Teach Youself To Crochet

I've decided to revive my crocheting skills. Those skills include never finishing what I've started, starting the same hat over numerous times, and tying yarn together after I've ripped it but still using it to crochet. So here I go, wish me luck. But before you do that, check out these sweet pictures from this book called, "Teach Yourself How to Crochet".


Perhaps when I'm done with my hat, I'll make this sassy little belt with purse. I could wear it on the back and call it my "belted-fanny-purse". And instead of little flowers I think I'll figure out how to crochet little chicks and bunnies.
Well, I guess this solves my problem. Forget the scarf and hat. I'll just make a SCAT (scarf + hat. Get it! Ha ha, I crack myself up).
Oooh, but this ensemble is quite tempting as well.
And when I'm all done, I think I'll surprise Aaron for Valentines day with matching sweaters. Mine will be pink and his will be red. Some heart shaped buttons would seal the deal.
This book is so old that I couldn't even find a copyright. After thumbing through this book, I'm totally pumped to get started. Here I go!

Mack Attack

When Destroy finished potty training he got Mack the Truck from the Cars movie. I don't know how the things still lives after the crash testing it's been through but the boys love it. The other day while grocery shopping I saw the same truck and immediately picked it up because I haven't seen it anywhere. The current Mack truck we own has been the most played with toy in our house for the last few months, so I decided to buy a second one to reward Search for his potty training. They were both ecstatic to have another one. After they were playing for a while I noticed that Search was playing with the old Mack truck. Destroy informed me that Search likes the old one because it closes easier. ANYWAY, Destroy was happy about that. That night it was Destroy's turn for bedtime prayer. Here is how it went:

"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the planets and thank you that Jesus made the wood for this bunk bed. And thank you for our new Mack truck. And thank you that Search doesn't like it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

It was one of those nights when you try so hard not to laugh during the prayer because you know that if you do, they'll say the same thing the next night just to get you to laugh again.

I Love Craigslist But Not Tornados

After a couple months of searching stores and checking Craigslist everyday, we finally found bunk beds! The kids are beyond excited and fighting over the top bunk like all siblings do. The nice thing is, since we still have Search's crib up in his old room we can still toss him in there if he's not staying in bed. Wonder what time he'll wake up in the morning? I decided to fit in with the locals today so I tied the new mattress to the top of our car and drove home. It was raining and I had to pull over a few times to let annoyed drivers pass the white trash mattress-topped-car. My top speed of 35 wasn't good enough on a 50 mph road.

Destroy thought he needed to pose for the camera and show off his monkey moves.
The best part about this new purchase is that it's a bed. That means they sleep in it. That means I'm done until tomorrow.Unfortunately, our bedtime routine was uprooted a bit. Out of the blue, a freak thunder storm came and went. Thunder, lighting, screaming, soothing, the whole bit. On top of that, the tornado warning goes off which freaks the kids out even more. Not to be outdone, my over-protective husband announces that we all have to huddle in mom and dad's closet for one hour because the tornado touched down about 10 minutes north of here. Our walk-in-closet is the safest room (if you can call it a room) in the house. Imagine four people in a very small space, two of them being two very tired little boys, one extremely worn out mom and one tired Dad sandwiched between two night shifts. It wasn't a pretty scene. But, we're still here. It took Destroy longer than normal to fall asleep tonight on account of the "torneedles".

Freak thunder storms in january, tornado warnings.

Welcome, to the midwest, Megan.

When Boredom Hits

What do you do when your husband works nights? Movies and blogging get boring after a while so I get creative. I decided to make a new everyday battle bag since the one I have looks a wee bit worn. My favorite part about this bag is that a) I didn't buy any fabric, b) the denim is left over from a skirt I made, c) I didn't even have enough denim left to finish the handles (hence the brown on the underside), d)the brown fabric is three years old and was destined to be a skirt, and e) the pink fabric was given to me by my mom who probably used it on a formal dress when she went to BYU. I also sat there for an hour intentionally fraying the edges.

