A Rose by Any Other Name....

Michael has decided that he is only Michael sometimes. Sometimes he is Nuto. Or Coppy. Depends on the day. And on some days, I can call him Bud, but on other days I have to call him Sweetie. And Bud likes football, but Sweetie doesn't. It's bad news for Jeff when Sweetie is around on Sunday.

This has been the case for a few weeks. But now he has decided that Faith isn't Faith anymore either. Her name is Doop. I don't know where he came up with that one (I don't know where he came up with Nuto or Coppy, either). The other day while I was at work, he started calling her Doop. Jeff calls her Doop now, too. I think it's going to be one of those nicknames that sticks forever, and when she's 14 she'll ask why we call her Doop.

Last night was the ward Christmas party. Jeff was recently release from the Young Men presidency and called to Activities Committee (which is now comprised of three men). Last night was their first activity. It turned out really well (which, I'm sorry to say Jeff, is due in large part to the hard work of the women you guys enlisted to help). The decor was beautiful, and the food was good (funeral potatoes and cookies and ice cream are always good). The entertainment was a little strange, but better than I expected (they had a guy playing guitar to background music). Santa Claus was great. I would never have guessed it was Bruce Payne if I hadn't already known. The treat bags he gave the kids were fantastic (courtesy of the Primary, of course). But the best part of all (to me, at least) was that Michael, for the first time ever, was not afraid to sit on Santa's lap. He climbed up there and told him that he wanted presents for Christmas - trains, specifically. He even smiled at the camera while I took photos.

Michael was a little disappointed that there were no trains in his treat bag. But Santa (and the Primary) can't do everything. Faith had a turn, too, and she didn't mind sitting on Santa's lap (of course, I knew she wouldn't).

And here is Coppy (that's what he told Santa his name was) on the rocking horse by the Christmas tree.

Baby News

Ha, had you going there, didn't I? This post is a brief baby announcement, but not mine. Melissa is pregnant!!! Okay, so most of you probably already knew that. But I, who see her more than most of you, did not. So on the off-chance that you didn't know, now you do.

She's due May 28, which means she's about four months along right now. She'll find out what she's having the first part of January.

I'm excited for her. She really wanted to try for a girl, and Terrance said he was done after the two boys they already have. But then when they were buying a house, he changed his mind. So they were trying to get pregnant. Then their house fell through, and they quit trying. But what do you know, it only takes a month for some people.

Please, somebody tell me that you didn't already know this.

Thankful Thursday

1. Night time. I've been staying up really late these past few nights trying to finish all kinds of things - Christmas gifts, crochet orders, Christmas cards, and on and on. I know I'd never get everything finished without the time AFTER 8 o'clock, when the kids are in bed.

2. My bed time. I love my bed. It is so soft and comfortable, as long as Jeff isn't hogging the covers. Climbing into bed when I'm tired has to be one of my favorite parts of the day.

3. Sleeping time. Do we have a theme here? Faith is now sleeping all night, with an occasional exception when she's really congested or something. But it is SOOOO nice to fall asleep and be able to sleep all night.

4. My job. Another place where I get lots of projects done. Since I work at the front desk of a hotel, I have a lot of down time, and we're allowed to do our own thing during that time, which is really nice.

5. Blessings. Okay, so all of the things on Thankful Thursday really are blessings. I know that. But I'm thinking specifically this season of how fortunate Jeff and I are. We've been able to do Christmas for our family; gifts for neighbors, co-workers, and friends; fix our car and our furnace; and take advantage of good deals to stock up on clothes for the kids, food, and other things; AND we've been able to do all of that while paying off an enormous chunk of our debt. We're very blessed.

Family photos

Jeff's family arranged to have family photos taken last Sunday. We took them at the hotel where I work. To be honest, I'm disappointed. Besides the fact that Emily and Jessi didn't even show up (this is a very long story which gets me very, very angry) for the family photos, most of the family pictures didn't even turn out. The ones of Michael are good, as well as some of the ones of Michael and Faith together and a lot of the "candid" shots. But the ones of the entire family (minus Emily and Jessi) in front of the Christmas tree, as well as the ones of our family in front of the fireplace were ALL blurry - every single one of them. And the ones of our family in front of the waterfall out back were okay, but the photographer stood so far away that we really had no way to know when she was taking the photos, so in most of them we're not looking at the camera. And we're not posed very well for the purpose of the photos - which was to get updated 8x10 photos on Richard and Anna's wall for Christmas. Not going to happen. We have a retake scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Anyway, here is a slideshow of some of last Sunday's photos. Some are good, and some, well, not so much.

