Livin' Life With The Lamb Fam!

Head On Over!!

2009-06-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Head on over to my new(er) blog to see pics and updates of our family! There's lots going on, even though I haven't been blogging about it much. Hope you guys come on over and enjoy!!

Due In May

2008-11-12T18:08:00.001-08:00

Um, my baby isn't due any day now....he or she will be born in the beginning of May. We find out this week what we are having (hopefully not a cat like Mr. B wants) and I will of course post it on the new site. I just didn't want there to be any confusion with the new baby's due date and all that so I changed this post and you can check out our other blog!!

We've Moved!

2008-06-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, this blog has moved. What with all the being unable to post pictures, technical support being down, and them erasing my widgets, it's over. Done. Kaput. Like RIGHT NOW, I wanted to put up a funny pic with all of us in it, and BLOGGER WON'T LET ME DO IT! This never happens at my new blog site...sheesh!

I will admit do miss the super simple posting and navigation from blogger, but wordpress has sooooooo much more to offer and they make great improvements every day, so I'll just stay with them.

So come pay us a visit at www.lambfam.wordpress.com. It'll be fun, I promise. Or boring, sometimes it's boring. But mostly it's fun, with Mr. B and us and the dogs and cats and birds and Mr. B. He - makes it mostly fun.

We're Moving!!

2008-01-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

That's it - we're outa here!! Though there are a few technological-type things to work on, our new family blog is up and running. I'm sorry to make you go from one site to another, but now you can just add the new one to your "favorites" and come see us all the time.

Hey, there's only so many times Blogger can delete my widgets and make my blogs disappear before I leave. A girl can only put up with so much, right?

Check us out at:

http://lambfam.wordpress.com/

Thanks!!!!!!!

A Bedtime Story

2008-01-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

Strange things are happening...

Gila Man has the day shift now. It's rather nice. Nice normal hours, nice normal dinner, nice normal sleep pattern. It's just that...I'm not feeling like it's normal at all. I'm feeling a little, well, a little blue, I guess.

Daddy used to get off of work at 10 in the morning, play with us, eat a large lunch (his dinner) with us, visit with us, then we would all nap together. When Mr. B woke, I got up with him up and the evening was ours. We would run errands, color, maybe watch a movie, then get ready for bed.

Now, Daddy gets home at 6 pm, we have dinner, bath, lotion, teeth, story, prayers and bed. Except I'm not the one doing the bathing. Suddenly Mr. B wants Daddy to do it. And Daddy to brush his teeth. Daddy to put on the jammies, read a story and tuck him in.

So what am I complaining about, right? I should be reveling in this new-found evening freedom. I should take this time to take a shower, finish a book, clean up the kitchen, right? I should be jammin' out to my iPod, listening to music I would never let Mr. B hear, while dancing the way I want to dance, because it's not ring-aroung-the-rosey. Well, for some reason, I just can't seem to stay away from my son's room.

I just keep thinking about a sweet-smelling, just clean from the bath little boy, who loves to cuddle up at the end of the day, read a story and listen with rapture to the make-believe tale I fabricate about a little red-headed boy named Mr.B, soaring through the clouds on the back of a flying lion. But in my story, I'm right there with him, soaring through the clouds, hanging onto him so tight, and as I give him a little squeeze, I whisper softly into his ear,

"You are stuck forever, Mr. Bentley."

"Oh Momma," my baby boy replies, "I hope so!"

The Last Straw...

2008-01-16T12:14:00.001-08:00

Alright, Blogger. That's it!! This is for sure, finally, and absolutely the LAST STRAW!!! I've had problems uploading my pictures, I've had my titles AND my posts disappear, and finally, YOU DELETED ALL MY SUPER-COOL WIDGETS!!! All my fav movies, music, blogger friends, youtube videos, EVERYTHING! That's just not cool.

Maybe if I was the coolest geek ever (if there is such a thing), I would just re-do everything. But I'm not, so I can't! Or I can, but it will take a long time and what if it happens again?

So, I have to say it Blogger...

It's over.

I just happen to be a super-fan of this chick, Chassy Cat (that link was deleted also), and she'll give me the down-low on how to do my OWN show. I just have to come up with a catchy name for our new site....we're the Lamb Family, we are in Southern AZ, and I need something funny and catchy.

Hey, why don't you all (yep, all three of you) give me a suggestion or two on what to start over with? Pretty Please?!?!??? I could really use the help and I'm just fried right now. Let me know in the comments box, mkay?

Need A Babysitter?

2008-01-12T20:28:00.001-08:00

Long, long ago, in a faraway land, there was a woman who had three precious little boys. The boys names were Kyle, Lane, and Zach. They were sweet, perfect little ones who posessed the natural curiosity that all boys seem to have inherited. Except then their mother woke up from the drug-induced coma she was enjoying and realized that she was still the mother of these three busy little vermin. In desperation, the mother (oh, heck! Let's just call her Katie, for fun), um, Katie, called upon her single friend (and we'll call the friend Sarah) Sarah, to come over so Katie could run to Dairy Queen and enjoy a moment's peace and eat something all to herself, all by herself.

Was Single Sarah worried about taking on the challenge of three very busy, very mischevious little boys? Oh, no. Not Single Sarah. For in times of trouble, when things got tough, suddenly Single Sarah became....dum da da da!! (Fanfare, please!) SUPER SARAH!!! All it takes is a Dr. Pepper and a little duct tape, and Super Sarah has the situation under control!

This is what happens when little boys take off all the cabinet doors in the kitchen while Super Sarah is cleaning up the baby powder mess in the living room. It looks like little Zach is off to tell his mommy (a.k.a. Krazy Katie) what a meanie Super Sarah is....

Here we are a few months later, and we just haven't learned our lesson yet. Did we have fun today while mommy was gone? Of course. Were we good while mommy was gone? Naturally. Sarah, will you come back and watch the kids this Friday night? Sure!! Just let me run by Home Depot on my way, and we'll be in for a wild time!!!

The Best Cookbook. EVER!!

2008-01-11T14:47:00.001-08:00

Ok, this might seem lame, but I'm gonna share a little something with you. A confession, if you will. Deep breath, and...

I don't know how to boil eggs. *Sigh* Really.

Any attempts at cooking eggs in water end up eggs that are either super-tough and rubbery, or I cut them open and the yolk is still runny in the middle. I know that it's pathetic, I know it's something I should have been born with, it SHOULD be in my genes, because my Aunt Dee Dee and my Mommy can both boil eggs to perfection. But I am a failure. Or, was a failure, rather. Because with the Christmas money my Grandad gave me last year, I went out and bought myself this book. It should be titled; The Best Cookbook EVER Even If You Can't Boil Eggs or Make Potato Salad or Don't Know How To Bake A Chicken.

Don't know which cut of beef to buy to barbeque on the grill? This book's got it. Wondering what the difference between an yam and a sweet potato is? Check. Question about pie crusts? Check. Chicken? Check. Cakes? Check. Wondering how to cook fish for your husband who never grew up with it so automatically assumes fish is digusting because it's a not "meat and potatoes" kind of meal? Triple CHECK!!! (Try the Crispy-Oven-Fried-Fish Recipe, it's fantastic).

So, it can be summed up like this:

Tilapia Fillets, $4.25

Bread Crumbs, $2.59

Eggs, $1.79

Cookbook, $20.00

Sitting around the table and eating a piece of meat other than chicken or pork chops and have everyone eat all the food on their plate and not complain about the "weird" food I try to force my husband to consume; Priceless!

What The Heck Is A Spoof?

2008-01-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

So I'm signed up for paypal under ebay, right? Helaman can always find a great deal on ebay when we are looking for something gadget-y. While signing up, I read all the disclaimers, notes, legal blah blah blah, and such, thinking that I was so schmarty-farty pants that all that nonsence about what to do if you get a fake e-mail was just washed outa my smarty-pants brain (not that it would take much effort to wash any info out of my brain).

I mean, C'MON! Who wouldn't recognize some jerk sending out a fake e-mail asking for my password and credit card information! Sheesh, what do you think I am, some kind of idiot? Well, somebody thought I was an idiot, and I almost totally fell for it. I think I'm going to blame my thoughtlessness on a large amount of vitamin C, chicken soup, and some nasal de-congestant that I don't remember the name of...

While I was out of bed yesterday I checked my email and recieved one from "Paypal" that said I had purchased a gadget of whatchamacallitness.

The price: $149.95.

Now my husband is amazing. He's awesome, patient, kind, sweet, and loving. But there have been times during our nearly 5 years of marriage that I have called him a name or two (not that I'm proud of it).

During one of my particularly angry moments, he said something I didn't want to hear, and I lashed back. I said he was a...gulp...money nazi. Yep. I said that to my sweet Helaman. He looked at me incredulously and looked away like I had just hit him or something. It was a sad moment that I have apologized for profusely, but (as you can see) I still feel really guilty about.

What in the name of Sam Hill does any of this have to do with the Paypal purchase?Here's the thing; my hubby just wouldn't go out and spend $149.95 for no reason without talking to me - especially after feeling the bite of the After-Christmas-Spending-Sprees.

Luckily, he was able to answer his phone at work and I mentioned that I got an email about the purchase he made through paypal. He knew nothing about it. He even said, "Sarah, you know that I would never spend that kind of money on something without talking to you about it first." So I did what I thougth I needed to do: click on the "Dispute This Charge" button at the end of the email.

Then I entered my username and password.

Funny thing though, it didn't go directly to my Paypal account like normal, it directed me to a page that asked me to enter my home address, credit card info, and mother's maiden name. At the top of the page there was a statement saying that these were all the neccessary steps that needed to be taken in order to dispute charges on Paypal.

So I scrolled down and clicked on the "Contact Us" link. It refreshed the same page, stating that I had to enter the info first, then I would get the contact information I requested.

Hemmm...though I'm a little slow on the up-take, I'll get it eventually if you wave a freakin' red flag in front of my face. And this was definently a red flag.

I minimized that window, typed in http://www.paypal.com/ and got the contact # I wanted. I called the 1877 number and talked to a real person who said not to be alarmed, but I had, in fact, recieved a "spoof" email and I should foward it to them for investigation. Yikes.

I have since changed every password to every account I've ever had because I was using the same password for everything so I would have less to remember. But because I entered my username and password into the "spoof" email, I ruined everything. Sheesh, who's the idiot? Me, of course. But I've definently learned my lesson and I'm sharing my dorkiness with others in hopes that you won't fall for the same trick. Not that you would or anything, cuz' ya'll is smart, right?

Thanks for taking an active role by reporting suspicious-looking emails.

The email you forwarded to us is a phishing email, and our security team is working to disable it. What is a phishing email? Phishing emails attempt to steal your identity and will often ask you to reveal your password or other personal or financial information. PayPal will never ask for your password over the phone or in an email and will always address you by your first and last name. Take our Fight Phishing Challenge at https://www.paypal.com/fightphishing to learn 5 things you should know about phishing. You'll also see what we're doing to help fight fraud every day.

You've made a difference. Every email counts. By forwarding a suspicious-looking email to spoof@paypal.com, you've helped keep yourself and others safe from identity theft.

Thanks,

The PayPal Team

I Got It...

2008-01-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

(Audrey, Noah, & Aly)

Well, I finally got it. That nasty cold I've been avoiding since the first of December. Sheesh...I really don't like being sick, but I don't know what's worse, being sick or seeing the plethora of chores that awaits me when I eventually DO get well. Yesterday, my every hour was spent on the sofa, trying to enjoy a Smallville marathon and keep Noah fed. I actually had a little more energy today and ventured into the spare bedroom and ploppped down in front of the computer. If I'm gonna sit, I might as well check my e-mails and post a blog, right?

The silly thing is, I really don't mind being sick right now. I mean, I've been fighting colds and washing my hands and taking tons of vitamin C and drinking lots of Airborne and praying that I wouldn't get sick duing Christmas because I had so much to do I just didn't have time to get sick. So if I'm gonna get sick, it might as well be when I don't have much going on, when I can sit in front of the computer or T.V. and veg out, ya know? It could be worse, so I'll just be sick and just get over it and go on living. Anyways...

(Noah and Aly)

Here are a few pictures of Noah and his two best friends before Christmas. Yes, I know they are girls, but he likes them anyways. Ha, ha. He gets to do stuff with them that he doesn't get to do at home - like play with a Dora the Explorer kitchen, or watch the girls put on makeup or lipstick (or watch the moms put on the lipstick, hee hee). We had some pizza and a little gift exchange and we just really enjoyed ourselves over at Karla's house. This was just one of the many things that we did before the New Year, so again - I'll take being sick now over being sick then anyday!

(Audrey, Robin, and Sarah Ann)

I think I'm pointing and laughing here because Robin can't get the package open. I know, I'm mean, aren't I?

A Time For Our Toes...

2008-01-05T19:17:00.000-08:00

Mine are the blue ones (Suprise, suprise) Front and center, baby!

"Calgon, take me away!!"

Where the heck is that woman anyway? I'd like to ring her scrawny neck for saying that statement like she really meant it. Sure, like anyone could be magically whisked away to a marvelous paradise where the stress, the kids, the dogs, the hubby, and the chores, all magically fade into the background. As if something like that could ever happen, right? What a joke....

Now wait minute...wait a cotton-pickin' minute....Maybe I do believe that this can actually happen.

In a place called Rio Rico, inside a nail salon, sitting with my feet soaking in a warm, bubbly bath sipping a Dr. Pepper (a.k.a. Manna From Heaven in my Book), letting that fancy-schmancy massager chair have it's way with my back, talking about my Christmas with a couple of great gals while having my feet worked on by none other than "Mr. Handsome" (as he refers to himself). Ooh, doesn't that sound nice?

Do I love being a Mom? "Shoot! Does a bear crap in the woods?" (to directly quote Papa Neal). Of course I love being a Mom. Sheesh, what a silly question. Who asked that one anyways? Oh, me? Oh, um...right. Sooooo...Yes...I love being a Mom. But once in awhile, I love just being a girl too. Love to talk and laugh and giggle and talk and laugh and not have to worry about what my child is getting into during that moment of relaxation (thanks so much for taking care of Noah for me Helaman, it sure made my day. Or week or month. Pick one). So we're clear on the Mom issue, right. That I LOVE it, and it's fulfilling and fun and exciting, right?

