On My Mind...

Some randomness is on my mind, and, lucky for you, I'm going to write it all down right here and now. :) Hmm, where to begin.

* I took the kiddies to a play group at the gymnastics school. They had so much fun! Anna has been asking when we can go back ever since the last time we were there...10 months ago. It was exciting to see how much Anna has improved in her abilities since last time. She was very brave and wanted to try everything. (And she mainly had to try on her own since I was chasing Ben-Ben around, keeping him from killing himself.) Anna was very impressive on the balance beam. Oh, and it was also exciting to see what Benjamin was capable of, since the last time we went, he was barely walking. He, of course, was quite the dare devil, and he had a blast. I wish I had my camera, but alas, I've been forgetting it a lot lately.

* I love hearing Benjamin saying so many words. The only people that could probably understand all of his words would be Ben-Ben's close, inner circle...me, Ethan, and Anna...and sometimes even we have a hard time understanding. It just cracks me up to hear how he talks. Here are just a few examples - mahn ("come on" as in, follow me), oovee (movie), boo-pa (grandpa), peeba (pizza), bet (belly button), goot (yogurt), reeah (Rita, as in Miss Rita), moo-ma (grandma), pay (play), and the list could go on. And yes, there are many words that he pronounces correctly too, but what's the fun in that? Hehe. And listen to this funny exchange:

Me - "Ben-Ben, say 'I'..." (He thinks I mean 'eye')

B - "Nohn." (And he points to his nose, because obviously we're talking about anatomy. :)

Me - "Love."

B - "La."

Me - "You!"

B - "Meeeee!!!!"

Me - "No, Ben-Ben, 'you'."

B - "Yoooooou!!!"

Mostly, I think he has his "work" cut out for him. It's like I can physically see all of the effort it's taking Ben-Ben to make his mouth, and tongue, and lips do what he wants them to. It was just so much more of a natural thing for Anna. Lucky for Ben, he has the sweetest, most helpful older sister in the whole wide world. Anna is always trying to help Benjamin learn new words and "practice." Their relationship is really starting to blossom now that Ben-Ben is learning to talk and follows through on most commands. Oh, they have their moments (don't we all), but they have been enjoying playing together.

* Ethan and the Rayhorns went in on an awesome birthday present for me. (I know, how could I possibly have anything else to say about my birthday? :) A new mp3 player. It was totally unexpected - as in, not one of my suggestions to Ethan - but very, very exciting! Ethan has one that is a few years old, and although we share some similar taste in music, we also share the opposite. Oh, and we haven't been able to find the cord for Ethan's for a few years, so we've been stuck with the same old songs for a long time. Anyway, it's fun to have one of my own (that I so graciously let Ethan borrow :) and have some awesome, new songs to listen to. We've been listening to music a lot more now, and with our little speakers, even the kiddies can get in on the fun. I love music! My most favorite part is how it affects my workouts. Even when I'm doing the exact same things, I feel myself push harder, and go longer when I have good music to listen to. Seriously, it's like magic. Yay! Thanks again, Ethan, Chuck and Melissa. This could almost be categorized as a "life changing" present. Hehe.

* My hair is growing out. It hasn't reached my shoulders since Anna was a little baby. Sometimes my hair catches me off gaurd, and I think it's a bug, or someone touching me and it really freaks me out. Weird. I don't know how long I'll let it grow, but I am pretty certain I will end up with a short style pretty quickly after this experiment. Oh, one thing I love - Anna touches my hair and plays with it all the time lately. So sweet, and it feels so good too. :)

* I do NOT like having cable. We're talking basic cable here, like less than 20 channels. So, why don't I like it? Clearly because I have no self control when it comes to this. It's been one year, and I am "involved" in numerous shows. It kills me! Why do I care about these shows I'm being drawn in to? I wasn't missing anything in my life before. I never thought, "I'm happy. Life is good. Yet....if only I could watch some TV tonight." Almost my entire life I have lived without television. (And yeah, I thought it was unfair and extreme of my parents when I was little, but now I want to live like that too...although they have cable now that all their kids are grown and gone...so what does that tell you? :) We have it now because it makes our Internet connection $20 cheaper, just to have the added "free" bonus of basic cable. Why are they doing this to me?!?!? I know, so dramatic. :) And just to clarify, I'm not talking about anything extreme here. I don't watch any tv during the day (the kids watch some pbs) and at night, there are shows I like to watch, but I have other things I do then too...like work out, grocery shop, organize things, read... you get the idea. I just don't want to be watching any tv at all; so that's the problem. It's not even great tv. Shows that I've been sucked in to (but don't catch every week, or only catch parts of): Caslte, Bachelor (lame), Biggest Loser, The Office, 30 Rock, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Super Nanny (it makes me feel like a good mom :), Dateline, Lost. And occasionally mixed in is this new found love I have for TLC involving anything to do with families, babies, weddings, or fashion..hehe. I like watching movies, and Eth and I used to check out some of our favorite shows on dvd, but having cable is different. It's there every night, just waiting for you. AND, Ethan is studying every night, so it's just me getting sucked in. Lame. Okay, I'll stop complaining about this very insignificant thing, and I'll keep you posted. I feel like my will power is building, and I'll just stop cold turkey. But man, after a long day at home with two little ones, sometimes a mind numbing show seems like the perfect thing.

Oh my. How about I use some self control right now and cut myself off? Hehe. I hope you all have a beautiful week!