Just in case I don't get around to mailing out cards

Will and I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas! We are so thankful for the birth, life, and Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ and we're grateful for this chance to celebrate Him. May your holiday season be joyous and safe! Oh, and Chuck and Clyde wanted to get in on the season's greetings action, but they were too busy arguing over who the 'man of the house' is . . .
(Seriously, that's what they're doing. When asked, "Who's the man of the house?" Clyde points to himself and says "I want to!" and Chuck points to himself and says "I want to!" and so it goes . . .)

The closest to the North Pole I'll probably ever get

Chuck and I ventured to the mall on Tuesday afternoon, little boys in tow, to do some Christmas shopping and happened upon a virtually wait-free line to see Santa Claus! And better yet, instead of using their photographer we were able to take pictures (albeit only two) with our own camera for free! Although Clyde knows who Santa is (thanks to his new favorite movie, Elf) I still knew he wouldn't sit up there on his own, so I joined in on the fun. Will was very interested in the kindly old gent and got a good hold of his pinky

Aren't their little jackets too cute? My mom's friend Bonnie picked up one of them at a garage sale a while back and Clyde wore it last winter, then I found the other one last week at Savers. Ah, the fun of dressing children like twins without actually having to have two babies at once!

The closest to Bethlehem I'll probably ever get

Sadly, our little family was a little slow delving into the Christmas spirit this year. This, of course, was not by choice - Chuck picked up a few extra shifts the first week of December and I've had a slew of projects, papers, and presentations for school. I did pull out the Christmas boxes the Sunday after Thanksgiving and put most of our decorations up, but we had to wait until this past Friday to get a tree. Chuck and Clyde picked it out together while I finished a paper and we decorated it Saturday morning. There's something about having the tree up and well-lit that makes life feel much more Christmas-y and I love it! Chuck took the weekend off and we were able to go to our ward's Christmas party at church. The activities committee did a great job re-creating Bethlehem and it was fun to don bathrobes (Chuck and Clyde), sheets (me) and pillowcases (all of us) to fit in with the scenery. The Elder's Quorum was in charge of one of the food-serving booths so Chuck got to magnify his calling as 1st Counselor and dole out grapes.Clyde happily stayed in his getup for most of the evening - until about thirty seconds before we went to take this picture (of course). Thanks again, Jared, for being our volunteer photographer!

An earlier shot of Clyde helping Daddy with the fruit

Troy, the Elder's Quorum President, and Chuck at their 'blacksmith' shop

Will is so close to crawling on his hands and knees!

After dinner there was a really nice program with an acted out reading from the second chapter of Luke. Hearing that account of Jesus Christ's birth never gets old, and obviously helped up the Christmas spirit around our house as well :)

It's been so nice to have Chuck home for a week, and after an all-day training followed by his regular shift tomorrow, we get him for another whole week - yay! We decided today that we should just win the lottery since it's so fun to both be stay-at-home parents (Alas, we don't play the lottery, and I think that's actually one of their slogans: You can't win if you don't play). We'll just have to be thankful for the semester almost being over and vacation days!

Turkey Day wrap up

We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. Sam and Terri graced us with their collective presence, which meant that Clyde and Will got lots of extra love! Clyde's favorite things were riding in Sam and Terri's car and Terri's magical, shiny purse with its ziploc bag full o' candy. Preferably blue candy :). Will's favorite thing was being picked up and cuddled each and every time he fussed - ah, the benefits of a two-to-one adult to child ratio! Thanksgiving Day we had a scrumptious dinner at our house with Sam and Terri, my mum and Cody, Leslie and Matt, and their kids Keyan and Jazlyn. We put two tables together in our living room, and I finally got to use my super cool Fiesta dishes that we received for our wedding (thanks Aunt Iris!). There was lots of yummy food and afterwards we played a host of different games. As an adaptation of the "five kernels of corn" deal, before dinner every plate had five Reese's Pieces on it, which could be eaten after the person shared five things they were grateful for. Since I've had a few handfuls out of the candy dish today, I should probably make a longer list of what I'm thankful for (warning, it's REALLY long):

