America's Got Talent Here We Come

The girl is only five and colors like a pro. She definitely has a chance on America's Got Talent. Now if I can figure out how to make the coloring process stage worthy.

Fire batons anyone?

Bugs Beware

Bugs beware the Nash girls have magnifying glasses.

I'm No Fashionista

I'm no fashionista. In fact, I'm not even sure I'm using the word correctly but I went to do some birthday shopping for myself tonight. I had some time to people watch while I nursed Garrett and you know what? What is going on with fashion?

Who am I to criticize you say? True I was wearing my $8 jeans with my Stargate SG-1 10th Anniversary t-shirt (see post Geektastic) with no make up and pigtails, so its not like I'm the height of fashion or even the mid-point for that matter. But come on.

First, skinny jeans. SKINNY jeans. Meaning someone skinny should be wearing them (or someone needing skinny pants to fit in their awesome boots, i.e. Heather).

Second, Uggs. Oh my goodness can we get over these now. Nanook misses his boots.

Third, Leggings. I don't have a problem with leggings. I think they're cute with the right outfit. You know those cute "dresses" that look like long t-shirts, yeah leggings can be cute. However, when worn with Uggs AND a t-shirt that does not cover the behind, not attractive.

May we all wear the height of fashion that does not make us look like a muffin or beached sea mammal.

I SPY

I Spy with my little eye

a race track,

a whale,

a sandwich,

a cookie,

an undersea Nemo (complete with anemone),

Mountain Rainier

(Mount Rainier for those of you who aren't Madilyn and Emma),
and a self-portrait of Emma too.

Ah nuts. I got all done with my collage and poem that doesn't rhyme or even have meter and realized I forgot one (Oh and the poem is for anyone who reads the I SPY books with their kids). Its Jer in a boat with a fish.

Emma did the self portrait and Mountain Rainier.

Can I tell you this is the greatest stuff ever? I'm not sure what its called but its similar to Play-Doh except it doesn't break off into tiny pieces everywhere and make a huge mess. Then you let it dry for 24 hours and you've got cute sculptures. Its still doesn't flake off and remains slightly spongy. Its great.

Geektastic: Tales from the Nerd Herd

I picked this book up at the library because with a title like that I thought it had to be funny. There were a couple of funny parts, like the comic strip that talks about useful Klingon phrases, but mostly I was disappointed because I had to skip a lot, ok I only read one entire chapter and stopped even trying after three, because of language and/or content. Who knew geeks were such potty mouths?

I was a little anxious to read this one. I wondered how much of myself I would find in it, because, yes, I am a geek and/or nerd. As Jess, my friend from college, once told me I'm the good kind of nerd. I don't have a replica bridge of the Enterprise constructed in my garage...I don't have a garage for that matter, I don't dress like a Jedi on the weekends, I don't know the names of every Star Trek character and the actor that played them...oh, wait I do know that. My point is sometimes I feel I need to hide my nerdiness. When Stargate SG-1 came out with a recut of an episode I've seen a dozen times I wanted it but I pretended not to see it at Costco. Jeremy did though and he "talked" me into getting it. He couldn't tell what changes they'd made to the episode but I could. I could not contain my inner geek and watched it several days in a row.

Why does liking science and science fiction make one a geek? Everyone geeks out about something. All those people who can tell you the starting line up for the Chicago Bears in 1975 or how many home runs Ty Cobb hit his last year are sports geeks, but they don't catch as much flack. What it comes down to is that everyone has an inner geek. They have something that they love and know far too much about or simply can't resist. Whether its reloading, horses, sports, kitchen gadgets, weight lifting, or science fiction people like what they like and some like it a whole lot.

I try not to hide it but I can't help but feel judged when someone finds out I like Star Trek or any other show with the word Star in it. But today I'm embracing my inner geek. I like sci fi and secretly I try to go workout at the gym when the SyFy station has one of my shows on since we no longer get that channel. Whatever it is you geek out about, geek out with pride. I am.

Live Long and Prosper.

Emma's Birthday or a Rocking Horse Named Lisa

Today is Emma's 3rd birthday, but due to schedules we celebrated last night. As you can see she got a rocking horse which she promptly named Lisa then Leah and back to Lisa again today.

My sweet little Emma is an amazing girl. She is our family comedian; due in part to her talking like Elmer Fudd. It seems like whenever I'm trying to be serious with her or Madilyn, Emma will say "pwetty pwease" or "but we weawly want to"(She seriously talks like that and how do you stay mad?). And laughs...well she has one that sounds like a baritone chipmunk.

