"Build a Tent, Please!"

Every Monday, my grandma (Great, as the great-grandkids call her) watches Olivia while I teach one of my dance classes. Great teaches her all kinds of things. Her favorite right now is building tents. So, every day I hear, "Build a tent, please!!" Sometimes we have to build baby tents, other times it has to be big ones. Today was a 'big tent' day. It is so much fun to see Olivia's imagination and creativity. I am the worker and Olivia delegates. If I put something in the wrong spot or use the wrong blanket or chair, she lets me know. It is almost if she already has the tent we are to build pictured in her head. She always knows exactly what she wants it to look like. Despite the smiling, she really didn't want me to take pictures. She kept telling me to, "Put it away!" Once we get our tent built, she has to have the lights off so we can play in the tent. We mostly roll around, read books and talk. Of course I have to be all the way in the tent with her (I sure love 'big tent' days. The 'baby tent' days aren't so comfortable!)
Thanks Olivia! You sure make my days fun!

The Moral of The Story

Old Version

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

Moral of the story: BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF!

Modern Version

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is starving and cold.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table full of food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We Shall Overcome.' Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich of the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finish up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.

The entire nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.

Moral of the story: BE CAREFUL HOW YOU VOTE IN 2010

Go Aggies!

Today, Dave and Olivia were watching some of the NCAA games. Since we took Liv to a USU football game this fall, every basketball and football team are the Aggies. It is pretty funny to hear her periodically say, "Go Aggies!" to the tv when it is two other teams! So since they were watching the "Aggies" play (aka BYU's game) Dave decided to teach her part of the fight song.

"Utah State, hey, Aggies all the way

Go Aggies! Go Aggies! Hey, hey, hey!"

And after Dave repeated it the second time, this is how Livie cheered...

"You say, Aggies all the way

Go Aggies! Go Aggies! Hey, hey, hey!"

I guess "Utah State" does sound like "You say." I am going to try really hard to get this on video tomorrow. She sure cracks me up! Especially since it makes sense the way she says it! I sure love her and hope that by actually watching the Aggies play tomorrow, she will continue to say her little cheer.

Tagged

As I was reading your blog, Stacey, I just had a feeling that my name would be at the bottom of your post! So, here it goes.

10 truths/things about me

1. I absolutely hate to do laundry and dishes. They are just never ending!

2. I love teaching dance!

3. I am NOT a morning person and unfortunately, Livie inherited that trait!

4. I love doing any kind of craft. Sewing, crochet, hair bows, scrapbooking, you name it, I love it!

5. I avidly refused to marry a blind date and found my best friend that way (love ya hon!)

6. I just can't get enough of spending time with my family.

7. I never thought my sisters and I would be such good friends, but really we are! We have come quite a long way. I remember fighting with them all the time!

8. I love to cook. If you never gained weight from baking, I would never leave the kitchen!

9. I love to play video games. Dave is still shocked whenever I suggest we play when we have down time (it is unfortunately not very often!)

10. I love my little family! They sure keep me hoppin busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Ok, now it is your turn: Amy, Ashley, Jennifer, Candiss, Bethany, Rachel and Jessica. Write 10 things then tag others!

Just Mommy and Me

Olivia and I had a fantastic afternoon today. We went for a "steam woller wide" (aka stroller ride, he he!) to the park close to our home. It was so much fun, and a little cold, but not too bad! As we were getting everything ready to leave, Olivia informed me that she needed her sunglasses. "Okay," I said, "but you have to wear your hat and gloves." "Ho-kay Mommy!" (I love that!) She looked so adorable in her get-up that I just had to snap a picture.

I sure love spending time with Olivia. We walked to the park and played. She actually went down the slide all by herself! Woot, woot! It is a twisty tunnel slide and she has always been afraid to go down it. I am so proud of her, such my big girl! Granted, she didn't go down it again, but still. Then we saw a couple of ducks and we HAD (boy, she can be demanding) to feed them the graham crackers I brought for a snack. No, not a duck snack. They were suppose to be for munchkin! What a thoughtful girl to share with a couple of ducks! We had a great time and so did the ducks (wow, they sure love graham crackers!)

Incredibly Slow!

This post is just for you, Amy. You wanted to see pictures, well, here you go! But let me fair warn anyone else reading this:

WARNING!! Totally gross pictures! Proceed at your own risk!

Welcome to my home for the past 6 weeks. No, I'm not mistaken. It's really been 6 weeks since I moved my craft desk and found this.
4 weeks later . . .

We were finally able to have a company tear off the drywall and insulation, to find even more! And if you look closely . . .

You will see the nice hole in the plywood that the mold has been eating away at! Hmm, still think this means the water is coming from the inside??? Seriously!! What is the matter with some people? When there is enough water on your wood floor to splash when you step on it, I think another source than condensation in the house should be considered.

Today the plastic barrier and HEPA filter were removed (YEAH! No more aliens!) It is so strange to actually have my house back. Not that I really have it back. A 5 foot square of concrete is showing from where they removed the laminate. I don't have a hole in my house anymore, so that's a bonus. Now we are just waiting on approval for flooring and painting. Sigh, this should have been done long ago, but when you have someone else paying for it, who doesn't live in it, what can you really expect, right?! WRONG! Maybe I just have way too high of expectations, but really! After all, I do pay way too much each month so that problems like this can be fixed! I am shooting for all repairs to be done before conference weekend. I think 9 weeks is plenty long to live like this. Here's to finishing by then (said with fingers crossed!)

A Bad SciFi Movie

Every morning Olivia and I walk down stairs to eat breakfast. As we enter the kitchen, I can't help but picture some three headed alien from planet Zarr being dissected by scientists; all wearing astronaut-like suits to protect them from eminent danger. We, the observationists, all watch through the "alien proof" plastic, hoping that by cutting open this alien, we can fight the others and save Earth. I really would be good at writing a bad SciFi movie! But this is how I've felt the past few weeks. I keep hoping that, one day, my home can return to normal. HELP! HELP! Isn't there anyone who can kill the aliens (mold), remove their spaceship (annoying HEPA filter that runs all the time) and save Earth (my house) in a timely fashion? Who will fight the lazy government (I'll let you figure out who this is) that won't protect its citizens?

Maybe my favorite hero, Underdog! (Random, I know, but hey, it's my movie! I had to add my favorite childhood hero to save the day!)

There's no need to fear! Underdog is here!

When criminals in this world appear

And break the laws that they should fear

And frighten all who see or hear

The cry goes up both far and near

For Underdog! Underdog! Underdog! Underdog!

Speed of lightening, roar of thunder

Fighting all who rob or plunder

Underdog. Underdog!

When in this world the headlines read

Of those whose hearts are filled with greed

Who rob and steal from those who need

To right this wrong with blinding speed

Goes Underdog! Underdog! Underdog! Underdog!

Speed of lightening, roar of thunder

Fighting all who rob or plunder

Underdog. Underdog!

My Craft Blog

Ok, so I started a craft blog quite awhile ago. But now I am actually posting things on it! I love being able to keep track of different crafty things; as I really don't like to do the same thing all the time. Feel free to share your ideas or to comment on mine. The website is stephsbigideas.blogspot.com

If you're bored, take a peek! Hopefully it will get some creative juices flowing!