Look Alike Kids

Sometimes, people tell me Asher and Luke look like twins. I think that's silly. Clearly, they look completely different, and I'm sure I'm not at all biased by the fact that I'm their mother and spend a million hours a day with them.


Then, my sister-in-law, Sarah sent me this picture (thanks, Sarah!). And, before I saw the date with the picture, I'll admit, at first, I thought it was Asher. But, then, I remembered I dyed my hair red when Luke was this age because I thought being a redhead might make me look skinnier. (If you knew how skinny my redheaded friends are, you'd see why I tried it!)

Getting Political

We've been trying to have a family night every Monday. Mine are very modest: a verse of scripture, a song, and a story, and I usually don't come up with it until Monday afternoon, which I figure is a good idea because if I spend lots of time doing it, I would feel bad that my mom and I are the only ones participating come Monday night.


So, I was particularly grateful when Asher's teacher sent home a flyer about a little political project we could do. We traced our hands and wrote a note on them for Govenor Brewer about our concerns about cuts to public education.


If you're a fellow Arizonan, here's more info: http://joinhandsforeducation.org/who.html

6 Tag

My friend, Bianca, tagged me (if you tag me in Facebook, I'll never respond--sorry, I've tried, and I can't figure it out).

Here are the directions:

1. Go to your documents/pictures
2. Go to your 6th file
3. Go to your 6th picture
4. Post it, and blog about it
5. Tag 6 people to do the same
6. Name your picture

So, my picture is of my maternal great-great-great grandmother, Alice. She converted to the LDS Church in England and settled in Eastern Arizona. She was the third wife of a Mormon polygamist. She never learned how to read, and her husband wasn't around much (from his letters, it's clear she wasn't a favorite wife). But, she had four boys that loved her and grew up to be spiritual and successful men.

I tag G, Heather, Jana, and Jessica because they all take excellent photos (and they're my blogging buddies, so they can't get too upset, right?), and Rachel (even though she's no fun and has a private blog :) ) and Dave/Jessica.

Scenes from a Marriage: Easter Performance

After my organ/piano duet. Note: I was the one on the organ, and I, uh, don't know how to play the organ.

Nate: That was great!
Emily: No, it wasn't; I totally panicked.
Nate: Ok, but it was pretty good.
Emily: Really?
Nate: Yeah, if Rockband had scored it, it would have been above 90%

And, strangely, that made me think it wasn't that bad after all.

Wishing you a rockin' Easter!

The Celebrity Life

Sometimes, I compare myself to celebrity moms who have kids the same age as my kids(because Gwen Stefani and I are SO similar--I mean we both have 2 boys, we pay someone to make us blonde, and...um...I guess that's where the similarities end).

And, I occasionally get all bummed that I'm not as skinny as they are--like when Denise Richards and I had babies days apart, and then, 6 weeks later, she was modeling for Playboy when I was thinking, "Whoohoo! Size 10 here I come!" (Ok, that's a lie; it wasn't 6 weeks...it was 6 months.)

I guess I felt bad because Playboy didn't ask me to model for them.

So, I'd been hearing all this talk about Gwenyth Paltrow's Goop newsletter and went to check it out. I heard she had some recipes on there, and I'm always looking for something tasty to make. I'm so glad I did because I now realize why I'll never be as thin as a celebrity.

Clearly, I just don't have the dedication.

Like I'm going to consume half a cup of castor oil to loose a few pounds? I've never been that desperate even when I was pregnant and hoped it might start labor. And, I don't think I could eat most of those soups without, the remedy my friend, Sara, suggested with her wheatgrass experiment--a handful of chocolate chips to get the soup's taste out of my mouth.

I think I'll go and enjoy some Cadbury eggs, and I'll have an extra handful in honor of you, Gwenyth, because that's the kind of big-hearted (and big-bottomed) gal I am.

(I'll also try your biscuit recipe because it did look like a winner, and really, when I sound snotty, it's because I'm totally jealous. I mean the closest thing I have to a Coldplay concert is when my pre-teen piano students play "Clocks" for me.)

Simplifying

A bit about Luke's personality...Luke will teach himself whatever he deems necessary. Should his mom or dad try to teach him something, he'll ignore them.

I swear since his birthday, he'll roll his eyes at me when we work on "How old is Luke?"--because putting up those 2 fingers is SO beneath him.


So, I haven't taught Luke much. Any words he has he's figured out on his own because they're very important (words like strawberry, dog, Calliou (really, what is my kids' fascination with that kid?), and cookie).

But, this week, Luke has decided to simplify his vocabulary. So, if you're Luke:
1) all vehicles are now "choo-choo trains"
2) all animals are now "elephants"
3) all foods are now "cookies"
4) all adults are now "Calliou"

And this picture? It looks like the boys are fighting, but that's them when I asked them to smile, look at the camera and say "cheese."

Sometimes I think I should get fired from being "Mom"...

...and other times, I think, "Maybe I am doing something right."