My sweet girl

Nora turned two recently. She is doing pretty well with not acting two, for the most part.
Here are some highlights from her long and prosperous life...

Starting life supremely angelic and quiet. Such a beauty from the start.

She had to learn quickly that she was born into hostile territory and to keep her guard up at all times! (Hostiles=older brother)

Her eyes always twinkle when she smiles. It melts my heart.

Oh those cheeks! And her hair, love it!

And the chub. She never says no to a good steak.

She even liked Santa from the start. She knows which side her toast is buttered on.

She became more adventurous as time went on. She likes her feet to touch the sky.

Always the fashionista, she takes fashion advice from her older brother who has impeccable taste.

This is back when she used to smile for the camera.

Princess Leia. She loves Halloween, just like her daddy. And she loves her daddy.

Happy Birthday Nora.

I'm a nerd

SNOW!!! and popsicles

It's March in Texas and there hasn't been so much as one flake of the white stuff all winter. So after a beautiful weekend of temperatures in the 70's, it snowed. The kids loved it. Ethan was up and running at about 6 am. He was so giddy. I finally got up at about 6:45, dug out some warm clothes, dressed Ethan, and went outside as the sun peeked over the horizon. Daddy left to work a few minutes later so we dressed Nora and all went out front to build a snowman. The kids wanted popsicles, and I figured hey whatever gets them colder faster, I'm in. So we spent about 20 minutes outside in the snow having fun. When we went inside Ethan was very cold, and very mad about being cold. He went into his room and changed into some different clothes. Shorts and a T-shirt to be exact. I asked him why he wasn't wearing warmer clothes, and he said, "These are summer clothes, and I wear them when it's summer outside." I was a little baffled, but then I realized he was trying to trick the weather. He's sneaky like that. I guess his trick worked because here is our snowman a few hours later, and it was rather nice outside.

As if you needed to know more...

I've been tagged, on my friend Sasha's blog. So here goes nothing (as my son Ethan likes to say)...

10 years ago I was: A Junior in high school in the Chicago-land area.
Things on my to-do list for today: Clean up before the kids get up from their nap, plan dinner, make dinner, do the finances, get dressed (yes I am still in my PJ's, but the kids are bathed and dressed), make my bed, go to the mall so the kids can play (it is COLD and rainy out!), meet Brian after work, build a boat for FHE.
4 things I would do if I became a billionaire: Pay tithing, Buy a house with a big yard and big trees, pay for all my and my families debts, play the trivia game at Dave and Busters as much as I want!
3 bad habits: Waiting to clean the house until 10 minutes before Brian gets home, going to bed way too late, and eating too many sweets.
5 jobs I have had: Phone survey interviewer, car parts truck driver, plant specification book writer for growers, photographers assistant, and Chocolate store cashier.
6 Things most people don’t know about me: I love sushi, I could play board games til the cows come home, my first major in college was acting (the second was interior design), I'm really good at math, I can't eat Cheerios, and I want to own a restaurant someday.

I'm suppose to tag three people, but I'm just not a tagger, so if you feel inclined just copy, paste and fill in the blanks.

About us

I guess it would be appropriate to do a blog about Brian and I since this month we've been married 7 years and it is also Valentine's. So luckily I've been tagged by both my sisters-in-law to do a blog about we two.

How long have you been together?
7 years of marital bliss. Before that 3 1/2 months being engaged proceeded by 2 weeks of dating. Yep we are one of THOSE couples!

Who eats more sweets?
Me, definitely me. I would eat dessert for every meal if it didn't kill me, come to think of it, do you think it would actually kill me? Maybe I'll do an experiment...

How old is he?
He he he, He turns 30 in a couple of days.

Who eats more?
Brian eats more, but I look like I eat more. I would give anything to have his metabolism!

Who said, "I love you" first?
We don't agree about this. I think I said it first, but he says he did. No matter, we both said it on the same occasion one right before the other. (did I mention I said it first?)

Who is taller?
Brian comes in at 5'11" and I'm 5'4", so he is a bit taller.

