Daughter of Mass Destruction

From Tissues...

To Toys...

This girl leaves quite a wake.

And here are some funny things she's said lately...

Daphne woke up one morning and found me downstairs. I picked her up and kissed her cheek and she made a sad face. I asked what was wrong. She said, "I want you to hold me but my hair is crazy!" She does get some pretty crazy bedhead.

Then she saw some dishes left out from dinner the night before. She said, "Mom you're the worst! You forgot to put these bowls away!"

Then she wanted toast with Nutella for breakfast. I gave it to her. She said, "You don't make the messiest ones but Daddy makes the messiest ones." Sorry, Dad.

We were driving somewhere at night and she asked, "Did you see those Halloween lights? That's so genius!"

We came home from my parents with a cookie for Daphne. When I gave it to her she said, "Grandma makes the best chocolate chip cookie I ever had!"

Waiting for me to finish my chores she begged, "Please can we start preschool now? I'm getting so nervous!" (Nervous is a word she uses a lot, but never in quite the right context. As far as we can figure, she thinks it means something more like "bored".)

Daphne took charge one day when Alex was fussing in his high chair, impatiently waiting for the lunch I was preparing. She told me, "I gave Bubba a toy so he won't be frustrated!" (Frustrated is another word she uses a lot, this one more accurately, but it still makes me laugh when she says it. At least until I remembered how much Anne of Green Gables hated to be laughed at for using big words. Now I try to be more mature about it.)

One day she had the hiccups and explained (in one big breath between hiccups), "I have hiccups soon you'll have hiccups then Daddy then Alex that's why we're a family that's how Heavenly Father and Jesus made us!"

Cookie Cutter Creations

What can you do with a pumpkin cookie cutter besides making pumpkin-shaped cookies?

Pumpkin Cheese!

Pumpkin Biscuits!

Pumpkin Matching Game! (I was pretty proud of this one but Daphne was not that impressed. It took her about 30 seconds and I think she only did it to humor me. Oh well... it looks nice, right?)

Pumpkin Coloring Pages! (She started out drawing a face on the black one - but ended up coloring them all in.)

Technically, I just used the cookie cutter as a guide on this last one. I wanted them a little bigger for coloring. Each pumpkin is on a quarter sheet of construction paper.

Messy Face

This is one of those baby pictures you just have to have.

I think he was trying to match his bib.

Also, this is one of maybe five times that he has worn a bib. Ever. I can't believe he kept it on for the whole meal. Guess it was some pretty good pasta!

Fall Fun

Carving and Painting Pumpkins
Remember our trip to the pumpkin patch? Well here's what we did with our pumpkins...

I drew a face on the biggest one. Just a standard, happy jack-o-lantern face, so don't get your hopes up!

Steve carved and scooped and all that.

Alex supervised and played with a bag of pumpkin stuff.

And Daphne painted the two smaller pumpkins.

Good work everyone!

Hay Maze and Farm Animals
Our friends invited us to this Hay Maze (like a corn maze, but better for little kids). The girls had fun running around inside and racing and hiding and jumping out and trying to scare the moms.

And they had farm animals to look at and touch (chickens, pigs, goats, donkeys, bunnies, etc.) So that was exciting, especially since I had just finished reading "Charlotte's Web"!

Oh, and it was probably exciting for the kids too. Actually I think Daphne liked the animals better than the maze, she kept convincing her friend to come back to the animals, and her friend kept persuading her to try the maze again... luckily they could visit both as many times as they wanted. I think we stayed about two hours.

Trunk or Treat
Our church had a finger-food potluck dinner, then all the kids went outside to trunk-or-treat in the parking lot. I didn't get many pictures but the kids had fun. (If you couldn't tell, Daphne is a "Ballerina Princess Cinderella Dancer" - and you can probably tell but I made the costume myself.)

Steve took Daphne outside to collect candy while Alex and I did laps around the inside of the church (much warmer, and less chance of getting trampled).

Alex refused to wear his costume. Good thing we got it for free!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Real Pumpkin Patch

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch this weekend. A REAL pumpkin patch. It was a first for the whole family. I was tempted to just grab a few pumpkins on our way out of the grocery store, because it would have been so much easier, but Steve assured me that a pumpkin patch would be worth the trip. He was right.

Here's how it happened:

We spotted some hand-painted signs advertising "U-Pick Pumpkins" and followed them, not knowing what to expect. We ended up on a bumpy dirt road, and the signs changed from advertising pumpkins to "Richard's Trailer". That was a little weird, but we ended up in the right place anyway.

