Linley Singing

Linley goes through the house singing E-I-E-I-O all day long and she was kind enough to allow me to capture a bit on video. She was also kind enough to try and eat the camera. Enjoy (you'll have to pause my nerdy music first if you want to hear her...such an annoyance, I know).

My Cute Kids

First, I hope you all enjoy the festivity of my blog (I changed my background for you readers using reader or other such programs that rob you of the opportunity to actually sit and stare at the beautifulness that is my blog). Frankly I think Valentine's Day is just another one of those occasions that rarely lives up to expectations, and thus has a tendency of becoming more depressing than a normal day. Still, the dewey eyed girl inside of me can't help but think of all the most fabulous Valentine's days I have had and I always look forward to it. Plus, this is one day that Allen is pretty dang good at. I will spare you all the details.

Megan requested some shots of the kiddos so here they . Getting them to sit still requires serious effort and many chocolate chips. I hope you realize and appreciate this Meg.

This is Ryder's preferred way of sitting in front of the TV. Linley is obviously in the copycat phase. I am thinking I should make her stop, otherwise she is going to have to battle under eye wrinkles and crow's feet like her poor mother.

It's Monday...

...have you made your Mitt calls yet?

Tonight is the last night before the big day tomorrow. Call times are 4 to 8 pm EST.
To begin, visit www.MittRomney.com/CallatHome.

Have fun!!

My Prophet Passes

This is a man that I not only revered, reverenced, and had complete faith and trust in. This is a man I truly loved. Real love. Because of him, I strive to stand a little taller and try a little harder. He was my prophet and he has profoundly influenced my life. I have had many opportunities to share a room with him and hear him speak....at General Conference in the conference center, at a regional conference in California, at devotionals and firesides in the Marriott Center, but my most profound memory of him happened by chance. My parents and I were passing through Utah on a Sunday and stopped to attend church at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. To our luck, it happened to be President Hinckley's ward, and even luckier, he was there. Following Sacrament meeting he entered the hall to greet his ward. He came up to my family, and me personally and spoke to us. He was so sweet and sincere. He didn't just shake my hand and move on, he held it, firmly, for what felt like minutes. He smiled at me with those eyes and smile that just make you want to throw your arms around him and never let go. At that moment I knew that our prophet truly loved me. It was the most undeniable feeling of love. It can't be explained, only felt. The same as the power one feels anytime this dear prophet entered the room. Even in the vastness of the Marriott Center or the Conference Center, one could not deny the feeling of power this man held while standing in his presence. He truly was a prophet of God, and he will be missed immensely. I know he is smiling and laughing with sweet Marjorie in heaven right now. I love you my dear prophet.

I Wanna be a Papparazi

First of all, how often does that happen?In this household, truthfully, next to never. My children are not the sit down and watch TV type. In fact, they aren't the sit down type at all. Sure, this moment lasted only about 5 seconds after the flash went off, it is forever ingrained in my memory as a victory. And yes, I do consider my children watching television a victory...I am not ashamed. Don't judge me.

On to my next subject, I have begun a five-week course in photography. My girlfriend is teaching it as part of an Enrichment group. Our homework for this week is to take a ton of pictures with the different menu options on the digi camera. So, here are some of the things I learned and liked from my first attempt.

This one I just think is kind of cool because you can see her reflection in the glass.

This one I really like the shadowing.
This one I just like....but I learned that I screwed up on the lighting.
These aren't the cutest shots, but I figured out how to fix my lighting and I think there is a pretty significant difference.

I am excited to keep learning and practicing....I know, I know....as if I don't post enough pics of the kiddos already. Its a disorder. They are cute. I can't help it.

I'm a Moron

Ryder took this picture of me at breakfast. Quite fitting I must say. Except I shouldn't have said breakfast because now Allen is going to be wondering why Ryder was allowed the camera during mealtime.....

Anyone that has ever spent a split second with me has more than likely experienced me thoroughly embarrass myself. I am a world-class klutz. Case-in-point...I have already fallen down the stairs in the house twice this week...and it is only Wednesday. Luckily, no one witnessed these events (as my family is not the most sympathetic group), and granted, the flight I repeatedly fell down is only like 7 stairs...sill, this is no consolation for my aching butt and nearly broken foot. I have determined I am incapable of keeping my eyes focused on the right spot while walking. If I look down at my feet, I walk into a pole or a wall, or something of that nature. This is a guarantee. If I walk with my head up, I stub my toe, or fall down a flight of stairs. I feel good about this though, because I am confident God spends his days laughing at me (along with most of the world), and I feel privileged to offer such entertainment.

