Potato Head Explosion

Remember the picture from yesterday of one million Potato Head pieces on the floor? 

Well. Usually I don't buy toys for Little Boy that have a million pieces, and I don't encourage them from other people. But that's just the thing--nobody bought it. I won it. 

I entered a sweepstakes months ago on Parenting.com (I think that's where it was, anyway...) for an 80th Anniversary Mr. Potato Head Set. And then I completely forgot about it, just like every other contest I've ever entered. Because really, who wins that stuff? 

So fast-forward to last Wednesday, Christmas Eve day. I walked out my front door and saw the mail truck pull into our parking lot. Usually the truck doesn't pull in; the mailboxes are near the street. How odd, I thought. He must have a package to deliver. I was walking down the sidewalk, about to get in the car and drive to my mom's house, and as I passed the mailman he asked, "Do you live in apartment number X?" 

"Uh...yeah." 

I looked at the label on the box, but I didn't recognize the return address, so I put it in the car and took it with me to Mom's house. When I got to Mom's house, I opened the box and saw a brightly colored toy. I didn't order a brightly-colored toy. So I pulled it out of the box...and it was a giant Mr. Potato Head "filled with 80+ pieces!!!" 

Oh yeah...that contest. Months ago. How did I win that? Since it was Christmas eve, I thought, "Merry Christmas to Little Boy!" and packed it back up for him to open in the morning. 

So the millions of Potato Head pieces are kind of cool...there are some fun pieces in there. But Little Boy isn't really interested. The pieces are hard to get in and out of the little holes in the potatoes. So I think I'll put it away for a few months. He'll like it eventually.

Week in Photos: Christmas

Christmas was different this year--we opened a few presents at home in the morning; then we got dressed, went to my mom's house, opened a few more presents, and then...


...I don't entirely remember what else we did. Once we got to my mom's house, I completely forgot to get out my camera for the rest of the day. D'oh! I remember that there was food, and Guitar Hero was involved. And I probably took a nap. And...well, who knows.

So anyway, here's the first few minutes of Christmas. The rest is lost to history.

Our tiny tree on top of the presents. This is how we set it up every year. Makes the pile look bigger, huh?


He still refuses to rip open presents. I think he's confused--he's not allowed to tear paper most of the time, so he doesn't understand why it's sometimes okay to rip open wrapping paper.



Socks! Thanks, Grandma!


The aftermath. Notice the millions of Mr. Potato Head bits. That's an entirely different story for a later blog.

I would've put up the pictures earlier, but I had a little bit of the post-Christmas blues. I don't think that's ever happened to me before. I feel better today, though. Back to the good ol' weekday routine.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:29-30

A Scripture and Some Christmas Quotes of the Day

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

---

Christmas QODs 

Blake: We're boys from the same family. 

Thane: We're brothers. 

Blake: That's what I just said. 

Thane: Don't make me stick my lollipop to your face. 

Andrea: What time should we get up in the morning? 

Isaac: It's Christmas! I'm getting up at the buttcrack of dawn! 

Andrea: I'm telling Dawn you said that.

Week in Photos

As I mentioned before, I have no car these days. Also, we've gotten several inches of snow this week. So what's a snowed-in, shut-in girl to do? I'll show you.

#1: Bake.


Lemon-poppyseed muffins. Aren't I domestic? ...yeah, they're from a box. I found these same poppyseeds in Little Boy's diaper today. I was horrified.

  #2: Watch the Birds

Our neighbor has a bird feeder, so birds are always flying around outside our porch. Yesterday we found bird tracks right up to the sliding glass door.

  #3: Make Presents

I put these together for my Primary kids. But then church was canceled. Late Christmas presents are still fun, right?

  #4: Pretend

Little Boy can pretend that anything is a car. Including his wooden blocks. Yes, he has real toy cars. Lots of them. But by pretending, he can have more!

"We all enjoy giving and receiving presents. But there is a difference between presents and gifts. The true gifts may be part of ourselves--giving of the riches of the heart and mind--and therefore more enduring and of far greater worth than presents bought at the store." -James E. Faust

Whining, Jobs, and New Communication Skills

I was going to whine write about how Isaac takes the car to work every day, and I'm stranded at home with a two-year-old. But now there's six inches of snow on the ground, so I wouldn't be leaving my apartment anyway. :op I think the new job is going well for Isaac, though he doesn't have much to do yet. The girl that's supposed to be training him is out of the office for the next few days--or something like that. Nice how I keep up with what's going on, huh? Really, I do listen to my husband. I promise. Little Boy's latest thing is "right there"...or, as he says it, "wigh deh!" It usually goes like this: Him: A taw! Me: Yeah, a car. Him: Wigh deh! Or... Him: Bet! Me: You want bread? Him: Bet! Me: Bread? Him: *blank stare* Him (pointing to bread): Wigh deh! It's pretty funny.

