Preschool Jeopardy

Jane has been so funny the last couple days, I HAD to share.

2:28:08

Jane: Why does Lizzy have 2 ears?
Me: Well, she couldn't hear without them, could she?
Jane: If you had no ears and no eyes and no nose and no mouth and just hair, and no body and no bones and no skin, you would be dead.
(Leslie's comment) - no, you would be a wig.

2:28:08

I had my boutique yesterday and took Jane and Lizzy to their cousins house to play until Brent got home. Jane kept asking me over and over the same questions..

Jane: Why am I going to my cousin's house? -
Me: Because mommy has to go to her sale.
Jane: Why do you have to go to your sale? -
Me: To earn money.
Jane: Why do you have to earn money?
Me: So we can go to Disneyland.

Finally, I got sick of answering the same questions over and over, so I started asking her... "I don't know, where am I going?" and told her I wasn't going to answer her questions anymore. She then said:

Jane: I know mommy, You are going to a boutique.
Me: That's right, Jane.
Jane: and what's the question to the answer Disneyland?
Me: What?
Jane: Mommy, I'm not going to tell you, what's the question to the answer Disneyland?
Me: Why am I earning money?
Jane: That's right! Good job mommy.

Do they have preschool Jeopardy?
Later that night, I called to check in and Brent gave her the phone. She said "How are sales going Mommy?" I guess she REALLY wants to go to Disneyland.

Squishy Face

When Lizzy gets tired, she's started doing this adorable thing that we call the squishy face. She takes her hands and basically squishes her face, hence the name 'the squishy face.' She likes to peek out and smile and we just think its the cutest thing we've ever seen.

She's a tired monkey. Time for our nap.

You should be jealous

So, I have a friend, Mindy, who is very skilled with yarn and a crochet hook. She decided to make a sweater not because she had anyone to give it to, but rather because she just wanted to. I went over there a while ago and we realized that it fit Lizzy fabulously, and since she didn't know any one else that it would fit, I got the sweater! Let me tell you, I am one lucky duck. I kept trying to get a good photo of Lizzy in it today, she wasn't cooperating, but I wanted everyone to see how stinking cute her new sweater is.



This is the best shot I got, but isn't her sweater darling!? I'm so in love with it! Now I need to make her some clippies to match.



And of course, if photos are being taken, Jane wants in. Silly girl. She was a sweetie today, even letting me take a nap while she watched Sesame Street and then helping me package my barrettes. I love days like today.

I'd like to bear my testimony of...

Today, I'd like to bear my testimony of the Book of Mormon Stories video.



(I tried to download the image, but it wouldn't let me, sorry)

I had these videos when I was growing up and we bought them for Jane a little while ago. Let me tell you, if you are mormon and have young kids, you need this video. Jane watches it every Sunday and LOVES it. She asks to watch it during the week also. You can get it for cheap at any Distribution Center or online if you don't have one close. There is also a book the corresponds with the video if your kids are old enough to read along. It's GREAT for FHE too. The one drawback... you can't play through all of the chapters one after the other, you have to sit there with your kid and click play each time the story changes. Oh well, you can't have everything.



Jane and her Daddy watching the Book of Mormon Stories video. Yes, she has made a habit of layering her jammies at this point.



Bonus photo #1: This is how we found Lizzy in the car when we got home from our 1 minute drive from church. 1:00 church is hard on babies.



Bonus Photo #2: Wait... doesn't Brent hate cats? I've also caught him calling Nina 'sweetheart' he denies it, but he loves this kitty.

Goodbye to Abby cat

Today, our cat, Abby, was adopted by another family. We adopted her from the Humane Society when we bought our house, 5 years ago, and we haven't ever REALLY felt as though she was satisfied in our home. We've talked and talked about finding her a new home, and this week, I finally listed her on KSL. Today a VERY sweet family with 3 children took her home. I know that she will be happier with them than she is here, but I can't help feeling emotional about it. I guess when you've put up with anyone (or animal) for 5 years, you just feel that attachment. Jane thinks that this means she's getting a dog, which is NOT going to happen, so she's going to have a rude awakening pretty soon here. She cried when they drove away and even Lizzy went out there and started waving, it made me laugh. I guess this is just the way life goes.

