Little Linus

There are precious few movies that Craig can stand to watch over and over again--the Bourne series, The Blind Side made the cut, Just Like Heaven (he probably thinks Reese Witherspoon is cute, but who doesn't? Seriously). Even with those, though, he has to have a minimum time lapse between viewings. I, on the other hand can watch the same movies again and again, and each time gets sweeter and sweeter. It's probably because I have better taste in movies... Pride and Prejudice (ONLY the Collin Firth one, Kiera what's-her-face ruined the other one for me as well as the fact that Darcy and Elizabeth's attraction was portrayed as being based entirely on chemistry rather than admiration for one another's characters as they gradually discovered them...but I don't have very strong feelings about it :), Sense and Sensibility, North and South--they just reach a whole new realm of wonderfulness, "scrumptialescense" as my Nat would say. I could start Pride and Prejudice from segment four and watch it to the end indefinitely--I could do the same with the train scene from North and South. It NEVER gets old. Nothing is old about falling in love for the first time. What's amazing is that I can hit instant replay on the whole bit. I don't even have to hit the rewind button and wait for the VHS to get to the right spot anymore.

So that was a huge ramble. Back to what I was trying to say from the beginning. As a child (and teenager) growing up, one movie I never tired of watching over and over was a ghetto VHS recording from TV of all the Christmas cartoon classics made with love by my Dad. A Charlie Brown Christmas was a favorite. I love Linus's speech about the true meaning of Christmas. It still gets me teary. Linus totally has a mature view of things when it comes to the holidays. But there's nothing mature about his blanky addiction. Totally childish. But cute, because he is a child.

Well, here's my little Linus. He LOVES this blanky. It's the one ("in nuetral colors") Tay and Gar gave to Craig and I our first Christmas married right before we announced that they were all going to be uncles. My sweet little boy picks it up, slings it over his shoulder and carries it around with him when he's tired and waiting for me to lay him down.

Today he managed to get it over to the rocking chair where he climbed up (all by himself) and sat down. Then I think he decided the floor was too far away.

So he got back down, and tried again.

This time he got it right...

Oh, and here's my not-as-little Linus.

We refer to them both as the "Blanky Boys." Catchy, huh? Someone should make a movie with that title. It definitely sounds like a classic.

;)

"Double Hunter"

Gavin is such a funny boy. He is SO smart, too! Lately he just amazes us with some of the things he says like, "Don't you dare do dat, Bwanky (he LOVES his blanky, even enough to discipline it when it mis-behaves :). Or you will go to time-out!" and, after my mom promises to bring him all sorts of goodies when she comes, "Gwamma Pam will bring me some ea-ter eggs and some goldfissies and..." if she said it, he remembers it and he'll hold her to it!

Because he is so good at enunciating each word he says, and because, even when he finds a word he can't quite get right, I've mastered Gavin language after hours and hours of study and dedication, there's hardly a time when we can't figure out what he's talking about. About a month ago, however, he was running around jabbering on and on about "Double Hunter." Huh?

Me: "Hey Gavs, what is "double hunter"?

G: "No, DOUBLE hunter!"

Me: "Ok, what is DOUBLE hunter?"

I couldn't get an explanation out of him more than repeating over and over what I was saying (which he didn't think I was getting quite right). Hmm... So I finally gave up. Until the next time it came up. I asked him again what it was, and he answered the same way. I thought, maybe Aiden (one of his nursery friends) told him something about some character Double Hunter. Maybe its a new cartoon or something? I must be way out of the loop!

This went on and on, off and on, until an evening about a week ago when, after Gavin had again been running around chanting "double hunter, double hunter, double hunter...." all day I decided to ask Craig if he knew where Gavs had picked it up.

Me: "Do you know what 'double hunter' is?

Craig: "No, what is it?"

Me: "I have NO idea. Gavs came home from nursery one day chanting it and jabbering about it."

Craig: "From nursery? Hmmm..." Deep in thought... then, "Could it be Howard W. Hunter?"

My Sweetie is SO smart!!! He solved the "Double Hunter" mystery! It still cracks us up that, after some nursery lesson about President Hunter, all he came away with was "double hunter"! So funny. We love our silly boy!

