Try to do something nice...

A few weeks ago in church there was a sign-up sheet passed around to donate blood. It was a Scout who was organizing this blood drive for his Eagle project. I try to give blood whenever I have the opportunity for two reasons: 1. I don't mind needles, in fact, I like to watch the process (weird but true), and 2. It is a much needed resource. If I was ever in a situation that me or someone in my family needed it, I would feel horrible if I had never taken the opportunity to donate. What goes around comes around, ya know? Karma, kismet, whatever you want to call it. There's my soapbox about donating blood.
Anyway, last night I went over to the church and went through the approval process. Which, on a side note, can I just say why do they have to know your exact weight? I mean, c'mon look at me, I weigh enough to give blood. You can see that. Aargh! Back to my story...I went in and laid down. Now, I have had problems in the past giving blood, my veins tend to run deep and my blood clots quickly and therefore doesn't flow quickly, sometimes even clotting in the tube. Also weird but true. After a little poking and wiggling, they finally got the needle in the vein and the blood started flowing. After a couple of minutes the phlebotomist(sp?) came over and started checking everything and wiggling the needle and stuff and then called over another lady phlebotomist to help her. So after more wiggling and moving of the needle, they decided I was not going to be able to contribute enough blood. Apparently it just wasn't going to work and they wouldn't be able to get enough blood out of me. So it was all in vain. They unhooked me, put the red wrapping on my arm and I grabbed my treat and left. Why do I blog about this, you ask? So that you will know what I now know: I will not bleed to death as quickly as someone else, very good to know, and that donating blood can leave a bruise. See photos, 'nuff said. By the way, I will try again.

What an adventure today!

Our adventure today. Think "Gilligan's Island" theme song:

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,

a tale that will make you weep,

That started from the city Bountiful, aboard this old white Jeep.

The driver was a short and freckled mom,

on the way home from preschool,

Two kids in the back were buckled in

for a 25-minute carpool.

A 25-minute carpool.

The Jeep started going chug, chug, chug, chug,

high on the Mountain Road.

It finally slowed and then it stopped

On the way to our abode

On the way to our abode

After starting and stopping so many times

we finally made it home.

With Mason hitting Mallorie,

and she had her tongue out,

And Mommy yelling “STOP IT!”

the whole time,

We made it home,
in just two hours,
here to the House of Hinds!

We have been having problems with the Jeep, but usually for shorter distances it is okay. I decided to push the ol' gal a little bit today and go to Salt Lake and back, but she just couldn't make it the whole way all at once. So, what should have taken 25 minutes from Bountiful to Layton, ended up taking us two hours. But it was an adventure! And there wasn't constant fighting, but that seemed to be what stood out to me the most. I can't imagine why!

Here are some quotes from the kids during our sojourn:

Mallorie: "When I grow up, if I have a baby girl, I'm going to name her Shauna" (No idea where that came from)
Mason: "Stupid Jeep!"
Mallorie: "Why is it Winter?"
Mason: "Let's get going"
Mallorie: "A thumb is very important."
Mason: "Idiot drivers"
Mallorie: "Do you see something growing on my chin?" (she has a small freckle)

If you didn't notice, Mason was in a very obstinate mood and was mad at everyone and everything. He was not happy about having to start and stop and was tired from not getting enough sleep last night. Mallorie was just commenting on what she was thinking about I guess. It was pretty interesting to hear all the things she wonders about. In the meantime, I was just praying that we would eventually get safely home and hoping that no cops would stop. I knew that each time it stopped, if I just let it sit for a few minutes, that the fuel pump would cool down and we could go another 100 yards. I didn't want the added embarrassment of having to explain it to a cop and possibly have Mason roll down his window to chat. Anyway, it worked out and we made it home (thank heaven!) in one piece.

After a long hiatus...

(Apparently my first version of this post insinuated that I was happy not to have to spend Christmas with my side of the family-which is SO not the case. So to avoid any problems, this is the edited version!)

Okay okay...I've been remiss in my blogging duties, I know. So, I'm back on the blogging wagon now. We just got really busy with the holidays and this mommy just couldn't handle one more thing!! So, Christmas was great. The kids had so much fun, were spoiled as usual, and this was probably the year that the "You better stop right now or I'm calling Santa" threat worked the best. Jeff loved that and used it quite often. I think Mason is traumatized for life. Ha ha, just kidding!

One of the things we got for Christmas was a bug and frog habitat. You've seen them in the stores I'm sure. Well, we decided it would be much more fun to have a frog. So we sent away for a live tadpole (yes, you can get them!) And it came today! You would have thought by the kids' reaction that it was Christmas all over again. They were so excited! Another thing we got for Christmas was a handheld digital camcorder - mine! - that is so fast and convenient that we use it all the time. So tonight I took video of the kids talking about the tadpole and the tadpole itself. So here it is, enjoy our new pet! In 6-12 weeks it should have morphed into a full-grown frog. We'll keep our fingers crossed that we can keep it alive that long. We'll keep adding video as it changes.