I'll brag for a moment. She's a smarty. She knows all her letters and about half the sounds they make. She has started to sound out words with myself and Madilyn. She's very observant. You have to be careful of everything she sees and hears. She drew a very anatomically correct picture of Garrett a month after he was born. Yikes!

Unfortunately for her, she also seems to be our vulnerable child. If something is going to happen to anyone in our family its her. It started at age 3 months when she had an ear infection that eventually led to ear tubes at age 6 months . She's been to the emergency room twice, once for ear issues and another for choking on an apple. She's gotten pink eye and impetigo multiple times. She broke her leg before she turned 2 (that was my fault however), and after having ear tubes in for two year the holes in her ears didn't fill in so they had to be patched. Poor kid.

But Emma has taught me two important lessons through her happy and loving nature. Each morning (after she gets done screaming for me) she has to show me "the sun is out!" She finds joy in the sun each morning, a rock in the parking lot, and getting on her own socks and shoes. She reminds me to appreciate the world around me.

She doesn't always wake with a smile but her first thoughts are always to love. For example when we were at our ward camp out. Emma was still asleep but Jeremy had to go get breakfast started for the ward. Madilyn went with him and Garrett was still asleep in the van. I sat in the tent waiting for Emma to wake up. When she opened her eyes and saw me she didn't say a word but got up and gave me a big hug. She loves unconditionally with all her heart.

Ok no more serious life lessons. I tried to make a fancy cake. It didn't turn out too bad but the red squares were supposed to be polka dots but I think they look like pimples. But it doesn't matter Emma thought it was the "perfect" cake.

And really, Emma's cuteness aside, my favorite part of the evening was Philip. We had banana splits with the cake and Philip had a full bowl of chocolate, carmel, and strawberries, etc. He sat down to eat it and couldn't find the ice cream. I'm talking full bowl, no ice cream. Woops, that's some serious condiments.

I just threw this last one in cause she's cute.

Baby Blessing

At the end of September Garrett was given a name and blessing at church. My awesome and talented mother-in-law made his outfit for him, which is great because I was ready to bless him in a white onesie. (Jeremy argued that was white trash but what does he know.)

The funny part of the story is that when it came down to it there was a miscommunication as to when in the meeting he was going to be blessed. I thought he was going to be blessed after the sacrament was passed so I only had him in the suit. I didn't want him to start fussing with the hat, jacket, and booties on. Well surprise, they blessed him before the sacrament and I had to send him as was. Soooo, all that work and he wore one piece out of four. Nice.

But that's not really what was important. I'm grateful I have a husband who is a worthy priesthood holder and could bless our son. I'm grateful family and friends could be there to share it with us.

Annnddddd...I'm grateful he looked great and didn't poop on it.

You Might be a Gamer if...

You strap your baby to you in a front pack so you can play Shaun White's snowboarding game on the balance board so he won't cry.

I'm just saying if...

Glass Pumpkins

I heard that glass pumpkins would be sold down at the farmer's market so we had to go take a look. My little girls love anything remotely princessy and whats more princessy than glass pumpkins? It was fabulous. We had to discuss and pick which ones Cinderella would have used for her coach. The only down side was keeping them from picking up or touching any as I would have had to sell one of them into slavery to afford one, especially since they like the big ones.

(Jeremy is gone hunting this weekend and took the camera with him so I couldn't take pictures but I found one online that's similar to what we saw today.)

A Good Book

I enjoy a good book but yesterday I found "A Good Book", a small locally owned bookstore. I had heard about and wanted to stop for quite a while. Yesterday I finally went in. I brought a trade-in along hoping to score a deal. If I were to own a bookstore (which, if I were to own a store it would be a bookstore) I would want to own this one.

Not only did I get $15 credit for my trade in, I also get 50% off used books and 25% off new! Yes, it is truly wonderful. As I walked through the store with the book lined walls, old comfy chairs to sit and browse, and even a couple of areas for kids to play, I found my eyes tearing up. You may think its an exaggeration, but its not. I love the smell of the books, the sound of the pages turning, the patron and sales people discussing recent reads, and the look of old worn covers. I even found an English translation of the Tales of Genji, which I know was significant in my Asian Studies classes at UPS but for the life of me I can't remember why now. But they have it in a nicely worn green hard back. Beautiful.

More importantly, it reminded me that in the day of Borders and Barnes and Noble there are still wonderfully cute and intimate bookstores where owners hope to learn the names of their patrons, and regulars find themselves greeted each time they enter.

Did I find anything? Of course I did. And when I left what did I find outside the door, a table of books, 4 for a $1. Yup, I had to go back in and get more.

I am so glad I found A Good Book.