parade of homes and grandparents' visit

this past week, we had the privilege of having grandpa and grandma jackman come down from idaho for a visit. the kids were thrilled and we had a super time. we visited some homes on the parade of homes tour which is always a great way to kill a few days. and wow, were they impressive!! one of them was 21, 000 (yes, twenty one thousand) square feet, had a bowling alley, arcade, karioke stage, a gym, a home theater, a kids theater and other utterly unbelievable amenities. i don't know who these people are or what they do for money, but is was grossly apparent they have plenty of money and enjoy spending it. since it was a custom home and not a spec home, it was decorated for the actual family that will inhabit it. the nursery on the main floor had a blue theme with 3 cribs and sports bedding. yes, they are expecting triplet boys. and later, i found out from someone else, this family already has 2 sets of twins!!! wowza! but i'm taking a stab in the dark that since they can live in a department store sized abode, they can afford several nannies, a chef, a maid, and who knows how many personal assistants. just a guess. :) i will say there home was gorgeous, very tasteful and livable. as weird as that sounds. we were so happy that grandpa and grandma could come visit for a few days and play with us. :)

we have been doing the same old same old it seems lately. laundry, preschool, cleaning, and trying to soak up some rays at the park when the weather is nice. the kids love the free play and i like to socialize with the other moms. its such an awesome stage right now because, really, i can sit and visit while i have one eye on them. they aren't eating dirt, they aren't going to walk off the edge, they stay where i ask them to (mostly) and i'm not getting up and down every 5 minutes. its pretty nice. :)

can i say hallelujah that the writers strike is over? i honestly don't consider myself a tv junkie but i do have a few favorites and i am glad that they will back now. i am LOVING the new season of lost. its my thursday night heroine. gotta get my fix. so glad its thursday again. thursdays are great days because a) its preschool which always is terrific, b) i don't cook, c)lost is on, d) once a month book club is on thursday night and e) it means that the next day is friday and the weekend is here!

to nap or not to nap

that is the question. over the past few months, napping has been an issue in our house. marissa could take a nap every day and go to sleep between 7-8pm and sleep 11-12 hours, no problemo. mason, however, is cut from a different cloth. on days he takes a nap, he sleeps heavy and long, like 2-3 hours. no matter if the nap is from 12-2 or from 2-4 it doesn't make a difference when he takes his nap, the fact is if he takes a nap at all, he is not asleep till 9-9:30pm or even 10. aaahhhhh!!!! and its not like he's laying awake peacefully in his bed. he wanders the house, tries to come up to our room or goes to the play room, sneaking toys back to his bed.

but . . . if he doesn't nap, he is in bed and fast alseep by 7:15. it is fantastic!! so even though he is fairly beastly in the afternoon and early evening without having taken a nap, the fact that i can have the whole evening to myself is well worth it. so that has been my strategy, no more naps. bath at 6:30, lights out at 7 and its fantastic! sometimes, this does not always work. instead of nap time i will turn on a movie for "quiet time" (read mommy needs some time away from the monkeys) and i will come downstairs and find him asleep on the couch. and if we run errands in the afternoon, he falls asleep in the car. so i have stay home, and keep a sharp eye out to make sure sleepy dwarf doesn't zonk out somewhere.

enter today. we went to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather and played long and hard. this afternoon i weeded out their closets and drawers, taking all their too small clothes and seasonal clothes out, putting them in bags for storage. i was with them, they were playing with me, and then mason was quite. this is where i found the poor chap. he needs to learn the art of the power nap. because we have tried waking him up after only 45 min or an hour and it is a scene out of national geographic. the male grizzly doesn't take kindly to being awoken mid hibernation. hopefully, we can get him on a good schedule where is getting the right amount of sleep at the right times.

