Candy Thief!

Last week Evie woke up in the morning sobbing and really heartbroken. Chris was out with her and I could hear him trying to calm her down so I stayed in bed. After about twenty minutes Chris had to get ready for work but Eve was still crying. I heard her saying "I want my candy back". Chris brought her to me and said she had a bad dream. I was cuddling her and asking her who took her candy, but I couldn't really understand her answer. Finally I realized she was saying "Uncle Knick Knocks". She meant Uncle Knit Knots from the Disney show Imagination Movers. (He's the guy in the beige suit above.) I tried to explain to her that Knit Knots was very nice and I am sure he didn't mean to take her candy. But she was too upset. She only stopped crying when I "called" Uncle Knit Knots on the phone and told him how upset she was. He promised to bring her candy back. I guess her dreams are pretty vivid, I just never thought poor old Uncle Knit Knots would be the villain! She is so funny!

Ochos

Eighth Folder, Eighth picture: The most romantic thing my husband ever said to me was "I miss you like the desert misses rain" while he was at Basic Training. So of course I went online to find pictures that would remind me of that while he was gone.

Eight things I am passionate about: the gospel, Chris, Eve, Satchel, the whole rest of my family, babies in general, the potato soup that Amber gave me the recipe for (it's delicious), and music.

Eight words or phrases I use the most: Satchel get your hands out of your pants!,

Eve no climbing!, What the?, Aye aye aye!, What am I gonna make for dinner?, Wanna go to Wal-mart?, Quick, run to the potty!, and I have a headache.

Eight things I want to do before I die: Buy a house, have some more babies, serve a mission with Chris, do a triathlon (teehee), be trilingual, get a degree, be a good cook, and learn to sew.

Eight things I need right now:a bigger room to hold all the laundry that I never fold, a potty-training fairy, moolah, way more desire to get up and go to the gym, time to just sit and read, to get my food and water storage, to declutter my house, and, I don't know, a Suburu Outback.

Eight places I want to visit: New England in all the places where my husband grew up, the whole Pacific coast in a convertible, Cozumel again, Italy, the rest of the Mediterranean, England, Alaska, and Canada.

Eight favorite restaurants:On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Laspada's Italian Deli, Outback, Olive Garden, my mom's house, and I can't think of any others.

Eight TV shows I watch: The Office, Top Chef, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, House Hunters, People's Court, Judge Judy, Sportscenter (not on purpose), and America's Funniest Home Videos (only with Tom Bergeron, not that hack Bob Saget, or the not-funny guy with Daisy Fuentes.)

I Have Returned!

So here I am again. It has been awhile (I'm very sorry Megan!). Things have been a little hectic around here. Chris was laid off very unexpectedly and was unemployed for about six weeks. And I learned that when several things hit me at once, I am not very good at handling stress. But I am starting to come out of the fog that was settled around my head. Chris is now teaching, which is what he always wanted to do anyway. I just couldn't quite handle the way stressful and no money part of the job the last time we tried it. But I guess I got over that. He just started school again for his masters and now we have a real plan in place. It's better than Afghanistan, that's for darn sure.
So, what's been going on? Thanksgiving was great. We spent the day with my family and I finally saw some of Chris' skills on the guitar (thanks to Rock Band the video game, though he prefers Guitar Hero). My kids were the only little ones there which was weird because that side of the family used to be almost nothing but little kids. But Eve and Satchel had a ball, playing with the dogs and running all over.
Not much else has been going on, day-to-day wise. I have been reading a lot lately. Just today I skipped the gym because I had a headache (for real) and I spent the day on the couch reading and playing or cuddling with my kids. They played so well today that I was in a good enough mood to restart the whole potty training thing with Eve. It went ok. Everyone loves flushing the toilet, I may never have to do it myself again.
I really felt grateful today that I am able to be home with my kids. I am thankful that I live in a safe country and neighborhood and when I want to, I can just lounge around and be with my kids. I am so blessed.