progress

Now that there is some sheet rock on the walls and ceiling of our basement bathroom, it finally looks like we've made progress. Man, if only you knew all the work that had to be done before the sheet rock could go up. We started in may, and just now, we are getting to the point where it looks like we've been doing something

So here are some before and after pictures. It's actually starting to look like a bathroom with real lights, a working tub (as long as you have a set of pliers to turn it on and off). We've almost got the linen closet finished and one more small wall to close up and then maybe we will pay someone to mud and tape the walls, because ugggg. I hate that job! And I know I can't make it look good. And I will always be critical of my work. Besides. It would take me months to do, and to pay someone they would be in and out in a few hours.

A couple of "helpers" and the REAL helper aka. grandpa

I can't wait until it's done! I do think that the hardest part is behind us. Now is the part where we have to make it functional and pretty. :)

FOR RENT

Two adorable but sometimes loud children are for rent. One completely potty trained, The other likes to give kisses. All offers will be considered :)


I'm kidding of course, but I am feeling a little overwhelmed and a lot tired after a Saturday of hard work in the basement, and a less than ideal three hours at church today.

You sure you don't want to just borrow them for a while?

A bunch of nonsense

I am not into politics ONE BIT! in fact, I usually don't watch anything that has anything to do with it. Not even the State of the Union address (Shane knows how I hate to watch/listen to that). I try not to talk about it too much because deep down.... I don't know what I'm talking about.

I hate to be so blind to the matter, because I do believe that as an American, it's my job to at least have a little knowledge in the matter and to vote using that knowledge but it's so full on nonsense that I can't honestly be expected to believe all that I read and hear. And I think that it's rare to find a truly honest and trustworthy politician.

The latest deal with all the financial crisis and how the two presidential candidates are reacting to it is so childish I can not even bring myself to care anymore.

OK, so McCain says: "we need to put aside the debates etc. to focus on fixing this problem."

Obama says: "why can't you do two things at once? you are just trying to "act" presidential to get more votes, The American people need to HEAR what we have to SAY" (hear? Say? What about DO?????) can you tell I don't like the guy so much?

McCain says: "fine, I will go to your precious debate".

It goes back and forth like this about EVERYTHING!


Personally I think Obama is full of crap, I think McCain is trying too hard and being too shifty. But I'm not out to campaign for anyone. I think it should come as no surprise that I am no liberal.

And what does the media say about all this? It's all just a ploy for more votes on both sides, and you know what? They are right. But they act like it matters. NONE of this affects how I will vote and I can't believe that people are so naive that it would. Can people just not even see through all of it?

OH PLEASE!!!!!

On to the next issue, Local politics:

The Springville library is PATHETIC!!!! Seriously, I hate going there. But, the Provo library, which I borrow from illegally, (shhh, don't' tell anyone) is a much bigger trip and becomes more difficult (and more expensive thanks to a bigger vehicle and higher gas prices) to make by the day.

So, the city wants to build a new one, but it comes at a cost to us tax payers. (about $5 a month in taxes for the next 12 years or so)

I have no doubt that the city MUST build a new one, but I can't believe for the life of me that with all the growth in Springville lately, they don't have the money for it somewhere.

So, come November we have to vote if we want the new library. Really, I think that if the bond doesn't pass, they will find another way to build it. It HAS to be done, and they know it. But I would really like to have a better library in town. So how do I vote? I don't know? Shane says no way. But he's not even registered.

They city has been sugar coating this new library idea so much that I think it will pass but I question their ability to create a library that is good enough to warrant all that money. A lot of the improvements won't really help me. It's going to be a lot of computers and reading rooms. What I want is better/more books and movies, better children's programs and there is no promise of a better selection and better programs, just more staff, more computers and more rooms. Hmmmmm. Nonsense.

Don't even get me started on the school district issues/taxes.... NONSENSE!!!!

That is all for me... you will probably never hear me talk politics (especially on a national level) again.

