Baby Names

I was driving last week with the kids and Alexis says this:

"Mom, if you are having a girl I want to name her WENDY."

"Oh. Well, Daddy and I already like another name."

"What?"

"Sydney."

"Maybe. Cindy or Wendy?"

"NO. Not CINDY! S-Y-D-N-E-Y!"

"We'll see. I'll think about it. Do you already have a name picked out for a boy too? (She said it as though she was insulted we didn't discuss this with her first.)

"Yes. We like OWEN if it's a boy."

"Hmm. Fine. You can name it OWEN if it's a boy. And WENDY if it's a girl. Or SYDNEY. We'll see."

And of course Carter chimes in now:

"Sezzis, it's NOT a girl. It's a boy!"

(Some days he's certain I'm having a boy. Other day's he's certain it's a boy and a girl. The boy in my stomach and a girl in my left boob of all places. Yes, we try to hide how he points that out in public.)

I must say I'm quite shocked at the demands coming from my little 5 year old who was still sitting tightly restrained by her little 5 point harness car seat. Because for a few minutes there I though I was talking to a teenager! Kinda reminds me of those commercials where the Dad still see's his teenagers a little kids. That commercial cracks me up...and really confuses Alexis when she sees it. She doesn't get how a 4 year old boy can grab car keys and go to work.

1st Swim Meet

Actually, they didn't compete against another team...that starts in a few weeks. Alexis is doing great. She's competed in back stroke and freestyle last year but never breast stroke or butterfly. She did all four on Saturday. They had started teaching them the feet part of breast stroke. So, I did a little dry land instruction for the rest. I was so proud of her...she stuck with it the whole way and I'm thinking she's a natural at Butterfly. A stroke she's NEVER tried before the race.

Backstroke:


Freestyle: (Alexis is in the 2nd land from where I'm video taping.)

After she finished freestyle she said:
"Mom, did I win?"
"You did awesome."
"BUT, did I win?"
"You're arms were perfect and you kicked so good."
"BUT, MOM, DID-I-WIN?"
She was so sad she didn't finish first. (And in her defense she was in the 2nd heat out of 5 heats for the age range 5-6...which means she most likely swam against all 6 year old's.) We've always talked about just improving our time each meet...not winning. I guess, WINNING, is on her agenda. Wonder where she gets that from?

Sad I didn't take pictures of breast stroke or butterfly. I thought those would be a flop...when really she did awesome at both of them.

Mother's Day

Yesterday, was a good day. Different than past Mother's Days but still good. Chad and I both spoke in Sacrament. And Chad had to take over Primary for me since he's in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. So the sleeping in and breakfast in bed didn't happen. I sat and watched Chad run around like a mad man trying to fill in classes where people didn't show or needed more help. You'd think it would be humorous...but I felt bad for him. When we got in the car after church he just took a deep breath. The poor guy didn't even complain he just looked exhausted. He definitely lived my life for a day. I love this guy! And my kiddo's too!

But the best part of the whole day was when Chad gave me a home-made card before we took off to church. I opened it up and inside was a copy of a little note we had written back and forth in a church class when we were 16 years old. Keep in mind we did NOT like each other. We were friends that vented about our relationships and had this ongoing joke...

The note went like this:

Chad: Why is he mad at you? I think he's jealous we are getting married!

Amber: Tell me about it. But I don't care as long as we are getting married.

Chad: I better not get a "Dear John" letter on my mission!

Amber: You won't. And I better not get a "Dear Jane." Is there such a thing? Think about how awesome our wedding video is gonna be!

Chad told me in the card that he has kept this note taped in the inside of his journal ever since. Isn't that so cute! I had no clue. I remembered writing it. The bubbly writing and all. But I didn't know he still had it. The handwriting and immaturity of it all gives both of us a good laugh.

My talk was on Women in the Scriptures. I ended with this quote from President Hinckley and a lot of people asked me for it. So, I'm sharing it with all of you because I really like it.

“I feel to invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass.”

A new use for this...

This is Weiman's cooktop cleaner for glass stove tops. I have this on hand to clean my stove...but thought of another use for it.
I have been trying for days to get this horrible black stain off the bottom of my stainless steel pans. (I forgot to check if my artichoke had enough water.) I tried boiling water and dish soap in it. That usually works but not this time. The bottom of the pan was charred black. So after I cleaned my stove today I got the idea to use this on my pans. I even used it on the bottom where it gets super ugly over time.

Seriously, it was the best find ever. I already had it. I didn't even have to scrub much. I just used the rough side of my sponge and it came right off. I couldn't believe it.

SO TRY IT! Say GOOD-BYE to black spots on your pans. It is awesome. My pans look like new.