8, 16, and 32

I have to admit that these pictures aren't exactly 8, 16, and 32, but as I don't want to spend forever digging out pictures (I've already spent more time on this than I should have), these will have to be close enough. I added the caption to the youngest picture because it cracks me up. I don't know who wrote it, my Grandma maybe, but I don't think she meant it to end up in my hands. Yes, I'm the one pulling the face.

My cousin Heather asked in her blog: What were you like at 8, 16, and now. Hey, as I will be turning 32 very soon (I am controlling my impulse to gasp or shudder at being 32. You know it's funny how a lot of people start to think they are "old" at about 18-then meaning almost grown up- and keep on being more and more shocked the older they get. For me to say "oh my gosh, I am sooo old, will seem verry silly in about 10 years or so, so I will refrain). Anyway, I am again doubling that figure. Hence, I am responding to the inquiries:

What you wanted to be/ are now:

age 8: I wanted to play in "the symphony."

age 16: Please don't laugh, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I wanted to be a model. Ick! okay, you can laugh if you want to.

age 32: I am a full time mom. My ambitions are to someday be good at mothering, to be really good at the piano, and to someday run marathons. Once my children are all in school, I'm wanting to go back to school and finish my music education degree, and when it fits into my life, I'd like to be a music teacher.

Favorite Toy:

age 8: My small stuffed bear named Scoocher

age 16: I don't know, probably my headphones. I used to love to go for 10 mile walks and listen to Andrew Lloyd Weber on my headphones.

age 32: my piano

Favorite Game:

age 8: I hated most games, especially chess, checkers and stratego. My brother John beat the ruddy pants off of me so badly every time that we played, that I really hated games in general.

age 16: Still scarred from all of the poundings I took as a youngster, I was very much opposed to most games.

age 32: I don't know, I enjoy get together type games with large groups of friends. I like spades.

Favorite Color:

age 8: pink

age 16: yellow

age 32: I don't know. I always say purple because Lydia was the seller of purple in the bible.

Favorite Movie:

age 8: The Star Wars trilogy!!

age 16: ? Bill and Ted

age 32: Probably The Fellowship of the Rings, with an honorable mention to X-men, Galaxy Quest, Mystery Men, Princess Bride, oh and you can't leave out Monty Python's Holy Grail!

Favorite Thing To Do:

age 8: Act like an odd-ball with my brother John

age 16: Flirt, closely followed by acting like an odd-ball with my brother John and Amy (though she is loath to admit that she once partook -was a full participant in- the odd-ballness.

age 32: Apparently clean the kitchen over and over and over again. Argh! Go anywhere without my children -which usually produces giddiness which often translates into being and odd-ball. Play my piano.

That Was Disgusting!

Don't read this if you are easily sickened.

Justice has recently discovered that nakedness is his favorite state of being. (This seems to be an epidemic in the men in Bruce's family. It is rumored that his uncle has answered the door in his underwear to get rid of those pesky Mormon missionaries -Bruce's family is not LDS.) He just took off all of his cloths, and went upstairs and pooped on the floor. Chloe, the dog, came along and ate it.

(This was not taken today, but if you only knew how often she kisses him like this! Eww!)

I Must Really Be Pregnant

Hmm, I just finished off (all by myself, no wait, Mark had one) a jar of Kosher Dill Pickle Spears that I bought Sat. evening. I'm sitting here sipping the juice, and you know it's not too bad. BTW, I heard the heartbeat today. This is for Liz: incase you were upset with me for not spilling the beans on your last trip here, I didn't know at that point either.

Help Please

Okay people, I am terribly indecisive, and a notoriously bad visionary when it comes to decorating. I'll pick something out that I think will be great, only to find out that it was a big mistake. Anyway, a wonderful relative of ours has generously offered to buy me a new rug for my living room. The problem is that I can't pick. So, I'm putting it to a vote. Here are a few that I like. (I think). So, if you love me, please please vote. Oh, by the way all of these are made of wool which, from the information I've gleaned, is the most durable kind of material in rugs.

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2

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4

5

6

7(just kidding!)

Dreams And Undiscovered Rooms

Some of you may think I'm being a little corny for sharing this one, but I don't care. As long as I can remember, I've had a recurring dream. I'll have this dream every month or so. It's never exactly the same twice, but the essentials are always there. I'm exploring my house (whatever house I've lived in at the time) -when I was a child, it was often my bedroom- and I'll discover a door or two or three that I had never noticed before. I'll open these doors and find all kinds of rooms that I never knew were there before. Often these rooms would lead to other undiscovered rooms. These are always really cool rooms too. My house is seemingly endless.

