptist. So I start whispering the story in her ear. I was just about ready to turn the page and move on when Evelyn picked up on something I read.
"HE EATS BUGGA-BUGGAS?!?!" She shouted. "PEE-EW!!!!!"
Sacrament Meeting wasn't so reverent after that.

The other night we were putting Evelyn down for bed. If you don't know Evelyn, she is a very routine girl. If her schedule gets thrown off, she's not happy. So after we sang her songs and prayed with her I kissed her goodnight, and prepared to stand up. Before I could move, Evelyn had my face between her hands.
"Yisten, Mommy, Yisten." she demanded.
"All right, what is it?"
"Eya, go to seep, then Mommy go to seep. Then Daddy go to seep. Next, we wape up. Then pyay yots with Eya. And eat. Eat yots of food. Eat strawberries."
"Ok, Evelyn, that sounds perfect!" I say
"And play on syides. BIIIG [slides]." She added.
After I agreed that we could do this, she went right to sleep.

Oh, dear!

2010-05-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

Evelyn: Mama, Mama! Tum and see! Tum and see!"
Me: Come see what, Eya?
Evelyn: An Eya-snakey!
Me: Where?
Evelyn (after searching around the floor by the window frantically): Eya-snakey is hiding."

What in the world was she playing with?

And All Her Feminine Wiles

2010-05-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday was GORGEOUS!!! (Can I put any more emphasis on that?) It was one of those rare times that I actually appreciate having the 11-o-clock session of church with a two-year-old, because we were able to go out and enjoy the beautiful spring morning. I also happened (and this is a rare occurance indeed) to bring my camera.

Exploring all the glories of Willow Springs:

Love the covered parking in the background. But we loved all the tulips.

By this point, Evelyn started to get the jist of posing. She'd run up and pose for me, and in some places, she had quite the eye:

...and in others...not so much. For this next shot, she really was posing for a picture:

And here's one more, just because I love the expression in her pose:

"Mary's Yayaby"

2010-05-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

I usually can't get Evelyn to sing for the camera. If I can, she sings so quietly you can't hear her, or she'll sing one line and say, "There." But today I caught her in a singing mood. She starts out with Mary's Lullaby, then goes on to "It's a Small World," and finishes it off with a line from "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Mothers' Day

2010-05-10T15:57:00.000-07:00

I'm never quite sure where to put the apostrophe in that...

Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful, and as I snuggled in my warm comforter, I heard a tiny squeaky voice sing: "Happy Birthday to mommy, happy birthday to you!" and then turn it into a medley, jumping into "Hurray for mommy, hurray for mommy, every body's shouting hurray for mommy!"

Evelyn is so darn cute. She sings more than any other communication.

So I rolled out of bed thinking, "This isn't so bad! I like Mothers' day!" I went into the kitchen and my feelings were heightened by this beautiful sight:

Let's get a closer look at that pineapple:

Isn't it beautiful?! Michael's amazing! The day just got better and better. I got a couple books I've been looking forward to reading, then the bishop released us right after sacrament meeting. (I'm not supposed to mention that, so shhhhhh!) The day ended great too, spending lots of time with Michael's family.

All my life I heard horror stories about how mother's day is actually the worst day of the year, all filled with guilt and fighting kids... I guess I got lucky this year!

Disneyland Memoirs

2010-04-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

Evelyn was so excited to meet Mickey Mouse! He kissed her hand and after that, she liked him as much as she likes "Missionowies!" She talked about him and pointed at all the Mickey pictures (and there are a TON at Disneyland) until Nana bought her a little plush Mickey (Only $22!) Evelyn sure got spoiled by her grandparents this week. Nana bought her ice cream and treats and Papa would take her for naps and let her push the buttons on his Jazzy. We were quite the group of invalids this week. My parents both rented motorized wheelchairs by the end of the week, and here's a picture of me in my wheelchair:

It was nice to get star treatment at the park though. Having a wheelchair is like having a permanent fast pass.

Evelyn was a little more nervous meeting the princesses. Probably because they were real people and not just giant interactive teddy bears. But she warmed up.

Note Michael's lanyard. His favorite part of the trip was pin trading. He collected villains and Evelyn collected princesses and anything else that appealed to her.

By the time we met Tinkerbell, Evelyn was willing to talk and hug a little. We decided Disney would do well to hire a two-year-old to play Tinkerbell. Their just feisty enough, and they're cute and small. Just look how cute she is:

I asked Evelyn to make a "Tinkerbell face" after we met Tinkerbell, and this is what she came up with:

Don't you think she'd make a perfect Tink?

She didn't recognize Alice and the Mad Hatter, but I was sure excited when they approached Evelyn. She was quite flattered when they called her "Printheth Aurora," though.

This face about sums up Evelyn's feelings for Pirates. She insisted on spending most of the ride on Nana's shoulder. She did really well on the ride though, for a parrot.
By the end of the week, I caught Evelyn singing "Yo ho, yo ho, pirates for me!!" I asked her if she wanted to see the pirates again, and she said yes! We took her again and the only part that made her nervous was the two drops at the beginning of the ride.

My new hat and sweatshirt. I was FREEZING the whole time, even though it was about 70 degrees. Blasted Rheumatoid Arthritis. And Blasted humidity. I'm so glad Utah has warm, dry air! Personally, I think it's warmer here than in sunny CA.

This was Evelyn's favorite ride. She now sings "Small World" over and over, higher and higher until her little voice cracks and you take pity on her and end the song for her. Every time we got anywhere near the vicinity of this ride she would point to it and beg for more. My past standing rule was only one Small World ride per Disneyland trip, but this time I ended up going about 8 times. I shall be lucky if I ever get that song out of my head.

