P-A-R-T-Y???

Dear blog,

I just wanted to share a silly photo of who else, but Juni.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Sincerely,

Emily Wilcock

I'm Feeling Crafty

Dear Blog,

I apologize that I have slacked off this past week. I've been busy and also in a blog rut. I haven't been sure what I should post about. But I can always count on my Mother-in-law, Kerri, to have something interesting going on at her house, though this is the first time I have posted about her shenanigans. She gives Martha Stewart a run for her money with all her crafty, artsy goodness. I would like to share with you what she has been working on for Halloween.

One thing I have always liked about Kerri's holiday decor is that she often uses old family photos in her work. One year we soldered picture frame ornaments with old (and new) B & W pictures of family members.

Here we have Heath's Grandpa and his siblings. Can you guess which one is him? I won't tell you because I think it's obvious Heath looks like him. They have the same eyes/eyebrows.

Now on the the witches of the family. Kerri used chalk to give them their green witch coloring and rosy cheeks (so they would be cute witches). She did this all free-hand too. No stencils or tracing. Yeah, she's talented.

This is Heath's Grandma in her youth.

One of Heath's Aunties

Another one of Heath's Grandma as a young girl.

She made this family member the witch seductress.

The glamorous witch.

Heath's great grandma.

This witch is the black widow.

So there you have it! I love them all. So, far we all agree the one of Heath's aunt, the teddy bear killer, is the best. Which one is your favorite?

Sincerely,

Emily Wilcock

Dear Blog,

Juniper has grown up this past week!!!

First, she can crawl...

She really doesn't enjoy it and she is usually whining when she is crawling.

Second, she can dance...

She always bobs her head when music starts. Sometimes she just bobs her head in silence and I like to think she's dancing to a song that got stuck in her head.

Third, She can walk...Really she can!

She's been taking little steps here and there but it was very sporadic and wasn't really walking. But now. Now, she can cross the room if she wants to get to the other side. And as you can see in the video, watching her walk is much more exciting than folding the laundry.

Another thing she just started to do last week is sit up on her own. I feel like that milestone has been long overdue. But I guess it evens out for how quickly she has picked up walking. It is definitely her preferred mode of transportation over crawling.

Little Juniper is really growing up!

Sincerely,

Emily Wilcock

Oh, I Wish I Were....!

Dear Blog,

Yesterday, as I was merging onto the US 60 I looked in my rear view mirror to make sure there weren't any cars in the way and this is what I saw...

Yep! It was the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you jealous, mom?

And you bet, I started singing the song!

Here are some interesting facts on the Weinermobile that I found on Wikipedia (Should I not consider them facts, then?):

There are seven Wienermobiles in existence currently, with each assigned a part of the country. The hotdogger position of driving the Wienermobile is an open position to U.S. citizens and the duration of the job lasts for one full year: from the first of June until the following first of June. Every March at Kraft and Oscar Mayer headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin there are final round interviews held for the hotdogger position. Each vehicle holds two hotdoggers, and twelve people are chosen from a final pool of 30 candidates brought to Oscar Mayer headquarters. The 30 candidates are screened across the country from over an average of 2000 applicants. Both current hotdoggers and Oscar Mayer recruiters visit college campuses across the country in search of the next round of hotdoggers. Only college seniors who are about to graduate are eligible for applying to this hotdogger position. Currently there are about 300 hotdogger alumni.

Vanity License Plates (There are more than 7...?):

• YUMMY
• OUR DOG
• IWSHIWR
• OH I WISH
• WEENR
• WNRMOBL
• BOLOGNA
• RELSHME
• LIL LINK
• BIG BUN
• WNR MBLE

In June, 2007, a Wienermobile with the Wisconsin license plate of YUMMY made headlines after having been stopped by an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer for having an alleged stolen license plate. Officer K. Lankow had observed the Wienermobile slowing traffic and checked the license plate number to determine if the vehicle was street legal. The license plate came back as being stolen out of Columbia, Missouri, so the officer stopped the Wienermobile and detained the driver. The Columbia Police Department, that had flagged the license plate as being stolen, had neglected to add that it should be considered stolen only if not on a Wienermobile. The Wienermobile was released soon after the error was revealed.