Who can sing better?
Brian has the voice of an angel! He sings so beautifully, I just adore his voice. We both sing, I do fine, but when we sing together, it is one of my most favorite things on the planet. The kids love it too.

Who is smarter?
Brian is a genius in a lot of specific areas. I'm more universal with my knowledge, all the basics. I'm good at math, reading, guessing movie plots and outwitting 3 year olds. Brian is super smart at pretty much anything he decides he wants to know more about. His best quality when it comes to smarts is that he studies hard and then he actually remembers what he has learned. I cram to pass a test, and then, it's gone.

Who does the laundry?
I do. But because I bore two hurricanes (Nora and Ethan) I usually end up waiting to fold the laundry until after the kids are in bed, so Brian ends up helping me fold the laundry about 50% of the time. And he usually hangs up the stuff in the closet (I hate hanging up clothes!)

Who does the dishes?
We both do. I probably do the bulk, but he always helps me load and wash the dinner dishes. and if he happens to be home when the dishwasher finishes, he always unloads without being asked. He's good like that.

What is your love song?
I don't think we really have a love song, but we both like Sarah McLachlan's "I love you." If you've never heard it, give it a listen you'll be in for a heartwarming treat.

What was the first thing that attracted you to each other?
Hmmmm. Well, Brian was SO funny and nice and cute, and oh those dimples! I think he just thought I was cute. (nothing wrong with that)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
I do. Closest to the bathroom (for late night trips for a pregnant woman) and also closest to the door (for late night trips to crying children's bedrooms). Maybe if I sleep on the left side we won't have anymore children.

Who pays the bills?
Generally I do, but Brian and I like to do the finances together, so when he isn't too busy with work or side jobs we will do it together. Oh and sometimes I don't want to do it, so he does.

Who mows the lawn?
Brian does. I have done it once or twice, and once I got the home teachers to do it, and another time I got the missionaries to do it... But I pull the weeds and plant the flowers. I love Brian for mowing the lawn.

Who cooks dinner?
Me, I do. Brian has been known to make rice and beans and pull out a mean Nicaraguan feast. Also Brian bakes bread and pretzels like a pro. But as a general rule I cook.

Who is more stubborn?
I am most certainly more stubborn. End of story.

Who kissed who first?
We kissed each other. It had been a WHOLE WEEK of dating, and we were just dying to kiss each other. Brian's sister Emily made him pinky promise that he wouldn't kiss me until we had dated at least a week. He kept his promise, but he told me about it. So he walked into my apartment a week after we started dating, sat on my couch, I sat (oh my gosh!) on his lap, and we kissed! Boy did we kiss! (I'm blushing)

Who asked who out?
Brian asked me. Well, he asked my whole apartment. His group of friends and roommates did this thing called open mike night on Thursday's and he called and asked my whole apartment to come (because he wanted me to come). Then he sat by me the whole night, got me hot chocolate, walked me home and asked me to come to homecoming with him while we were standing in front of my door. I said yes, of course!

Who proposed?
Initially we just came to the conclusion together. Then about 3 days later, he proposed in a park and when I said yes, all of my roommates and his roommates (who were hiding in the bushes) lit off fireworks. Then we all had to run because fireworks are illegal.

Who is more sensitive?
It depends on what time of the month it is, if you know what I mean. Otherwise Brian is more sensitive.

Who has more siblings?
I do. He has 3 I have 5.

Who wears the pants in the relationship?
Lets put it this way: He is the head and I am the neck.

Who gives more hugs? Kisses?
Equal. Although I kiss the kids so much that Ethan decided for a while that he didn't like kisses, that was really hard for me.

We are pretty much perfect for each other. What can I say? Seven years and still going strong.

Hiatus

Sorry, lots has been going on in the Hall household. Or should I say nothing has been going on. We've been sick. Sick, Sick, SICK! Fevers, body aches, earaches, headaches, runny noses, coughs, no sleeping, no eating, no cooking, no cleaning, and of course no blogging. (Say that 10 times fast, I dare you!)

I'll admit, not checking my email for over 6 days in a row was sort of freeing. But then when I had to finally go through them, well, lets just say I'm still not done.

