A Matter of Perspective, part 2/An Answer to Prayer

Okay, I've been bumming around the house today, feeling kind of sorry for myself because I don't have a car and I have kids who want to be constantly entertained and I'm not feeling super great, blah, blah, blah.

So I knelt down and said a prayer, asking Heavenly Father to help me out.

Well, I got the answer to my prayer by coming across an update about a beautiful mother named Carol who delivered a baby girl (their second) and she had the most HORRIBLE things happen afterward. Her story, however, is one that inspires me and helps me be grateful for healthy kids and a healthy body and the fact that I can run stairs for exercise (even if I don't want to).

Check out Carol's story.

In other words, Heavenly Father was telling me to get a reality check and be grateful for my many blessings!

I feel humbled now.

A Matter of Perspective

I HATE inanimate objects (except chocolate, of course).

That's because in the past week or two, the following inanimate objects have broken. This list is not necessarily in order of importance.
- DVD Player
- Microwave oven
- Dishwasher
- Car (AGAIN! But this time I was NOT driving, and so I don't care as much as I might otherwise. No one was hurt, except our car (and the other car).

So far, the rest of our appliances are still ticking (cross our fingers and keep our repairman on speed dial).

BUT, none of this really matters when I have a sweet daughter who waves to me from the bus and a son who gives me bushels of dandelions. He even filled a plastic cup with ice water for the dandelions. I loved it, even if the dandelions didn't.

And as a funny postscript. I told Brandon he had to go to bed. He had his favorite "circle blankie" tied around his shoulders and informed me that "Superheroes don't go to sleep. They stay awake." Maybe I was just over-stressed from dysfunctional appliances, but I about died laughing.

Thank goodness I get to keep Brandon and Alexis and Lester forever, and I can ditch the appliances.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

This is the guest blogger, Lester, making a quick blog entry. As some of you may know, I like to follow the news, especially political news. Some would say I'm a political junkie (I like watching the Sunday news shows, West Wing, etc.). So I wasn't surprised when Alexis started taking an interest in politics. She started by following the Democratic Presidential primary, rooting for Hillary Clinton because "she is a girl and she would tax our schools" (I think that translates into she would raise taxes to send money to schools). Anyway, once Hillary was defeated in the primary, Alexis' political affiliation quickly switched to John McCain. When a Barak Obama sign went up at our neighbor's house across the street, Alexis had to have a McCain sign. When Daddy didn't move fast enough, she took matters into her own hands. When I got home from work one day, I discovered the following sign posted in our yard:

Brandon, not wanting to be left out, got into the act as well. I would definitely vote for him, but I am biased ;-)

So, as you can see, we will have a very interesting fall at the Dimit home following the presidential election.

Many thanks to Adriana Dominguez for making the signs for the kids.

EW! What is that smell?

For weeks, I passed through my laundry room (make that laundry hallway) and would catch a whiff of something truly foul. It was like stinky feet sitting in sewer. The thing is, the smell came and went, so I would tend to forget about it.

Finally, however, I uncovered the culprit. And what do you suppose that culprit was?

1- Laundry? Since I do my laundry with some regularity (I'm no Martha Stewart, but then she has people do her laundry for her. I'll bet in prison, she had someone launder and press the zippers on her orange jumpsuits. But I digress.) No, the laundry was not the smell.

2- Garbage can? Again, I empty the garbage with some regularity (at least before the trash reaches the ceiling), and I have been known to spray Lysol in the can before replacing it with a clean bag.

3- THIS WAS THE CULPRIT:

It was not this exact one that was the culprit, but something similar. ROTTEN POTATOES. Not having a pantry, my wonderful husband who is perfect in every other way stores our 5 or 10-lb. bag of potatoes on the DRYER. (Or maybe I put this bag on the dryer). Anyway, since potatoes fester in heat, and what is hotter than a DRYER, the leftover potatoes decomposed into a smelly, slimy, festering mess.

When I uncovered the mess, there was oozy brown and green slime on the dryer, on the bottom of the blue laundry basket on the dryer, and at the bottom of my laundry detergent box. My friend Mahina was over watching a movie with me at the time. Like the true pal that she was, she fed me paper towels and various housecleaning products until I banished the smell (mostly) from my house.

We opened windows, lit a scented candle, and sat down with a bowl of Tillamook Udderly Chocolate Ice Cream covered in Magic Shell and finished our movie.

Case solved and noses happy.

Alexis, the Newest Star of the Food Network and Lover of Strawberries

This is Alexis's very own recipe for Strawberry Cake and Strawberry Cupcakes

1 T. Milk

5 cups sugar
10 c. Plain cocoa
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ tsp. salt
10 Strawberries
Fireworks food coloring
Rainbow sprinkles

Mix the ingredients for 10 minutes. Bake it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. It has to be thick.

Who Are the Nicest People in the World?

The Masons! The Masons! The Masons!

Why, you may ask, are they the nicest people in the world? Well, if you know them you don't need to ask. However, I do have a specific reason for blogging about their essential niceness. They helped us do that most abominable of chores...yard work!

They had a family home evening lesson on service and arrived this evening with kids and tools and gloves. Our yard is a wasteland of dirt because Lester pulled out all the old grass and is re-seeding. A lovely mountain of topsoil that smells like ammonia has been residing on our driveway for two days next to a pile of rolled-up sod and dirt waiting for a trip to the dump.

So, while Lester and Mitch hauled "rotten horse poop," as Mitch put it, from the front yard to the back yard, the kids ran around, helped, and ran around some more. Mahina methodically weeded the bottom of our hill while I pulled out dead tulips and tackled the area below our rock wall.

To correspond with their lesson on service, the Dimits had a lesson on gratitude. We were all prepared to thank them with dessert, but no, they even brought treats!

Now, isn't that nice?

He's all man...er, I mean, boy!

I had to do some work on-site at a client's this week, and Mahina helped me out by watching my kids...and a few others! It was quite the party at her house.

Unfortunately, Brandon, who is still being potty trained, had an accident. Here is what happened, in her own words, as copied from her blog:

it was a very exciting day and this little guy didn't want to miss out on any of the fun. the problem is, as most of you know, we have no male offspring in our home! so, when a cute little boy has a "little accident" in our home, he doesn't have many choices outside of pink! so this is what you get:

i was very pleased with lala's willingness to share her clothes with her friend. she excitedly took him up to her room and was so thoughtful in her choices. you see, these pink pants were the perfect choice for brandon because the bottom of the pants zip off to make capris. brandon is shorter than lala, so all she had to do was zip the bottoms off and these "capris" became the obvious best choice! (INTERJECTION: Yes, Lala was very sweet, and those pants were a great choice!)

who cares that they are bright pink and he is a boy! apparently, he is secure enough in his "manhood" to not care! at least she did let him maintain some dignity by giving him a blue shirt, just don't point out the cute little pink flowers along the bottom!