2009 Family Newsletter

Hello family and friends! I’m sorry you didn’t get our update last year, so this year you get a two-for-one deal: 2008 brought some major changes to our little family. In March we added Creighton Heath Rogers to the mix. Two months later, Ric graduated from Westminster College in SLC with a bachelor’s in Finance. One month after that, he began working here in Salt Lake City with a company called Sovereign Financial Group. He gets to put his degree to good use helping families and small business owners (though he has still continued to do mortgages for friends and family). And by December, I had finished up the last of my online classes in time to graduate from the University of Utah with my bachelor’s in English. So 2008 pushed Ric and I from the realm of college students into the world of “young family”.

2009 has seen our pace merely accelerate. Creighton is now 20 months old and always on the go (maybe it’s just his pace that makes me feel like life is in fast forward!). He’s been running since 10 months and never ceases to get into trouble. I have our kitchen chairs tied to the table, often the fridge door is taped shut, the safety locks on my cupboards are useless (Crater figured them out), and this year our Christmas tree is tied to the wall by a nail and some fishing line. However, when he’s not making a mess or climbing up to some forbidden, breakable object, Creighton is lots of fun! He has a bright smile, blue eyes that twinkle when he’s teasing you, and a very gratifying squeal and giggle when he’s being tickled. He is also known for his obsession with food. In nursery at church, when they have snack time he reportedly finishes his snack and then goes around to what all the other kids left behind and finishes theirs (this happens at home too). You can see why one of his nicknames is “Lunchbox”.

Stratton is a fabulous big brother – as long as Creighton isn’t messing with his toy organization! He alternates between bossing Creighton around, beating him up, and doting on him. Upon writing this, Stratton will be 4 tomorrow and has really turned into a great little helper. He started “preschool” this fall (4 other moms and I take turns teaching 6 kids twice a week) and has fallen in love with learning. His passion for art has added a new dimension recently – writing. I find his hieroglyphics (aka “My homework, Mom!”) all over every spare paper in sight. And sometimes the not so spare papers too! He is very into superheroes and anything “boy”. It seems that anything possible in my home is fair game either to be used as a weapon or some kind of building tool.

As for me, my year was filled with keeping up with two little boys. I also was able to dabble a bit in gardening, art, cooking and baking, running, and occasionally even getting some reading in too. And then we found out I was pregnant. So about a quarter of this year is a blur of morning sickness to me, but it was all worth it when we found out I am expecting a girl! Yay hooray! She is due at the end of February.

Ric and I both work in the youth program at church (Ric as the Young Men’s president, me as an advisor to the 16-18 year old girls) so between that and family trips with extended family, our summer was swallowed up with one campout or another every other weekend. Whew! I’ve never been so glad to see summer go and life calm down again! Ric also is our condo association president and continues working with Sovereign Financial Group and loving it there. It’s been a struggle and more late nights than not, but he has really grown and learned a lot this year. As if that wasn’t enough, he also had microfracture surgery on his knee in September, which kept him non-weight bearing on that leg for 6 weeks, and hopping (literally) to doctor’s and physical therapy appointments ever since. And somehow in that cram-packed schedule he finds time here and there to be with us and save my sanity!

As we take a minute to think about our year and what was important to us, we think of you all and the love and support we receive from those we love – whether we see you regularly or not. Thank you for the impact you have had on our lives. We are also especially grateful for our Savior and all that He does for each of us. We love you all and look forward to hearing from you. Have a very Merry Christmas!

All our love,

Ric, Serity, Stratton, and Creighton

Christmas in the Air!

Stratton is so excited about Christmas! It's fun seeing his excitement, but he's making me crazy. He's been so driven all week to get our tree up and all its decorations - he's been on my case multiple times a day. "Mom, you need to get out the Christmas decorations." "Mom, you need to put your ornaments on the tree." And so forth. My little delegator!

Creighton, of course, doesn't really know what's going on, but he's excited too. Every morning he walks out to the living room and points at the tree saying, "Free! Free!" And if the lights aren't on and he notices, he'll stand next to the tree and adamantly tell me, "On-on-on-on!"

We're using the fake tree (oh, how I wish for real trees!) Dave and Makell got us at Walmart on clearance a few years ago, but it's too big for the little corner of the room we have afforded it, so in true ghetto style we have only put the branches on the front half of the tree. This makes it look quite sparse. After Ric and I finished doing that much, Ric stood back to look at it and, putting his arm around me, commented, "You know, I really feel like we have a Charlie Brown tree this year!"

