Dear Wind,

You thought you would defeat me today, but you didn't. Now that I've proven my strength could you please surrender?

Thanks,
Running Ninja

Don't let this completely unconvincing picture fool you. There's more to me than meets the eye.

If I were a Piano...

I have this chronic habit of playing the piano on whatever surface happens to be under my fingers. I merrily tap out whatever song is in my head, usually without realizing that I am doing it. While I was in college this habit became really really bad, but since then I've largely stopped doing it (probably has something to do with the fact that I no longer spend most of my waking hours in a practice room...).

Well...last night I was snuggled up to Chris, feeling ready to drift off to sleep when he suddenly asked me "If I were a piano, what kind would I be?".

"What?" I replied sleepily.

"If I were a piano, what kind would I be?"

Apparently I had been playing the piano on him. :)

At first I thought, "Oh no. This is like that stupid animal game where you try to describe yourself (or someone else) as an animal." I've never really been an animal person, and don't feel that I relate well to them. But then I thought about it for another minute, and found I could describe Chris is piano terms. This is what I came up with:

Christopher James Piano
-An upright piano, one of the tall uprights, not the short ones
-Some kind of wood grain, not super dark, but not fake. Something natural and woody.
-An older piano that looks comfortable in its surroundings. Something that anybody would feel comfortable tinkering around on.
-Probably has some scuffs and dings
-Is impeccably in tune
-Has a surprisingly good sound for its outward appearance.
-Doesn't matter what brand it is, just has to sound good

Then I asked him the same question about me. Here's what he said:

Elisabeth Anne Piano
-Baby Grand
- An elegant* Black
-In very good condition, well taken care of, but not brand new
-Doesn't have a "bright" sound to it at all.
-Has a soft, pretty sound that is nice to listen to, but doesn't demand attention
-Looks elegant in its surroundings, but not ostentatious

*He used the word elegant a lot in his description

We interpreted our descriptions to each other, but I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions. I found that I really liked this game. Pianos are something I can relate to a LOT better than animals!

So if you were a piano, what kind would you be?

Four Years Ago Today

I married my best friend.

In some ways it is strange that it has only been four years. So much has happened--so much joy, so much love, so much change, so much growth--that it seems like four short years couldn't possibly hold it all.

In another way I thrill at the thought that four years is really no time at all. We have so much time ahead of us. What will happen in our fifth year of marriage? Our tenth? Our thirtieth? Will we both still be here to celebrate fifty years together? I am so excited to find out.

You brought me a card today that said "I want to grow old loving you"

I can't think of any better way to say it.

Memory Games

Last Monday I was standing at the sink washing dishes, and William was standing beside me on his indispensable stool playing in the water. For some reason I had the thought to see how many nursery rhymes and songs William knew, so I started saying the first couple of words and letting him finish. If he ever stopped, then I would say the next word, and he would fill in for a while etc. It was a fun game and he really enjoyed it. I was amazed at how many he knows by heart. He knew every one that I could think of, even ones that we have only read a couple of times, and most of them he didn't need any help on. It was so much fun to recite all of them, and sing songs with him, and I was so amazed at his memory, that I thought if he could memorize all those why shouldn't he be able to memorize scriptures? So I decided to start right then.

It was on the spot, and I was just trying to think of a short scripture that I could start with, and the first one that came to mind was Moses 1:39, "For this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." I would just say a phrase at a time and have him repeat it, and we probably only said it 3 or 4 times total. A little while later he was doing something else and I heard him say "For this is my work." I thought it was interesting that it was rattling around in his brain already. I figured we would just say it a couple of times a day, and I would see how long it took him to learn. We said it 2-4 times on Tuesday and Wednesday and on Thursday he had the whole thing memorized, only needing one or two words. It's really cute to hear him say words like "immortality." Now he can say the whole thing completely by himself, including the reference.



Since this was such a success, I decided that we would do one scripture every week, or however long he needs for longer scriptures. We are starting with the first Article of Faith this week and I think we will work on memorizing the Articles of Faith first. It is really a lot of fun and he really enjoys learning new words and the rhythm of language. Memorization is such a good mind stretching activity and I'm so excited to use it with scriptures.

One funny thing about William knowing nursery rhymes is that often in moments of stress or concentration he will start spouting lines from them. For instance, his nose has been very runny lately and often when we wipe it he will say "BAHH" and then continue with "ba ba black sheep have you any wool?" Or when he is concentrating on something I will often hear, "Jack and Jill went up the hill," or "Little Miss Muffet" etc. It really makes me laugh because he will say it in such an intense little voice.

Another nice thing is that since he likes saying songs and rhymes so much it gives us a really great activity to do while driving in the car, and other times when I need to get things done, but he wants my attention.

Easter Fun: Part 1

Friday night we started our family Easter festivities by coloring eggs. It was a big mess and lots of fun! William loved watching everything turn different colors, and by the time we were finished his hands were completely stained.

If it looks like William is wearing a dress, he isn't. He IS wearing a very girly apron. He happens to own a perfectly boyish looking apron, but it was in the wash.

Of course, we started this whole process about the time that Isaac was getting tired and wanting to go to bed. Poor thing!

We kept increasing our efforts to keep Isaac happy. He loves playing with cooking utensils!

Some of the finished product. Aren't they beautiful colors?

Gotta love William and Chris's facial expressions in this one!

Easter Fun: Part 2

Saturday morning the Easter Bunny came and left baskets for us with lots of treats and fun things. I think it's great that William's basket is huge compared to Isaac's, and the one that Chris and I shared. The Easter bunny had a little bit of a hard time moderating herself when it came to William this year :).

These are the baskets including the one's left for my parents and sister. Yep, William's is still the biggest!

Gotta love the look of excitement and glee as he came up the stairs to see if the Easter bunny had come during the night!

William has a Lightning McQueen car that he is very attached to, but also tends to put in odd places. We hadn't been able to find him for a while so I decided to buy another one and put it in William's basket so that we would have a spare. The first thing William said when he saw his basket was, "OH!!! Lightning McQueen was IN HERE!!!."

After finding Lightning McQueen, the next order of business was to eat some chocolate. This kid seriously has the biggest sweet tooth ever. He would eat candy all day long if I would let him. And actually, that's what he did this whole day. I decided to let him eat as much candy as he wanted (out of his own basket, which I... ahem...the Easter Bunny... had filled up much more with toys than candy) on Saturday and then be done after that. It worked out pretty well, although he had quite the sugar buzz all day.

Isaac was more interested in the grass in his than anything else. Maybe that's why the Easter Bunny didn't have a whole lot of trouble moderating herself when it came to him!

New Book! (Notice the chocolate still in his hand).

William hasn't quite gotten the hang of keeping the other eye shut while looking into the tube.

We love books at this house! (Yep, William was eating some more chocolate!)

Excuse my extreme attractiveness in this picture :). Please draw your attention to the box in my Easter basket. That's a GPS watch (for running) that I'd been coveting for several months but haven't been able to justify buying for myself. Well, Chris surprised me with it for Easter, and since it was a gift I don't feel guilty at all!! :) I absolutely love running with it and I am so happy to have it.

Sporting his new "bug boots" and playing with his train set.

Easter Fun: Part 3

Since it was snowing outside, the Easter Bunny hid the eggs all around the living room. It took William a bit to get the idea of finding the eggs, and since he was distracted by the candy in his basket, he needed some encouragement. Once he caught on though, he had a lot of fun. Here's a little video that Chris put together. Enjoy!