When we get the photos back from tomorrow's session, I'll post some of them as well. Hopefully, everyone will be there and the photographer will be in focus. Grrrr.

The Newest Version

The farmer in the Delta
The farmer in the Delta
I hope a dagobenz
The farmer in the Delta

Good to know...

Our furnace has been acting up lately. I keep the thermostat set at 70 degrees, and the furnace usually kicks on when it gets down to 69. But lately, it has been getting down to 65 or so and not turning on. So I called the repair man. The flame sensor was dirty. While he was cleaning it, I asked him if there was any way to run the furnace when the power is out (we don't have a wood-burning stove). There isn't. He said the best alternative is a gas fireplace. When he was finished cleaning the flame sensor, I asked him to take a look at a mystery contraption in our basement bedrooms. We have a unit that is installed in the wall between those two rooms, and it has a gas supply line to it and a spot for a pilot light. So he turned on the gas and lit the pilot light, and voila!! We have heat in our basement bedrooms! So Mom and Dad, you can sleep comfortably when you spend the night again! (Can I get a cheer?) And the best part is, this wall unit is set up just like a gas fireplace, that doesn't require electricity. So even if the power goes out, we have heat!! I am so excited. Dumb, I know, that something so stupid makes me so excited, but it does. I hate to be cold. Really hate to be cold.

Evolution of a Song

Michael's various versions of "Farmer in the Dell":

The farmer in the jail
The farmer in the jail
I hope the [mumble mumble]
The farmer in the jail

Then I said:
Michael, it's the farmer in the dell. D - D - D (making a "D" sound).

Michael:
The farmer in the jail, duh
The farmer in the jail, duh

Me:
No, Michael, the farmer in the dell. Dell.

Michael:
The farmer in the dell, duh
The farmer in the dell, duh
I hope the [mumble mumble]
The farmer in the dell, duh.

Me:
Almost. Hi-ho the derry-oh.

Michael:
The farmer in the dell, duh
The farmer in the dell, duh
I hope the dagobenz (his new made-up word for ???)
The farmer in the dell, duh.

I guess you can't win them all.

The Christmas Tree

While I was at work one day, Jeff and Michael got the Christmas tree out from under the stairs and hauled it up to the living room. Michael found a scrap of wood paneling under the stairs, and being ever-helpful, hauled it upstairs, too. It was "Michael's tree," and he insisted on putting it right in front of the other tree, "so you can see it."

Currently, "his" tree is back down under the stairs, moved there after he went to bed that night. And "our" tree is fully decorated and lovely, but barricaded by our coffee table set on its side and other various items, to keep the ever-curious and over-active 10-month-old from ripping it apart.

Okay, okay

So I posted a comment on Riley's last blog post. Mind you, this post was made on October 29. That's over a month ago. And I'm tired of looking at the bald guy at the top of his last post. So I posted a comment, "Can we get a new post, already?" And lo and behold, what do I get on my latest post (a mere two weeks old now), but a comment, "Enough already. It's been nearly two weeks." So here it is, a post just to post.

Actually, I have some photos I've been meaning to download from our camera and post, but it just hasn't happened yet. I keep getting involved in other things. And those things usually involve buying, making, or wrapping Christmas gifts. So since almost all of my readers will be getting a Christmas gift from me (there aren't that many of you), you should be glad that I am spending my time being productive for you. :)

Since pretty much everyone who reads my blog also reads Callie's blog, I won't go into details of what we did for Thanksgiving. But can I just say, the turkey bowling (done with cornish hens - turkeys are just to expensive to throw around) was hilarious. I think we should make it a tradition, and actually keep score next time. We could have a little trophy that gets passed around from year to year.

In non-holiday news, Faith slept all night last night, for the first time in I don't know how long. And Michael did not come into our room either. He actually fell asleep downstairs, and we left him there. When he finally woke up this morning (at about 7:30), he came upstairs. But instead of coming into our room, which he always does, he went into his own room and laid down in his bed. He didn't even poke his head into our room. Nice. So for the first time in I don't know how long, I was able to sleep all night. Well, I would have, if Jeff hadn't woken me up when he came to bed. But I'll take it. Here's hoping for many, many, many more restful nights.

We decorated our Christmas tree on Monday for Family Home Evening. I promise to do a whole new post about that, because I have pictures, and the telling is not as good without the seeing.