No Soliciting

I have a "No Soliciting" sign (thank you, Andrea) on my front door. It is there for a very good reason. I cannot say "no." I just can't. I don't know why. I'm such a frugal person, I only have one pair of jeans that I can wear in public. But if someone knocks on my door, it's like idiot-girl answers and buys whatever is being sold.


I've bought fruit from the nice fruit people from Payson, cleaning supplies (more than once), pest abatement (I like that though, not having spiders and huge wasp nests), I've visited with the very polite Jehovah's Witness sister missionaries. I think it's my aversion to confrontation that keeps me at the door. I have no problem saying "no" on the phone.


Anyway, even though I have a "No Soliciting" sign on my door, a kid came by selling insulation. I'm glad he ignored the sign, because we got an awesome deal. The insulation company only charges the amount that gas and power companies rebate so we didn't have to pay a penny and we got a ton of MUCH NEEDED insulation sprayed in our attic.


I didn't count on this though. The hoses came apart and started spraying insulation all over the hall. I didn't think to take a picture before I started cleaning up. (Yes, I cleaned it, they were having a really, really bad day and I have a much better vacuum then they do.) Anyway, it's not the best shot and doesn't really do the amount of insulation justice. I had to take it really fast because I didn't want the guy to see me taking the picture. I'm sure it would have made him cry and be scared that he was going to get fired.

Anyway, if you would like insulation sprayed in your hallway for FREE, the company is called RSA Insulation 801-295-0221.

p.s. my house is a lot warmer and the heater hasn't turned on since the insulation installation.

Encore

My frustratingly cute little sister, Katrina, had her junior recital at USU last night. She's a choral ed. major and extremely talented. This song is in German. It's a really short clip for blogging/showing off purposes. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present Katrina Barker.

Burdette and RoseAnna turned the intermission into a totally awesome party, they both look like they're on drugs--just different kinds.

Becca, Katrina, RoseAnna.

RoseAnna and I used all of our Jedi powers to resist singing in operatic tones while in Katrina's presence--but we couldn't help it. We used the argument that we have the same genes. Sadly our talents must be buried under a seriously large bushel or concrete barrel.

Lovingly awaiting your comments--especially you, Emily Ricks.

Actual Pets

RoseAnna and Clay brought their new puppies out for a visit. They are so cute that even I wanted one (which is saying a lot since I'm not a pet person--refer to previous post).

Carter is not a fan of the puppies' parents (ie. scared to death) but he LOVED the puppies.

Everyone loved the puppies...

******* except Will.********

I almost feel bad for the boys that we aren't getting one of the puppies. Not bad enough though, I guess. What crappy parents.

Dall Family Pet

So these are our "pets." It's great, you just throw seeds out, they come and eat them, the boys feel like they have something to take care of and in the spring we just sweep the deck really well and wait for our "pets" to come back in the fall. Whoever thought of this is totally brilliant.

Interview

My Aunt Marie (who is younger than I--not that it matters, I just like being old) posted an interview on her blog with questions asked by her friend. Since I'm narcissistic I signed up for her to interview me. Without further ado...

1. If you had no obligations to children, husband, parents, church callings, etc... where would you be and what would you be doing with your life?

I'm pretty sure that I would be in a Ph. D program somewhere studying French. I would probably be in my third year(ish). If I hadn't married Jeremy, I would have pursued a Masters degree in French and then I would have probably spent some time in Switzerland or France and then would have come home to get a doctorate. I really, really wanted to be a French professor. I still would, but it's a little out of my reach right now--which is okay my French is super rusty.

Elise, one of my super fantastique professeurs de francais a SUU.

2. Who is your hero and why?

My hero has always been my mom. There are a lot of reasons, but I'll just name one. She was very generous with her time. She made clothes for us, made sure we always had homemade cookies, bread, dinner, etc., she stayed up late to talk, read books to us every night (even when I was in college), and is always available for grandma-to-mom advice now. I don't remember ever feeling like she didn't have enough time for me, it's a nice feeling.