Happy Valentine's Day!

i must confess, i am a romantic. and so here are some of my favorite fictional couples:
(not in any order)

gilbert blythe and anne shirley- not only did i once feel a kinship with anne because of our names, but the love story is so so so sweet! the name calling (he called her carrots) and the school outbursts of their youth (she broke her slate on his head) slowly, ever so slowly, turned to romance and they finally figured out they were best friends who loved each other.

elizabeth bennet and mr.darcy- how could any woman resist a man who tells her that she has bewitched him body and soul? tell me how. it is not possible.

scarlett o'hara and rhett butler- in the running for best flirters in literature. talk about passion. they certainly had it.

jane eyre and mr. rochester- every woman wants the man who can have any woman, to want you, and you are the self described mousy governess to boot! so he had his first wife locked up in the attic, big deal, it eventually worked itself out beautifully.

from the tv show alias: sydney bristow and michael vaughn- hello, on-screen chemistry anyone? that hour of tv sizzled! the "will they or won't they" teasing lasted for almost 2 seasons before they finally put us out of our misery. they are my favorite tv couple

hugh grant and anyone- okay, my 2 fav hugh grant couplings in movies were julia roberts in notting hill and rachel weis (sp?) in about a boy. maybe its his accent, who knows? this brit certainly is one of my favorite leading men to watch, he is simply charming.

johnny depp- love him in the movies; chocolate, finding neverland, and benny and joon. he is sooo romantic no matter his accent, costume or lines are in the movie. he is swoon worthy.

other great romances worth mentioning- edward and eleanor from sense and sensibility, sarah agnes prine and captain jack elliot from these is my words, edward and bella from twilight, and gracelin o'malley and morgan mcdonagh from the book gracelin o'malley

weekend fun

this has been a good weekend. on friday, i was feeling pretty sack-o-crap-ish, so my awesome friend staci did toddler time at the library for me. what a gem! that was soooo nice not to have to worry about that. my goal was to be a slug all day and to save my energy for a friend's valentines party that evening. it worked. i felt fine and had enough energy to get ready and shed my jammies and hit the shower. we had a fancy taco bar and played the newlywed game. good times. i think i was smiling/laughing the entire evening, honestly! and travis and i came in second place out of 10 couples playing the game. if only he had remembered my mom's birthday; month, day and year we would have won. sigh. ;) actually, surprisingly, it was really fun to play. and to his credit, he got month and year right so i am quite proud of him. there were some men who only guessed month and they were wrong about that! (really mark, you've been married how long again?)

saturday morning i got up early (okay, earlier than i wanted) and met some friends to take another friend out for her birthday breakfast. that also was tons of fun. i adore bear paw cafe and had to hide the fact that that is was where i was going from marissa. she is enamored by that place as well. so i just said that i was going out with mommies and talked up how much fun she would have with maddie and megan weston. anyway, excellent food, excellent friends make an excellent morning. happy birthday farm girl!

meanwhile travis enjoyed his saturday golfing in a tournament, they came in tied for last place but at least it was a)free and b)nice weather. i watched an ER i had tivoed, and then when trav came home we headed into town. i had to stop by old navy to get a pair of shorts for marissa that they were out of her size/color online and a shirt for mason. then we headed over to my favorite restaurant (and i didn't call, robyn, i'm sorry, i figured you and bob didn't want to sit through dinner with my kids) samuri 21 and dined on a fantastic meal. i LOVE places where they consistently exceed expectations. i have NEVER had a bad meal there. and it tastes sensational every single time we go. it makes me salivate simply to think of it. yum. topped off with a little cold stone, we rolled our rotund bodies to the van and came home.

following a bath and a few stories, tucked the kids in bed and travis and i settled in for a evening with our tivo. we are celebrity apprentice fans and i have to say wow, i think that nely was so stupid to tell donald trump to "get over it". she deserved to get fired. and we also watched our new favorite comedy on tv, its called "pysch" on the usa channel. it is freakin' hilarious!!! the 2 main actors, james roday and dule hill, make me laugh so hard my face hurts at the end of each episode. it is so very cleverly written and put together. and with tv as it is today, that is saying something.