Unfortunately, with the boys only using half of the branches has made this too tipsy (it's a good thing I haven't gotten all my breakable ornaments up - and it's given Stratton the chance to decorate the bottom half of the tree numerous times because the ornaments fall off when the tree falls over!), so we have now nailed the tree to the wall with a piece of fishing line. So, adding to the Charlie-Brown-half-tree effect, we have all the non-breakable ornaments clumped on the front, bottom two rows of branches, and it's all held up by a piece of fishing line. Love it!

Now I just need to decide whether I should take the risk of putting wrapped presents under the tree yet or wait until Christmas Eve...

Time Out for Me and a Primary Program

This last weekend (Friday night and Saturday) I went to Time Out for Women with my mother-in-law and some of her friends. It's kind of like an EFY for women. I've never been before, but I'm so glad I went. And boy did I want to back out on it this last week! If I hadn't already paid $47 to go do it, I probably would have too. Ric encouraged me to go do it, but then it turned out that he had a camp out with the young men Friday and Saturday... during my thing, of course. So I had to get babysitters, which is always a pain - and I'm cheap so I hate paying for babysitters (Especially when all they seem capable of doing is sitting my children in front of the t.v. from the moment I walk out the door until bedtime - forget putting away the dinner, clearing the dishes, or picking up the toys!! - Argh! This is my latest pet peeve.) Anyway, Friday night Sheri Dew and Wendy Watson Nelson spoke. That was fabulous! Sister Nelson spoke on our roles as women. Some of my favorite thoughts from her were: "Stop trying to make your husband into your girlfriend.... Just enjoy him being a man." "If we could look at our 'premortal DVD' for just ten minutes and see who we really are, all of our present problems would fall away." And, "We, as women, need to be hyper-vigilant about who comes into our homes - through cell phones, movies, t.v., music, and so forth." Sister Dew spoke about the power of influence. She talked a lot about how we need to go to our Heavenly Father and plead with Him for an understanding of who we are and what it means to be women of God. And then once we have that knowledge, go and find every teenage girl you can and teach them because they're not getting it from anywhere else. Teach them through the way we dress, how we act, and what our priorities are. Also, "[Living the gospel] is not always easy, but it will be much harder if we don't." Quoting Elder Jeffrey R. Holland at a funeral, "Sometimes we act as though we are going to stay here and we aren't and we can't and we won't." Saturday was Hillary Weeks, Mary Ellen Edmunds, S. Michael Wilcox, Emily Watts, and Kris Belcher. They were also powerful speakers and I learned a lot and really had my cup filled. Yesterday was the primary program at church. I didn't really think of it as a big deal, but my mom had asked me just last week when it was because she wanted to come see Stratton, so I told her and my mother-in-law about it. Well they both came, as did my dad and one of my brothers. It was fun to have them there. And can I just say, from a completely biased perspective, that Stratton was absolutely adorable! He sat up there with the rest of the sunbeams, just grinning away, totally thrilled to have such a captive audience. Oh how I love that big sunshine smile! And, due to our small primary, he had three speaking parts. Even though he couldn't really see over the podium, he said them just fine. And Creighton was absolutely enthralled with watching his big brother up on the stand - he was standing up on our laps with big grin on his face, pointing and saying, "Bubba! Bubba!" over and over. Lots of fun. I sure love my boys!

Halloween and Since

Well we survived Halloween! Now we just need to survive the sugar shock. Creighton was a cow. It's his favorite animal sound to make (consequently, most animals "moo" in his book). I made his costume and thought it turned out rather cute - even if it was a bit simple (sticky felt white spots on brown clothes, a tail and ears out of felt, and hooves from that craft foam stuff). I'm glad Creighton's costume wasn't too difficult to bring together because Stratton's costume totally overshadowed everything else - and everyone else around.

Stratton was Bumblebee, the Transformer, and Ric spent hours last week working on it! And to tell the truth, I don't know who was more excited about it - Ric or Stratton! Ric went and got some commercial styrofoam and cut it with a hot wire to form the body of the car. That was glued and screwed to a diaper box that Stratton wore on his back like a backpack. When he went down on his hands and knees, the sides of the box fell around him, encasing him in the car shape. When he stood up, I had made him a chestplate and armbands and drawn the transformers symbol on a foam helmet, so he looked like the robot. It was pretty impressive. Everybody had to see him transform and talked about how ingenious Ric was in making it - major payoffs for all the time spent on it. I don't know how he'll top it next year! (I'll try to locate some pictures.)