So here are a few pictures from the house of the living dead:

Ok, never mind, I can't find any. Guess there was no picture taking either... Sorry

Beloved Prophet

It's funny how sometimes it takes someone's passing for us to evaluate what they mean to us on a large scale. Sunday night when I found out that the Prophet of my church, Gordon B. Hinckley, had died, I really thought about what he meant to me. President Hinckley was not just my Prophet, he was my friend, my other grandfather, someone who knew me. I grew up with him at the helm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will miss him dearly.

In no way am I sad or depressed at his passing though. Finishing our work on this Earth is a glorious thing. His reunion on the other side was more magnificent than I could ever imagine. He did it! And now he gets to be with his wife, Marjorie. I also spent some time thinking about the other people who were there to greet him, Christ, other prophets, and family. The perfect joy that must have been felt, well I can only imagine.

I also got to thinking about specific things he did or said that effected me directly. Things that changed my life, helped me move forward and upward, and made me want to do and be better. here are a few of the quotes that are significant to me and have been emblazoned upon my walls, journals, notes, and scriptures...

"work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it!" (this quote reminds me to put my all into raising my children, especially when it is hard and that's when I need it the most)

"Does it enrich the mind? Does it discipline and strengthen the body? Does it nourish the spirit?" (We have had this quote taped to all the media in our house for about 4 years now, to remind us to not let any unclean thing into our home, it has helped us to turn off a movie or show many different times)

In my journal I have a couple of entries about things he said in conference or at firesides, one of course was the Be's... I loved when he gave that CES fireside. I felt so ready to be better and try harder I was ready to be grateful, clean, humble prayerful and smart!

He got me excited about the perpetual education fund and about going to the temple often (and put a temple near enough to wherever I happened to be that I had no excuse).

He made me laugh with his jokes and the twinkle in his eye. His love for life was contagious. Even as time went on and his wife passed away, he still worked hard and did his best always! He taught me there are no excuses to give up or stop doing good.

I love Gordon B. Hinckley. I will miss him, but I will see him again!

A Dive into the Archive

I was tagged by Janette to do a post on things in my archive.
Here it goes...

1. Link to a post about my family.
2. Link to a post about my friends.
3. Link to a post about ME.
4. Link to a post about something I love.
5. Link to any post I want to dig up.

Enjoy!

Budding Artists

Every once in a while I'm brave enough to get out the paints. My kids always love it. I really should do it more often, they are so cute when they are being creative.By the time she was done, she had painted both of her hands completely black.

He's going to make me a lot of money some day.

Look at the concentration, I just want to pinch those cute little cheeks!

So Grown up!

Ethan started Primary last week. Yep he is now a sunbeam and he is thrilled about it!
On Sunday he wanted to be dressed like a missionary for his first day of Sunbeams. He looked so cute we had to get some pictures.

I LOVE this picture!

My little man is growing up so fast, it seems like just yesterday when he would cry so hard in nursery that he would throw up (every week for six months). He did have the moral support of Pablo his blue penguin friend, who has become an extension of Ethan since he received Pablo for Christmas.

Nora and the Guys

So I had preschool at my house today, but since my whole support base is out of town, Nora was there to enjoy the fun.

Nora and preschool don't really mix. She likes to be in the middle of everything, but she doesn't know how to do it yet, whatever it is. It is preschool for 3 1/2 year olds after all, and she is just 1 (ok, almost 2).

It started out with Nora taking whatever any of the boys had from them and saying "mine". Well, then the boys would usually hit her, at which point Ethan would hit them and scream in their face, "DON'T HIT MY SISTER!" Then he would turn around and hit Nora. It didn't help that Nora was tired. So I put her down for a nap.

Well, it turns out that a house full of boys isn't really conducive to a nap, but I left her in there for a while anyway. Just while we were actually doing the "learning" stuff. Then I let her out and tried to integrate her as best as possible and by the end, she was just one of the boys. At least she thought so.
The boys shoulders were actually touching so Nora squeezed herself in between.
(We were watching Backyardigans until the moms came to pick them up)

Wicked

My sister-in-law Tara called me up one day and said, "So you know that musical Wicked?"

