Where do you keep your band-aids?

A few weeks ago we had Erin's kids for an overnight so she and Tom could go out on a nice date (he had been gone for about 2 1/2 weeks). We had a really fun time with the kids and when Mary got home I guess she was telling her mom just how great our house is. We have a trampoline, two big TVs and a playroom. And the supreme item in my home: I have a band-aid place in my bedroom! Yes folks, you can be jealous because if I need a band-aid in the middle of the night, I don't have to leave the comfort of my room- just go to the little closet in there and pick out a band-aid. Oh, she cracks me up! Seriously, I love the things that get kids excited.

A Date

So Steve surprised me last weekend with a full day date! We were up and ready to go by 8am Saturday morning when our babysitter arrived. (She had them until 5, then our neighbor, Matt took over until we got home) The plan was to head 2 hours to Six Flags in New Jersey, have about 6 hours of fun, stop for dinner and be home by bedtime. That's how it would work in a perfect world, anyway. Apparently the day before there was a multi tractor-trailer fire on the road we traveled. We were in the fray of completely stopped traffic for 1 1/2 hours. It was lame! So by the time we got through, ate lunch and made it into the park it was after 12.

But, even though the lines were longer, we were still able to ride a bunch of fun roller-coasters and really just enjoyed each others' company for the day. And to make it even better, it was sunny with a slight breeze and around 75 degrees. We haven't done anything together that fun since we were first married. I know it's bad, but I kept thinking... "man, I'm glad the kids aren't here. This would not have been fun with them!"

In my own defense, here's why:
1. So, so many people there. I would have been nervously counting to 5 all day.
2. Oh, the language and smoking and immodesty. Don't need my kids to see that.
3. Also the young kids and their boyfriend/girlfriends. I am afraid for when my girls start thinking about boys!
4. And the roller-coasters. I wouldn't have been able to ride all those fun rides!

In the end, an awesome date. We were home in time to get the kids to bed and the thing they said when we got home: "Can you two go on another date tomorrow?" I think the babysitters did an great job! In the end, an extremely successful day with my sweet hubby!

in heaven

Katie and I got into a little discussion about Heaven and what it will be like there. We talked about how our family will be able to find each other after we die and other things like that. She was afraid that since I'll probably die first, she won't be able to find me. But after explaining the sealing power, she decided that Jesus will probably help her find me. And all was well. Then she started talking about what we would eat. And I told her that in heaven we probably won't need to eat. Our bodies will be perfect and won't need food to stay that way. She thought about it for a second and said, "I think there will be fish and honeycomb in heaven. But I won't eat the fish. I'll only eat the honeycomb." (can you guess what song we sang in Primary today?) I love having these conversations with my kids. It's very enlightening to find out what they are actually grasping and what I need to do better at explaining!


On a side note... after church I was walking out and saw an older couple that we had known when we were first married and lived in Texas. I called to him and went to say hello. I told him that I knew I recognized him, but couldn't place him for a minute until I saw him with his daughter. And he came back with the same sort of thing. "I thought I recognized you too, but I wasn't sure. Last time I saw you, you were... " (placing palms towards each other closely... try it. hint: this was not a compliment- that was about 30 pounds ago)

Yeah...

his wife interjected with the fact that was "BC... before children".

And on that note, I think I need to go eat a bowl of ice cream. Maybe a really big one with chocolate sauce on top?