My Knight - another reason I'm happy today...

To Mark:

Dear Knight in Shining Armor,

Alas there was but one icy cold can of coca-cola left in the refrigerator today and it has since been guzzled up. Would you fancy perhaps bringing us home an icy drink to mingle with the flavors of creamed tuna on toast that we shall be enjoying as a family this beautiful evening?

much obliged, my sweet prince...er, wait, I mean sir Knight,

I lovest thee very much,

your fair maiden

Reply:

Dear Maiden,

I suppose in my quest to conquer all the many dragons and slayers I have been battling today, I might find passage to the castle and bring you a delectable drink. However, it will take much sacrifice, as I must travel through the dark forest, pass over the poisonous moat and scale the castle wall, all whilst holding your passion drink in hand. I just have one question my love. Will the cost be worth my sacrifice?

Knight.

He is meaning a kiss, right? I love this guy. Passion drink, hee,hee,hee!

Reasons to be happy--updated

We have thought about it and found lots of great reasons to be happy today, here is a partial list:

This guy got to eat some of his favorite things for breakfast: bananas, pears and graham crackers.

This guy gets to stay in his pajamas ALL day:

These guys LOVE each other:

and today when I asked Gabe if he could go and get Will's sippy cup for me in his room he said "Zyep! I shoo tan do dat foe zyou, mom!" I am so lucky!

sidenote: while eating our pears this morning, Gabe announced that to him they taste "dust wike appools" (just like apples) so we pondered about that for a moment. About 20 minutes later he said excitedly (no gabespeak here, I'm too tired): "Hey MOM! I know why Pears taste just like Apples! Because they are LEMONS!!" Who knew?! And now you've all learned something you didn't know. Glad to be of service. :)

update: I totally forgot to add the cutest part of the conversation, when Gabe explained to me something along the lines of "because they also have lots of water in them and that makes them taste very apple-ish" (sounded more like "ahpoowish", but you get the idea) My 3 year old said "Apple-ish" Isn't that cute? and TOTALLY something I would say. In my opinion, your regular vocabulary can be expanded by leaps and BOUNDS with the simple word of "ish". It is used very frequently around here, and now apparently by more than just me. YAY GabE!

It's raining!

It's raining outside. Quite simple really...or is it?

I sent the middles outside to eat their snack. Josh is at scouts and Will is in bed. I went into the closet to get on my shoes so that I could go and mow the lawn - a task I've been meaning to complete all day but kept thinking the luminous clouds above me were going to break any minute and then I'd be stuck in the middle of a half mowed lawn soaking wet....

Anyway, back to the middles. I sent them out to eat their snack and am sitting in my closet getting on my shoes when Gabe walks in and announces: "Mom, it is tarting to rain outside so tan we dust eat our nacks inside duh house?" (please let me know if you need a translation on this)

I say with a sigh as I begin to remove the shoes I had just hunted for and put on my feet: "Yes, Gabe you can eat your snack inside, just please eat over your plate and try not to make a mess."

Gabe says: "Oh-tay MOM!" and is off.

In enters Sam who proceeds to tell me pretty much exactly the same thing, but perhaps not quite the same way... (I immediately e-mailed myself a copy of this conversation to be sure I could get it word for word)

"Mom, Um, it's raining outside, so can we eat our snacks INside? because it's raining outside and I think there is going to be a BIG storm, because you know Gabe's police car and that baseball thing that Gabe has that holds the ball up so you can whack it with a stick? Well, you know how that's kinda heavy? Well, the wind just TOTALLY blew it down, like it was like a invisible guy outside just doing it like *insert HUGE hand and arm motions here* SWOOSH, just like that. So I think it is going to be a BIG storm, so that is why maybe we should just eat our snacks inside. Okay?"

Yes, Sam - that is okay. Just please eat over your plate and try not to make a mess.

Sam: "Got it!"

So based on the difference between these two conversations and my WHOLE first paragraph about getting on my shoes and mowing the lawn - would you say that my little Sam comes by his talkative-ness naturally at least? At least there's that. And I couldn't help from blushing with pride. :)

Happy Happy 1st Birthday Baby Will!!!!

