In action...

In the car: Tessa had a fantastic chocolate chip cookie in the car yesterday. I think her face got this way in about thirty seconds. To keep the chocolate centralized while getting her to say cookie/cokoo on camera, I kept her in her seat for a few minutes after we got home. There is a moment where she just wants me to leave her alone so she starts fake sleeping with her eyes open. I was glad she asked "Dat?! Dat?!" so that some of you know what I've been talking about when she gets on these kicks of wanting to know the name of everything she points to.
On the drum: Wouldn't it be great if toys stayed in this price range for the rest of her life? Creative recycling, I call it.

In other news:

The search for Pampa. Every man with gray hair is now "Pampa". The hippie guy at the park, the Phillipino Orkin man --all it takes is gray hair and Tessa thinks she's finally found Pampa in the flesh. We need to get to Utah soon and visit the real grandpas.

Speaking of the Orkin Man... our left arms go to him on Tuesday. Until then, I just pray that I don't have to see Those Who Must Not Be Named. Kill them. Just kill them. Pump my wall with magical expensive foam and let's be done with it.

Serves me right. I poked fun at people getting lose and loose mixed up, and then today I sent out an email to a class I'm teaching making that very mistake. Head hanging down.

Petunia Party. I planted Petunias. Surely I can keep these renegade flowers alive. Right? Right?

And finally, Fun with Finals. Woooohhoooo! Goooo, Jake! He took one today and is pushing on for two more. The light is up just ahead.

Rosie the Caulker

....in serious need of a shower. Action packed Saturday and I'm STILL not finished with everything I wanted to do. Tessa TRIED to help, but, let's face it, she wore me out.

Ummmmmm. We found out we have termites. My skin won't stop crawling. I think my arm hairs have grown at least a centimeter as a result. The Orkin man is coming to rescue us on Monday.

Ick.
Shudder.

Save me.

I hate bugs.

Too bad my caulking gun isn't a little more powerful. I'd take care of those nasty things myself.

I need chocolate.

Sincerely, Maren

To my slippers,

I bid for you at a Relief Society auction and received you with open arms. Strangely, I didn't have anyone bidding against me. I know you look like you came from two cast off colors found at the bottom of the yarn basket, but that never mattered to me. I've never really liked other kinds of slippers or gotten any serious use out of them. But you..... you were different. When the holes started appearing, I tied pieces of yarn together to fix them. I can't do it anymore because, well, because there isn't anymore yarn to tie together. Sad, sad day.

Snoring

While playing with Tessa we've pretended to be asleep when she puts blankets on us and such. This fake sleep is usually accompanied by light snoring so she knows we're "asleep". Lately for naps and bedtime, (yes, we got incredibly lucky with a girl who doesn't mind going to bed 98% of the time) when she knows she's about to go down, she'll start her fake snore. :)

Texas Bluebonnetts

I had all kinds of things I wanted to blog about this week. I don't remember them. They must have been extremely important.

So onto the pictures.... During the early evening Saturday, we took a drive to see Bluebonnets nearby and had a picnic at a park. Tessa loved playing outside, but she didn't enjoy walking through the field at first. She didn't like the plants rubbing on her legs or the weeds in her face. She did just fine when one of us ventured out with her, though, and enjoyed admiring the "wowa"s (not to be confused with wawa) with Mom and Dad.

Songbird

I caught her singing while reading her semi shredded Monica magazine. There is a little lizard in there that looks like a dinosaur, which explains the growling.

Last Friday, Jake and I went on our monthly date. We went dancing. There is a place in town that has a dance with a live band on the first Friday of the month. I'd had this date on our calendar for at least a couple months, so even when we had to purchase a new choke AC airhandler, we were still determined to go and join some fun friends there. We had a blast. We have a pretty good handle on basic swing and a few of the other dances (though we could stand to learn a lot more), but we tried our hand at the tango a couple of times and pretended like we knew how to Lindy. The band never announced a Lindy Hop, but the song said we could try. We remembered some steps between the two of us and commenced jumping, turning, and sweating. I was beaming. There is no other word. I don't think my smile could have gotten any bigger. I usually have a nice time with my husband whenever we go out together, but there is something about having an open floor, good music, and no cares if anyone else sees you being a total spaz with your husband. Beaming. That was such a good date.

General Conference was fantastic. What a lift. I'm excited for the Conference Ensign to come so I can go through the words again.