* my husband, who is sweet and caring and takes amazing care of me - he actually made ME breakfast last week on HIS birthday * my Clyde Monster, who made me a mommy and prefers me to almost every other person alive (save Daddy, his 'best friend') and who kisses the owie on my elbow every time he sees it * my baby Will, who proved lightening can strike twice - in the form of darling baby boys, and who, despite having two little teeth now, hasn't bitten me once * my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, who love me (and you!) unconditionally * my mum, who supports me and believes in me and who taught me how to be a mommy * my brother Cody, who teaches me about compassion and grace and about the Israel-Palestine conflict * my brother Sam, who provides wisdom and married Terri so I could have a sister to be on MY side (thanks Terri - I'm grateful for you too!) and who finally thinks I'm cool . . . right, Sammy? * my brother Quinn, who is sacrificing so much to provide service to his fellow man and to his God and who I miss every day * my dad, who gave me blue eyes and who gives me new perspectives and who treated the little boys and myself to a yummy lunch a couple weeks ago! * Chuck's family who gave me more super cool brothers and amazingly sweet sisters and who made me an aunt to five darling kids (so far!) and who we're excited to see in two and a half weeks! * our nice, roomy house to stretch out in and decorate for Christmas in! * Facebook/blogs/Internet in general to keep me sane and connected to the outside world * my favorite jeans, and the fact that I fit into them (yay for almost pre-pregnancy weight - doesn't that mean we're ready for another one?) * gas prices at $1.62 a gallon * school being almost done for the semester * Boise State being 12-0 * Clyde (and Will, for that matter) being binky-free for a couple months now mostly by their own accords (after I stressed and stressed about how we were going to get him off of it) * the acceptance we've felt in our ward and settling into our callings * the security of Chuck's job (there will always be juveniles with problems, unfortunately) and his willingness to work extra hours to keep me at home * ice cream * my blanket and my bed - hmm, I think I'll go be extra grateful for those right now!

Good night!

Chuck's 28!

Happy birthday to my superhero of a husband . . .

Is it any wonder I can't keep Clyde on the ground?

Two week round up!

So, long time no see . . . I really wish I could say that I've been somewhere fabulous for the last couple weeks - preferably Disneyland or New York - but it would be an absolute falsehood. I've actually just been at home, at school, at home again, at school again, and so on, too tired to upload pictures and summarize events. So what has pushed me out of my laziness? Two things:

1. It's officially THANKSGIVING BREAK! Because Boise State loves me, they're giving me an entire week off from school. Aren't they wonderful? Granted, I have a five-page paper due tomorrow for my online class (haven't started yet) and a whole mess of stuff due the week we go back, but that's okay - I get a week off from school!

2. Chuck's birthday tomorrow! Friday, November 21st my most favorite husband ever turns 28 and I want to put up darling pictures from when he was little and write about how much I love him and I can't do that until I've posted about the last couple weeks, because although it apparently doesn't bother me to share recaps a week and a half after the actual event took place, it does bother me to post them out of order. So I'll post this blog tonight and another, Chuck-filled one tomorrow.

The big highlight was Saturday the 8th - Chuck and I went on a fabulously fun date to the Boise State-Utah State football game! We had a really great time, although sitting in the student section made us excited to someday not sit in the student section (we're would-be season ticket holders, as in, 'we would be if we had the money'). We were bummed that it will be the only game we make it to this season, but we've enjoyed watching the other ones at home. Scarily, I've actually watched some of them alone while Chuck's been at work!

My mom was out of town on a debate trip so we had a cute girl named Brooklyn from the ward come over to baby-sit the little boys. Clyde fell completely in love with her and she did a great job. I was nervous since we were gone all afternoon, but everything went fine and she left us the cutest note on the easel:

Isn't that adorable?
Here's a shot of the game; if you squint you can see my friends Garcia and Cedric on the field.

The crowd thinned considerably after halftime and even more so after the third quarter, so we had room to move around and take pictures.

It was REALLY cold. Yay for hats.

Other highlights from my absence:

* Saturday the 8th was also my sweet mother-in-law's birthday - happy birthday Terri! Of course, I love her the most for raising such an incredible son for me to marry, but she's really wonderful in a host of other ways as well!

* Melissa, Kevin, and Lily made a quick trip up here to I-da-ho and stayed with us! Melissa and I got to stay up late chatting in person, instead of online :)

* Our ward had our Primary Program, where the cute 3-11 year olds summon all their courage to mumble through their line of text into the microphone on the stand in front of the whole ward. I teach the 5-6 year olds, and they did amazingly well. Clyde wandered up partway through and sat on my lap the rest of the time, the little goof.