Then perhaps you can see that though I love being a Mom, I sometimes need a little break from the grind. So I did what any savy desperate-to-get-out-of-the-house-and-carry-on-a-decent-conversation-about-something-that-doesn't-begin-with-the-word-why girl would do; I went to get a pedicure! Talk about taking me away! Did I mention that I was with two great girls who are amazing and funny and who I even like a little bit? Oh, there's that too.

Never underestimate the power of a massage chair and a little talking with your girlfriends. It could mean the difference between a happy Momma or a grumpy Momma.

Interesting Tidbits One Learns During Christmas

2008-01-04T20:45:00.000-08:00

(Here's Noah on Saturday Morning In Rio Rico, About To Let Go Of A Rocket Balloon That Santa Left In His Stocking)

So, the Holidays (Ooooooh, better not say Christmas or anything like that), er......Christmas has come and gone, as has the beginning of the New Year, and I have yet to type even a little note in here about the goings on of one little family on the border of Arizona. I profusely apologize and ask that you be patient as I re-live the events of the last month or so (sheesh! Has it really been that long?). I'll just give you a little overview instead:

We didn't think Helaman would get any time off for Christmas because he didn't get even one day off for Thanksgiving, so we had our own little gift exchange here in Rio Rico the Saturday before Christmas so we could enjoy it together. I then traveled to Pearce to enjoy the week of Christmas with my family. We were pleasently suprised when we found out that Helaman got the two days after Christmas off so he could come out to Pearce (yipeeeee!) and have fun with all the family. By all I mean myself & Noah, my younger brother Richard and his fiance Stephanie, my youngest brother Michael and his girlfriend Stephanie (yes, they really have the same name), Aunt Dee Dee, Uncle Mel, and Jason, my Grandad, and my parents. The cute brick house was bursing at the mortar with all those guests, but we couldn't have had a better time. A few highlights would be:

* "These Boots Were Made for hum, hum. And that's just what hum, hum. Hum, hum, hum, hum, hum, hum boots are gonna hum all over hum." (During a wild Cranium game)

* Medusa?!?! What the heck?!?! (Again, during Cranium, cheaters!)

* Learning that it's fun to have an Oregon Ducks fan and an Arizona Wildcat fan giving gifts in the same room to the same family on Christmas morning.

* Trying to understand that no matter what the dog does, if the dog gets upset, it will ALWAYS be the child's fault.

* Giggling with glee when we see that there can never be to many presents underneath that Christmas tree.

* Coming to an understanding that each person will choose their own path in life and that it's ok to let them choose that path.

* Knowing that we should show support for each other no matter what those choices may be - because we love each other.

* Learning that it's actually against the law to pump your own gas in the state of Oregon (really, it's true!!).

* Seeing that every female member of the family can look super cute when their hair is french-braided, no matter how long (or short) their hair may be!

* Understanding that no matter what our differences may be, what life we choose to live, what mistakes we might make, or how far away any of us live, we are still connected at the heart and we are a family who loves and care for one another like nobody else can. We can understand each other when those in the world can't hear us. We have some sort of bond, and it shows when you get us all together in the same house. Even if it's a little stinkier, you can still grasp a feeling you can never duplicate or feel any other time than when you are in the company of those you love; your family.

Mom's Par-tay!

2007-12-18T22:35:00.001-08:00

(L-R) The kids having their gift exchange, the girls showing off their goodies, Noah chowing down Bountiful Beer Bread, Ken reading everykiddie a story (There's a Monster At The End Of This Book!), and Gina and Karla, hangin out and smiling pretty for the camera.

Well, our December Mom's group par-tay has come and gone today. It was a great
evening filled with lots of laughter, fantastic food, and beautiful belches.
Hm...let's retreat back to the Sesame Street days and sing a little song;

"One of these things is not like the others,

One of these things just doesn't belong.

Can you guess which thing is not like the others

By the time I finish this song?"

Yes, and now you have to guess. Shouldn't be hard, as it's the only gross one up there. Yep, the food was gross! BBQ pork, sinful potatoes, fruit, corn, veggies, tasty taquitos, pie and cookies. Ok, so the food was completely yummy, it was my beautiful belches that didn't quite belong! But it wasn't really my fault, REALLY!! Robin totally put me up to it by threatening me and saying; "I'll tell everyone what W.D. means!!" And she would! (don't know what W.D. means? great, just checking)

So the deal is: if I will belch, Greg will show us his dance. Yes, I said Greg. Oh, I forgot to mention, all the husbands came too, which made for a fun night for everyone, except me! I didn't have anyone to stand up for me so I was attacked, ATTACKED I tell ya!

Suddenly I'm not a "white-girl" anymore, I'm a "red-girl"! (fine, so it took me a minute to get the joke....leave me alone!). Which means these people had no mercy and I was beat red for about 10 minutes. I was worried that the secret origin of W.D. would come out and I would have to face the humility of being W.D. to more than just Karla and Robin, it would be to like, 5 whole people! Yikes!!

Then it came...the rumbly in my tumbly...I could feel it! I inhaled, exhaled, inhaled again and

"BBBBRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRPPPP!!!!!"

Out it came. Much to my embarrassment, everyone looked shocked. Except for Karla and Robin of course. Sheesh, girls, where's the love?!?!? But fair's fair, right?

Because then we all got to watch Greg's "Stevie Wonder" dance, and suddenly, my burping talent didn't seem so awful!!!

Good News!!! Yipeee!!

2007-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Doesn't that just look like a good news face?!? That's the face of a little boy who just found out that his Daddy got the two days after Christmas off!!! That means he gets to spend Christmas day with us. He gets to indulge in the prime rib dinner, gets to open a few gifts, gets to take a little nap and rest up for leftovers, and gets so sit around the living room and visit with the family a little.

With everyone going out to Pearce this year, it's shaping up to be a wonderful, fun and laughter filled holiday, and now Helaman gets to enjoy it as well. I am so excited, and Helaman more than deserves it. We get to spend Christmas together as a family! Yipeeeeeeee!!!!!

A Shave And A Hair Cut.....

2007-12-14T21:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I suppose I have learned a lesson here. I was just excited, that's all. About the rain, and the clouds, and

the cold weather that made it feel like we were in, oh, I don't
know....DECEMBER?!?!?!?!

Hmmm...maybe ya'll don't quite know what I'm talking about.

We got rain! And wind! And clouds! And the sun didn't shine for like, THREE whole days!! So rather than continue to water my plants with the hose, I thunk that I should put them out at the edge of the porch so they could be refreshed by the wonderfully cold falling rain water. I assumed they would be fine out there - after all, it's not like we have cows wandering around our neighborhood or anything. Sheesh. Then we decided to take a little trip out to see my parents for a couple days. We left Sunday afternoon and came back Tuesday afternoon. See the pristine condition of my sweet, green plants up there in the picture?

As I walked up on the porch, I noticed something different about my precious plants, something that caught my attention but also something so subtle that I didn't react at first. And then it hit me - there wasn't much left of them!

"Did it freeze while we were gone?" I turned and asked my hubby.

"It might have, but I'll bet that there is another reason for the dismembered look of your greenery."

Sure enough, there were the easy-to-read signs that proved that this was no freeze! This was the scene of a crime! The split-hoof indentations in the dust and the HAAA-UUUUUGE pile of crap in the center of our front yard both pointed to the guilty culprit - the cotton-picking COWS!!!!! See what happened to my precious plants? That I've raised from tiny, sick babies who were going to be thown into the dumpster and left for dead?!? Oh, those rotton cows who I used to think were cute and think how fun it was to live in an area so rural that the area is still open range and lots of space and plenty of room to roam and run around it.

Oh, boy, next time I see a cow, I'm gonna....well I'll um.....Well, you can bet your booty that I'll scare the monster away, that's what I'll do. With the horn of my car, or a loud party horn, or....something. Freakin' fartin' cows. I agree with Tanner.

Once Upon A Bubble...

2007-12-10T14:34:00.000-08:00

There once was a cute boy named Noah

Who ate lots so he could up tall grow-a.

He would smile, hug, and laugh

Every time he was in the bath

He put on a funny bright show-a.

I just thought this was a cute picture. We are in Pearce, visiting my parents for a couple of days and Noah is just in heaven with Papa and all his tools and Nana with all her birds. My folks are building an aviary for all the birds they have rescued, so naturally, Noah is in the middle of everything, trying to help. While him and Helaman were outside looking at the beginning stages of the aviary, Helaman asked,

"Noah, what kind of tree is this?" (looking at a pine tree)

"I don't know." replied Noah.

"Yes you do!" said Helaman, "Doesn't it look like a Christmas tree?"

"No, Daddy" replied our super-smart 3-year-old, "It doesn't have any lights on it!!"

Here, Kitty Kitty Kitty

2007-12-05T23:24:00.000-08:00

Well, my son is now 3. Yep...he's a big boy now. No more little boy stuff, or baby stuff. No more "Big squeeze, little squeeze". He's just tooooo big for some of those silly things. And yet, he seems to be growing into more things. Like his 4t pants! I mean, he just keeps getting taller and taller. Oh, and he has developed the most amazing imagination. You can sit on the floor and play with him and his Chevron cars for 2 hours. REALLY. Just making up stories, talking about life, driving around town, cruising down the strip, asking what your name is and coming up with a different a different name for each car every time.

And there's this funny thing about pretending to be a dog. With the tongue hangin' outa the mouth and wanting to eat on the floor and all that. He's a dog about 20% of his day right now. But right before lunch, he switches into "CAT" mode. There goes the other 59% of his day (he spends about 1% of his day being a little, ahem, I mean big boy).

So as you smile to yourself thinking of how cute it would be to see a 3 year old pretend to be a sweet kitty cat all morning or afternoon, let me show you a typical conversation with my 3 year old as we wake up in the morning:

"Hey, sweetie! How did you sleep?" I ask.
"Good, meow, good. Thank you meow."
"Are you ready to get up and eat breakfast?"
"Yes, meow. Meow would like meow milk in meow bowl on the floor, meow"
"Well, let's first go potty and we'll talk about the milk on the floor. C'mon, follow me into the bathroom."
"NOOOOO! KITTIES DON'T GO POTTY IN TOILETS!! KITTIES GO POTTY IN BOXES!!"
"Well, you are a little boy pretending to be a kitty, and little boys go pee-pee in the toilet."
"But I'm not a little boy, I a big boy." (assume the pouty-lip face)
"Ok. Sorry. You are a big boy, so let's go pee-pee in the potty like a big boy."

We tinkle, we wash our hands, we sit at the table to eat.

"Meow would like meow milk now please meow."
"Ok, and what would you like in your milk?"
"Meow kitty oatmeal please, meow."

After eating said oatmeal and I walk towards him with the washcloth.....

"NOOOOOO! KITTIES DON'T GET CLEANED UP! KITTIES LICK THEMSELVES LIKE THIS! I NO NEED TO BE WIPED!!"
"Yes, kitties lick themselves, but you are a big boy pretending to be a kitty and therefore must be wiped down after eating sticky oatmeal." (if I throw in a big word or two like that, he furrows his little forehead and thinks about this larger word which gives me 3 seconds of wipe-down time before he scampers off to his room)

2 minutes before I MUST (I will repeat MUST) be out the door to avoid the train, the little boy walking to the bus stop with his dog who is not leashed, the short bus that I WILL inevitably get stuck behind (lemme tell ya, those kids don't board too quick), so I can get to the fitness center to get Noah checked in and get my equipment set up before all the good spots and nice weights are taken so I don't have to stand up front, (breathe) I go into Noah's room to get him dressed.

"C'mon sweetie! Let's get dressed so we can go!" (as I enter, I see that my son is completely in the buck)
"NOOOOOO! MOMMA, KITTIES DON'T WEAR CLOTHES!! THEY DON'T WEAR CHONIES! THEY NO WEAR SHIRTS LIKE THIS! NO CLOTHES! KITTIES HAVE NO CLOTHES! OH, SHOES HURT MY KITTY FEET! OW, OW, OW!! I HAVE CLAWS LIKE THIS AND I NEED TO USE THEM TO WALK! NO SOCKS, NO SHOES, NO CHONIES!"
"Oh, I know a coupla kitties who I've seen wear clothes."
"Where? I want to see. Who wears clothes? Not MY kitties!"
"Nope. Not your kitties. But you are just a little boy pretending to be a kitty, so you must wear clothes so you don't get cold."

And thus starts the "little boy" discussion again.

As I start my aerobics class in the very front row, directly to the right of the intructor, in front of the mirrors, with the grimy weights that have the coating peeling off of them, I realize that there are worse things that my son could pretend to be. I just can't seem to think of one of them right now.

Three Year Old Technology

2007-11-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

So recently, I've been getting up every morning and driving to the fitness center and working out. This means that I have to get Noah up, get him dressed, get him some grub, and get him in the car. On the way, we usually listen to his favorite songs from "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat" from my iPod.

Well, this being the MONDAY after a 4-day weekend of endless stuffing of the face with numerous carcinogenic entrees and me eating every last drop of the sweet potatoes, I was not looking foward to going this morning and was falling behind as we got ready. When we finally got in the car and were on our way, Noah asked for "Go, go, go Joseph" and I told him we had forgotton my iPod. He was bummed, but we had a nice drive anyway.

After working out (and I was REALLLY sorry that I didn't do anything for 4 days), we got home and Helaman asked Noah about Church the day before.

"We sang, "I Am A Child Of God", he said.

"That's a nice song," Helaman replied, "May I hear it?"

"Nope, sorry Daddy." said Noah "I don't have my iPod".

Oh, To Have More Sweet Potatoes..

2007-11-24T20:34:00.000-08:00

Well, the sad thing about Thanksgiving this year was that Helaman didn't get any time off. NONE. He had the Sunday before Thanksgiving off and then NEXT Wednesday after that off. Since we were suppossed to go to St. John's this year, it was especially disappointing for him. I was sad also, except I had one little consoling thought: I still get to have SWEET POTATOES!!