Today I had another opportunity to entertain. I went to get the mail. This should be a simple, mindless task. I open the front door, walk onto the porch, reach into the mailbox, grab the mail, and walk back in the house. Note, that the front door is over 45 years old, and gets fairly jammed. It requires a bit of effort to open. So, as I am mightily pulling the door open, I simultaneously nearly knock myself out. Somehow the door hits me squarely in the head. Realizing the size of the great protrusion on my face that we call a nose, this offered quite a bit of pain, and seemingly, my incredible strength created quite a bit of force, which not shockingly, knocked me flat on my butt. I saw many black dots...in fact, I was quite awed that I was still conscious...or perhaps, I was seriously wishing that I was unconscious. Upon gathering myself, rubbing my now throbbing butt and pulsating head, I get up and walk out the newly opened door. I am pretty good at pretending that I did not just do something terrifyingly stupid, as this is how I spend most of my day. But the little snott-nosed kid looking straight at me diagonally across the street, trying not so subtly to stifle his laughs, was not such a good pretender. At least I can say I worked hard for the title of, "The new drunken mom that moved in across the street."

I can only imagine the mortifying experience it must be to be married to me. You are such a studly man. Love you baby!

Golden Victory

Fabulous!!!

Mitt Needs Money

Go to http://www.mittromney.com/ to contribute. And watch this video...tell me you wouldn't want this man to be your president!

Random Musings

Since I somewhat regularly complain about my children, I suppose it is time I say some nice things about them....especially since they have been most fabulous, really, since we left for Florida. They are becoming the most fun little twosome in the world. They completely love each other. Ryder is constantly calling Linley his best friend, and she is always running up to him to give him a big fat hug. She has also, finally, started giving kisses, which I am repeatedly asking for. Poor girl.

Ryder is really starting to become my little man, evidenced by the fact that he no longer feels the need to indulge in his afternoon nap. He went to primary for the first time on Sunday and informed me after that, "Nursery is with toys and is for hitting. Primary is for listening. I was a good listener. I learned that when we are cold, we drink coffee. Our bodies like coffee." I gave him a slightly confused look, to which he promptly replied, "I mean, our bodies don't like coffee. They like hot cocoa." He has made drastic improvements as of late in regards to sharing, hitting, and obedience. He is my little helper, which makes my days so happy. He is always willing to play with his little sister, gets the swiffer out and dusts and uses the swivel sweeper almost daily. He has also finally figured out my role in his life. Yesterday he asked me to bring him his blankie. I asked him, "Now why would I do that Ryder?" He quickly replied, "because you are my slave." Sweet.

Linley is at the cutest age. She is such a bundle of joy and laughter. She is a complete tease and comedian. She is also getting better at staying happy in her car seat. Her new favorite word, however, is "out" which she seems to never tire of. Out of her crib, out of her high chair, out of her car seat. She always wants out. She has also become quite fond of, "No, no." This is often used when taking her out of the bath or trying to pass her off to her father. Her current cutest attribute comes when she is poopy. She promptly runs to me, pointing to her butt, yelling, "tinky, tinky." It is so dang adorable. Last Sunday was her first Sunday in nursery. She screamed for a while, but they never brought her to me, so I say, success!! She, too, thinks she is growing a little old for naps, and as such, thinks one a day is more than plenty. This is not good for my daily shower routine, dangit. She has also mastered her vanity. For quite a while now she runs to my closet to admire her outfit in my full length mirror. Now, she has, much to my pleasure, begun to understand the beauty in bows on the head. She asks for her bows every morning, at which point she begs to look at herself in the mirror. Upon seeing her gorgeousness, she says, "pity." She sure is. This is the biggest accomplishment of them all!!

Oh, in the pictures you may note Linley's black eye. Might have been a weak brother/sister moment. Obviously, we haven't quite reached perfection.