Evelyn at the Blue Bayou. That is some expensive Mac and Cheese, let me tell you! But for $8, it wasn't bad! I tasted lobster for the first time, and Gumbo. Good stuff!
My dad spent his time wandering around the park (on foot or jazzy) in his BYU hat looking for other fans. We found about 5 other BYU shirts or hats. It was a fun little scavenger hunt.

Evelyn is pointing at which horse she wants to ride on the carousel.

So excited!!!

Overall, it was a pretty perfect trip, but we are all glad to be home. Evelyn has spent the last 48 hours asleep or drinking water. Michael is glad to be off his feet, and I'm glad to be on my feet again. :D

T-I-Double G-RRRR!

2010-04-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Disneyland Trip Entry 1

Evelyn's very favorite person at Disneyland was Tigger! We stood in a big long line to meet him, but it was all worth the wait when Evelyn ran up to hug him!

Unfortunately, Evelyn was not a very good height for poor Tigger. He sure got down on his knees fast!

Evelyn gave Tigger lots of kisses and hugs.

Then she showed Tigger she knew how to bounce!

I Know You!

2010-04-05T16:29:00.001-07:00

For Easter this year, we got Evelyn a Pyincess Auwowa dress in preparation for our upcoming Disneyland trip. She is a very pretty Princess Aurora!

In this last picture, Princess Aurora is displaying her royal manners by jumping on her bed!

Kissing Prince Charming

2010-03-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

Evelyn was in a kissing mood the other day. It looks really sweet, but when you are on the recieving end of the kiss, she squeezes your cheeks so tight and pushes her mouth so tight against yours that you can feel all her little teeth...or lack of.

Spring Fever

2010-03-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

It's unavoidable. Spring draws near, and BAM! I want a haircut. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to grow my hair out to my waist. I've never even gotten close, and it's all Spring's fault! Usually I can convince myself to settle with just a couple inches off, but this year I really got impulsive. But what the hey, Spring is all about impulsiveness, right?

Of course, tomorrow it will snow.

Little Fix-It

2010-03-03T13:24:00.000-08:00

It happened when I was talking on the phone with Michael. Evelyn wanted her barking puppy turned on. So I flipped the switch for her, but when she patted it's head, instead of barking and wagging it's tail, it gave this single, short, low "woof." Evelyn was disturbed and brought it back to me. Not wanting to have to change the batteries right then, I informed her that it was broken and returned to my phone call. After I finished up the conversation, I realized Evelyn was no longer in the room, so I went to find her, and I found her "fixing" the puppy.

Hairspray Popsicle Anyone?

2010-03-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

This morning while I was getting ready for the day, Evelyn was sitting on the top of the toilet watching me. She decided she wanted to be like Mommy and primp too. So she grabbed the hairspray bottle and said: "Eya too, Mommy?" I looked at her and said, "Oh, Eya, that's hairspray. I don't think you'll like it." So she looked at the hairspray and then popped the spray nozzle in her mouth like a popsicle! Before I could hardly react, she had it back out of her mouth and was making sour faces and informing me that yes, the hairspray was definitely "Yucky!" She kept her tongue out of her mouth for about ten minutes after that.

I guess this is a lesson to me to clarify what I say to her. Instead of "You won't like it," I should say, "You wouldn't like it sprayed on you."

Photo Shoot

2010-02-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

We wanted to get pictures of Evelyn with her mommy and her daddy. Things started out really cute, but it didn't take very long before Evelyn started dozing off. (We were up late last night with play practice.)

We only got this shot because we had her sing "I love to see the temple."

...And the fingers are in the mouth. Ah well.

Missionowies

2010-02-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

Last Friday we had the opportunity to feed the missionaries. Since Evelyn is a little shy with strangers, I decided to prep her for the coming visit. I told her the missionaries were coming to eat with us. Missionaries, I told her, are people who go out and tell people about Jesus. They are also a lot like Jesus; they help people and make them feel happy. She was enchanted, and the rest of the day prattled on about "Eating Jesus," or something to that effect.
When the missionaries showed up, Evelyn was in love as soon as they shook her hand. I kept trying to tell her that you aren't supposed to flirt with the missionaries, but she didn't get it. She monopolized their attention the whole night, demanding to throw balls with them and getting involved with the spiritual thought they left us: "God needs us to share the gospel with our neighbors..." "yes...uh huh!" she'd say, nodding her head seriously.
Now, every time we see any guys in suits (ie. at church, at JCW's when all the business men are at lunch, the doctor....) she gets all excited and tugs at my pant leg, points and squeals: "Mama!! Missionowies!!!"

Deficient Kitchenaid

2010-02-17T14:51:00.000-08:00

For my birthday last month, Michael bought me my very own, beautiful, black and shiny $300 Kitchenaid! It slices, it dices, it mixes....it STINKS!!!! Pardon me, I must explain that last comment. We made a beautiful set of cookies; golden, perfect...I sunk my teeth into the soft, warm, delectable moistness, only to run, gagging to my sink to spit out the offender. My cookies tasted like machine oil. If you don't know how this tastes, go lick your the oil spot on your driveway.
I decided it must be a fluke. A few days later, when I could no longer remember that foul taste, I tried again. With the same disastrous results. Five batches of cookies and one batch of pumpkin bread later, I decided it must be the kitchen aid has a leak or something. So we packed up the kitchenaid in Evelyn's colored boats (the packing styrofoam) and we exchanged it for a different machine. We were a little hesitant to try the new kitchenaid however. Both Michael and I were starting to taste remnants of the oil in everything. Evelyn however pouted daily that so many perfectly good cookies (according to her opinion) ended up in the garbage.
Finally we used the new kitchenaid. I couldn't stomach any of it. Michael made a batch of cookies outside the kitchenaid and compared. He thought both batches tasted much better then the previous kitchenaid's cookies. I started wondering if my problem was psychosomatic.
The next night I slaved all afternoon on a batch of my mom's winning potato soup. Just as I was ready to call Michael in for dinner, I leaned over and smelled the soup. "Strange," I thought. "This smells just like those cookies. I must be insane." But just to be sure, Michael and I sampled the soup. Nasty, Yucky, Putrescence!
We finally narrowed down all the ingredients to see what was common to all the recipes. It came down to the flour. So I smelled our flour, but it smelled just fine! Michael suggested I wet it down to see if that made the smell come out. So I added water and some salt, and the smell just about knocked my socks off! Our flour was RANCID! This was not old flour, we had bought just before opening it to make that first set of cookies.
We had to throw out the potato soup. Michael bought me a Hot-and-Ready to make me feel better. But at least we found out that I didn't forget how to cook after all. So before you return your Kitchenaid, check your flour.