Wocka Wocka Wocka

I watched the great Muppet caper a couple weeks ago. I got it for Jane, but she didn't really like it, so I ended up watching it myself while she took a nap. It was fabulous. I remember watching that movie over and over when I was little and it never got old.

Anyway... Lizzy is walking, hence the post title. I have been trying to get it on video, but she hasn't really been cooperating. I got her taking a few steps today, but she can go a lot farther, you'll just have to take my word for it.

The funny things Jane says

I have had such a boring life lately that I really don't have anything to at all to say, but Jane's always got something entertaining to say. I have added a little element on the sidebar where I can post some of the funny things she says during the day, so when you get annoyed that I haven't posted (Mom) you can check out Jane's quote of the day.



These photos are from last week and I thought she was looking so cute (albeit very tired).

A Match Made in Heaven

Brent and I aren't really all the into Valentine's Day. We're so much alike in some ways (but not most). Today, we realized that we got each other the same thing.

Brent's gift to me was...

...a half eaten box of chocolates

And my gift to him was...



...a half eaten box of chocolates.
I guess we both got hungry during the course of the day.
I actually win for better present because I went out of the way to get him his favorite caramels, he just brought some home from work that someone else gave him. Whatever. Good thing I'm not in to Valentine's Day.

Love you Brent!

Enough Already!

For those of you that don't live in Northern Utah, I envy you. I have never spent so much time thinking and talking about snow in my whole life. I know that I'm a horrible person for not just being grateful for all the snow, but there comes a point when you just can't take it anymore. After a long overdue, glorious 3 days of warmer weather that finally thawed some of the snow, we got hit AGAIN. This storm was supposed to be 3-5". 3-5"? COME ON!

I had to have Jane at school bright and early this morning and since the state has apparently already gone through their budget for snow removal, none of the roads were plowed. I just sort of coasted to her school.

Jane may not have awakened fully rested this morning. I know I didn't.
Anyway, another fun day of snow.
Oh ya, Happy Valentine's Day!

Janie in jammies

I've already told you all about Jane's, um, odd sense of style. Tonight she wanted to wear all her pajamas at once apparently, since she wore this to bed...

Maybe she couldn't decide what to wear, so she just didn't.

She was SO pleased with herself. Oh Jane, whatever will I do with you?

Bathtime with Bubby

If you ever see Lizzy and Ben together, you can't deny that these babies LOVE each other. They both get so excited to see the other. Once they see the other's car seat walk in the door, they will both get all excited and start laughing and crawl over as fast as they can. It's absolutely adorable. You hardly see one without the other close behind and Ben even tries to say Lizzy's name, which seems to be the first word he's making a conscious effort to say. If I ask Lizzy where Ben is, she starts getting all excited and looking around for him. I tell you, I don't know if twins could love each other more than these two do.

Well, Lizzy and Ben were both particularly fowl this evening, so Leslie and I decided to give them a cousin bath. We knew that it would be totally embarrassing for them when they get older, so we made sure to get some pictures to document the occasion. It was actually hilarious. They both sat there and splashed each other and laughed hysterically. I don't think I've ever seen Lizzy laugh so hard in all her 10 months of life. I was laughing at them so hard that it hurt...

They were both so wound up, that we had to get them out of the tub before too long because we were afraid they would hurt themselves. I'm certain Lizzy inhaled water and I wouldn't be surprised if Ben did too.

All of a sudden, Ben started crying. He does that a lot. Everything is cool and then, all of sudden, he's just mad and crying and you can't figure out why.

This picture is so sad! He just looks pathetic all naked and wet.

It was fun while it lasted, and I'm sure they'll HATE the photos when they get older. Isn't that what parents are for, though?

Eatin' Time

I snapped a couple photos of our very tired and ornery Lizzy when Jane was feeding her dinner.

I think she's done.

I'd like to bear my testimony of...

There are so many things in this world that treat me right, I need to start sharing some of them.

Today I'd like bear my testimony of Gobstopper candy hearts.

Oh candy hearts, how I love you. How I love your delicious hard candy shell and oddly powdery center. You come in 5 tasty flavors that make my life more complete. I could sit and eat an entire bag of your fruity goodness until I'm more ill than I can bare, but it won't stop me from coming back to you.

Thank goodness for candy hearts!

Tagged again? You've got to be kidding me.

I know I just did this, but since I really haven't got a whole lot to post, I'll humor you, Cheryl.

