Month: March 2006

This is for my family who checks the blog to see the boys. These are my most favorite pictures of them of the moment. I have to say, I’ve got some cute kids!

So tonight we are packing up the party van (which Connor has started calling the Hummer) and heading North. Tomorrow we will be embarking on an adventure called Day Out With Thomas with some good friends of ours, Ryan and Maggie. Needless to say, Connor is thrilled beyond belief about getting to ride on Thomas tomorrow! We will spend the rest of the weekend hanging out with family before loading back into the “hummer” to head home Sunday morning. It should be a really fun weekend!

First off, let me say how happy I am that a few commenters have love in their hearts for Drop Dead Georgous. To the rest of you-rent it! You will not be disappointed. Well, you might, but if you are I am pretty sure it means you have no sense of humor. A robot, if you will.

Okay, onto the reason why I crack myself up. Tonight, as I was thoroughly engrossed in my new magazine, Derek starts talking to me about reunion.com.

“So, Megan, you must get a lot of emails from reunion.com just like I do.”

“Um, no I don’t. I don’t think I’ve ever been to that site.”

“Yes you have. Come read my profile. I am sure that you wrote it.”

I am intrigued. I have absolutely no recollection of ever visiting that site, much less having the gall to writ a profile for someone other than myself.

“How do you know I wrote it?”

“Just come look at it.”

So I do. I begrudgingly hoist myself off my comfy purple chair and plop down on the couch. And this is what I saw.

About My Personal Life
I am working on a PhD in Chemistry at Caltech in Pasadena, CA. The only joy in my life is my wonderful,amazing, brilliant, beautiful, astounding, sassy, lovely, best friend and wife Megan. She is my inspiration and the reason I go on living. I enjoy learning to write Chinese and doing ballet. Have a good life.

It makes me laugh to think that anyone who has looked at his profile in the past 6 years saw that message. Sometimes I just really crack myself up.

Do you think I have a future in biography writing?

So, anyone not in the scrapbooking world may not appreciate this as much as I do.

But…

One of my layouts is being published in the July issue of Scrapbook Trends Magazine! I am so incredilbly excited. I haven’t been submitting layouts very long, and it’s just going to be so cool to see sweet Logan’s face in a magazine!

Derek and I decided we should celebrate by going out to dinner. But our budget is just not allowing for a nice dinner at this time, so Whataburger it was. Did anyone ever see the movie “Drop Dead Georgous“? It’s this obscure movie with Kirstin Dunst, Denise Ricards, and Kirstie Alley (pre Fat Actress days…) It is totally funny, kind of along the lines of Waiting for Guffman. Total mockumentary. Anyway, there is this scene where Kirstin Dunst and her mom are flipping out because they get to stay at the “airport HoJo” (aka Howard Johnson). Derek and I referece this all the time when we get excited about things that aren’t really sassy. So going to Whataburger to celebrate tonight definitely qualifies as a airport hojo experience!

I really hope someone has seen this movie and knows what I am talking about.

It’s a good day today.

I feel like a real grown-up home owner. Last night we had our first dinner party! I know I could have had parties in our California apartment, even though it was small. We did have the occasional party, but it was always outdoors and we grilled hamburgers or chicken. Those are great fun, don’t get me wrong. But this was my first dinner party, in my dining room. I made homemade lasagna-I mean, serious homemade lasagna. The sauce is from scratch and must simmer for 3 hours. But it was so good, it was totally worth the effort! There were 5 adults and 7 children, so this was certainly not a formal party. And it was all family. But we sat in the dining room, so in my book it was a dinner party. And it was all to celebrate our sweet Logan’s first birthday.

Check out this mookarama.

I decided I wanted cereal for breakfast this morning. I pull out the box and pour it into my bowl. Derek wins the mooker of the day award for this move. He poured himself a bowl of cerel to the brim of his bowl , and left me this. Why he didn’t just finish it, I don’t know. All I know is he enjoyed a heaping bowl of scrumptios cereal, and I got crumbs. Which I didn’t even get to eat because Connor wanted cereal for breakfast, too. I live with a bunch of mookers!

Happy Birthday, my sweet Logan Bennett! *Click for a little slideshow*

Wow. A year already? How can that even be?

As a tribute to my second born, I will write about all the things I love most about him.

I love his smile. It is gigantic, lights up a room, and melts my heart every single time.
I love his blue eyes. I’ve always wanted a blue eyed baby.
I love his flair for drama. Hmmm…I wonder where he got that from? *wink wink*
I love his cuddles. Everytime I pick him up, he nuzzles right down on my shoulder. It’s like that spot was made for his cheek.
I love his baby smell.
I love his exuberence.
I love his curious nature.
I love his laugh. It’s the best sound in the world.
I love how much he adores his big brother and his daddy.