For the Love of Diapers

2010-02-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

This whole week Evelyn has been asking me to sit on the toilet. "Please, please, potty, Mommy!" I had the nagging feeling that she was ready to potty-train. Yech. Though I let her sit on her potty-seat any time she asked, I persisted in my thinking: "Oh no you don't! Not with my new carpet!!!!"

Well, I believe I lost my opportunity. The last two days Evelyn has decided she LOVES diapers. This love sprang up from the discovery that every time she got a diaper change, Star Kitty and Tabby could get one too! Now she has no desire to sit on the potty, because I told her in no uncertain terms that her kitties absolutely could NOT sit on the potty seat.

Green Eggs and Ham

2010-02-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

One of Evelyn's favorite books is "Green Eggs and Ham." She can "read" almost the whole thing.

"Sam, No Ham! No box, no yip-yip, no house, no squeak! No choo choo, no, no Sam! No Egg, no Ham! Mmmmm....Yummy, Ham! Thank you, thank you Sam!"

It's adorable. The other day I was going to cook her some eggs, and she said, "Ee, eggs? Ham, Mommy?" ("ee" is her way of saying green.") So I cooked her very own green eggs and ham. And she DID like her green eggs and ham! Thank you Thank you, Sam!!!

Over-Protective Parent

2010-01-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

Ever since Evelyn has hurt her mouth, I've been an extremely neurotic parent. I expect Evelyn to sit on a couch, covered with a blanket, quietly reading books and sipping V8 juice through a straw. That is the true way to recover from a boo-boo, is it not? But Evelyn defiantly insists there is nothing wrong with her, up until she bites the couch and spends the next half-hour bleeding and screaming her head off...or bonks her lip with on of the following: a) bouncy ball b)couch corner c) mommy's head d) carpet. This unavoidably happens every ten minutes or less because of how hyper she's being. I've spent my whole weekend chanting quietly to myself: "Must not kill first child....must not kill first child..." I'm afraid I'm not quite in the same league with Florence Nightengale. But perhaps there's some record somewhere of someone hearing her repeat softly: "Must not kill whiney soldier......"

Cinderevelyn

2010-01-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Daddy's Birthday!

2010-01-24T08:33:00.001-08:00

Sob Story

2010-01-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

Poor Little Evelyn!!!! Yesterday while at my mom's house, Evelyn was playing around and being good as gold as usual, when she knocked over a chair on herself. When I picked the chair off of her, her mouth was full of blood, and I got a sinking feeling that she was really hurt. But we couldn't look in her mouth because she was screaming too loud. So after about 30 minutes of cuddling her, mopping up blood and singing her hymns, I finally got to look in her mouth. She knocked out her front tooth. Luckily, it was a clean wound--she didn't break off the tooth at the root, but the root ripped half her gum off with it. Her mouth looks awful, but the dentist said it would heal completely, except of course for having to wait 3-4 years for her permanent tooth to come in. Her two teeth surrounding the one that was knocked out are pretty loose, so Evelyn gets a diet of ice cream and pudding for a little while.

Not only am I feeling so bad for my sweet little Evelyn getting hurt, but I'm mourning the loss of my little girl's beautiful smile. I'm sure eventually I learn to love that gap-toothed smile, but it looks so awful right now as a wound that I cry every time I look at her.

Here she is showing off her hurt. She's really swollen too: you can see it better in this picture:

And here's a tooth obituary picture. This was taken the night before the accident. Zoom up and say goodbye to that cute little toothie.

Sacramento

2010-01-20T07:45:00.000-08:00

Another business trip-another post. Not so exciting this time though. (Who'd have thought Kansas would be more interesting than California?!).

On the 3rd of January, our little family flew off to Sunny California--only to be met with nine days of thick and heavy mist. Even though the temperature stayed in the 50's, with all the moisture in the air, it felt more like 39 degrees. So most of our trip was spent in the hotel.

While we were there, Evelyn had her second birthday. It wasn't one of those "Whoa! my daughter is two!" moments because she's been acting like a two year old for the last two months. I felt mostly relieved that her age caught up with her maturity. That way I have an excuse for all the belligerence and vocal "No!" 's that keep issuing out of her mouth. Actually, Evelyn was the highlight of my trip. She was adorable (even with the two-hour tantrum during dinner on her birthday). The week of her birthday, she decided she didn't talk well enough for a two-year-old, and doubled her vocabulary. Here's my little 2-year-old:

Evelyn fell in love with the elevator. Every time it reached a floor, instead of beeping like a normal elevator would, it would quack. So Evelyn called it "The Duck." Whenever we got off the elevator, Evelyn would say, "Thank you, Duck!"

This is Evelyn hugging her Star Kitty and her new birthday kitty "Batty." (It's supposed to be "Tabby" but she says it backwards.)

Every day we took Evelyn swimming in the hotel's indoor pool. Evelyn loves to swim and she's very independent about doing it. She gets in the pool and dog paddles away from us as fast as possible.

On our final day in Sacramento, we finally got some sun. We celebrated by going to the local zoo. It was just a small zoo, but very impressive. This was their snow-leopard exhibit. The animals were close and very active. I think they were happy it was sunny too.