Oh, yeah.

That gooey, marshmellowy, (it is too a word!) sticky, cinnaminy, (see afore mentioned claim) goodness. And I got to eat all I wanted because, my friends, I made a BOAT-LOAD of them. Yummy. It was sad that we had to change our plans for the holiday, but who can feel sad around a huge vat of orange-goodness slash manna from Heaven?

I think my parents felt sorry for me when I called and said, "Well, I guess we'll just go out and buy a ready-made meal, because it stinks that we'll be alone and Helaman will get off of work, come home, eat, and go to bed. (Inhale, and SIGH)."
I think it was the sigh that broke her down. Or maybe it was my Dad...either way my parents came all the way out here and ate some grub with us, even though my Dad had to work on Fridat and they had to drive out here and back on the same day. Then my younger brother Michael found out we were having a shin-dig out here and I told him he was welcome to come. And he did! I had to go out a buy a 5 pound bag of potatoes when I found out he was coming, but it was soooo worth it! Sheesh, that boy can down some taters! We talked, we laughed, we played the PSP, we talked, we ate, we laughed.

All in all, it was a perfect day. Lots of food (ham AND turkey, by the way), lots of pie, lots of love. And though we are missing the Lambson side of the family, I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving.

Yep...I Speak Spanish

2007-11-18T19:37:00.000-08:00

As my husband is a tri-lingual speaker, we are developing the habit of speaking to Noah in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He loves this and will often ask me if he can hear his favorite Spanish song or Portuguese song on the radio, or ask what an object is in Spanish. After we invited our neighbor Joey to Noah's party, they became good friends and they often walk down the road to pick him up to go play at their house. One evening when they came to pick Noah up, we were waving goodbye and Helaman said,
"Adios, son!"
To which Noah relplied, "Que via bien, Daddy."
Then looking up at Gina (Joey's Mom) he said, "Yeah, I speak Spanish".

C'mon! Just One!!

2007-11-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

This is what I felt like doing to everyone who said to me, "Well, Dr. Pepper isn't that good for you anyway. You know, soda is bad for you."

GRRRRRRRRR!!!!! I KNOW THIS!!!

I just really, really, like Dr. Pepper. It's my most favoritist soda pop ever! And I know that it's better if I don't drink it, but I still like it for cryin' out loud.

Here's the thing that is soooo hard for me: Helaman was right. He's been after me to stop consuming the yummy bubble syrupy manna from Heaven for a few months now. But this is how he looks when he's right and I'm wrong. A little mis-construed, you say? Ha! I caught it on the camera, so it is totally and completely true!

And my step aerobics class is a whole lot easier if I don't drink any soda. Speaking of step aerobics, we have this wonderful (horrible) energetic (awful) hispanic step instructor who started playing this dance mix Latino music while we were warming up, and I started shaking my hips and playing around and my friend Karla, who was having a bad day, was just laughing at me dancing and said that she could never do that. So I told her she just had to make a really silly face in the mirror (taht line the ENTIRE wall) and then she nobody would be looking at her body, just her silly face. It took her about 10 minutes, but she did it and the entire class laughed and she laughed and it was great fun.

Er, not that working out was fun. Cuz it wasn't. Fun, I mean. Don't get me wrong, I still hate working out, but it WAS entertaining to get out of the house and have someone else watch Noah and to be silly with the other girls and get my heart pumping. But it was not fun. Really.....

Just A Tidbit...

2007-11-04T23:15:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Just thought I'd share a cute picture with you and let you know that

I.HATE.WORKING.OUT.

The above picture is what I would like to do after working out, which of course, I cannot do. Noah can pull it off though. Nice....

I don't hate very many things, and I don't hate a single person - well, there is one exception, but we all know who it is and I'm working on it, I really am.

So I don't throw this 4 letter word out for just anything, I mean, I detest things. I loathe things. I despise things. See, no 4 letter words. But I don't hate much. Except working out.

I.HATE.WORKING.OUT.

Just in case you didn't get it the first time.

A Little Tiny Adventure...

2007-11-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so most of the women reading this (all three of you) will understand me when I say, "HELLLOOOO?!?!?!? Where in the world did my body go?!?!?!?". You know, the body I had before I had my son? Yep, that one. Don't know where it went. But it still takes a serious health scare and one MEAN female doctor to get my booty out of bed and actually do something about it. So I did it: I signed up for the gym. The one where you have to get up @ 7 am and get your kid up and drive down and sign up and work out. Yep. For a measly $32 a month, I get a full access pass to every aerobics class offered, a full cardio room, weight room, heated pool, outdoor track, courts, and a huge jungle gym. Oh, plus a babysitter. That's actually the reason I joined.

So the first day, (Monday) I'm all ready to go and I show up, and see someone I know - Karla from the mom's group. Sweet!! I know someone! Then Robin shows up - another familiar face! Yeah!! And Robin says that she tripped over the step last time and made the instructer mess up and left the room 3 times so I can't possible do anything more embarrassing than that, right? Lest we forget, we are talking about Sarah here. Yep, just a reminder.

I know I've never worked out before but I was trying to keep up with the instructer and the 80 year old ladies in the back and "who needs a water break", and "I can do this for just a minute more" and "wow this is so much harder than it looks", and "sheesh, my back is sweaty", and "ok, I think I could use a water break", and "I'll just bend down to pick up my bottle", and huh......"this floor smells clean" and "look at all the fuzzy faces".

Oh yes, people (all three of you who I absolutely adore for reading this and calling me to laugh at me)

I

PASSED

OUT.

While trying my hardest to not look like a dork in front of everybody in the class by trying to keep up and not taking water breaks, I ended up looking like the biggest dork in front of everybody in the class while lying smack dab in the middle of the doorway on the floor. One of the amazingly fit older ladies wanted to call 911, but Robin, a former EMT, convinced them that I was not about to die, I was just a dork.

25 minutes, a lot of ice cold paper towels, and a yummy gatorade later, I was on my feet and answering horrifying questions like:

"Did you eat breakfast?" (um, nope)
"Did you drink lots of water before you started?" (Hmmmmm...nope)
"Have you ever taken step before?" (heck no!)
"Do you have any health issues?" (Well, what other reason would I have for getting up when the sun rises and coming out here and paying money to have someone tell me what to do and get all sore for it?)

And so ends my first day of working out. Or passing out. I think I'll make a list of WHAT NOT TO DO when beginning an excercise regimen and post it on the door of the club. But hey, I got a free gatorade.

Love, True Love

2007-10-18T00:03:00.001-07:00

Well, I had the mavelous opportunity to go to Tucson all day Monday to visit various doctors and run a few errands while my Aunt Dee Dee watched Noah (I think she is still recovering from that day). You know when you have new doctors and you have to fill out all the new paperwork and they have to ask you all the new questions about you and your life and your parents' lives and why you have a brown dog instead of a white one.

Well, as the doctor is asking about my family's health history, she askes, "Where does your mother live?"
"Well, it's a town out by Willcox." I replied.
"And your father? Where does he live."
"Um, in the same town as my mother." I say, perplexed.
"Oh," she says, suprised. "They live in the same town?"
"Well," I explain, "They kind of live in the same HOUSE."
"What? Wait...your parents are still married?" seemingly shocked.
"Yep"
"Are they both your parents? No step or half parent?"
"Uh...yep..Uh...nope" (I'm quite articulate, I know)
"How long have they been married?" She askes, incredulous
"Well, I thing it's been about 31 or 32 years. Their anniversary was in June"
"Did they have more kids? (yep, 2 younger boys). Are they stll at home? (nope, all moved out). And they are STILL married? (yep)"
"Huh." She replied, very officially-doctorly-like.
"Is that weird?" I ask.
"Oh, no. Not weird, just...unusual"

That afternoon, I was going through the same questions with the second doctor who asked:
"And your parents, what was their marriage like?" (notice the past tense)
"Um, good I guess."
"And where do they live now?"
"In a town by Willcox in the same house." I say
"So.....they're still married? (yep) And they are both your biological parents? (yep) And do they seem to like being married to each other? (well sure! I don't suppose they'd hang around each other if they weren't!)

Another modern-day medical personnel shocked. I'm loving it, and loving the fact that I never had to deal with the split vacations or the split holidays or the "he-said, she-said" (we get enough of that from outside influences!). I know that marriages like this are rare, but I have been soooo blessed to be surrounded by these types of relationships; my mom's sister and brothers are all still married to the person they had children as are my dad's two brothers. I guess I just kinda took it for granted, but I have to admit, it's very, very nice to not be a part of that niche.

La-Tee-Dah-Tee, We Likes To Pahty!

2007-10-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, this has been quite a busy Saturday for our little family. I had to run to W@lm@rt this morning to grab a last minute gift for a birthday party we were going to (yes, I suppose I was suffering from a brief, oh who am I kidding, PERMANENT bout of insanity to go W@lm@rt in Nogales on a Saturday with my almost 3 year old), then to a great huge BP hoopla from noon to 3:30 and from there we headed to 2-year-old Manuelito's birthday party.

The BP barbeque was nice: burgers, (some with cheese, some without), hot dogs, brats, a small fly infested salad, some pasta salad, lots of cookies and soda pop. Some kids got to break this itty-bitty pinata and grab a coupla suckers and run around with them while their parents yelled at them to stop. Since it was at the park just down the street from us, Noah got to play on the equipment for a few minutes and then we had to go to the birthday party.

Soooo...on our way to Lito's house (He is the 4th Manuel, so they call him Manuelito, Lito for short), we see this huge air filled bouncy thing in their yard, like the ones you see at the fair. That was just the beginning! We walked in and Lito's dad says he's glad that we could make it and he'd have someone bring us a plate of food. Since we had just eaten, we asked for a small amount and went to sit down. While Noah booked it to to the bouncy thing, we were brought a plate full of the most tender beef I have ever eaten, beans, potato salad, pasta salad, rice and a tortilla. Then we were offered any drink we wanted as well. As I shared as much of my plate of food with Noah and my friend Brenda as I could and listened to some kickin' Mexican jams, I couldn't help but notice a HUGE-MANTIC Lighting McQueen pinata sitting on the back porch. It must have been 4 feet long and so stuffed with candy that Helaman could hardly pick it up. We commented on it and he said the he (of course) got it in Mexico and since they were so cheap, he bought 3 instead of 1. Thinking that he was going put the other two away for another time, I asked where he was going to store them.

"Store them?" He asked, perplexed. "We stuffed them!"

So we had the jams, the friends, the food, the candy, the fun, and then...the dessert. Lito's mom told me to go into his room and check out the cakes. Yep, cakes. Plural. So I go to check them out. And there are these two giant cakes (full sheets), one with a penguin on it and another with a little Mexican girl on it.

"The first one is banana cream custard, and the second one is strawberry cream custard." She told me.

My mouth started to water.

So, while I got to carry on competely adult (ahem...I mean grown up) conversations (Noah would not come out of the bouncy thing), and listen to fun music and eat fantastic food and watch all the kids swing for their little lives at the scary paper mache creatures, I realized something...

DANG!!! These people know how to PAR-TAY!!!!

Boys and Men

2007-10-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

So we have the new mac, right? And it has all these really awesome features, right? (As you have no doubt seen with the photo booth pics I have been posting) Wanna hear about the next cheesy yet cool feature of the Macs? They have this really cool voice recognition application that you can set to the specific tones of your voice and you can make commands with a kind of "hands free" option. Well, needless to say, Helaman started working this whole thing out in about oh, 2 minutes and he was able to say things like, "Close this application" and it would. Then he would ask, "What time is it?" and the female voice of the computer (you can set it to man or woman) would say, "It's one o'clock".

Well, this was really fun until he found that he could set a "word-prompt" to say before each command, so the computer wouldn't just close an application if you were talking about it. I was thinking a good prompt would be "hey" or "please" because it would be easy to remember. Oh, well for cryin' out loud, that just didn't happen because I'm married to HELAMAN and he is who he is. You wanna know what word he chose as a prompt?!? WOMAN. Really. Like, "Woman, get over here and do the dishes!" or, "Woman, get over here and rub my feet!".

Now, I am a very independent woman and I don't like to let anyone push me around, and I thought, "Maybe he just needs to tell SOMEONE what to do" so I let it slide. It was kind of fun to say "Woman! Tell me a joke" and hear the computer woman's voice say "Knock,Knock" to us. Well, little did I know that our silly commands would come around in a funny way to bite me in the rear-end.

While Noah and I were shopping in W@l-M@rt (which I would totally avoid if there was a Target within 50 miles), on Monday I was in the aisle next to the cheese when I hear Noah mumble something that didn't sound very appropriate.
"What did you say, Mr. Bentley?"
"Woman!" he replied, "Let's go!"
"What?!?!?" I answered, shocked.
"Now you say, go where?" he said.
"Go where?" I replied, wondering where this could lead.
"Woman, go get me some cheese!" he stated.

Now, I tried to calmly explain to him that the word "woman" was only to be used when talking to the computer, not to Momma. But while I was letting him know that it was disrespectful when to me in that manner, I happened to glance over and see a small group of grown Mexican men, laughing hysterically and pointing to my son. As we know, the Mexican culture isn't exactly known for how they hold doors open for the female counter-parts in their society and I can only imagine that they thought this little red-headed American boy was right on track.

I think I'm going to have to change the word-prompt to "Sweetheart".

Our Family Grew By FOUR Feet....

2007-10-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Well, when you are cute, single, female missionaries always dressed up out in the ghetto, things can get a little creepy at night. Sooooo creepy that you might call your Mission President, and tell him that you have been STONGLY promted to leave your home immediately (after some creepy-heeby-jeeby guy has been callin' all hours and finally asked the question: "Are you home right now?").

When you return home the next day, you might be feeling a little silly - but not silly enough to stay another night in the heeby-jeeby house, so you go stay with a nice member in Rio Rico who happens to have a spare room available for a week. Or three. Whatever.

