I promise I don't enjoy torturing my family and friends!

So tomorrow is the big day when we go have our 20-week ultrasound. Many of you have asked, "Are you going to find out if it is a girl or a boy?" That is a difficult question to answer...

With our first 2 children, Drew would have been perfectly happy to wait until the birth for the big surprise. However, he was smart enough to realize there was NO WAY I would wait to find out, so he didn't fight it. So in a weak moment, sometime years ago, I said, "If we have a boy and girl, I might wait to find out the sex of #3." I didn't think he would hold me to it.

So here we are, with a boy and a girl and pregnant with #3. Drew does NOT want to find out, yet there is again NO WAY I can keep my sanity and not know! So here is the compromise: I will find out tomorrow, Drew will not, and I can't tell ANYONE, not even my mom. And believe me, my mom and my pregnant sister (expecting a boy) and sisters-in-law (expecting girls) are not happy about this...

So please don't take it personally if you ask me what I am having and my response is, "I know, but I can't say." Blame Drew.

Baby Scott and Charlotte

The Queen of Style

Charlotte is very into accessorizing. Shoes, purses and sunglasses are all necessary additions to any outfit. I knew I was in trouble when we went into the Coach outlet store to look for something for me for my birthday. Charlotte picked a very adorable purse for herself that was just her size. Unfortunately for her, I am a mean mom and won't spend $150 on a purse for my 2-year-old.

Daddy's shoes

Scott's new Thomas the Train rain boots

Not quite Mary Lou Retton...

Starting a couple months ago, Scott and Charlotte began attending gymnastics class at The Little Gym. I guess it isn't so much gymnastics class as it is basic coordination and following instructions class. They both love it! Charlotte's class starts by singing a song while shaking bells. Then it ends with bubbles and stamps on hands, feet, and tummy. Those are her absolute favorite parts. So I hear quite often during the week, "Let's go to class and do stamps and bells and bubbles!" Charlotte gets a C+ for following instructions, but she is very good at swinging from the bars.

Stamps!!! By the way, that is a cow on her shirt... Just ask her.

Scott's class is especially fun, because all his friends (Rebekah, Zach, Ryan and Molly) are there, too. When Scott actually listens to the instructor and is not preoccupied with being silly with Zach, he does a pretty good job!

Last week was his very favorite because they did whale rides:

A couple of interesting commentaries

Recently I have been sent a couple of links to editorials by the well-know author, Orson Scott Card. I though both were extremely insightful, informative, and well-written.

The first is about the financial crisis, specifically the sub-prime mortgage mess: http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081017light.html

The second is about the LDS church and the members' position on Prop 8. I love his sensitivity in explaining the issue and describing the REAL meaning of "tolerance": http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/orson_scott_card/?id=4740

Quote for the day

We were driving to church this morning, but since we had Stake conference, we were heading to different building. Scott told me:

"I'm pretty sure this is the way to Hawaii."

Don't we all wish, Scott...

Maui January 2008

Big Boy Scott

Check out my little man:

I did some shopping yesterday for the kids. Drew said he thought we should get Scott to wear a tie, which I thought would go over as successfully as an attempt to get him to eat meat in a form other than Dino Buddies. But I showed him the tie and shirt I got and he thought it was pretty cool. As we got dressed for church this morning, he was a little angry with me that I didn't put on his new shirt and tie (my plan was to wait until closer to Christmas). So he VERY willingly got dressed in his fancy new clothes and left just a little while ago to help Drew with a home teaching visit. Now I have to go get more ties this week!

Our new favorite show

Scott has a new favorite cartoon, and I have to admit that I think it is pretty hilarious too! It is on the Disney Channel and is called Phineas and Ferb. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it??? Read on...

The story is of two brothers and their adventures in creating stuff that any kid would dream of doing, like an elevator to the moon, a beach in their backyard, the world's largest bowling game, their own Cirque du Soleil... Their older sister, Candace, is always trying to catch them in the act and prove to their parents what the boys are up to. And similar to Ferris Bueler's Day Off, the she is NEVER successful. Oh, and there is also always a little side story in each episode about the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz (love the name) who tries to carry out his evil designs. In the meantime, Phineas and Ferb's pet platypus, Perry, is really a secret agent who always foils Dr. Doofenshmirtz plans... Sounds awesome, doesn't it? If the premise of the show doesn't grab you, maybe this will make the show sound more interesting: My mom was over at our house, and had a quiet morning as she was waiting for the kids and I to come home. She could have checked her email, watched some morning talk show, or even caught up with Dancing with the Stars. I got home and asked how she enjoyed her time. Her response was, "It was great! I was able to watch 3 Phineas and Ferb episodes I hadn't seen before!" All that free time, and she chose to watch Phineas and Ferb all by herself...

Here is a clip from my favorite episode. The boys decide one morning that they want to create a band and be one-hit wonders. Here is their big song with Candace singing along:

Video about Family

I am going to get a little religious and political, which my blog followers know this is a serious departure from my usual posts... As many of you know, California (and other states as well) have some major issues to vote on in less than one month. This video from http://www.catholicvote.com/ illustrates what is at stake in this election. Although I am not Catholic, I am inspired to know that there are many other people of different faiths that share with me the belief of the sacredness of life and family:

Update on Scott's Notes

I came home and found this note typed on the computer:

Recently he has been excited about Toby, of Thomas the Train fame... This Percy thing is news to me, though. I told him if he sleeps in his bed for 12 nights and does 25 projects to help me, then he can earn the money to go buy Toby. Those little trains are EXPENSIVE! Here are some of the projects on his list:

Hopefully you can read over Charlotte's scribbling... The ones with an 'x' on them are complete. My personal favorite is SPREAD THE BEDS, which I'm pretty sure means make the beds, but when you only have a comforter to spread out, that makes perfect sense.

We will update you if/when Scott earns Toby...

Scott's Notes

From the time he about about 1 year old, Scott has LOVED to type and play on the computer. You can see this post from a while ago about his first efforts typing "Baby Einstein" on the computer. So recently he has typed a few more notes for me, usually asking for help to spell a few of the words, then he printed them out. Here are a few of my favorites:

See this post for the details of the expensive swimming pool.

Excellent experimentation with the use of the comma.

The computer must have been unavailable, because he had to write his CostCo list by hand.

Flashback a few decades...

This is hysterical! Go to http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ and try it out! Here is what I might have looked (or did look) like in years past:

1952: Wow - this totally reminds me of my Grammie Helen!

1966: Not such a bad look for me!

1972: Apparantly I didn't change a whole lot from 1966 until now...

1974: My mom looked EXACTLY like this in 1974!

1984: Watch out Olivia Newton John!

1990: My hair for junior high graduation looked pretty much just like this...