Me from a to z

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: Shane... I need some more friends :)
C-Cake or Pie: hmmm... I guess cake (as long as it's cheese cake)
D-Day: Friday
E-Essential Item: Lotion, I think I would die without it.
F-Favorite Color: Green
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: bears
H-Hometown: Provo, UT
I-Indulgences: Icecream
J-January or July: July, I hate January!
K-Kids: 2.9 kids
L-Life is incomplete without: my little family.
M-Marriage Date: June 29, 2001
N-Number of Siblings: 6: 5 Brothers, 1 sister
O-Oranges or Apples: Oranges, Apples have never been my thing. But I like em well enough.
P-Phobias or Fears: I hate boats of all sizes, but I will go on one. I really don't like spiders one bit either
Q-Quote: my brain isn't functioning well enough to think of one right now.
R-Reason to Smile: It's Friday
S-Season: Spring
T-Tag: Anyone who needs something to put on their blog, go ahead and consider yourself tagged.
U-Unknown fact about me: I have (almost) 3 kids, but tending other peoples kids totally freaks me out.
V-Vacation destination of choice: Hawaii, hands down
W-Worst Habit: I tend to be forgetful (especially when I'm pregnant)
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds. X-rays are boring, Ultrasounds are fascinating.
Y-your favorite food: I don't know right now. NOTHING sounds all that good right now.
Z-Zodiac Sign: Aries

The Cat Borrowers

If you want to know how to have all the joys of owning an outdoor cat without actually owning one... We can teach ya. :)

Our neighbors across the street own this cat who comes to our house every time the kids are outside. As soon as he hears them, he comes running. Actually, this cat could very well be a she, I've never checked. :)

He must not get enough lovin' at his house if he is willing to come get some attention from a 4 year old and a 1 year old. It's been my experience that cats don't like little kids because they aren't very gentle. Roman has always been pretty good with this cat (these visits have been going on for over two years now) but Marisa gets really excited and sometimes pets a little too hard, pets backwards or pokes in the eyes, but this cat puts up with it.

Roman calls him Bungee because he looks like a kitten named bungee from the movie "baby animals" which we have rented from the library over and over. And Roman also insists that he is OUR cat. I let him get away with saying it's our cat, but I make sure he knows that he lives over at the neighbors house.


I LOVE cats. But since there is a cat for just about every house in our neighborhood and we will never have an indoor cat, I will settle for borrowing the neigbors cat. Can it get any better? I dont' have to pay for cat food, clean a litter box or worry about it if he goes missing but whenever I want a cat to come sit on my lap and snuggle, he'll come running over. My kids love this cat.

Culinary school

Well, I may have mentioned before that I wish I were a better cook... I think I have also mentioned before that there this woman who used to live in our ward who is an excellent cook. well, I've taken my chance to get just a little bit better at the lovely art of cooking since she is teaching a cooking class over in Mapleton. I've been saying for a while that I needed to pay her to teach me something useful, and when I was browsing the community classes that were being offered I jumped at the chance to do this one. Plus, this 6 week course is just what I needed to get me through the next 6 weeks.

So, class started this week and we did salads. Boy were they tasty! We made maybe 7 different salads. Unfortunately though, out off all the home made dressings and fun and interesting salads, my favorite was the generic salad (lettuce, chicken, olives, tomatoes) with the store bought ceazar salad dressing. I know, I'm boring. But everything we made was really good. We candied some almonds that were ever so tasty.


There was this one recipe that I will share and can I tell you that this was AWESOME!!!! It wasn't really a salad, but tomatoes with a salad dressing on them that made them SO good. I'm not even a tomato fan, and there is a girl in our class who doesn't like tomatoes at all and both of us could not stop eating these things.

French Tomatoes:

6 ripe tomatoes, sliced
1/3 C. parsley, chopped
3 Tbsp shallots (or green onion or onion), chopped
1/2 recipe of basic vinaigrette

Place tomatoes in a bowl and soak in vinaigrette, shallots and parsley. Chill for an hour or so stirring occasionally. Serve over sliced french baguettes.