10 years ago... Hmmm. 1998. I was finishing up my junior year at Bonanza High School probably spending most of my time with my only 2 friends, Jake and Omar. It was close to this time that I decided finish early and move to Utah. That summer, I spent everyday, from morning to night, in summer school and at the end, I moved to Salt Lake at the ripe old age of 17. I moved in with Leslie and my soon to be good friend, Eryn. It was a long time ago.

5 things on my to do list today...It's Sunday, so I really don't have that much going on. Let's see. 1- Prevent my children from dying or seriously injuring themselves. 2- Figure out what to feed everyone and then make dinner. 3- Call and wish Cameron a happy birthday. (maybe this can count. Happy Birthday Cam!) 4- Book our hotel and tickets for our family vacation to Disneyland this year. 5- Take a nap. It's a good life.

Snacks I enjoy... Maraschino cherries, out of the jar, Doritos and cottage cheese (of course), crackers and easy cheese, grape or orange soda, chips and salsa from Barbacoa, string cheese and just about anything else that you would expect a 5 year old to like.

What I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire.... I'd probably tear down my house and build and a new one in its place and then buy houses for everyone in my family so that we wouldn't have to waste our money on mortgages and we could play more. I could take them all on vacation to fun places too. I'd get Brent a new phone, new camera, new TV, new Mini and everything else that he's always complaining that he wants.

5 bad habits.... I bite my finger nails, you already know I have laundry issues, I have a hard time cleaning up after myself, so I leave a trail of messes wherever I go, I procrastinate with almost everything. Ask my husband for the rest it makes me feel too bad about myself to keep going ;)

5 jobs that I have had...I worked at Hogi Yogi for about a day and a half, runner/clerk at my dad's office, receptionist, paralegal and now a Mommy.

5 things that people don't know about me...I feel like I've already revealed a lot that you didn't know so this isn't fair.
1- I like mostly only strong foods like green olives, sourkraut, artichoke hearts, mustard and the like. I'm a Barron, we all eat that way.
2- When I was in high school and part of college, I used to sing and act. Ya, I'm serious.
3- I'm obsessed with baths. I think a hot bath can fix pretty much anything that's wrong with me.
4- I find Fugazi to be the best band ever in existence. I don't even put it in my top 5 because it just isn't fair to all the others
5- I'm pregnant. "What!? Did she just say she was pregnant?" Yes, I did. Bet you didn't see THAT coming, but since being pregnant in my family is one of those things that doesn't actually stay quiet, a lot of people already know. I'm only 7 weeks today, so it's really too early to be making announcements, but now at least I can whine about it.


So now I get to tag others. So.... Brent and Cameron (you can post on your man blog) and Leslie

Tagged... All you ever wanted to know about me and Brent

I talk a lot, so brace yourselves. You don't have to read it all, I will never know the difference.

What is his name? Brent Clark Stringham

How long have we been together? Um, I guess that it's been around 6 years.

How long did we date? I hate answering that question. What is considered "dating"? We met in December, decided to get married in January (although I think it was February before I had a ring) and got married in May. It was REALLY fast and I wouldn't recommend it to most people. We both joke that if we hadn't just gotten it over with, neither of us would have gone through with it.

How old is he? 31 (GASP!)

Who eats more? Probably me, under normal circumstances. Brent is always concerned about maintaining his girlish figure. As a general rule, when he goes out he plans to eat about half of what he is served. He doesn't eat much bread or chips first, because he doesn't need the calories and he figures he should be able to get two meals out of everything. He also eats really slow to make sure that he doesn't over indulge. Ya... I'm not like that at all.

Who said I love you first? Goodness knows. When you meet and get engaged in 3 weeks, how are you even to remember? I'm tempted to say that it was Brent, but I think it was more of a "I'm falling in love with you" than an actual "I love you." It really should have freaked me out, but we were apparently on the same page since I didn't tell him never to talk to me again.

Who is taller? I am. Oh the shame! only by like half and inch and when he wears shoes, you can't really tell. Problem is that I have to wear shoes too. hmmmm. He doesn't mind. He encourages me to rock the high heels. Gotta love that kind of confidence.

