Big "trouble" and Little "trouble"

Ethan is quite the mess-maker on his own--but now Grant has joined the ranks. I feel like I run around in circles cleaning up after my boys! In fact I just finished picking up the dirty laundry that was all over the hallway and loft upstairs (which had been previously sorted into baskets). And there's a pile of couch cushions, pillows and blankets to pick up downstairs that were part of a "fort." A couple weeks ago we were about to head out the door when Ethan emptied out Grant's closet--clothes, diapers, toys, everywhere!

And then this is another Ethan mess (but a cute one--and semi-approved). He has crayons for the bathtub--they are fun, but don't just rinse off--you need a magic eraser and elbow grease to clean it off. During a non-bath time, he decided to draw me some flowers! (of course this has led to him using real crayons on my tile kitchen floor--luckily the magic erasers fix that too!)

How about a picnic on the middle of the kitchen floor--with real food/water of course!

Our newest little trouble maker is just discovering how cabinets open (and enjoying the pots, pans, tupperware) and has dicovered the toilet paper roll! And yes, he's eating it! Because he eats everything...including chewing on our shoes...yuck!

Civic Duty, Bedtime Yarns, and the Elliptical

So last week (on April Fool's Day) I got called to jury duty! I thought about not going...saying I thought it was just an April Fool's Day joke! No, it wasn't bad. It's actually the 1st time I've had to go. Here you call the night before and see if your number is called--so this was the 1st time my number was called. So I wait in the big room to see if they need us or not, and I brought my school book with me to keep me busy. I had to laugh as I overheard a couple ladies talking and saying they would rather be at the dentist b/c at least they get drugs there! And another lady said she would like to be called with the first group--better to get it over with...like at the gyno. Hmm...I didn't feel like jury duty was that bad. Luckily after waiting for about 2 hours, they let us go. The other case had been dismissed that day. It might actually be kinda interesting to serve on a jury...as long as it's a quick trial!

As part of our bedtime routine we read Ethan stories...which he never can get enough of. A couple months ago when we were ready to turn out the light, but Ethan wanted to read more, I told him we could think of "books in our head" while we laid in bed. Basically we just tell him a story rather than reading one...so we can do it in the dark and have Ethan closer to going to sleep. So since that night, every night after prayer and lights out, Jon or I lay with him to tell him "books in our head" and snuggle him! The only problem with this is trying to think of stories to tell every night--it's really stretching my creative juices! I always do simple stories--while Jon tends to do more elaborate ones that have a moral to them (yeah, he's a good daddy!). It's been a nice ritual to have every night with him and does help him settle down for bed.

Last month we bought an elliptical, so we can work out at home (easier b/c then we can do it anytime, not worry about a sitter, etc). I also had a goal for March to give up added sugars in my diet (sweets, soda, goodies, etc.) I'm not giving them up permanently...I just wanted to not be so addicted to them! And I wanted to kick-start some weight loss too. My goal is to lose around 15 lbs. (and be eating better and exercising regularly). I did cheat a bit with eating some sweets--yeah, I have no will-power! But I was exercising 4 or 5 days each week. And by the end of the month I had lost 6 lbs! So go me!! It's a start at least...and I hope to keep up with the healthy habits and continue to lose weight.