My Reality

It's been THREE YEARS since I last blogged. Many things have happened. Some wonderful, like the birth of our fifth child, Logan Daniel, on July 24, 2008. Some not so wonderful, which I won't expound upon because they are not worth revisiting.

But I intend to get things going here again, posting semi-regularly, updating my links and pictures, etc. I have a bit more brain to spare on things beyond basic survival these days, and blogging is something I really enjoyed in the past.

So stick with me and we'll see where this goes this time!

Well, Dave’s been after me to blog. I always have good intentions, but it never seems to get past that. My family always has me rolling with laughter or stunned speechless. Here is one little gem that illustrates the latter.

[A conversation between Dave and I]

Dave: I had a dream the other night that you had long hair and weighed 125.

Maren: Really? 125?

Dave: Yeah. You know you could weigh that.

Maren: Dave! That’s 20 lbs less than I weighed when we met! (Not to mention now that I’ve had four kids and neglected myself!!) And I was thin then!

Dave: You could do it.

Maren: Alright. I’ll get down to 125 if you get down to 135. (This is 20 lbs less than he weighed when we met. He is also more than that these days.)

Dave: 135?!?!?

Maren: Yeah. If I’m supposed to go down 20 lbs from my initial weight, that should be your goal, too.

Dave: I would be skin and bones if I weighed that much.

Maren: I would be skin and bones if I weighed 125.

Dave: But…I’M A MAN!!

Your IQ Is 140

Your Logical Intelligence is Genius Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

Your IQ Is 110

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Average

Your Birthdate: October 4

Being born on the 4th day of the month should help make you a better manager and organizer. You may be more responsible and self-disciplined than you realize. Sincere and honest, you are a serious and hard working individual. Your feelings are likely to seem somewhat repressed at times. The number 4 has something of an inhibiting effect on your ability to show and express affections, as feeling are very closely regulated and controlled. You are apt to be much more practical, rational, and conscious of details. There is a good deal of rigidity and stubbornness associated with the number 4.

Repressed, inhibited, rigid, and stubborn. Hah! That only tells HALF the story!

Some of my fondest memories from my childhood are of toy dishes, and eating real food off of them. My mom was the greatest.

The other day in Wal Mart I spied a set of toy dishes. I have been wanting to get some for the boys, but didn't want to risk a reaction from Dave for buying them "girly" toys. (That is another subject entirely.) Anyway, after pondering for a couple days, and mentioning the possibility of the purchase to Dave without negative results, I returned and purchased the set.
These are good quality, break resistant, even dishwasher safe! Too bad they didn't come with a dishwasher. *sigh* The colors are bright primary colors: green, blue, red, yellow. The utensils are a great size, actually usable.

Anyway, I was really excited about the toy dishes, maybe more for myself than for my kids. I brought them home. Devin and Caleb were pretty thrilled with the new aquisition, and I let them rinse the dishes after I washed them. I don't recall ever thinking that helping with the dishes was fun, but maybe my memory fails me. The boys love it.

We ate our dinner on them. Just me and the boys. Dave was out fishing. We had a gourmet meal of strawberry jello, canned peas (yech!), vienna sausages, string cheese, and apple sauce, with milk as our beverage. The boys have never drank so much milk in one meal! It was quite the party, and very fun for all of us. Even Ethan loved it. He was thrilled with having so many dishes in front of him, and kept rearranging them. The utensils were just the right size for him.

So I have come full circle. I was a child eating off of toy dishes with my mom, and now I am the mom eating off toy dishes with my children. I shared my thoughts on this with my boys, and Devin and Caleb seemed to think it was neat. Ethan was busy saying "Mmm!" with each bite of food.

Building memories on memories. Parenthood is a wonderful gift...

We went fishing yesterday. They had stocked Wilson Ponds Thursday or Friday, so we decided Saturday would be a great time for the boys’ first fishing experience. The ponds weren’t too busy, and we fished at an inlet where about 25 fish were hanging out picking worms off of hooks. So we fished. Caleb “caught” a fish when Dave handed him his pole, telling Caleb it was his turn to fish. Caleb was delighted to catch a fish so quickly. I tried to do the same with Devin, but as he was reeling it in the fish escaped. Then I caught a fish. I re-baited the hook, tossed it in, and handed the pole to Devin to hold while I took care of Ethan for a minute. And that’s how he caught his fish. At nearly the same moment, Dave caught a fish. So we caught four fish. I had caught one Thursday night when Dave and I went fishing. So we had fish for dinner today. Dave grilled them. The boys loved it. Both the fish and the fact that they were eating something they had caught.

As for the lobster... Well, that’s me. I remembered to TAKE the sunscreen, just not to APPLY it. Even Dave burned slightly. Ethan was a tad pink, but I didn’t notice even any pinkness on Devin and Caleb. I, however, fried. Very red. Very sore. Very lobster-esque. That’s what I get for being so "white and delightsome".

Last night I was doing laundry. I know that is stating the obvious, as I am ALWAYS doing laundry, but anyway... There was a batch of towels and rags that had had to be washed, and when they came out of the dryer at 1:00 am, I really didn't feel like folding them. I hated that I would have to look at a basket of unfolded items all day Sunday, but decided I would just deal with it.

This morning when I got up, Devin and Caleb greeted me. "Good morning, Mom." (in stereo even!) Devin says, "We folded all of the towels and rags." Caleb says, "Yes. And that is the supwise!" How sweet! Talk about starting my day off right! I even managed to just be happy about it, and not be disturbed or lecture about Sunday activities. :) But then my precious dears would NOT go up with the Primary children to do the Mother's Day mini program. *sigh* I was very sad about that. Oh, well. That would have been their first Sacrament Meeting singing with the Primary. I finally have kids old enough to be up there. But they would not go. Wonder where they get their dislike of being infront of large groups of people?? Nobody say it. :)

After Sacrament Meeting we got our obligatory (stinky but pretty) pink geranium. Now, I cannot grow flowers for the life of me. Black thumbs. So I look forward to this annual ritual, for then I will have a living flower in my home for about a month until is is completely dead. So I was happy to get my flower. Unfortunately, I put it on top of the car as I was loading Norah into the back seat. The rest is history... So no flower in my house this year. :( Oh, well. LOL

[I had taken Dave's car to church, and he took the kids in the van. I left church early because I have a very "out" neck and am perpetually looking at things slightly sideways. I had to lead the music in Sacrament Meeting, but that was about as far as I could make it. Dave stayed with the rest of the kids.]