* In an effort to become more like her beloved Dr. House, my mum got a cane! Last week at debate some of the kids rolled up the carpet to prop open a door and my poor, unsuspecting mother came along and tripped (it's okay, I laughed a little at first, too, it's a funny visual). She landed on her left knee all funnily and bruised? tore? something in there (I obviously should have listened more carefully). It was in a brace for a couple days, and now she's rocking the stylish-cane-as-an-accessory look. She hasn't hit me with it yet (although she might after she reads this!) but Clyde thinks it's pretty cool. She really only uses it around school when she'll be walking a lot, but now she has it for when she gets old - and the school district footed the bill!

* Will has become a definite army-crawler! He's also eating more and more food; it's so cute when he sees the spoon and opens his little baby mouth :)

*Elder Braden was transferred to a new area where he'll be speaking Spanish!

Hmm, that's all I got right now.

G'night!

Vote? YES WE DID!

Tuesday night, we elected (get it?) to make voting a family affair. We hit up McDonald's first for some dinner (um, can you get any more American?) and then headed to our polling place, a nearby elementary school. We waited in line for a bit, first so Chuck could register here with our new address (I had already taken care of this, the patriot that I am) and then in the line to actually vote. Besides the cold (we didn't get there until around seven) it was a really neat experience to stand in line and see democracy in action, particularly after reading about the REALLY long lines that other people around the country stood in to vote. The only bummers were that they didn't have 'I voted' stickers, and then the "So-and-so has voted" lady called me "John-uh" but, eh, I've been called worse.

Aren't Clyde and Will so darling in their patriotic get-up?

Mommy voted, yay!

Clyde took this picture, can you tell? :)

I was obviously thrilled with the outcome of the presidential election, but I am equally thrilled by the sentiments of cooperation and bipartisanship from a number of conservatives. I was also impressed by Senator McCain's concession speech.

I'm very excited about our country's future - how can you not be after hearing President-elect Obama's speech that night? Here are some of my favorite parts:

"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other . . .

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long . . .

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America."

Boo humbug

Confession: I didn't take my children trick-or-treating this year. We didn't go to our ward's trunk-or-treat. There was no wearing of costumes.

Shocking, right? I do, actually, like Halloween quite a bit, but this year the little boys and I were content to stay home and pass out candy, since Chuck had to work and my mom was out of town and I was lazy/unambitious. Plus Clyde detested his lion costume; I managed to wrangle him into it once last week and he sobbed until I took it off.

So we stayed in and I caught up on some TV! Clyde watched me very carefully when the first few trick-or-treaters came and then decided to take over, much to the other children's dismay since he only gave them ONE piece of candy. After he closed the door each time, he signed 'friend', said 'one' and signed 'candy' - so cute!

We did embrace the Halloween spirit earlier in the day before Chuck went to work . . .

This was the first time Clyde had ever painted (sad, I know) and he loved it.

I painted Will's pumpkin (also notice Clyde's cool sweatshirt)

He got the hang of it pretty quick

I made poor Will wear that bib most of the day

Clyde helped Chuck clean out and organize the garage, and was delighted with a stage to dance on

I was SO proud when Chuck came out wearing black and orange . . . until he told me he hadn't done it on purpose.

This little Halloween outfit was 3-6 months, but I squeezed Will into it for a little bit :)

You'll laugh, you'll cry

As a kid, I was all about playing pretend. House, school, oldest sister of a family of orphans who had to raise nobly her younger siblings, you name it, I pretended it.

Then I was a generic 'movie star' like five years in a row for Halloween. Apparently movie stars in the mid-nineties wore big polka-dot, hoop earrings and feather boas.

In ninth grade I was deemed Most Likely to Win an Academy Award at our 'Farewell to Freshmen' dance. I blinked back fake tears and pulled a speech out of my borrowed dress.

Ultimately, I chose not to pursue acting, opting instead to involve myself in a task that involves more improv and winging it: motherhood. But the dream still remains, and I'm always excited for a chance to use my skills. My nonverbal comm group is doing a presentation Thursday about territory, space, and distance, and when we found the selection of videos on Youtube about 'invading personal space' seriously lacking, it was obvious that we needed to make our own.