Happy Birthday, my boy. May your years ahead be filled with joy!

“…so run from all these evil things, and follow what is right and good. Pursue a godly life, along with faith, love, perserverence, and gentleness. ” 1 Timothy 6:11

Every once in awhile, Connor wakes up crying during the night. Usually, it is either because he lost his sossy, a.k.a his blanket, or he is out of water. Very rarely, he wakes up crying but isn’t really awake. Derek and I figure he is having nightmares or terrors of some kind. We just wake him up, tuck him back in, and he is off to dreamland. He never remembers when this happens.

The other night, he woke up crying. I trudged to his room to see what was going on. By the sound of his cry, I really thought he had fallen out of his bed or was stuck down the crack beside the wall. I go in and see him just writhing back and forth in his bed, eyes clenched closed, saying something that I can’t even begin to understand. “I waaaa chaaa keeee. I waaaaa chaaaa caaaa keeee…” After a minute or so, I figured out what he was saying. “I want a chocolate cookie.” Over and over again, he was crying for a cookie! I was cracking up. It’s not like we even eat cookies that often. I can’t remember the last time he had a chocolate cookie. But here we are at 3:30 a.m., and Connor is hysterical for a cookie. I calmly told him “Connor, it’s the middle of the night, and we don’t eat cookies in the middle of the night.” He accepted that answer and began crying for something else. “I wannnt a paci. I want a paci.” You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s been more than a year since he had a paci! “Connor, you’re too big for a paci.” Keep in mind that this entire time, he is not even awake. I gently shook his shoulder until his eyes fluttered open. Sure enough, as soon as he opens his eyes, the crying stops and he whispers “will you hold my hand?” Just like that our little night terror adventure is over. I suppose if the kid is going to have a nightmare, it’s nice to have one about cookies.

In other news….

We have signs of life in the garden!

I am so excited. I went out to water today, and the spinach, beans, and cucumbers have sprouted! I don’t know who is more excited-Connor or myself. I can’t wait to eat some fresh veggies! I love having a backyard.

Today I rediscovered all of our music channels on DirecTV. During the day, I like to have something on in the background, but I don’t like to have tv shows on all day. The music channels are the perfect solution. The music channel today is The 90s. It takes me right back. I’ve heard “Gettin’ Jiggy With It”, some Ace of Base, and pretty much every song I ever slow danced to in Junior High. I have missed a few Memory Lane Monday’s, so today I am going to share some dance memories with y’all.

The first happened in 1992. I was in the 7th grade and it was my very first dance. I believe it was a Christmas dance, but I could be worng about that. What I do remember is my black and white dress from Ross. I thought it was perfect, but as soon as I got to the dance I realized it was all wrong. This was a church-type dress, and a lot of the other girls were wearing semi-formal or formal dresses. Strike one. Then, no one asked me to dance. Strike two. Finally, while at the refreshment table I heard some of the upper classmen talking about spiking the punch. Strike three. I hysterically called my mom to pick me up, conviced I was going to be drunk because I had consumed three glasses of the punch. My mom was there for me in an instant, and just like that my first dance was over. No one had spiked the punch, but it took a lot for my mom to convince me that I wasn’t going to get drunk. You might think that I look back at this with embarassment, but honestly I don’t. Two things stand out to me-one, my mom was there for me at my most awkward time. She didn’t make me feel stupid or ugly, she just reasoned with me, told me how beautiful I was, and let me pour my 12 year old heart out. The second is just how innocent I was. Are kids in 7th grade that innocent anymore? I truly hope that my kids are. I hope they freak out at the thought of consuming alcohol. I hope they know they can turn to me at any time. I hope when my kids are 12, they still act like children. I don’t want them to grow up too fast.

Dance memory number two: Now it’s 1994 and I am a wise 8th grader. I danced my first slow dance that year with a guy named Jon West. I realized that dances were pretty fun and no one ever spiked the punch. I was involved in this social dance thing called Kaleidoscope. I think there were 4 dances that year and you had to be invited to go. I wore my first formal that year. I cannot find a picture of it anywere-they must be at my mom’s house. But it was orange, had humongous sleeves, and was slightly longer in the back than in the front, with lots and lots of layers in the skirt. I think it was my step-sister’s prom dress (Cindi? Do you remember this dress?) I really need to find a picture of it. Oh boy, it was a real beauty!

