Talents

I decided it would be nice if I had one.

Our ward here is pretty spread out, and there are not many moms and kids, so we try to make an effort to get together and do stuff. This past week we went to someone's house to make Valentines and let the kids play. I wasn't too sure about the making stuff part, but I knew we really needed to get out of the house.

When we arrived there were all sorts of crafty scrapbooking supplies and paper. It looked cool, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do with any of it. I kind of sat and watched while others made Valentine after Valentine. I felt anxiety growing and growing in my stomach and spreading. In an hour I was maybe halfway done with one card while they had made like 4.

Then I came home and played blocks with Benny. I built the same thing I usually build, a four-walled structure. I looked at the block box and saw a bunch of different things like robots and dinosaurs and wondered how people thought to build stuff like that.

I always joked with people that I didn't have one creative bone in my body, and that day I knew without a doubt it was true. I do not do cutesy blogs. I do not do fun daily activities with my child. I had no idea what I was doing when I taught singing time in primary at church. I don't photograph, scrapbook, decorate, or write.
I'm not saying all this to be all "woe is me" or anything, it's just a clear realization of who I am. I used to think I really needed to work on being more creative for my children, and it probably would be nice if I were, but I think they'll live if I don't sew their Halloween costumes or cut their food into cool shapes. It's ok if all my sisters are creative and I am not. It just goes to show how different we all are. And we are all good at different things.
I am REALLY working on trying not to compare myself with others--ie. how many kids they have, how they raise their kids, what kind of house they have--and I will just not compare myself regarding things we do, too.
Besides, it would be a pretty boring place if we all did the exact same things, right?
And for anyone who cares to see them, these are my 2 Valentines. My dear hubby came home and told me how cute they were:)

Christmas

I might post about it one day. We were gone so long and took so many pics it just seems overwhelming

Getting old

My dad is going to kill me for this post. But I told him I was going to do it. So if he does get really mad, I guess I will remove it, but he has been warned. We usually laugh at my mom, but it's your turn now, Dad!
My parents were up for Benny's 2nd birthday last weekend. It was fun to have them here and Benny enjoyed spending time with his grandparents. We tried to go to Chuck E Cheese but it was INSANE, so we had pizza and cake at home. Then Grandpa and Benny watched cartoons together.

Later in the week my mom called to ask if my dad had left a white shirt up here. Dad was pretty sure it was on his body the whole time so it couldn't have been left. I checked through all the laundry and didn't find anything. My mom called again tonight and left 2 messages as they were getting obsessed with finding this white shirt now. My mom had the idea to have me check the birthday pics and see if my dad was indeed wearing the shirt. This is the shirt he had on:



It is not white. I told them it was blue so the mystery had still not been solved. However, then my dad got on the phone and started excitedly getting some notion in his head. He put me on hold. When he came back he said the shirt actually was blue after all. He had it the whole time, he just forgot what color it was. All week they had been looking for a white shirt that didn't exist. He blames this clothing forgetfulness on just being an oblivious guy, but my mom says he's getting old.
No one else probably thinks this is funny as you had to be there, but I was laughing my head off. I'm sure I was laughing so hard I was making my "horse face," as Ben calls it.
Laughing that hard also made my eye hurt more, but it was so worth it

Gross--proceed with caution

Because last night I looked like this,



and this morning after prying my eye open looked like this, I had to go all over the place to go to the doctor and pharmacies today.



When I got home, I found this:



my boys lounging on the couch watching football, eating pizza, and snuggling under a warm blanket.



I think they enjoyed a daddy/Benny day while I enjoyed being banished to my room to read, watch TV, and play on the internet.

Merry Christmas from Mr. December

You've gotta be quick when moments like this occur, so cell phone camera would have to do.
ETA: Yes, he did this himself

November stuff

I officially turned old....er this year. I made Ben take me on a date for my bday since we haven't been on one since moving. We decided we'll never do it again. Well maybe we will, but we won't hire a sitter. We cannot believe how expensive it is to hire a teenager for a couple hours. I wanted to go to dinner and a movie, but since there really wasn't anything that great playing, we rushed to dinner and then home since we could feel the money draining from our pockets. Ha ha, so romantic. No, we really did have a nice time. We went to Black Angus in Vallejo for some yummy steaks and ooey gooey chocolate cake. It was nice to put on real clothes (as opposed to yoga pants, and I don't even do yoga) and go out for some alone time.

My actual birthday was on Sunday, so we just kicked it at home after church. I really needed a birthday cake though, and since there wasn't one to be found in the house, Benny and I set out to make one. I had fun letting Benny help me. You can't see it really well, but there is an entire container of cupcake cups there. When he wasn't looking I had to go back and make sure there was only one in each cup.
And that is his "cheese face." He has a habit of not actually waiting for the picture to be snapped before he moves though.



I can't believe I'm an idiot and didn't take pics of Thanksgiving with my side of the family. Oops. But basically we went down to Bakersfield and stayed with Ben's dad and stepmom for a couple days. We were able to meet Ben's half-brother and his fiancee as well. And just for the record, there was NO PUMPKIN PIE at Thanksgiving dinner. But other than that we had a really nice time. Benny had a lot of fun playing with his Grandpa Tom and hanging out with Grandma Tom.



We then met my parents and sister Kimiko's family in Morrow Bay for some lunch and window shopping. It was sooo cold and windy, so we didn't stay long, but I at least got to show Ben Morro Rock up close. He was really impressed.
Back at my parents' house Benny and his little cousin Mayumi just played and played and had the greatest time together. It was like they even had their own little language. I was so sad to leave and head back up to Northern Cal. Those are times that I miss now that we are not really near anyone.


We had a really nice November and look forward to seeing family again in just a few weeks. I love the holidays

Sleep talking

Last night I had to go get Benny and bring him into our bed as he was not feeling well and needed some soothing (we normally make him suck it up and stay in his own bed). All of a sudden he shouted "sucker!" and rolled over and went back to sleep.

I always wondered what babies dreamed about. Suckers sound good to me