I was a cracked egg. I think Ric was embarrassed, so I didn't make it a really obvious costume. I just wore black sweat pants, a white sweatshirt and drew a crack around my pregnant middle, and made some felt chicken feet and taped them to my shoes. A few people asked what I was and even fewer got it after I said something. I thought I was funny... at least my family appreciated my creative sense of humor!

I don't know if it's that pregnancy nesting instinct hitting me early or if it's just that I can no longer stand my cluttered house, but I have been working quite earnestly at organizing this last week. Today I tackled my bedroom closet - the small one, and minor parts of the walk through one. I also finally cleaned off the top of my dresser. Of course as a result my children and the rest of the house were severely neglected and the damage they did probably negated all my work in my bedroom today, but at least my sweet hubby was impressed when he got home!

I'm reading a really good book right now: The Undaunted by Gerald Lund*. I had to be on a massively long wait list through the public library to get it and it's a rather daunting size (802 pages), but I started it yesterday and haven't been able to stop thinking about it and am about 200 pages into it. It's an historical fiction about the story of people who settled Lake Powell area, which was evidently an extremely challenging location. I'm excited to learn more about it. In addition, it's kind of fun to let myself get swept away in an 800 page novel now and then - a rare treat!

*I have a huge respect for pioneers and love reading about this topic. Gerald Lund has also written other books on this subject that I really enjoy. Also, one of my other all-time favorites is A Lantern In Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich.

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

Yay hooray! Ric and I went in for my ultrasound on Monday and found out (I'm sure thanks to the many prayers offered on our behalf) that this baby is a girl! I'll admit, I'm pretty excited! =) I would have been happy with either - three little boys in a row would have been awfully cute, after all - but it'll be fun to do something different. And due to what Ric and his brothers refer to as the "Rogers Family Curse", I've been worried that maybe I wouldn't even get a girl. Dad Rogers said that I've just given all of my sisters-in-law something to hope for! So Ric will tell you that I was quite happy about it. Time to start buying pink!

I think Ric is a bit unsure about how to be a good daddy to a little girl. In fact, he had the doctor check again - just to make sure it wasn't a mistake. But I have total confidence that he'll figure it out and know he will totally adore her!

Stratton's response was great; he said, "Oh yay!" and as I was kneeling on the ground to tell him, he immediately dropped down to my belly and kissed and hugged it! Cute big brother!

As for Creighton, he has no idea what is going but we're preparing him with one of my little sister's baby dolls and he likes to haul that thing all around the house (thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes) and poke it in the eyes and give it slobbery kisses - hopefully he'll do well!

It looks like the baby is doing well and they also told us that she is measuring a week early, so at my next doctor's appointment we may have to see if this is supposed to be a February baby instead of a March baby...

Summer Fun!