and then today was stake conference. i have to admit, usually a "not favorite" of mine because its 2 hours in the uncomfy seats and i have to strain to hear and see the projection at the very front of the chapel. (we met in our ward building and it is broadcast from the stake center, pretty cool) anyway, today elder robert wood of the quorum of the 70 spoke. he was such an entertaining, dynamic, interesting speaker! he talked about the play "our town" by thornton wilder, the pyscho-sexual analyst kinsey, aristotle, harry potter, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, his dog dying, his mission days, growing up in idaho falls, and getting the phone call by gordon b. hinckley to be in the quorum of the 70, 9 years ago. and even though he covered a broad spectrum of people, places and things, he actually was easy to follow and his point was clear. character is more important than intelligent. our choices define who are we, define our character. what is natural or commonly accepted is not always right. and we must recognize our true potential to be our true selves and find joy. he also said that many of us leave our sunday services inspired and think to ourselves, what a great message. yet by sunday afternoon or monday morning, we have thought no more of it. if we want to be our best self, to reach our truest potential, we must remember these messages and apply them into our daily lives. make the necessary changes, repent and refine ourselves. it was a great message and i was inspired when i left. lets hope i have some follow-through.

all in all, a very fun weekend and i have the bestest friends and family a girl can ask for. :)

different as night and day

my friend/fellow blogger christin inspired to me do a little twinnie comparison. i know that they are not identical but for having the same parents and sharing the same life experience thus far, they are fairly opposite across the spectrum. here are some examples:

mason- potty trained second, has slept in big boy underwear since 2 weeks after he was trained. he has NEVER wet the bed. he might pee all over the floor (its been a while, lets hope we have outgrown that phase) but he is dry all night long
marissa- potty trained first, still sleeps in pull-ups and for a long time used to have to wear pull-ups at nap time because she would wet the bed. i don't foresee her sleeping in big girl underwear for a while

mason-can quote movies/tv shows like no other. he goes around the house casting spells, like expecto patronum and saying things from tigger and pooh like "anytime, anyplace the super sleuths are on the case"
marissa- could care less about it

mason-i could dress him in his sister's nightgown and send him off to school, he wouldn't care a bit. happy as a lark with whatever he is wearing, never any requests
marissa- i spend a large chunk of time SEVERAL times a day having discussions about clothes, what clothes are school appropriate, why we can't wear the pants we wore on monday again, why we dress warmly in the winter and how some clothes are okay to wear at home but not out in public

mason-doesn't like ice cream too much
marissa- can' t shovel it in fast enough

mason-zero to mild interest in coloring
marissa- ultra intense color-er

mason-my salty boy, loves chips with a PASSION, french fries, eggs and hot dogs
marissa-wants hot chocolate every morning, cinnamon sugar toast and a chocolate treat after every meal including breakfast

mason-would be happy by himself with his cars, a dozen balloons and things that make noise
marissa- wants to be with friends all the time

mason-always willing to say the prayer, would pray before every meal if i let him
marissa-always says its mason's turn and has to be gently persuaded that she can have a turn too

mason-always wants the same bed time song, and bed time stories
marissa-shakes it up and wants different ones all the time, including made-up songs that we don't know the words to

mason-slower eater, recent dinners have lasted an hour and a half with him still chewing
marissa-cleans her plate in record time

mason-allows me to help him get his plate, his fork, get his shoes on, etc.
marissa-insistent on doing it all herself, choosing every detail of every day

mason-learned his letters, (sounds and visual identifying) way before marissa and is never wrong
marissa- took a while to get them right and still has a tendency to mix them up a bit

mason-is always ready with loves, hugs and kisses
marissa-tells me she won't kiss me, only daddy or that she kissed me yesterday and not today

mason-loud, loud, loud
marissa- not so much

mason-wakes up between 7-7:30 every day, regardless of what time he went to bed or how well he slept
marissa-would love to enjoy sleeping till 8 or later but her brother is usually loud and demanding his playmate wake up

they are such funny, unique little people! they are happy to see each other after preschool and marissa tells me how much she misses mason after we have dropped him off at his schoool. they like to have alone time running errands, etc. with mommy and daddy. if i have scolded mason, he always cries where's daddy, but when daddy isn't home, its where's rissa?

