Little lumberjack

Ethan was in desperate need of some long sleeved shirts so I stopped by Kid to Kid and got 4, then I had a $10 0ff coupon so they all cost me just $6! I got him a shirt with a lumberjack on it and when I put it on him and then his knit hat, he looked like a lumberjack. I just had to take a picture to show you all! Enjoy!

He's even wearing his snow boots, but I sadly cut them off the picture, sorry!

My "big kid at heart"

Last year for Mike's birthday, I gave him a couple of snowball makers. They look like huge sissors with big half balls on the end to make a perfect snowball. They are pretty cool. Anyway, we took them to my parents' house last week and the kids all had a blast making snowballs. Mike was feeling a little left out or maybe just feeling 10 again, because he ran outside and joined the kids making and throwing snowballs. It was so fun to watch him. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or Mike.

Wish me luck

Tomorrow I have to speak in church, agh! I really, really do not like speaking in church and never know how to get out of it. Well, actually, I got out of it last year because I was in Minnesota. But I didn't know how to get out of it this year. I am speaking on the 2009 mutual theme found in 1 Timothy 4:12, "be thou an example of the believers...." I am supposed to speak for 12 minutes, yah right. Last time I spoke, I spoke with Mike, and I think I was supposed to speak 12 minutes and I may have made it to 8 minutes. Mike is good to take up what time I didn't take. Do you think I need to call the bishop and ask him to make sure I don't speak last? I have my talk all done and I don't know what else to say, again, it may take me 7 or 8 minutes.

I just had to vent. But seriously, wish me luck!

Stupid paper carrier

For those of you who don't know, we have had a few inches, 8 or 9, of snow this week! We have been getting the paper and our carrier is an idiot! Whoever it is is throwing the paper in the middle of a snow covered lawn. I went to get the paper Sunday night, the night we celebrated Mike's birthday, and I did a dumb thing because I was carrying his cake in one hand and reaching with the other hand. I had to reach so far that I dropped the cake. I know though, had I not been carrying the cake, I would have fallen in the snow. Even when there isn't snow on the ground, our carrier does dumb things. The paper gets thrown behind tires of cars and then we can't find it and we run it over. One day, I couldn't find the paper no matter where I looked. It was under my car! Way under my car. So far, I only found it when I pulled out of the driveway. I have found my paper in my flowers too. I mean I know it's hard work to throw a paper but please try not to throw it in dumb places, like the middle of a snow covered lawn with 8 inches of snow!

I really am in a good mood today, who isn't? Tomorrow is Christmas! I just had to rant about that today, I feel much better!

Merry Christmas!

Flashback Friday

This week, I am going way back. 5 whole years. This is the weekend that Mike and I got married. It's been a great, eventful 5 years, but I wouldn't take one of those days back.

Happy Anniversary, Mike.

I love you!

What a bunch of GQ's, well mostly the one in the middle!

So funny, I had to share

Christmas party after Christmas party

Yesterday was Mike's work Christmas party and our ward Christmas party. The work party was at Costco, complete with a $150 cash card. However, that was at 7 AM! Too early for me and really too early for Ethan. But this is a new, important job for Mike so he went solo. After he got home, we piled in the car in our pj's and headed over to our ward Christmas party complete with breakfast, yummy breakfast. I was so hungry and ate more food for breakfast than I have eaten in a really long time. We had a short program on the meaning of Christmas then sang Christmas songs and when we sang "Here Comes Santa Clause," in walked Santa Clause. Ethan is afraid of Santa and won't go near him. Even after all the kids had left the building and when Santa walked past Ethan, Ethan came running to me crying. Some day he'll like Santa! It was a fun morning.

After Saturday chores, we headed to the mall to look for a new coat for Mike. We went to Mervyn's to find one, but they didn't have any in his size that we wanted to spend money on. He did find one at Burlington. I found a new dress at Down East. Normally I wouldn't pay full price, but hey Mike's grandparents send us money for Christmas and that's what I decided to do with mine. Mike bought his coat with his. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa LeDuc! We love our new stuff. And Ethan got a robot claw with some of his money. We'll take him shopping after Christmas to spend the rest.

Playing in the leaves

Last week Kristen and her girls came over and played in all the leaves that were in our backyard. I think they had fun. I had fun watching them.

Jumping in the pile

Throwing the leaves

Burying Mattison

The finished product!

