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

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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

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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