Whew! It's been a whirlwind few weeks. The week of the 24th of July we went to the cabin for the whole week. I was still quite sick for a lot of the week, despite trying a new medicine (Phoenergen?). All that really did was make me tired, without easing the nausea any. But at least I wasn't thinking about it as much because I had more distractions. We went to Bryce Canyon that Thursday and I think that was the roughest time I had during the week - partially because of the driving and partially from the minor hike we went on (Moss Ledge, I think?). It was gorgeous though! Ric and I and the boys got back Sunday evening and I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die for the week, but as we drove into our parking lot I discovered that the roofers had brought all of their equipment and were starting bright and early the next morning to re-roof our condo for the week. The next day the banging started at 7:30 am and my air conditioning and electricity were out for half of the day. That clinched it: I told Ric I would come on the YM high adventure trip as an extra shuttle driver after all! I just hadn't committed because I didn't know what I'd do with my kids and I didn't know if I could handle all the driving, plus camping for four days. But Ric hadn't been able to get any of the other wives to do it besides the one who went and did it by herself last year. And she had begged me to come. Plus I knew my husband wanted me to come. So the next day (Tuesday the 28th) I did laundry and packed bags for me and the boys again. I also had my first doctor's appointment (with a new doctor, Dr. Rappleye - kind of a quirky man, but nice) and everything is fine. He gave me a prescription for another medication for the nausea (Zofran). This one is supposed to be the best you can get for it. I credit that stuff for my survival on the trip! It doesn't make the nausea go away entirely for me, but for the most part it makes it so that I can be up and around and doing again. I still throw up a couple times a week, but compared to 2-3 times a day, I'm thrilled with that! Wednesday Ric left with the main group at 6 am. I left with the Borrowmans and Michael McBride closer to 1 pm. (My Mom came and got the boys from me and they had them for most of the time, but Peggy also helped, along with Karina and Devin... we got it worked out after all - thank goodness for family!) The high adventure activity was whitewater rafting on the Snake River just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Thursday and Friday the guys rafted all day. Rachael and I were the shuttle drivers from the bottom of the run back up to the top. Then we'd go back down to the bottom and have a two hour wait where we had great intentions of getting all kinds of reading done, but mostly just ended up chatting. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be! The last run on Friday I went down with them. There were two of the boys who hadn't wanted to do it that day, so it worked out that I could do it. Ric assured me that it wasn't very rough and threatened the boys not to involve me in the water fights (which mostly consisted of throwing each other into the water, rather than throwing water at each other) or else! And they were quite protective of me. It was fun and absolutely gorgeous but really cold! If we do it again, I want a wetsuit! I actually joined in on the cliff jumping too... which was terrifying for me. It wasn't that big of a cliff - Ric said maybe 12-15 feet - but it was into rapids and that's what made it scary for me. I'm not really a water person - by that I mean I used to be really terrified of anything more than a swimming pool, but I have gained a bit more control now and can force myself to not think about it enough to function normally around people in a water setting - so I was really proud of myself for going through with it. Plus I had a life jacket on, and I know Ric's a strong swimmer so I had him jump in after I did so he could save me if I didn't come back up! I have to say, though, I thought I was prepared for how gross boys are. I wasn't. They're disgusting! It was all gas, innuendo, or violence (not my husband though, thankfully). I felt like my mind was dragged through the gutter for four days. Ric said the boys actually toned it down a bit for me and Rachael's sake, but I never would have known it. But I'll admit, it was much less drama than girls camp, that's for sure! I really enjoy those boys, though. Good kids. Saturday we drove home and I threw up for the first time since that Wednesday. And I even made it to the bathroom in the gas station before it happened, so I didn't have to do it in front of the boys! The next day, Sunday, Matt and Candace got to town. We went over to Mom and Dad Rogers' for dinner and pretty much have been there constantly since then until this Sunday. We were able to cram in a lot of fun! A trip to the dinosaur museum, a visit to Sean's house and garden, rock band, xbox, hand and foot, movies, water games in the back yard, and even building "hobbit houses" out of large boxes under the fruit trees. And Stratton slept over at Grandma's for most of the week, so he got a lot of cousin time in. We sure love it when the cousins are here! It's hard to have them leave, but I know we're all in need of some serious recuperation time!

Morning Sickness Blues

Bleeechhh! I hate being sick. I hate the first trimester. I am not a very good pregant woman. You know, there are some women who have bodies that just like being pregnant; they're healthier, they have more energy - Candace (my SIL) even loses weight! But not me. I feel sick or I feel big and cumbersome and achy. And I whine a lot. And I'm always thoroughly exhausted. I suppose there is some Grand Design in making me this way... maybe so I'll have more empathy for people who have chronic health problems (I never have been very understanding towards sick people because I really never get sick)? I dunno. Anyway, I'm miserable. Morning sickness? Ha! More like "every-stinkin'-breathing-moment sickness"!

My poor gallant husband has put up with it all admirably - I know he's already stressed with his church calling and work, but he has helped out so much around the house and with the boys, sleeps on the couch most nights (he says I'm too grouchy in the mornings every time he moves or makes a noise), and doesn't goad me too much over the fact that I hold my breath every time he kisses me because I can't stand any smells at the moment (which is really no reflection of how he smells - I don't breathe through my nose when I put my chapstick on for the same reason).

Only another 6 or so weeks or misery to go!