Basic Vinaigrette:

(full recipe)
2 tbs dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 Cup Vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Mix well, Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight (makes about 1 cup)

Seriously.... I had eaten dinner and was NOT hungry when I ate these things and I could not stop! :) They would be really good with a nice sharp cheese too. YUM!

Try them.. They would be great for a picnic or party. The hardest part will be getting people to taste them... Once they do, they will be gone in a heart beat. These are great for right now too when all the tomatoes in the garden are ripe.

A few thank you notes

Note #1
Dear Shane,
Thanks for buying the new car. I know you don't like it as much as I do, but I love it.

Love,
Corn

Note #2

Dear Kristy,

Thanks so much for lending me your maternity wardrobe. You bought lots of cute stuff and how lucky am I that we are the same size? My closet was getting quite bare of things that would fit so the huge bag of clothes makes me think I just might make it through these next 6 weeks. Most of these close are more cute than my regular wardrobe. Thanks so much! And, thanks for being a loyal blog reader.

Love,
LeAnny :)

For everyone else: Kristy was my roomie in college and how fun was it to have a roommate to swap clothes with?!?, especially when you are as tall as we are. Besides she has cuter clothes than I do. :)

Here is the only picture you will probably see of my gigantic belly this time. I don't know... I just don't see the beauty in all this pregnancy stuff. :) But it's a cute shirt... Thanks to Kristy. :)

For some reason the coloring on this picture is all funny, I'm just learning photoshop and so all my pictures might be a little weird for a while

Note #3:

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you so much for cooling down. It feels so nice to not be sweltering when I'm already so uncomfortable. Could you do me one more favor? Can you turn it down just one notch more? It's not quite pants weather yet, and my shorts simply don't fit anymore. I can't even try to keep them on without permanently damaging something, so just a few more degrees would be perfect. I have plenty of pants that fit as well as can be expected. Thanks!
Again, I'm so glad it's not in the 90's anymore.

Your friend,
LeAnn

Ok... so what is my deal?

I have this calendar hanging next to my computer. I sit here multiple times a day and need to know the date or see the current calendar at least once a day yet, it takes me an entire half of the month to flip the pages to the correct month. I just barely gave in an changed it to September. It's almost rebellious the way I don't change it. Why do I do this?

You would think, in my current condition, I would be changing the calendar two weeks in advance, not two weeks late.

I have no self analyzing explanation for this strange behavior other than it's my rebellious side saying "I'm not going to let some calendar tell me what to do" I don't know. :) weird!

So... like I was saying

We have been car shopping/buying these last few days and yes... we did get one. Which one, you ask? Car #2. :)

The people at the car place did a fantastic job at fixing up that baby and she looks great! They had someone working on all the scratches, they replaced the radio and a few of the really scratched up footplate thingies, which I could not be happier about, they had a body person working on all the little dents and dings (they were quite small, I never really noticed them but Shane did). They cleaned up the carpet and the seats really good and it looks fantastic!

So anyway, ever since before I even met Shane and had 2.8 kids. I knew I wanted a Honda Pilot some day. I saw one probably when they first came out and I thought... One day.... one day. And boy did my man deliver! :)

Shane had to work on the sales guy pretty hard to get him to agree to change the radio and some of the inner panels etc. He pinpointed every area that needed help and made sure they fixed it. I'm so glad he did.

So, I think we made a good choice. I think car #1, which was white, would have ended up looking older faster and someone had spilled a whole coke or something in the back because the carpet was tan on half of it and orange on the other. I knew it wasn't coming out and I knew it was going to bug me even more than it should. I know... For a beggar who has little to no claim to the money buying this car I was pretty particular.

well, here are our newest family members stats:

2005 Honda Pilot EXL with around 24,000 miles

Silver

Silver, grey and black leather interior

Sunroof

Loaded and oh so nice.