I just canNOT believe that our little baby Will is ONE YEAR OLD today! To say the last year went by fast would be far too much of an understatement. It LITERALLY FLEW by. Isn't it amazing how many things a tiny baby learns to do in just one year? This little guy has been SO much fun and we just cannot imagine life without him in it. He is so funny and so smart. He knows exactly what he wants and usually figures out how to get it. He just loves his big brothers and I'm pretty sure he thinks he is just as old as they are. He is a Daddy's Boy through and through, but he does love to snuggle with Mommy occasionally too. He can sign the words: milk, bye-bye, night-night, and thank you. He LOVES monkeys and says the "ahh, ahh" part of the monkey sound, he hasn't gotten the beginning "ooh, ooh" part down quite yet. He also loves dogs and tries to make a doggy sound when he sees them. When we ask him what a "car" says he says "voom, voom" and it sounds pretty much just like that! It is so cute. He also blows kisses, which melts me EVERY single time. For his birthday today we all went into his room first thing singing "happy birthday to you!" He smiled when he first saw us, but then our singing freaked him out a little and he started to cry. We didn't know what was scarier, all of us coming toward him in his crib or our incredibly off-pitch singing - I'm sure it was a mixture of both. :) Poor little guy. He seemed to really love digging into his own little chocolate cake. Mark and I loved his look right at first, almost like he was saying "seriously guys, are you sure about this?" After his cake and a bath we let him play with his birthday presents which were a little dog stuffed animal that plays music from an mp3 player...which meant he kind of needed an mp3 player to go with it ... lucky for us, we already HAD a little mp3 player that I got on a great sale a few months ago kicking around so we threw that in - though I did ask myself more than once what kind of parent gives their one year old an mp3 player. Oh well, he LOVED it and I should have gotten video of him dancing. There are SOOOOOO many videos I need to take of this baby before he grows out of all of these adorable things he does. That is going on my priority list for the week. ANYWAY, he also got a "busy ball popper" which he just loved too - As a matter of fact ALL the boys loved it and played with it for a lot longer than should be normal for their ages since it was a baby toy and all. The ball popper was partly from Grandma Reading too because she sent him a darling birthday card and some birthday money a few weeks ago, she even called him today to wish him a happy birthday so she officially gets the prize for sending him his first birthday card and giving him his first telephone birthday greeting. After presents we all watched "America's Funniest Home Videos" and Will had fun fake laughing every time he heard one of us laugh. He topped off the night by shoving one of the ball popper balls in mom or dad's mouth and laughing hysterically when we blew them out at him. I guess for a one year old, the busy ball popper is fun but the human ball popper is even better! All in all, we had a great day with our little one year old. We are just so thankful for him, he couldn't be sweeter, or cuter in our opinion....though we could probably do without the high pitched scream he's been fancying lately. If our eardrums make it through this new little phase it will be a miracle. OUCH!!

We love you beautiful baby brother!

Thank you!

Thank you everyone for the sweet birthday wishes, cards and phone calls today! I am so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and family!

Thank you to the sweetest man I have ever known in my life. Wow. I love you. I don't know what was more touching to me, reading his post or realizing that this is why he wouldn't let me near the computer for 3 AND A HALF hours!! I seriously can't believe he did this for me, and I can't believe how lucky I am to be married to my best friend and to be with him every single day.

Just thought I'd clear up something really quickly though for those that might be wondering....

I ONLY snore when I'm pregnant (weird) or really really tired. Mark thought it was so hilarious that one time that I woke myself up. he,hee.

Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Amazing wife!!!!

What a historic and wonderful day August 6, 2008 is. It is historic due to the fact, this is the first time I have ever up-dated a blog, let alone ever even posted a comment. During the past few years, I've visited many different blogs and greatly enjoyed the stories and experiences of various family and friends. I sort of feel bad at times I simply just read a person’s blog and not leave a comment. I feel like I sometimes just take and not give back. Maybe this can be my blog confessional that I’m sorry for not leaving comments and I will try to do better. The truth is, I have been saving myself. Saving myself for that special moment when I blog for the first time. And today is that day I blog for the first time, for today is my wonderful wife’s birthday.