Little engineer

Ethan has become quite the computer wiz lately. His favorite channel is Noggin and one day he and Mike saw an advertisement for their web site where Ethan could play games. Mike pulled it up and found a game building robots. Mike taught Ethan how to use the mouse on his lap top and Ethan picked up on it quickly. He loves to play the game and has now gotten to the point where he can built 10 robots in a whopping 20 minutes, pretty good, I think, for a 3 year old.

He has also learned to use the mouse on my parents' desktop and the other day he was building robots with Isabel and Meg, and out of the blue said, "I love you, Isabel!"

I really, really liked it

I went to see Twilight with a friend in my ward this weekend. I have been so excited to see it because I love the books and I think I have a crush on Edward! (Only it's the Edward in my head.) I know movies based on books are different than the book so I was expecting a lot of differences, especially when I re-read Twilight and it is so long I kept thinking, how are they going to put all this information in the movie? But I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe it was because I didn't see it opening weekend, maybe it was because the theater wasn't full of 16 year old girls, maybe it was my attitude but I really, really liked it. I will definitely see it again, and maybe twice while it's in the theaters. It was different than the book, a little, but it had to be to cram 400 pages of book into a 2 hour movie, but I enjoyed it and am so excited to see New Moon when it comes out.

What did you think?

Tagged!

7 weird things about me
1. I have a weird thing about a clean house, I can’t stand it to be dirty
2. I have to have the toilet paper roll with the flap on the outside
3. I don’t like chocolate cake
4. I am anal about where Ethan’s toys go, in the living room, family room, and bedroom, they all have their own place
5. I only lived away from home one summer before I got married
6. I have to have my toenails painted in the summer time but don’t care at all in the winter when I wear socks all the time
7. I have to put lotion on my feet every night before I go to bed

10 years ago
1. I had just graduated from high school
2. I was in my first semester at BYU
3. I had lots of friends on mission and I was make cookies to send to them and writing them letters
4. I was saving money by living at home
5. I was so ready for physical science to be OVER!

5 things on my to do list
1. Paint my kitchen.
2. Set up for YW in excellence tonight
3. Make it through YW in excellence tonight
4. Shop for food for YW in excellence
5. Try to take a nap or rest this afternoon

5 snacks I enjoy
1. Crazy corn
2. Chocolate
3. Mom’s mint brownies
4. Nuts
5. A shake from JCW’s or Purple Turtle

5 things I would do if I was a Millionaire
1. SHOP by feet off
2. Buy a new car
3. Fix up my house and then sell it and buy a new one
4. Help out my family with their expenses
5. After all that, I’d put the rest in the bank

5 places I have lived
1. North Orem, UT
2. South Orem, UT
3. Provo, UT
4. Bakersfield, CA
5. Pleasant Grove, UT

5 jobs I have had
1. Buyer at Kid to Kid
2. Sales associate at Kid to Kid
3. Sales associate at Hur Jewelers
4. Legal Secretary
5. Preschool teacher

I tag Catherine, Angie, Summer, and Ashley

I am a child of God

Last night I gave Ethan a bath and after he was all clean, I let him play for a while and I got ready for bed myself. All of a sudden, Ethan started singing "I Am a Child of God." It was so sweet and he only stopped when he realized I was looking at him. I tried so hard not to look at him but I couldn't resist. What would I do without him?

Patty and Sarah

Mike's mom and sister came to visit us this week. They left yesterday and we miss them already. We did have a lot of fun with them. First off, Sarah, Mike's sister, cut Mike's hair and mine. Ethan is weird about that stuff and said he just wanted Sarah to comb his hair. I'll be taking him to the hair cutting school next week when they have $3 Tuesdays to get his hair cut.
We went to see Madagascar 2, so funny. I laughed and laughed. We went to the Bean Museum, Ethan's favorite place in all of Provo. Wednesday night Mike, his mom, Sarah, and I went up to SLC to see Savior of the World at the Conference Center Theater. It was great and fun to be away with just the adults. We even stopped for dinner and my mother-in-law paid! Thanks again, Patty! We went to Jason's Deli, they have a turkey and avocado sandwich, my favorite. Yesterday, we just hung out. They were here for a few days, but we could have spent more time with them. It's always fun to have them around. Can't wait for next time.
(I took pictures but I ran out of batteries in my camera and need to get more before I can post any. I'll do that soon.)

Mike's Twilight character

You are intelligent, obeservant and good at managing a group of people. Although you long for meaningful connections, you can be can be distant and sometimes lack self control. You are careful though and the tough experiences you’ve been through help you to work at living a better life.
Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Before and After

I am so tired today. I think it's because of all the hard work Mike and I did yesterday and late into the night last night. But here are the results

The before picture

The after picture
Any one who has been to my house will be shocked at the change. It's amazing what a coat of fresh paint will do to the look and feel of a room.