Continuing with the vision of the boys' room to someday be decorated with frogs, Search and I went to Michaels the other day while waiting for Bed, Bath and Beyond to open and we bought 2 wood frames, paint, little wooden froggies and leaves for a total of 5 bucks. I can't say I'm thrilled with the way they turned out. But I still have more paint! I'll probably start over.


Have I ever mentioned that I am addicted to making skirts? It's always been an obsession. I have two patterns that I use over and over but I just make changes to the bottom or add lace or ribbon or stitching so you would never know that they were they same. Here's the denim that goes with the bag.
I made this bag a while ago. Once again I didn't buy any fabric and if you refer back to a post about our wall decorations, you'll notice that I used the polka-dot fabric in our picture frames. Gardener, the red is from your diaper bag and the blue is once again, left over from a skirt. The green is left over from the bags I used to make for the boutiques in masses. The ribbon is left over from a diaper bag for my sister-in-law. Anyways, enough about that... it serves it's purpose holding hoards of anti-boredom items for church. I wish I had a Mary Poppins bag, but this is a close second!

I'm also re-doing the bean bags I made for the boys room. I added more pellets and got new fabric.

You think it's cold?

Apparently one of our outdoor faucets has a leak. Actually it looks like more than a leak. Actually I have no idea what happened. All I know is that, unless we use a blow dryer for 3 hours, we won't be getting this hose out there until spring!

Attention Twilight fans!

You may have heard that they are making a movie of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. They start filming in February and they have already selected actors. But, hey! If you know a Indian male age 17 who is looking for his big break in acting, tell him to go try out for the part of Jacob Black! I can't wait to see the trailer!

Va-ROOOM!

Today we made the Dinoco 400 race track and acted out the final race for the piston cup. The track was composed of Lincoln Logs, blocks, marble tower pieces and train tracks. It was complete with fueling stations in the pits and the announcers box (where Sally sat). Unfortunately Search wasn't quite so careful with his loose pants as he raced his car that the track was easily dismantled, much to Destroy's dismay. But we could fix it just as easily too!

We had to borrow a few generic cars in the absence of Chic Hicks and the King but it all worked out in the end. How does that carpet taste, Search?

Getting ready to race!

I decided to take the opportunity for some cutsie shots. Search looks so sweet and innocent! Well, looks can be deceiving! Just kidding, he really is a sweet kid.

This was the exact look on Destroy's face on Christmas eve at bedtime. He knew the only way Santa would come was if he was asleep. So he squeezed those little eyes as tight as he could and tried to wipe that endless, anxious smile off his face.

Random weirdness. Sorry.

Cars, cars, cars.

We had a fun day!

sicky and igloos

The last few days I have been feeling a little under the weather. But, I'm better now. I got a stomach ache on saturday night that lasted until yesterday. It was the worst on monday night when I was up a good chunk of the night either puking or really wanting to. So, yesterday, tuesday, I was feeling rotten; sick and really tired from lack of sleep. I took Destroy to school, came home, put on a movie for Search and went and took nap #1 in my bed. Search watched a second movie while I took nap #2 in my bed again. Then we ate lunch, Search with his mac and cheese and me with my puke bowl. After Destroy got home from school, Search went down for a nap and I took nap #3. I slept in a bed upstairs just to mix things up. And then after Search woke up, during nap #4 on the couch, I could hear the boys making mischief. Or should I say that I heard a whole lot of silence. Never a good thing. I could hear rusting sounds of fabric and little feet running up and down the stairs. After a while Destroy comes over to the couch and announces that they have made an igloo and that I should come and see it. I trudged into my bedroom to see this igloo and this is what I find:

Almost every blanket, pillow, basket liner, sheet, etc that was visible in the house piled on the up-turned papasan chair which was serving as the base of their igloo. And why not take off all our clothes while we're at it? I insisted that they put on underwear for pictures.It was a challenge to get under all of the blanket and pillows, but they managed.

So we took some jumping pictures while the camera was out. Yes, I know Destroy is skinny and those are not tattoos or bruises on his tummy, they are stamps from school. His teachers were wondering why the heck he stamping his stomach. But it all stems from the time I used to take Destroy to Gymboree before Search was born when he was 16-17 months old. They used to give them stamps on their tummys after class was over and somehow he still remembers this.

