For Sale

Man, I seriously haven't had a thought in my head lately, so I'm thinking I'll just make this a state of our union address.

Camp started soccer and he loves it. He looks over at me every time he does something awesome to make sure I've been watching. Earlier this week, Camp received a nice card in the mail from the Primary President telling him thank you for being reverent at church and setting a good example and asking him if he would give the scripture and prayer today in primary. After I read it to him, he responded, "Well, we'll just have to write her a note back saying NO." Great. So I stewed a while about what to do. ( I told you what happened the last time Camp was asked to give the scripture and prayer: I did it while Camp stood in front of the primary kids kicking and punching me. ) I tried to think what Love and Logic would tell me to do. I called Sarah for her advice. Maybe I prayed about it. I'm not sure. But ultimately, I decided to ask Camp if having a little treat in his pocket would help him be brave enough to give the scripture and prayer. He asked what the treat would be, and he asked if I could still stand up in front of the primary with him. I told him I would stand up there with him and help him with the scripture and that the treat would be a plastic egg with a few candies in it. He agreed. So today he repeated the words of the scripture loudly and clearly and then said a simple prayer. No kicking. No punching. No fits. All because of a few M&M's.

Jane participated in one half day of soccer and then decided she wasn't quite ready for it yet. She'll have the opportunity again next year. In the meantime, she and Danin will continue to play and have a ball along the sidelines. Jane has the most adorable lisp. She cannot say her J's, Ch's, or Sh's--so they just come out in this super endearing nasally sound. I've actually wondered if she has trouble hearing and that maybe this little speech impediment is related to that. I'm not sure. I think we mothers always wonder at some point if each child is having trouble hearing. Anyway...Brian and I can't get enough of her speech. She and Danin love each other to death. They play "mom and kid" or "mom and dog" all day long. I'm usually not part of the role playing except that they call me grandma and I have to be careful not to answer when I hear Dan calling for her mom. Oh, man. Thank goodness for Dan. I don't think I could survive acting as Jane's dog for a whole day--panting and all. I would die. Do you all know that I don't like pets? I don't. Yesterday, Brian spent some one-on-one time with both Camp and Jane. It was Jane's first daddy-daughter date. She loved it, of course. Brian said that it took her more than an hour to finish up her burger and fries because she was so busy talking and dancing and squirreling around. And it was so funny because when she returned home last night, Danin was up to greet her and the two of them spent the next several minutes rolling all over the floor on top of one another like two reunited puppies.

Danin is in the perfect stage where she does little wrong. (What are they even talking about when they say terrible two's?) She's just one of the big kids these days. She cuts her own hot-dogs, wipes her own bum, doesn't wet her bed, washes her hands, puts on her own clothes and shoes--and she's super funny. Last night when I asked her if she wanted some more cereal (which is what we had for dinner) she said, "Yeah, baby!"

Brian's been training for his first triathlon. I'm super excited to watch him this Saturday. And he's continued to be busy with work, for which we continue to be grateful.

And me? Hmmmm....we'll I've read three books in the last month which is pretty good for me--all short, easy ones, but still. I read Star Girl, The Hunger Games, (both written for young adults)and The Christmas Sweater--all decent, but not fabulous. I've decided that I usually have issues with books that are directed at young adult audiences. I guess it's likely because I'm not a young adult anymore.
Becky came to visit last weekend as a birthday gift from Rachel and Stacy. It was more like a birthday gift for all of us. It was a fun visit, as usual, and we were so lucky to have one day of super good weather when we went up to the light house and to the beach below.

Other than that, I'm back to the business of putting the house up for sale. I had a lot of lookers last year but didn't manage to get a contract, so we'll see what happens this year. I'm getting antsy to get outta here because paying for an extra land payment (as well as taxes, extra health insurance, and the van) is starting to hurt. I stuck a sign out front, and had my first showing two days later, so hopefully that is a sign of good things to come. And in the spirit of making my home as marketable as possible, I painted over my red wall. Sad, I know. But on all the design shows, they always say that colors like that are too taste specific. And I don't want to scare away any old folks with a red wall. The problem is, the color I took a gamble on turned out to be a little bit less neutral and a lot bit more blue than I had expected, so I'm not sure I didn't make the situation worse. But old people tend to like blues better than reds, don't you think?


And did I already tell you that I added that grosgrain ribbon to my drapes? It's definitely a super modern touch, but I like it. I also added a bit more of my attempted artwork. Oooohh, and I got some scrapbook paper at a yard sale that will make for some fabulous holiday artwork come Christmastime....
Man, this post is boring. I'm starting to put myself to sleep. Better luck next time, I guess.