9 Years

So apparently, 9 years of marital bliss smells like skunk... I awoke early on our 9 year wedding anniversary and smelled the unmistakable smell of an unhappy skunk. Lovely.

This sure sweetened the smell in our house-

And nothing says 'Happy Anniversary' like a romantic dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's. We wanted Chuckie to renew our vows, but it didn't work out. Really though, we celebrated our anniversary the weekend before, and this night worked out well for Bryson's stop-sucking-his-finger party- we invited some neighbors and friends and family and needless to say, we had fun, especially since we hadn't been to Chuck's in a looooong time... I *heart* Chuck E. Cheese's...




And what could make a trip to Chuck's better? Giant lollipops, of course!!

He knows what he wants

Eli has a temper. He must get it from his daddy *wink*wink* The boy knows what he wants and when he wants it (generally NOW!!) and quickly lets you know JUST how badly he wants it by grunting frantically, which could easily be confused with screaming. Heaven forbid you try (I say try, because his tiny hands can hold a death grip like no other) to take something from him, because he WILL tell you ALL about it.... and for a long long loud time.

At my grandmothers birthday party, Nathan won a cheesy little hand held video game- naturally the boys think it's totally amazing and all want it. Initially, Eli could only hear the 'awesome' synthesized music it plays and stare with wonder at the black plastic back as Bryson and Dallin would pull it out of the others hands every few minutes or so the first TWO days we had it- I'm pretty sure Eli sensed that 'three would be a crowd' in "sharing" this new gizmo and that he would get the brunt end of this brothers frustration, so he bided his time, watching and waiting, until one night, as his brothers were both brushing their teeth...

oh, I love technology....

And then Bryson came back and tried to reclaim his prize- Eli would have no part of it...

Bryson was laughing at this point because Nathan and I couldn't stop- I was crying I was laughing so hard because poor little Eli was NOT letting go of his rightfully gained prize! And as soon as he wrestled it away from Bryson...

He went and hid in the closet with it! Just let me play in peace!!

He knows what a stinker he is!

I promised myself I wouldn't do this.... oh well.

So, I've become a major coupon-er. It was all consuming for a while, and while I still spend a lot of time doing it, I think I've gotten it a little more under control... hard to say though, because I've just gotten a lot better at it...

I promised myself when I started couponing that I wasn't going to start blogging about my money saving extravaganzas. I have absolutely no problem with people who post their weekly shopping trips and deals and such- in fact, I rely quite heavily on their experiences to plan my trips and save money myself, so I actually appreciate and am in awe of them, but as for me and my blog, it's more about my family... again, not trying to insinuate anything, just that this blogs purpose is one of recording milestones, family events and such. AND THIS IS A MILESTONE!! One that I'm quite sure I will/can never duplicate. I just have to record it for posterity *grin*

I went to Albertsons today (I *heart* Alberstons!!) and spent a whopping $3.08 --- and saved $270.82!!

And here's the receipt to prove it!!!

Shocking, I know. I'm still trying to get over it.

Mmmmm.... Pasta Bread Bowls.....

So in passing, I've seen some of the pasta bread bowl commercials from Dominos or wherever... and I've been craving them- I had this recipe I'd gotten recently from safely gathered in for Italian bread bowls- so instead of using them for soup, I stuffed 'em with pasta... I sauteed some chicken, onion, garlic, bell peppers and tomatoes, and then added some [leftover homemade] Alfredo sauce and penne noodles and [I tasted it and it definetly needed some] extra parmeasan cheese... then I stuffed the bread bowls and sprinkled motzerella cheese on top and broiled.... oh my it was good- which is saying a lot, because I don't generally enjoy my cooking til the next day- something about all the time and effort and smelling it as its cooking makes me loose my appetite for whatever I'm making, but not these goodies. I ate two!

The boys

Have I mentioned how much Dallin likes to climb? He's just tall enough now to climb up the end of the bunk beds to reach the CD player to turn on 'Rock-A-Baby Band.' Which really stinks because the song is terribly annoying.


