What kind of life am I living?

I came across this lecture, given by Dr. Randy Pausch on the Oprah Winfrey show back in October.  It's about 10 minutes long, but well worth watching.  Makes me want to do better...hope you feel the same.

Parental Supervision 101

I've had the same hairstyle for about 6 years.  A few layers, a little flip at the bottom.  The only thing that has varied has been the length...within an inch or two.

Today, I went for something a little new and different.  Sort of "Katie Holmes"-ish, in style (although mine doesn't look nearly as good as hers!), with some fun streaks of color.  (And I don't have stylists making me look amazing, or professional photographers taking my picture, just me trying to guess if I'm even in the picture or not.) 

I left Steve in charge of the kids.

This is what Jack looked like when I left today.

This is what Jack looked like when I got home.

This is what Jack looks like now.  You figure it out.

What I'm Good At Lately...

This comic says it all...

I used to be a pro at multi-tasking.  That skill seems to have gone into hibernation lately.  I have about 100 projects-in-progress right now.  Today, I'd like to try and finish just one.

Can't take my eyes off you...

Last week, Olivia and I went to a friend's baptism and left Steve home with the boys. He had a few home repair projects to complete, which required a trip to the local hardware store. Upon return home, Jack and Grant were playing in the driveway and garage while Steve was doing his repair, also in the garage. 

After a few moments, Jack came sauntering in and said "Dad, Grant's in the middle of the street, and he won't come." Steve dropped everything and ran out of the garage and down the driveway. Sure enough, there's Grant smack in the middle of the street with this look on his face of pure mischief. Steve asked Jack why he didn't grab Grant and pull him out of the street, and Jack simply replied "I'm not supposed to go in the street." Duh...

Steve proceeded to bring Grant back up to the garage and gave him a soccer ball to play with. This lasted about 2 seconds, before Grant realized it was great fun throwing the ball down the driveway and watching dad run into the street to fetch it. After about the 5th time of this great game, Grant threw the ball and it wedged itself under the still hot mini-van. Without hesitation, Grant shimmied right under the car, paying no mind to the heat of the engine. There wasn't much head space for him, and it took a good deal of coaxing on Steve's part to get him back out without any burns. All this in the space of about 15 minutes. 

Steve decided that home repairs could wait. But Grant might not. It's a good thing he's so cute...

Touching tributes to a great man...

Our dear, sweet prophet passed away earlier this week.  My good friend passed on these touching tributes, and I wanted to share them.  I couldn't have said it, or shown it any better.  My life is better having known him - even from a distance - and he will truly be missed.

I am blessed with good friends

Charlie, Grant & Mallory

Yesterday, a group of friends from church all came over for a little luncheon/play date with the kids. Several of us had babies just months apart, so now they're all toddling around. There were about 9 adults, and too many kids to count! I am thankful for the friends that I have made through the years through my association in the church. No matter where I go, I can find amazing women of all ages who inspire, motivate, uplift and amuse me. I'm at the stage of life where I'm on the "older" end of the "young mothers", which is a weird place to be. I don't feel as old as I am, nor do I feel as old as I thought I'd feel at this age...I hope that youthful feeling stays with me for a long time! And I am so thankful to all of you, my friends, for the light you bring to my life!

Our kitchen grew!

When we bought our first house 8 years ago, we had to buy all the appliances to go with it. When we picked out our refrigerator, we bought the biggest one that would fit in the space, on the edge of the kitchen with one side against the wall. It was deeper than our cabinets, but we didn't really notice it since it was against the wall. When we moved to this house, the opening for the fridge was smack in the middle of the wall, with the oven/microwave on one side and cabinets on the other. The fridge stuck out a good foot from the cabinets.

A few weeks ago, we came across a "french door" style fridge, with a pull-out freezer on the bottom. It was counter depth, so we were losing some cubic feet, but we decided the continuity of the kitchen more than made up for the lost space! The fridge was delivered today, and I love it! Yes, it's definitely smaller inside. But it looks so much better in the kitchen.

We moved the monster down to the garage, to keep our upright freezer company. I can store extras of everything down there, and just put what I need upstairs. Am I a dork for being excited about an appliance? Probably, but who cares?!