Happy Anniversary!

It's our 10th wedding anniversary tomorrow and in honor of that I am posting 10 reasons that I love Ryan:

1. He gets me - not just a little, but a lot. I rarely have to explain my point of view of what I'm talking about. Or, if I do, he sees my side even if he doesn't always agree.

2. I can make him laugh.

3. He's neat. I don't mean "he's a neat person" (he is), but neat like "neat and tidy". I have friends whose husbands are slobs (even though they're wonderful people), and I really appreciate the fact that I'm not the only one concerned with how the house and yard look. After all, I'm not the maid.

4. He takes the initiative. If I ask him to do something I usually only have to ask once. I never nag, because it won't get done if I do. But he doesn't let something that's important to me go to the point where nagging would be an option.

5. He trys so hard. In everything.

6. He pushes me to be better. Sometimes I am just content with the status quo in life, but Ryan helps me to see that there's more to do than just sit and read.

7. He puts family first. There are things that he would like to do that he doesn't because he has a family. It's not that we're holding him back, he just wants to be where we are.

8. He honors his priesthood. This is HUGE to me. This is one of the ways that he puts our family first. He has faith that things will always work out even when things look grim. And so far, things have always worked out one way or the other (even if it's not how we wanted it to work...)

9. He's interesting to talk to. We went to a wedding of some friends and the bride said that over the years she had talked to lots of people and generally got bored after about 10 minutes, but not with her husband - that they had had nothing but interesting conversations. AMEN TO THAT. Ryan knows so many things, and has different interests than mine, so there's always something to learn or discuss.

10. We're practically the same person. After 11 years of being together, and 10 years of marriage, sharing a lot of the same life experiences how could we not be? Recently we were playing Scattergories with Ryan's brother and it was funny how many of the same answers we came up with. Not just stuff that anyone would have said but some really off-the-wall things that were the same.

Okay, I know I said 10 things, but here's one to grow on:

11. He's HOT! This one doesn't need to be said but I'm saying it anyway. He takes good care of himself and it shows. I'm one lucky girl!

Happy Anniversary Love!

Party Planning

We are gearing up for Caden's birthday in just over a week. When we asked a couple of weeks ago what kind of party he wanted he said, "Donkey Kong!" He doesn't seem to care that no one under the age of Uncle Brent (and even that's pushing it) would know who or what Donkey Kong is. The only reason Caden (and Lincoln) know is because after Christmas in 2006 we borrowed Uncle Brent's old Nintendo, and Donkey Kong was one of the games we brought home. After 6 months of non-step pestering to play the game, and hours-long obsessive bouts of game playing mommy had had enough and took it away. The next opportunity, Nintendo went back home to Uncle Brent. However, even though it has been over a year since it left us, the boys continue to "play" Donkey Kong. Lincoln is Donkey Kong and Caden is Diddy Kong. This has led to a ban on monkey noises at our house.

This is the extremely long way of saying that we are NOT having a Donkey Kong party. After presenting a plethora of other options Caden finally decided on a cowboy theme. I am so excited! I am probably more excited than Caden is. Since we have boys we have to have at least one cowboy party....it's just so boyish! We made cool invitations, and since Caden wanted a treasure hunt and a pinata we get to do that too. I found a cool pattern online to make a Hobby Horse (or pig, or cow, or donkey....) so that's going to be our craft. I'm having so much fun shopping and creating - sometimes I just need a creative fix and this is doing it for me right now. Now we only have to pray for good weather between 1 and 3pm on the 3rd. Should be fun!

Do you remember......?

My Addiction

I really hate to admit this but I'm having a lot of fun blogging. But it's kind of addictive - now I check my email all day long to see if anybody's left comments and I check everyone else's blog all day long to see if they've posted anything new. I am still managing to keep life running, so that's good - but it's not like I needed one more thing to take up all my time! I blame Kendra and Raelene....:)

A Random Sampler

The Kids Explain...

Last night at dinner Lincoln didn't want to eat a piece of lemon-pepper that was on his meat. Ryan told him it was just flavoring and that it would put hair on his chest (that's what grandpa Carter would say). So Lincoln says, "What?" and Caden tells him he can have a hairy chest like daddy when he gets bigger. Then Caden lifts up his shirt and tells us he has pimples on his chest cheeks like daddy. I laughed so hard!

Later on, in an unrelated story, Lincoln stole Ryan's hat and put it on and told us that he was a "fighter-fighter". I always get a kick out of that one.....the first time he said it I needed a couple of seconds to figure out what a "fighter-fighter" was. If you don't get it here's a hint: they drive the big red "fighter-fighter" trucks. :)

Aile's Adventure

At Aile's doctor's appointment on Friday we found out she had some fluid in her left ear but that it was clear. Sunday night she screamed from 9:30 - 11:00pm. We tried everything, and I mean everything, to calm her down but nothing worked. I finally drove her around to calm her down and get her to sleep. Monday morning we went back to the doctor: sure enough that fluid was now yellowish. She is doing much better now that she has the antibiotic - back to her normal, happy little self.Happy Girl
Look at those cheeks!
Pretty in Pink

My Boys

BOO! Caden's showing off for the camera. He was just close enough to the flash for it to come out psycho-halloweenish. Really, he's a very nice boy......no really!
Caden reads with so much expression - (read: sound effects). Is it a boy thing, all these noises that they make? I have some scrapbook paper that says "Boy - a noise with dirt on it"....how true it is (except the dirt part for my boys).

We have these pattern blocks that you can see on the floor. Caden likes to make designs and patterns with them and Lincoln mostly likes to wreck whatever Caden's made with them. The container just fits perfectly on the back of Lincoln's giant head. I say it's all his big brains - Ryan says I can't make that argument with him.....


Lincoln's attempt to brush his hair by himself. It's sopping wet where he ran the brush and fluffy dry everywhere else. GORGEOUS!

Sharing

I just want to share that I actually shared the gospel with someone and even gave them a Book of Mormon and the world is still turning. It's amazing! This is huge for me because in all of my 30 (count 'em 30) years I have never before given out a Book of Mormon. Just goes to show that there's a first time for everything.....

Our Complete Family

With the addition of Aile to our family we now feel complete. It's creating a whole new set of emotions for me: I got to enjoy all the "firsts" with Caden and now I'm enjoying all the "last firsts" with Aile. There is a poem that I really like that really sums up how I'm feeling so I thought I'd share it here:

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth.
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.
Hang out the washing and butter the bread.
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue.
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo)
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due.
(pat-a-cake darling, and peek, peek-a-boo)
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew,
and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo.
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo)

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow.
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

-Ruth Hulbert Hamilton