3. What makes you love your husband?

I fell in love with Jeremy because he was so nice to me. For example, before we were really dating (mostly because I had a crush on someone else that I wasn't ready to let go of), I had a really bad cold and he gave me a bottle of DayQuil and a pack of gum between classes at WSU. I love him for a million more reasons now ie: he's a great dad, sometimes he does the dishes on the weekend, he works a million hours so that we can have the things we need, he laughs like a little kid when he watches a funny movie, I don't have to use mental math anymore because he's my calculator, etc. But I love him the most because he treats me kindly.

4. What is your favorite day of the week? What kind of feeling(s) does it create in you.

I love Fridays the best. It brings a feeling of hope and relief. The hope that the weekend will be a period of rejuvenation for everyone and the relief that comes with not having to do everything by myself. Jeremy is usually at work until after the boys go to bed which makes for long days sometimes. I LOVE being with my boys, but they're a handful and not having a break is hard, so it's nice to have help. Saturday and Sunday are great, but I like the anticipation Friday brings.

5. If you had millions and ca-billions and ma-jillions of dollars ... what would are the three major things you would splurge on?

I would like to do a lot of humanitarian work, but these are the purely selfish things I would like to do.

1. A cabin in the mountains by a lake or stream, preferably both.

2. Family vacations: Road trips across the US, Scandinavian cruise, Australia, Europe, Tahiti

3. A huge kitchen with a sauna and room for a pony (a la Hyacinth Bucket).

*** If you're still reading and want to be interviewed, too. Give me your email and I'll send you questions. ***

Le Jour de Saint Valentin

To celebrate Valentine's Day on Wednesday we did this...

we went on an acutal date (which rocked because Jeremy is really wonderful), merci Ryan and Chelsi for watching our two little crazies.

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On Thursday we did this...

Made stained glass window cookies with Marlo. The above picture is what they looked like before the oven. The picture below is what they looked like after. They didn't taste good either so it was a sad cooking experience that reminded me of college.

so sad.
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On Friday the boys and I made this...

This is in my front bay window. I hope my neighbors don't start having crushes on Jeremy too. It would be really annoying.

Happy Valentine's Day. **smooch**

Um, okay.

Every time I go visit my grandparents, my grandpa says, "Oh, REEEEbecca, I remember when you thought you'd never get married and you'd never have any children. Now look at you."

What's that supposed to mean? My grandma usually follows that with something to the effect of me always being tired. I wonder why. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with these two, I'm positive.

Super Guy (he made that title up himself)

There was a time when he was dressed.

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Mommy's little chipmunk with only four functioning teeth. My favorite thing ever is that his eyes totally disappear when he smiles. I love it!

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For the record, I got married when I was 22 and it wasn't like I moped around all the time desperately wishing that I was married. Although, I'm incredibly glad that I am. I really like Jeremy. He's really, really, cool and cute.

What else was I supposed to do?

Yesterday, we took the Young Women in our ward to see the WXHS production of Beauty and the Beast. One of our Laurels was the wardrobe, Mme. La Grande Bouche.

She was great but SERIOUSLY, it's such a long play.

I've seen the play once before (Jeremy's two cute cousins were Chip and a silly girl in a junior high production) so this time I came prepared with knitting needles and yarn. I felt a lot like this lovely lady.

Lady Kluck from Disney's Robin Hood.

Most of the girls were highly appalled that I brought my knitting. I can knit with my eyes closed so I didn't think it was a big deal and I got a pair of booties made for the humanitarian center. So that means that I'm really wonderful.

I think I'll have the girls start calling me Sister Kluck, especially since Lady Kluck and I have often resembled each other in so many ways.

G, that's cool.

Adam and Eve Were the First Family

Carter gave his first talk in Primary yesterday. It was about Adam and Eve. He was so brave and spoke really well so that everyone could understand what he was saying. It was so cute, I almost cried--twice.

Since I didn't send him to preschool this year, I still think of him as a such a little kid (which I know he is). He had such a hard time with Nursery until like NOVEMBER 2008, I haven't really thought much about how I would feel when he went to Primary. Anyway, I guess I could just delete the last couple of sentences and just say that I can't believe he's this old. Maybe I should listen to the old people (usually in the grocery store) who remind me that "they grow up so fast."

Aprons

Look at my cutie pie nieces in the aprons I made them:)

L-R: Bradee, Payton, Marlee, Kaycee

Love you girls!