Turns out this pumpkin farm doubles as a Christmas tree farm and the pumpkin vines are growing in and around and sometimes up the little trees! Also some random corn stalks. I liked that.

I was totally expecting one of those places where the pumpkins are already cut and polished and neatly arranged on hay bales according to size, but this was the real deal.

It was muddy and messy, with every color of pumpkin from green to orange, all still attached to the vine. There wasn't even really a path to follow, just places where the weeds and vines had been trampled by pumpkin-hunters that came before us. I was a little nervous about that at first, for Daphne's sake, but she loved "exploring" (as she called it), and chattered happily the entire time as she led the way, dodging around Christmas trees, searching for the perfect pumpkin.

Steve inspected them all for bug holes and soft spots until they found one they both considered big enough and blemish-free... and a couple smaller ones as well. And then Daphne just HAD to have one of the little white ones, "for Alex".

(Guarding her favorite while Steve found a wheelbarrow and clippers)

We didn't have much cash with us, so I was a little worried as Steve placed them on the scale, hoping we wouldn't be over budget and have to put one back. We had just enough! It was meant to be.

It should be noted that I carried Alex the entire time (not a good place for a walking novice) and took pictures and held Daphne's hand whenever there was a rotten pumpkin or tall weeds to step over. So with Daphne trailblazing, and Steve inspecting and lifting and cutting and wheelbarrowing, and Alex behaving himself even though he couldn't get down and play, it was definitely a team effort to bring home these orange beauties.

(4 pumpkins and a pair of muddy shoes)

I think we'll have to go back next year.

Spiders for Lunch

Don't worry, we didn't eat this one. But isn't it a great picture?! This little lady was kind enough to build a web on our front porch last week, when we just happened to be learning about spiders in preschool. See?

So I didn't think it would be polite to make a meal out of her. We DID, however, sample a few other spiders throughout the week... Like this Sliced Olive Spider

And the Cucumber Olive Cheese Spider

And, my favorite, the Apple Peanut Butter Raisin Spider

Yum.

Unpredictable

You never know what your three-year-old is going to do when your back is turned. Maybe she'll try to feed her brother the rest of his sweet potatoes... (so helpful)

Or remove one of his sleeves... (so trendy)

Or draw on the window with string cheese... (so artistic)

Or pass out on the floor... (so cute)

She certainly makes life interesting!

Happy Birthday Dear Alex

Alex is one year old today - unbelievable! I feel like I haven't written much about him on here at all... He is such an easy-going, happy kid. Except for today of course, because he's working on a new tooth, and he just caught a cold from his sister, and he had to get four shots at his 12 month check-up today. But I think I'd be cranky too in similar circumstances. Especially if that all happened on my birthday!

He's been walking for about a month now. I'm claiming his first word was "mama" (months ago) even though it was really more like "mamamamamamama" and he still says it like that and pretty much only when he's sad and trying to get to me. But still! I'll take what I can get after Daphne learned to say "poop" before learning to say "mama".

He loves to eat, especially if he gets to feed himself. He'll eat anything I give him and stuff his mouth until he's choking if I'm not careful. And if we're eating he better be eating too, even if I just fed him right before we sat down to our meal. But still he's only in the 10th percentile for height and weight.

He loves to take baths. He kicks his feet around when he's really happy. He can clap. He's learning to wave goodbye and will even say "buh" sometimes while waving. He just learned to make giant spit bubbles today and thinks that's pretty cool (I guess there are benefits to teething and a runny nose). He likes to make noise by clapping objects together or against the table. The louder the better. He's also a noisy (appreciative?) eater - making lots of "mmmmMMMMmmmm!" sounds while eating.

He thinks it's funny to get in trouble. Like when we're watching a movie and he goes for the power button on the TV and I say "Aleeeeeex!" in a "don't you dare!" kind of tone, he just laughs and tries to get there even faster. Same goes for if I forget to put the safety gate at the bottom of the stairs and catch him moving in that direction.

He smiles and laughs pretty easily, especially for Daphne. He thinks she's the funniest. He likes to follow her around and do what she does. She likes to encourage him to do naughty things. "Alex, go behind the couch!" - "Alex, the gate is down, crawl up the stairs, hurry!" - "Alex, push the car into the kitchen!" (the car is not allowed in the kitchen). He's young and impressionable and she knows it.