Happy birthday, Mattison!

Make a Smilebox greeting

My Twilight character

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be
sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and
appreciate the kind way you always handle things.
Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Same costume a year later

Last year Mike's mom bought Ethan a really cool dragon costume for Halloween. Well, this year I tried it on him and it still fit, barely, and somehow I convinced him to wear it again. It was great, now I can take the costume he didn't wear back to the store.

We had a tri-ward trunk-or-treat and Ethan had a blast. He got lots of candy. After that, he and I went to Wendy's for some chicken and fries, Ethan's favorite. Mike had to work that night delivering pizzas and while we missed him, he did come home with nearly $100 in tips! He would have broken the $100 mark but his last delivery stiffed him. The total was $14.99 and he got a whopping 1 cent tip!

Here is Ethan showing off his cool costume...

I think he was excited to go fill up his bucket with candy.
Just a side note, this is the pumpkin that I used to use when I went trick-or-treating. Did you use it too Donovan, Kristen, or Bryan?

Reverent t-rex

Tonight, just like every night, before putting Ethan to bed, we knelt next to his bed for a prayer. We have to remind Ethan, not every day, but frequently, that he should fold his arms. His big toy t-rex is there next to where he kneels and he grabs him and makes sure his arms are folded too. It's too cute. I have to say that Ethan has always loved to pray and will often remind me to say a prayer at lunch after his lunch is in front of him. He's learning to pray by himself too. He misses the whole "thank thee" and "bless" or "we ask thee" thing, but he sure has the first and last parts down. Hopefully he'll learn before he starts primary next year. (It's hard to think that I will have a Sunbeam in just a few months!)

Last ones

Last night Mike and I went to the temple. We caught the last session of the day and I have heard that when you get into the celestial room, they will turn off all the lights but the big chandelier. Our session was small and we were the last ones left in the celestial room when the lights went out. It was so beautiful and the spirit was so strong and comforting. As we drove home, we just had to stop and look at the window in the celestial room. This is almost as beautiful as it really was.

8's

8 shows I love to watch:

Gilmore Girls

Cosby

Designed to Sell

House Hunters

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Friends

Jon & Kate plus 8

House

8 favorite resturants

Los Hermanos

JCW's

Mimi's Cafe

Cobblestone Pizzaria

Wendy's

Hogi Yogi

Gandolfo's

Cheesecake Factory

8 things that happened yesterday

I slept in

I watched my mom fix my sheets, again

I cooked dinner

I taughted the FHE lesson

I bathed Ethan

I ate birthday cake in bed

I checked out my comments on my blog

I paid the city utilities bill

8 things I am looking forward to

Mike getting an offer for a new job

Mike starting his new job

The snow

My mother-in-law and sister-in-law coming to visit in 3 weeks

Halloween and seeing Ethan all dressed up as Spiderman

Getting new carpet in my house (which won't happen any time soon)

Painting my living room

Making cookies this afternoon with Ethan

8 things on my wish list

For Mike to get an offer for a new job TODAY

To get new carpet throughout my house

To eat lots of cookie dough

To be able to eat all the cookie dough I want and still keep my girlish figure

To have another baby before Christmas 2009

To connect more with my best friend I met while we were living in Bakersfield

To drive a mini van someday

To play, play, play with my kids all day long and not have to clean, cook, or do anything like that

8 people I tag

Mom

Jenessa

Stefani

Angie

Julie Callister

Melody

Aimee

Teasha

My little super hero

Yesterday we were at my parents' house and my mom found this cape she made for Donovan when he was a devil for Halloween one year. Ethan loved it and ran around the house all evening "flying" through the air.

Holy cow, we were young

Not the best shot of me but holy cow we were young!

This was taken 5 years ago!

"It's too loud"

This morning when I was looking at blogs, my songs were playing and the Jets were on, you know, "I Gotta Crush On You". Anyway, Ethan was singing that song and when we went upstairs to do more stuff for the day, I turned on the radio and found a song I like. Ozzy was on "Mama I'm Coming Home" and I was singing. I asked Ethan to sing too and his response to that was, "No, it's too loud!" I thought it was funny!

Back and Out

Yesterday we had play group here and Ethan loves to play on the swings. Sometimes I'd rather talk to the other moms and not push Ethan so I tried to teach him to pump. He's catching on and when I heard him saying, "Back and out, back and out..." I knew he was cating on.