I’m so truly fortunate to have Melanie in my life. She is such an amazing person and the center of my world. I know that I married up. Melanie is definitely the better half – in all things. I can confidently admit this now that we have four children together. I knew the day Melanie agreed to marry me I struck the best deal of all time. At that time, I didn’t really know how I did it or why it happened, but for me it was the greatest blessing I have ever received. Anyhow, a few weeks back Melanie posted an up-date on her blog that mentioned how she was going to try and post 100 things about herself, but could only get to 53. As I read this I was appalled. I pulled out a piece of paper and listed four categories and was able to come up with a 100 things about Melanie in about 15 minutes. It was actually really fun to think about 100 hundred things about my spouse. For me, it was a real powerful reminder of how simply amazing Melanie is to me. I’ve carried my ‘100 things about Melanie list’ the past few weeks in my bag. It has become kind of a comfort to me. I’ve read it at work, in my car, on the bus, at home and even added more items to the list. Then I thought the other day, I should post my ‘100 things about Melanie list’ and share it with others. I was hesitant at first, but I know it’s important for me to allow others to feel the spirit of Melanie. So as a tribute to my wife on her birthday here is ‘100 things about Melanie’ (in no particular order)….

Talents
1. Computers - Melanie is known around our house as the ‘company computer guy’ she has always been very talented and skilled technologically. And she doesn’t even look like a nerd.
2. People Skills – She simply knows how to talk to people of all types.
3. Leadership – Melanie is one of those special people with the innate ability to naturally lead.
4. Drive – Anything Melanie has ever wanted to accomplish, she accomplishes. Even if she doesn’t sleep for three days
5. Learning – Melanie has brains! She is such a smarty. And again, an innate ability to learn anything.
6. Love – Melanie radiates love around her at all time. You would know if you were ever in the same room with her.
7. Perceptive – Melanie has the gifted ability to understand situations quickly.
8. Organized – Next time you are at our house, feel free to look in her children’s closets and dressers. No more explanation needed.
9. Creative – This is one of Melanie’s greatest strengths. She has always been so creative, as well as innovative. She constantly has ideas and solutions.
10. Understanding – Melanie is a great listener. She knows how to understand people and situations. I’ve witnessed many accounts of Melanie cheering up and strengthening someone just by the way she listens.
11. Non-Judgmental – Closely related to #10. Melanie is the most non-judgmental person I have ever known. I have never heard Melanie once compare what she does to anyone else. But, I have heard Melanie mention many times how she looks up to others because of what they do.
12. Listening – Closely related to #10 and #11. If you have talked to Melanie you would know what I mean.
13. Problem Solving – Melanie loves challenges. Problem solving is another one of her greatest strengths. From life challenges to home repair, Melanie will find the right solution.
14. Inspirational – One of my favorite movie lines is in Rocky II after Adrian wakes up from her comma. Rocky had been training to fight Apollo Creed, but when Adrian got sick it appeared the fight may not happen. While in the hospital bed Adrian asked Rocky to come a bit closer to her and says, “I want you to do something for me. Win, Win Rocky!” Melanie is my Adrian.
15. Enthusiastic – Melanie is never a downer.
16. Humble – She could only list 53 items about herself. How sad. But, Humble.
17. Courageous – Melanie is not afraid to let people know who she is.
18. Making Shoes – I think some day Melanie could open who own shoe store. She has made the coolest shoes for our boys. The boys love them every time they get a new pair. How awesome is that! A hot mom that makes shoes.
19. Clothes making/painting – In addition to making shoes, Melanie has also painted the boys shirts. Unfortunately, it is probably not as fun as making dresses, but it’s a good substitute.
20. Birthday party organizing – This could be another possible business venture for Melanie. She knows how to put on quite the kid bash.
21. Reading – Melanie is a really good reader. She has been known to read entire books in a single night. By the way, what is the hype with those twilight books? Anyhow, Reading is also her maiden name.
22. Writing – Melanie is a great writer. As you probably noticed, much better than I.
23. Coloring – If Melanie is competitive at all, coloring is where it would be. I’ve never been able to color without her critiquing me. I take back #11.
24. Motherhood – Again, one of Melanie’s greatest strengths. She fiercely loves her children and would do anything for them. There is much much more I could add here, but it would not come close to explain how great Melanie is within the role of Motherhood.
25. Photography – Melanie is a natural with photography. She has always had an interest in this area. It comes very easy to her. I think one of the reasons Melanie loves photography so much is the sheer fact she likes to see people smile and be happy.

