A Cat, a Poll, and a Threat

We got a kitten! He is black and cute and we love him. He was given to us by a family in the ward whose cat just had kittens. We need your help though. We can't decide on a name. Some of our favorite options (along with some fake ones) are there in our poll -------->

Please take some time to first leave a comment and make me feel like my time here is not wasted. Anything about how gorgeous and talented I am will be acceptable. Then help us pick a name. If you have another suggestion, go ahead and leave that here.

I'm serious about the comments though. . . A strike may very well be under way soon if I don't get some blog love!

Quotable Emma

I have had requests for some recent Emmaisms. I was more than happy to oblige, as was she.

Emma: Mommy, come and push me in the swing right now!
Me: Hey, I don't think I have heard on single please from you today.
Emma: One single please push my swing.

Me: Emma, can you come and help me clean up these crayons?
Emma: Umm, not right now. I am really busy watching the Princess (Enchanted). Maybe when its over if you are a really good girl.

Emma: Mommy, I want some ice cream please.
Me: OK- if you finish up your lunch you can have some ice cream.
Emma: How about if I eat all my candy I can have some ice cream?
Me: (trying not to laugh) No, I don't think so.
Emma: That is so unfair! (I have no idea where she got this!)

Emma: Mom, Sara was playing in the dirt so I get to eat her ice cream.
Me: Just because Sara doesn't get ice cream doesn't mean you get more.
Emma: Yes. You said!
Me: When did I say that?
Emma: You told Pinkbunny!

Emma has also gotten really good at interpreting Sara's looks and babbles for us. Most of the time she is fairly accurate, but sometimes I think she gets a little self serving. . .

Mom, Sara told me she wants me to have her pretty bear.

Sara doesn't like that chocolate. I like it though.

Sara doesn't want to go with Daddy. She wants to take a nap and I can go with Daddy.

Did You Know. . .

Pop-Tarts are flammable? I didn't! Pastry and frosting create large and smoky flames!

None of our smoke detectors went off- not even the specialized ones we paid $500 for. . . Ross is looking into getting our money back. . .

Nosebleed seats at Miss Saigon

Anyone who has known me for longer than 2 hours knows that I have a slight obsession with musical theater. I love a good story told in a unique and beautiful fashion. I often imagine what my life would be like if I could just break out into song and dance to express myself, and I have had many dreams that function in that way. I truly envied the woman in Scrubs who has the anneurism that caused her to see the world as a Broadway musical.

Anyway- Ross, being the best husband ever, got us tickets to Miss Saigon playing at the Pioneer Theater in Salt Lake. It was amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I don't reccommend that anyone who would be offended by half naked girls in a Vietnamese strip club, the F-bomb, murder, songs about prostitutes, racial humor, and the word 'hump' placed in the most hilarious of places' to ever see it. It was definitely PG 13, but so beautiful.

When we got there, we saw that our seats were up on the second balcony. After climbing over the frail old people, and disabled young men with canes, we knew that we were stuck in the middle of our row for the rest of the show and prepared ourselves to 'hold it' til the show was over. Getting out for anything less than an emergency would cause a huge commotion.

I started teasing Ross about getting us seats in the nosebleed section when, I kid you not, my nose started to bleed. I say bleed, but don't be fooled. This was no slight feminine trickle of blood- this was a gushing arterial wound. I was bleeding all over the dang place. Now, remember how we were blocked on both sides? I held my nose with one hand and tried to keep my head facing upwards while rifling through my purse for anything that would offer some kind of help.

Fortunately, the sample of a feminine hygiene product I had gotten in the mail and put in my purse for those 'just in case' moments came with a handy-dandy wet-wipe to keep me feeling all clean fresh during my next woman-time. I threw the pink package at Ross and asked him to open it for me. He refused until I explained to him that it was a wipe. It took a minute or so because during all of this, I was laughing hysterically. The woman next to me realized what was happening when Ross pulled out his camera to record this lovely incident. She had a tissue which she generously gave me while laughing. I shoved that up my nose and went to work mopping up everything I had infected with the already soiled Always wipe.

I am not sure what caused this strange blood vessel burst, but it was one of the funniest things ever. God truly has a sense of humor- I think that is the only way to explain the timing.

If you did not laugh at this, I am not sure that we can be friends. Just a warning. . .

The Very Best Mother's Day Weekend EVER to Exist!

I love my husband! He is the sweetest and kindest man alive. He planned and devised for me the perfect Mother's Day weekend. Every aspect of it was planned by him, and it truly showed me just how much he knows and loves me. This will be long and fairly boring for most people, but I wanted to record it because it was really such a wonderful weekend for us.

