Random updates

• The other day I was pretty distracted coming out of the grocery store. I wheeled up to the car, hit the remote to unlock, opened the door.... and realized this was NOT my car. What a weird feeling! I thought, this person must have left their car unlocked. Then I noticed it was also a Hyundai. Hmmm.... I mentioned it to Helaman and he said he can unlock one of his friends' Hyundais. Seems like a huge glitch to me....
• We really enjoyed watching the Olympics this year using DVR. Seeing 8 hours of coverage in 30 minutes is fabulous! You get to see all of the cool stuff with none of the commercials or athletes milling about. Congratulations to our neighbor, gold medalist Nastia Liukin, who trains less than a mile down the street. We would have gone to her parade, but it was too hot.
• Helaman is done with his round the clock service at the hospital. He now is a med student moonlighting as a traveling dentist, visiting nursing homes to help out the elderly with dentures and tooth extraction. It's not as glamorous as he would like - but is any job?
• Charlotte's favorite word is "car". It's pretty cute when she points out the cars in her videos, but when we're in a parking lot - watch out. Car? Car? Car? Car? Car? Car? Car?
  

Hard at work

Regretting ever cleaning up that spilled milk

Happy Birthday H!

Don't you want him in charge of pulling your teeth?

Today is Helaman's birthday! Make sure to wish him a happy one!

My Charbaby

Charlotte has become a lot more brave playing in the play area at the mall lately. Usually bowled over by bigger, more obnoxious kids, and scared to death - today she got out there and had fun.


Though riding this horse wasn't her favorite (she's a lot more cautious about horseback riding than I am - that's good).


I looked over at the bookcase a few minutes ago and saw this scene. It is significant. I was working at the computer and Charlotte made herself busy dumping her milk sippy cup on the bookshelf here. I saw that and told her she needed to clean it up to which request she laughed hysterically, and to be truthful, I did too - I mean, here I am asking a baby to clean up her own mess. As if. A few minutes later I looked over and saw that rag sitting there and the milk cleaned up! She had gone into the kitchen, gotten a rag from the one cabinet that is not childproofed, and mopped it up! I couldn't believe my eyes - which is why I took a picture, just to be sure it happened.

Magnets

I've never liked the look of a cluttered fridge. But... we love getting magnets. I didn't want a dorm-room style magnet/cork board you can buy at Staples. So, inspired by Helaman's cousin, I created this magnet board to contain all of them. First I had to decide on a suitable frame size and shape. Then it was very tough to track down the "magnet receptive" material that I put in the frame. I looked everywhere and ended up buying it online. In the end though I love it!

In other news, Charlotte got her 4th tooth and has fallen in love with the little cars at the supermarket she can ride around in that are attached to the cart. Genius! Last time she didn't want to get out when we were done - I could've shopped for another hour!

Helaman's schedule has slowed down a little and we are seeing him a lot more now, especially with the new edger/weedeater Dad got him that saves a few hours when he does the lawn.