I of course had heard of it, but honestly had little and next to no clue about it. So her next question was, "Do you think we could make a quilt with the Wicked logo on it (I guess I missed that "we" part)."

Me: Well, I don't know Tara, what does it look like?
Tara: I'll email it to you, but do think we could do it?
Me: Probably, does it have a lot of curves?
Tara: Not too many.
Me: Then sure, but it will take a lot of work, do you plan on piecing it or doing appliqué? (Notice I used the word YOU)
Tara: I don't know, probably piecing it.
Me: Ok, but that's really hard with curves....

A month later, phone rings
Tara: So when do you think you could help me with the quilt
Me: Uhhh....
Tara: You said you would help!
Me: Uhhh....
Tara:
Me: I'll come over tomorrow

And the rest, should we say, is history.
There were some bumps and snags (literally) along the way, but in the end I think we created a beautiful and very unique quilt. Props to Tara for sticking to her zany idea and dragging me along for the ride. It is a work of art that any Wicked fan would be proud of.

Here is the final product:

Alone

So what do you do when your husband is out of town for 5 days? I update my blog.

Hmmm, I guess...

Your Brain is 73% Female, 27% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

I guess I've always been pretty girly.
Thanks for the link Janette!

Low-Key Christmas

Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures but I did get a few of the fun Christmas morning we had. I woke up to the sounds of paper crinkling, and I heard Ethan saying, "Oh this is my stocking, E-T-H-A-N." Brian and I got up and went out to the living room and Ethan told us, "I woke up and remembered it was Christmas, so I hopped out of my bed and came out here! Then I saw that Santa had been here, I didn't even hear his bells or nothing! But look he brought us some presents. I checked and looked in everyone's stockings, and then I opened mine, look what Santa brought me!"

This is the card we left with the cookies for Santa.
Ethan wrote SANTA and ETHAN all by himself, I held his hand for the other stuff.

This is a picture we took with Ethan's new camera. He likes to take pictures with our camera, so we decided to get him one of his own. He loves it! The toy he is posing with is Pablo from the Backyardigans. That is what Santa brought him. That is all he asked for this year. It has only been 5 days since Pablo has joined our family, but it seems like he's always been with us...Oh yeah, and he is already filthy!

Nora and Ethan are taking a moment to enjoy some of their gifts. They were pretty sick on Christmas, so they were quite mellow (or else screaming and crying) all morning.

Nora's big gift from Santa was a kitchen. We put a BIG sign on it that said "NORA" so that Ethan would know it was for his sister, but notice how Ethan's toys Nemo and Pablo have already moved in...

It was a great day... We enjoyed a calm morning a long afternoon nap (we were all sick!) and then a lovely smoked turkey dinner at Aunt Emily's house. We exchanged family gifts at Em's house and had a great evening. The kids broke down around 7pm and we went home and put them to bed! The next day I found out Nora had an ear infection (so that explains all the hours of screaming) now she is on the mend and back to her normal self, thank goodness!

PS I wasn't expecting too much for Christmas, but I made out like a bandit! I got some all time coolest gifts for Christmas this year. Including, but not limited to, beautiful awesome cool paintings by a local artist, a talking globe, and (drum roll please) Karate Lessons!!!! Like I said, I lucked out!

Merry Christmas!

How can they always call my bluff

OK, so this story is kinda embarrassing. I was tired and grumpy and so were the kids...

Ethan hadn't been listening to me ALL morning. I was getting pretty miffed. In fact sometimes he was out right ignoring me! So when I was trying to get him dressed and he acted as though I wasn't there, steam started shooting out of my ears. I said, "You get over here RIGHT NOW, or I'm going to spank the crap out of your butt!" (I know, if you really think about it and take it literally, that in itself is pretty gross.)

Ethan looked at me pretty funny, and then started to laugh. I was really confused. I mean, I know I wasn't really going to do it, but I don't think it should be funny to him. Then he came over to me, put his arms around my neck and said, "Mah-um, you can't get the crack out of my butt!". Then I started to laugh too, we hugged and all was right with the world.