A love story

(this is one of our engagement photos. enjoy travis' hair style and how grotesquely large my arm looks.)

thanks for the tag jen! and to jan and andrea who also posted their own fun love stories!

What is his name? Travis C. Jackman, all the men in his family have middle initials only. his stands for charles c. rich, a famous pioneer relative

how long have you been together? 9 years, we were married august of 99

how long did you date? met in december, started hanging out in january, dating in march, met his parents in april, engaged in june, married in august. very whirlwind, i know. so to answer that question, mere months mi amigo

how old is he? he will turn 33 next month

who eats more? okay, its probably me, but he can hold his own if it is something he is into. he eats more candy, loves mambas, twizzlers, snickers, etc.

who said i love you first? i said that i thought i was falling in love with him first, but the actual I LOVE YOU was him

who is taller? duh, me! by a good 2 inches! he wore dress shoes with a thick sole and i wore my temple (ballet flat-esque) shoes on our wedding day

who can sing better? that is easy, travis. he sings very well, i love to hear him sing with the choir and in small choral groups. he also can imitate different styles of singing very well, ie guns-n-roses, stone temple pilots and james blunt. he also can bust out a wicked falsetto to do britany spears and beyonce.

who is smarter? this is tricky. i am "jeopardy" smarter, hands down. but he kicks my butt in math, science and to be honest, a lot of common sense things. i think that comes from living in rural idaho and being a boy.

who does the laundry? me, by choice. monday is my laundry day and i take pride in doing it. he does know how to operate the equipment in the laundry room and has been known to do an inconsequential load here or there.

who pays the bills? thank goodness travis does. i must confess that my checkbook was basically in shambles before i got married. he is MUCH BETTER at budgeting, bill paying, being responsible, and he likes it.

who sleeps on the right side? travis does. and we always sleep that way every where we go except his parents house where i sleep on the right because its closer to the door and the lamp. and we tried switching one time at his parents house to our "at home" pattern and it actually felt unnatural.

who mows the lawn? praise heaven above that he does and likes to do it! he even does the criss cross pattern and loves to break out the edger. he was a landscaper in high school and does very well with all our outdoor vegetation needs.

who cooks dinner? i do. i enjoy it. travis does have his specialties, he makes killer salsa and a tasty dessert called mississippi mud. and he is the best helper in the kitchen i could ask for.

who drives? travis. he makes me nervous when he is riding with me and i don't like it. we will take turns on long car trips but it is more like 80% him and 20% me. and i only drive on the long highway stretches, not through big cities or when we have to exit.

who is more stubborn? sadly, we both could claim this title at times. depends on the issue.

who kissed who first? can i say it really was mutual? because it was.

who asked who out first? he did. after a while of hanging out as friends in a group, he called me up and asked me on a "real date." our first date was wendys and going back to his apartment to watch rush hour. we were the only "couple" on the date, we had 2 of our guy friends, one girl friend and travis' divorced, older brother with us all night. let me tell you, it smacked of romance.

who proposed? he did. in a swimming pool with 8 of our closest friends watching, they all were in on it. it was june 10, 1999 in lava springs, idaho. i was so surprised that for a long time (according to him) i didn't say anything and i then i remembered i should say yes out loud.

who has more friends? i do. travis likes a smaller circle.

who is more sensitive? i am. what can i say? i'm a girl. but i do have to say that one time, when we were engaged and at his parents' house, his mother pulled me aside and told me to watch out because travis gets moody. so i'm more sensitive and he is moodier.

who has more siblings? seeing as how i have none, travis with 2 older brothers gets this one.

who wears the pants? hard one to answer. i'll be completely flippant and say travis because who wants to see him in a dress? ;)