And that's how these beautiful missionaries came to be in our home and how they are able to study all the time and feel the Spirit and never goof off and make funny faces with our mac or cook instant cakes in the microwave at 10:30 pm, or sit around on P-day and clip coupons and eat junk food.

And so, life goes on as usual in the Lambson household....or unusual...Whatever

Out Of The Stone Age..

2007-10-07T23:38:00.001-07:00

And into the light!!! Wow, it seems very silly to be this excited about having internet, but sheesh....I really missed it. Since I haven't posted since June, I thought I'd just let anyone (if there is anyone left out there who still checks this page), ask what they want about what we are up to and I'll just write a little blog and tell ya!

Sooo....We live outside of Nogales, Az in a little place called Rio Rico and we are doing very well. Busy, but doing well. Helaman passed his last test in August, which was a HUGE relief and helped alieviate some of the pressure he was feeling about losing his job. He'll be on probation for another year, but as long as he doesn't do anything EXTREMELY dumb, we'll be set for the next 15 years or so. He is working the night shift, so he gets to go to work at 12 am and get home at 10 am. We don't mind it so much because he gets to spend some time with us all morning, have a big lunch with us, then he hits the hay till 10 pm. It seems to work well.

Noah is doing well also, and he will be turning 3 on October 25. He is very excited about it and has been telling everyone about it for about 3 months (since my birthday). He can count to 20 (though he always seems to miss 14 and 18) and is very proud that he can write his name now ( I know it's short and easy, but he's pretty proud of it nevertheless). We are having a few issues with him "pushing buttons", especially when Daddy gets home, but he's just acting like a normal almost 3 year old, so we just have to deal with this stage of toddler-hood.

I, Sarah in the flesh (Well, I guess not really in the flesh, but you get what I mean), am doing ok as well. Hoping that things will just go well during the course of every day. We have the Sister Missionaries staying with us for what looks like a couple more weeks, and they are the greatest company ever!! They make me laugh and one of them is a music junkie so she has shared a couple of awesome singers/bands with me. She's also a showtunes guru (she played the Narrator in Joseph and The Technicolor Dreamcoat and loves all musicals), which is just AWESOME as well.

So, as this day fades off of the clock and the next day technically begins, I must bid ya'll farewell until the next time that everyone is asleep and I can sit and type in peace. Thanks so much fer yer visits, I'm much abliged.

Helaman and "The Test"

2007-06-11T14:01:00.001-07:00

Hello friends, family, co-horts, and anyone else who's sanity I question because you choose to entertain yourself by checking out this blog. Yep, check out this pic. It's Elmo, the Cherry-Headed Conure, picking the remanents of lunch out of Helaman's teeth. Sheesh, these two should be in the circus!

As you probably know, Helaman has been hired by the USPB and has been stationed in Nogales, AZ. He passed the academy (which made the other academy look like a complete joke) but once he was stationed, he has to work hard at the post-academy. He has to memorize every road, street, lane, hill, canyon, stream, and landmark from Nogales to Green Valley, and he doesn't have very much time to do it. He also had to take a 7-month exam to see how well he remembered what he learned duing training. This is just a test on the law part of his job, but if he didn't pass, he didn't have a job with the BP any longer. Just wanted to let everybody know that HE PASSED this morning with an 86%!!!! He has to take the spanish part on Wednesday, June 13th, but he doesn't seem to be as worried about that one. ; )

Helaman has been working and studying very hard for the past 3 months and we've really missed doing family things together. He gets up at 6 a.m., leaves by 7 am, gets home around 7:30 pm, eats, showers, studies, and sleeps. The weekends are filled with honey-do's around the house and more studying, so passing this test is a welcome reward for his hard work. The sad thing is that he still has to take another test for his 10-month exam (in October), which, if he does not pass, he will not have a job either. After that, NO MORE STUDYING and he will be able to take some time off.

We are doing well in our new home and can't wait for some of you to see it. We just got the back area fenced in as a temporary barrier for the dogs and Noah, and that has helped so much with the little bit of cabin fever Noah and I were suffering from.

Our ward consists of an English ward combined with a Spanish branch, so we have such a wonderful mix of awesome people. I'm a primary teacher for the Valiant 9 & 10 and Helaman is a teacher over the 12-16 year old boys (don't know what that's called) and we are loving it! The ward is a very warm and loving one with lots of hugs and kisses on the cheeks for greetings. Overall, we are so happy here and just trying to adjust to our new digs. I would love to keep in contact a little more about our cute family, but we just aren't there yet, so stay tuned for the next instalment of Livin' Life With The Lambsons

Don't know when I'll be able to update next, so I will leave you with the newest Noah-dote:

Mama: "Noah, honey, you have your flip-flops on the wrong feet!"

Noah replies after a moments' hesitation and a perplexed look on his little face:

"But Mama, these the only feets I have!"

Oh!! Here I Am!! Look At Me!!

2007-06-08T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hello! I am totally still alive and breathing and don't have any broken limbs or fingers or anything! I have been one of the sadest, pathetic creatures without my link to the outside world through my computer. So I think to myself, "Hey Self!! Just get your boooooo-tay down to the local library and check your mail there and maybe (just maybe) you can give a little update to all the peeps who have stayed true and loyal *sniff* yo, love you guys!! Anyway, I get down there all excited to check out the world outside of Nogales and I get to sign in and give my DL and blah blah blah. But when I click on the internet part, it takes like 20 seconds to connect. What? You don't think that's very long, huh? Try it. Ya! Try it right now. Count all the way to twenty - with the one-thousands in between people - and tell me that sitting in front of a computer screen and waiting for a yahoo home page to appear picture by picture isn't a little aggrivating.

OH yes. Our library has dial up. DIAL UP??? What the freak? Who is running this show? I mean really...c'mon...DIAL UP? I look around for the little camera because, hello? Dial up? For reals?

It took me 15 minutes to check my one message and write back. I couldn't surf and check out the happenin's and cruise to my blog and let ya'll know that I'm just jottin' down all the AWESOME things that are happening that would make the cutest blog entries but will be totally meaningless in 4 months when we get connected to the world again. Oh well, I'm here now and will write a nice, long, informative letter about the happenings in Southern AZ and Helaman in the BP while I am visiting with the folks. Thanks for checking to see if we're still here!! You make me feel soooooo special!

A Few Nice Things About Owning Your Home...

2007-03-07T22:32:00.000-08:00

Alright, alright, already. Here are a few pics of the new place, though Helaman took them and, well, you just have to work with what 'cha got. There's a lovely pic of the front, then of Noah's partially painted room, then the guest bathroom (showing the toilet seat the He-Man left up), then the dark kitchen, then the bright kitchen. That's it. Our cute little home. I love it. It's mine! Um..well technically ours, but MINE all the same.

It's nice to be able to paint your own home whichever color you so choose from the mulit-million blobs of color you have to choose from. It's nice to paint half the wall and decide that this particular shade of brown looks like a burrito on the wrong end of a diaper, so I just haphazardly painted my name, looped in a couple of smiley faces, and slid in a poem. Then painted over it!! Fun stuff.

It's nice to load a dishwasher so wrong that not even one piece of silverware comes out clean. Oh, but it was fun to load!! Oops, I'll get it right someday.

It's nice to turn the thermostat to 60 degrees at night and not have to start a fire with the pellets or worry about Noah getting them and putting them in his mouth or putting his race car in the hopper or anything like that. It just turns on, and this wonderful, warm air comes streaming out of the vents. Nice.

It's nice to sleep on an air mattress on the carpeted floor of the concrete that's been laid on the land that we own. I like to go outside and play in the sand that sits in the front yard that belongs to my husband and I. The sand that he's worked so hard for. We have this teeny little home that sits on a bare lot on a dirt road. And it feels so right to walk in that front door and know that we've worked hard and sacrificed for this, and it's finally one of our little dreams coming true. Oh, it's nice.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

2007-03-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is...4 years married and we still like each other. It pretty easy to do since he's over 8 hours away. My parents took me out to dinner tonight to celebrate cuz they probably knew I'd just sit at home, eat cereal for dinner and feel sorry for myself all night long. The lady at the resturant gave me a free fried ice-cream, and I must admit, it was kinda nice not to have to share it. Heeee heeee.

I love ya babe, and miss you more than I thought I ever would.

I like to pride myself (just a little, though) on my independence. I like to do things myself, fix the things I can by myself, work out problems on my own, and just generally do the things I can because I know I can. This was one of the biggest problems for us when we first got married; letting Helaman do stuff! Open the doors, help with dishes (ha, I bet he's regretting that move!), lift stuff, and just generally do stuff for me. So for me, I thought I could do this 4 month stint without a hitch. And I did. The first month was almost fun. Then the second month was cold and lonely and cold. Then the third month was cold, lonely, cold, and busy. Noah is ready for his Daddy to come home and so am I. I guess I am not the complete super-woman I would like to think I am and that's very hard for me to admit, especially to Helaman. Cuz, hello? My pride? It might get a chip knocked out of it or something. I'm not a sissy, but I have to admit; I need my husband. He is wonderful. He is perfect for me, and I for him.

Happy Anniversary Babe. I love ya and miss you more than I ever thought I could.

Oh, Kids Are Cute!

2007-02-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

Yep. For you Lambsons that check out this site (all both of you, including Helaman), you will recognize this outfit. It was fashioned by Claire Lambson for one Carrol Lambson about, oh....humna humna years ago. Ok, at least 30. We'll just leave it at that. I cannot believe that it now fits my little boy. The little boy who randomly gives me "big hugs, baby hugs" between running his tractor and pushing his motorcycle. The little boy who will someday be a man just like his daddy, at least I hope he will be like his daddy. The little boy who cries out for me in the night for a "dwink of nice, cold water, please", and who waves to EVERYONE in the stores and says "hi" to every weird, creepy, drunk guy who stands behind us in Walmart and lights up that toothless face.
The little boy who months after seeing his cousins in St. Johns for Christmas still asks what Baby Anna is doing and what his "nice" cousin Taylor is wearing. My sweet boy who says to anyone who wants to get him something to eat "No, thank you. Momma do it". Who loves to play with dinasaurs. Who thinks Maisy is the best show ever. Who doesn't like brussel sprouts, but will eat them if I tell him he will grow muscles like his daddy. Who always wants "a yittle drink of your soda pop...I yike soda pop". The little sweet heart who loves to play "faces" with me in the mirror; happy face : ) sad face : ( mad face >: ( and suprised face <: 0 (his favorite). Who loves to go on long walks with his Momma while clinging tightly to my pointer finger and talking to me about everything that is within his sight until all the "twinkle twinkle stars" come out and we can sing to them. Who absolutely loves to sing the song "Follow The Prophet" because it has a catchy tune (and his name in in of course).
This sweet, home-made suit fits one little boy who will one day grow to be a huge eater, a teenager, maybe a football lover, a man devoted to our religion and our family, maybe a music lover, or a number cruncher. The possibilities are truly endless. Hopefully he will have the strength to follow the footsteps of his Daddy and his uncles; to be an amazing man.

Noah's Hand

2007-02-09T21:50:00.000-08:00

I don't know if ya'll know it, but our home is constructed of 12-inch-thick adobe (mud and straw) home that has been covered in stucco and lived in for 100 years. We have beautiful wood floors, huge closets and bathroom, and large wonderful windows with deep sills to sit and admire the view. Well, it's also cold! REALLY cold, and the sun has been shining and it's been warm outside for two days and I STILL have to wear a sweatshirt inside. So today, I decide to open all the huge windows to let the warm air in. The windows, being 100 years old, are large and heavey and are pushed up and held open by weights built into the INSIDE of the window frame. Some of the rope holding these weights has frayed and broken over the years so we use a 1 x 2 to hold the windows up. Noah was looking outside at the birds flying around and grabbed the piece of wood holding up the 30 pound window and it came crashing down on his pudgy little 2-year-old hand.

The local clinic's "system" is down so they couldn't read any x-rays, and they only had stiches (no glue) so I had to drive 45 minutes to the ER in Willcox. After being ignored and trying to keep Noah occupied for 55 minutes, I told the "lady" sitting behind the counter that I was sent to have my son's thumb stitched and have x-rays taken - could I possible have his thumb stitched while I waited to get in to radiology?

15 minutes later, they bring us it, look at his hand and ask me if this is the only reason I brought him in. They look at me like I'm an over-protective mom when I tell them what happened. They laugh when the walk around the sound-proof barrier of the flimsy fabric curtain that seperates me from the man with the UTI and say "This is pathetic! Throw some glue on there and let's get to work!".

"Look", I said oh so nicely, "It's not like some little window with thin glass hit his little thumb and knuckles! A 3 FOOT by 4 FOOT window filled with antique glass and bordered by 2 x 4 chunks of wood FELL on my son's hand. I think it needs to be looked at". Somehow, the sound-proof barrier must have prevented them from hearing my rant because I got 2 drops of super-glue and a discharge paper. No x-rays, no stitches. All for the co-pay price of $100 + gas. The glue popped off while at Pizza Hut and Noah got spaghetti sauce in his gaping wound and I had to go back with a tired, hungry, now screaming child to try to get this little wound taken care of. I am told to wait in the waiting room and go through the ER system again. They put a piece of tape on his thumb. Still no x-rays. It's been a long day. 11 am to 4:30 pm. I'm going to have to sit in about 9,657,823,194 hours of sunshine to get out of this rut and I just want to go to bed.

The good news - there's always good news - Noah's hand is not broken, only possibly fractured, which might lead to an infection which could lead to him going on antibiotics and maybe a resetting of the fracture. And, naturally, another trip to the hospital. In another city of course.

A Silly Little Thing...

2007-01-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the silliest things can just make me giggle. Or outright laugh. Or chuckle a little and then giggle about them every time I think of whatever it is whenever I think of it. So today, I had to make a stop accross the street to talk to our neighbor, Patty. I got Noah out of his seat and as we walked up to the front of her home, Noah said, "Yook, Momma! A wagon!"
"Yep, it sure is." I replied
"Is it Patty's wagon?" he asked
"Yes sweetheart."
"Oh"
Then a thoughtful look on his face and
"It a Patty-Wagon?"
Ha, ha!! I started laughing so hard that I had to stop walking and say to myself, "A wagon. Patty's wagon. A patty-wagon. Oh, this kid is witty, and he's only 2!!!!"
Hee, hee. Yep, I'm still giggling. I told Patty and she laughed. I'm sure she'll giggle next time she thinks about it too. A patty-wagon. Sheesh, that's funny! C'mon! Laugh! You know you want too...

