exhibit b

exhibit a was the not-so-good.

exhibit b was the excellent. because the dining was less than formal, we let claire kind of do her own thing, which meant dancing, singing, twirling and running around to her hearts content. (almost. we kept her out of the bathrooms.)

she was particularly enthralled with the gaming machines, and the music coming from those. she was the entertainment for many of the other diners, and one special couple took a liking to her. as they were leaving, an older gentleman stopped and played the claw game to see if he could win a stuffed animal. he was pretty good, and managed to score a large minnie mouse doll, which he promptly handed over to claire, who started squealing with delight, and walked out with a smile on his face.

i may have been crying because i was laughing so hard, and maybe a little bit because i could not get over how kind that stranger was to my sweet claire.

there could not have been any other toy in the world that she could have wanted more.

NOTHING.

minnie mouse is her absolute fave. and that guy had no idea. or maybe he did. maybe thats the point?

whatever it was, it was a good time. tomato omelette and all.

eating at a dive

behold, exhibit a:

what would you guess this is supposed to be?

...

...

...

...

its a veggie omelette, hold the cheese and mushrooms, throw on some extra tomatoes.

and this is what she gets. that would be six UGE slices of tomatoes in a daisy formation, covering the entirety of my mom's eggs.

who does that??? it took everything i had to not bust up laughing before the waitress/hostess/cash register/water/coffee girl left our table to wait on all the other tables.

she was by herself. a joke? nope. she said they were a little understaffed when we were seated. correction: they were un-staffed. at least she wasn't also the cook, as originally thought.

...

exhibit b: stayed tuned for tomorrow!

its a good life

its been a good month for us. and today i am especially happy. like if i wasn't yawning every five seconds from no sleep last night i would be bouncing off the walls.

my mom comes today! (i might be asleep by the time she gets here, but its today!)

finally! something i ordered online is supposed to come today! and two more tomorrow!

my house is almost all clean!

claire is getting potty trained! (kind of.....)

my crazy dad is in england! (what the heck?)

and it goes on. but i am just really happy. are you happy? its a good feeling. my kids crack us up, constantly, my family rocks, joe is awesome, church is great, etc. oh, and i know its wishful thinking, but it looks like spring is coming. (i am sure there is more cold and snow to come, buuuuut, its just so purdy outside!) 

and even though my bamboo stick that has been around for two years is finally dying, it just means its time for a new plant, right? 

one of the miracles: explained

maybe no one noticed from this post that joe was not arrested at the airport, but i'll just point it out.

i was REALLY excited when we got back to utah after being at my parent's house to find more things for the kids to open. and at first i was excited to see this in the mailbox....

thinking it was something else to open.

not so much.

but it was a funny reminder of how friendly and nice the security staff were to joe (instead of hustling him) when we were being screened. we looked like a traveling circus that day, with all of our stuff. and joe had for some reason left a little (big!) knife in the backpack. even after he went through (almost) the entire thing. i would be suspicious too!

but they gave joe a few options, and he picked mailing it home. and now its back.

the end.

some people don't love the slc airport. its definitely better than some- and they have family lines for security!

no more phone picture issues?

did i figure it out? can you all see this?

claire loves her "priiin-sus" stuff, but doesn't care for the crown on her head. but loves it on her horsey. me too.

testing, testing, mic, er, picture test....

lets see if it works now. any previous post pictures that you can't see? like the one below?

i swear, the mac disliked me first. i really wanted to give it a shot, but it just doesn't like me. 

sequence of events

thursday night: missionaries over for dinner. we serve tri-tip sandwiches (my fave) with mashed potatoes and broccoli. load claire's plate with mashed potatoes and broccoli and dip (ketchup). claire devours all the broccoli, mine, and joe's. this is a first. she has NEVER kept a bite of the green little trees in her mouth long enough to chew and swallow. success.

friday night: out to dinner. joe orders broccoli as a side to see if  the previous night was a fluke. definitely not. and definitely ate all of it, with more dip.

saturday morning: i woke up with a hunkering for doughnuts. i grab claire and we head to krispy kreme. we wait for.ev.er. in line. (the conveyor had stopped for a little bit, so we kept running up and down looking at it, and people with huge orders kept cutting in front of us. rude. grrr....) by the time we get our dozen, get our freebies, and are on our way out the door, claire turns, looks at me and says "more broccoli??" WHAT!?!? 

we were all out of broccoli, so we settled for sprinkle doughnuts (which she now confuses. i can't tell the difference between her saying sprinkles and broccoli. sweet.)

saturday morning tradition growing up- doughnuts! my fave? chocolate iced custard filled. joes? chocolate covered kreme filled. claire's? sprinkles. duh. 

bad mommy!

good thing this kid can sleep through the noise.... he might not get a nap in otherwise because i keep trying to push back nap time. poor little guy! when its time to sleep, he sleeps. 

oh a new year!

don't we all just love the start of a new year??? i do! and i like new things at the beginning of a new year.

this year its a new hair cut-
it so short... i seriously play with it all day, i still forget its all gone, but i really love it. i think i'll keep this up for a while. yay!

and claire started potty training- for reals this time. she is so ready, and so far has done great today.

oh hey bubba
he's not new, but his little bouncer is! so fun, thanks yaya! his little legs are a little short... thanks to his momma. long torso, short legs, my kids get it from me.

this kid just gets better and better. he's my little roly poly, chunky monkey, snuggle bug. he doesn't care to roll over so much, but loves his toes, sucking and chewing on anything, and pulling on any hair he can get a hold on. (not mine anymore! but poor claire... lets just say shes kept at a little bit of a distance since then.)

here's to a new year! i completed my one goal for last year.... got a few more this year, and i can do it!

its a good day

this may sound pathetic, and it is, but i was a little sad that claire "graduated" from junior to senior nursery today. no big deal or anything, (trust me, it almost didn't happen, she was a little upset and it almost didn't happen :) but in my head i was just thinking, great, and now it begins. she is getting older and i can't get her back to being little anymore! what the heck, when did she get so big?

i was sad. for a few minutes.

and then i was happy. because i still have a little one i can snuggle on. and hopefully more to come.

so tonight i snuggled bubba til he fell asleep, then snuggled claire watching cars, till she fell asleep. it was bliss i tell you. i could not have been doing anything in that moment to make me happier. how lucky am i?

whilst at the airport

she entertains herself. and she insisted on being buckled into the carseat to watch "toys". i got countless looks from some people, probably about the sanity of keeping her like that, but trust me. it was much better than the alternative :)