Mister Independence

Ok, the bane of my existence for the past 2 years has been trying to potty train my little man. Well, about two weeks ago, he woke up dressed himself and put on underwear. There are two funny things about this, the first is that he put everything on backwards and the second is that he is quite a little stylist. The outfits he picks out are so cute and hilarious...
Example one:
Yes those are my socks. And later he changed out the Buzz shirt for a blue and red striped polo.

Example Two:
Note the tie, belt over the clothes, socks that are too small, and shorts and t-shirt (it was freezing outside!)

Oh yeah, he also started to do his own hair:I love it!

Potty training has now turned into potty trained, and though I still have to come in at the end to clean things up to avoid "skid marks", we have a new man at our house!

Fat Camp

I've been trying to loose weight for some time now... But instead I've been gaining. I seem to have a problem with sabotaging my own diet and I have zero motivation to stop eating the things I love. Something else I was doing was having someone check up on me to make sure I wasn't cheating on the diet (which of course I was!). But the only problem was that it was only one person. A person I knew would love me no matter what (not that being fat is a reason not to love someone, it's just that I trusted her love completely.) Once again, not enough motivation.

So about 2 weeks ago I decided to try to diet differently. I'm not going to "diet" at all. Instead I'm going to focus on exercising. I stopped by my sister-in-law Kristy's house and there she was exercising to a workout DVD in the middle of the day of her own free will. She said, "we should start working out together." I was like, "Pshaw, there is no way, I'm too out of shape and I am NOT a self-starter." But I reluctantly said ok. So the next night she came over, we worked out, it felt GOOD! Then we did it again, I felt even better. She couldn't come for a couple of days, but I kept working out. So far we average 2 times a week together, but I've averaged 5 days a week!!! Each day I feel stronger, and in just 2 weeks my heart rate has gone down and my blood pressure has gone up (this is good, my pulse used to sit around 100 and my blood pressure was so low that a nurse once asked my if I was still alive). I have energy. It feels so good to have energy. At the park the other day I was actually playing with the kids, not just sitting on the bench, I was giving them under dogs for crying out loud!

I'm so excited about starting a new healthy life for myself. I want to be accountable for it too. I will give monthly updates on my progress and monthly pictures as well. The first month or two will not be a pretty picture, but I'm willing to live with that because the after pictures are going to be great!

As for my diet... I'll get there.

Here is the first before picture:

Pure Love

I have something so sad and so sweet that happened yesterday, that I just have to share it.

My son and the next door neighbor child were digging in the flower beds out front. They started to pick the holly berries off the bushes and bury them to plant some flowers. I reminded them that the berries are poisonous and to please not eat them.

My daughter was sitting next to me on the porch eating a cookie. When she finished, she decided to go join the digging party. She walked down the sidewalk, and I started to sort through the mail.

All of the sudden the kids started yelling, "Oh no! She ate one of the berries!" Of course I freaked out and ran down to her, grabbed her and squeezed her mouth open to get the berry out. It was just some cookie she was still chewing on.

I chided the other two for leaving the berries out in a pile and told them to be more careful, all the while hugging my daughter to my chest (because I freaked her out by freaking out!).

Out of nowhere my son goes into this horrible wail. He is weeping bitterly. I was very confused. I asked him what was wrong and tried to calm him. He would not be consoled. Finally, he said, "Mom! I deaded my sister with poison!" I guess I forgot to tell him that it was only cookie in his sisters mouth. He thought he killed her, and the thought of living without his sister was unbearable!

My heart broke, of course, but it also had little rays of sunshine in it. My children really do love each other! I told him what had happened and he stopped crying. We all held each other for a little while and calmed down. Then my son shoved my daughter and went back to diggin'.

Thanksgiving Spread

For those of you who don't know what a spread is, here is the definition: a sumptuous meal: feast.
Brian and I were assigned dessert, bread and sweet potatoes. I love to cook and Brian loves to bake, we had so much fun in the kitchen together. I made pumpkin, blueberry and pecan pies and finished it off with a chocolate dessert I like to call Filthy Wilma... It's so good. Then Brian made rolls and pretzels (from scratch), which were divine. And last of course were the sweet potatoes, but in the south having sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving is like a religion, and they too were delicious.
We had a great low-key Thanksgiving, with tons of delicious food and fantastic friends and family. I love the Holiday Season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

6 things about my Brian

I have been tagged... Thank you Janette, it IS a lovely idea. It is always good to sit and think about the one you love the most.