So, my dad called me this morning to make sure we were alright since our city was on the news in Utah regarding tornado weather. I didn't realize it had gotten that bad. There was a warning set for last night while I was at the youth activity (Bishopric Challenge -go Mia Maids!), but it was just rain at that point. At about 3AM this morning the lightening and rain woke Jake and me up, but I was mainly annoyed that it wouldn't quiet down so I could sleep. I didn't want to get Tessa up to hunker down in the bathroom. I'm not a real clear thinker when I'm tired. It didn't get awful where we are, thank heavens.

Other than that, I taught a class this week, had a friend in town on business, barbecues, Biggest Loser viewing, jogging, Chat n Chocolate duo, Tiny Tots Tunes luncheon, creeped out by polygies in Texas, AC guys over 3 times (we now have a French drain outside ooh la la), tub doctor over once, etc., etc.

Her hair has no weight (my fault) besides growing forward (Dad's fault.) This is just water from me finishing the ponies in her hair.

The Office is back on tonight!

words, words, words

I don't know why I notice this one so much, but has anyone else noticed how often the blogging world mispells "definitely"? I really don't get on the computer looking for mispelled words, and I certainly mispell plenty on my own. This isn't, after all, a term paper we're all typing out. We're entitled to journal/blog without worrying about mistakes. I just find this one interesting. I've seen it typed "definately" so many times in so many places I thought maybe I'd missed out on an alternative spelling and went looking to see. Nope. The word doesn't exist. Just commonly mispelled. Now, my favorite is when once in a big while you'll see someone write "defiantly" for "definitely". I have had students do that before, which made me laugh because switching those out changes meaning. I definitely enjoy a big, juicy hamburger. vs. I defiantly enjoy a big, juicy hamburger. I love the different pictures that come to mind....like someone defiantly loving their mom (one of my favorites).
Another of my favorites is lose vs. loose. I remember my university newspaper having a sporting event add on the back of one edition which said something like, "Go SUU! Come see the [other team] loose!" I thought, "Woooweeee. I don't know if I want to see that." I couldn't believe that newpaper editors, even just the university ones, didn't catch this fourth of a page huge font mistake. Similarly, I'll see on the Biggest Loser website comments all over the place like, "I'm happy [contestant] was able to loose the weight." I personally think they'd be happier if they get rid of it completely, not just let it sag and flop around more. I guess that's better than if they defiantly loose weight.
I'm such a nerd.

Vintage

Flashback to 1980. After Tessa dirtied her clothes playing outside, I put her in an 18 month outfit of mine for fun. (I have a few of my baby clothes my mom kept.) Polyester pants could last through a nuclear fallout out, I swear. Tessa was most concerned with her toes. They were falling out of her shoes. She hasn't really worn sandals, at least that she can remember. These were mine as well.
This shirt gave her easy access to the beep beep belly button. I love this squat position kids do -when they are almost sitting, but not quite. It's got to be a great Achilles tendon stretch.
So, when we were outside playing, I found one of those devil bugs I've flipped out about before. It's not as red as the last one, but it's still freaky. The green one didn't look like anything I recognized. I'm telling you, Texas has a seriously diverse bug population. If you aren't a pansy like me, it might be interesting.


When I was about 7 months pregnant, I decided I wanted to plant tulip bulbs. Understand first of all that my mother has the green thumb. I can grow weeds like nobody's business, but I really am not intelligent when it comes to landscaping and gardening -- even though I'd like to be. When I put in the tulip bulbs, I planted 15 of them across the front of the house amid our serious ground cover. I sat in the dirt for hours chopping at the thick vine roots to get these bulbs in deep enough. In the spring, they all came up. They looked a little sparse and I wished I'd spent the extra money to have put in some more, but at least there was a little color in my front yard. Plus, I'd made something grow! Well, this spring five tulip plants came up. Five. This is my one flower so far. One. What is my problem?!?

So you can imagine when Tessa made her way over to manhandle the pretty "fowar", I quickly ushered her in another direction. I love flowers. I've got to get a clue with this gardening stuff one day.

We were able to snag a free small table and chairs from a neighbor. Thank you! They are a hit. We spent some time coloring and reading there today. Jake and I are going to paint the table/chairs soon, we just aren't sure what color yet.
And finally, Tessa did, in fact, have her doctor appt. yesterday. She weighs 25lbs 4oz and is 2' 8" --three feet shorter than her mama. Jake says that if she keeps growing at this rate, she'll be taller than me before she reaches four. :) Can you imagine? Switched out eyes AND freakishly tall?

