My boys love young women

I took the young squirts to the Young Women's activity at church with me last night. Max was too excited to eat dinner before hand because he loves coming to these activities. There often are a couple of other kids there too with their moms. He also loves many of the girls because they baby sit him. They also give him treats. Ben loves being wherever I am, and he also likes the attention and cuddles from the girls.

Last night some of the girls were working on quilts. Ben got right up in there.
I should have brought my real camera, and not just the cell phone. The boys really were so funny. Ben just wanted to eat the fabric squares, while Max sorted them and laid them out next to each other.
He took some of the fabric to another corner of the gym to have some privacy. Those girls kept trying to get their quilt squares back!

Poor chubby

Yes we still call Ben chubby, even though he's thinning out as he speed-crawls all over the place and cruises the furniture. Also gigante, Benjamino, Benji-johna and Hana-boy (from Benihana, the restaurant).

But he's been so sad lately with those darn teeth. His top two front teeth popped through last week after a few rough nights. But ever since Sunday he's been feverish and has his fingers in his mouth all the time. Methinks these next teeth coming through are giving him a worse time. Can you get molars at 9 1/2 months?

The upside is our normally wiggly, curious, always on-the-move baby is content to cuddle more these days for comfort from the pain. I don't mind it, even at midnight.

The Zoo

We took our little monkeys to the zoo recently, and had a lot of fun. But Max kept asking "They won't eat me?" when we came to a new animal exhibit. Later, it became more confident: "They won't eat me, momma." Here we are looking at the elephants.
He loved the giraffes. Shout out to his Uncle Michael who also liked giraffes starting probably at this early age.
Here are some monkeys:
You can kind of see Ben in the stroller, relaxing. He wasn't too excited by the animals.
My brothers Joe and James had some Dippin' Dots ice-cream. They got another bowl to give Max some because he kept dipping into their bowls.
By the way, knee-length shorts on girls -- sometimes not so attractive.

Me on TV

Ever wondered what I may look like as a TV reporter? Click here then watch the video. Don't be alarmed by the subject matter -- it was an assignment and I hope I handled it with sensitivity. But it was quite an assignment. I just thought it would be fun for you to see the first TV reporting I've done since college. If you follow the links you should be able to find my two-part series piece I did for the radio. Part one ran this morning, part two runs tomorrow morning.

F is for Football

We have had a lot of fun so far this college football season, mainly because both our teams are 3-0, but also because we've gone to some games. JB and his dad flew to Ann Arbor to watch their Utes take on Michigan in the Big House.
The Utes won, 25-23. A historic win.
Compare that red, with this blue:
Last Saturday I went to Lavell Edwards Stadium to watch my Cougs take on UCLA. If you can see the scoreboard, it says BYU 59 UCLA 0. Also a historic win.

I went with some other BYU fans from my neighborhood. Most of us are married to Utah men, so we stick together. We are sitting on the last row in the north endzone, the only spot for 5 cheap tickets in a row. We got baked, but had fun.

Now here's hoping both our teams do well this season, and that JB and I survive the rivalry game one more year. It's right after our anniversary, which seems to bode well for us.

A hiatus

Sorry all for the break in writing. I've been consumed by lots of things going on -- a big series piece I've been working on that runs this week on the radio, Benny teething, Max STILL potty-training, football games, new TV shows and finishing "Katherine" by book group. I'm feeling very tense between my shoulder blades, the place where my chiropractor says I carry my stress. But kissing all my boys helps, and I will post again soon about fun stuff we've been up to.

Clothing

My skinny pants fit again (Crowd: Yeay! Huzzah!)

But I think they are out of style (Boo! Hiss!)

I bought these brown pants (slacks? trousers?) probably seven years ago at the outlets with my friend Autumn. They were kinda tight then, and I've worn them off and on over the years. But now they fit great after months of walking and walking and walking while pushing a double stroller, and holding a 21 pound nine-month old on my hip as I go around the house. But, are they really that cute/stylish/flattering?

Notice the flare, bell-bottom-type thing going on.

I've come up with a solution. Time for new pants! Seven years is long enough.

I'm also going through my closet this week and tossing stuff that is a)obviously out of style and b)I never ever wear. Included in this list: a long black skirt with pockets on the sides I thought was cute when I was TWENTY. Also, a tight red striped shirt, teeny polo top that just doesn't meet the top of my pants anymore, and jean skirt with a slit in the front. Not quite appropriate for a mother of two. I haven't worn these items in years and years but somehow they still sit in the back of the closet.

Ladies, who is with me -- it's shopping time.