Here he is "back"

Here he is somewhat "out"
(He's really saying "cheese" in these pictures not just looking goofy!)

Hannibal and Glumda

Saturday night Mike and I went to a How to Host a Murder party at our friends' house. It was the first time for both of us and it was a Halloweeny one. We had dinner that was fresh veins topped with eyeballs and guts (spaghetti and meatballs), brain (blue jello with cottage cheese and bueberries on top), garlic bread, juice, and the best trifle you will ever have, complete with a chocolate spiderweb on top and a spider to top it all off. Dinner was great and then we played the game. I was Glumda, the Wicked Witch of DePressed and Mike was Hannibal Schecter, "the world's only documented kosher cannibal." We dressed the parts and even painted our faces, aren't we lovely?

( I will not disclose who was the murderer, just in case anyone plays this version!)

News, news, news

We have some exciting news in our family. Mike got a new job!! Yipee! No more 60-65 hour weeks. No more leaving the house hours before the sun comes up and coming home after it's already down. I no longer have to think, "Hmm, I wonder if I should start dinner now or wait an hour until I know Mike will be closer to home?" No more wondering, on my part, if Mike will make it home in time for me to go to young womens without Ethan. No more hour commute. No more working Saturday mornings. No more irregular paychecks.

Instead Mike will have a 40 hour week. He'll leave the house just before 8 and come home just after 5. He can cook dinner a night or two a week. I know for sure he'll be here long before I have to leave to get to young womens and I won't have to take Ethan with me. A 15 minute commute (roundtrip). Sleeping in, mowing the lawn (or shovling the snow), painting the living room, bathrooms, kitchen, hall and entryway, fixing and replacing things and just plain puttering around the house on Saturday mornings. And best of all, we will know FOR SURE what every paycheck will be! Oh and there are quarterly bonuses!

Mike has been offered a job at DirectPoint in Lindon. He will be an accounts manager and get to learn lots of fun IT stuff. He is so excited about the job and is looking forward to getting paid at least the same, but after bonuses it'll be more, and working less. His direct boss is his home teachee. Now, after a few more years of experience, Mike will be able to go back to school to get his masters and have his school and work schedules work better. Oh, and if he studies anything related to his job, DirectPoint will pay his tuition!

CONGRATULATIONS MIKE!

Bunch of smarties

Everyone guessed it. Ethan is wearing half of a coconut bra. But I have to say that it is NOT mine! It is Mike's. He had it for some funky costume something. I'll have to ask his dad for the picture of him in it. I have to clarify that I haven't worn it, ever!

Way to go all you all!

What is this?

Ethan found this yesterday and decided it looked like a cool helmet. I'll give a prize to whoever can tell me what this is, and be right!

Here's a top view.

Last but not least

Now that I have shown pictures of Ethan and his cousins, I have to put one more of Ethan and Clara. Well, kind of. This is the best picture I have of the two of them. Ethan got a cool new toy for Christmas and shared it and played very well with his much younger cousins.

Looks like Mike had fun too!

My favorite picture of Ethan and a cousin

My mom let us borrow her portable DVD player for our plane ride to MN. It came in handy even after the plane landed. We hooked it up in our family's bedroom so Ethan could watch a movie when he wanted to. His cousin, Daniel, came over to join once in a while.

Ethan and Gabe

Gabe was the newest cousin when we visited Minnesota. And boy is this boy fun and cute. Ethan loved playing with Gabe. I got a cute picture of the two of them on Grandma's couch holding hands. Isn't it adorable?

Ethan doesn't sit still for very long, but I think Gabe liked Ethan so much that he didn't want him to go. He held onto Ethan's hand tight.

Ethan, Nathan, and Thomas

Ethan has 6 Herrington cousins, but has only met 5 because one is only a few months old. He met these 5 cousins when we went to Minnesota for Christmas last year. He was so excited to meet new cousins and got a long GREAT with them. He was super excited to go sledding too, until he realized how cold the Minnesota snow is. Here are Ethan and two of his older cousins ready to hit the hills.

Ethan and Jyllian

Eventhough she lives far away, Ethan loves playing with Jyllian too. Last July 4th, those two had a fun time playing, reading with Grandma, and watching fireworks. I'm not sure what is going on in this first picure, but it sure is funny!

I guess Ethan figured out that Jyllian doesn't bite, at least not him.
Look at that, they even ended up in the same chair together. They are thumb sucking buddies. We love you Jyllian!