He also takes quite a beating from his sister - who likes to push, pull, drag, and carry him around when I'm not looking. Even her hugs and kisses can get pretty rough. I'm sure she'll get it all back someday when he's bigger. But she also looks out for him and is the first one to tell me if "Alex is playing with not a safe toy!" She gave him his current nickname, "Bubba". I'm not sure where she got that from but she just started calling him that and now we all do it.

He's a preeeeeetttyyyy good sleeper. He still takes two naps a day. He falls asleep on his own for naps and bedtime, which may not sound like a big deal but I'm grateful for it, considering the fact that I STILL have to sit in Daphne's room every night until she falls asleep. With Alex I just give him his pacifier, sing "You Are My Sunshine," lay him down and leave the room. So I don't mind TOO much that he wakes up almost every night at 3:00am. Because then we just do it again (find the pacifier, sing the song, put him down) and he goes back to sleep. I'm not looking forward to getting rid of the pacifier.

He's just a lot of fun and a sweet little boy and we love having him in our family. Happy Birthday Alex!

Happy Birthday Dear Daphne

Okay so I am way behind on this - actually on a lot of things - but Daphne turned three in May. At the time I would have said something like "wow, I can't believe she's three already!" but as she's been three for almost four months now, I'm starting to believe it. And she's already starting to talk about birthday number four.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the big day...

The boys (my Dad, Steve and Alex), strolling around my parents' backyard, trying to keep Alex out of the sun. It was pretty warm that day.

 And very bright... (Daphne on the hammock, if you couldn't tell)

For probably several months before her birthday, anytime anyone would ask what she wanted she would say the same thing, "Green cupcakes with green frosting and green sprinkles." (No, there is not already a cupcake missing. That's just how many the recipe made.)

I guess she liked them - too good to even put down for the picture!

As a result of telling EVERYone that she wanted "green cupcakes with green frosting and green sprinkles," our neighbor brought some over a day or two later. I think you can tell by her face that she didn't mind having more green cake. Although, really, she only eats the frosting.

Besides the cupcakes she got quite a few other gifts. Summer clothes, new swimsuit, sunhat, sunglasses, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and a pink splash pool, and some Dragon Tales DVDs (her favorite show, by default, because it's the only show she knows about, because we don't watch TV). There might have been a few other presents but I can't remember now.

Happy Birthday!

Daphne Says...

Me: Hey Alex! Did you have a good sleep?
Daphne: What did you say?
Me: I asked Alex if he had a good sleep.
Daphne: Alex can't talk yet Mom.

Daphne drew a picture. I asked her what it was. She told me a story.

"Far ago there was lovely children and nice children and mean children. Far ago there was a mean octopus, then he changed into a nice octopus."

She turned the picture upside down when the octopus "changed". I could see then she had tried to draw an octopus like those frowny faces that turn upside down and then they are smiley faces. If you know what I mean? I wouldn't have had any idea without the story, but afterwards I was pretty impressed.

Daphne was being kind of a stinker one day. I said something about what good girls do and don't do. So then she tagged that on to whatever she was doing. "Good girls kick balls. Good girls pick their noses."

Daphne likes to make wishes lately. I guess she didn't believe it when Cinderella said "if you tell a wish, it won't come true." Here are a few of her wishes...

"I wish we had a cat. A REAL cat."
"I wish we could go camping."
"I wish sometime we can have a camp-out."
"I wish we had brownies."
"I wish I had a big girl bike."
"I wish I had a baby Alex." (Me: You do!) "But I wish I had a baby GIRL too." (She has been talking a lot lately about me having a baby girl. Like, for weeks. Maybe even months.)
"I DON'T wish I had a _______." (A boy in her nursery class who likes to hit and push.)

Daphne: I need some exercise from Jillian. (Jillian Michaels)
Me: You do?
Daphne: Yeah 'cause all my breath is going out!

She likes to know where things are made and of course a lot are "Made in China". She stated one day "I'm NOT made in China! I'm made in California!" True, very true.

Daphne: Hey Mom, Alex wants his shaky ball thing.
Me: What shaky ball thing?
Daphne: The one has all the beads on it.
Me: Hmm... I don't know where it is.
Daphne (very excited): OH! I think it's upstairs! Go get it! Fast as you can! And I can come too! And let's bring Alex - come on!

Coming home from church one day we noticed that Daphne's name had been misspelled on her coloring page. We said something about it and she fell to her knees, let out a big sigh, and said "They are the worst teachers ever!" (I think there were subs that day. She actually really likes her teachers.)

