"It's just carbon and hydrogen" OR "I like it fine."

First of all, THANKS to our loyal readership for posting comments! It was so fun to check my blog today and see SIX new comments! Wahoo!

Now, on to eating...

I've discovered that there are two ends on the eater type continuum. Matt represents one end and I'm the other. Let me explain...

I love food. I get excited about brownies, thai food, or a smoothie. My heart will race when I see my favorite Ben and Jerry's ice cream. I salivate at a delectable avacado with a pinch of salt or a flat of perfectly ripe and sweet raspberries (which I ate all by myself yesterday).

Matt thinks of food and eating more as a chore. It's just something you do to make your body go, do your work, have energy, etc. He's known for saying, "It's just carbon and hydrogen."

This used to cause problems in the first months of our marriage. I would make a new dish for dinner and be oh so excited about it. Matt and I would eat and I'd say, "How'd you like that?" He'd respond, "I like it fine." Finally I probed - what does this statement mean? How can he possibly like all of this varied food just fine? Well - it's because he simply doesn't view eating the same way I do.

Sam is like Matt. I can't think of any foods that Sam goes ga-ga for. He eats what's on his tray in no big hurry - whether it's cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, or chocolatey cocoa puffs! There is one, only one thing he shows any zest for (and it's minor in my book), and that is graham crackers. Sam does love graham crackers... at least as much as he loves anything.

So, on Saturday, Matt was feeling a bit snackish and went into the kitchen to rummage. I found Sam and Matt like this:

I said, "AHA! Now I know where Sam gets his love of graham crackers!"
Matt replied, "Yah, I guess graham crackers are good. They're still just carbon and hydrogen."

Sniffle Blues

Yes, yes, for those of you living nearby or whom I've talked with on the phone, you know that I'm suffering from a serious case of sniffle blues. This feels like the worst cold I've had in a while... with the sneezing, runny nose, sore throat (REALLY sore), lost voice, coughing, etc. Not to mention the sheer congestion. On Saturday, every time I moved around, I felt like my head was going "wonga wonga wonga wonga". Don't tell me you don't know what I mean... :)

Drugs don't seem to help much - even Nyquil! Sleeping is the worst since once I'm horizontal, I can't breathe at all. Matt told me that I was making honking sounds through my nose last night. How does that happen???

Anyway, with both Sam and me sick, Matt's just a matter of time. He's been lucky so far and popping Airborne right and left. Hopefully he escapes the sniffle blues (and hopefully Sam and I will be better soon)!

Hooray for Friends

The Steenbliks spent their last weekend living in NYC... in BOSTON with us! What a treat! We played games (thanks for introducing us to our new game addiction - Bohnanza), stayed up too late, talked, played, watched our kids play, etc. It was a fabulous weekend. The Steenbliks are off to London after a few stops in SLC, CA, and Spain. We're thinking that they might be returning the hosting favor before too long. Europe would be quite a fun vacation!

Here are some pics...

Brian and Kay reading a book

Just minutes before they leave, Brock figured out how to open and dump out a box of cereal. Pretty funny!

Cute little Kay Lynn.

Sam cuddling up to his momma.

Sam with his cookie monster and Kay's Elmo (Kay was not too happy about this!).

Sweet Service Heart Attack

Here are somepics from our mutual activity on Tuesday night. We made yummy Valentine's treats and cut out a bunch of hearts, then "heart attacked" and ding-dong-ditched the treats on the doorsteps of some families in our ward. It was pretty fun!

Thanks to LEESE for the lovely treats idea.

Samantha and Hillary helping with the Passion Pops... I believe Samantha dipped all of them in chocolate while Laura and Hillary decorated. Way to go Samantha!
It was Aly's bday, so we had to have a little cupcake celebration. Here's Laura putting the crowning touch (aka valentine's sprinkles) on the "Passion Pops".
Kelly and Aly making white chocolate designs on our pink heart-shaped Cupid Crispies.
A close up of the Passion Pops...
On Monday, I left Sam with a friend who had never watched him before while I went to the dentist. All week he's been a bit clingy as a result of that. This is how he was most of our mutual activity ... at least until Dad came home and to the rescue!

NEW Cell Phone

Yes, Yes...

Many of you know that I washed my cell phone in the washing machine back in December. AND that I've been lazy about getting a new phone.