It started out on Friday afternoon with the key ingredient of most of my best memories- pizza! We went to Pier 49 and used a BOGO coupon for some gourmet pizza. There was some Dr. Pepper involved too.

We then headed over to my mom's house to drop the girls off for the night. Ross planned for my little sister Dan to watch the girls for a slumber party. They could not wait to spend the night in the princess tent. This constitiuted the next component of the perfect weekend- 12 hours with no children.

After a quick goodbye, we headed to Salt Lake to the Radisson hotel where Ross had gotten a discount night on a Sleep Number bed. So awesome! We planned to go do a session at the Salt Lake Temple- but decided to just take it easy and relax. Next two elements of the perfect weeked- relaxation and a hotel. I LOVE hotels. I don't know why, but I do.

We got dinner at Ruby River Steak House. It was good steak!

We also enjoyed watching the large party that was sat next to us. A young man had just graduated Cum Laude from the U of U Law School, and was getting ready to get married to his fiance' in the next few days. The in-laws were all meeting for the first time. The tension was palpable and delicious to us onlookers. People Watching/People Judging= one of my favorite things to do ever.

Did I mention how good the steak was? Steak also happens to be one of the elements required for the perfect weekend. Good job, Ross!

This is us trying to get a picture of the strange framed art featuring a purple marijuana leaf.

Random pictures and crazy art are not necessarily needed for the perfect weekend, but they certainly don't hurt!

Those are the only pictures of the night- but we did a lot more than that. You'll have to check the PG 13 rated version of this blog to get more details on that though. . . ;)

We woke up in the morning to the sounds of the March for the Cure for Breast Cancer. There were pink balloons, confetti, and bikes all over the place. I had actually considered running in it before Ross told me to not plan anything for the weekend. I have a number of women in my life who have been affected by Breast Cancer. I like being involved in those activities mostly to help the cause, but also partly to see all the funny shirts and logos. The favorites I saw on the street after this one were 'Save the Hoo-ha's', 'The Future of my titties depends on you', 'Can you tell which one is infected?' and 'Of course they are fake- the real ones tried to kill me!'

Some people call that vulgar- I call it comic relief to a scary and painful situation.

After a delicious breakfast of Chillean pastries, we picked up our girls and played aound at my mom's house for a bit. We then headed to Macy's grocery store to get some frozen yogurt (another element of the perfect weekend) and to get some chips for the company bar-be-que later that night.

Emma has a less than convential way of eating an ice cream cone. Notice the big bite taken out of the side of the cone, and the spoon in her hand. . .

I have to say though, that she seems to have more fun with her process.

The grocery store was also doing a promotional spree on their strawberries and were giving away lots of different recipes they had made using strawberries. We had parfeit, jam, and strawberry tart. Free pastries are definitely part of the best weekend ever!

That night ended with a company bar-be-que at the park meaning I got free food that I did not have to cook. Beautiful!

Sunday was glorious as Ross took over my Sunbeams class and I got to go to Relief Society. After church, we went to my Grandma's house where there was more free food that I didn't have to help cook, and some of my very favorite people ever.

Thank you, Ross for being such an amazing husband. I felt so special and loved all weekend without even a shred of guilt. (OK, maybe a few shreds were inserted here and there- but that isn't too bad for me!) I have not felt so relaxed and cared for in a very long time.

Happy Birthday Heather!

On the fourth of May, my oldest little sister officially entered her mid-twenties. We had a little celebration the day before her birthday because apparently she had all kinds of plans for the big day that we were not allowed to be a part of.

My mom made her favorite meal- frozen chicken nuggets. Grossness! Mom was nice and made a lasagna for those of us who are over 4 years old and have taste buds in tact. :)

Heather also requested a no-bake cheesecake for her cake. Grossness part Deux! No toppings at all- just the gross no bakeness of creamcheese. It was her day though. . . Heather was a nice aunt and let Emma be a part of the festivities.

Pick a candle. . .

Lick off the goo. . .

Caulene was also capturing every exciting moment.

Again, my mother was an angel and compensated for Heather's lack of taste buds by making a crazy cake for the rest of us. Thanks Mom!

Then it was time for presents. She got a pretty good haul. A shopping spree with Caulene, 10 pounds of gummy worms, a camera, some books, and some scrubs (she works in a rest home).

Emma lost interest in helping when the worms were unwrapped.

Ross was there too. I like him.

Caulene and Emma had a rousing game of hide and seek after dinner.