Cedric and I were the on-screen talent, although Garcia makes a couple cameos. Zach was excused since a) he had class and b) he would totally have cracked up (this is also why Garcia didn't do more). Cedric's poker face improved with time, but MY performace was Oscar-caliber throughout.

*It should be noted that all subjects were completely unaware of the camera/what the HECK we were doing (that's pretty obvious) but after the desired reaction(s) were achieved - or we felt too creepy to continue - we immediately apologized and explained about the project and presentation. Most of them were pretty cool about it after that. Most of them.

*It should also be noted that my husband is secure in our marriage and supportive of my art and that he understands it's not my fault that the guy in the library thought I was hitting on him.

Without further ado, here's a link to one of the videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyaWJssSzvI&feature=channel. To see the others, just click on 'more from janamarie118' (that's me). And yes, there are a couple of Clyde and Will, too. One I uploaded to test that it worked and the other one illustrates the sometimes lack of personal space in children - Clyde climbing into Will's carseat, although Will does object.

Enjoy!

The latest . . . in pictures

I finally uploaded pictures from the last couple weeks from the camera to the computer, and I'll be darned if I'm not surrounded by the three cutest, sweetest boys around! Chuck and Will taking a nap after a long day at work (Chuck apparently works in construction now, I wish he would have talked to me about the job change first, but whatever).
An example of the fabulous hot chocolate that Chuck makes for me regularly, especially while I'm doing homework. Aren't the M&M's a nice touch? Ten points for plating! Oh, and speaking of homework, thanks to YOU I did fabulously on my paper - 99/100! You're all invited to my graduation party in fourteen months!
Will at the pediatrician's office for his six-month visit. He's a tad over 27 inches length-wise and a tad over 19 lbs weight-wise. I made peace with pulling out the tote of 9-12 month clothes.
Clyde enjoying some yummy Trix cereal that his cousins shared when they came to play last week. I'm still a little bitter that Trix isn't in the shape of the fruit anymore . . .
Will rocking on his elbows and knees, after which he promptly plopped back onto his belly. He gets around pretty well by creeping, so we'll see if he crawls soon. Also notice his cute hair cut (I think it's his third - hard to keep track!) and his cute BSU-ish outfit he wore on game day last week. Go Broncos!
My life is over - Clyde can officially open the fridge. And take out the chocolate milk. MY chocolate milk.
So, Clyde has been doing this for a while but this is the first time I've gotten a picture - he walks around with his head on the floor. He loves it. Sometimes he goes forwards, sometimes backwards. Nut. Also, baby Will got an exersaucer! Thank you, craigslist!

My [anti] political rant

I am a Democrat.





Still there? Here's another shock: I don't hate Republicans. Or Independents. Or Undecideds. Or Apathetics ( I can't hate them - my husband fits into that category).

I am really tired of the political mood right now. When did we decide that if someone doesn't agree with us about how to solve various national problems that it's okay to be mean and nasty and rude to and about them? I understand that it's important for political candidates to talk up their strengths and their opponents' weaknesses, but disrespectful, personal attacks? Seriously not necessary.

And what's REALLY not necessary is the recent round of e-mails being forwarded left and right (literally, LEFT and RIGHT). Don't get me wrong; I'm all for political humor. I even think I can laugh at the gaffes made by Democrats as well as Republicans. But I don't think it's cool to purposefully forward rude, mocking e-mails to people who disagree with you. If you want to keep it within your party, go ahead. My mom and I have all sorts of laughs while we watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. But I don't look up the clips online and send them to my conservative friends. What would that achieve? Nothing, except to create more division.

Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe you and your friends can banter back and forth without feelings getting hurt or comments being taken seriously. That's great. Debate is good; it allows us to more fully understand both what we believe and what the other person believes. But when it becomes disrespectful, personal, and crude? Count me out.

I'm excited to vote in the presidential election in three weeks. I hope that the candidate I support wins. I hope I can get my husband, Chuck "Voting is for Old People" Izatt, to the polls with me (just kidding, he already indicated that he's going to vote - he's voted in every presidential election since turning 18). But most of all I hope that we can respect people that we disagree with and start finding common ground to work together.

