sorry ladies, he's taken

If only I could've met him um, 20+ years ago when these glasses actually fit! I'm keeping this hottie around for a long, long while...

toddler time

We may not have time to get dressed before 11:00, but we certainly have time to make play dough meals. This creation was a bowl of noodles with a fork. The best part was walking back into the room and seeing Sam actually eating the "noodles" off the "fork" that we created. I LOVE HIM!! I LOVE HIM!! I LOVE HIM!!

It's getting hot in here!!

Literally, it could be pretty hot! Don't worry, our heater is working just fine. Sam just insists on sleeping with 10 blankets, including the Winnie the Pooh infant sleeping bag. Must also mention that each blanket must be placed in a particular order every night. Is he is his mother's son or what!?

I've been tagged

My sister tagged me for 6 random things about myself. I'll list my 6 things and then I'll tag 6 more of you...

1. I don't wash my face every night. Actually, I probably only wash it 1 or 2 a week. I know how disgusting that feels and how horrible it is for your skin. I'm sure my skin will be horrible someday. It just always feels like so much effort...

2. I want to write a book some day. I don't really know what it will be about. Do journals count? If so I have already accomplished that goal about 2 dozen times. I've written all kinds: daily events, feelings, about my children, inspiring quotes, church meetings, and of course the infamous husband journal.

3. I like a lot of things but I don't necessarily get around to doing them very often... sewing, walking outside for exercise, reading, ironing, baking, decorating/remodeling our house, emailing friends who I don't speak to often, relaxing, and the list goes on...

4. Pete and I love game shows. We watch Newlywed Show reruns every night. We also love Family Feud. We have actually been planning to apply to be on Family Feud for quite a long time, but we just can't decide which family members to ask that would fit our strategy the best.

5. I cannot stay awake anytime I watch tv at night; I never have been able to. It doesn't matter if I'm at home, a movie theater, a friend's house, sitting up or lying down. I hate it. I especially hate that I fall asleep on the couch almost every night. It is so annoying to wake up on the couch at 1:00 am and then have to get ready for bed. No matter how hard I try I just can't do it.

6. I have a crush on Blake Lewis from American Idol 2007 (don't worry, Pete knows about it). It was a dream come true when we went to the American Idol Concert this summer. I got us tickets for our anniversary; not wanting to spend a lot I got us upper bowl tickets. Right before the concert started an usher offered us 2 lower bowl tickets. He failed to tell us that they were 5 rows from the stage!! It was awesome!! The best part was Blake's performance of the song "You Give Love a Bad Name". It was a wonderful anniversary, especially after all we had just been through with Will.

Well, those were random things. I now tag Desi, Lori, Stormy, MaryKate, and Jocee. Let us know some random things...

there's just so much

I have spent the last hour looking at interesting blogs of people that I do not know. I have felt strangely inspired and a little down. It's so overwhelming to me that there is so much life to be living out there. Sometimes I just feel like my days are passing me by with no mark. What is my mark? Is my mark enough for my children? Perhaps it's just easier to see the mark of others and so much harder to see our own mark. Good luck to me and good luck to all of you to have a mark, to love your mark. Be who you want to be, there is just so much that we can be.

What do you think of Sam's new look?

Sam has been interested in potty training for quite some time now. I have just finally gotten myself around to really helping him focus on it. He is doing great at it. This has become his new look: big boy pants, no pants on, and a treat in hand. He wants to wear the big boy pants because "only babies wear diapers". He rarely has pants on because he is constantly running to the potty anytime he feels the slightest urge to go to the bathroom, and we are too late when we have to pull the pants down. He gets a treat every time he actually goes to the bathroom; half the time I think he only goes because he gets a treat afterwards. I'm not quite sure how to explain the boots; he just loves wearing our shoes.
Last night I had to buy a box of diapers for Sam; I told him that was the last box I was going to buy him so he needs to start wearing big boy pants now. Well, that must have been exactly what he needed to hear. He has gone to the bathroom all on his own (without my prompting) too many times to count today. I am so proud of him!! It's hard to believe that I'm starting to have a child that's not so dependent on me. Kind of sad and kind of happy all at the same time!

Parenting survey

My mind is always obsessed with how to be a good mother. I could go on forever about my parenting strategies, but I want to know about all of yours. Take my poll and let me know what is the most important thing a parent can give their child.