More CRAZINESS From The AZ Lambsons...

2007-01-21T21:38:00.000-08:00

Well hello again folks and thanks for visiting us here toay, as we deceptively spin yarns a-plenty and tell the truth sometimes.

Today, just for fun, we will be telling mostly the truth. Like the fact that we got another dog. Really. Here she is - her name is Shatzie. It's a German term for "endearment". Cute, huh? And she loves the kids and the kids love her, and everybody gets along. Except for the birds. The dog wants to eat them and they are having a hard time adjusting to that. But, all in all, everybody is getting along just fine.

She is a Jack Russell Terrier mix and has lots of energy. She was also at the pound, so she has lots of issues too. Like she must.be.by.my.side.at.all.times. I lovingly refer to her as my "velcro dog" or my "clingon" (but not in public). So when I take her out to go potty, I have to wait on the front porch and she will "do her business" as long as I'm within her field of vision. Sweet, isn't it.....

So this evening I take the two dogs out and they do their thing and I can totally tell that it's going to snow. The wind, the dark clouds hanging down, the smell in the air. I can't wait for it to snow. Fast foward past dinner, bath, pj's, stories, prayers, songs, bed, and you will see me out on the porch yet again. But this time, there is snow falling and on the ground. AGAIN! SNOW IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA. And this is the truth too! Honest! (picuctures to follow). It's deep enough for me to go out and run in and leave tracks behind me! Thinking back to both times it's snowed where I live, I think (just so ya know, you're entering dangerous waters here) "Gee, I bet I could make a snow angel with snow this deep!". Yep, it was about 1/4 of an inch thick, so I plop down, flap my arms and legs coupla times and voila! There is a masterpiece! The dogs are done so we run inside and I take off my hat and jacket. There, sticking to the back of my jacket is the "business" that Shatzie had done earlier. What a crappy way to end the day.....

Yet ANOTHER Thing I Can't Yell At My Husband About...

2007-01-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

I turned on the little space heater in the bathroom at 11 a.m. this morning in order to heat the room sufficiently to take a shower and shave my legs without scraping all the goosebumps off along with the hair by this evening. I entered the *grin* WARM room and turned on the water so it, too, would be *big grin* WARM so I would eventually get *full, ear-to-ear, Cheshire Cat smile goin' on here* WARM. But when I turned the handle on the faucet, I realized that someone forgot to turn off the shower head from the last visit to WARM fairy land and I was covered in a spray of icy cold darts of coldness and it was COLD darn it! Really cold. And I was mad and I almost cursed! But who is there to hear my rantings and ravings? AND, by golly, who is to blame? Only me. Poor, pathetic, cold, lonely me. Hurry Home Gila Man!!

It Actually Happened!!

2007-01-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

It really, really happened! We are home owners!! I'm not a renter! I can check the "own" box whenever I fill out a questionare...if I ever have the time to do such mundane things ever again. Because I'm a home-owner now and am waaaaay to busy to do petty things such as fill out questionares and silly stuff like that. Oh, why am I soooo excited? Let me illuminate:

Reason #1: It will be a warm house. It will have heat. In every room. All winter long. I will not have to buy propane and switch out bottles when the wind is blowing sleet down my jacket right before I'm suppossed to have dinner on the table but I can't cook because, the propane tank? It's empty. Oh, and no more pellets to haul.

Reason #2: I will have a double sink in the kitchen. Something I don't have now. Just a single, shallow sink.

Reason #3: I think the place might be warm....

Reason #4: I will have a garbage disposal. I will not have to fish out slimy pasta, mushy vegetables, or yucky chunks of meat out of the drain. The sink will eat such nasties.

Reason #5: I will have a dishwasher. One that washes the dishes and sanitizes them and makes them all clean. Even if the dog licks it...it will be clean.

Reason#6: It's really really cute!!

Reason #7: I will walk to the wall, push the "up" arrow button, and there will be a miraculous phenomenon which will occur somewhere inside the wall (I like to refer to it as "Fairy Land" ) and WARM air will come out of vents placed in various points in the home. Like the bedroom. Even, though hard to believe, in the bathroom *gasp*. It's true! I've seen it happen. I will make it happen. And I will be happy.

It's really, really gonna happen tomorrow...

2007-01-09T21:43:00.001-08:00

Well, after countless rewrites, fixes, and 2-hour drives to what is going to be our new home, it's actually going to happen. Tomorrow morning between 10 and 11 am, I am going to hold the keys to our new home in my hand. And I will drive there, and I will ring the doorbell for the first time and unlock the door for the first time and go inside for the first time and know with complete, um, knowledge that I will be the very first person to sit and tinkle on that toilet. Yes, I think I could even brave the unthinkable: talking on my cell phone while sitting on the potty. OH, YES! That's what I said. Not scared. Not yucky. It's going to be a great day tomorrow, I can just feel it. New day, new house...oh yeah.

It's really, really gonna happen tomorrow...

2007-01-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

A Few Things That I Can't Yell At My Husband For... Volume 1

2007-01-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

Alright...so I can yell, but it won't do any good. I just scare the animals. And this face of his? It keeps the bears away from our camp site. Oh, and I know that it's been eons since I have blogged, and trust me, I'm working on repenting, but I have been busy here. REALLY busy. The single parent lifestyle stinks. Big time. And literaly too. Let me explain....

*Woke up early this morning - big day today!! I'm on the ball! We get to do the walk-thru and home inspection on what is going to be our NEW HOME!!! Yipeee! I walked in the kitchen and, "What the freak?" something stunk. The combination of stinky diapers, old brown banana peels and yucky leftovers was oozing out from under the lid of the seemingly innocent white trash can lid. (switch to internal dialogue) Oh...I guess that's my job now too...(at least Helaman could have set up 4 or 5 trash cans so I wouldn't have to take the trash out every week...man...what a bum...can't really expect Noah to do it...at least not for another week or two. Sheesh, it smells. Does it always smell like this? Where do I put the bag of trash? Where are the new trash bags? Oh, I forgot I put the pizza boxes behind there...Ewwwwwwwwwwww! Is that what week-old pizza looks like?!? Wow....cool color....hmmmm... (end internal dialogue...it could get very scary very quickly). In the end, I had nobody to blame for leaving all that crap all over and around the trash can area. I did the adult thing - don't get me wrong, I can totally step up to the plate and run this household and keep it clean and all that jazz. Sheesh, people, give me some credit! I'm an adult...I did what most adults in my situation would do: I took the trash can, pizza boxes, plastic bags, and other misc. mumbo out on the back porch, so I wouldn't have to smell it. What? Don't worry! I closed both screen doors so no critters could get to it. I told ya...I'm on the ball!

*After coming home from a completely exhausting day of driving forever to our new home with a 3 year old (Mikey not Noah), going over the home inspection, doing the walk though, sitting in an office to see if we can sign, finding out we cannot (oh, yes...I was angry), going from business to business to get various utilities set up and paying out the Wazoo for it, cursing myself for wearing very cute but very uncomfortable shoes while walking in Home Depot to look for paint...blah blah blah.....cut to getting home after 8 p.m. and getting Mr. "I'm Not Tired, I'm Awake! See My Eyes Momma?" to bed. Finally kicking of aforementioned cur-sed shoes and sitting down to tinkle on the potty. Just sitting was nice. And then I saw it. The empty roll. You know, the one with 2 little transparent sheets simply setting there on that cardboard "OH!!!!" I yelled, "THIS IS IT! HOW CAN THIS DAY GET WORSE?!?!???". And then I realized...there's nobody here to blame. Noboby here to care. Nobody except the two year old who heard my voice and loudly proclaimed, "I AWAKE, MOMMA! SEE MY EYES?". Normally, I murmer about the man who is always leaving the roll with one sheet on it. Yet, how can one murmer about someone who has not occupied this space for 5 freakin' weeks? Sheesh, you'd think I'd be used to it now. But getting used to having nobody to blame for stuff that doesn't get done around here? That's a hard thing to do.

Holiday Eating Tips

2006-12-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Holiday Eating Tips

Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a
Holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit.
In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next
door, where they're serving rum balls.

Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like a
fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even
rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any othert
ime of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has
10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going
to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat.
enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you
think. It's Christmas!

If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the
whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone.

make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with
gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made
with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why
bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic
transmission.

Do not have a snack before going to a party in an
effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a
Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots
of it. Hello?

Under no circumstances should you exercise between
now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have
nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which
you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a
10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

If you come across something really good at a
buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape
and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't
budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of
attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you
leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a
slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two
apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you
get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded
with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all
costs. I mean, have some standards.

One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you
leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been
paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry,
January is just around the corner.

Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the
Intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well
Preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in
One hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up,
Totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

I don't know where this came from, but I thought it was tooooo funny not to share!!

Cool Things About December In Arizona...

2006-12-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

Well, howdy ya'll!!! I know it seemed as though I'd never get back on here and let 'cha know that I was still kickin' out here in Southern AZ, but here I am, bein' sassy and tryin' to keep the household runnin' as a Single Mom. Let me tell ya...it ain't no fun. I think if every room had heat, I would be to deal with all that goes on with running a household, but as it is, I have heat in 2 rooms, so it's hard to function in those other 6 rooms. Yes, it's cold here. How cold, you ask? Well, it freezes here at night, and the highs are somewhere in the 60's. Sure, you're thinking that it's much colder than that wherever you are, but do you have 12 inch thick adobe walls? The kind of walls that the cold penetrates and you have to fight to keep the cold out once it permeates those walls? Ha! I didn't think so. But really, this isn't a super whining fest for me. Although it's fun 'cuz I can whine and I don't see your reaction and you can't give me any smart-alecky retorts.

Soooo, being a Single Momma isn't fun. I always had respect for single Moms, (or I would shake my head sadly at them when they told me of their single parenting woes but secretely said, "HA! Shoulda tried a little harder to prevent this situation", which is narrow minded and cruel now that I look back on it), but now I think they are amazing. Most of them have to work, I don't. And I still have a hard time keeping the dishes washed.

While you may think that this is pointless and going nowhere (and you're probably right) I do have a point. And it is: As a new Single Mom (SM - like Super Mom), I have found myself asking for help when I never thought I would. And asking for help much sooner than I thought. Like this weekend. And Hele's only been gone 2 weeks. Sheesh, I miss that guy. He called and said "Do you miss me?", "Of course!" I replied. "I have to take out the trash! It stinks!". Ha, ha. I was just being funny.

So my parents decided to take Mr. B shopping with them this weekend. I thought that was a really neat idea and decided to go shopping as well. I observed many interesting things while visiting the big city. I felt like the country mouse visiting the hugest city in the world, it was amazing.

First Observation: No matter who you are, how much you weigh, or what the weather is outside, you can wear whatever you want inside the mall. There was this really skinny guy wearing the most skin tight jeans and henley I've ever seen. He looked like a very tall, white walking stick.
Then (of course) there was a very, VERY large hispanic woman wearing a black skirt that came halfway up her thighs - when she was standing up. And she only stood up once the whole time she was in the food court, and that was to order her food.

Second Observation: You can sell anything in the mall this time of year. That is, you can sell anything in the mall in ARIZONA this time of year. Like the booth that sold Snow Makers. Yep. No, really!! They had the small one that would make enough snow for 2 snowballs for $19.95 on up to the big one that could make enough snow to make a snowman for $59.99. And they were giving demos, and they had a bigger line than Santa Claus. It was hilarious.

Third Observation: Well, um...this kind of falls into the second observation, but I like this store so it earned it's owned observation. I went into a flip flop store that was called "The Flip Flop Store"!!! It was sooo cool! They had every kind of brand of flip flop! I must have spent 45 minutes in there looking at the beautiful array of my ultimate favorite foot covering. The manager finally came over and gave me a 20% off coupon to get me to make up my mind. The lady behind me in line said, "Only in AZ will you find a store completely devoted to selling flip-flops". I replied, "What's really funny is that it's open on December 9th and business is booming!!".

That was part of my trip to the big city on Saturday. It was fun to shop without my son and escape for awhile, but it was nice to wake up to a little warm body snuggling up to me this morning to tell me that he got to see "Nanta Clausth" in W@lm@rt yesterday. So, I'm back in the action with my blog, and I think I went through "Blogger Withdrawl" because, HOLY HECK! I just can't stop typing! I promise I will be more diligent in writing so ya'll can check out what's going (or not going) on with us out here.

Wow, I'm Feelin OLD!

2006-11-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

But I'm not, right? Old that is. But I have a friend who is the Costco Vanna. You know....Sam's Club, Price Club, whatever it is you call a HUGE warehouse full of oversized packages of stuff that fits nicely in your bathroom if you only plan to squeeze in , do your bidness and squeeze out kind of place. Oh, they hand out yummy free samples too. Ummm....my point being...Oh yeah! My friend buys everything at Costco and if we don't , she points out all the reasons we should have bought our whatever it was there and we can take it back like 3 years later as long as you have the receipt and you can get twelve of them and you won't have to ever worry about buying one ever again and neither will your children. Will schmill. My kids are gettin toilet paper when I die. And again...my point being...

Yes, of course....*thinking quickly back to what the heck am I doing here anyways? How did I get here....oh yeah....* I was online looking for the 2nd generation BLUE iPod because I am obsessed with it and I must have it (or the red one, it's wicked pretty too). Silver just doesn't do it for me, it must be blue (or asforementioned red) or the music doesn't sound as good and it's too heavy and not as bright and doesn't have the long battery life and it just looks cool, alright Gila Man! I mean Gosh! It's the same price already.

