A Little Bit of Spiritual, a Little Bit of Funny.....

We have a temple in Birmingham.

I have never lived this close to one before, it's about 40 minutes from our house. Twice a year our ward gets to clean the temple. I was SO EXCITED to sign up, maybe a little too excited. I couldn't stop smiling the entire time, for those that live here it didn't seem like such a big deal. But for me, I have never enjoyed cleaning so much. I have been feeling like I needed a little "spiritual pick me up" lately-so I decided that Saturday was to be my "super spiritual day". I would go to the temple that afternoon and clean, then that evening we got together to do some activities at church before a Relief Society broadcast. For those of you who are not LDS, the Relief Society is a huge (the largest in the world) service organization of women. It was established in 1842 and has been going strong ever since. That may be a story for a different time. Anyways, after the activities and dinner there was a broadcast from Salt Lake City by leaders in the Church. Let's just say, it was exactly what I needed to hear. You know when you go to church, or a class, or a lecture, or whatever and you find yourself kind of looking around to see if others notice the speaker is talking directly to you? Yep, it was a lot like that. I would put a link, but they haven't put out the transcripts yet. Definitely the boost I needed.


And now for the the funny. We go on a lot of walks. And naturally we take our male dog Obi along with us. And naturally, he lifts his leg to pee on everything. Well tonight was no exception, and our little mister independent had to walk instead of be in the stroller. So there we were walking along like the Beatles, but a little more spread out when Kris busts out laughing. Abram was stopping at each mailbox and holding onto it, and lifting his leg!!! How funny is that?! But alas, I have no pictures-because Kris let someone borrow his truck and left the camera in it :(. Maybe next time. I cannot get over how Abram is developing this little personality that is so funny and loving and strong willed. I have so much to be grateful for.

3 Random Things......

1. So I heard that scientists are trying to find a "black hole" of some sort (don't quote me or anything, Kris was telling me something about it). Anyways, I was wondering if they knew where to look. Well, if any of you scientists are reading this, I think I may have some insight for you. I think there is a black hole in my house. Feel free to come over and look, because a lot of things have gone missing around here-Abram's beloved Cars toys (we had to make a Wal Mart run on Saturday), socks, a couple of shirts I swear I washed, and so I was wondering-if I am giving you access to my house, could you find those things for me while you are exploring the black hole???

2. I don't think, that is until we have been given this opportunity to live in Georgia and now Alabama, that I ever noticed fire ants before. I do not like these little pests at all, in fact, I hate them. I should take a picture of how big the fire ant hills get around here. The "fun" thing is, Kris loves to step on them and get the ants all ticked off (such a boy thing to do). Abram likes to step on them because he is unaware (or watching Daddy) so when Mama comes to the rescue scooping him up-who do the ants get mad at and bite the "fire" out of?? Oh yah. For those of you who have never experienced this pleasure, it goes something like this: You feel the burning sensation of being bit, it's like a bee sting. Then after you silently curse in your head because your toddler who is learning new words by the second is there and you smoosh the heck out of it chanting "die! die! die!" (again, in your head) all is well-or at least so it seems, until the next day or so when it begins to itch. Not like a mosquito bite itch, this is an itch where you would gladly take a knife and slice off a little skin to relieve pressure. Think I am being a bit dramatic? Go play on a fire ant hill and see what I mean.
3. I LOVE Fall, and it's starting to feel like Fall around here, which makes me very happy. I LOVE Fall clothes too. So I felt the need to show off my cutie in some new Fall clothes as we were getting ready for Church today. He is getting so big!! Less than a month and he will be 2!!!!


P.S. The tacky looking white stuff around the fire place is double stick tape holding plastic over the fireplace. Abram used to get in there when we first moved here, so now the plastic doubles for safety and a flannel board for family home evening activities. Only days after did I realize that sticky magnetic strips would have looked a lot better....maybe one day I will fix it. If by some miracle you didn't notice, please disregard this message.

Peas in a Pod

This is my son's best friend. Today we had a little adventure......

We went to the park. It was quite a walk for the little guys, but they enjoyed it. And we took some breaks........



This is Abram telling me a story, he is probably saying something like, "I thought you said we were going to the park."

By the time we got to the park, Abram was finished and ready for a nap. So after a couple of tantrums, I got to carry him all the way back crying and screaming "Night Night!" Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for you-there are no pictures of that. But this is a pic after being in the car for 3 minutes, it went like this (he was holding a ball) "ball! a ball! ball! ball!......then silence."

He slept a total of 45 minutes and was ready to go again. This is going to be a very long day...........

Chubby Bunny Anyone???

You know the game, stuff as many marshmallows into your mouth and say chubby bunny each time one goes in. It was almost as if Abram was playing today. You have seen my child, and know as well as I do that he is very "blessed" in the cheek department. He has the cutest chubbiest cheeks ever. And even as he is slimming down, the cheeks are staying put. Today he was eating a crescent roll and he doesn't know the meaning of "bite then chew and swallow before you bite again". I am trying to teaching him, but it isn't working so far. So I pry the roll out of his hands/mouth and break it into pieces and explain he needs to eat one bite at a time........he interpreted that as "Abram, let the game begin." and begins SHOVING the bite sized portions into his mouth. I swear it was like watching a chipmunk store food for the winter. One cheek would get full and he would start on the other side. I probably should have stopped him, but I was a little in "ah" of it all. He is such a mess, and I am so grateful for him everyday.

Just as a side note: chubby bunny is the best and funniest game ever. I used to play it with the boys I worked with, I think the highest number one of them got to was 19. It was hilarious and so fun, until the nursing department found out- then they made us stop. Something to do with the whole "choking and might die" thing, oh well fun times.

Saturday's "Quote of the Day"....

We have one of those big tubs of All Free and Clear that we get from Sams to do laundry........the conversation went like so:

Me: "Kris, have you seen the cap for the detergent?"

Kris: "I threw it away."

Me: "You threw it away! Why?!"

Kris: "We (?)never use it."

Me: "KRIS! How do you think you are supposed to measure the detergent?!"

-pause of silence-

Kris: "I just squirt some in."

And now so many of the laundry mysteries make sense.

CARS

This story begins last year, October 7th to be exact. It was my birthday and one of the things that Kris bought for me was the movie 'Cars'. I do love Disney movies, however, I had no desire to see this one. He bought it "for me" because he wanted to see it. Anyhoo- I never watched the movie and was a "little" disappointed in the present. Fast forward months and months later. Abram is 20 months or so and OBSESSED to say the least with anything that has wheels (he has been since he was a baby). Kris decides to bust out the movie. At this point in time, the only thing Abram will watch on TV is Elmo. But something captured him about this movie (the cars obviously). Now we have to limit (some parents are better than others at doing this, but I won't brag-I mean name names) to watch it 3 times a week. He can even quote some of it-which is funny being that he doesn't say much. And when I say "quote" I guess I mean "Vroom" at the appointed times. I must admit, when I got over my bitterness, it is a very cute movie. One night Kris brought Abram home two of the cars from the movie and he always has one in each hand. Love his heart, needless to say we have a birthday theme. However, no 3-D cakes this year, but that is a story for next month.


"Play with me!"



KACHOW!

HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY!!!!!!

We made this card this morning. Okay, Abram made it, I just wrote the words.....