Happy Birthday, Heather. I love you! I hope your next year is as good as the last- if not better.

My Girls

I have been reprimanded for not writing about the girls enough lately. Apparently the pictures are not enough. Here is my attempt to appease the aggreived parties.

Emma-Roo

1. Emma is a HUGE help around the house now. She loves to help me with chores and is very happy when our house is all cleaned and picked up. She likes to help me clean the dishes, set the table, put laundry away, vaccuum, wipe down any surface, and her favorite (and mine)- scrub the toilet bowls.
2. Emma does not like to wear panties. Our little girl goes commando most of the time. I was a little bothered and a little embarrassed about this before, but now I figure I have no diapers to change, and less laundry to do. Win/Win!!
3. Emma is an amazing big sister. She is so sweet with Sara. She shares her toys, reads books, plays games, and watches out for her. She always greets Sara with a smile in the morning, and tells her how beautiful she is.
4. Emma can spell her first name. Just ask her. It is cute. We are working on writing it- and she is getting pretty good.
5. Emma can say the first 4 Articles of Faith all by herself. Every now and then she needs a few prompting words- but she knows them. We are starting the 5th tonight. She also loves to say prayers, and often repeats the prayers said in church when she thinks it should be her turn.
6. Emma is a night owl. She likes to stay up late and sleep in during the morning. If she had her way (and I'll go ahead and admit that sometimes she does get her way) she would be up until midnight and not wake up until after 11.
7. Emma is a lovely singer. She sings all the time about anything at all. Most of them are real songs, but sometimes she just makes them up. Just today she was singing a song about her princess shoes being sad because there was yucky poopy on them. She does not have any pincess shoes, and none of her shoes have poopy on them, so I am not sure where this came from.
8. Emma loves to play pretend. She makes us extravagant dinners with her kitchen set, plays a sweet little puppy, and acts as the mommy to all of her stuffed animals. It is not uncommon to walk into her room to find all of the stuffed animals being put down for a nap with my dishtowels over them as make-shift blankets. It is also funny when they start to talk back to her. "Hey, KittyBear! I said in bed NOW! Do I need to close the door? OK, one more song, and then sleepy time- OK sweetie?"
9. Emma loves to go for drives and fall asleep. She asks me all the time if we "can go for a drive and have a car-nap. I wanna sleep in the car."
10. Emma is learning to dance. I thought about putting her into a dance class, but decided to just teach her myself at first until she gets older. To be honest, all it has turned into is an organized form of running around. It does exert some of her energy though- which is ALWAYS a plus for me!

Sara-Bear

1. Sara can say the following words: Dada, Memm (Emma), Cat, Mama (in that order- I was AFTER the cat!), dog, Jeej (Jesus), Yes, No, Baba (bottle), Loves (hugs), oh no, where is it?, hi, and of course, mine. I think there are more, but those are all I can think of right now.
2. A couple months ago, Sara entered that beautiful stage of communication where she started pointing and nodding. It was amazing the first time it happened. I asked her what she wanted, and she pointed up at my kitchen counter. All I had to do then was hold up everything in that vicinity until she indicated which item she wanted. It was a dishrag the first time.
3. Sara talks in gibberish. She just jabbers away, but uses the inflection she hears us use in regular sentences. It really adorable. We usually just respond by smiling, nodding, and making mention of just how cute she is.
4. Sara's hair is FINALLY long enough to put in a little rubber band. Pictures forthcoming!
5. Sara is a snuggle-bug. She loves to be in the middle of whatever we are doing. We like to call her the 'Wedge' since her favorite place to be is right between Ross and me.
6. Sara LOVES bath time. Any time she hears the shower running, she comes streaking in tearing off her clothes. Sometimes she just starts climbing in fully clothed. She gets very mad when anybody in the house bathes without her. There are days when she gets 3 or 4 showers or baths.
7. Sara loves her stuffed animals. She is always clutching something plush, and gets very offended when someone tries to take them away.
8. Sara gives slobbery baby kisses. I hate them. Emma was so good at giving little pecks without any baby goo involved. Sara is not. I am not sure why.
9. Sara loves her sister. She follows Emma around like a little puppy dog. She wants to be involved in everything Emma does, and Emma- bless her heart- lets her be involved most of the time. They are such good little friends.
10. Sara does NOT sleep through the night. She is up 2 or 3 times a night. I hate this too. The funny thing is that she always wakes up for good around 8:00 and is extremely happy. She never gets up on the wrong side of the bed. She greets the world with smiles, hugs and chatter.