Call At Home Reminder

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to call at home to get voters out for the Michigan Primary.
Call times are from 3 - 8:30 (EST)
Your last minute push to make calls to Michigan voters will mean the difference. So please, email "count me in" to callathome@MittRomney.com to sign up today.

Have a fabulous day folks!

I'm Failing

In an effort to retrain our spending habits (read: in Allen's effort to retrain my spending habits) after a few months of apparently blowing through too much cash(both of our birthdays, our anniversary, christmas, and traveling for thanksgiving and christmas in a two month period has a tendency to melt money away), I promised Allen that I would spend NO money in January on discretionary items, such as clothing and shoes, and in an effort to ensure that I spend no money in January, I agreed to refrain from shopping online or shopping at the mall, or well, shopping period. Rotorooter already ruined our goal to not spend anything outside of the usual bills, grocery, gas, etc. Thanks guys. And then that sort of sent me into a tail spin (it is totally fair to blame my bad habits on poopy problems). I fell off the wagon. But before I confess my sins, realize I have not spent even two minutes shopping online until yesterday. That is fasting from shopping for over a week. Did you really think I could even make it that long Allen? I deserve some serious credit. And regardless if I slipped into shopping oblivion, I am still keeping strong on my promise to purchase nothing this entire month. Forgive me love, but sometimes I just need to see something pretty and imagine myself wearing it. Yesterday, in a moment of weakness, became one of those days, and I "stumbled" upon this dress at http://www.shabbyapple.com/.

My girlfriend Jenny introduced me to this site a couple months ago and I am madly in love with it. I think this dress is completely adorable (BTW, do you happen to own this puppy Jenny, and if so, what size do you think I should buy??....she is my fashion consultant).

And by buy, honey love, I of course don't mean this month. Just when the time is right and I have your permission because I am that kind of loyal, honorable wife.

I am also curbing my online shopping again, Allen, because you are right, once I start, I cannot control myself, and I will buy. I hope you understand and appreciate this sacrifice as it is Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale and there is free shipping with no minimum purchase. I am not even going to look. That is huge. Perhaps even deserving of a cute, little, sophisticated brown dress??

Erica's Getting Angry

If I hear the phrase, "I don't think Mitt stands a chance to make it to the White House, but at least he has done great things for our church," I might vomit. Or scream. Or violate the speaker. Are you kidding me?

First of all, Mitt has won more delegates than any other Republican candidate thus far. Is this insignificant?

Secondly, if you are making this statement, what are you doing to prove otherwise?? He certainly won't make it to the white house if we all just sit around on our butts saying we like him, but are unwilling to do anything to actually support him.

So to all of us who "support" Mitt, I have the following things to say:

1. I hope you all are a member of Team Mitt. If not, shame on you. Seriously, you haven't even gone to the guy's website and filled out five lines so that you can receive emails and stay updated with the goings ons of his campaign. Honestly, that disgusts me. I don't care if that is offensive. I am offended. http://www.mittromney.com/ Go there. Become a member. Show some support. Otherwise, vote for Hillary. It makes no difference at this point.

2. Now that we are all part of Team Mitt, I hope we are doing something to advance his campaign. Emailing our friends. How hard is that? I hope that we all participate in the National call days. Even if you only have time to make 5 calls. That is five minutes. If you don't have 5 minutes, you need to take a good hard look at your life.

3. Give the guy some money. Twenty-five bucks. That's it.

4. Buy something from his store. A sign for your yard, a magnet for your car. These things cost $5 and you shy folks are able to show your support without having to utter a word.

Another phrase I have a problem with: "I am voting for Mitt, but not because he is Mormon." What the heck is wrong with voting for the guy because he is Mormon? Here is a man who, because of his religion, shares the exact same intrinsic core values that you do. Most important to him is the family. Most important to me is the family. Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints form his foundation. Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints form my foundation. You bet I am voting for this guy because he is Mormon. I am also voting for him because I share his stance on the issues. I am not shy that I support a Mormon because he is a Mormon and I am a Mormon. This fact strengthens my support and belief that he is the right candidate for me and for this country.

This is a big deal. We get the opportunity to become involved in a cause that will affect this nation. Why are so many of us sitting on our butts?? I don't get it. Mitt couldn't make it any easier for us to become involved. To stand for something. To make a difference. Calls from your own home that don't cost you a dime. Why aren't we all doing this?? Giving him some extra cash instead of going out to eat on Friday? Which one of these will have a longer lasting effect??