Stratton's Doctor Visit

Stratton caused me a little excitement earlier this week. Monday morning he was complaining about his ear that he had bumped earlier that morning and as I was looking at it, something sparkled from inside his ear. He had said something to me at church the day before about how he had something sparkly in his ear to keep the water from getting in, but I thought his primary teacher had just been talking to him about earwax. Well I couldn't get it out so I ended up taking him into the doctor's office and paying the $15 copay to have the nurse practitioner use this handy little gadget that just popped it right out. I suppose I should've been grateful it wasn't anything worse than that. As I had taken Creighton over to be with Mom Rogers for the dr visit, we went back and Stratton played there while Creighton and I took a nap.. Thank heaven for family because I was feeling pretty sick on Monday!

Today I felt pretty decent. I still felt nauseated, mind you, but it was more of a minor nausea, not a keep-me-by-the-bathroom nausea. So I took the boys to the park. Yes, I was rather impressed with myself too. I actually lasted almost an hour too because I was able to sit in the shade, for the most part. It was so hot - nearly 100 degrees. I asked Stratton how hot he thought it was, "Blasted hot!" was his reply. And it's only mid-July!!

..but close enough! Ric and I went backpacking last Friday and Saturday to Notch Lake in the High Uintas with my sister (Karina) and her new husband (Devin), two of my brothers (Jacob and Daniel), and Jacob's girlfriend (Brittany). We left the boys with Ric's brother and wife (Dave and Makell). I was really anxious about this because I've been so sick, but I was determined to do it because it's what Ric really wanted to do for his birthday (July 4th) and we've been planning it for over a month. (Plus, we'll be taking about 8 girls up there in August so we had to scope it out.) So with lots of prayers and lots of moral support from my wonderful husband and family, I did it! And I only threw up once on the whole trip.

It's a two mile hike down in, with a 500 foot elevation change. Notch Lake was absolutely gorgeous, but dang cold. I'll admit, it was handy to have the snowbanks around to stick the food in, but it made for a cold night and a difficult time finding a good dry spot to pitch our tents. The boys were crazy and had to jump in the lake after we got all set up - just to prove their manliness, I suppose - while us girls laughed at their idiocy. We all relaxed or took walks, exploring the area. Then we did dinner and s'mores (a camping must), and turned in for the night. It was a long, cold night, despite the fact that my and Ric's sleeping bags zip together! After breakfast we cleaned up camp and hiked back out. And it only took an hour to hike out, compared to our 2 1/2 to hike in... probably just as much due to the fact that we knew the trail better as to me trying to suck it up and just push until we got there so that I wasn't slowing everyone down (and Ric carrying most of our gear in his pack!).

After we got back home, we all decided we wanted to go see a movie, so in order to get to and earlier showing we just dropped the gear off at our house and went to see "The Proposal"... yes, all smelly! Cute movie, minus some language and a few other things. All in all, it was a fun weekend! Love my hubby and family!!!

Announcing...!

Well the last time I wrote was the day before my fifth anniversary. The morning of our anniversary I left for Girls' Camp with our ward. Kind of lame for Ric, I know. But we figured that since our anniversary was on a Monday, we really wouldn't be able to do anything cool anyway. So I was gone from Monday until Thursday. Ric stayed here but the boys went to stay with his parents so that he could focus on work. And from what I hear, they had an absolute blast at Grandma's. Stratton didn't even want to come home! (Sniff, sniff!) I had fun too, though. It was emotional work (you know girls) but it was a nice break in other ways. I guess Creighton had a temperature and Ric and Mom didn't want to worry me, but Mom told me about it when I called later. I think it was just probably from teething, but Mom said she got some good cuddle time in with Crater!

That weekend was Father's Day.... Over at Mom and Dad Rogers', Dave and Makell announced that Makell is pregnant! We are all so excited for them! Their baby is due in January.

The following week was recuperation from camping - laundry and etc. Camp really wore me out. I was so tired last week. Even when I went running in the mornings, it felt like I was running through mud! So I started taking my iron pills again because I was so tired.

I met Makell over at Sean's house (with my boys in tow) on Thursday to work on the garden. It was a carpet of weeds! Makell's been feeling sick and I remembered all too well what that was like. In fact, just being out in the heat and being tired and thinking about Makell being sick, I started feeling sick. I felt a little that way all Friday too. I thought that was pretty lame to have sympathy sickness for your sister-in-law! Then Ric asked me if my period shouldn't have started already... uh, oh! So that night, when Ric and Stratton and Ric's Dad went to the Father's and Son's, I took a pregnancy test. Negative. Whew!