I really think I'm going to like this car. I love my civic, and it makes me sad to be passing it on to Shane who doesn't really like it as much as I do. But I can totally see myself liking the new car just as much. My favorite things about it are that it fits 8 people but it isn't a monster truck like a lot of SUV's are. It actually drives a lot like a car. I think it's a good looking but reasonable car too. So... enough typing, on to the pictures.

The kids love it too, Roman keeps saying "Wow, this really is a cool car!" and Marisa who is usually quite loud in the car sits quietly in amazement of all the things she can see now that we are higher up off the ground.

There is a reason I avoid stress

It's because I obviously don't handle it well... I need a sign on me that says "does not perform well under preasure"


**WARNING** lots of words and few pictures, the kind of post I tend to skip myself so I wouldn't blame you if you don't care to read this short novel.

So, we have been looking at cars for quite a while now just waiting for the "right one" to pop up. Well, there is this place in Provo that sells a ton of the kind of car we were wanting so we've been keeping an eye on their inventory and testing cars here and there and a couple days ago they got two truck loads of cars. So, Shane went down and pinpointed two that he liked. I went back with him and we tested the two.

car#1 was definitely a car that was babied. It was just spotless and looked like new except for a few small things.... the problem? Well, not so much a problem but it didn't have leather seats or a sunroof. I know... spoiled me. But they were on my list of "wants". And the interior was pretty light so I was really worried about how it would look after three kids had done their magic on it for a few years.

car #2 was nearly exactly what I wanted, but it was WORKED! The person who owned this thing had something against this car because although it had very few miles, they had scratched everything, with everything they had. I think it must have been a woman with nails and maybe wore spikey jewelry or something because the radio was scrached all over the post at the entry was all scratched up the back/trunk had been used to death. The outside had a handful of tiny dings in it etc. I mean, this was more than I could acomplish in 20 years of car use, and this lady had the car for 2 years. But, the guys at the car place said, Don't worry we can make it look great! I guess they know some magic. I didn't believe them.

So.... We went home and were trying to decide what to do and I then proceeded to sleep very poorly going to bed thinking car #1 was the best choice, the waking up thinking #2 was the best choice, and occasionally thinking that maybe we should wait a few more months for an even more perfect choice which may end up being LOTS of months and craming three children in the back of shanes car which is making some pretty strange noises at this point and as we drive down the road it gerks because it needs some TLC that we haven't given it because well.... we might be leaving it on the side of the road with a sign that says "FREE".

Anyway, all of this info should really be saved for tomorrows post, but what this all leads me to is this.. I slept very poorly and was really tired yesterday as a result. I woke up and I just could not pull myself together. What did I do? Well.... I forgot to pick up Roman from pre-school.. Yes! I GOOFED AGAIN!!!

I really didn't forget to pick him up. I just got it stuck in my head that I needed to leave home at 2:45 in order to be to preschool in time to pick him up. The problem with that? Preschool is over at 2:30. I about DIED!!!! I was scrambling to find the teachers phone # to explain my idocy and say I was on my way when she called, and I appologized profusely, cried the whole way there and appologized again when I got there. What did Roman say? "it's ok, you didn't mean to" He didn't care one bit. But I felt so bad driving up that empty driveway to see Roman standing on the steps, bag in hand, with just his teacher. If I had given any thought to my 2:45 thought... I would have said "preschool is over at 2:30 you dummy, not 3" but I just didn't give it any more thought past when I needed to leave.

Then, at the end of the day, after scrambling here and there throughout the day for various reasons. (I don't like scrambling much either and I try to be as prepared as I can to run out the door with everything I may need and more). I ended up away from home at dinner time. Marisa in a cloth diaper that was way overdue for a changing and no shoes. We ran back home just long enough to change a diaper and to run back to the car place, trying to feed the kids dinner on the way. Well, while there for one reason or another I ended up leaving my cell phone in car #2. And by the time I realized, they were closed and gone. AKKKKK!!!! It's not a big deal, but not something I wanted to do by any means. I was just seeing how well it fit in the little cell phone spot (as if it mattered) and I just didn't get it back out. I'm actually kind of surprised that I didn't leave a kid in the car. Yesterday was the kind of day where I just needed to stay home!