Gee...I was just, ya know...killin' a little time ('cuz I have so much of it) and just cruisin' the Costco website, checkin things (like the iPods) out and seein' if there's any shift in the color situation (no shift, if you're wonderin') and I remember that Noah really liked these flash card type things that Costco Vanna had at her house that he LOVED. They were cute and helped children develop their language skills and Noah just liked the pictures so I thought it would make a cute Christmas gift. So I click on "search" and enter "flash cards" thinking that the flash cards would be addition, subtraction, mulitplication, colors and things of that nature. And up pops a page on digital memory flash cards. For holding pictures and info. Not flash cards. No addition. Nothing like what I was expecting. I feel like a big dork and I just thought I'd share that with you so that if you were having a bad day and feeling like a dork as well, to bad!!! I win. I must sleep now...obviously.....

On Having Kids.....

2006-10-23T21:55:00.000-07:00

I read a quote today that said, "The sweetest time I think of you is at the end, when the day is through" - Emily Dickenson. Now, from what I've read, Ms. Dickenson never had any children. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that she MUST have had some neices or nephews or some annoying neighbor kids running around the place messin' with her poems, shufflin' papers, and just giving her a hard time. Because how could someone without kids think up something that explains EXACTLY what us parents are sometimes thinkin' at the end of the day?

*Sigh*As you can see, I've had a rough day. When we went to town last Thursday, both of the boys came home with runny noses. So today (Monday - which is always the worstest day of the week anyways), I had to deal with two little boys who had low-grade fevers, mild coughs, and NASTY ever running noses. I probably washed my hands 600 times today. Fun, huh?

So tonight when I checked on my son (who had a super long bath and lots of decongestant) and saw that he was sleeping soundly and peacefully, I thought to myself, "Awwwwww, isn't he just sweet?". And all the junk from the day slipped from my mind and I remember wicked cute way he said "I love you more" to my "I love you" (thanks, Candace). I think of the way he repeated me when I said "Michael Ryan, eat your cereal" and he just said it in the same tone of voice and everything. It was cute. I also loved how he shared his little piece of homemade jerky with me and said, "Here Momma, this for you. Chew up pease! Mouf tlosed pease!". Oh, it makes my heart melt that I have this little guy in my life. He makes it all complete. I guess that good 'ol Emily Dickenson did know what she was talking about after all.

Dressing Up My Two-Year-Old (Watch out people...this thing is about a lame subject and has dorky random comments galore)

2006-10-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm trying to get back in the swing of the bloggin' scene. I have been out of the building for awhile, and nobody has noticed, so now I feel confident that I can write whatever I want about anybody I want. Nice.....

This is probably an one of the most boring blogs I have ever written and I don't know why I suddenly decided to type it out....Ooooohhhhh, I know! It's because it's been rollin' around in my noggin for a coupla days and I'm ready to throw it all out on the table and wash my hands of it. I will now stop obsessing about a completely ridiculous topic and get on with something really important....um....I'll think of something important later.

I came accross an interesting question the other day during a yahoo answers session. "Do you dress up your kid and how and why"? Why did I find it interesting? It wasn't the question so much as the aswers provided by weenie-whiners and non-parents. This is a pic of Noah when he was about 14 months old...and this was all I could find for him to wear to church. He looks fine, has the nice khaki color going on, but how many people even get their kid this dressed up for any occation?

Argument #1: "Oh, my kid will get dirty and RUIN these clothes!"

Answer: Um, HELLLLOOOO?!?!?!?!? Have we not put a man on the moon? Has one single woman not given birth to 8 live babies? Can we not converse with another complete and total stranger on the other side of the world already?!? Um, it's not rocket science, it's called "Spray 'N Wash". Buy it. Spray it. Wash clothes. Dry clothes. Clean clothes. The End...Next Excuse Please.

Argument #2: "I don't want to make my children wear clothes like that. I want them to feel free to express themselves by choosing what they want to wear and how they wear it. My child doesn't have to fit in the same box as your (in a condesending tone) child."

Answer: Oh.My.Holy.Tar. Then put your kid in a DIFFERENT colored tie with a DIFFERENT colored shirt. I'm not sayin' that all children should look like little missionaries in white shirts and blue ties with dark blue slacks and black shoes! You buy it and let them choose from what they have in their closet. And that whole "let them express themselves with their clothes" statement is gonna get you in trouble...I envision bright pink hair with a clashing puce see through itty-bitty tank-top (w/no bra) topping a pair of very low-riding daisy dukes with yellow socks and polka-dotted tennis. Or can I just use one word...can we say "Goth"? Good luck with that.

Argument #3: The only time we get dressed up is for the holidays. It's all I can afford and what other day is as important?

Answer: Well, if you are shopping at Dillards or Ambercrombie, I can totally understand the whole price issue. But buy clothes when they're cheap and on clearance and don't worry about buying a size too big - because one thing that has been proven to happen to every child - they GROW. Weird, huh?

And so ends another happy, peppy, post from yours truly. Um, I think that's me. I am finally back in the swing of things and have figured out how to get blogging again....I wait for my Gila-Monster to fall asleep!!!

Whoooooooo-Hooooooooo! Happy Day!!!

2006-09-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Oh my gooooodness. My husband has FINALLY started talking to me again - I found our digital camera!! Yippeeeee! This is just the greatest news in our family right now. Silly though you might think it, it has been a source of major upheavel since we returned from our little family vacation. What? You wanna know were I found it? ARE YOU KIDDING? Whenever anyone has been searching extensively for something of importance, it is most usually found in some embarrassing place that you have either already searched or thought it unimportant enough to look through. Fortunately enough for me, Gila Man is the one who happened to search this place first, so when I found it, he wasn't all, "Well, I TOLD you to look there!!". Fine, fine....

While looking through the diaper bag to get a tissue for Mr. B's allergy induced runny nose, I reached into the inner-most pocket of the bag and underneath a pile of crumpled, empty kleenex packages was a strap. When I grabbed it and pulled it out of the bag, I nearly cried!!! There was the "Precious" that Gila Man was obsessing about! I was at the indoor playground at the mall, so everyone was staring at me cuz I FA-REAKED out. I got a huge hug and the dishes were done for me after dinner when I showed the camera to my hubby and him about how I searched and took the house apart and spent so much time trying to locate it because he was so upset about losing it. I'm the worst wife. Ever. Oh, well. He's happy and we have our camera. We'll post pics of Mr. B in his glasses as soon as I take a couple. That's all for tonight.

Soothing My Soul.....

2006-09-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been having some trouble lately trying to...um...locate our digital camera, and since Gila Man continues to remind me of how much the dang thing cost, I'm starting to get a little nervous. Why am I sharing this? Because if you start seeing pictures on my blogs that you've sworn to have seen before, you'll understand why - I'm trying to fill up space and make my page seem fun.

The past couple of days have been rough for me as I've been feeling down and have been sooooo busy and stressed out. I tried to drink more Dr. Pepper (which always seemed to do the trick before), but to no avail. Then I tried excersing, no good. So I tried singing more, getting more music (for my mp3 player), praying more, goofing off with the kids more, gardening, and scrapbooking, but I was stuck in a funk. I even went shopping. And it was fun, of course. I spend $41.52 and saved $72.51. Saving money always jolts me out of a rut! But not this time.
I just felt blue. Like a pale, hovering hue that is neither touching the sky nor the ground and seems to be clinging like a soft spider web. Just a sad, blue hue feeling that couldn't be chased away.

My Mom called this morning and said she picked an amazing amount of peaches off her tree in the back yard and was freezing them. She asked if I wanted any and I said I would be there this afternoon to learn how to freeze peaches so they wouldn't get all brown and icky and gross when they thawed. So we sat and peeled peaches. Then we sliced them, added some magic powder, stirred them, let them sit, stirred again, marked the bags, bagged them, and had tons of fresh, organic peaches to last the whole winter through (that's a lot of peach cobbler).

So when you have to sit and peel peaches, you talk. It's really nice. So I talked and my mom listened.
Then she talked and I listened.
Then I talked.
Then she talked.

It was nice. We shared a lot. I learned how I could best deal with a sticky situation that I had been losing sleep over. She helped me let go of the things that were clinging to me. Like the pale blue hue. Where did it go? I don't know. But as I left her home, I turned the radio up and listened to my music and I felt the hue lag further and further behind. I think my mom kept it. I hope I helped her too.

I am one dang lucky woman. My mom is here, and close, and I like her and she likes me. She even likes my husband. Well, everyone likes my husband, but it's nice that my mom can call him his pet name and he doesn't even blink about it. My dad is here to. What I would do without them makes my stomach clench and my heart hurt. But they are here now and I love them and they love me and they help me even though I'm 28 and think I don't need help or I can handle it my own way...there they are...soothing my soul.

Here's A Little Murmmering..... (by the way...this paticuar blog is wicked long)

2006-08-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Ahh, one of the last pictures of summer. Now that the rains have hit (And we are soooooo grateful for, of course! Even if they should prevent us from enjoying the sweet, cool, waters that still beckon to us, frigid though they are), it's too cold to get the kids in the water.

So, here I go again. With the complaining, and the trash talking, and the mummuring. I just looked over what I've written and it looks freaking long. It shouldn't be that bad to read - it might even be a little bit funny. Try it...

I love a lot of things in life, and since I've been working on what it is to "be" me, things have been going a WHOLE lot better. But once in awhile, there just seems to be something that happens - not always directly, mind you - but something that just happens and I'm like, "Geeeeez, that was awful!" or, "Wow, that just made me want to knock her big, ugly, poofy, dumb, frizzy block off!".

Obviously, one of those things happened today. I had to run to SV to get new frames for Mr. B since he ran the old ones over with his tricycle. Yep. He only had them for one week. Serious. Anyways...went to SV, got the new frames, went to Ross, then to Arby's, then to the park before the afternoon storm hit.

And Mr. B and Mikey are all, "Come play with us! Climb up here! You can't catch me! I slide first!". And I'm all, "I am so gonna catch you and tickle the snot outa you and ya'll are gonna LOSE!" Well, I didn't actually say it, but I was totally thinking it, c'mon. What I said was more like, "Oh, I don't know! You might be tooooo fast for me! I don't think I can catch you!".

There were a couple of kids there when we got there and the moms were sitting on a bench in the shade, gossiping about the moms they both knew and discussing the inferior parenting styles of those said women. I could tell that it was a deep and emotional conversation as they continued to "pick a little, talk a little" in comfort.

I, on the otherhand, was running up and down teeny stairs, sliding down slides as long as my legs, and grasping onto burning hot fireman poles while chasing after little monkeys. After one little boy threw sand on my son for the third time, his mom looked over and sweetly said, "Bradley, honey, don't do that! The sand is dirty." and quickly resumed her conversation.
When the other womans little girl shoved Mikey down the slide, her mom said, "Sweetheart, play nice!" By that time, I was starting to get a little aggrivated with these street urchins and their perfect mommies who are sitting in the shade, because they are totally missing the first 12 times that the kids do something wrong, and then they yell accross the playground for them to stop!! Sheeeeesh!! How effective is that? How about NOT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!

So my solutions could be one of 4 things:

I could go up to the little boy and tell him that if he gets near my son again with any sand, I will pry open his little mouth and fill it with the dirty grit.

I could tell my boys to shove or throw sand back.

I could ask the moms to take a more active role in their kids playtime (what I was really thinking was; ask the moms to get offa their sour, bulging, gossiping booties and take care of these rotton, ratty, monsters! ahem...I meant children...obviously not an option).

I could have some group playtime - you know, an organized game.

I decide that we are going to play a game. I like games, and I want the boys to learn to play with others (the other two needed a lesson also). "How about playing tag?" I ask the kids. "Yeah!!" they say. (You know, hindsight being what it is, I probably should have chosen another game. Hemmm, I'll jot this one down as a "Shining Mommy Moment"...or not) So we get a little more organized and we start playing tag. This works well, but we still have a little directing to do with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (real names: Bradley and Bailey). "Oh, let's not be tooooo rough with the little ones." I calmly ask Dee. "Um, you don't need to tag him that hard, Dum." and "Hey! One a time on the slide." or "Do not touch his glasses again!" then "I think I heard your mommy calling you" and finally "Is that your ball rolling into the street?". By this time, the moms are getting aggrivated that someone else is dictating to their children and begrudgingly leave the comfort of the shade and start walking over to the playground.

"Stay away from those boys, Dee and Dum!" mom #1 shouts. "Don't play with them, they look like they are playing their own game" says mom #2. "Come here Dee!" says #1, "Come here right now! No! We are leaving, you can't stay any more. Don't go under that - I said DON'T! Get over here right now young lady. No, you cannot go down the slide one more time. I said - stop tha - don't go - can you hear me? Ok, 1......2....if you don't get over here by the count of three, you're gonna be in BIG trouble! 1.......2......2 1/2.......2 3/4.....I'm almost to 3! Stop that! It's time to go! Do you want something to eat? Are you hungry? Let go get some ice cream! 1.......2....... 2 1/2......Bailey Nicole, get over here right now. Am I going to have to come over there and get you? I really don't want to do that! I'll get sand in my sandles. GET OVER HERE! 1.........2.......2 1/2.......Ok, here I come and I'm not happy!! I mean it! Get your butt over here!" Mom #1 then proceeds to precariously pick her way throught the nasty field of sand to try to get Dee. Then, seeing that the sand is much "ickier" than she anticipates, she turns back and starts yelling from the sidelines again.

Mom of Dum, on the other hand, yells and says, "Get you butt over here right now or I'm gonna spank you!" to which Dum yells back, "No!!! I'm still playing!". Dum is rather angry so I should have known better than to think that mom could take care of everything, but right then, Mr. B came toddling by on the bridge. "I'm a troll and you can't pass!" (well, at least he got the troll part right), and Mr. B, not yet instructed in the ways of the 4 year old temper tantrum, innocently says, "No, thank you." and trys to push his way (rather roughly, I will admit) between the troll and the bridge. The troll leans back, pulls his hand back, and gets ready to whollip my almost 2 year old son.

This is it...the last straw. I take two steps and am on the kid in a minute. I grab his wrists (firmly but not hurting him) and tell him that he cannot hit little babies, it's not nice. Dum screams like mad when I catch him in the act "I didn't hit him! Let me go! I'm telling! He pushed me first! He started it! Owwwwwww!"