1. Brian is an amazing dad. He gets home from a long day at work and before he is even changed out of his work clothes, he is on the floor wrestling with the kids. He sings to them, dances with them, and reads them countless books. He saves all their silly artwork (half of it is hanging up in his cubical at work) and the half he doesn't save he scans on the computer to save it forever. We also have a whole archive of the phone messages the kids have sent Brian at work. He just loves his kiddos.


2. Brian does the sweetest things. He makes his side of the bed in the morning, without waking me up. He always puts toothpaste on my toothbrush for me. If I feel sick he gets me whatever I need (I, on the other, hand am a terrible nurse!). He leaves out a vitamin and some fiber for me in the morning even though I never take it! He cleans up after dinner almost every night. When my favorite show is on, he puts the kids to bed for me. I have to stop now because the little sweet things he does for me are endless.

3. Brian loves information. You know the song on Napoleon Dynamite at the end "I love technology..." Yeah, that's Brian. He loves having all information at the tip of his fingers. His profession is I.T., he does computer jobs on the side, he is the Stake Technology Specialist... Again, another list that could go on and on. "But I still love technology, always and forever."

4. Brian is funny. Some people don't know this about him. When he gets going there isn't much to stop him. I blame it on the Hall family need to perform (and have a captive audience). He does fantastic impressions. Some of my favorite are Jim Carey, Velociraptor, and person eating their chapstick. There are many times he has made me laugh so hard my stomach hurt and I couldn't breath.

5. Brian is has extreme musical talent. He can play whatever he picks up. He sits down at the piano and plays whatever song he's thinking of. He is an excellent guitarist. He plays the drums like nobodies business. And the boy can sing! He has the most beautiful voice! At night when we sing to the kids, he always harmonizes with me and it sounds so cool!

6. Last, but not least, he loves me so much! That is, he is a great husband. Not one day has gone by in our marriage where he hasn't forgotten to tell me how much he loves me, how beautiful he thinks I am, and how lucky he is to have me for a wife. Sheesh, that could make a girl get a big head, luckily I'm very grounded (ha ha ha). He is aware of my needs and thoughful of my feelings. I hope this doesn't embarrass him, but he is very sensitive. I love it! He works hard for our family, and takes his responsibilities very serious. I feel very secure with him. And just so everyone knows, I love him very much too!

Birthday Fun!!!

It was my birthday this week. It was a beautiful day. We woke up, lounged, and thought what should we do today. And it just came to me, the zoo! So we packed up a lunch and the kids and headed out the door. The last time I went to the zoo on my birthday was almost 20 years ago for a school field trip. I remember that school field trip vividly, in fact, that was the first time I've ever seen someone get pooped on by a bird. Ah ha ha ha! It was hilarious.

The kids had never been to the zoo before, so they were thrilled. Everything was new and exciting to them. My son loved the bears, elephants, monkeys and the rhinos. My daughter loved the hippos, monkeys and horses (kangaroos), but she loved the tigers the most. She kept saying, "Tiger, tiger, tiger." over and over after we saw them...

Here are some fun pictures. We don't have very many because the batteries on the camera died about a half hour into our zoo trip.

Color me pink

Janette took a color quiz, it looked fun, so I took it too.
This is what it said about me:

you are hotpink

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing.

Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it.

Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

Sorry Janette, I know it sounds a lot like yours. I promise I didn't copy! I guess we are just a lot alike, except you actually are going to change the world, and I'm disgruntled. lol!

The link to the quiz: http://www.spacefem.com/quizzes/colors/

Star Wars Family

Happy Halloween!
We had such a great Halloween this year. We went to three different things this year where we got to dress up. Tuesday night my husband was putting our son to bed and said, tomorrow you get to wear your Luke Skywalker costume again." My sons eyes lit up and he said, "Three Halloweens! I love Halloween!"
Here is the better picture I promised.