Evelyn playing at the zoo:

And a family picture. (Excuse my hair and blame it on the humidity)

Sleep

2010-01-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

At the creation of my blog I mentioned how I love philosophizing about the differences in girls and guys. Another mind-boggling difference between the sexes has been aroused by the gossipping of my sisters and I about our marriages. What is it about guys not being able to tell when they're falling asleep? There has been way too many experiences where I'm watching Michael's eyes droop and his head nod, but as soon as I ask him if he's falling asleep, he exclaims defensively, "No! I'm not falling asleep! I'm wide awake!" If I don't press him, he falls asleep within 30 seconds. Is it such a big deal for guys to admit that they're tired? I don't get it. Also, while we're on the subject, how is it possible for guys to fall asleep while talking? My journal is filled with hilarious things Michael has said when he falls asleep halfway through a sentence.

I would have a hard time falling asleep when some one's talking to me (Except for Katy, sorry again Katy!) and I could certainly never fall asleep when it was my mouth running! For that matter, I don't think I know any women who have fallen asleep while talking. Maybe we just find ourselves too fascinating.

Christmas Memories

2009-12-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Evelyn knew Santa visited long before Christmas came. She saw his bags in Mommy's closet. She knew she wasn't allowed to touch the wrapped gifts, or Santa (Heigh-Ho-Ho) would take them back. So you can imagine her consternation when on Christmas morning she found the bags were missing!

She signed "Where" and asked repetitively "Ere dey go??" So we brought her into the front room where the tree was all lit up and this was her reaction:

After breakfast it's traditional for my family to dance to Mannheim Steamroller's Joy to the World. My mother used to wake us up on Christmas morning to this particular song blasting out the windows. I think anytime members of my family (Or my mom's immediate neighbors) hear this song, it's instantly Christmas morning. Here's Evelyn and Michael dancing:

Evelyn was at the perfect stage for present opening. She was young enough to still be thrilled with only the boxes and wrappings, but old enough to appreciate the real toys too.

We got Evelyn a "Heigh-Ho" and she immediately started singing the song when she saw it.

Then she very properly introduced Grumpy to her new baby-doll. "Heigh-ho? Baby. Baby? Heigh-ho!"

Over all, it was a perfect Christmas. Though Evelyn didn't quite get it all--when she went in Mommy's closet later in the afternoon, she still asked "Ere dey go?"

Christmas Challenge

2009-12-13T18:06:00.000-08:00

Growing up, my mom always strove (Strived?? Striven??? oh well) to give us a Christ-centered Christmas. We would do Sub-For-Santa's, caroling at rest homes...anything to get us more service minded and thinking about the real meaning of Christmas. One tradition that lived through every year was our scripture memorization. Mom would collect 25 scriptures throughout the standard works and write them on little 3x5 cards. Then, every day we would memorize a scripture to count down to Christmas Day. She would entice us by giving us exciting rewards like a mint M&M for memorizing the scripture of the day! Believe it or not, that mint M&M was a real motivation! My siblings and I would strive to be the very first to receive our prize of honor. I'm sad to say that usually meant parroting the scripture back and not really memorizing it. I probably memorized the same scriptures year after year and they were only semi-familiar.
When my older brothers and sisters moved out and I become sort of an only child, scripture memorizing lost it's appeal for me at home. So I brought the scripture cards and the bags of candy to school and challenged my friends! After all, it was tradition and I couldn't give it up. In college I posted scriptures on the white board on my dorm room. I don't think anyone but me looked them up, not to mention memorized them, but it was still there.
Then I married, and believe it or not, a mint M&M didn't sound too appealing, and alas! Days started to slip by when I didn't even look at the scripture cards! I started using the same scripture cards year after year, and only the short ones were getting memorized...over and over and over again. So this year, I decided my little family needed to do something else to get Christ more into Christmas...at least until Evelyn can memorize scriptures and get excited over mint M&Ms.
So I thought of a new challenge. I know December is halfway over, but there's still two weeks! Here it is: are you ready?

Write a Carol or a poem to your King!

It has to be original text, but you can set it to existing music, or simply create a poem expressing your feelings about the Savior's Birth or Ministry.
I'd write mine here, but it's not quite finished....
Anyway good luck! And let me know if you're up to the challenge!

Evelyn's Graduation

2009-12-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

The cause:

Evelyn has never climbed out of her crib before. Unless of course you count the time in that short little hotel crib when Michael turned on the shower and the sound scared her so badly, she did a back flip over the edge of the crib. But that doesn't really count. Yesterday before her nap was the very first time. I had no idea she had climbed out, so she ended up sleeping on her blanket on the floor next to her crib. I discovered her when she started jabbering and I went in to take her out of her crib. She was so proud of herself that she asked me over and over again to put her in her crib so she could show me again how she did it.

The effect:

She was so excited to go to bed last night. We didn't hear a peep from her. I went in to check on her to make sure she wasn't getting into any trouble, but she was lying in her bed with a big smile! She knew she was a big girl!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

2009-12-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the blurriness of this picture...Evelyn was running around doing somersaults and all sorts of cute 0f stuff, but I couldn't get her to hold still.