Well.. I've rejoined the wireless community as of yesterday and quite like my cool new phone. Matt's favorite quote of the day from me was:

"All my dreams have come true: I now have a PINK phone."

Sitting IN his toy bin

I found Sam this way on Friday afternoon. He had dumped out most of the toys and crawled in somehow.

The COOLEST Dance

Nope... this is not going to be a photo post, unlike my norm.

Last night I went with the youth to a 7-stake dance hosted by the Boston Stake. The theme was "Winter in New York". It was TOTALLY AWESOME.

Let me describe... you walk in and in every corner of the cultural hall there were food stands reminiscent of the streets of New York. There was a hot dog stand, a popcorn stand, chips, hot chocolate, and drinks. On the sides there were these gigantic cardboard new york skyline skyscrapers which were literally up to the ceiling and complete with window cut-outs. Behind these contraptions was some sort of light source so they looked like real windows with light filtering through. In the middle of the floor were risers of some sort - multi-level that the youth could stand and dance on (also complete with another speaker camouflaged in the middle). In the back of the dance floor was a gigantic piece of plexiglass cut out like the Rockefellar Ice Skating Rink where the youth could "ice skate" in their socks.

AND to top it all off, they had TWO local bands perform live.

It was by far the coolest dance I have ever been to. They have certainly set the bar for future multi-stake dances... Way to go Boston Stake.

MahnaMahna

Many of you know the mahna mahna song from the Muppet Show...

With Robin and Jacee, the YW Presidency used that song for our lip sync skit last night at mutual. We also used these clever puppets instead of lip singing ourselves. Jacee and I had fun putting these together yesterday afternoon while Sam and Kenslee played.

My NEW Diaper bag

Yep! Thanks to my mom and lots of her sewing, we made a new diaper bag for me while she was here visiting! It's tres chic and I have received multiple compliments on it as well as questions like, "Where did you get that? I want one just like it!"

Check it out!

Since I designed it, I must point out a few key features. First, the divider. Essential for splitting up Sam's toys adn things and my stuff.
Next, the button closure (Yep, mom! I finally put the buttons on!)
The custom made diaper and similar wipes pocket. They're the perfect size...
The two pockets on my side for my wallet, keys, (a custom built in pens pocket in the top pocket), etc.
Thanks for all your help Mom! I couldn't have done it without you!

Lil' Bruiser

Sam had a little fall over the weekend in which he got a nice goose-egg bruise on his forehead and a scrape on his cheek. Here are some pics...

First of all - check out these blue eyes! I am always amazed that Matt and I have a child with eyes this blue. Sam was sticking out his tongue at me while I was taking pics.
Neither of these pics do his little gooser justice.
Sam getting into his toy bin. Whenever I have the camera out these days, he wants to take pictures too... This is right after I took the first pic. Notice that sneaky look in his eye?

Nothing Like Having Your Mom Here

It was great to have Mom, Lindz, Leese, and Sopharoo come visit. Here are the last (I promise) of some fun pics from their trip here.

Here's LindseySophie trying on Sam's hat
Some tags Leese made. These represent what most of our free time was spent doing on this trip... CRAFTS! Especially sewing and using my COOL cricut which Matt got me for Christmas.
Matt trying to scare Sophie. It didn't really work...
Sam walking - yes, full blown walking everywhere now!

Lindsey after trying some delicious treats that she and Leese made.
A little MarioKart competition...
Sophie playing in the water.
Cute little Soph.
And that's it! Thanks for coming!

Blankie on Head Stealing

Check out this photo story that happened during our photo shoot...

Sam loves to wear his blankie on his head. So, Sophie had her burp cloth on her head...
Sam decided that that burp cloth was too tempting.
"Well... " says Sophie... "I guess I'll take yours!"

Sam thinks, NO WAY are you going to have my little "binkit"!!
But, all's well that ends well!

Photo Shoot Part 2

The last few of the RED set of pics. I really like these two of little Sophie.

Photo Shoot

Photo Shoot Part 1
We had some fun taking pics of Sophie, Lindsey, my mom, etc. while they were all here. Here are some of the best. I"ll put the rest of them in the next post.

This is the first thing Lindsey did when I told her we were going to have a photo shoot...


Lindsey and Sophie
Lindsey and Mom

Sophie in THE CUTEST little "polar bear suit" as Matt calls it.
Sam
Cousins Sam and Sophie
Lindsey B.
...and more representative of Lindsey's personality...