The next person that has something unpositive about Mitt, watch out. I will call you out on what you are doing to help advance his candidacy. Seriously, it makes me sick to my stomach. Passiveness will not win this election. Conversing among Mormons about how great Mitt is....not going to win the election. And dangit, we can and will win this election....we all just have to be willing to make it happen.

I will stop my rant. Oh, and if you aren't a Mitt supporter. Good for you. I hope you are doing everything you can to show your support to your candidate of choice.

On to Michigan. Can't wait to be making calls with all of you then!!

Holy Hotness

And I am not referring to my body...unfortunately. I am talking about the weather. Now for you warm-climate folks, this will mean nothing...but for those of us who have suffered through a week of sub-zero temps (this is no exaggeration- two of the mornings I took Allen to the train last week were 10 degrees, with the wind chill at neg 4), these past two days have felt like Spring. Today was suppose to be upwards of 70 degrees. In celebration, we headed to a fun park a block away from the house.

Obviously this is not a picture of us at the park. Simply Linley striking a pose.

Linley was a little wary of the slide. She inched her way down ever-so-slowly, but had a big smile at the end!

Her brother "helping" her down.

Warm weather, warm weather, please don't go away!

My Poop Don't Stink

Sunday night at the bottom of the stairs in the toy room, there was a little puddle of water on the carpet. Next to the puddle of water lay a sippy cup. Naturally I did not walk down the stairs to remove the sippy cup or try to sop up the puddle. I simply went to bed. When I woke in the morning, the puddle had magically tripled in size. Strange I thought, since the sippy cup could in no way have produced that much water. I walked down the stairs, picked up the sippy, which was completely full, and realized that the carpet was completely soaked. Like gallons of water had been spilled on it. So, sweet handsome hubster goes downstairs to have a looksy. He concludes, due to the large puddle of water under the washing machine in the laundry room (next to the toy room), that the washer is leaking. I tell him I think this curious since the washing machine has not been recently ran. He then concludes, well it must be the dishwasher. I am satisfied with this answer since yes, the dishwasher had been running when we first noticed the small puddle the night before. Allen goes to work, I put some towels on the puddle, and move on with life, believing that this puddle will dry by the end of the day. Except, tragically, this is not true. The puddle continues to grow exponentially throughout the day. I add more and more towels, only to notice more and more water. Since it was a gorgeously warm day yesterday (almost 60 degrees), I decide to ignore this bafflement and take the kids outside to play. A couple hours later with the kids completely covered in mud (shameful I did not snap a photo), I brought them into the house, bathed them, then took them to dinner to celebrate the sunshine. We then picked up Allen from the train, grabbed some books at the library, then headed home. At this point, I remember to inform the sweet handsome hubster, that in fact, the water cannot be coming from the dishwasher because it had continued to gush all over my carpet throughout the day. This is disconcerting news to him. I put the kids to bed while he furthers his investigation. And then I hear this question echoed up the stairs: "Erica, what is that brown stuff in the sink in the laundry room?" Brown stuff I think? I recall seeing that brown stuff earlier, but simply thought it was mud from something that Allen had cleaned off after some sort of outside chore, and naturally, just left the sink looking nasty. I then verbalize these thoughts. Silence. Then I hear, "Erica, we need to call RotoRooter." The sweet handsome hubster that he is makes me come down to show me why. He gets a flashlight, moves the washer, and proceeds to show me pile of terd on the ground. Did I need to see this to believe that we needed to call RotoRooter? Certainly not. Neverthelesss, I was blessed with that. Nothing is sweeter than knowing that you have your own poop sitting on the floor in your laundry room (to his credit, Allen did get up early this morning and completely cleaned and mopped the laundry room floor while I slept, so as to keep his wife from further having the dry heaves. such a good man). Ryder is scheduled for his morning poop in about 5 minutes (he is incredibly regular). There is to be no toilet flushing until Rotorooter has fixed our little clog. Rotorooter will come sometime in the next 5 minutes to 2 hours. Isn't that special.

Rydermation

Courtesy of Elliot...click on the picture to view the animation (the blank one is actually not blank....click on it and the animation should start).