Obama '08!

Conference wrap-up (it's worth the wait!)

* My sincere apologies to Will and Nate, both of whom I'm sure have been checking my blog every day, looking for this post.

So, we had all sorts of fun last weekend in Utah. We left Thursday morning and drove to Sam and Terri's house where I promptly handed all responsibility of my children over to Terri. She managed to play with the boys AND cook a yummy dinner - proving to Chuck that it can be done, so there go my excuses. Did I mention the homemade cinnamon rolls?

The ball must've been out on Will, since Clyde's throwing it back in . . . Terri and Clyde heading back downstairs after a marathon jumping-on-the-bed session. Clyde would sign 'Terri' and 'jump' then point to the bed - so cute. Will scored some quality time with his aunt, too!

Friday afternoon we left the little napping boys with my mom (thanks Mama!) and Sam, Terri, Chuck, and I gallavanted around Orem and Provo. We shared two yummy caramel apples, unsuccessfully attempted to visit Chuck's sister Amanda (and I think scared her roommate a bit in the process) and Terri and I got our wedding rings cleaned! Yay, they came out SO shiny and pretty and sparkly. This was really special to me because it was five years ago this weekend that Chuck and I got engaged!

Friday evening it was over to the fabulous hospitality of the Smith family for the Semi-annual Smith-Braden-Izatt-Hugo General Conference Weekend Extravaganza. I love how close our families are; we had fun this weekend imagining how crazy our future gatherings will get as our families expand!
Clyde loved playing their piano, although I doubt he'll ever play as well as Ben

All the guys humored me and lined up for a picture after Priesthood session: Chuck, Ben, Nate, Will, and Reed. We had a blast playing Scum, even though Chuck beat us all soundly (after he insisted on hearing the rules fifteen times - "Question: What if . . . " "Question: What about . . ."). A round had just ended when Chuck went to take this picture, so he told us to pretend to play, so Heidi exasperatedly grabbed a handful of cards; I almost died laughing at the expression on her face.

Mom and Nate are political junkies and kept showing each other funny SNL clips. Nate's a freshman in college and we were SO glad he was able to come home for Conference weekend (even if he and Will did mock my blog frequently!)

As always, Gloria's cooking was delicious; Courtney can also handle herself very well in the kitchen! Court and Heidi made yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies on Saturday afternoon and since Will missed out on them, he and Heidi made some different pumpkin cookies on Sunday.

Heidi and baby Will

Will and baby Will snuggled on the Love Sac watching Conference; baby Will is very tactile.

We usually have a big, yummy dinner after the afternoon session of Conference on Sunday and then pack up for home. As dinner was winding down and we were enjoying Heidi and Will's yummy cookies, Nate indicated that he would like to say something. He was so serious, so I really thought he was going to deliver a heartfelt speech about the importance of family and friends and traditions. Instead, he whipped out an AWESOME trophy and (pretty heartfelt-edly) gave props to my sweet husband for all of his help prepping for Courtney and Ben's wedding reception this summer! (In my defense, Nate is a debate/drama star, so his initially seriousness was pretty realistic). The trophy is a guy with a basketball (I think that's because Chuck powerwashed their basketball court) and in black pen on duct tape, it reads: Chuck Izatt MVP 2008. Pretty cool, eh?

Posing with the trophy, which now has a home on the bookcase in our living room.

Last but not least, General Conference itself was such a welcome reminder of what we need to be doing and how much our Heavenly Father cares about each of us. One of my favorite talks was from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland on Saturday afternoon, 'The Ministry of Angels'. At one point he said: "My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.” [Moroni 7:36] On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal." How uplifting and needed - the reassurance that our loving Heavenly Father 'never leaves us alone'.

Can't wait 'til April! (although we better see you guys again in the meantime . . . )

Procrastinating packing with a pumpkin patch post!

First of all, thanks so much for your fabulous responses to my desperate plea for help! Keep it coming!

Secondly, I should be packing. Or putting away laundry. Or putting away dishes. Or putting away toys. But since I know there will be many fun pictures taken this weekend that I will want to write about when we get back, I figure I should do this pumpkin patch post now. You're welcome.

