Some Lessons

I learned some lessons last week.

Lesson #1
One of my fears as a mother really isn't as bad as I thought it would be.


When I heard a loud yelp followed by lots of crying from the kitchen I figured it had something to do with the electrical outlet, because the only other time I'd heard Elizabeth sound like that was the time she shocked herself by touching a plug that was half out of the outlet. Needless to say, I was quited shocked when I went in and found this. I always thought this kind of thing would kill a kid. Thankfully, it doesn't.

Lesson #2
Stew Meat is called STEW meat for a reason.

I had a busy day Tuesday and knew that I wanted to make Stroganoff using stew meat. I wanted to cook the meat for a long time, but didn't have time because it was frozen, so I figured, it wouldn't be that bad sauteed. It was one of the culinary disasters of my life. So tough, Nate was teasing me that it sounded like I was eating corn nuts. So I took the rest of the meat and simmered it in beef broth and by 10:30 that night, it was tender, moist, and falling apart. The leftovers were quite yummy.

Lesson #3
If you move into a brand new church building and they want to have an open house and ask your auxiliary to make a SIMPLE display and they keep stressing to keep it SIMPLE, it's probably because they know that no one will come to the open house and don't want you to feel bad that you (or in this case, mostly your wonderfully talented secretary) went to a lot of trouble to make it really nice.

Well, they should have know that Mormon women generally don't keep things simple and are incapable of NOT doing our best and making things look beautiful. So I am posting in on my blog so that someone other than the ONE non-member family who came in the THREE hours that we sat there can see it!

Lesson #4

My son is very tender-hearted and sentimental.

Okay, I already knew this, but when downloading pictures from my camera, I found this one from when I was in CA.

He fell asleep holding one of the love notes I had hidden in his sock drawer for him to find while I was gone. If that's not the sweetest thing. . .

Reminded me of when Nate started school again after winter break last year and Harrison was quite distraught not to be able to say goodnight to him. This picture was the next best thing.

Lesson #5

Even the freezing cold weather we've been having doesn't motivate this girl to keep her clothes on.

Maybe the beanie will make up for the lack of all other clothing.

Lesson # 6
Never underestimate the cooking skills of a bachelor.

One of Nate's friends from school and work threw a "dinner party" this weekend. Well, I assumed this guy was married and his wife would be cooking. When I found out he was a bachelor and all the other people would be single, my expectations went way down and I assumed we'd be having pizza or something grilled.

Turns out, this guy's little brother is the executive chef a restaurant and has taught him a thing or two. We had caprese salad, eggplant parmesan, ravioli with butternut squash sauce, garlic bread, and carrot cake. It was better than a restaurant and I was in heaven.

I told Nate that Matt is now my new favorite friend of his and that we need to do whatever it takes to get a return invite over there. Whoever said the the way to a man's heart was through his stomach just hadn't met me yet.

Side note: I get a little nervous going to social events with people who are close to my age, but not in the same stage of life as me. Knowing I'd be the only married, stay at home mom, who doesn't drink or swear, and is pregnant with her third child made me feel a little self-conscious. It doesn't help when Nate says things like, "Can you make sure you look really cute? Why don't you curl your hair (um, okay) and be sure to wear something that makes you look really pregnant (read: not just fat)." When I obliged he was so funny saying that's exactly how he was picturing me to look and that he felt sorry for me because when I introduce people to him it's like saying, "Hey guys look at my new Civic," but when he introduces people to me it's like saying, "Hey, look at my new Acura 3X" (or something like that, some nicer car.) That was so much sweeter than his last car analogy. When I said that it takes me so much longer to show that some pregnant women he said, "Well, if you shove a bunch of stuff into a Civic, you'd totally be able to notice, but if you stuck the same amount of stuff into an Expedition it really wouldn't make a difference." Wow honey. An Expedition? Apparently, I'm morbidly obese when compared with a small woman. I proceeded to argue my case that I would be more like a PT Cruiser (size wise -- not that I like those cars). I also told him that if I die and he remarries, he better make sure she has a really thick skin, or just not say stuff like that. Don't worry, my self-esteem is fully intact and I still love him.


Lesson #7
If you've already been to 3 hours of church that day and you're considering taking the children back to an hour long dedication for your brand new church building, but your husband can't go with you -- JUST DON'T GO.





Sure she looks pretty cute and innocent here, right before we left, but let's just say it ended with me dragging both kids out during the closing song because I couldn't take one more minute of their shenanigans while Harrison loudly yelled, "Am I going to get a spank? I don't want to get a spank!"

I guess that's better than what he said while I was bearing my testimony earlier that day. Thankfully not loud enough for me to hear all the way at the pulpit, but reportedly loud enough for several of the rows around us to hear. When Nate picked him up off the ground in an attempt to keep him from brutalizing Elizabeth, Harrison said, "Ow, that hurts my nuts!"

I'm sure this week will be full of even more of the wonderful lessons that come along with being a wife and mother!