Search figured out to assemble his fingers to make different numbers and now tells everyone that he's two and a half. We had a family clean-up party when Daddy got home.

In the Car...

I heard this commercial for a local bar around here. Can't remember the name but I guess it doesn't really matter. The commentary went something like this:

"Hey ladies! Is your husband just lying around the house, bored and in the way? Well, get him out of the house and tell him to go to (so and so) bar! You can take that bubble bath and clean the house. Without help from him!" It went on and on about how he'll think you're such a great wife for suggesting it and maybe if you're lucky he'll bring home home some take-out!

Then at the end this was their slogan, "Saving marriages, one cigar at a time".

I can't even begin to express my thoughts after hearing this commercial. I won't even get started. Any of you care to?

Baby steps away from Babyhood

Last night before I went to bed I went to cover up the kids, and this is what I find. A white little bum staring my in the face.Ever since Search has been potty trained, he likes to take off his diaper or his underwear before he goes to sleep. Like last night. Yesterday when I went in to get him out after his nap he had taken off his pants and underwear, put them in a corner, peed in a different corner and was huddled in the opposite corner eying his mess while waiting for me to get him out. He tells me that he yells for me to get him out to go potty, but I never hear him. Maybe I'll have to get the good old monitor out again.

Search is now past the 2.5 year mark. So for the past couple of weeks I've been telling him that he is too big for his binky and that we need to give it to the garbage man. He tells me, "No, it's mine, not the gawbage man's". So yesterday, it being trash day, I decided once again to find a way to part with the binkys. I began telling him of all his little friends who grew too big for their binkys and gave them to the garbage man. It didn't take much persuasion before he decided that he was ready to take the next step to be a big boy. We heard the garbage truck rumbling back down our dead-end street and dashed for the door with binkys in hand. We ran out towards the garbage truck in the cold, Search in his jammies and me in my shorts from exercising. We flagged the garbage man down and I told him what we were doing. Search, without hesitating chucked the last two remaining binkys into the truck. The driver gave him a thumbs up and we headed back inside after watching the truck turn the corner. Search was pretty excited about giving the garbage man his binkys and kept telling everyone how he was officially a big boy now.

I was interested to see what would happen at his nap. This was our conversation at nap time:

1:00
Me: "Ok buddy, even though you don't have your binky anymore, you still have your blankie. So cuddle up and close your eyes."
Search: "Mommy, is the gawbage man coming back?"
Me laughing: "No, he is taking your binkys to the dump."
Search: "I don't want the gawbage man to dump my binkys".
Me: "You're a big boy. You'll be ok."

1:30
He screams at me to come change his sheets because he has peed in this crib

2:00 He drops Lightning McQueen and needs me to get it for him

2:30 He has to go potty. Again

2:50 Finally falls asleep

3:30 Wakes up

So maybe soon he will take the last remaining step toward big-boyhood and cut out the naps too. But for now, I will still force him to nap, for my sake if nothing else.

Bed Can Wait

a. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
b. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
c. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I'm copying you Brooke in Irvine...

GOOD:

1. I have always been and will always be in love with Broadway Musicals. Ever since I saw Phantom for the first time when I was a kid, I was hooked. I listen to the soundtracks until I've memorized all lyrics, notes and even the instrumental parts. I only wish that somehow my vocal chords could produce two tunes at once so that I could sing duets like "A Heart Full of Love" and "As Long as You're Mine" all by myself.

2. I thoroughly wash cleaning gloves with soap after wearing them. So what's the point of wearing the gloves?

3. Over the last few years I have gradually changed lanes on the freeway. In high school and college it was nothing but the fast lane. Then after I got married, I drove in the middle lanes. Now, since having kids, it's the slow lane. I know, friends, pick up your jaw off the floor. Megan has slowed down.

4. I shave my legs every day. Even if I don't wash my hair, I still shave my legs. I can't stand the feeling of leg hair especially when I'm cuddling between my flannel sheets at night.