Luckily I did sleep a little bit better last night and tonight better be a lot better. Hopefully all this stress can come to an end. Then it's a weekend of basement bathroom construction stress but it's nothing compared to car buying stress.

No socks today please

Ok, so after an entire summer of telling Roman that it was summer so he didn't need to wear socks, it finally sunk in yesterday. Roman requested that he not wear socks. WHAT!?!?!?! He went the whole day without wearing socks and even wore his sandals without socks. What is going on?

But then.... he insisted on wearing his hat ALL DAY! from morning to night. When I told him that he couldn't wear it to preschool he had a melt down so I told him if he was going to wear it to preschool that he had to keep it on his head the whole time... But then, when he got there his teacher made him take it off, so I guess I've already broken the rules and totally confused my child. :) I knew it was only a matter of time, but I thought I could make it at least a week without goofing. I just wasn't prepared for that battle at all, he threw me off with the whole sock thing.

Silly boy!

I went to the Animal Fair

So, although the Utah State Fair is well... minimal, it's all we've got. So we went for the first day when kids are free and adults are $2 or so.... why not? Besides, who doesn't LOVE a little fair food?

So, we got there right at opening which was good because the park was ours, but bad because there really wasn't much to see other than all the vendors trying to take your money. They did have a free hands on farm for the kids which turned out to be pretty fun for Roman. He was just the right age and size for it so he didn't think "this is lame" but he knew exactly what to do.

First he decked out in his farming gear (an apron and a basket) and went to work. First stop... the dairy barn where he milked a cow.


Second stop, the garden where he picked an apple then, planted and picked some carrots.
Next stop, The hay barn. Here he gassed up his "tractor" and loaded up some hay to take to the sheep.


Then he fed the hay to the sheep and gathered some wool


Last job, the chicken coop to gather some eggs.


Then, off to sell the goods at market for MONEY!!!!


Then to the store where he bought a bag of chips with his money, which he ate while watching a mime/physical comedy show. He thought that was pretty cool.

Since we were there so early, the carnival rides weren't going, which was a total bummer but the kids did get to ride the ponies which is always a highlight. Marisa even got in on that action. She seemed to really like it and since there wasn't a line, they got an extra long ride.


There were very few animals there... they must not have needed to be there for judging yet because we saw empty barn after empty barn which was a let down but we did see what had to have been the biggest pig in the world, and some of the smallest cows. They were tiny! Then there were lots of sheep and goats there to pet.


We saw a reptile show where Roman got to pet some lizards and see some alligators and snakes. He seemed to really like that, we skipped out on that a little early to go see the tiger show which was pretty impressive. These tigers looked so lovable and fun. They did a few tricks and hacked up a few hairballs (YUCK!) . Marisa just liked the fact that there were giant kitties so close. By this point the kids were a little too hungry to sit through much more so we skipped out on that show a little early too and we got some corn dogs and Gyros for lunch.


After lunch we hit the one "ride" that was open. Roman and Shane went down the giant slide a few times before heading home.


So, it was a pretty fun day, not worth all the $ all that food and rides cost, but still something different to do. It was a little exhausting even though we could not have asked for better weather. Just wish we would have seen a few more animals and ridden a carnival ride or two but oh well. Maybe we will go again in another 4 years or so :)

First day of school

Well, the first REAL day of school is tomorrow but Roman did go to his preschool on Wednesday for a fun scavenger hunt and to meet his teacher. Boy is he excited! On the way home Wednesday he said, "Mom, can it be bedtime so it can be good morning again? and then bedtime again?"..... nope... sorry kiddo you gotta wait two full 24 hour days :)


Anyway, Roman helped me design his bag and I sewed it together. This baby ended up taking me a LONG time. A lot longer than I had imagined, but he loves it and I have to say... he's going to have the best looking bag in the class if I do say so myself. It had to be a bag, not a backpack and it had to have his name on both sides.


