The Secret of the "Will"

Marley is laying on the couch the other night and she turns to me and informs me of some very important information. Something I should have known before I got married and assumed my new last name. She says "Mama, I want people to say my name Marley Iams (sounds like ums)" As usual, I replied with the standard "what?" and she again repeated that she wanted to be knowns as "Marley Iams". Again, as a standard my second reply to her was "Why?". She then informs me that she doesn't want people to know the "Will" part of her name because and I quote "then they will know the secret of the Will!". I chuckled a little and asked her what "the secret of the Will" was and she just kept repeating the "secret of the Will" I guess she is quite the crusader to the cause since she would not divulge to me what exactly the "secret of the Will" was. Apparently it is something really important and she is worried that people are going to find out about it.

Below is a picture of Marley before her Cheerleading awards ceremony. I told her to do a cheerleading pose and this is what I got... I suppose it may not have been totally worth the money, she isn't exactly evoking the "bring it on" spirit here, but the outfit is cute. The funny thing about this was not two seconds later (minutes before leaving for the program) Marley slipped in the garage and got her white sleeves muddy and we had to quickly change her without messing up the ponytail before leaving. Not a fun 5 minutes. Luckily in this small town, the theatre was only 2 minutes from our house!

Here is a video of the her performance on stage. Not bragging, Marley was one of the best in her group. I should say sharpest with the moves. As Mac took the video I asked if he could see Marley (Second row all the way to the left), but apparently he could only see the top of her head. If you listen hard you can hear her voice!

A letter does not blush...unless it is an Epistle

For Family Home Evening on Monday, Mac decided to give a lesson on how half of the New Testament is actually letters. Mac did this because Marley has started writing a little more and is understanding the concept of the written letter and Mac had a bunch of letters to send out for the Bishop that he was working on, so it all made sense to talk about the New Testament and how a lot of the books are actually letters.

Anyway, he gave a really good explanation of this idea. He was telling Marley that before there were phones and email people used to communicate by writing letters. This was quite a foreign concept to Marley. Mac loves to teach Marley new words that are not typcially part of the 5 year old vocabulary, so he taught her the world "Epistle". We repeated it a few times to make sure she could say it, etc. Marley then wrote a letter to Bro. Ellison in our ward who had knee surgery telling him she missed seeing him at church and hoped he felt better soon. She wrote it on Hello Kitty Stationary and closed it with a dog sticker (what a crazy kid, doesn't she know dogs and cats hate each other....that is a lesson for another time). When we were finished we reviewed what we had learned and asked her the following "What is another word for a letter?" She thought really hard for a second and then yelled "Piss!" We all kind of chuckled about that and then laughed at ourselves for not forseeing the association she would make when she wasn't able to recall the entire word! I think for the next FHE we will do a lesson out of a book!

A few other things she had told me this week that made me laugh:

• On Saturday I was getting onto her about cleaning her room. I told her I used to have to clean my room , bathroom, dust the living room and vacuum on Saturdays before I got to do fun things with friends. She protested this argument by telling me that "that was the olden days, we don't do it that way now!"
• Driving home from Florence yesterday we drove by a farm and it smelled like manure. We were joking with her that we thought it was her that was stinky and he said "Oh, that reminds me of something back from the Christmas parade there was a horse that pooped on the street in the parade and it was golden!" Now, I realize this doesn't really sound that funny, but the parade was December 10th, 2007 and she hasn't made on mention of that curious sight until now. Plus the golden poop thing. Kids are crazy. I told her I wished we had a horse that pooped out gold.
• Jack I suppose deserves some face time too. He doesn't say much, but yesterday at IHOP (It was National Pancake Day) a toddler was crying really loud and he looked around pointing his finger and said "Guying....NO!"

Tagged

My Sister-in-Law tagged me, so here goes~

The rules of the game should be posted at the beginning of the post. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comments, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I don't like to talk on the phone. Sure I worked as a Project Manager where I managed people doing market research over the phone, manage is the key word though. If I had actually been on the phones calling I would have had a nervous breakdown! Truthfully, I am easily frazzled on the phone and find myself saying strange things or too many things, especially when it is someone I don't know. This fear is also why I think I am really bad at keeping in touch with friends and family.

2. I am a reality show junkie, much like the relative that tagged me. I DVR most the major reality shows, but get hooked on occasion by a marathon of others here and there. I love watching people with various backgrounds interact in different situations. Although some may say that these shows aren't really reality, I think that whatever they are they are primal in their ability to entertain me.

3. I am a sucker for tradition in the kitchen?!? I am not sure if that is the right word for it, but maybe it is more like nostalgia. Mac found me a set of 4 Corelle plates like the kind we had in our house growing up at a yard sale and I was the happiest person. Now whenever we have pancakes I eat them on one of these plates and for some reason it is comforting. I also use a salt and pepper shakers that my Grandpa Burgess had sitting on his kitchen table for years. We also have a set of those kid tupperware cups that I feel the need to make my children use. We also consistantly use Mardi Gras cups for our everyday drinks. Mac and I even bought two Training Table glasses when we lived in Utah because that is where we had the majority of our first few dates.

4. I love staying in motel rooms, travel and everything that goes along with it. It doesn't matter where we go whether it is Costa Rica, DisneyWorld or two hours away. There is something magical about not having to make your own bed, and/or clean your own room, and of course little shampoos, conditioners, and lotions.

5. I can touch my nose with my tongue. Some think this is amazing, others do not. If I am contacted for a reality show I will let ya'all know!~

6. One of my biggest fears about getting married was coming up with something to eat for dinner for the rest of my life! Consequently, I love to eat out. Luckily I am easy to please an don't mind eating at McDonalds, Pizza Hut...etc I also almost always get the same thing everywhere we go. This drives Mac C-R-A-Z-Y! I just hate the thought of spending money on something I probably won't like! FYI if anyone out there has this in common with me you may want to visit this webpage: http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/

I don't really have anyone to tag, because I read more blogs than I comment on, but this was a fun exercise. I hope those that read enjoy!