I've always found these dreams to be neat, but until recently, I hadn't given them much thought. After I had one of these dreams, about a month ago, I wondered to myself if my subconscious, or maybe even the Lord, is trying to tell me something. What could these rooms mean? Here is my interpretation: I think the rooms are facets of myself, personality traits, undiscovered talents, or characteristics that I haven't developed yet. I think it means that my potential is very far from reached at this point, heck endless. I also think that this could apply to anyone, not just me. We are God's children, and as such, our potential is limitless. So, I started wondering what I need to do to open these rooms. How can I become the person I was created to become?

Well, strangely enough, or maybe not so strangely, I had the dream again, only for the first time in my life, it was a bit different. When I opened the doors to my undiscovered rooms, (I don't know if it means anything but Amy might get a kick out of it, Amy and Sister Faust were there and they helped me open the initial door -this one was hard to open-) anyway the rooms were each occupied by some sort of bum - vagrants in each one of my rooms. I had to ask them to leave, kick them out before I could use my rooms. They were not too nice of bums either. They were not happy to leave, and I had some trouble getting rid of them. I remember explaining to one of them that I was having a new baby and I needed the extra room for my growing family.

So, what does this twist mean? I think it means that I have flaws that I need to get rid of, bad habits, meannesses, unChristlike qualities that are standing in the way of me reaching my true potential. How interesting that this twist had never occurred until I started wondering about the meaning of my dreams and I started to ask myself how to access these "rooms."

Utter hogwash? Maybe, but I think it does make for something interesting to think about. Actually it is true that we all have unimaginable potential. Every one of us. So no, I don't think it is hogwash. What do you think. Please, I am interested in your opinions.

I Am SOOO Tired Of Being Sick!!!

Okay, so I didn't get strep throat. Yay! I had about 2 days of feeling okay (sprinkled with pregnancy pukies) and now I have a stupid sinus infection. I feel like crud! -Again!- What the heck! I was sick most of last week with the flu or something. I'm getting really tired of the couch. I'm supposed to be getting ready for a 10 mile race, but instead I haven't run in about a week and a half. Argh!

Okay, I won't complain anymore. I am going to be thankful that I am not one of those hyper-emisis pregnant women. In general, I do pregnancy fairly easily. And what a blessing that is. I think I'd go insane otherwise. No more complaints. "I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful."

Kids Having Fun

I was having a bit of a pitty party for myself. I'm having a not-so-good week. I started off Monday with the flu and have felt bad all week. Finally today, I was feeling better. Mark was home from school, though with a sore throat. After looking into his throat, I was suspicious of strep. I took him in, and sure enough, he has strep throat. I had the doctor look in all of the other kids' mouths and mine. Everyone was fine except me. I've got it too.

Anyway, I threw this together and it cheered me up.

A Few Of My Favorite Stories

I was thinking that I wanted to record some of my favorite stories. This seems like a good place to do it. As some of them aren't really John or I, they won't fit in our John & Renae blog, so here are a few for starters. (I can't possibly put them all down at once, so I'll do it more later).

Mommy Tooted:

When Lydia was about 1 1/2 - 2 years old (she had the most amazing vocabulary really early on) I was shopping at Walmart with her. I was pregnant with Ross, and as pregnant women tend to get, I was ... well a bit gassy. Okay, there I said it. Yes, I passed gas in a crowded aisle in Walmart, but I really couldn't help it. Go ahead, say I'm disgusting and you never want to be around me again. I'm sorry! Anyway, apparently Lydia noticed. She started yelling at the top of her lungs "MOMMY TOOTED! MOMMY TOOTED!" over and over and over again. I was rather embarrassed.

Lydia Nearly Ruins The Ward Christmas Party For Someone:

Fast forward to when Lydia was about 2 1/2. She was mostly potty trained. All but an occasional accident. I took Lydia and Ross with me to homemaking meeting at church. As the next night was the ward Christmas party, we just left the up the tables that we had used in the gym. When I got home, I was getting the children ready for bed and I noticed that Lydia had poop marks in her panties. After some prying, I got it out of her that she had crawled under one of the tables is the gym, done her business, and then emptied the contents onto the floor under the table. Eeuw gross! I was picturing someone putting their unexpectant foot into it the next night at the Christmas party. Lucky for me (not so much for Mom) my mother is the janitor at the ward building, and she usually cleans on Fridays. I called her and asked her to check under the tables the next day. Sure enough, grandma got to clean up the mess.

One more:

I was pregnant (boy, I do spend a lot of my time that way!) with Lydia. We were at a family gathering at Bruce's grandparents' house. His whole family was rather crammed into a smallish area. Grandma Imogene (really a wonderful, but alas, sometimes a bit tactless woman- I do really think she's great!) comes up to me. She lifts my arms and examines my chest. "My, your breasts are getting bigger!" Yelling across the room- "Hey Marilou, aren't her breasts getting bigger!" Thank you grandma, I needed that. I makes a good story though.