Nursery Rhymes

Clark has always given me a hard time about the way I sing Pat-A-Cake. I'll admit, the words I sing don't make as much logical sense. Here's how I learned it:

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man!
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it, and pat it, and mark it with a B,
And toss it up high for Baby and me.

I think it's quite obvious that you wouldn't toss a cake up high. Well, maybe you would, but it would turn into quite a mess. I realize that "Put it in the oven," would be much more appropriate. But then, do you roll and pat a cake? I certainly don't.

Today I was looking through some of our new Nursery Rhyme books (we got 2 of them from Baby Shower Weekend!), and I came across Rub-A-Dub Dub. It's a good little rhyme. So I read it:

Rub-a-dub dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker,
The candle-stick maker,
And they all jumped out of a rotten potato.

Ah, such a good. . . . wait a minute. They all jumped out of a rotten potato? That's not right. That doesn't even rhyme! Let alone make sense! I always learned that the last line was, "Turn them out, knaves all three!" In any case, I got some enjoyment out of this alternate ending, so I thought I'd share. Has anyone heard it this way before? Any other good "alternate endings?" Or even just rhymes that you find strange?

And the winner is. . . .

The votes are in. It seems that Marie is the most popular middle for Ella, followed by Mae. (I like how I'm telling you this, like you can't just read it for yourself). I really like Ella Marie, it just rolls off the tongue. But there are 2 of us who are picking Wombsly's name, so we'll have to see. And we have 2 first names to pick from. Again, we'll have to see. But thanks for the input, it helps to know what other people think.

Only 10 weeks to go!

Baby Shower Weekend!

This weekend Clark and I were able to head up north for a weekend of Baby Showers! I was fortunate enough to have 2 showers on the same day - one thrown by my family, and the other thrown by my friends. A big thank you to everyone who helped put them together, and to everyone who came. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty loved, and I'm sure Wombsly was feeling the same way.

So the first shower, the family shower, was held at the Social Room in Brigham Apartments (where my parents live). It had a "ladybug" theme, as our crib sheets/gear have ladybugs on them. So cute. Whitney and Jessica (the hostesses) made me some ladybug flip flops to wear, and there were ladybug decorations everywhere. And Whitney gave Wombsly a huge, soft, stuffed ladybug - I'm sure she'll love it. The food was delicious, and the company outstanding. For those of you who don't know, my Grandma Hurst is a quilter, she makes a quilt for every wedding and baby. So she gave us a quilt. But this quilt is beautiful. She won a blue ribbon for it at the state fair and it's been sitting in her closet for years and years. I am so grateful to have it, it's a real treasure.

The second shower, the friends shower, was held at the Paradise Bakery and Cafe. I had never been there before, but I had heard so many good things about it, so I was pretty excited to try it out. I wasn't disappointed. It was so good! I had a quiche pie, and that was delicious. I wish I would have gotten a cream cheese brownie, but I was just too full (another casualty of the pregnancy - I just can't fit as much in my stomach anymore). And I was impressed at how many people came out to join us. It was so good to see everyone, and it made me miss living closer to everyone. We need to get together more often, not just for weddings and babies.

I had my sister Kim take pictures with my camera at the family shower, so here are a few of those. I did bring my camera to the friends shower, but remember how I never take pictures? Yeah. Sad. The only picture I have is of the balloons that Karen sent (thanks, Karen!). And that picture is taken after the shower, in my parents' apartment. So, if any of you have pictures you'd like to send my way, they'd be appreciated. And the final picture in the slideshow is the pile of gifts now sitting in Wombsly's room, after a lot of condensing on my part. I was going to take more pictures of the actual stuff, but I just got to tidying up and suddenly everything was put away (if you can call that being put away). So maybe you'll get some pictures of that another day.

God Bless Our Prophet Dear

President Hinckley will be missed, no doubt about it. But I don't think I'm nearly as sad as everyone else is. I have no doubt of where he is going. And he was pretty old. And he enjoyed good health up until the end. And he now gets to be with his beloved wife. His passing almost seems like a happy occasion, a celebration of a life well lived. Last night Clark and I were swapping President Hinckley memories, and that man has left quite the legacy behind him. I realized that he has been in the First Presidency my entire life - he was set apart as a counselor to Spencer W. Kimball 16 days before I was born. And he's done so much for the church! I was reading the special section dedicated to him in the Deseret Morning News, and I was astounded at all the things he has done. It really puts it into perspective when you see it put down on paper, and all in the same place. He was a great man. Yet the church will go on without him. Things will stay pretty much the same. And I find great comfort in that fact.

In other news, it snowed yesterday. In St George. I think it's the first time this season; at least it's the first time this season that I've seen it. I liked it.

Oh, and we put together Wombsly's new dresser last night. Clark did most of the work - I was the lovely assistant who handed him screws and dowels. Here's a photo of the finished product. And that is our new lamp on top. Both are products of IKEA.

Weekly Quote 1/28/08

"We slipped into the farmer's room, all quiet like. . ."
"Like a fish."
"Yeah, and we. . . 'Like a fish?' You stupid Norbert."

That was from Chicken Run. New quote up!

Omaha

I was looking through some old pictures today, trying to get things a little more organized (hello nesting), and I found this gem of a photo. It's The Omaha Photo. Those of you who were there (of the people who read this blog, that is probably just Sabrina) will remember the event well. For the rest of you, this is from our bus trip across the country - Indiana 2000. OK, I guess it wasn't across the whole country, but it was a long ride. We rode a Greyhound from SLC to Indianapolis (a 36 hour ride) for a concert (Guster and DMB). We were only in Indianapolis for about 36 hours, and then it was back on a Greyhound for another 36 hours. Totally worth it. But this photo was our stop in Omaha, and coincidentally the only time I've ever been there. In case you can't tell, I'm not happy at this point. I had just fallen asleep, and then we stopped and they made everyone get off the bus for a cleaning. And it was my first real experience with humidity. I don't like humidity, as it turns out. Someday I'll have to give Omaha a chance to redeem itself. But, as you can tell, Greg and Scott are having a keen time, chowing on their cupcakes. Such a good photo, and such a ghood memory!

Would you like to take a survey?

For a while now, Clark and I have had 2 names picked out for Wombsly - Julia and Ella. We are open to other names, but so far those are the only 2 we can agree on. If we name her Julia, then her middle name will be Diane, after Clark's mom. But we've had some debate on what her middle name would be if we went with Ella. And so (fanfare!) I've created a poll! Vote away, my friends.

Cake Mix Cookies

Last week I made some of the most delicious cookies I have ever made. And, as fate would have it, they were also some of the easiest cookies I have ever made. I got the basic recipe from allrecipes.com (a most excellent website, check it out if you haven't already):

CAKE MIX COOKIES
2 eggs
1 (18.25 ounce) package cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Mix ingredients together. Make little balls with the dough and set on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 4 - 10 minutes.

Ok, 4-10 minutes is quite the window, so I'd say it's more like 8-10 minutes. So there is the basic recipe, and it's great. I've made it quite a few times with all different flavors of cake mixes. But this most recent batch was incredible: chocolate cake mix, with mint chocolate chips added in. Oh wow. I love mint chocolate. So very much. And when they were nice and warm, fresh out of the oven, and the chocolate chips were melted and gooey: HEAVEN.