Someone said something about a brain. Can't remember the conversation but Daphne responded "I don't have a brain!"

Daphne pushed Alex and he fell against the wall. Not hard, but still - she definitely did it on purpose. I said "Daphne that's not nice! Would you like it if I pushed YOU into the wall?" She responded matter-of-factly, "No, I'm not a baby anymore."

A friend was over and her pants were riding a bit low. Daphne exclaimed, "I can see your butt, girl!"

"Look Mom! I'm getting all my crazies out, running and kicking this ball!" A little while later, sitting down to breakfast she warned me, "Mom, my crazies are coming back!"

After making Alex laugh a lot, Daphne told me, "I love Alex, and he loves me. And when he gets bigger we will do lots of fun stuff together... play chalk... share toys..." Then, noticing I had replaced an empty tissue box, she added, "And when our snot comes out we can wipe it 'cause we got new tissues!"

After several months of being fully potty-trained, Daphne randomly, proudly exclaimed, "Finally I can pee on toilets now!"

Daphne: Let's make s'mores.
Me: Okay, how do we make them? We need marshmallows right?
Daphne: Yes but you have to marsh 'em. (she means roast them)
Me: Okay, then what?
Daphne: Then you need some chocolate. Then you just put it on some graham crappers!

I Hate IHOP

Last night my mom invited me and the kids to IHOP. We got there, ordered our drinks and started looking at the menus. Daphne got chocolate milk. She drank some of it, decided what she wanted to eat, made a weird coughing noise, and threw up all over the table. Needless to say, we did NOT order anything more, cleaned up as best we could, and headed home. I guess I shouldn't say I *hate* IHOP. It's not their fault. They didn't even charge us for the chocolate milk.

But wait, there's more...

So Daphne LOVES pancakes and she was pretty excited yesterday to be going to a restaurant devoted to pancakes, and pretty disappointed when we had to leave early. I decided her throwing up was a result of getting carsick (it wouldn't be the first time, and it always seems to involve chocolate milk). So we decided to try again tonight. Without the chocolate milk.

Big mistake.

We made it there just fine. Even got to order AND eat our food. Everything seemed okay, except that Daphne didn't eat much. We finished our meals, boxed up most of Daphne's, and headed home. We made it all the way to my mom's house without incident.

Then the fun began.

It takes about two minutes to drive from my mom's house to mine, and in that two minutes Daphne threw up at least three times and it was EVERYWHERE! She managed to soak herself, her car seat, the seat under her car seat, the back of my seat, the floor and her door. Oh, and her box of leftovers.

Somehow I got both kids in the house. Gave Daphne a bath while both she and Alex cried. Put Alex to bed. Plugged Daphne into a movie and called my mommy.

Thank goodness she lives so close (just two minutes, remember?). She came right over and we cleaned up as best we could. I'm still not sure the smell will come out. Yikes. Why don't I own Febreze?

(If you were wondering where Steve was during all this, the answer is Canada. So don't judge him too harshly for not helping. I'm sure he would have.)

Sugar and Spice

Daphne may be a little girl, but she is made of more than "sugar and spice and everything nice". Or maybe she just got a little more spice than sugar. Either way, here are some of the funny things she has said lately...

Getting home from church on Sunday...
Daphne: Is it OK I can watch a movie?
Me: No Daphne, it's Sunday.
Daphne: On Sunday Jesus says, "Yes you CAN watch a movie!"

Debating what to make for lunch...
Steve: Should we make pasta?
Daphne: No! Pancakes is the best!
Steve: But pasta is good too.
Daphne: No! It's NOT good!
Me: You like pasta.
Daphne: I don't like pasta anymore - just pan-ku-kus (Eastvedt word for pancakes). NOT pasta. I'll just dump it out on the floor!

We decided to make pancakes. I mentioned that we needed to grind more wheat because we were out of flour. Daphne must have misunderstood and thought we were changing the menu to plain wheat, because this is what she had to say about that...

Daphne: NOT wheat! I spit it out on the floor - BLECH!

During one of her (frequent) time-outs she sees her little brother crawling by and gets excited...
Daphne: Alex! Help me! Alex!Help me! I'm over here! In time-out!
(Alex keeps crawling, coming closer to her)
Daphne (very happy now): Look Mom! Alex is helping me! (to Alex) Good job, boy!
(Alex keeps crawling, now getting further away)
Daphne: No Alex! No! Come back! (crying now) AAAAALLLLEEEEEXXXXXX!!! Come BAAAAAAACK!!!