Prom 1997: I went to prom my Junior year of high school with my best guy friend, Derek (not husband Derek.) We had such a good time. We were just goofy and crazy the whole time. There was a bit of a dress catastrophe involving those stick on bra things. It was nothing a little medical tape couldn’t fix. When Derek came to pick me up, my mom had just finished vacuuming the house. We thought it would be so funny to pose with the vacuum cleaner. I love it. I still smile when I look at this picture.

Prom 1998: I asked now-husband Derek to the prom. We had an okay time, but it was just kind of awkward. We weren’t at a very good place in our relationship then. And it didn’t help any that his college friends made fun of him for going to a high school prom. But we went, and overall we had a good time. Obviously things worked out between us, despite the awkward prom.

I really wish I could find some good pictures of junior high dance days. Everybody loves a good, embarassing picture!

Can I just say that I really feel the love when people wonder where I am? I guess I’ve always loved attention, so attention to my blog is right up my ally. So thanks for the love!

I just really haven’t had too much to blog about. Well, that and I’ve been really busy. Here’s a quick run down of the past week or so…this might get really boring…

My mom has her spring break right now so she came down to visit us. I love having my mom around! It’s especailly nice right now because D is out of town. She arrived on Sunday, so Saturday was spent cleaning up the house..which I usually do on Fridays, but I had to run errands that day. Sunday, we went to church and then picked up mom from the airport, at which point I had a very unfortunate run in with an extrememly rude security guard. I tried to tell the guy my mom was right behind us-because she was-and he wouldn’t let me sit there for 10 more seconds. He was acutally radioing in my license plate. Oh, was I mad. I mean, my mom was right there and he made me leave. Ugh.

Monday we took care of Kayla, brother’s little girl. Then Kathy (my sister in law) and I went shopping in the afternoon. We finished the night with dinner at Kathy’s house. Today I had a doctor’s appointment, followed immediately by a picture appointment at Sears. Kathy and I wanted to get pics made of our kids together, plus everyone needed some individuals. Wanna see them? Here they are.

Bored yet?

Today my mom and I got the garden ready, and once Connor got up from rest time, we planted our garden! I am so excited about my little garden. I’ve never had one before. Connor was so cute and so serious about planting the seeds. I can’t wait to see some little sprouts-I am sure you will all be anxiously awaiting those pictures!

In other news, my sweet Logan B is walking! Well, walking might be a bit of a stretch, but he is taking steps. I’ve even captured it with the video camera, but I’m too lazy to upload it tonight. But here is a picture of my big boy standing tall. You can tell by his face that it takes an immense amount of concentration.

So there’s a big update for y’all. Better blogging to come, I promise.

I know this picture is really blurry and not good at all, but I think you can get the idea of what this is.

That’s right. A lizard. I am pretty sure that it must be the brother of the lizard I killed a few weeks ago. He is trying to get revenge on me for smushing his brother. I simply opened my front door to check on some packages, and the booger ran right inside like he owned the place. I freaked. I freaked big time. I screamed and ran to the other side of the house doing the “there might be lizards on me” dance. Thank God Derek was home this time so he was able to take care of this guy. He lost his tail in the process, but at least he is not residing on my walls or in my bed-which is where I was sure he was headed.

So I am watching a friends’ little boy today. Tristan is just about Connor’s age and they are having so much fun together! Seriously, this is so easy. If I thought that having three kids would be like this I would pop another one out pronto. But, of course this isn’t reality. For one thing, babies don’t come out playing nicely with other kids. And they certainly aren’t on their best behavior like Tristan is. But I am really amazed at how nicely they are playing together. There haven’t been any major fights, they are sharing, laughing, and just being boys together. The whole playing nice with others thing just reinforces the fact that Connor is growing up. It’s pretty amazing to me what kids learn to do in just a few years. If I look at what I have learned in the past three years it doesn’t even compare to what Connor has learned. It is all just a reminder of how important these first few years are. More growing and learning takes place right now than ever again in his life. I am so thankful that I have been able to stay home and be his teacher for these years.

Enough of that tangent. I just noticed that my blogiversary was two days ago! One year of blogging. I am so glad that Derek convinced me to start this thing. Now I have a great record of the past year. I’ve connected with people I’ve lost touch with, and even made new friends. Horray for blogging!

Love this little music lover. This is his favorite thing to do right now. I hope that he always loves music the way he does at this moment. He is constantly singing, constantly asking for his guitar or daddy’s guitar. When he hears the drums, he is spellbound. I can just tell that music is already in his soul and it makes me so happy. I love this boy.