Yearning For the Good Ole Days When Pa Could Just Chop Down a Tree to Build a House . . .

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

So, James and I are putting our house up for sale this week. Yikes! Here we go. We must be crazy to jump out of our comfort zone like this, but one-two-three JUMP!

We're not moving far, just across the street into the Aspen Meadows subdivision. So we'll still be in our same ward and everything (we LOVE our ward and didn't want to go). And we all know I can't live without the city library, which will now be a two-minute walk from my new backyard. But all of this is contingent on us selling our current home, so . . .anyone want to buy our house?

And all of this talk of contracts, and earnest money, and interest rates, and mortgages, and equity makes me think of how complicated life is now. Back in the day, if Ma wanted a new house, Pa just went and chopped down some trees. Then "Half-Pint" would help him throw the planks together and pound in some penny nails, and voila! A house. No mortgage shopping, no appraisals, no little homesteader building inspectors.

I just compiled my "to-do" list of projects we need to tie up around here before posting that "For Sale" sign, and I must say it looks a little overwhelming. Okay, a lot overwhelming. But if Pa and Half-Pint could do it, so can we. "Shoulder to the Wheel" time!

At least we have indoor plumbing! Poor Ma.

You "Can" Have a New Hat, Too . . .

Monday, May 11, 2009

Last night, I was lying on the couch, reading a book, and Bethany trotted up to me and told me, "New hat, Mommy!" So I looked up and this is what I saw:



Yes, that is her new Tinkerbell toilet seat. What a functinal new hat--just pick an end!

Wicked: Wow! Wow! Wow!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Last Wednesday, James and I had the unexpected opportunity to go and see Wicked, one of our all-time favorite musicals. We've had the soundtrack since it first came out in 2003, and have really, really, really wanted to see it since that time. We absolutely love the music and have all of the songs memorized, etc. etc. (Your basic CRAZY fans.) So when the opportunity came to go, we were so excited to finally see it! And we were NOT disappointed. The talent was amazing! And to demonstrate just how geeky I am, I'll tell you that when the lights came down and I heard the first few chords, I got all teary-eyed! (Geek! Geek! Geek!) And that wasn't the only time I teared up, either. (If I ever make it to a Broadway show in NYC, I'll have to remember to bring Kleenex.)

We weren't able to sit together, but we just held hands "mentally" and we both LOVED it. The only problem is--now we want to see it AGAIN. Thank you to the people who arranged for us to go--it will be a night long remembered! And thanks to my sweet husband who insisted I take the better seat. What a gentleman! And thanks to my wonderful aunt and uncle, who at intermission insisted we switch them seats for an even better view! And I'd also like to thank . . .(Do I sound like I just won a Tony? I'll be quiet now.)

Anyway, here's me in my seat, WAY too excited for my age:



James in his seat--he's over there somewhere, I promise:



Actually, James's seat was good, too. We both could see everything quite well. Anyway, Wicked: Wow! Wow! Wow! We're still smiling!

Welcome to the World, Macy Grace!

This is a little late, but better late than never! Our family welcomed the arrival of Macy Grace Higham, daughter of my brother James and his wife Tracee, last Saturday (April 25). After being a week overdue, they induced Tracee and after laboring all day Saturday, little (little?) Macy was born at 5:35 p.m. She weighed a not-too-shabby 11 lbs.9 oz and was 23" long. She has beautiful black hair and is as sweet as can be! Oh, and in case you're wondering--she came via the regular exit, NOT by C-section.

The Proud Aunt:



The Proud Cousin:



The Happy Parents (Way to GO Tracee!):



The Happy Older Sister, Ruby:



We're so happy to have Macy in our family!

Diapering the "Bahbee" and the "Ekema"

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

So. Let no one doubt Bethany's maternal instincts!

Last weekend, the big Lyman family reunion was held at our house. It was really fun! On Saturday, I left Bethany home with James (and the rest of the guys who weren't up to the adventure of shopping for large quantities of pink shirts for the upcoming family portrait) and I hit the stores with the Lyman gals.

A couple of hours into our pink-shirt-shopping, I called home to tell James we were running late and could he PLEASE run to the store for salad ingredients, and by the way how is Bethany doing? And he related the following experience:

Apparently, while James was talking with the guys, Bethany trotted off to her room to play. After awhile, James noticed she was being pretty darn quiet (you know what I mean--THAT kind of quiet), so he went to check on things. Sure enough, she was up to no good--she had decided to diaper the "Ekema."

The "Ekema" is actually a stuffed, bean-bag type echidna (Australian animal, similar to a porcupine, we got it in Australia). Anyway, Bethany had it on the floor and had smeared Vaseline all over its little bottom and underbelly--she is SUCH a good mom to protect against diaper rash! (Nothing worse than a stuffed echidna with diaper rash) And the whole thing was a goopy mess!

Exhibit A:



She then proceeded to try and put a diaper on it. (If there's anything worse than stuffed echidna diaper rash it's a diaperless echidna having accidents on the floor.) Bethany also likes to give "Bahbee" the occasional diaper change as well:

Exhibit B:



So the question of the day is this: how do I clean Vaseline off of Ekema? Any suggestions?

If Pictures Say a Thousand Words--I'm Gonna Let Them This Time!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter, Everyone!

The Eggs:





The Baskets:







The Hunt:





The Dress:



The Hair (I actually DID that!):



The Reason:



I know that my Redeemer lives! And I'm so grateful.

Gettin' Down on the Farm: Baby Animal Days

Friday, April 10, 2009

So after hearing about Baby Animal Days at The American West Heritage Center for many years now, we decided to give it a try. We took Bethany this morning (and my dad, he loves that sort of thing) and we had a BLAST! A new Lyman family Easter tradition is born!

While James was petting the ox, it let out a loud MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Bethany, who was a few feet away, thought that was pretty cool. Her eyes got huge, she thought about it for a minute and then said, "Again?" But apparently, the ox does not perform on demand.



Bethany loved holding and petting the baby bunnies. So cute and cuddly! Though I felt sorry for the poor things--I shudder to think how I'd feel after being loved to death by thousands of noisy kids! Poor bedraggled bunnies!



The baby chicks were also really fun:



As were the goats and sheep:





The tractor was way fun, too--Vroooooooooom!



As was the BIG wagon ride!







And the LITTLE wagon ride:



We ended the experience with a trip to see the Easter Bunny in the old opera house. Bethany would not sit on his(her?)lap, but she was very insistent that she give him (her?) a high-five! She has associated high-fives with the Easter Bunny since the one in Wal-Mart asked her to give him (her?) a high-five the other day.



All in all, if you haven't been to Baby Animal Days, it's so much fun! So there were 3000 other people there with us. Hey, it's a wide open piece of land. So don't be afraid of the crowds. The only really long line that we skipped was for the pony rides--everything else was totally doable! I definitely recommend Baby Animal Days--we'll be back next year! YEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!