We love our little Macy-Man too! He is such a little munchkin! Its been so fun seeing him figure out new things. He's quite the little walker these days! He started a couple weeks ago to take some tentative steps here and there in between furniture or walls. Now, he cruises across the room, no prob! Crazy!

I can't believe how fast my little boys are growing. The time really just flies!

Dichotomous Ramblings

I'm such a bad blogger. It's kind of like exercising for me. Sometimes I'm WAY good at it. Driven, motivated, committed. But after I've been going for a couple months (or weeks) I burnout. The sad thing is that the burnout lasts MUCH longer than the commitment. I'm still committed to the idea, but, especially when I'm overwhelmed, the action just isn't in the equation. I've got to do better. In my mind I can picture exactly what I want my blog to be, but I don't have the time, the creativity, or the know-how to get it there. So the perfectionist in me becomes an enemy to doing anything with it. I really want to push past this and at least post an occasional picture or story for the grandmas and grandpas and all our family that are so far away.

Florida is beautiful. I can honestly say that I LOVE it here. It's been so good for us to have the automony, the independence and the experiences we've had since our move. Craig and I have made mutual friends, rather than our "his" and "hers" friends from before we were married (not that we don't love all of you still :), we've had to intesify our communication efforts and abilities to make things work, and we've had plenty of nucleus-family time during which to get to know one another and each of our boys better and to establish good family habits and traditions of our own. At the same time, there are moments when I miss our families, reunions, impromptu Sunday visits, the mountains, made-to-order fry sauce, weekly piano lessons, and hangin' out with my mom with nothing to do so much I'm almost paralyzed. This last weekend was really rough for me. I don't know if it was because of the holiday or General Conference or a combination of the two, but I was a wreck. A special thanks to Geoff and Bonnie for having us to dinner and pulling me out of a rut. And an even special-er thanks to my sweetheart for putting up with me and loving me through my prickles.

Our ward ROCKS!!! We have been embraced and loved by so many. We've also been put to work! Craig is the ward clerk and I just was called as Young Women's president, so we are definitely keeping busy. Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed and like I'm not doing all that needs to be done, but it has been such a lesson on truly relying on the Lord to make up the difference between the needs and demands of a calling and my best efforts. I realize how seldom in my life I've had to do that. Not that I shouldn't have been doing it all along, but it wasn't a necessity (motherhood excluded) because I could 'get by' on my own. Now there is no keeping my head above water without help, and I'm grateful that the Lord cares enough about me to compel me to learn this lesson at this point in life rather than years down the road. He is so patient and kind, easy to be entreated and full of love.

Anyway, enough of the random. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! When we truly have an understanding of what it's all about we can't help but be grateful for a loving Savior and Father in Heaven that not only want us back, but provided a way for us to get there--back home.

This one's for Gar

Bring back any memories? How about a closer look?

Gavin's shirt meets kitchen shears.
Another one of those things I just have to scratch my head at and think, "Why?" !!!

So I know I should be posting about our Christmas and New Year's and all that's been going on, and I will, but... it's so overwhelming!!! We had a wonderful holiday season, one we will always remember and treasure. We are so grateful for the families in our ward who have taken us in. They have just been amazing!!! More to come on this, I promise :)

But to initiate my catch-up posts, I'll start by sharing one of my new hobbies. Taking after my mom, I've always enjoyed the triumph of making a "bargain" buy (which means I married into the right family too since my mom-in-law is right on board). There are few things that beat paying $2, for example, for something that normally would cost $20. Craig doesn't quite understand why this gives me such a high, but since I don't make any of the money being a stay at home mom, saving money by getting deals and being smart makes me feel like I'm contributing in the financial realm of our family living.

So, we have some big 'coupon'ers out here who have been great at showing me the ropes. I'm still learning, but I've already made a few purchases that make me proud. For example, I paid 7 1/2 dollars for everything pictured below: 8 boxes of cereal and 4 8-packs of juice boxes! All these products cost me a total of $7! Both packs of soap were free when all was said and done. It's really quite amazing. I mean, I shopped the deals back in Utah, but I never combined the deals with coupons, and they make much more of a difference than I ever imagined.
So there you have it! I'm converted. I'll hopefully get better and better at finding the deals! There are some great websites out there that lay them out nice and easy. Check them out if you want, I thing they're great -

iheartpublix.com (probably only good for those living in the Southeast)

iheartsavingmoney.com