Those are my girls. They are incredible and give my life depth and meaning that I had never before imagined was possible. They run me through the gamut of emotions every day and never cease to strengthen my testimony of Heavenly Father. There is just no way these two miracles came to be through chance and happenstance. I spend most of the time feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility I have concerning them, but I get little moments here and there that let me know I am doing an adequate job. I love my girls!

The most wonderful mother in the whole world!!!!!!!!!

Now I don't mean to brag, okay I do, Amanda just IS the most wonderful mother in the whole world. I have it on good authority from our two little ones that she is the most wonderful mommy. We all love having her around. So yesterday after returning from a fun-filled trip to SLC. we picked up the girls at grandmas house, we had to go gather them up at the park that apparently Emma did not want to leave for any reason and constantly was prodding her aunt to take her to, but as soon as she saw mommy she couldn't run fast enough to throw her arms around her neck to give her a giant hug and kiss. I picked Sara up and all she wanted was to be held and snuggle with her mommy. I think that if your looking for proof as to which one of us our girls really prefer, they will always pick their sweet, loving mommy over all else. No treats necessary.

Anyway, this post is suppose to be a brag post about how wonderful a mommy Amanda is, but I have to say that I am using this opportunity to write about the most wonderful, amazing wife I have. Amanda is truly an angel that Heavenly Father sent to me. She has the most passionate charismatic way about her. Always knowing what I am thinking and knowing how to make me happy, even when she may not know it. I am truly grateful to have such a kind, loving, funny, hot and sexy woman to be by my side throughout this life. I don't know what I would do without her, I knew I wanted to be with my best friend forever and now I know I can be, because I found her and married her for all eternity.

I love you Amanda

Love Ross

We love you tooooooo mommy hsfvdbgnu,thyrzcdvbh njmmgn ddwwfvc dd hg

Love Emma and Sara

My Cry

I have made no secret of the fact that all the girls in this house are certified Daddy's Girls. Even I prefer haging out with Ross over hanging out with myself. It is no surprise either as he is funny, handsome, laid back, and an incredibly good kisser! I tend to be a little more tightly wound, and focussed on business. I clean, teach, and discipline interspersed with playing and tickle torture. Daddy gets to play and provide treats with interspersed discipline. There is a difference there. Life is just generally more fun when Daddy comes home. Emma waits all day to hear the garage door open announcig Daddy's return, and he always gets a very warm and enthusiastic welcome.

For the most part, this situation does not bother me. Ross and I have different roles in raising our children, and that is as it should be. I never for one minute feel that my children love me less, they just love me differently.

I said for the most part though. Sometimes it does bother me. Sometimes I feel cheated. Sometimes I cry for the injustice of my self-inflicted role. It happened once this week. I spent the day scolding Emma for her defiant attitude and overall naughtiness. I refused to reward her bad behavior with treats, and this sent her into a fit of tears and screaming, which landed her on her bed in her room. We do not tolerate fits in this house. Sara, ever the sensitive little soul reacted to all this emotion with some tears and screams of her own, and led her to tear all the pages out of a book. I know she is too young to really be disciplined, but Emma is too old to see the bad behavior of a sibling go unpunished without finding acute injustice in the matter. So, I scolded poor Sara for Emma's sake, and her tears escalated and another fit was born in the Goodman abode.

Just as I was about to join the two of them in their wailing, the garage door opened. Emma ran down to meet him- her fit over for the moment. I admit that I was angry. I had just endured a full 2 hours of cries, kicks, and harsh words only to see it all eradicated with the sound of a motorized door opening. Unfair! I greeted my breadwinner with nothing more than a screaming baby and a diaper. I needed a shower, and a chance to cool down from the pressures of the day. When I got out of the shower about 10 minutes later, Sara was still crying.

It made me smile.

Let me explain myself here. I was not smiling because I felt Ross deserved it. I can't blame him for our rough days. I was not smiling because I felt Sara deserved a little more misery for her breach of the rules she is just barely beginning to understand. Those scenarios would paint me to be heartless and vindictive, and I try to not be like that towards my family.

I was smiling because I knew that cry. It was my cry. It was the cry that Sara uses when she wants me- her mommy. It was the cry that could never be silenced by bottles, treats, favorite aunts, or even Daddy. My little Daddy's Girl wanter her mommy. I quickly dressed and ran downstairs. It took about 30 seconds for her to calm down in my arms.

I held her tight, and she held me back. She was apologizing for ripping the book, and I was apologizing for scolding her for something she was not ready to understand.

I kissed her forhead and tickled her neck and said a silent and tearful prayer of thanks for the little, and yet substantial gift she had just given me.