5. I love swimming in mountain lakes. Even more, I love jumping off cliffs into mountain lakes. Don't worry, I don't do it naked or anything, but I totally love it. My favorite place to cliff jump is a little tiny lake in Nor Cal called Cliff Lake (very original, huh). The cliffs aren't dangerously high, but high enough to be exciting.

6. I love to smother people smaller than I am. My poor children are subject to tight squeezes, tickling, kisses and other manner of physical contact (positive physical contact, for all social services employees reading this blog. We don't spank. Hard.) numerous times a day . Whether or not they like I'll never know. I don't really pay attention to their reactions because I'm only satisfying my squeezing needs.

BAD:

1. I can't handle "scary stacks". A term that my mom, grandma and I use, "scary stacks" are loose papers, bills, to do lists, etc that are just lying in piles waiting to be filed, finished, checked off, or paid. If I don't know precisely what papers are in the stack, I go nuts. For this reason I sift through the scary stacks multiple times a day. Am I making sure nothing has been added? Taken away? Who knows. OCD is what I do know.

2. Sometimes I compose hatemail in my head. For example, "To the makers of Tyson Dino Buddies Chicken Nuggets: If you are going to suddenly make new species of dinosaurs into nuggets, could you please make more of the NEW ones than the OLD ones so that my dinosaur-obsessed children won't fight over the NEW dinos? It disrupts our mealtimes to have our children screaming over the new pteradons. Sincerely, Megan".

3. I hate it when the bottoms of my feet touch each other. My loving husband often uses this quirkiness against me when we are going to sleep. He sneaks the bottom of his foot slowly over to the bottom of my foot, then proceeds to rubs his foot against mine. He doesn't know it yet, but that new guest bed that we just put upstairs is actually for him when he feels like doing this.

4. I have this overpowering urge to be different. This eliminates shopping at Old Navy, but Desert Industries and the random cheap-o stores have always come to the rescue. And thus, the many lengths and rainbow of colors that was my hair while attending BYU. Go figure, I finally got married after I decided to look normal again. My favorite part was to watch people watch me. Oh, and my mom and dad showing up at my apartment with blue spiked hair just to make fun of me. That was the cherry on top.

5. I'm a picker. No scab on my body can survive without being picked numerous times. I have this theory that if I were to have a full body scan where the only thing that showed on the scan were scabs, my whole body would virtually be one big scab.

6. I let my kids eat food off of the floor. When presented with the choice to either let the kid eat the germ-laden raisin off the floor, or face a major full body tantrum coupled with screaming over that one lost sheep, I'll take the germs and the bad mom moment, thanks.

So, due to popular demand, I'm not going to tag anyone. But if you want to do it, just leave me a comment that you are!

Check it out!

Have you heard about the guy living in IKEA? It's hilarious. He and the security guard go nuts in the ball pit, he brushes his teeth with... well let's just say it's not toothpaste. And he's having a house-warming party! Check it out now! http://www.marklivesinikea.com/

Michael Jackson: Changing from Black to White

Just for you all (the large volume of readers that visit this blog) I have changed the background color. Now you can easily find your cursor without cursing me for having a black background. Aaron would like to point out that I am pathetic. It's true. Posting about changing my background color is very pathetic.

New Years Goals: Take One

I guess since everyone else is doing it... I will too.