Every fall Matt and Leslie host a Harvest Party. We meet at the Berry Ranch for a hay ride and pumpkin-picking and then head back to their house for yummy fall-ish food and giggle-inducing games (two years ago, Chuck mummified me with toilet paper, the whole time yelling "Spin! Spin, Jana!" Clyde was only six weeks old - it was the most exercise I'd had in while).

I didn't feel it fair to deprive you of pictures from previous pumpkin patch, uh, promenades (?) just because I hadn't seen the blogging light then, so here's a flashback.

2006:

Chuck and a six-week-old Clyde
We were (and still are!) pretty enamored with our baby boy.
This was Chuck's doing, and crazily enough, Clyde didn't really mind it. Clyde's little Halloween outfit was the first thing I bought when I found out I was pregnant (yay for Halloween clearance at Freddy's in January!)

2007:

Obligatory family pic

We did NOT pick one of those pumpkins.

And now for 2008:

Family picture, rocking various shades of orange . . . this was the first time I had tried out the sling that Melissa made me, and I really liked it. I was paranoid about Will slipping out or being too heavy, but it worked pretty well; he fell asleep in it too!

Baby Will and Unky Cody laughing it up at the after-party :)

How YOU can help Jana with her homework:

I have a ten-page paper (Y-U-C-K) due next Monday for my Communication Technology and Social Change class.

And I haven't started it.

And I'm going out of town from Thursday morning until Sunday night.

This is where YOU come in: I combined my love of the blogging world with my love of not failing school and am writing about how friendships are maintained (and sometimes created) through blogging. I need six sources and since this phenomenon is pretty new (and my lax professor said nothing about peer-reviewed journals, thank goodness) I'm totally citing each of you! So, gather your thoughts about blogs and friendships (either if you think it's a great way to maintain friendships or if you think it's a cheap imitation of face-to-face interaction) and e-mail them to me at: chuck_jana@hotmail.com

Don't worry, I'll use a couple 'real' sources too . . .

Seriously, have you e-mailed me yet? Doesn't have to be in-depth or profound, just your observations. The sooner, the better (no lectures on procrastination, please!) and definitely by Sunday night :)

THANK YOU!

This . . . that . . . the other . . .

* I had two group presentations this week and they both went very well, yay! Tuesday night was in my Communication in Small Group class (our topic was Focus Groups) and tonight was in my Nonverbal Communication class (our topic was nonverbal student/teacher interactions). I'm excited, because my group in nonverbal is really fun, so the four of us decided to stay together for the next group presentation in that class.

* my sweet husband bought me beautiful orange-tipped yellow roses AND made a delicious breakfast for my mom and me this morning AND packed my mom an awesome lunch for school.

* my favorite missionary, Quinn, has been gone three months today. He's been in California for a month now, more specifically in Burbank and he loves it. He's in an English speaking ward/area right now, but is able to practice his Spanish with his companion and when they tract into Spanish-speaking people.

* my baby will be six months old tomorrow. As I wisely pointed out to Chuck earlier, that's HALF a year. Will rolls all over the place and is seriously considering crawling. My plan is that he wait another week and start while we're in Utah visiting Smiths, because seven-month-old Clyde crawled for the first time at their house!

* the Office is back, yay! I DVR'ed it while I was in class and Chuck was at work tonight, so I'm very excited watch it tomorrow.

* my brother Sam is quite possibly the funniest person I know (keep checking the comments, and hopefully you'll see why!)

* my brother-in-law Kevin got an awesome new job! It means he and Melissa and the kids are moving to Nevada, but we can definitely handle visiting them there.

* next Friday we're going to Utah! Yay! I'm so excited to see Smiths and spend good, quality time with them; our last few visits have been really short or super busy, so I'm looking forward to settling in for General Conference-viewing, delicious food-eating and SCUM-winning :)

Maybe if 26 other people all chipped in. . .

OR: 'Why you should never let your children crawl on my floors"

One afternoon last week I left Clyde and Chuck home asleep while Will and I made a Costco run. I was delightedly surprised to come home to a freshly spruced up living room and kitchen; Chuck was just putting away the vacuum as I came in. I began to thank him, but he kindly explained it wasn't for me that he had done this, but that someone was coming to clean our living room carpet and they would be back any minute. We'd been talking about getting our carpets cleaned for a while (little boys + sippy cups + milk-y drool + light carpeting = the need for the occasional shampoo) but this seemed pretty out of the blue, especially since we had plans that evening. Chuck then explained that a nice gentleman had come by and offered a free carpet cleaning of any room in our house - his company was testing some sort of new product and the only catch involved filling out a survey afterwards, and maybe telling our family and friends if we were pleased with the results.