Well all day Saturday I still felt kind of icky and still the same Sunday morning. By then I figured I had better just take the second test, just to make sure. I showed the results to Ric and he pointed out that I had been reading it wrong (honestly, who reads a pregnancy test wrong?) and yep, I am pregnant after all! Now, admittedly, this was not our plan. We were going to wait another year to have another baby - so many things going on until after next March - but evidently Heavenly Father and this baby had other plans! Ha, ha, funny joke on Ric and Serity!

So we've told our families now (by Stratton yelling, "Surprise, Mommy has a baby in her tummy!" at the Stratton family Sunday dinner and Rogers FHE in Sean's garden) because with me being this sick, it's hard to keep it a secret. This really bites. I hate being sick. I just keep looking at Creighton because I was so sick with him, and reminding myself that he was worth it. So I've spent most of this week lying flat on my back in bed or on the couch. My house is heading towards disaster and my children are getting quite neglected, but thank goodness for a wonderful husband and family that have already helped out a lot! And only about 8 weeks of this left!

The Responsibility of Personal Influence

“There is one responsibility which no man can evade; that responsibility is his personal influence. Man’s unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of personality – the effect of his words and actions on others. This radiation is tremendous. Every moment of life man is changing, to a degree, the life of the whole world. Every man has an atmosphere, which is affecting every other man.

“He cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character, this constant weakening or strengthening of others. Man cannot evade the responsibility by merely saying that it is an unconscious influence. Man can select the qualities he would permit to be radiated…and by these qualities he will constantly affect the world.

“This radiation, to which I refer, comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. Every man, by his mere living, is radiating either sympathy, sorrow, morbidness, cynicism, or happiness and hope or any one of a hundred other qualities. Life is a state of radiation and absorption. To exist is to radiate; to exist is to be the recipient of radiation.” -David O. McKay

I've been thinking about this quote lately. What do I radiate? Stress mostly, I'm sure. I know when I've been attending the temple regularly it really has a calming influence in my life. Without the temple I turn into Mommy Monster or the Witch Wife and I hate it. When I served as a missionary I always tried to keep a smile on my face because I wanted people to know that our religion makes us happy people.

Since I got home, I've gradually let that slide and too often my face reflects my momentary thoughts and stresses rather than my outlook on life and eternity. The funny thing is when I was a missionary and stressed or annoyed or disappointed, by pasting on a smile even when I wasn't feeling like it, that helped me remember eternal things and why I ultimately am a happy person. So this year one of my new year's resolutions was to "cultivate an unconscious smile." I forget frequently, especially when I'm driving and somebody has just cut me off (have you ever noticed most people look really grumpy or bland when they drive?) and my kids are crying in the back seat, but my lofty ambition is that by the end of the year I'll have developed that capacity to smile as an outward reflection of an inner peace. That can be developed in a year, right?

Soft and Absorbent

I'm a bit bothered by false advertising. What tipped this off for me is that the other day I was at Walmart and grabbed the cheapest toilet paper I could find - just something small to tide us over until I could go and get some at Costco. Now granted, I know that in buying the generic brand I'm obviously not purchasing for quality, but for heaven's sake this was ridiculous! On the front of the toilet paper package it advertises "Soft and Absorbent!" My poor little pampered bum was not prepared for the shock.

First of all, I was have never seen a two-ply that is as effective as a public restroom one-ply. Secondly, "soft" is not how I would describe the feel; it felt more like I was rubbing my backside on a tree trunk. I think I'm chapped. Thankfully, the roll is almost done and the rest will go in our emergency kits so we can start using the still cheap and yet actually soft and absorbent Kirkland brand!

The lesson to be taken from this is that I will never again trust what a company has to say about their product. I understand why companies do it, but the blatant lies just don't seem fair to the consumer. Though it doesn't really make sense for the company to advertise, "Soft as sandpaper and absorbent as tissue paper", I just think that they should adopt the strategy of if you can't say anything truthful, don't say anything at all!

I'm a blogger!

Yay me!  I have taken another step into the world of technology.  I am currently on Facebook, doing texting, and journaling online.  But now in addition to those things, my friend, Rebecca, has helped me set up my very own blog!  (Yes, it's a work in progress.)

So look forward to many dazzling, witty, and insightful posts... okay maybe not, but I'll do my best to at least copy parts of my journal entries and pictures of my boys and my husband and I to let all you family and friends know what we're up to.