Who can sing better? Oh, that's me for sure. Brent is as close to tone deaf and anyone that I've ever heard sing in real life. Its like killing a dog or something. He claims that he's been asked to leave choirs before and I believe him. I have to ask him to stop singing sometimes in church.

Who is smarter? Hmmm, I'm not sure. This must be resolved.

Brent! I challenge you to a battle of wits!

We are smart in different ways. Brent's really good with numbers, and I'm clueless, but he's an idiot socially, which I find to be just as important. He's got very few social skills, it surprises me how well he functions sometimes. I think that in general we are pretty evenly matched, we keep each other on our toes.

Who does the laundry? We both do. I'm awful at doing laundry. I always wait until I'm desperate and I'm like, waiting for my underwear to get out of the dryer before I can leave for church. Either that or I put it in the washer and then forget and then I go downstairs 3 days later and wonder why it smells like mildew and realize that it's my laundry from 3 days ago, so I have to do it again. If not that... then I leave it in the dryer forever or the basket until I start throwing dirty clothes back in the basket and it all becomes dirty by association. It's B-A-D bad. Brent realized this great fault in my character early on and has been doing his own laundry ever since.

Who pays the bills? I do. Me for sure. Brent (being an accountant) bought Quicken a while ago and wanted to start running all the bills through it. I said I wouldn't do it because I liked my system so he decided to take over. That lasted about a month since I realized that in that month he didn't pay anything! No mortgage payments, a few bill payments, we had money on the credit card that he didn't pay off even though we had cash to do it... I was furious. Never again, Brent, never again. He's great with numbers but he has a terrible memory.

Who sleeps on the right side? Me. The window opens on the left and since we sleep under the window and keep it open when we sleep for a large part of the year, I get too cold.

Who mows the lawn? I have never mowed a lawn in my life and I certainly don't intend to start. Wouldn't even know where to start. My mom always said that if we never learned, we'd never have to. Good advice, Mom.

Who cooks dinner? Me. I do all the cooking and he does all the dishes.

Who drives? We share. It depends on the mood we are in. Brent doesn't actually LIKE to drive the minivan. Something about it being too big, but I make him sometimes.

Who kissed who first? I don't really know. This is all a blur. I think that it was a mutual thing. We were pretty far into our 3 weeks of dating and I was feeling a little strange and wondering why he kept asking me out if he didn't like me that much. It all worked out well, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Who is more stubborn? I am more stubborn than Brent and anyone I know and anyone I don't know. It's really bad and I'm trying to change, but truth be told, I kind of enjoy it. Not only that, Brent can be kind of a push over so I basically always get what I want. He's too good to me.

Who asked who out first? Brent asked me out. Although we lived on the same street, we had been in different wards. They combined the wards and had an FHE activity and we met at that activity. Shortly thereafter he asked me out. I normally wouldn't have been interested in him, but he was sweet and I said yes. It was a good move on my part.

Who proposed? Again, it was kinda mutual. Brent is REALLY passive aggressive (it's SO annoying) and I usually don't let him get away with it, but I didn't really pick up on it while we were dating (3 weeks people!) All his sisters were already married. He told me that the oldest any of them were when they got married was 26. He was 25 at the time and said he didn't think that he was going to make it past that. You do the math. So we kinda decided together and we went together to pick out a ring and a stone and everything. He officially proposed at his parent's house then hopped on a plane to Nicaragua the next day and was gone for a month. It was weird since he was gone for about as long as I had known him. I had promised to marry a guy that I didn't even know and then he took off to another country. I remember telling my mom that I didn't really care whether or not he ever came back and at the time, I really didn't. It required a LOT of faith to hang in, but I knew that I was supposed to go through with it. Now I see why.

Who has more friends? What are these "friends" that you speak of? Each of us has one. Brent has Cameron and I have Leslie. We've actually started to get to know people in our neighborhood more (now that we've been here for 5 years) but we get to know them all as couples. That puts us about par all the time.

Who is more sensitive? Uh, that'd be me. I started out sensitive and every time I get pregnant, I get worse. I cry every time I see the end of Cars, without fail. I cry when I'm happy, I cry when I'm sad or tired or overwhelmed or angry or just having a conversation with someone. Brent is like a rock. You can say anything to him and he'll just look at you. He's just Even Steven, all the time. I'm working on breaking him down. It's hard, but I am determined and remember how stubborn I am?