Ethan loves his cousins

Ethan is just like Mike, a very social kid! So there's no wonder that he loves it when his cousins come into town, or a neighbor comes over to play. When we were at our family reunion this summer, he got pretty cozy with Meg. Thanks Kristen for taking this picture and downloading it on Mom and Dad's computer so I could steal it.

Mike's new job

After a few comments and questions about Mike's second job, I decided to let you all know that he has gone back to delivering pizza for Papa John's.

Mmm pizza and even better, mmmm cheap, GOOD pizza! Now we can get pizza that's better than Little Caesars for just a dollar or two more!

Quote of the day

All our Dreams can come true !!
if we have the Courage to pursue them.
(Walt Disney)

What are your dreams?

Disclaimer

I have been getting comments on me ironing that I just have to say that Mike has to have a nice, ironed shirt for work. I've tried taking them out of the dryer as soon as it turns off, but even after hanging for a few hours, or days, they are not up to snuff. Mike is also so picky about having his shirts ironed. And yes, he could do it, but he really can't. It takes him 15 minutes to iron one shirt. It's painful to watch. And he has taken a second job, so he really doesn't do much more than shower, eat breakfast (sometimes), and sleep here. Except for Sunday and we don't do much on Sundays anyway. Well, Mike and Ethan nap, I have meetings galore! I'll gladly iron for any of you, for a price!

Off to the temple

Yesterday Ethan found Mike's temple bag, grabbed it and said, "I'm off to the temple." He is so excited to get to go to the temple someday. When we go, he always tells me he wants to go too. I explain to him that he has to wait 9 more years. We are looking forward to the Corner Canyon Temple open house so he can go inside the temple. I just know he'll love it.

And he's off!

Napoleon Dynamite

I was ironing today and needed something to watch to make the time go by faster and Napoleopn Dynamite was on. When I first saw the movie 4 years ago, I didn't know whether to laugh or not. Now, I just laugh because it's so funny.

You know you can go to the Bean Museum at BYU and get a Liger shirt with Napoleon's drawing on it?

My favorite show is back

And guess what? I have to be to young women's and we don't have a DVR or a VCR that records!

Mmm, cookies

Mike has been working late a lot lately and I have to find things to do at night time, Mike and Ethan's normal play time. Thursday night we made MnM cookies. They are so yummy! I think we have 4 left! Ethan was so excited to make cookies. We both wore our aprons, thanks Lizzy and Emily for the cool apron. Ethan is a good helper lately. He not only clears his place after a meal, but he wipes the table off too. Yesterday when I was dusting, he dusted the piano bench. When we made cookies, Ethan put the whole bag of MnM's in the cookie dough all by himself and didn't even spill. (A major thing seeing that he spills everything, it's a Herrington thing!)

Doesn't he look excited to be making cookies?

Birthday celebration

Mike and I had to be greeters at the adult session of stake conference on Saturday night so we didn't have cake and ice cream on Ethan's birthday. We waited until the next night when we were at my parents' house. This is Ethan's t-rex cake I made. Mike and Ethan helped decorate it.

Ethan was not patient enough for cake, he really wanted to dig into the presents.
Ever since my oldest cousin turned 3, my grandma made all her grandchildren who turned 3 a nap quilt for their birthday. I got a really great one that I still love and can only use when I am at my mom's house because it is tattered and embarrasses Mike to have in our house. My mom has carried on this tradition with her grandchildren. When Meg turned 3 six months ago, Mom asked Ethan what color blanket he wanted, he said green. This is the result--
I love it and so does Ethan. Thanks Mom!

Somehow we were able to get Ethan to the cake to blow out his candles. He never did even eat any cake at all. It's really good, I may go have some for breakfast.

Ethan's birthday

Ethan woke up on Saturday to a living room full of balloons and a Happy Birthday sign that he was diappointed to see down Tuesday afternoon.

Ethan wanted doughnuts for breakfast and since we weren't going to have cake Saturday, we caved and let him dig in.
Mike insisted that Ethan get a "sweet big wheel" just like he had when he was younger. Ethan's legs are a little short. Hopefully he grows before he gets too frustrated and gives up on the big wheel.
Mike's mom and sister quilted this really cool quilt to put on Ethan's bed. What else, but dinosaurs on it!
Mike and I had a meeting Saturday night and our babysitter put Ethan to bed. She said when it was time for bed, she told Ethan but he wanted to wait up to see us come home. She told him he needed to go to bed and he said, "With my new dinosaur blaket!" And went to bed excited.