His pre-school is quite funny. There are a lot of rules for the parents. Now I'm more nervous for the first day of school than Roman ever will be.


He should have a lot of fun and there will be lots of kids for him to make friends with. I just hope I can remember the rules for dropping him off and picking him up so I don't get a check mark by my name on the first day ;)

A little bit about Marisa

If there ever were two very similar but very different kids, it's Roman and Marisa.

Here is a little bit about her:


Marisa loves to play games. Peekaboo, hide and go seek (to the best of her ability), and any other silly little baby games are her favorites.

This girl is already super girly, here are some examples:

1. She likes to dance and sing. Now of course her talent is limited to her 16 month old body but she can get down. She usually only sings in the car and well, it can get quite loud.

2. She loves to wear her shoes. Whenever I suggest getting dressed, she runs and grabs her shoes. She will wear them all day long if I let her.

3. She likes to have her hair done. As long as there is nothing else going on, she will sit and let me brush her hair forever. She sits nicely on the bathroom counter while I put her hair in pigtails and ribbons and is really good about leaving them in.

4. She really likes jewelry, I have a few bracelets for her and she loves to wear them.

Marisa likes to read books but has a short attention span so sometimes she will go through tremendous effort to get someone to read her a book only to loose interest a few pages in.


She doesn't like T.V. much and won't really sit and watch much of anything for very long.

This girl can eat! Only problem is that she does not like to eat a lot of just one thing. She wants variety. It makes it difficult to feed her if there isn't much to choose from in the first place. As long as I keep switching things up, she just keeps eating and eating and eating. I wonder where all of it goes because she is pretty light.

Marisa loves animals and is crazy about cats. She squeals with delight whenever she sees the neighbors cat. "kitty" was one of her very first words.

Marisa is also pretty good at bedtime, although she fights it a lot harder than Roman does. She typically tries to run away and hide when she knows bedtime is near. She doesn't want to give daddy his kisses because she gets tossed in her bed very next thing. I think she thinks that if she somehow avoids the kisses, she won't have to go to bed.


She totes around her dolly that was given to her last Christmas by her cousins. I will admit that I forced it on her at first in an attempt to get her attached to something besides me. Well..... it worked. She loves her dolly and it's usually not far from her. When she needs to set her dolly down she doesn't just drop it on the ground she usually gives it to someone to "baby tend" what a good little mama. You know you've made it in Marisa's world when she lets you babysit.

Marisa hates to have her diaper changed. But loves to pull all the wipes out of the dispenser after she's done. Hopefully her total distaste for having her diaper changed will give her an extra drive to potty train..... in my dreams, right?

She loves to wear sunglasses and hats. Weird huh? She inherited Roman's old Thomas sunglasses and she will wear them for a long time. She will also keep hats on for a long time for baby too. I think she is just trying to be as cool as her big brother.

Her nickname around here is el-babel (this is what Shane calls her) and I call her baby.... This is going to cause a problem when there is an even smaller baby than her. But she is so much more like a baby than Roman ever was. He came out all grown up and she is such a typical baby that the name fits I guess. She cries.... alot, she gets into everything, she puts things in her mouth, and she is a pacifier addict etc. She's just such..... a baby and so that's what I call her. :)

She also knows what a baby is, so when she sees other small children or babies she points to herself then points to the baby and gets a great big grin.


Some of her newest words are:

train or rather choo choo (even though it is a far cry from sounding right, it's the same every time)
Thank you (which she says really well)
Dolly
Shoes

And she is learning where many of her body parts are right now.

So, there you have it. A little bit about princess Marisa.