New Years Goals:
1. Do not succumb to peer pressure. Sheesh, that one lasted long didn't it? ;)
2. Try to over-power my evening sweets craving by eating a carrot or apple. Maybe carrot cake or cookies with half applesauce, half butter :)
3. Stop using :) while blogging.
4. Change burnt out light bulbs as soon as they go out. Even if I have to get a ladder.
5. Floss more often (especially before my appointment in March so my dad doesn't think I don't floss:) oops, there goes #3.
6. Shower daily and do not wear same pajamas that I've worn all day and previous night to bed. Yes, I'm a 26-year-old woman, not a 10-year-old boy.
7. Take my make-up off at night.
8. Actually put make-up on so that I can take it off at night.
9. Do not run errands with out brushing teeth.
11. Do not blog while tired.
12. Attempt to control my neat-freakishness.
13. Stop using movies as a babysitter. Oh, but that extra hour of sleep in the morning is delightful!
14. Go to bed earlier so I don't need that extra hour of delightful sleep in the morning.
15. Delegate responsibilities and stop doing everything by myself.
16. Play cars, monsters eating lunch, snakes taking naps and whatever other game the kids are playing even when I really don't want to.
17. Quit being the backseat driver that I am.
18. Be more positive and less sarcastic.
19. Do not cram dishwasher full of dishes just to save a few pennies. They do not get clean.
20. Be more Christlike. This one just sums it all up so I'll stop here.

Sorry about my randomness. I can't help my strange nature. Happy New Year!

A Super Christmas

We had a fun Christmas! The boys decided months ago that they really wanted superhero costumes. So I got busy on my sewing machine and produced some fun little costumes. They got T-shirts in their favorite colors with the their initials, capes and masks. Superhero patterns were not in the budget so I didn't know how these costumes were going to fit them. I had to make a few alterations after they tried them on, but overall they turned out SUPER. Search and Destroy prefer to wear their capes without the T-shirts, with just underwear. Less clothing makes for better aerodynamics. Ready for blast off.
When we spend Christmas at my in-laws we always get jammies on Christmas eve. Luckily, Aaron's mom sent them in the mail this year so we told the boys while they were in the tubby on Christmas eve, that they could open one present (the jammies). Destroy pretended to be excited for a minute but then he had meltdown #1. "I told Santa I wanted a Buzz Lightyear!". He thought that this was his one and only Christmas present and that all he got were pajamas. We assured him that this was just a prequel to the next morning. Funny thing is, they love those pajamas and refuse to take them off. After I had washed them the next morning, they put them on and wore them all day. Capes and superheros in action. See? Destroy's hair is blowing in the fierce wind as he jumps. Good thing he is wearing protective eye covering. I'm so glad I made those masks! We had dinner with our friends Justin and Carol. She is an EXCELLENT cook so we enjoyed a lot of yummy food with names we couldn't pronounce. Search and Destroy love Carol and Justin, partly because they don't have kids yet but mostly because they are so fun.

So, I didn't take many pictures of Christmas morning because we were busy filming. But Destroy did get his Buzz Lightyear, in fact Santa even told me that he wanted to hide it and make them do a scavenger hunt for their presents from Santa. Santa is so clever. So they had to search for their Santa presents this year. Meltdown #2: Buzz Lightyear didn't have wings. But after a bit of reassurance and some make-believe, Destroy has come to terms with the fact that Buzz Lightyear doesn't have visible wings. Thank goodness for his active imagination so that he can pretend he does.

My favorite thing about Christmas is that I don't have to entertain my children for the following two days. The new toys do a great job.

Aaron got me a voucher for two tickets to a Broadway play and Carol already offered to babysit. Cha-ching! He also got me the Enchanted soundtrack which I successfully have stuck in my head on a loop. Even while I'm asleep. It's no wonder I like it so much, the soundtrack was written by the same guys that did Wicked.

After much searching, I found Guitar Hero III For Aaron. I told him that I couldn't find it anywhere (which was partly true, until I did:) Aaron also got his present on the scavenger hunt but it wasn't from Santa. It was from Santana :) Destroy is not coordinated enough to play this yet but he constantly asks for us to play it because it's fun to watch and we get to listen to great tunes. The first time we played this a few years ago Aaron told me I would be really good at it because I've played the piano my whole life. He was wrong. I stink. But he's really good! So it's fun to watch him and I like to play when he gives me the chance. Actually he did the dishes last night while I played. Isn't he the best? Anyways, we had a great Christmas and we are enjoying our break. Actually, I'm kind of lying. Aaron worked 100 hours last week (did you know there were that many hours in a week?) and Destroy doesn't have preschool which equals out to the fact that I have little time away from the kids. So, I'm ready for the break to be over.