My Rant of the Day

2009-11-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today I was driving home from the grocery store and I pulled up behind a big dump truck filled to overflowing with rocks. On the back of the truck was displayed a large caution sign that read: "CAUTION! Stay 200 ft back. Not responsible for broken windshields." I stared at this sign in wonder. How can a person post a sign on their truck and assume that passes off the responsibility for them to purchase a cover for their truck? You hear of stories all the time where a rock falls off a truck and ends up crashing through some one's window and killing the driver. And I have personally experienced trying to dodge rocks the size of beach balls bouncing along the freeways. Posting a sign like that is like putting up a sign that says: "I'm an underage driver with no road experience, but I'm not responsible for any negligent driving. Just stay two blocks away from my vehicle."
Okay, maybe that's a little extreme. It just drives me nuts that our society is quickly coming to the conclusion that the written word can get them out of any legal difficulties. What happened to good old integrity? But it was probably begun by all those really dumb law-suits by people with no common sense that force iron manufacturers to exclaim: "Don't iron clothes while wearing them!" Or ceiling fans that warn you not to throw your baby into the ceiling fan. Or another favorite: a can of peanuts that has a nut allergy warning!?!?! As entertaining as reading these things can be, it doesn't bode very well for the intelligence of out culture.
I can just picture the Day of Judgement when someone says: "HEY! I don't have to suffer for all the stupid and wrong things I did my whole life! I signed a waiver!!!"

Gratitude

2009-11-23T07:51:00.000-08:00

10 Things I'm Thankful For

1-Nuts; I love Almonds, Pecans, Peanuts, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Sunflower seeds...etc. I probably wouldn't have survived the first week of November if it hadn't been for nuts. Besides, you can't make Chocolate Pecan Pie without pecans!

2-New Carpet that's soft on my poor feet. Plus it's fun to blow carpet fuzz around with Evelyn.

3-New Dishwasher that has a steam clean feature. Take THAT hard water!

4-Evelyn is starting to interact with people at church. She steals their kids' toys, and brings them back to me--but she doesn't run down the isle! AND she went to nursery yesterday!!!

5-Lots of Christmas decorations! And Christmas music! And staring at the glowing Christmas tree while snuggling with that certain someone.

6-Those sweet moments of motherhood, like when Evelyn just wants to snuggle with mommy, or when she wants her mommy to eat another helping of cake, or when she pleads: "Momma, temple, GO!! Please, Please, Please!!!"

7-"The Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, and the movie "Scrooge" with Albert Finney. They always make me happy. But also for the opportunity to go on a date with Michael to Jim Carrey's new "Christmas Carol."

8- Watching snowfall while holding hands, Running in the snow, Rolling in snow, and Sculpting George Washington praying at Valley Forge in snow. Then drinking Stephan's Hot Chocolate (Hazelnut or Chocolate Mint are the best! --Though the peanut butter cup also has a special place in my heart.)

9-Coming home from choir or shopping or visiting teaching and finding my house clean and fresh Mike's Best in the World Cookies cooling on the rack. BEST HUSBAND EVER!

10-Conference Edition of the Ensign. Buy it; read it; love it; cry lots.

I thought I'd write a little Thanksgiving entry. I really could have gone on forever, especially since Michael and I have been keeping a blessings basket through the month. But I figured you wouldn't want to hear over and over again how hot Michael is. :D

Hmmm...maybe I SHOULD screw that into the wall...

2009-11-16T13:59:00.000-08:00

So I was lounging comfortably; enjoying my Christmas decorations when I heard a CRASH from Evelyn's bedroom where she had been playing. The said crash was followed by Evelyn's cry of distress. I ran into her room to discover that she had unbalanced her dresser by opening all the drawers and it had tipped over. Did I pick up my child and inspect her for wounds? Did I comfort her and tell her that the dresser was not out to get her? Yes. But only after I grabbed the camera. What a great mom!

Look at that sad face! By the way, she wasn't hurt. She was bemoaning the fact that her kitty was stuck in the drawers. I rescued Kitty and she went off to play happy as can be!

Exercise time!

2009-11-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

Daddy was doing his exercises and since Evelyn is copying everything he does right now, she did her own exercises. I'm just sad I missed the original push ups she did. But these ones were cute too.

Daddy's home!

2009-11-16T08:01:00.001-08:00

Michael got home from his ten day business trip in Atlanta! One down; who-knows-how-many to go! Since then, life has been great! We've decorated for Christmas, made cookies and officially wrote the obituary for my diet, and even church went well! No dead Evelyns!

Evelyn is especially happy her daddy is home. She once again refuses to have anything to do with me, and daddy gets to change all her diapers! YAY!

Has your BRAIN been with your HEAD all day?

2009-11-11T09:07:00.001-08:00

Some things you just take for granted that your children already know. I guess if I think about it, I realize that babies right out of the womb don't know anything, but by the time they're almost two, you think they pick up on some of those common sense sort of things.
For instance, today I was cleaning the toilets (a miracle, I know) and Evelyn was watching me fascinated. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned down and licked the toilet bowl! GROSS!!!! I never before thought to caution my child: "Evelyn, if you ever want to go anywhere in life, don't lick the toilet."

Static and bad hair days!

2009-11-10T10:08:00.001-08:00

We got new carpet! It makes life so much fun! I love picking up my keys and getting zapped, or looking in the mirror and seeing my hair that I spent 30 minutes doing is looking like I just put my finger in an outlet. I had no idea of all the joys of new carpet! Evelyn and I have fun chasing each other around and shocking each other, and then I have to kiss all the places she got shocked and make them better. But I can never get her to kiss my "ouchies", she just laughs and shocks me again.

Evelyn has been especially susceptible to static-y hair. Observe:

Hurray for Static Electricity!

The Cleanse of Doom!