Playing with one of our old cell phones...
Daphne: I'm texting Kelsey now... Look her sent me a picture! Her's eating a kit-kat bar... Look her's eating her HAIR!...
(At this point Daphne started pushing buttons on the phone and speaking slowly as if she was really texting this) "Kellll...seeeey...youuuu....arrrree....the....worrrrrst!"

Writing something on paper with a crayon (and speaking out loud as if dictating whatever she is scribbling)...
Daphne: "Dear Friends, I am sick. Don't ever ask again."

During a battle for bedtime...
Daphne: I'm NOT going to sleep! I'll just get out of my bed and play ALL NIGHT!

We were at the dentist, watching a video of a monkey brushing his teeth (weird, I know). Then while she was distracted, the hygienist started a new video, this time of a person brushing his teeth. When Daphne looked back at the screen she shouted, "Look! He changed into a MAN!"

In the car, playing with a toy she got at the dentist...
Daphne: Hey everybody look at my bottom! Hey everybody look at my bottom! Hey everybody look at my bottom!
Me: Why do you want everyone to look at your bottom?
Daphne: Not me! The crab (her new toy) is saying that!

A Song by Daphne...
Hey! My sister called
and her said
"What are you doing in the bathroom?!"
And I say
"Pooping or peeing!"
(she sings a lot of songs about pooping and peeing... but hey at least she's potty trained!)

After watching several Mormon Messages videos on lds.org (at Daphne's request), I start to check my email...
Daphne: I said DON'T check your email! I'm going to throw a snowball in your FACE!
Me (trying not to laugh): What? That's not very nice. Why are you saying mean words to me?
Daphne (encouraged by my trying not to laugh face): When the snow comes down I will make a snowball and throw it in your face. Really fast!

Berry Good News

Steve made us a little strawberry patch last year. We might have put a few more strawberry plants than the recommended number in this small space.

But they haven't seemed to mind. They produced a fair amount of berries last year and we are hoping for even more this June.

AND we added some more berry friends to our backyard....

 

Three raspberry starts (which Steve dug out of our home teacher's backyard - with permission of course...)

And three blueberry bushes! (from Costco)

We're not sure if the raspberries are going to make it. They haven't grown much since Steve transplanted them and I think maybe they don't get enough sun, but the blueberries seem to be thriving. We're just waiting for all those little greenberries to turn into blueberries.

 

In case you are wondering, the little black pot in between the blueberries is a chive plant we got from one of Steve's co-workers last year. I think we were supposed to re-pot it or put it in the ground. It's definitely getting too big for it's current home. But somehow it survived the winter. And apparently it flowers if you don't snip it. Who knew? (okay maybe you knew, but I didn't...) I'll have to get these earlier next year I guess. Purple flowers might be a little weird in twice-baked potatoes.

In un-berry related news, our lilacs were in full beautiful bloom last week. They are still looking pretty and smelling wonderful. I'm so glad I didn't have Steve rip these out when we first moved in. I can't believe I even considered it! There's more to life (and gardening) than what you can eat.

 

5 for 5

Steve and I celebrated our fifth anniversary at the end of April. I can't believe it's been five years! In honor of that number, he got me five presents.

1. He came home early from work...
2. ...with five bouquets of roses!
3. He arranged for the kids to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa so that I could sleep all. night. long.
4. We went to the Seattle temple.
5. And out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

He wanted to completely surprise me by just coming home early on Friday and going from there, but when you leave a breastfeeding baby with someone else for the night, you have to plan ahead a little bit. Especially when that baby absolutely refuses to take formula.

So he just surprised me a few days earlier. Which was good for other reasons as well (like the fact that I probably still would have been un-showered and in my PJs if he came home unexpectedly at 1:30 in the afternoon).

It was such a nice day (and night) and I can't believe that after only five years, Steve has learned to read my mind. I didn't ask him for anything, but this is exactly what I wanted. Actually no - it was better.

When I realized (about a week before) that our anniversary was coming up soon, I was thinking how long it had been since we'd been able to go to the temple, and how nice it would be to sleep through the night. But I didn't really think either would be possible.

I thought MAYbe we could make it to the temple and back before Alex needed to be fed again. And if I pumped some milk then we could even go to dinner afterward without feeling too rushed. I thought MAYbe Daphne could spend the night at my parents' house so at least we could have some quiet time after Alex went to bed. But then (typical me) I forgot to ask my mom and never mentioned it to Steve but it didn't even matter because he figured it all out on his own and it was even better than I hoped for!

