A Touch Of Tyrell

How to Jump rope Step 1. Grab your jump rope and go into your garage or to your back porch (so no one can witness what you are about to do). Step 2. Start with the rope behind you, swing it around front, and jump over the rope. Step 3. Woops. Stop…. and go pee. Step 4. Ok. Try again. Repeat step 2. This time smack the top of your shoes with your rope. Try again. And again. And again. Step 5. Go change your shoes. They must be too big and that’s why you can’t jump the rope. Step 6. Repeat step 2 again. This time smack yourself in the back of the head. Almost yell a profanity. Step 7. Get real frustrated and think to yourself, “DUUUUDE why can’t I do this? I did it all of the time in elementary school. Cinderella dressed in yella…..” Step 8. Try step 2 again. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…. OOOUUUCCCHHHHH! That’s going to leave a mark on the back of your leg. Step 9. Go pee again. Remember, you have a post pregnancy body now. Step 10. Try again. Maybe it’s easier with only one leg. Nope. Definitely n...

(Isn't it great that I can't keep my eyes open during the flash!) Yesterday in church I leaned over and whispered in Jake's ear, "Everett's breath smells like the fish hatchery." Of course Jake doesn't know what the fish hatchery smells like.... but he could only imagine. Everett and I play most of the day and he often ends up sitting on my chest while I lay on the floor. He looks down at me and we "talk" (this happens because I'm way too lazy to actually sit up). Last night we were playing just like this. Jake had just walked out the door to go do some home teaching when Everett leaned forward and splashed fish hatchery all over my forehead. I might not be so forgiving if my life wasn't so awesome.....

The very first class of my first semester of college was Psychology. The professor was my favorite and that motivated me to make the 30 minute commute and still get there by 8 a.m. One of the lessons that I still remember went something like this. She passed out little packets of lemonade kool aid and had each person pour a little in the palm of their hand and pass it to the next person. Once everyone had lemonade powder in their hand, she instructed us to taste the kool aid powder every time she rang her bell. It was so sour. Our saliva glands were going crazy. She did it about 7 times before we were begging her not to ring her bell again. But her lesson wasn’t taught yet. She told us that we didn’t have to taste the kool aid anymore. Then she rang her bell. We all had the same reaction. Our saliva glands were reacting as if we had tasted the kool aid when we hadn’t. She rang her bell again and like magic we were salivating. We had all leaned to associate the ring of the bell with sou...

Jake and Everett have guy time at nights. Everett is learning alot. He is learning how to get his hands in and out of pockets... How to show off his guns... And how to take Sunday naps... But his favorite way to spend guy time is flight school.... And hang time. Guy time has come a long way since 1984! Happy 3 months little man!

The first day of cereal went something like this: then this A few days later we tried again. I think he liked it but I can't be positive...

Part 1. Growing up I didn't have a middle name. If I had one, it would have been packrat . I hold on to everything. Its terrible. I have moved 9 times since I was 18 and every time I move... my stuff moves with me. In the last few weeks I have felt the urge to clean it out, throw it away, donate it, and forget about it. I still have jean, t-shirts, shoes, and swim suits from high school. No they don't fit. Of course not....but they might someday. I am ridiculous. So last week I cleaned out the closet and garage. I got rid of 5 boxes. It was so difficult because with each item I would hold it up, look at it, remember where I got it, when I wore it, who I was with .... Its like I was having separation anxiety with my past and its not like I wanted my past back. I would complain to my mom (when I was younger) that I didn't have anything to wear. She would call me ridiculous and say I had a million things to wear. "You have more clothes in your closet than I do." But ...

There are times in your life when you want to be just like your mom..... and then there are times when you want to be anything but like your mom. Last night was one of those times when I wished I was more like her. My mom is an excellent planner. (Sometimes too good). She always had dinner ready by 6, had an actual list to grocery shop by, and planned family vacations to the T. She even had dinner ready to put in the oven on the nights she taught dance class. The nights when she would have the missionaries over were like thanksgiving gone wild. It was fantastic... homemade rolls and some delicious dessert to top it off. I volunteered to feed the missionaries the other day. (its different here... you leave food on their porch in a cooler so they can eat it when they get home...unless its a weekend). So I left frozen pizza and a bag of salad. Even my dad is a better planner than I am. If he didn't know what he was cooking for dinner, at least he knew what restaurant he wanted to go ...

You know when there is something that you feel you need to talk about but it just seems too awkward... like the elephant in the corner?... . Well, there has been an elephant in the corner of my mind since our 4th anniversary. I have found out that the elephants name is Blessings. Blessings has actually been living in my mind since I was born, but he has been doubling in size lately. There have been times in my life when I was pretty sure Blessings had died... but be would always re-appear. I don't write about Blessings today to make you jealous of him or for you to compare your blessings to my Blessings... I merely have felt the need to make him known just so I won't forget about him when I think he has died. I have a tendency of joking about serious things....but the rest is not a joke. While we were at the Alderwood mall on the morning of our 4th anniversary Jake received a phone call from his friend/fellow agent. Jake actually started his career in insurance because this fr...

This little cowboy went to the doctor. This little cowboy stayed home. This little cowboy had lots of milk. This little cowboy had none..... just kidding. This little cowboy pretends to be big Hey Everett, who's that monkey holding you? Oh wait, that's Dad!!! . And this little cowboy went waaaah waaah waah all the way home. We went to the Dr. yesterday. This little cowboy weighed 12 lbs 9 oz (45%) and is now 25 inches (90%). Dr. Grubb was impressed with his "social smile" and head control. He was also impressed at how much this little tank can chug down (34-40 ounces a day). He said that we can start introducing cereal... I seriously can't wait. If Everett is anything like his parents, he'll have a hard time NOT eating! Baby Everett got some shots yesterday and only cried a little on the first one and then let us have it on the second. But it was so much better than last time. But he's as healthy as the horse he's riding.... I love this little cowboy. ...

For those who have had trouble commenting.... If you ever want to leave a comment and the system is being mean to you/you don't have a google account....this is how you do it: 1. click the word comment at the bottom of the post 2. Write what you want 3. Where it says: "Comment as" ...click the arrow 4. 2nd to the bottom, click name/URL 5. Just type in your name (such as Dad/Mom/Homeskillet) in the name row (nothing in the URL) and hit continue 6. Click "post comment" 7. Then, of course, de-code the distorted message and post your comment! That's it. And I cherish every comment.... so comment away!

I'll share my new parent lesson #1. Bath water CAN be warm. This is what bath time used to look like And this was the after bath after math He didn't get many baths. Then my mom came to visit and gave him a bath. He loved it. The secret? Warmer water. So now bath time looks like this He's even starting to splash around. He likes it so much he gets wrinkly toes! Now the after bath is cute Everett has seen himself in the mirror a few times now, but this is the first time he was vocal about it!

The day after Everett was born we were had two visits. One was from Jake's family and the other was Megan. They both asked what my favorite color was and brought plants with corresponding colored blooms. We brought the plants home (and baby Everett) and put the gifts in the window sill. I am happy to report that both plants and Everett are doing well. One huge reason I don't want to move out of this house is because of the windows. They are ridiculously over sized and let in a ton of light. LOVE THEM. But when the sun is beating on them, they can't help but heat the house... especially on a warm day. So we have been closing the blinds to see if that will help keep Phoenix in Arizona, not in our house. I had to take the plants out of the window (to close the blinds all of the way) and I lazily sat them on the nearest piece of carpet. Then I changed Everett's pants. I learned another new parent lesson. I got up to throw the diaper away and then he starts complaining/whimp...