Monkey Town

Ella has ALWAYS had a special obsession with being ON things. Even when she was just crawling she wanted to be elevated on something...anything. Well, you can imagine that now that she travels at a full run, things have become worse.

Yesterday we were both down in the basement together and she was happily playing along. I had been painting our bathroom all day and was on the couch so I fell asleep for a few minutes. I woke up because I heard little giggling and when I opened my eyes, Ella was standing on TOP of her Learn-Around-Playground! AHHHHHHH!!!

Well, today is more of the same. I have pulled Ella off of our file cabinet, the back of the couch and our coffee table about a million times. Remember when they are little and cuddle all day long....Sigh!

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My New Calling

Ok...I was SOOOO excited for my new calling as the Relief Society Enrichment Co-Leader, in charge of all midweek activities. All of the sudden I am a bit overwhelmed. I have passed around lists to YWs, Primary, Nursery and R.S. where women signed up and checked all of the interests they have and now....BLANK. I am staring at these lists like they are in japanese. Now what? I'm not sure why I am so flustered, but I guess I should just go through the lists and call a mini-leader for each group and then get rockin!

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Mad Scrapbooking Props!

I just found out that I am a finalist in the scrapbook playground contest. SO FUN! I entered my LO called "My Niece". I am also having 3...yes, 3 layouts published in the Aug/Sep issue of "Ready, Set, Create!" magazine. I have been checking the Scrapbook Publishing BLOG and just entering everything I could and it has finally paid off. Hooray! The first small step forward towards building a scrapbooking resume (yes, there IS such a thing!)

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The Antiques "No-Show"

So, when you get to the Antiques Roadshow they put you in a line with everyone else and you carry your stuff through a maze for hours...like more than 2 hours. Once you get through that line you have made it to your next line. My Mom and I waiting next to a cute young couple who were there with their Grandmother's china and a set of Great Grandpa's ivory dominos. If you're ever gunna go, making friends in line is imperative since if we hadn't, the waiting might have made a person give up their will to live.

Anyway, once you actually get to your line it takes all of 20 seconds for the appraiser to give you an estimate. And the verdict is......BOMB! Okay, not a total bomb. He said my Shakespeare book was worth $100. My Mom's items faired similarly. All in all it was a fun experience and I'm glad we went, but it's definitely not as glamorous as it looks on TV.

Today, I list my Shakespeare book on eBay.

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I'm Off to the Antiques Roadshow!

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the Antiques Roadshow in Salt Lake City and I got tickets to go. I can't wait! I am taking an old book of Shakespeare plays I bought in England 10 years ago. I have no idea what it is worth, but i've already decided that if they tell me it's worth $15,000 I'm screaming "SOLD!" Heck, even if it's worth $500 I'm still yelling SOLD right into the camera.

I can't stand it when the expert says a little ugly jug is worth $200,000 and the chick in the ripped cutoff jean shorts and the stained Winnie The Pooh t-shirt is playing it all cool, like money means nothing to her and says, "Oh...I would never sell it." C'mon now! Sell, sell, SELL!

Wish me luck!

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The "BOB" Revelation.

So, Ella is a big fan of singing. She sings in the morning when she wakes up, in the car, and anytime she can get near a piano. Her songs have mostly consisted of "Ahhhh....ahhhhh....ahhhh..." and then within the last month she has realized that two of our neighbors have dogs. An obsession was born. Now everytime she hears a bark she says "doggie" and makes a barking sound. Well, soon every song she sang became, "Doggie...doggie...doggie..."

Then, one day the songs changed. All of the sudden the lyrics changed to, "Bobby...Bobby"! And then the phone conversations changed as well. When she picks up a phone it was constant talking to Bob. "Hi Bob!" and "Culluh, culluh, culluh...Bob!". I kept asking myself, "Who the heck is Bob"? This has continued for weeks now. And then, just this morning, the mystery was finally solved.

So just who IS Bob?

This morning when I go into Ella's room to get her up I said, "Hi Ella" to which she answered, "Hi Bob!" Then it occurred to me....am I Bob? Then we had this dialog...

Me: Say Mommy
Ella: Bobby!
Me: No...Mommy
Ella: Bobby
Me: Mom (pointing to myself)
Ella: BOB! (pointing at me)

So, yes, I am Bob. The funny thing is, this kid has been calling me Mommy and Mom with no problems for months now and all of the sudden...I'm Bob. Oh well, it's good to be Bob.

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Philippines Independence Day Celebration!

Today was Philippines independence Day. Ella and I made a sign for the back door to surprise Matt when he came home from work. The sign says "Good Evening" in Cebuano.



For dinner we had authentic Adobo Chicken with white rice. I was a bit afraid since I am a cautious eater, but it was really delicious!




We had a fresh coconut and grilled pineapple with ice cream for dessert. That was my favorite part!

For FHE we had a lesson about the Philippines where I told a Filipino Folk Tale and Matt told stories from his mission and we sang a little song in Cebuano. We talked about how Heavenly Father loves his children all over the world no matter where they live. It was such a fun day.

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Taysom Family Reunion

Today was the TAYSOM family reunion in Layton, Utah. The Taysoms are my mother-in-law's side of the family. We went to the park/church picnic tables and had a great time! All of the aunts and uncles made it except for 1 family and many of the cousins came as well. All of the kids got busy in the little pool. Here's Ella having fun in the pool with her little cousin, Daphne...


We all played games. One of them required wrapping your partner up in toilet paper completely. Michelle was my partner and we won, even though we were robbed of the title.

Of course, Ella's favorite part was roaming the field which provided unlimited running potential. She ran and ran and ran until exhaustion set in.

We loved visiting with cousins we never get to see and reaquainting ourselves with new family members. We played and visited and got sunburned and had a fabulous time. What a fun day!

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Video Review : "Rumor Has It"

1 out of 5 stars - Rumor has it...this movie sucked.


We rented this movie tonight and I was disappointed. The story is that Jennifer Aniston's character begins putting pieces together and realizes that her family is the inspiration for the book and subsequent movie, "The Graduate". It seemed like a pretty cool premise to me, but it wasn't. It also wasn't funny. I think the 3 of us watching it chuckled softly once. It was a pretty flat and slow moving story and you never find the characters endearing, with the exception of Aniston's father and that only occurs near the end of the movie. It also had an overall Marriage stifles women's hopes and dreams theme which I found old and trite. Both sisters at some point in the movie wondered, "Did I ruin mom's life by being born?"...Blah.

Besides all of these downfalls I also found the acting to be not very good. Shirley McClain (as the real Mrs. Robinson) was the only one who acted well and she was playing a part which happens to be her part in every other movie as well, the cranky, tell-it-like-it-is, old lady/grandmother.

Overall....I don't' recommend this one. We got it at the Redbox with a free code and I still feel like we spent too much.

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What's so WRONG with candy for breakfast???

This is hilarious! I am eating a Reese's Penut Butter Cups today and I glance down at the wrapper and printed inside is the warning,

"Candy is a treat. Please consume in moderation."

What? Are you saying I can't eat 5 candybars for breakfast anymore? What is this world coming to??? Obviously Reese's doesn't want my business anymore because candy?....in moderation?!?......Never gunna happen!

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