2009-11-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

This week I am experimenting with my will-power. My sister's doctor said that autoimmune diseases (such as arthritis and allergies and diabetes and so forth) are spurred by the digestive system and a low amount of the good bacterias like probiotics. He told her about this way to cleanse your digestive system and hit the re-set button.
Day 1-2 you eat only raw fruits, veggies, and nuts.
Day 3-5 you eat a nauseating concoction of squeezed lemons, real maple syrup and cayenne pepper. That's it. Just this suicidal lemonade.
Day 6-7 just when you're ready to swear off all healthy foods and get on a pure chocolate cake diet, you get more fruits and veggies and nuts. YAY!
I'm on the part of the nasty lemonade. I think I'd rather be anorexic. Why the junk would you want to feel like you're starving to death and then pour burning, foul acid down your throat for nutrition? Anyway, I'm questioning whether this whole thing is worth it.
The upside is even though it may not cure me of my arthritis or allergies, I may actually see my pre-pregnancy weight again. And I'm appreciating chocolate more. You never do appreciate what you have until you lose it. :)That's why I picked November to do it. It reminds me of all my November experiences growing up. My mother always had way too much fun thinking of horrible ways to teach us to be truly "grateful." We would give up white bread, red meats, sugar, our Christmas presents...all with the hope of making good citizens of us or something like that. I think all I ever really learned was how to eat what I wanted when Mom wasn't around. And to skip Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas. Now THERE's a holiday that teaches gratitude. :D

Reflections

2009-11-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. It's been a...difficult adjustment to say the least. But I have had some really amazing experiences with it as well. Last night I was reading in the scriptures and I came across a couple chapters that talk of how the Lord chasteneth his people because he loves them. This made me stop and reflect on all the trials I have had and what I have learned from them. It was easy to think of things I've learned from trials that are past and over, no matter how difficult they were at the time. But it was more difficult to see what I've learned and how I've grown with this arthritis. Maybe I haven't been humble enough.
The miracle came after I pondered a while and things started coming to my mind. I was amazed at the ways I have been blessed and the things I've experienced and learned. I have discovered that my life is as good as it is BECAUSE of the Arthritis. For instance: I am a better mother than I would have been without the arthritis. Sure it makes things difficult, but I have to prioritize what I can do because I can only do so much, so I have to make sure the important things get done first. It has strengthened my marriage. I appreciate Michael so much more for what he does for me, that I can't do for myself. I also appreciate the things I CAN do, because I've experienced losing the ability to do them: simple things like buttoning buttons, opening cans, wearing shoes, and lifting Evelyn out of her crib. Most importantly, I have learned of God's love for me. I know He is there for me and has strengthened me countless times.
I never would have thought of bad health as a blessing before. It reminds me of Liberty Jail and how they call it the "Temple Prison." We really do learn the most from our hardest trials. It is our price to get acquainted with God, and if you think about it that way, it's so much easier to accept His will.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me during my hard times and encouraged me when I have been down. It's been hard learning to accept being on the receiving end of service, but I can't express how much your service has been appreciated.

Evelyn Monkey

2009-10-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

Evelyn's monkey faces! We wanted to make her a little kitten, but even all the baby-sized kitty costumes were "sexy." What's with that?!

Happy Halloween Everyone! I would write some creative festive mementos, but I think all my creativity has been sapped by the Halloween goodies. Bleh.

Thanksgiving Point

2009-10-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

This week has been a blast, thanks to Michael getting laid off. Or maybe I should say thanks to him getting a new job so fast. Anyway, regardless Michael has been home all week with no reason to be stressed. So we decided to make a few memories. Today we went to Thanksgiving Point. We live within 15 minutes of it and decided it was silly not to take advantage of going while we live so close.

Evelyn was adorable making all the sound effects of the animals. She knew what all the animals said, except for maybe a llama--if you can figure out what to teach a kid about what a llama says, you let me know. She also insisted it was a "Mama" instead of a "llama." I personally don't see the resemblance.
She loved especially the horses, and riding the ponies. She was thrilled!

Here are some other pictures of our day:

I love the quaint way this sign was written!

The only problem with having Michael home all the time is that he's so fun, Evelyn doesn't like Mommy anymore. He plays with her, picks her up, throws her, gets dragged around by her....come to think of it, maybe this is not such a bad set-up after all!

Beautiful, Wonderful Fall!

2009-10-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

I love the Fall! It is that wonderful time of the year when the leaves change colors, the air turns brisk, and Christmas songs invariably get stuck in your head.
This year had been extra fun because Evelyn is old enough to notice and appreciate the change. We've had a great time introducing her to all the new fun fall experiences.

This is the little Tabby-cat that lives by us. Evelyn chases it screeching "MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!" We're surprised the cat keeps coming back for more. Evelyn also loves to give the kitty a drink.

We made fall shaped sugar cookies!
This is our "Blessings Basket." In it we place papers with the things we are most grateful for. It's a great way to get ready for Thanksgiving.

Dear Hannah,

2009-10-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

I regret to inform you that Evelyn has taken an extreme liking to your version of "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas." She demands I play the song over and over again, and whenever I stop playing it, she wanders around the house singing: "Happy, Happy, Happy!" (Which is her way of saying "Hippopotamus.") Just this morning, Evelyn was begging for yet another encore, and Daddy told her,"Sorry, Evelyn, no more Hippo's. Mommy and Daddy have a low-hippo tolerance." One must question your reasons for making that particular recording so darn cute and fun.
Respectfully Yours,
Pamela Adams

Gardner Village

2009-10-16T18:24:00.000-07:00

Evelyn with her cousin Rachel.

Evelyn loves all things watery. But not as much as her cousin Seby loves sprinkler systems. He ran around the whole day unearthing all the sprinklers in the corners of the landscaping.

This is Evelyn and Ki. I love the dreamy look in Evelyn's eyes.

Sad Story

2009-10-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a frumpy little mom who longed to be beautiful. So she decided to get her hair professionally cut. The haircut looked great when the hair-stylist did it, and the not-so-frumpy looking mom went home happy. But the next morning the poor woman realized she had no idea how to do it herself! The result of her effort was pitiful.
This story is a sad but true one. If anyone has any brilliant ideas on how to make bangs behave, please enlighten me. I think the magic of a roundbrush and a straightener has run out.
(Notice I didn't include any pictures. :D)

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

2009-10-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

I decided that in order to have a respectable housewife's blog, I needed to add a recipe. So here's one of my little family's recent favorites.
It's kind of similar to Pier 49's Nob Hill. ) I was going to post this a while ago, but my tummy couldn't wait long enough to take the picture of the beautiful result!)