The Very Best Christmas Ever

Kissing the Face of God, Morgan Weistling


"If we are to have the very best Christmas ever, we must listen for the sound of sandaled feet. We must reach out for the Carpenter’s hand. With every step we take in His footsteps, we abandon a doubt and gain a truth."


-Thomas S. Monson

Happy Weekend!

nataliedee.com

*************************************

More about the new job...later. ;)

THANK YOU Isaac got the job offer this evening. Thank you, everyone.

Please, Please

As many of you know, Isaac has been searching for a job for a long time. He recently interviewed for a really good job, and it seemed like they were close to hiring him, but I thought we would've heard by now--and we haven't. I'm getting worried. This job would be so perfect for us. Please pray.

Hat Day

Little Boy likes to pass out silly hats for everyone to put on. They're all toddler-sized, so Isaac and I just set them on top of our heads and go on with whatever we were doing. Little Boy thinks this is hilarious. What's funny to us, though, is the hat he usually chooses for himself.....

Toddler Dictionary: Christmas

Little Boy's word pronunciation has gotten a lot better over the last couple weeks. We're teaching him Christmas words--it's fun to watch him figure out how to make harder sounds.

soh-mahn = snowman
sanna taws = Santa Clause
tanny = candy
thee-thuh = Jesus
diss-diss tee = Christmas tree
staw = star
yite = light
pee pee = pretty

"There is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ." Boyd K. Packer - Ensign, Nov. 1995, 20

Happy Friday!

photo courtesy TrombaMarina

Personal Responsibility

"There’s one responsibility which no man can evade, that’s the responsibility of personal influence. It’s what you are, not what you pretend to be, that [matters]."

-David O. McKay

Six Quirky Things

Melissa tagged me. But I don't know if I can think of six quirky things...I'm just so normal! Not.

1. I stole this one from Melissa--we've been best friends for a long time, but we're so different. We don't like any of the same things. But our husbands are like twins--they're exactly the same. It's so weird.
2. I read a lot. A LOT. I don't know why. It just happens. I've actually slowed down a bit lately...I'm down to about one book per week. I don't know why that is, either. Hmm.
3. I used to be a total slob. I'm not totally organized now, but I've gotten a lot better. I think it happened after I had Little Boy--I just realized that it was my responsibility to "make" our home, and it became really important to me.
4. I don't like to wear socks or shoes. Unfortunately, I live in a very rainy place, so I can't go barefoot as much as I want to. Wet feet would be even worse than shoes.
5. I'm Mormon. Is that a quirk? You decide.
6. I love dishes. Doesn't that make me sound so domestic? Maybe I should say this: I love weird-looking dishes. Anyway, I'm not allowed to buy them--no room in my kitchen or my budget. But I do spend a lot of time gawking at them.

So...those six things don't sound as quirky as I thought they would. Or maybe I'm just so quirky that I can't even tell anymore. Hmm.

Photo Tuesday Extravaganza: Apples, Pumpkins, Pirates, and Clowns

Last week was a busy week. Here we go....

My mom took us apple picking at a local farm. I had never picked an apple before. Lame, I know. But in my defense, I have picked other fruits. Just not apples. Anyway, it was fun.
Little Boy was a little uncertain at first. It was his idea to get in the cart, though.


See? Farm. I don't know how big the farm is, but it looked...big.


All done. We only picked the one bucket-ful. Little Boy was so cute---my mom, my sister, and I would pick the apples; then we would hand them to Little Boy and he would run down and drop them in the bucket. He loved it.

On the day before Halloween, we went to my mom's house to carve pumpkins. Actually, my sister carved a pumpkin and Little Boy colored a pumpkin.
 
Here he is, Sharpie in hand. I was smart enough to put an apron on him, but not smart enough to notice his exposed sleeves. D'oh! Anyway, he colored all over that thing. It was awesome.


Isaac helped get the other pumpkin started.


These are the finished products. Nice, huh?

And then...there was Halloween. I posted earlier about not trick-or-treating, but we did dress up. For fun, I guess. Little Boy dressed up as a clown this year, just like last year, but in a different clown costume. Look:


This is last year. He wore Isaac's (and Isaac's brothers') old clown costume from when they were little tykes.