 

The flowers were beautiful. Of course being in the temple was wonderful and dinner was delicious. Sleeping through the night was amazing. But mostly it was just nice to have so much uninterrupted time with my husband. 

I'm so grateful that Steve did all this for me, and grateful to my family for helping to make it all possible. It was a very happy anniversary!

Just a Trifle

Until yesterday, I had never made a trifle.

But a trifle needed to be made for our Relief Society meeting, so I volunteered.

I had to borrow the bowl.

Luckily, it turns out making a trifle is all about messing things up. And I'm pretty good at messing things up.

 

But just to be safe, I enlisted the help of a professional.

We put our destructive skills together and got to work.

Seriously though, how many recipes do you know with steps like "bake a pan of brownies and destroy it"?

 

Turns out my expert messer-upper is also a good cleaner-upper. When the cleaning-upping involves licking a spoon.

 

Which is good because there were a LOT of spoons to lick (brownie batter, cream cheese filling, chocolate pudding, cream cheese filling and chocolate pudding combined, cool whip...)

 

I think it turned out all right. At least it tasted good even if it didn't look too pretty. (Besides being all about messing things up, I think trifles are also supposed to look nice.)

 

Here's the recipe I (mostly) followed. It's basically a giant dirt cup, but I guess Oreo Brownie Trifle sounds a trifle more impressive (haha).

 

We even saved a little for Daddy.



Daphne Says

Here are some funny things Daphne has said...

One night before Alex was born I was having contractions. Steve asked Daphne if the baby was going to come. She said (in a sort of panicky tone), "It's too dark, it's too late - sorry!"

Another day after dinner Steve was tinkering with our gas fireplace. Daphne and I were still in the kitchen, so we couldn't see him but she could hear that he was up to something. She asked, "What's Daddy doing?" I said I didn't know, to which she quickly responded, "Who cares?!"

Sometimes I am exactly the kind of mother I swore I would never be. Like the other day when Daphne wanted brownies and ice cream for breakfast and I was too tired to argue so, yes, we had brownies and ice cream for breakfast. (This wouldn't have been SO bad, if we hadn't eaten ice cream for lunch the day before...) Anyway, Daphne must have sensed this was a little taboo because on both occasions she said, rather confidentially, "Let's not tell Daddy, okay?"

Just this past weekend Daphne got to spend the night at my parents' house. The morning of the big sleepover she asked if she could watch a movie. I said "No we have to get ready to go to Grandma's house. Remember you get to sleep there?" Clearly upset, she let out a big, disappointed sigh and said "Man!" Surprised by her lack of enthusiasm I simply said, "What?" And she said (in an over-the-top happy voice this time), "I said 'Ah! MAN!' Cuz I'm so excited!"

When I check my email Daphne is usually on my lap. When I sign out of my inbox it automatically goes to the MSN news page. As the headlines flash by with pictures of whoever the news is about, Daphne will say "We can forget about HIM!" (Probably she is afraid I will be tempted to click on one of the pictures and read the article and therefore spend even more time not giving her my full attention.)

My parents' have a room full of toys at their house for when Daphne comes over. There is also a bed in there, for guests. But Daphne believes everything in this room, including the bed, belong to her. So she took it personally when we came over one day and the bed was unmade. "What?!" she said. "Josh messed up my bed. He's a little darn-it boy!"

Daphne had her face a little too close to Alex one day. Suddenly he leaned forward and their heads collided. Daphne said, "Alex, YOU bonked ME. You are the worst man. You are ever the worst man!"

One Sunday at church Daphne was getting a little too noisy with her aunt and uncle, so Steve whispered for her to come sit by him, to which she loudly replied, "No! Never!" (actually this is her response to just about anything she doesn't want to do, but I'm sure it seemed even more melodramatic in church)

Daphne woke up this morning near the end of my workout DVD. She came downstairs and watched me for a minute. I guess I was huffing and puffing at this point because she soon corrected me. "No Mommy, the girls are not going (mimicking my heavy breathing) 'huh! huh! huh!". I tried to explain to her that the girls on the TV were not as tired as I was...

Blog Book? Help!

Has anyone ever published their blog in book form? How did you do it? What would you recommend? Was it expensive? Was it worth it? I want to get all my previous posts printed before I start blogging again. Any advice would be appreciated!