Dee is watching this scene and must have realized that nobody was watching her, so she tried, once again, to push little Mikey down the slide. In his attempt to not go down the slide sideways, he grasped empty air until he felt something solid and he held onto it. Except that solid thing happens to be the little girl's skirt. And he pulls it down. And she falls down the slide along with Mikey. Oh, brother....it looks bad for us.

Seeing the small scene of chaos before them, the mothers finally concede and quickly make their way through the "icky" sand towards the screaming children.

They are mad at me and ask me how I could let my children cause so much trouble.

I ask them how they enjoyed their chat in the shade.

They glare at me.

I let the screaming troll go. I get down and pick Mikey up out of the sand. They say, "She can't be their mother, look at her playing around, look at her hair. Look! She's dirty!" As if I wasn't there to hear them. Making sure the boys are ok, I look at these mothers and say, "As a Mom, I would rather get dirty, sweaty, and grimy while playing with my kids than get dirty, sweaty, and grimy while yelling at my kids and picking their spoiled bodies up outa the sand."

As they walked away muttering the words, "Irresponsible! Do you want ice cream? Disrespectful! I'm gonna count to three! Rude! Do you want something to cry about? Immature! Because I said so!" over the wailing of their kids they were dragging, I smiled as I climbed back up the steps to catch two little monkeys. I am one of the luckiest women alive to know what I know and to enjoy what I do. But I still wanted to knock #1's big, ugly, poofy, dumb, frizzy block off.

Here He Is!!!

2006-08-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! Just when I was about to go searching for some other place to host our little family blog site, blogger gets back on track and everything seems right in the world again. We also recently returned from driving around and visiting family for a week, so I was able to calm down a little about this silly situation.

So, here he is. Mr. Bentley with his cute little coke bottle, ahem, I mean glasses, on. I will be updating more soon, but here's a quick shot of him eating dinner (which is now a MUCH less of a messy affair than it had been before.

Two days after he got them, he scratched them and we only get one new pair a year (for a two year old!!! give me a break!), so he is just dealing with it for now. Then, while riding his little trike around in the kitchen, yes - it's that big, and he took the glasses off and promtly ran them over. I panicked! After all, these are corrective, they have to stay on so the next pair won't be as strong. Oh, and did I mention that this happened on the Thursday before we were suppossed to leave on our trip to see the family? Yep...I called the eye doc and the girl says, "Oh, come in right now. We don't have any appointments. Tomorrow we are completely booked all day and we aren't open on Saturday". I roll my eyes and tell her that if I leave right now, I still won't be there for another hour and a half. But we are leaving on Sunday and we can't just let him not wear his glasses for 9 days. Sheesh, the things ya do for your kids. So we all hop in the car and leave for SV immediately to get the things bent back into shape. He still has to get new frames.

It's really hard to get him to wear them after about 4 in the afternoon. He is so polite when I say, "Hey, sweetie! Come put your glasses back on please!". He relpies with, "No, thank you, Momma". And this is only the first few weeks....This one is going to be a loooooooooooong row to hoe.....

Here's The Picture...

2006-08-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's up with blogger right now, but I can't post any pics and it's aggrivating because I like to post w/pics. It just doesn't seem fun w/out them. Sheeesh....they'll be hearing from me shortly....

News From The Lambsons...

2006-08-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

This isn't the greatest picture, but it's all we have right now. We will have more later. Or not!! Blogger STINKS!!! It won't let me download any pictures right now, so you'll just have to read this w/out one. How fun is that? Sorry. Will post ASAP!!!

Here I am again, with another stressful week behind me. Not only did Gila Man cut his wrist really badly at work, but Mr. B is cutting 4 new teeth and has been up every 2 hours at night for the last 4 days. Then the front door latch broke while we were outside and we were locked out for an hour until we remembered we had left one of the windows open. The cooler pump went out, the handles and hinges fell off my doors in the kitchen... sheesh! Things have just been a little off this week. BTW...I'm still happy to have a glass, I just need to vent a little.

The biggest news for our little family right now is that Mr. B (who will be 2 on October 25th) had his eyes checked and is extremely farsighted. Because of this, his eyes have to work very hard to see things up close and by the end of the day, his eye muscles just give up and his right eye rolls in toward his nose. I feel bad saying this, but I was heartbroken!! Oh, sure...things could have been worse, MUCH worse. If we had waited to see if he would "grow out of the problem" as was suggested to me by some friends, he would most certainly had to have had surgery. I don't know how parents deal with major illnesses in their children. I mean, the whole way home I kept thinking, "What did I do wrong? Could I have done something differently? Like eat more carrots while I was pregnant? Or chicken? Or fish? Or feed my kid more vegtables?". I just felt so guilty.

And face it...Nobody wants their child to have any handicaps in life. No matter how small. I don't want anything bad to happen to my little boy in his life...EVER!! No pee-wee football for this little man! He will be the newest "bubble boy"! Oh, help the first girl who breaks his sweet little heart.

Ok, so I'm going a little overboard and ya'll are thinking that I'm fanatical or something. Some would say you're right (I think that would include my husband, but don't listen to him. He has a biased opinion), but I do think that he looks cute. Like the little boy from Jerry McGuire and Stuart Little. And they stared in movies with big, famous, people...right? But if I had things my way, my sweet boy would learn all the lessons in life with out feeling even a little bit of pain or having hard times. But then, I guess he really wouldn't learn much that way. It's just a Momma's dream for her baby.

My Glass

2006-08-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Mr. B with all his grandparents. I have one of these of me when I was his age, and I love it.

"I don't care if my glass is half-full or half-empty. I'm just happy to have a glass"

I don't know who wrote that but I think it's awesome. That's how I'm feeling right now - so darn lucky to have what I have and be who I am (though sometimes I am a little to kooky even by my standards, and that's A LOT). I HATE (not a word I use lightly) my hair and my new haircut, but at least I have hair. My head aches from watching other people's children all day, but I was able to spend this whole day with my son. I have heartburn from eating a boatload (really, like, a smallish cruise ship) of spaghetti for dinner, but at least I had dinner and got full from it. I just had to put more gas in my vehicle so I can drive tomorrow, but I have a REALLY nice vehicle and I am thankful that it's so dependable (AND I had the money for the gas, double points!). My house is a disaster right now! There are toys in every corner of the living room, wet footprints and towels in the foyer from our water fight this afternoon, crumbs on the counter from lunch, crayons and paper on the table, and I am just to tired to pick it all up. But I can look at that stuff and think about what I was doing with those kids today, and I immediatly smile.

I am one darn lucky woman. I am happy to have a glass.

FREAKIN' OUT!!!

2006-07-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this picture! It totally faaarrreeeeeked me out, I mean, I didn't realize that my son was thrown so precariously into the air. This is what happens when Momma sneaks down to the port-a-jon with her roll of toilet paper, hand wipes, Purell, & a flashlight. Sheesh, that's why I hold it. Things like this happens when Momma is outa sight (that, and the porta-jon things? Ewwwwwwww!).

Here's a pic of us camping (yes, again) and you should appreciate being able see it and the blog you're reading, because coming back to civilization has taken quite a toll on me. I had a hard time answering the phone, I couldn't type, burnt the toast, just sorta FLIPPED OUT, ya know...just like always.

So here I am, home, typing away after yet another fun-filled day of taking care of other people's kids. I don't mind it so much, but I have a new girl and we have to establish the rules, enforce them, learn her likes/dislikes, all that jazz. She's cute and sweet and nine years old ("Geez, I'm not a little kid" she informed me today) and she's the most difficult child I have had the pleasure to watch. Why, you ask? How could this darling little blond stick of cuteness be difficult in any way? Well, because she's SMART. I mean really, really, smart. She read 500 books last year in school. F.I.V.E. H.U.N.D.R.E.D. My hubby hasn't read that many books in his LIFE!!!

So we have this super-smart girl, a 3 year old and an almost 2 year old. And she gets bored very quickly. When the little ones go down for their nap, I thought it would be fun to send up our tent in the living room. Oh, and it is soooo fun, for about 15 minutes. There we are, sittin' in the tent, and she says, "So...whatcha wanna talk about?" "Um," I sophisticatedly reply, "How about we look at the stars?"

Needless to say, I have to bust out with the learning kit that Gila Man bought for his N.A.U. class and try to trick her with money questions . But ACK!! She cannot be fooled by money. So I jump to patterns...piece of cake. Rubber band puzzles. Done. Counting tenths, & hundreths. Will I ever challenge her? Then I see it. The little bag of........fractions. She is going into fourth grade. She has done some of this, but not all of it (chuckling menacingly) so I go all the way. I present her with 1/6's, 1/8's, 1/3's, and 1/16's.

And she is fooled!! I WIN I WIN I WIN!! HEE HEE HEE!!! What? Like age matters when you're celebrating a well won victory?? BOOOO-YA!! Sheesh, people. Give me a break. Math is, like, my total, absolute, WORST subject and it was sooooo cool to actually know more about a math subject than the person I'm with. So she's nine years old, so what? Did I mention that she was a SMART nine-year-old?

She simply looked at me, basking in my glory over the fraction pieces that I was now doing my victory dance on, and said "You are the weirdest babysitter I've ever had" and walked out of the tent. I wonder if her mom will bring her back on Monday.

Once Upon A Time...

2006-07-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Oh, well. This looks all jacked up, but I tried to do it differently this time and naturally, I goofed. Here are some of the pics I took while camping on up at Riggs Lake...I swear, if Mr. B had any idea of what heaven looks like, this is it to him. He got out of the car and DID NOT STOP until we put him to bed. It was great!

There's Gila Man, Mr. B. and I, all sitting on a log in the shade after enjoying breakfast, and on the rock is "Iron Will" (in Pink) as I will call her, because that's what she has (I would love to watch someone try to take candy from THIS baby!!). She's 6 months younger than Mr. B, but can still kick his tush. Noah was trying will all his might to get in the lovely lake of murkey water, but had to be accompanied by Dad, which spoiled all his fun. We did let him play in the tub of water next to the fire that night, as he was coated in dirt and tree sap from running amok with the other children that arrived that day.

Oh, yes. The children. Remember how I had stated that the twin sister was coming up who had 4 kids under the age of 7? Well, I was wrong...SOOOOO WRONG. She also brought her cousin who had 3 kids - and they are all under the age of 5. No, really. I'm not kidding!!! That made a total of 9 children under the age of 5 running around in the woods and trying to sneak down to the lake and throwing weeds in the fire & therefore making a thick, stinky, smoke and drinking half a pop and spilling the rest so we were attacked by ants and gnats, and screaming bloody murder whenever someone tried to prevent them from climbing down the 5 ft stone wall encircling our campsite. The twin also brought her dog that HATES her brother's dog so we had the little weiner dogs barking and nipping and whining at our feet for hours.

I guess I have to admit that I'm a little bit of a control freak. Gila Man says "You're just a little bit compulisive, sweetie." Is there such a thing as a little bit compulisive? I doubt it, but if so, that gives me hope. This situation was competely out of my hands. It was hard for me to deal with. We (by "we", of course, I mean "I") dealt with it by going on long, leisurly walks together, just the three of us. Holding hands, enjoying the smell of the forest, watching Mr. B. get totally and completely exhausted so he would take a 3 hour nap when we returned. It was very nice.

Also got a little fishing in too. Caught 2 brown trout, but gave them to someone who had already caught 2, as the cleaning station was closed and it just wasn't worth the hassle. That was our trip, but there's more to come of course. That was just a quick overview. I'm just recovering enough to post this and recount it for ya'll.

Singing A Camping We Will Go...

2006-07-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

A camping we will go, a camping we will go, hi-ho-the-dairy-oh, a camping we will go!!

So my husband and I have been planning this wonderful vacation where we will drive all over Southern, Northern, and Eastern AZ, then to Colorado, and end in Utah. But his boss called and said it had to be cancelled. TOTALLY BOGUS, right?!?! Well, let me tell you....we were hoppin' mad (and that's REALLY mad in our house), I mean we were pretty ticked off and all, until I said, hey! You've got a coupla days off this week, let's all go camping! By all I mean myself, my husband, and our 20-month-old son. Yikes! Are we nuts or what? But we have food and a coupla ponchos, what more do you need in the woods near a lake? Oh, yes...we do have a tent, almost forgot about that.

Obviously, we aren't really big campers, so we are going with some friends of ours that are. Big time campers. They've got the whole menu planned, dutch oven dinners, full breakfasts, I mean the works! Except they have a 13-month-old daughter. And a dog. That barks. A LOT. But not too bad, right? They'll all have fun. I mean we'll all have fun. Riiiiiiiiight. Then the bombshell...my friend's husband's twin sister is going to join us. And her 4 kids under the age of 7. Without her husband. AAAAARRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

*Humming to myself to keep from going insane at the thought of this impending camping trip* A camping we will go, a camping we will go, hi-ho-the-dairy-oh (oh, that just makes is sound so pleasant, now doesn't it?), a camping we will go...

My Little Book Worm...

2006-07-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Oh, my little bookworm...
Every kid has their favorite story. Mine was Green Eggs & Ham, my husbands was James & The Giant Peach, my best friends was Where The Wild Things Are.

My son loves books. He has since he was a baby. See, I took this Children's Literature class when I was pregnant with him, and this class showed me where to look and what to look for in a good book. I learned about the different types of genres, the different themes, lessons, rules, and just...stuff...about so many different books. Did you know that there is a different sort of Cinderella story in EVERY culture? If you don't know who Jim Trelesse is (I don't know if the spelling is right on that), then you should look him up and know that he has really turned the world around when it comes to reading to children. It used to be nice for parents and teachers to read to kids. Now it's REQUIRED!!!

Needless to say, I learned how important it is to read to a child. That class and the fact that when I was 13 we moved into a house that had been built and previously owned by Amish people. That meant there was no TV or cable hookup. N.O.N.E. So we had a TV and a VCR. That's it. So, we read. A LOT.