Dal and Bryson have recently switched beds now too- Dallin sleeps on the top bunk and Bryson on the bottom. I just find it so interesting, because when we first got the bunk beds up, Bryson was not quite four years old and I was so scared to let him sleep on the top- I actually made him sleep on the bottom for a few weeks until I was comfortable with it- (I can't believe he actually put up with me!) And now I fine with Dallin sleeping up there and he's not even three and definetely smaller than Bryson was- oh how perspective changes with subsequent children!

So April 22nd Bryson burned his finger on the stove. I had just taken a boiling pot off and Bryson was showing off for a friend and quick counted the circles on the stove with his finger and touched the hot burner- he cried and cried and cried and cried- big ol' tears and I felt so bad, but it turned out to be a wonderful thing! You see, the finger he burned was his favorite sucking finger... so for several days we had a band-aid on it secured with silk tape... when his finger was doing better and not requiring a band-aid anymore, he came to me and asked for tape on ALL his fingers so he couldn't suck them- I complied skeptically but was encouraged that HE had taken the step himself- and he hasn't sucked his fingers since! He's stopped sucking his fingers several times before for a few weeks at a time, but it was always MY idea, and because I was making him- but this time, it's all on his own, and he is so excited! For about a week we put silk tape on his fingers daily, and then for two weeks only when he went to school (I think it was a knee-jerk reflex to walk in the doors and put his finger in his mouth....) While Bryson has always been a talker, his teacher has informed me that since his finger has come out of his mouth, she can hardly get a word in edgewise *grin* 

This is the first week he's gone to school without tape on his fingers and the teachers aide said he did great! Bryson is pretty much always honest about telling on himself and fessing up to sucking his finger, but he has consistently denied any finger sucking since he burned his finger... and I really believe him- I can usually sense when he is sucking (no motherly intuition for illness or danger... just him sucking his finger). And I had proof that he's not been sucking tonight... as I was putting him in bed I saw he needed his finger nails trimmed- so I got out the clippers and noticed there was dirt under his pointer fingernails!! Gross as it is, there is always dirt under all of his fingers EXCEPT his pointer fingers because those are the fingers he sucks on, but NOT ANYMORE!! YAHOO!! I really think it's for keeps this time too!

In other news- Dallin has found a few finger holder:
I often find him with BOTH pointer fingers in his nose- one in each nostril- a perfect fit. How lovely. Better yet (and totally unrelated) Dallin is officially toilet trained- potty and poop!! A few Wednesday's ago when I was at work, Dallin pulled down his pants in the backyard and dropped a load right there.... peeing is one thing (and he loves peeing outside... boys...) but poop- that's definitely not okay, but hey, at least he didn't do it in his pants (and at least I was at work!!) So Nathan quick ran him inside and Dallin finished the job on the toilet.... a few days later, he told me he needed to go so we ran to the bathroom where I spent the next hour and 15 minutes begging and pleading with him crying and begging to get off- but I had learned my lesson before... if he says he needs to go, and then sits down and can't even pee, he's holding it in.... the kid can always squeeze out a few drops at least... so I was not about to let him up this time... I'm not really sure what convinced him, but finally he did it!!

The next time it only took 45 minutes of convincing, then 10 minutes, and today, he pooped TWO TIMES in the toilet just as soon as he sat down! Today was a happy day!

Playing outside

I love spring and getting outside again! The boys have loved playing on the swing set... too bad we're selling it- it's just too big for where we want it, so Nathan is going to build a swing set on one side of the yard, and a fort/tower on the other side with the money from selling this one.... assuming it sells...

Bryson has really figured out how to pump his legs to go high while swinging- he is always yelling for me to watch him and anytime we go somewhere there's a swing, he can't wait to try it out- I loved swinging as a kid too-

Dallin loves to swing also, which requires me to stand and push him... when one of us looses interest (usually me) he climbs up the tower to slide- and I about have a heart attack every time as I watch him come within 1-tiny-hands-grasp of falling...