Hyrum's little prayer...

The other night this was Hyrum's prayer... "Thank Thee that we could be cuddled up in the house all day. Please bless that our house won't get blown down, because it's made of bricks. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Moment of insanity...

Those of you who have had husbands in school for YEARS know the excitement I felt when Jeff graduated with his PhD last year and the big fat sign-on bonus arrived in the mail! I had anticipated this moment for years, and here it was! I consulted some of my best shopper friends and decided that the first thing to be replaced were grandma Brimhall's wicker couches, complete with matching floral blue and pink patterned pillows. So, the day before moving to Cleveland, Karina and I reved up Randy's big 350 Ford truck and headed to Dallas to shop for furniture. After haggling with a guy that was openly hitting on Karina...I bought these elegant cream colored couches...



Much better than the wicker blue and pink floral hand-me-downs! (Not that I'm ungrateful to grandma Brimhall.)

So the practical mom would now be saying, "Who in their right mind buys CREAM colored couches when they have toddler's at home?!?" Unfortunately, that practical mom was nowhere to be found. This week she has finally surfaced.

Hyrum attacked the couch with a yellow highlighter last week, finishing the job with red crayola marker on the weekend. That was topped off today when Hadley left her BLUE nailpolish on the table and the house got quiet for a moment....and you guessed it. Hyrum was found under the red blanket painting his fingernails on the cream couch.

Now I have a cream couch with blue highlights. **Sigh** So the practical mom in me is telling my fruffier self that I shouldn't have anything that I like too much, because it's going to get "altered" at some point by some cute kid with a marker.

Hadley's Birthday Party Invitations

Jeff...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To my knight in shining armor, and the best dad in the world!

Who always takes the best care of us...

Who tries to steal other peoples kids so he can have 12 of his own...


Who would do anything for anyone...

Who loves to be the center of attention...

And who teaches me how to relax...

Here's to one year closer to growing old together. I love you Jeff!!

Day off...time for a field trip!

I had Monday off and so I joined Hadley's 2nd grade class for a field trip to The Western Reserve Historical Society. This was the first class activity I've been able to attend, so it was fun to put faces to the names Hadley always talks about. Hyrum came with me, and the highlight for him was the thought of riding on the school bus!! Unfortunately, 3 year olds were banned from the bus the minute we arrived....here's Hyrum's sad face.

But he cheered up soon!

He fit in well with the big kids, and kept raising his hand to ask questions...usually the same question. "What is that?" He was very proud of himself! Can you see him in here with the big kids?

Hadley had fun trying out the billows, and learning about the pioneers who came "west" to Ohio. I guess primary's good for something, she's the only one who knew what "Oxen" were.

I loved her friends! They are so cute and such good girls! As I was sitting on the floor with them eating my tuna fish sandwich, I thought...well maybe my co-workers would say this was a wasted day-off...but I loved it! Plus, I indulged in a little shopping later. :)