*Quick sidenote: Chuck and I had just had a conversation about our varying areas of expertise, intelligence-wise. He had conceded that I was more 'book-smart' but insisted that he was more 'street-smart'. Uh-huh.

So, sure enough, the nice gentleman returned escorting a nice, if somewhat unkempt, lady who rolled in with a couple duffle bags and a large box. The gentleman began to explain that they were so excited to have this opportunity, because they were in the middle of a big contest, oh, and just for our information, the item she would be showing us today from the box was, indeed, for sale! He then left and our introduction to the SuperVacuum 3000 (not its real name, because, a. I can't remember it, and b. I don't want to come up if someone googles it) began.

The next forty-five minutes was, quite frankly, ridiculous. The lady, uh, Wanda (also not her real name, can't remember it either) started by vacuuming an area of our living room with our vacuum first, which she kept referring to as a 'Dust Devil' instead of a 'Dirt Devil' - apparently she isn't good with names either. She then assembled her light-weight, aeronautic engineer-designed SuperVacuum 3000 and went over the same spot. I'll admit, I was a little embarrassed when she pulled out the VERY dirty filter. Then she vacuumed over the spot again. Another dirty filter. She repeated this a few more times, all while saying "And remember, Chuck, you said you vacuumed this area before I got here with your Dust Devil, and I vacuumed it also with your Dust Devil and we're still getting this much dirt!"

For some reason, my loyalty to my four year old wedding present vacuum (thanks Sammy!) came out, and I tactfully said, "Yes, our vacuum didn't get everything there after going over it twice, but now your vacuum has gone over the spot several times and there still seems to be quite a lot of dirt, so . . . " Even as I trailed off, I felt bad (Wanda was obviously just an underpaid saleswoman who wouldn't be earning any commission off of us) so I quickly followed with "Will it take quite a bit to get it clean since we've let it get so bad? And then the SuperVacuum 3000 will be able to maintain the cleanliness?" Wanda looked relieved and quickly agreed that it would take some work to get my carpets completely dirt-free, but then the SV 3000 would keep them that way.

We were also able to witness the SV 3000 vacuum ten pounds of sand out of a container and RETAIN its suction, as well as getting baking powder up that fifty-two swipes (simulating a year of once-a-week vacuum-ings) with my 'Dust Devil' left. At this point my curiosity got the best of me, and I asked how much the durn thing was. In my head I was figuring about a thousand, since I know that the ultra-cool Dysons can run a few hundred. Imagine my shock when Wanda said TWENTY-SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. I seriously almost laughed out loud. Who buys these things? (Of course, my sincerest apologies if you, indeed, own one. Good investment!) We made it clear that we only choose to do into debt for certain things (house, school, car) and that we didn't currently have the money on hand for such a purchase and didn't anticipate making the SV 3000 a priority to save up for (Umm, trip to Disneyland summer 2010 is the top of my list!). We stuck to our guns, even after several financing options, and Wanda packed her bags. She begrudingly offered to still clean our carpets with the SV 3000's sister product, the SuperShampooer 3001, but we declined. The nice gentleman came back to retrieve her, and that was that. Except that I took some pictures . . .

*Emily B. : I'm not sure if you read my blog, but if you do, PLEASE STOP NOW. I'm afraid you'll never come over to my house if you see the following. Thanks!

Yeah, that was all on my floor.

In my defense, she poured out the baking powder (which works as a freshener when applied and vacuumed up) and she also vacuumed under my couches (the SV 3000 was pretty cool in its manuverability).

This whole presentation was like an extra birthday present for Clyde, who is obsessed with vacuums. He happily signed 'more' whenever Wanda turned the SV 3000 off, and got in on the action with his little push toy from Aunt Amanda (he does have a toy vacuum, but prefers the push toy).

Sadly, I still let my children play on the floor. Turn me into Children's Protective Services, if you must, but I imagine that the fact that I photographed first and rescued second when Clyde had this chokehold on Will will serve as better evidence of my neglectful tendencies :)