1 pizza dough crust (you can use Sourdough if you want it more similar to Pier 49, but we use Wheat--I figure the pizza needs some semblance of healthiness.)

You can put a thin coat of pizza sauce on the base of the pizza if you want more tomatoey flavor.

Garlic Alfredo Sauce:
Heat up 1 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cube butter in a sauce pan.
Add Three to Four Fresh Garlic Cloves
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 TB Flour
Melt in 1/2 Cup Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

Top with:
3/4 cup of Mozzarella Cheese
1 cooked and diced chicken breast lightly coated with the Garlic Alfredo Sauce
Sliced Mushrooms
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 -18 minutes

Sprinkle diced tomatoes and green onions on top. You can also add olives if your little girl isn't allergic.

Enjoy, but don't make yourself sick eating too much!

My New 'Do

2009-10-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

Michael got a new haircut. I wanted a new haircut too! I considered cutting it really short, but decided that could wait until the weather warms up again.
I think I look like my sister Susan--not a bad deal at all, I would say!

Little Girls try to grow up too quickly!

2009-10-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

Here's my proof:

Evelyn knows just where bouncy balls go!

"Heigh Ho's"

2009-10-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

Evelyn loves "Heigh Ho's." In case you haven't ever heard of them, most people call them "Dwarfs." In this family there are nine recognized dwarfs instead of the typical seven: Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Dopey, Grumpy, Rumpelstiltskin, and Santa Claus. Actually, I think that anyone with a belly and a long beard would qualify. I'm just waiting for the day when she sees a motorcyclist and joyfully cries: "Heigh ho!!!" and starts whistling.

What a Sweet little Girl!

2009-10-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Evelyn's been very expressive lately. I just hope she isn't mirroring any of my expressions. I would like to blame her lack of politeness on being almost two...But I might make that face when I have to sweep the floor.

Grown up Evelyn

2009-10-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

Evelyn found Daddy's deoderant. We wondered what she would end up doing with it and she surprised us by knowing exactly what to do with it!

By the way, who is that child's mother?! And why didn't she brush her hair?!

Michael's haircut

2009-10-07T08:18:00.001-07:00

Ever since Michael got out of the military in March, I've been able (Miraculously, I might add) to get him to grow out his hair a little. He's always had the standard military haircut "High and tight." The other day Michael and his co-workers were talking about how when they were bachelors (*GASP*) they were free to be as "Cool" as they wanted but then they got married and their wives get to pick their style and color of clothing. Michael pointed at his hair and teased: "Style and Color!"

When I heard this story, I, in a fit a pure unrighteous indignation cut all of Michael's hair off, with him protesting the whole time. But I stubbornly insisted that if he wanted short hair then DANGIT, he was getting short hair--like it or not! Poor Michael! Here are the before and after pictures.

You are free to vote which you like better ...your comments will be respected and anonymous. :D

Sins of the Parents

2009-09-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Every year when I was growing up, my dad would take me out to dinner for a birthday present. It was a special time which I loved. You see, having grown up at the bottom of a family of nine children, we rarely had the resources to go out to eat. But not only would my dad take me out, he would take me to a sit-down restaurant, not just a fast food. It was a momentous occasion to look forward to. I always carefully planned where we would go out to eat, and, being a growing girl who loved food and lots of it, I usually decided on an all-you-can-eat place like Golden Corral or Sizzler.
As much as I cherished this one-on-one time with my dad, there was one small part of the experience I didn't particularly relish. I would go out and come back with my plate heaping full of all my favorite delights and he'd take one look at my plate and say: "Why are you eating all the cheapest things?! This is an all-you-can-eat restaurant and you are going to fill up on rolls, mashed potatoes, corn and cookies?!" Then an argument would ensue. "Dad, I LIKE these foods!" "But you should fill up on the more expensive things like meat!" "But I don't like any of the meat!" "Well, how are we going to get our money's worth when you are filling up on fluffy rolls!?" "Why don't YOU eat our money's worth, dad?" So he would try, and I'd feel bad, so I'd try to make up for my cheap meal by putting lots of sunflower seeds on my salad. Sunflower seeds are expensive, right?
Anyway, through the years, I learned more and more how to eat my "Money's worth." But sadly now I don't enjoy going to all-you-can-eat restaurants anymore, because even though I have married and left my parents, whenever I'm in those joints, I can feel this little daddy-devil sitting on my shoulder yanking on my ear lobe and shouting: "HAVE ANOTHER HELPING OF SHRIMP, PAM!" And I obey, even though I don't even like shrimp that much.
Today, for instance, My mother-in-law and I went out to lunch to Pier 49 and ordered the all-you-can-eat meal. I wasn't too worried because it was Pier 49 and I love Pier 49. But as soon as my stomach began to feel like it was ready to quit, that little daddy devil showed up and said: "You only ate four pieces of pizza! For that price you could have ordered a whole pizza and saved leftovers for lunch!" So reluctantly I went back for more. I ended up eating six very large pieces of sourdough pizza smothered in toppings and fattiness. So my daddy may rest assured that he instilled in his daughter the trait of eating her money's worth. But really all he gave me was a legacy of heartburn.

Musicsick (I mean like that homesick)

2009-09-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

I was a music major once upon a time. I am going CRAZY right now because I haven't sung in a while. It's even September and my ward hasn't started up choir practices for the Christmas program! Don't they know that you're SUPPOSED to sing Christmas songs in September?!
Anyway, the following links are songs I sang from the concert "Prelude to Glory" written by Russell Wilson.
http://www.preludepress.com/Audio/10womanch.MP3
http://www.preludepress.com/Audio/08johnnych.MP3
http://www.preludepress.com/Audio/13bringch.MP3
I like the way I said "Butter" in Johnny's gone for a soldier. It made me feel like Barbara Streisand. I dare you to say it better. :D

It's Finished!!!

