Rewind: Kix

July 4th, 2007: Gwen was 22 months old. On this particular night, we were celebrating Independence Day with Rick's family.

While we were waiting for it to get dark, we sat at our kitchen table eating a snack and playing games. Gwen was eating Kix and drinking water in her high chair. She had a bit of a snotty nose that night and being the neglectful parents that we are, it didn't get wiped as often as it should.


We soon learned the glue-like abilities of snot. The Kix kept getting stuck to her nose. We kept laughing at how gross and cute it was at the same time. Just when we thought it couldn't get any grosser, she ate one. Man she was so cute! Of course, she still is!

Rewind: Toilet Paper

Gwen wasn't an "easy" infant in some aspects. She wasn't a great sleeper. Correction: She was a terrible sleeper. She had some medical problems that took a while to work themselves out. We were at the doctor much more that I would have liked to be. She also had trouble gaining weight just like Fiona does now. I worried about her quite a bit.

Despite some of the trouble we had with her, Gwen was definitely easy in one aspect. She never got into anything. She didn't get into the cabinets. She never opened drawers. In fact, sometimes I wondered, "What's wrong with her? Doesn't she realize that those things open and there is stuff inside of them?"


She didn't splash in the toilets. She didn't pull (too many) of my books off the shelves. She never climbed up on the kitchen table to guzzle half of a bottle of maple syrup. Not that I know anybody who has.... She quickly learned not to mess with the DVD player. We had to do minimal child-proofing because she was so easy.


For those that haven't been as fortunate, don't be a hater. Just refer back to the first paragraph.


Gwen's also never been one to unravel the toilet paper. Quite the opposite, actually. If it comes unrolled even a few inches, she is very careful to make sure that she rolls is back up. One of the few times Gwen has made a mess with toilet paper was at Grandma Bean's house when she was two years old. Even then, the damage was minimal. I love the sweet little guilty look on her face.

Rewind: Sardines

First off, I'm going to apoligize to my husband Rick, the love of my life for this post. He is the hottest man I know.

During my freshman year at Rick's College, I had a really fun FHE group. (Translation: The guys were easy on the eyes)

Anyhoo, for an activity, we had plans to play Sardines on campus. For those that have never played...stop what you are doing and go play right now. Yes, it is that fun, at least when you are an immature freshman.

It's basically a spin on hide and seek, except for there is one hider, and the rest are seekers. When you find the hider, you squeeze in and hide with them, hence the name, Sardines. As people continue to find the hider, they keep squeezing in. The last person to finder the hider is the big loser and has to hide next. Get it? Good.

When it was my turn to hide, I found an awesome spot to hide in one of the classrooms. It had a long counter in the back with cabinets above it. Then there was a long accordion-type door that closed over the whole thing. I climbed onto the counter, closed the doors, and then squeezed into the very back. I curled up into a ball and put my coat over me. This was definitely the best hiding place ever. Mistake number one.

After a few minutes of hiding, I heard the classroom door open. Footsteps crossed the room and the latch to the accordion door opened just a bit. Through a tiny crack in my coat I could see a head poke in. Attached to it was the face of Ryan, aka, my current crush. I held my breath and didn't move a muscle. Hiding in the dark corner under my jacket. He couldn't see me.

He closed door and walked away.

"Success!" I thought.

I congratulated myself again on the excellent hiding spot. This congratulatory moment quickly passed as I realized that I was a complete idiot. Most people would consider hiding in the dark with the object of their affection a good thing. Why didn't I cough or something?

Several minutes passed before I heard more footsteps and saw the head of an FHE brother that I definitely did NOT like. Panic started setting in as I realized that I certainly didn't want to be cuddled up with him. Fortunately, he didn't see me either and the near-emergency passed.

Many more minutes passed, and I was beginning to grow tired of sitting on the counter. It had been too long. Had they given up looking for me? Should I just come out?

Relief set in as I heard more footsteps. Two sets. Thank goodness. I was ready to move the game along.

Oddly, these voices weren't ones that I recognized.

Then I started hearing some banging around. Chairs being moved, latches being flipped, and papers being sorted.

Next I heard something that I definitely wasn't expecting. The sound of a violin playing. Or was it a viola? To be honest, I have no idea what the difference is. And at this point, I didn't care.

I slowly scooted from my spot in the corner and slid down to the end of the counter. I quietly unlatched the according door, just barely enough to try and peek through to analyze the situation.

My heart sank as I saw two people sitting in the middle of the room with their violin/viola's out.

Somebody was having a music lesson.

It was obvious that nobody was going to come and find me now with a lesson going on in the room. So, I had two options. First, I could sit there and wait for the lesson to be over, which could be anywhere for 30 minutes to an hour, or I could just leave right then and there.

I sat there for several more minutes and decided that I was done with the whole thing.

I opened the accordion door and hopped off the counter. The music stopped abruptly and two startled heads spun around see what the noise was. I walked across the room and gave them a big smile and a little wave as I passed them. I opened the door, let it shut behind me, and freedom was mine!

By then, I figured my FHE group had given up on looking for me (which they had- thanks a lot!) and went home. But, at least there were two hotties waiting for me on the couch when I got back to my apartment. (But not as hot as Rick.)

Rewind: Rachel's New Pillowcase

Welcome to my first addition of "Rewind". Because I have a worse-than-average memory, I've decided that I should start writing down some of my older memories before I forget them completely. So bear with me as I periodically walk down memory lane every now and then...

Those who know my mom know that she's funny and a little crazy- in a good way.

During my freshman year at Rick's College (now BYU Idaho) my funny mom sent me an unexpected package in the mail. A package is always a welcome surprise to a homesick, impoverished college student. As I brought it up to my apartment from the mailbox, I went over the possibilies of what could be inside...cookies? money? candy?

Nope. One single pair of underwear. No note, no explanation. Just underwear. Not only was it not my size, but it was USED- apparently something she found a thrift store and determined that I must have it.

Not being the type of person to let things go to waste, I decided that my roommate, Rachel could use some new bed linens. She certainly was pleased to find a new pillowcase waiting for her when she got home that afternoon. The look on her face is the definition of pure joy.

I always meant to ask her what side of the pillowcase she slept on. That would be a tough decision.