I have seen quite a bit of "what's in your bag" blogging lately. While I find these fun to look at, the inside of my own bag is not very interesting (diapers, cell phone, cheerios...no surprises. the
outside of my bag of course is stunning, but
I've already posted about that).
I was looking at my fridge the other day and realized that would be a better post for me.
1. Two blue hearts. One from Emma, one from Ben. Given to Scott for Father's Day when they were both in nursery.
2. Magnet of St. Louis skyline. I'm pretty sure my mom gave this to us (we were married in St. Louis).
3. A fake rude note. This is a great story. About 7 years ago, when we lived in Utah, Joel and Jenica bought a beautiful 80 year old bungalow in Lehi. It was full of charm and character and safety code violations. The first several months J&J were busy totally revamping the plumbing, electricity, gutting and rearranging the kitchen, etc, etc. They did not worry about the yard for the time being, they planned to do a landscaping overhaul and lay sod in the future (which they did). So one day they come home and find a note on the door. This note was from one of the daughters of the older couple who had lived there before them (this lady had grown up in the house). I can't remember the details of the note, but it said something to the effect of "the yard looks pretty shabby, let me know if there's anything I can do to help, mother always took such pride in the yard...". This was hysterical on so many levels. #1, the yard did not look great when they bought the house. #2, maybe they would have had more time to spruce it up were there not such an overwhelming amount of work to be done inside. #3, who leaves that kind of a note on anyone's door for any reason 20 years after they've grown up and move out?? The note made them laugh so much they displayed it proudly on their fridge. So that's the background for our note. It was only a little while after this incident that Scott and I returned home to find this clever note on our own front door: "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Scott Cruze, I was very sad to drive by and see the condition of this yard. I know it's really none of our concern since you now own the house but mother always took such pride in its appearance I think she would turn in her grave to see it turned in to a big trash heap. And if she were still alive, bless her heart, it would probably kill her to see it like this -- inhabited by common Southern trash. If you need any help I'm sure your neighbors could pitch in and buy you a one way Greyhound ticket back to Trashville for the both of you as well as your ugly little child. Please give us a call." That gem of hilarity has been part of our fridge landscape ever since.
4. More comedy. Early in the summer we went to Oak Island with the Langfords and Sextons. When we got in our car to head home, we found this list on the back of a receipt (written by David): "Things to talk about on the way home. 1. The rate of Allen's hair loss compared to the decline of morals in our society. 2. Why all meat taste rather like chicken? Did all life evolve from chickens? 3. If you were stranded on Oak Island with only one book, one PS3 game, one type of drink, and one toiletry item, what would you choose? 4. If your kids had to break at least one item at the beach house, what would it be...or what was it? [sad, but true, a lot of things got broken that trip and our kids were not blameless] 5. Why are Scott's legs so hairy yet his chest so bare? 6. What Hollywood star does David most resemble?"
5. Hale Nielsen Barber's birth announcement.
6. Emma's spelling words, help by a butterfly magnet her friend gave her.
7. Leaf-shaped magnet that can be turned. It wasy "Just do it!" on one side and "done" on the other side. Any guesses what it's for? (hint: you probably have received some version of this multiple times in your Relief Society career)
8. Ben's soccer team last spring.
9. Scott and Lori at the church Valentine's dance.
10. Flower magnet painted by Emma, holding up Michelle Hanks' Pampered Chef business card.
11. Magnet made from Emma's kindergarten self-portrait.
12. Photo from Emma's kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch, in a plastic frame she decorated.
13. Felt brown and pink lady bug magnet (inspired by
this).
14. I love these. My favorite things on the fridge. On the left, Scott and Josh's pics from a photo booth at the mall. From when they were having "special joshee-daddy time". On the right, pics from same photo booth, Scott with all four kids this time. This set of photos was from when I was at the
beach with the girls. Scott is not a sit around at home kind of guy, so when he wasn't coaching soccer games on Saturday, he was walking around the mall with the kids (pet store, pennies in fountains, and of course, photo booth). What a great dad.
15. Reminder card for dentist appointments for the kids.
16. Our pediatrician's recommended check-up schedule. I'm not sure why this is up here. I never look at it.
17. The First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles. Another story here. When I was growing up, to encourage us kids to learn the names of the apostles, we were each promised a full pound size bag of M&Ms if we could memorize a chart like this. A year or two ago, I thought we could try the same sort of bribery on our kids and thus the chart on the fridge. Emma and Ben both know all of their full names now (though they will have to learn a new one tomorrow when the newest member of the Twleve is announced). And Josh was able to learn the First Presidency pretty quickly once he realized they were all names from Thomas the Tank Engine.