2009-09-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the quilting project I've been working on for 2 years! Just in time for Fall, too!

And yes: I am comfortable enough with myself to admit that I cleaned off and decorated the table with the sole purpose of taking this picture. (Hey, this blog has added benefits of making me clean my house!)

World's Meanest Mom

2009-09-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Poor, poor Evelyn. On Saturday I picked up her last intact bottle and found the nipple had a huge hole bitten into it. So Evelyn is getting weaned from the bottle. It really hasn't been such a horrible experience as I thought it would be. You see, I tried to wean Evelyn from her bottle once before with disastrous consequences. Evelyn screamed for her bottle the whole day-and when I say scream, I mean it, for Evelyn has inherited my...Lungs.

Anyway, I really didn't want to go through that again. So I decided to give in a little to the devil on my shoulder and I put buttermilk in her bottle. She can have her bottle whenever she wants it. But when she tastes what's inside, she gives it the world-famous snub. It's working like a charm.

Above is Evelyn glaring at her traitorous bottle.

For Posterity

2009-09-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

This was painfully similar to trying to teach my Sunbeam Class.

Labor day

2009-09-08T07:25:00.001-07:00

I forgot my camera. How I could do such a thing was beyond me. So my apologies for the lack of pictures this post. Maybe I can beg some off of my relatives at a later date.
Anyway, for Labor Day this year, Michael's dad took us to the aquarium. Evelyn was in heaven! She loved the octopus, the frogs (Evelyn, what does a frog say? "Oh Yeah!") and the star fish. But most especially she ADORED the sting rays. In the aquarium we went to they have a big pool where you can reach out and pet the sting rays. I thought it was a bit creepy, but Evelyn wanted to RIDE them! A Sting ray would swim past and flap Evelyn's hand and she would giggle, giggle, giggle and then try and dive in the water. Later in the gift shop, she found a soft purple sting ray stuffed animal that she fell in love with. It was an ordeal trying to get that thing away from her. Who falls in love with a Sting Ray stuffed animal, for crying out loud?!
Then in the evening, Evelyn got to have a giant inflatable slippery slide all to herself. That's the sweet life!
Evelyn loves Michael's family. Each one has a special place in her heart. Her Grandma Adams she calls "Nana" that is occasionally followed with an affectionate sign of "banana." Grandpa is definitely a favorite. If we tell Evelyn we're going to visit Grandpa, she runs to her shoes and screams "PAPA!" and demands to leave right at that second. Then we inevitably endure a whole car ride of "papa. Papa! PAAAAPAAAAAA!!!" And her uncles, both of whom she harbors secret crushes for, are Uncle Yaya (Carl), and Uncle Cookie (Cory). We couldn't even get her to try to say Cory for a while. She just persisted in signing "Cookie."
Evelyn happens to be the first grandbaby on Michael's side of the family. On my side of the family she's merely the first baby Adams, and she falls as my parents' 26th grandkid. Of course, they treat her special too. I guess I'm just not used to the wonderful perks that belong to being a first. After all, I was like the 45th grandkid on my mom's side or something. But I did have the luxury of being the spoiled last child.

Explanation

2009-09-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Some of you might be wondering where I got the title of my blog. I know it sounds philosophical and intelligent, but it's not. Sorry. And some of you had such high hopes for me.

No, actually it dates back long ago back to when Michael and I were dating (Almost six years ago now, can you believe it?!). Michael and I had been dating for about 2 and 1/2 weeks, and I decided to introduce him to my family. As many of you know, that's quite a task considering that I have eight brothers and sisters older than me; most who were married and had multiple children. I thought I'd get it all over with at once and give Michael a bit of a trial by fire. So I invited him to Thanksgiving Dinner.

While we were waiting for Michael to arrive, my mom starting teasing me about how serious I was getting with him so fast. (She gave me so many marriage prep talks that weekend it wasn't even funny. I think I was getting serious with him so quickly because she kept making me think seriously about the relationship.) At one point of the conversation, she told me she was going to pull Michael aside sometime during the night and interview him to make sure he was worthy to marry me. I laughed and thought she was joking.

She wasn't joking.

As soon as Michael showed up, Mom gave me a job in the kitchen and disappeared somewhere with Michael. You can imagine that I was somewhat worried about this. I asked my sisters what they thought Mom was saying to him.

One of my sisters laughed and said, "Oh, she's probably giving him the sex talk a little early." I thought she was teasing, but just in case, I asked her what she meant by "a little early."

"Mom gives all the guys the sex talk after they propose." She stated matter-of-fact.

No way! I thought. Even if my mom really did give out the sex talk, which I couldn't really put past her, she wouldn't corner someone I was dating only a couple weeks.....would she?! My concerns deepened.

Michael and my mom eventually showed back up and I asked Michael what she told him.

"I'll tell you when you're older."

Famous last words. "No really," I pleaded.

"I can't tell you. She swore me to secrecy."

Blast. That really didn't soothe my nerves.

Michael didn't end up telling me what was going on for over a month! But on Christmas Eve, just before we parted, he whispered in my ear:

"Tomorrow You'll Be Older," and refused to say anything else. I got butterflies in my stomach so bad imagining all the things it might mean, and I didn't sleep particularly the greatest that night. But who does on Christmas Eve?

As it turns out, for Christmas that year (after much teasing about losing our Christmas to the Grinch) we found out that we were going to Disneyland. The "interview" that Mom gave to Michael the first time they met was to let him know so he wouldn't plan anything that week with me.

Just as an interesting fact: After my mom met Michael that weekend for Thanksgiving, she told me that he was "Too good to be true" and warned me to be careful. Now she is the first to admit he really is a gem. In fact, sometimes I think she only claims me as a daughter because I married him.

A special thanks to Jessie for the picture!