Arrrrrrrrrrrr. This year, Little Boy wore the clown costume that my siblings and I wore when we were little. How's that for family traditions? And from both sides of the family! But Little Boy did not just dress up as any old clown....


...he dressed up as a clown...that golfs. A golfing clown.

That wasn't really part of the costume, but he carries that putter around with him all the time. He wants to be just like his daddy, who is also a clown that golfs.

Happy Sunday!

photo by Travis S.


"It is something to supply clothing to the scantily clad, to furnish ample food to those whose table is thinly spread, to give activity to those who are fighting desperately the despair that comes from enforced idleness, but after all is said and done, the greatest blessings that will accrue . . . are spiritual. There is more spirituality expressed in giving than in receiving. The greatest spiritual blessing comes from helping another."
-David O. McKay
--------------------------------------------------
Church Quote of the Day


 Three-year-old girl: "There's Sister Cook*!"
Girl's mom: "Mmhmm."
Girl (pointing to Sister Cook's husband): "And there's her grandfather!"

Teaching

"Your students deserve more than your knowledge. They deserve and hunger for your inspiration. They want the warm glow of personal relationships. This always has been the hallmark of a great teacher."

Gordon B. Hinckley - Oct. Gen. Conf 1965

I try to remember this one when I'm teaching the little kids in Sunday School.

Photo Monday...I mean, Saturday: Little Boy / Grandpa Edition

Looks like I haven't blogged in a few days. Without further ado:

Little Boy loves to play Isaac's guitar. He must have the shoulder strap over his shoulder just so. And he does try to use the guitar pick sometimes.

 And now, I have a couple pics of my dad. Dad's birthday was last week. We celebrated.

 

Here he is praying over his cake. Just kidding, he's really conducting us while we sing "Happy Birthday."
 

Dad's cake had seven candles. He insists that's because he's turning 70 (he's not). Looks pretty good for a seventy-year-old man, doesn't he?

Happy Sunday, plus Quote of the Day

Photo by adwriter, via Flickr

"I fear sometimes we see the Lord's love only in the big events of our lives; we must also see His love in the smallest of things. Don't underestimate your ability to share His love through a simple, genuine gesture such as sitting next to another sister and making her feel welcome."
-Bonnie D. Parkin

---

Church Quote of the Day

 Teacher: "Have you ever had a coat drive at your school or collected food for the needy?"
Kid: "We're HOMESCHOOLED."

All in the Family

I was just reading Talk To Me Tuesday over on Tip Junkie, where there's a post about family-themed Halloween costumes---and I remembered the one-and-only time my family had a sort-of theme going on at Halloween. I don't have a picture of this (sorry) because it was at least ten years ago.

This was when my sister was still a baby. My mom dressed her in a black sweatsuit, with a white stripe down the back, and made a stuffed skunk tail that fastened around my sister's waist. Then my dad, who works at an oil refinery, borrowed a gas mask and a hazmat suit from one of his coworkers. Good thing my sister was too little to remember it later, huh?

Photo by Invisible Hour via Flickr

 "Life often feels like a great pile of obligations, frustrations, and disappointments. But the Lord is there, always the same, His arms still outstretched. When we feel overwhelmed, we have to remember the peace He has spoken to us on previous occasions. His peace brings comfort and strength; the world cannot give that to us."

 -Kathleen H. Hughes

Happy Weekend!

www.nataliedee.com

Spookables and Terribibbles

I've been trying to create an age-appropriate Halloween for Little Boy. For the last week or two, I've checked out Halloween stories and videos from the library. He probably won't remember this Halloween next year, but at least he'll have a vague idea of what's going on right now. His newest words are "buttin" (pumpkin) and "doast" (ghost). He loves that doasts say, "ooooooOOOOoooo". And he loves to point out buttins wherever he sees them.

Last night we watched Frankenpooh and Spookable Pooh (from the library, of course). Little Boy doesn't usually get to watch an hour's worth of cartoons, so it was quite an event to him. Lucky kid.

Photo Monday: Princess Edition

Little Boy went to a princess-themed birthday party yesterday.



Cute, huh?

 
Each of the kids decorated a crown. Little Boy, being a boy, got to put car stickers on his. He loves it. He calls it his "taw hat."



This is the birthday girl, opening Little Boy's present to her. It's a fun little jar filled with "Magical Princess Cookies." Some of the cookies have Disney princesses on them, and some of them are pink with sprinkles.



Happy birthday girl = successful party.
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Birthday Party Quote of the Day


 Princess Party Guest, pulling shiny plastic crown off her cupcake: "We can't really eat this because, well, we could, um, choke and die."