Then...I took this highly infuencial class while pregnant with my first child. When he was 5 days old (and finally started to nurse), I started reading to him. First, it was the instructions to my new breast pump (sorry guys). Then I read all the pamplets about bringing home a new wonderful baby to him, hoping he would catch on...he did, of course. Then came the Parenting magazine articles, the Babywise book (that saved my life), and bits and pieces out of What To Expect When You're Expecting. Then I started reading baby books to him. One of his favorites was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? In fact, that was his very favorite. Until now. Now he runs around humming the tune "The Wheels On The Bus Go Round & Round", but he only hums the "Round and Round" part. It would be pretty cute if he wasn't so facinated with that book and that song. When he hears someone honk their horn, he hums the "Round and Round" part. Same goes for when he hears a baby cry, or sees a wheel...ANY wheel. He goes to bed with a book and seems to wake up with a different one every morning, but I am so glad he loves books and not video games. I think they would be much harder to sleep with!

Oh, The Shame...

2006-07-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

Well, here's my snazzy cute PINK crown I got to wear for my birthday! Isn't it just, soooooo....hideous?!?! This would mostly be because I have a deep hatred (a word that I don't use lightly) for this color. Why? Could it be that I was the only girl in my family and therefore I was forced to wear it? That every accessory for every Barbie or Cabbage Patch Kid I had was some shade of puice? That year after year (long after I was hating the 11th grade) when school shopping time came around, I STILL had to get some sort of pink shoe. But I'm not bitter about it, oh no! Not when my husband comes in, stands over my shoulder and says,
"You're putting that on your site? I mean, c'mon! There are cold, hungry, lonely people in the world. At least you had money to buy shoes."
So here's a pic of me in this cute crown, sitting in a comfy chair, getting ready to open more gifts that some kings get buried with, and looking at a cake the size of one of those starving countries (more like a big slab of humble pie). Sheesh, Gila Man...way to spoil my fun...
Have a Happy Fourth!!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

2006-06-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

Wow!! It's my birthday! I love my birthday (my friends say that's a sign of mental illness, and I have to say they're probably right!!). I am not scared of my birthday. I love it; the anticipation, the fun, the food, the friends, the CAKE!!! I have resloved to eat cake once a year from now on. Because cake for everyone's birthday? Hello!?! Can we say fat pants? And who wants to wear fat pants in the summer? So I am really lookin' forward to my cake tonight.

Because my husband had to work today (no he did not take the day off...this should count as a holiday or something...sheesh, I'm thinking about dumping him! The nerve!) my best friend Sarah (yep, same name...even same initials! Scary huh?) came over this morning and made me my favorite breakfast, which I have also resigned to eating once a year, biscuits and gravy! Oh, the yumminess! And there were balloons, and cards, and a cute (*cough* hideous *cough*) pink princess crown that I HAD to wear or I couldn't eat the yummy breakfast. How much fun was that?

The fun doesn't end yet! I get more royal treatment tonight when I go to dinner at my parents place! I love my birthday, it just never ceases to be fun for me...Until my brother reminds me how close to 30 I am. But I really don't care. REALLY, because when I start to look like I'm 30 and act like I'm 30 I should be about 45 years old, and I am totally ok with that!

What's That Falling From The Sky??

2006-06-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

So, I'm driving home from picking up my prescription (I have a sinus infection caused by allergies caused by the incesant blowing dust out here), and the strangest thing happened. First of all, there were clouds in the sky...enough to block out the sun - can you imagine the sun not shining out here?...and they weren't white, they were dark grey and BEAUTIFUL! So that was hard to deal with. Then, as I'm driving, these little specks of water start hitting my windshield. I'm thinkin', "Gee, the sky must be fallin", but I think if the sky were falling it would make a dent in my car or something.
So I call my husband and tell him what going on and he asks if my windshield wipers were on. Now, the only time I use the wipers is when I get a particularly nasty bug on my windshield and have to try to get it off with the spray that simply manages to smear gutst all over the place so I can't even see anymore and the wipers make that rasberry sound as they travel to and fro.

Um...anyways...I suppose I might be exagerating a little about the whole thing, but if you don't live in Southern Arizona, you just don't understand the importance of rain. While in line at the store (to pay for my prescription) a lady told me that her horses FREAKED out because they had never heard the sound of rain on the tin roof of their corral before.
So along the lines of freaking out, I would like to let you know how my 19 month old reacted to seeing rain for the first time ever...
As I was getting Mr. B ready for bed, I could smell the rain coming, and when I heard it falling outside his window, I jumped at the chance to have a little fun. I was changing his diaper right then and thought, "Who needs a diaper when we're going to play in the rain?". So I run out on the front porch with my nakey boy in my arms and say "Look! Look at the rain!!" He took a look at that water pouring off the roof and said "What is dat?" "Rain!!" I exclaimed. He promptly buried his head in my shoulder and clung to me like a little spider monkey. "But Sweetie, LOOK!!" I said, "RAIN!!!" but he would have no part of it. I decided that I could not let my child be afraid of the rain. No way. So I ran out on the front sidewalk and hopped up and down a little. He looked up, buried his head in my shoulder and started to whimper. I went back and set him on the covered porch (though he protested) and ran back out on the sidewalk, doing a little "rain dance" for him. I jumped up and down in the (teeny tiny) puddles, waved my hands in the air, and twirled in circles so he could see how much fun I was having out there. My jammies were now wet, but by then I was having so much fun that I didn't care. He looked at me and edged closer to the sidewalk. Then took another few steps until he could put his little, pudgy hands out touch the drops of cool water as they plummeted from the roof. And then, he smiled. A big beautiful smile of a child who has just done something amazing. Of course, if you live out where we do, touching drops of water that are randomly falling from the sky is amazing, so I guess he had something to smile about.

Foiling Dad

2006-06-25T15:19:00.000-07:00

Ok...so here's what happened with Mr. B getting all muddy and wet...
Since we live so close to my parents (10 minutes) we are able to see a lot of them and they are able to be a big part of our son's life. I invited them to dinner last week and while I was cooking, (and my mom was chatting with me), the men (and Mr. B) all went outside in the little yard. My dad and husband eventually gravitated off in the direction of the shop, which of course contains various power tools. 10 minutes later, dinner is done and I'm callin them in to wash up. "Where is our son?" I ask "Um, he's somewhere here in the little yard." (when my husband says "UM" when answering a question, I know something is up...)
I don't panic - the entire 2 acres is fenced w/field fencing and he's in the little yard inside that big yard, but still...I hear him laughing in the front yard and realize he's up to no good - I know that laugh! Sure enough, when we round the corner, we encounter a sopping wet little boy, drinking out of the hose on a warm summer evening. How can I be mad? I rush inside to grab the camera so I can capture this moment - that of a fun loving little boy, enjoying life in the country...getting dirty, getting wet, being a child. I love the look on his sweet little face...see the smile below...

Oooooh, The Arizona Sun...

2006-06-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are! All three of us adults in the pool with 5 children in our arms. Are we crazy?? YES!!! (There I am in the back with Mr. B and Mikey kicking like mad to get out of my arms.) Sheesh. I don't know how two boys raised in Arizona with the heat and the lack of rain can be such water bugs.
Here's the deal...my Mom's pool is kinda small, so the rule is that only the kids can wear sunscreen - not the adults. Fine, right? Cuz how much time do we really spend in the water anyway? Maybe an hour before the kids get tired and start swallowing so much water they look like little Etheopian children with their protruding bellies. We get out of the water, sit in the shade, and open our picnic lunches - PB & J sandwiches, YUM!!! Then, while the children are playing in the little water table, the three of us decide that we want to get a tan and LAY OUT IN THE SUN. Yep, you heard me right. We set up the lounge chairs, took off our towels and actually layed outside while the sun was shining.
I have to tell you that all three of us are wearing our brand new swimsuits, and they just happen to be bikinis. This is the first time ANY of us has worn a bikini. So just sit a minute and imagine the whitness...oh yes, it's a disturbing thought.
There we are, in the sun, whitness glowing, skin burning. "Hey", I ask. "Did either of you put sunscreen on when you got out of the pool?". "Nope", they both answer. I announce that we better get out of the sun and we did - not a moment tooooooo soon!! We are all fried to a crispy crunch. I haven't been able to sleep for two days; I can't roll over because of the burn between my shoulderblades. The other Sarah can't sleep 'cuz her shoulders are so crisp, and Kristi can't really move 'cuz of the redness on her legs. The kids are fine though - not a bit of color, and that's good thing here in AZ.
This morning, Sarah calls and says, "What are you doing tomorrow?" All I can say is "I'm NOT swimming!"
But it's funny how I had to think about it for a minute because out here, the water is soooo alluring; almost hypnotizing...maybe if I put on a shirt....

Here's The Picture...

2006-06-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I did wrong, but the picture didn't upload so here it is (now the next blog will make much more sense!!).

A Little Late For Memorial Day, But...

2006-06-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

A Little Late For Memorial Day, But...

This here is a picture of little Mr. B sitting in a ball turret, cute and comfy as can be. Can you imagine a full grown man fitting in there, with his knees at his chest, shooting at the enemy and knowing if anything goes wrong, he will probably die? When I went to church on the Sunday before memorial day, I got up to lead the music and I realized that we didn't have one single patriotic song on the list to sing. So I asked if we might sing a patriotic song - they are in the hymn book, so I thought it would be very appropiate. "No, we don't sing those songs on Memorial Day, that's not what the day is for. Today is Sunday". That's what I was told by the leaders in our church.
I'm not one who ususally bucks the system, but I do have a little brain of my own and I like to use in once in a while to keep the cobwebs out and the gears from sqeakin' to awful loud when I think. NOT WHAT THE DAY IS FOR?!?!?!?! Then what is it for? Having BBQ's and picnics, and eating greasy, fried food until we burst? Sheesh...in light of that moment of anger I felt in church (and have since repented of) I would like to give a little info about our (well, my husband's) Grandpa Delbert's ordeal he went through during WWII when his big bomber plane was shot down over Germany (or France occupied by Germany)....
I went into the service on Jan 6th 1943. We were shot down on our 19th bombing mission, near Laon France on February 25th, 1944, (Maxine's mother's birthday) and I was in The American Memorial Hospital in Reims France (Under German occupation) for three months. Then we were moved to Stalag Luft IV near Kolberg, way up on the Baltic sea in what is now a part of Poland.
We left Stalag Luft IV on Feb 6 1944 and marched six hundred miles in the dead of winter, sleeping on the open ground and in hay barns and surviving on a starvation diet. Out of the 6000 who left the Prison camp only 2000 of us walked across the Elba River to freedom 87 days later, around the first of May. I was a prisoner of war for 14 months. After we were liberated, I spent three months in France waiting for a ship to bring me home. I was discharged on November 25th 1945. I was in the service just one month under three years.

I am so thankful - really, truly, thankful for what he has sacrificed for the freedom that my small family enjoys every day. What an amazing man. And he makes up a particle of the men who served then and who serve today. I put up my big flag for every occasion, and I always have a few little ones flying around the garden. My favorite color is red, white, and blue. Really. I try to go out of my way to thank my service men & women - I am scared to think "What would I do, where would I be, without them?". So THANK YOU to everyone who has served - in ANY way to help us keep what we worked so hard to gain - our most precious and beloved freedom.

Wow! Now Everyone Can See Us!!!

2006-06-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hello All!!!! I posted blogs and pictures and updates on our Yahoo! 360 site for a few months, but nobody wanted to log on to see them, so we are now on a site that anyone can see at anytime with out signing in. HORRAY!! Helaman suggests that I cut and paste the other blogs from our 360 site, so I'll work on doing that. The thing is, right now we are having strange weather...clouds and wind and HUGE dust storms, so the internet is somewhat un-reliable. We haven't been able to connect on a regular basis, but it should be must better now. Check back often to see what's going on in Sunny Southern Arizona with the Lambsons!!!

Livin' Life With The Lamb Fam!

Head On Over!!

Due In May

We've Moved!

We're Moving!!

A Bedtime Story

The Last Straw...

Need A Babysitter?

The Best Cookbook. EVER!!

What The Heck Is A Spoof?

I Got It...

A Time For Our Toes...

Interesting Tidbits One Learns During Christmas

Mom's Par-tay!

Good News!!! Yipeee!!

A Shave And A Hair Cut.....

Once Upon A Bubble...

Here, Kitty Kitty Kitty

Three Year Old Technology

Oh, To Have More Sweet Potatoes..

Yep...I Speak Spanish

C'mon! Just One!!

Just A Tidbit...

A Little Tiny Adventure...

Love, True Love

La-Tee-Dah-Tee, We Likes To Pahty!

Boys and Men

Our Family Grew By FOUR Feet....

Out Of The Stone Age..

Helaman and "The Test"

Oh!! Here I Am!! Look At Me!!

A Few Nice Things About Owning Your Home...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Oh, Kids Are Cute!

Noah's Hand

A Silly Little Thing...

More CRAZINESS From The AZ Lambsons...

Yet ANOTHER Thing I Can't Yell At My Husband About...

It Actually Happened!!

It's really, really gonna happen tomorrow...

It's really, really gonna happen tomorrow...

A Few Things That I Can't Yell At My Husband For... Volume 1

Holiday Eating Tips

Cool Things About December In Arizona...

Wow, I'm Feelin OLD!

On Having Kids.....

Dressing Up My Two-Year-Old (Watch out people...this thing is about a lame subject and has dorky random comments galore)

Whoooooooo-Hooooooooo! Happy Day!!!

Soothing My Soul.....

Here's A Little Murmmering..... (by the way...this paticuar blog is wicked long)

Here He Is!!!

Here's The Picture...

News From The Lambsons...

My Glass

FREAKIN' OUT!!!

Once Upon A Time...

*Singing* A Camping We Will Go...

My Little Book Worm...

Oh, The Shame...

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

What's That Falling From The Sky??

Foiling Dad

Oooooh, The Arizona Sun...

Here's The Picture...

A Little Late For Memorial Day, But...

Wow! Now Everyone Can See Us!!!

Singing A Camping We Will Go...