Tagged

I have been tagged by a couple of friends, but one of the tags I did a while back ---it's here if you're wondering. But now that I've revisited it, I probably should have tried again. Oh, well. Here's the other about Jacob and myself:
#1. How long have you been together? Since October of 2003. We've been married for coming up on 4 years now.
#2. How long did you date? We hung out in the same friend group for a few months, but then dated just about every day for 3 months before we were engaged.
#3.How old is he? 31
#4. Who eats more? I hope Jake does, but I can seriously pack it away.
#5. Who said I Love You First? It had to have been him. No way would I have had the guts.
#6. Who is taller? Jake. --that was a dating prerequisite.
#7. Who sings better? Jake does by far. I have no singing talent. When we were dating I worried it would bother him since he comes from such a musical family. Turns out it doesn't.
#8. Who is smarter? I can't just outright say Jake. I have to put up a fight on this even if I can't even figure out North from South half the time. I think we have our smarts in different areas.
#9. Who does the laundry? Me. But I don't iron, and he usually will help with folding.
#10. Who does the dishes? Me most of the time.
#11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Jake for now. I have to sleep closest to the bathroom.
#12. Who pays the bills? I'm in charge of divvying out the moolah.
#13. Who mows the lawn? Jake. I refuse to learn how because I want it to stay that way. However, somehow I'm in charge of the edging.
#14. Who cooks dinner? Both. I try to do it more, but Jake is good to cook for us too.
#15. Who is more stubborn? I think me.
#16. Who kissed who first? Jake kissed me, but I was expecting it and okay with it. Otherwise, I never would have let him.
#17. Who asked who out? Jake asked me out. We'd been rudely sarcastic toward each other up to that point, so I was a little confused.
#18. Who proposed? Are you kidding? Jake. But not until we'd discussed getting married. (I was never real big on relationship surprises...)
#19. Who is more sensitive? Depends on the situation. I certainly cry a lot more easily with movies and country songs than I did 10 years ago, though.
#20. Who has more friends? I don't know. We both have a lot of really good friends. Jake makes friends more easily, but we both have gotten very lucky in this department.
#21. Who has more siblings? Jake by one. He has 2 bros. and one sis. I have one sis and one bro.

I'm supposed to tag other people now, but I've seen this tag up on a few different blogs. I don't know who has gotten it and who hasn't. I have enjoyed getting to know some random things about people, so if you haven't received this tag, then you are it!

April Fools!

Okay, so because a friend beat us to the punch on the moving out of country joke, Jake and I had to go with plan B, which we didn't want to sound too serious since it would involve a medical condition with our daughter. I tried to seem nonchalant about it so it could possibly sound real and go in one ear and out the other with just a head nod and a hmmmm. We tried to get the grandmas on it. I couldn't stop giggling when I wrote that the eyes had been switched. Jake came up with that. Not bad. Not like his other April Fool joke.
I just tricked Jake a couple of times this morning with the bathroom drawer contents switched around to confuse him and, my favorite, hiding his socks and replacing them with one pair of my rainbow socks. I had a pretty good laugh when he walked in for breakfast wearing them with his work clothes. I gave him back his black socks. But then, when Tessa and I had to leave for the Tiny Tots Tunes class, we went out to the car (in a hurry like always) to see the driver's side filled with camping gear, the seat pushed up all the way, the window rolled down, and the head pad thing taken off and shoved into the steering wheel. I wasn't impressed. I called him and tried to ruin the fun of his joke. I think I only half succeeded by telling him that it was not a good April Fools joke --it was pure vandalism. Next year I won't be returning the work socks.
Anyway, you'll have to let me know if you pulled any good jokes, or if anyone pulled a good joke on you --not just vandalized your car. :)
Tessa really does have a doctor's appt. tomorrow, so I'll give the stats on that later.

Doctor Visit

I missed Tessa's appointment last month for 15 mos., well, because I had no idea that a kid had to go in at 15 mos. I was waiting for the 18 mos. mark. Duh.
Anyway, the goods on Tessa....she weighs almost 27 lbs and is in the 70-80th percentile for height. She isn't as tall as she was, but still tall. Now, we've been so lucky to have such a healthy girl, but the doctor did find something interesting this morning. We still don't know what to make of it. After examining eyes, ears, nose, etc., the doctor wanted to examine her eyes a little closer. She wasn't the most cooperative child ever, but after a little while, the doctor explained what is slightly different about Tessa. Her right and left eye are switched. The eyes work just fine, they've just switched jobs and places. Apparently, although very uncommon, it's not a problem at all, just one of those interesting gene pass alongs when you get two recessive carriers together. Jake and I had no idea we were carriers, and it never really gets talked about in the medical world because it doesn't make much of any difference. Tessa sees things in what we would call "mirror image", but since that's how she's always seen it and how she'll always see it, she'll never know the difference. Crazy. I guess she's got something to share in school when they do those "something unique about yourself" activities.