Penelope

Tonight Rachel and I had a girls night out. We went to see the new movie "Penelope". It was really cute and between Rachel's flood of questions and me reminding her to whisper I rather enjoyed the movie. As is classic with all good love stories, the end was the moment of truth. The classic kiss. And as it so happens, this movie had a pretty good ending kiss. The "prince" grabs his "princess" and pulls her to him in a passionate kiss. The entire theater is clearly mesmerized. Suddenly, Rachel says, in her non-whispering voice "Mom, what's he doing to her?" I hear lots and lots of snickering behind me as I explain he's kissing her. "But why?" Because he loves her. "But why?" I gave up! Well, how much can I really explain to a three year old. Oh well, people enjoyed listening to me try.

Mean Face Baxter

Emily seems like such a sweet little girl.





But I often get the "mean face" in response to things I do.






She lets us know when she doesn't like what's going on. I just like to call her mean face Baxter. I figure she will be a mob boss one day. Oh well, we can't all be beauty queens.

Mystery of the Flooding Dryer.

Sundays are supposed to be restful, and as miracles will never cease, we had three hours of quiet this afternoon. Emily took a very long nap and Ben and Rachel played in their basement bedroom, with the door closed. I thought to check in on them a couple of times, and aside from realizing that I must have missed the news report about the tornado that destroyed their clean bedroom, things seemed just fine. Many hours later, I decided I might clean up their bedroom so I wouldn't have to face it in the morning. I went into the laundry/playroom and noticed a significant amount of water on the floor. "Oh great! The washer must be leaking". Yet I had done no laundry today. There was a sheet on the floor that looked like it had been used to dry up some of the mess. Hmmm. I moved out the washer and made sure, but the leak seemed to be coming from the dryer. Is that possible? My suspicions began to wander to the three precious children upstairs.
"Benjamin, did you guys poor water on the floor and then try to dry it up with a sheet?"
"No, we have been up here taking a bath mom." The smile of innocence crossed his face.
"I am talking about earlier today."
"Oh yea, well the dog (a stuffed animal) needed a bath so we filled the dryer with water."
"You what?!"
"Well, we didn't know the water would come out the bottom."
UGGGG! Kids. Luckily my dryer still works. Those little scoundrels!

Let's Read!

I have realized that I much prefer reading to telivision, so now I am stuck with the dilemma of trying to figure out what books to read. Hence, the birth of To Read or Not to Read. I really want as many people as possible to contribute to this blog, so if you are willing, email me at stephanie.baxter@stalkerfamily.com. I just need your email address, then I can send you an invite to be an author on the blog. Please, help dispel the mental haze of my mind by sharing your reading adventures. There is a link to the new blog under Just for Fun on the Baxters Blogging site.

Happy Presents Day?

Today Nate and Ben were talking about school. Nate was teasing him and said "Too bad you have to go to school tomorrow, huh". To which Ben replied, "I don't have school tomorrow, it's Presents day."
"You mean President's Day."
"No, Presents Day."
"Ben, you know your not getting any presents tomorrow, right?"
Silence. . .
"Yea, I know" Ben said, clearly embarrassed by his mistake.
Hey, what kid wouldn't look forward to Presents Day? Maybe we should suggest it as a future federal holiday. Who cares about dead Presidents anyway?

Happy Presents Day!!!!

Daddy Play Time

Somehow, children and dad's just seem to get along. Their mentalities go hand in hand. I always love watching Nathan play with the kids. He is willing to sacrifice his body for their enjoyment, whether it be jungle gym, horsie rides, or punchin bag. The kids love him, and I guess I can see why :)...

Family is Everything!

So, we just got back from Utah County. We came home to about a foot of snow. We had to shovel our driveway before we could do anything else. Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am doing well. Some of you may not know I had surgery this week for an ectopic pregnancy. Things went as well as they could have and I am doing fine. I have had lots of help from neighbors and family. While the experience has been hard, I think I was spared a lot of emotional pain that could have come along with it. I'm not sure why, except to say it has been a blessing of the spirit to feel peace about what happened and gratitude for good medical care and loving family. I have had constant assistance with the kids this week and I feel ready to get back to at least taking care of the immediate needs of my family. A big thank you to the mom's and dad's who came right up to Ogden to make sure all was well and then helped out so Nate could still work and I could rest as needed. Also, thanks to the Snowden's for taking in my children for a day so the grandparents could have a break. Boy, family is everything. Whatever we have to face, we have each other. Love you all!