Achievements
26. Mowing the Lawn – For some strange reason Melanie picked up mowing the lawn this summer. She claims that she loves it. And has even e-mailed photos of the mowed lawn to me at work. Is this normal?
27. Painting – Melanie has painted every single room in our house to perfection.
28. Gave birth to Joshua – 10 hours of labor. Melanie said, “Everything went perfectly and it was the best pregnancy ever”
29. Gave Birth to Samuel – Samuel was breech so Melanie had to have a C-section. She was a bit nervous going in, but performed magnificently.
30. Gave birth to Gabriel – Gabriel was not breech but was a C-section. Melanie again performed magnificently.
31. Gave birth to William – William was not breech but was also a C-section. This was Melanie’s 3rd C-section in 5 years. I think if the doctor had let Melanie hold the scalpel she would have performed the procedure herself. I know it’s weird, but after watching my wife give birth to each of our boys, I’ve always thought I would never want to get into a fistfight with that women. She would work me over.
32. Once made 7 out of 10 free throws on our new basketball hoop.
33. Pushed her children in a 5-K Race.
34. Can beat the entire family in guitar hero.
35. Had a kiss on top of the Empire State building with her husband.
36. Has put her foot in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. (No, not at the same time)
37. Hit by a truck and survived – Melanie’s big childhood accident was being hit after stepping off a UTA bus in front of her sister Sharla’s house. To this day Melanie likes to show off how her knee-cap can move around about 2 inches in every direction.
38. Canada & Mexico – Melanie has visited our bordering nations.
39. Changed peoples lives – Melanie is such a good friend to so many people. She makes friends so easily, and so many people love to be her friend. Joshua has this same quality.
40. Saved a girl from drowning – Melanie once was at a pool in which the pool repair person left his daughter unattended while working on the side of the house. The girl fell in and Melanie happened to hear a splash and went outside to see her at the bottom of the pool. It wasn’t on the news, but nevertheless a life was probably saved that day.
41. Visiting Teacher – Melanie is an accomplished visiting teacher. She loves the sisters assigned to her and is constantly thinking of ways to help them.
42.Plays the Piano – Melanie has always enjoyed playing the piano.
43. Read the book of Mormon – We once did this together. We both took turns reading each night. I would recommend it to every couple out there. It truly strengthened our testimony as well as our relationship.
44. Guiding our family - Our most important goal for our family is for each of us to return back to our Heavenly Father. Melanie is such an example of the type of people we should be in order to accomplish our goal.
45. Learned Sign Language – Melanie decided one day she wanted to learn sign language, so she did.
46. Spelling B Champion – Melanie has participated in many spelling B’s in her life. Along with coloring, Melanie is also openly competitive in this area as well.
47. Happy- Melanie is the happiest person I have ever met. Always smiling.
48. Melanie was born. – According to legend, Melanie was a surprise baby. An unplanned whoopsie. Contact Anna Marie if you are interested in further details.
49. Silk Pajamas- Melanie loves silk pajamas.
50. Blinking – Melanie can only blink one eye.

