She's no fool!

As some of you know...maybe not but I like to pretend I keep in better contact with people than I really do...last Wednesday Marty got a phone call that his date to leave for boot camp had been moved up a week from May 4th to today (April 27th). We were freaking out and got as much as we could put together. Things like moving family pictures up, farewell parties, his last supplies he needed to take, turning in his keys at work etc.

We thought we were ready...then Friday morning he got ANOTHER call saying that due to a tornado warning in Oklahoma (where his boot camp is) they were pushing it back again to May 4th. So, even though I am SO glad he's here for the week like we thought he would be, I'm also scared they'll call today and tell him he's leaving tomorrow or something. I guess if there's one thing I've learned, it's that I just have to be flexible and ready for anything!

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In an un-related subject/desire not to do another post...

I'm starting to miss the days of being able to encourage (some may call it tricking) Brielle in to eating/doing things that she doesn't think she likes. I just can't pull the wool over her eyes like I used to!

Today for lunch, I was taking the easy route and giving Brielle a small sandwich we had leftover that my mother-in-law had made for Claire's birthday party yesterday (post to come later). I know that sentence was a bit confusing and understand if you have to read it more than once.

When I put one on Brielle's plate, she looked at it and said, "Is this the kind that has mustard?"

The truth is, yes, it has mustard. I was sure she didn't really KNOW what mustard was and that if she got eating it she wouldn't realize. So I told her, "I don't think so, it's good." (It's not a lie when it's for the benefit of my child getting nourishment...right?)

She started eating it and without saying anything quietly walked away from it and brought me a sucker she wanted. I told her she couldn't have a sucker until she had eaten her sandwich.

She said to me, "Well, I saw two yellow spots on it, I think it's mustard."

I told her, "No, it's not mustard, it's just like mayo." (Again, it's not a lie, I'm just encouraging her to branch out.)

"What's mayo?"

"It's like miracle whip." (We don't use much mayo around here).

"Oh, okay."

She went back to eat a little more, took another bite and came back over to me. She looked at me and in a very thoughtful and sweet tone said, "You know mom, that mayo sure tastes a lot like mustard."

I couldn't keep up the charade any longer and told her that if she didn't want to eat it, I would understand. She chose not to.

My plan was foiled. I was sure I could still trick her, but apparently once you're four - you're just too smart for your own good.

In an effort to appease

I was informed by my dear husband last week that he was feeling a bit of withdrawal over the fact that I have slacked off on posting things on the blog.

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Really??

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He wondered if I would be upping my posting schedule soon or not.

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Really??

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After his asking that, I wanted to say, "Well...aren't you leaving in two weeks and won't have a clue what I do with the blog anyway?"

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In fear of sending him in to a hormonal crying fest at the thought of leaving me and his two little girls, I opted for another response. I told him that I just don't have a whole lot to write about.

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He reassured me that I did.

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Really that wasn't all that helpful, I could have used examples. So I asked him what exactly I should write about.

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He told me to write about him.

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I did the next best thing and found one of my favorite...possibly embarrasing...pictures of him to share with everyone that could possibly stumble across our humble blog.

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I guess I could be a good wife and go on and on about what a great husband, father and friend he is and how he makes us all laugh and be happy and that the two weeks we have left with him seem to be closing in on me without even knowing it.

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But where's the fun in that?

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And have I been known to go in to great detail about my family relationships and have a blog filled with sap?

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I would say not!

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Instead I would like to write about pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, or pumpkin chocolate chip bread....really anything consisting of pumpkin and chocolate chips = super good.

I had a desire for some this afternoon and in a moment of pure awesome domesticity, I went online and found a recipe (yeah, domestic and online don't REALLY go together...I should have a closet full of cook books with all the information I need...one step at a time though.)

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I couldn't just use any old recipe I found, it had to be one with rave reviews and the highest level of stars that were possible to get.

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After I found the perfect recipe, I printed it out - which apparently is like rocket science on the site I was on, sheesh - created a shopping list of the ingredients, packed up my kids to head to the store and successfully made it inside the store in one piece.

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After all this effort, I lost interest in making my own creation and went to the bakery and bought a dozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookies all packaged and ready to go.

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They say that you enjoy things you create (cook, sew, plant etc.) because of all the time, effort and hard work you put in to it.

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I'm here to say that I enjoyed these cookies a GREAT deal, because really I did put a lot of mental, emotional and some physical effort in to getting them.

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Sometimes dirtying all my dishes, making a huge mess and waiting hours to eat something just isn't worth it.

It's the President?

Today we were driving home from a fun day spent bashing our heads, getting stuck in the slide, running around like crazy people and possibly eating bark at the park.

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The kids on the other hand were quite enjoying themselves. It was great fun.

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We were driving past a field where two little llamas, or alpacas {really, does anyone know the difference?} were grazing. I said to Brielle, "Look, do you see those?" Her reply:

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"Yes, I see them, they're Obama's, right?"

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Yes, of course Brielle, it's our President himself grazing in the field. Looks like Nick Jr's. little "spotlight" on President Obama has really stuck with her.

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It took all I had not to laugh and not correct her, letting her live her life believing that those strange little animals were known as Obamas.

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But I did the nice motherly thing and said, "No, they're O'llamas."

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I'm pretty much the coolest mom ever.

4 Years Old!

For those of you who care, my little tiny Brielle turned 4 years old yesterday. Something about the 4th birthday has been QUITE strange for me. I am pretty sure it's that in a year she will be of the age that she can start going to Kindergarten. WHAT THE?! I'm pretty sure that's just crazy.

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We had a nice little birthday party with family at our home - well technically it's Ben and Sara's home, but that's just a technicality. :)

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Brielle could hardly stand herself all day knowing it was her birthday and waiting to open the presents. It didn't help that it was conference Sunday so we did nothing but sit around at home all day....I mean listened to conference and were spiritually uplifted like no other.

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As people arrived we decided we should probably be kind and feed them first. Brielle scarfed her food and then sat perched on her birthday chair watching everyone else eat. Finally she looked at me and said, "Why are people taking so long to eat?!" She was obviously ready to open the presents.

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Tell me, how can you teach a 4 year old manners about presents? She would tear open a present and glance at it. I would get excited and talk to her about it or explain if she wasn't sure what it was. She - without flinching - would say, "Oh" and grab the next and tear it open as well. What a kind, grateful child I have raised. :)

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The pictures are for the people (my mom and Emily) who weren't able to make it for the party and felt bad.

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Brielle perched on her birthday chair...yes, she made this face all day!

This is my "attempt" at making a butterfly cake. I know you're wondering why I didn't put a close up picture...but trust me it looks MUCH cuter from afar. :) And please...don't judge me, especially you Mary :).

The aftermath of tearing open the presents.

Sporting her new royalty jewels.

Did I mention I can't believe that I have a 4 year old?