Who has more siblings? He does. 5 sisters for him. I've got one sister and one brother.

Who wears the pants? I'd say that we each get one leg. I have a really hard time letting Brent have control, but I'm working on it. I want to handle everything all the time, it's just too hard for me to worry about it all. For my own sanity I've got to learn to let him control things. It's getting better. I think that we are working towards a good balance of just trusting in each other. Instead of either of us making a decision, we try to make them together. It makes life so much easier that way, so I hope we can keep it up.

Um, I guess I have to tag people now. I'm going to tag my blogging sisters in law.. Cheryl and Danielle. Have fun girls!

Superpost Sunday

I know that I have now posted 3 times today, but I don't really care. I thought I had nothing to say, but apparently I was wrong. I've been snowed in and sitting around all day, it's amazing what you can think of to say under those circumstances.

We decided to venture out this afternoon to watch the superbowl at Cameron and Leslie's house since I STILL don't have any TV access at all. We figured that the roads would be ok this afternoon and they were, until we got to Daybreak. When we pulled up to my parent's house (that Leslie and Cameron are currently occupying), there wasn't even a way to get into the driveway. The west side of the valley was pounded WAY harder than we were with snow and after the plows came through, there was a bank about 4' tall preventing us from getting to the house and the driveway hadn't been touched. This wouldn't be so bad except that my parents, being old, had decided to by an old people's house that had yard maintenance and snow removal included, so we were a little annoyed that no one had gotten around to it. Fortunately, Brent and Cam aren't old (yet) and they were able to clear us a little spot for the minivan.

I decided to wear slippers, which made the snow situation that much more inconvenient for me. Lizzy was inside making it a partial family photo, but I'll take what I can get.

Half an hour later, when we got inside, the festivities began! Basically, we sat around sometimes caring what was happening in the game and sometimes not so much and we ate crappy food that made me sick. If you've ever been to a Barron family festivity, you will know that one of our very favorite treats is doritos and cottage cheese. People always get freaked out by it, but it's SO good. You rarely open a carton of cottage cheese that doesn't have orange dorito funk all over, which is kinda gross. The only one in the family who hasn't fully accepted this delicious dish is Cam.

Come on Cam... don't knock it till you've tried it!

The small children mostly crawled around (yes, even Jane. She reverts around the babies) and made noise. They spend most of their time in Mom's library-turned-playroom which is completely stocked with anything that a small child could want or need.



It really is a royal mess. See if you can spot 2 babies in there. It'll be like Where's Waldo?



Lizzy is wearing her new suit from Grandma. I love this color on her and her suit is so cute! Thanks Grandma!



Jane is such a goof!

We finally made it home through more snow and successfully got our children in bed (knock on wood). Not a bad Superbowl Sunday, all things said and done.

Hmmmm.

I've always kind of enjoyed Ben Stein, so when I found that he was making this movie, I was interested in what kind of a movie it was. I thought that some of you might be interested in viewing the trailer as well. It's kinda long, but very interesting. I'm sure I'll be wanting to see the movie this spring. Click on the picture to take you to the page where you can watch the trailer.

My mom is making me update the post to tell you more about the clip and encourage you to view the trailer. It is a documentary the Ben Stein is making about Darwinism. The really interesting thing is that he believes in creation and apparently there are a lot of people in science field that agree, but aren't being permitted to express it. It's REALLY fascinating, so seriously, watch the trailer.

A Churchless Sunday

So, it snowed today, just like most days this winter, but for some reason, our stake decided that this time they were going to cancel church. I don't know if it was just a stake decision or if it was bigger, since Leslie and Cameron had their meetings canceled as well. Brent spent all morning out with the rest of the Elder's Quorum shoveling driveways in the neighborhood and he seems to have had more fun than anything else. By this time, all the roads are pretty clean and it wouldn't be hard to get there at all, but isn't that always the way these things work? Anyway, here we are, at home. So I just thought that I would post some cute pictures of Lizzy that I took as we were lazing about since I haven't had much to say this week.

She was giving her daddy a great big smile. STILL no teeth for her. She's 10 months in February and there's not even a sign of teeth to come.





These are Lizzy's favorite toys. I swear that we spend a grundle on toys for this kid and all she wants is the phone (which she pretends to talk on, it's cute), a tube of medicine and wipees. They will keep her entertained for hours!