Things Melanie Loves
50. Pizza – Melanie loves Ham and pineapple pizza. And hates even the smell of pizza when pregnant. Currently, she loves pizza if that tells you anything.
51. Cheesecake- Melanie loves cheesecake anytime of day or night. During her last stay at the hospital with baby Will she had cheesecake everyday.
52. Kaui – Hawaii was one of Melanie’s most favorite trips of all time. We still talk about it - at least once a week - about when we are going back.
53. Whale Watches – While in Kaui we went Whale Watching. It was amazing. Melanie also has a whale tale necklace.
54. Shopping- No need for explanation here.
55. Helping others – Melanie loves to be in service of others. It is just simply part of who she is.
56. Sleeping in – Melanie loves to sleep in. Although with 4 boys this doesn’t happen as much as it should.
57. Late Night Movies
58. Summer Time
59. Beach – Melanie has always loved the beach. She has said she could hang out there all day long as long as her family was with her. Melanie continues to ask me to put applications in at the Snorkel Bob’s in Hawaii.
60. Top Ramen and Burritos – When we were dating it was really cool to go out with a girl that loved Top Ramen and burritos. But, after 13 years of marriage I can’t count how many times I have heard, “Do you want to have Top Raman and burritos tonight!” I love you dear.
61. Steak and Seafood – When we do go out… Melanie is a Steak and Seafood connoisseur.
62. Clothes – Melanie is addicted to buying clothes for her boys. I probably should have found help for her a few years ago.
63. Family – Melanie loves her extended family. Mike and Charlotte, David and Mandy, Sharla and Jeff. She is constantly thinking about them.
64. Friends – Melanie loves and adores her friends. Many of them are as close as family.
65. Gospel – Melanie loves the gospel and continuously centers her life on the Savior and her family.
66. Joshua – Melanie’s first born son. Joshua is a boy blueprint of his Mom.
67. Samuel – Melanie’s second born son. Samuel is mature beyond his years.
68. Gabriel – Melanie’s third born son. Gabriel is a true Momma’s boy to the end.
69. William – Melanie’s fourth born son. William is a perfect mix of Joshua and Samuel.
70. Parents – Melanie truly loves and deeply cares about her Parents Vern & Anna Marie.
71. Other Peoples kids – Melanie loves all children no matter whose they are.
72. Cotton Candy – A must buy every time we see a cotton candy machine.
73. Sandals – Especially when her toes are done.
74. Otter Pops and Snow cones

Beautiful things about Melanie
75. Brown Eyes – Melanie has wonderful amazing eyes.
76. Smile – As mentioned before, Melanie is always smiling
77. Hair - Melanie has pretty hair
78. Spirit – Her spirit is contagious.
79. Lips – Perfect Lips
80. Toes – They are all proportional cute little piggies.
81. Personality – I’ve heard you are supposed to marry someone who has a great personality because you will be talking with them a great deal. I could talk to Melanie forever. She will always be interesting to me.
82. Faith – Melanie has always been my greatest example in this area.
83. Humor – Melanie is really funny. She makes me laugh
84. Thoughtfulness – She is always thinking of others above her own self.
85. In the morning - (I know this is weird) But, Melanie is so beautiful in the morning to me. When I leave for work each day, Melanie is the last person I see before I head out the door. I just love to see her sleeping in bed and resting. It gives me all the inspiration I need to conquer the day.
86. Character – Unquestionable character
87. Daughter of our Heavenly Father
88. Floppy Ear – When Melanie was a child she played with one of her ears so much while sucking her thumb that the cartilage became weak and now it can nearly fold in half. Odd, but I think it is cute.
89. Scar on Hand – Melanie has a little scar on her hand from making suckers when she was a child. It gives her a little street credibility and makes her kind of look tough. At least she thinks it does. Anyhow, It is cute.
90. Watch Tan Line – This is something Melanie has worked quite hard at. And to be honest, she really does have a beautiful watch tan line.
91. Waking herself up snoring – One time I was watching TV in bed and Melanie was asleep snoring. She snored so loudly; she opened her eyes and said, “Was that me?” I answered, “Yes honey, that was you.” To which She replied, “I’m sorry” I told her she didn’t have to apologize for snoring. And besides, Melanie snores beautifully.
92. Nose – I once broke my nose playing basketball. I then realized just how beautiful Melanie’s nose was. She has the perfect nose
93. Family – Melanie really does have one of the most beautiful families. There are so many different family members that have beautiful qualities inside and out it has always been amazing to me. I look up to so many members of Melanie’s family.
94. Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
95. Arm Muscles – Melanie has tone arms.
96. Spiritual Giant – Melanie is truly a spiritual giant.
97. Charisma – Melanie exuberates charisma.
98. Brain – As mentioned before. Melanie has brains. She is so smart.
99. Nice – Melanie is nice.
100. Melanie is just a simply beautiful person.

I hope you have a Wonderful Birthday Sweet Heart. I love you Forever!

Your Husband,
Mark

New posts!

So, I had a few posts that I never got completed but had started and they were in my blog list as "drafts". This morning I finally got them all done. The problem is, that they were set BEFORE all the recent ones I've posted so if you're interested in seeing them they are UNDER the "Sunday" post. I'll try to just do them as I go from now on....I'm SO behind!! :)