I was determined to get a good picture of it so I had to drive about 60 mph for like 3 miles for it to catch up to me. Everyone was passing me and I thought they were just crazy for not wanting to drive next the the Weinermobile. What a privilege.

Sincerely,

Emily Wilcock

MIA

Dear Blog,

Last week I decided to have a computer cleanse. I decided to do this because since we don't have a TV, the computer, namely the Internet, gets most of my and Heath's time. We are quite addicted. So last Sunday (the 5th) we tucked our little laptop away. Here were our week's highlights:

Sunday: Went to our friend's, the Webster's, baby blessing. It was one of the best blessing I've ever heard.

Monday: Labor Day and Heath's day off!!! He did homework and I cleaned the house...this took up the whole day.

Tuesday: Tatum and my nieces came over and I gave Peyton a piano lesson.

Wednesday: Helped Sarah make party hats for Saturday's party.

Thursday: A very bad day. I cried a lot and wanted to pull out my hair!!!

Friday: Grammy Wilcock watched Juniper for half the day and gave me a break! I cleaned and studied (finally!).

Saturday: Party!!! We celebrated my niece's 1st birthday along with her daddy's (my brother) 32nd birthday. It was lots of fun and my SIL, Sarah, did a very cute job with all the birthday decor.

Sunday: Church. And dinner with some new friends in the ward which was great.

I have to let you in on a little secret. I actually only lasted until Thursday, meaning I caved in and got on the computer on Thursday. I blame it on the bad day, plus I was dying to check my email. I decided to stay clear of blogs since they really suck me in. It's also incredible how many times in a day I think of something, have a question about it and say to myself, "I'll google it." How did we ever not have the Internet and especially Google?

Sincerely,

Emily Wilcock

I Had a Good Laugh

Dear Blog,

This is my favorite story so far. You should go read it.

Sincerely,

Emily Wilcock

Dear Blog,

So, I had my first grease fire in the kitchen. But before I give you the details I just want to say make sure you read recipe directions carefully and strictly adhere to them.

I decided to make fried chicken. Deep fried chicken. I have never done it before. I also decided to make a yummy German potato salad. Also, I something I have never made. Needless to say I got in way over my head. I thought I could improvise with some things and well, I made some dumb decisions. Don't ask me why I thought it was a good idea to put the lid on the pot with the oil and decide to heat it on high. At the time it seemed reasonable. Then I got distracted with the potatoes. They were over cooked, dang it! After letting the taters settle I looked over to see that the oil was definitely too hot. I took it of the heat, turned on the overhead fan and thought this is going to be smokey. I lifted up the lid and a pillow of smoke rose out of the pan. About 2.5 seconds after I removed the lid there was a loud WOOSH! and the pot was up in flames. Then a series of thoughts rushed through my mind, "FIRE! Grease fire! What do I do!!! Can't use water. Must snuff it out. Put the lid back on!"

And there it was. The fire had gone as soon as it came. Then the smoke detector went off and we were all coughing. I took Juni into her room and shut the door while Heath opened up all the windows and turned on the fans. It wasn't serious at all. Nothing was burned but my ego. The house still smells like burnt oil. After the smoke had cleared and we got everything cleaned up I realized the potato salad was not salvageable. Then Heath said, "Well, looks like I'm gonna have to go get some burritos." So Heath left to pick up some dinner while I put Juniper down for the night. It turned out to be a yummy and easy meal.

But there still some chicken in the fridge that needs to be used. Would I be crazy to say that I still want to fry them? Perhaps I'll give it one more shot.

***

Here is one of the most exciting videos that I have posted! Juni isn't walking yet but I think I will count these as some of Juni's first steps.

I love Heath's laugh at the end. And speaking of Heath, he has posted some more stories. Go read them!

Sincerely,
Emily Wilcock