Y'know, Valentine's Day is coming . . .

I love Jelly Bellies. If you are ever at a loss for what to buy me, rest assured that I find Jelly Belly Jelly Beans perfectly acceptable. And I'm not snobby: I'll take Belly Flops. I like fruit flavors and the sour ones best. And now I'm drooling.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny

One of these girls is seven months older than the other one.

For more pictures, see Heidi's blog.

I have birthed a midget.

Xenophobic

Regis (to Abby): Are you playing with the Zesty Italian?

Crystal: Abby! Do NOT play with zesty Italians!

Afraid of Momma Bear

I'm sorry to say that I lost my temper at Cub Scouts today. Despite that, it was a good meeting. The boys, including one who's new, worked on making board games and learning to play marbles, then we went to the kitchen and they helped me make Muddy Buddies. A lot of the boys didn't know what these delicious chocolatey-peanut-buttery treats are, but everybody was excited about helping, and everybody was definitely excited about eating them. Oddly enough, not one of the boys was excited about helping to clean up. Why should this be? It's a mystery.

Being a Den Leader is kind of tough at times. I don't think I'm old enough for them to respect as a "mom-lady," but I'm not young enough to be a peer. Cub Scouts is not like school: I can't send them to detention or the principal's office if they don't behave. Plus, it's voluntary and we want them to like coming, so we never want to exclude boys from activities.

However, I like order and I like to be listened to. There are two boys in particular who have problems with obeying directions, though all the boys slip now and then. Today I was washing out the dishes from the Muddy Buddies at one sink, while these two boys were tease fighting about who got to wash his hands at the next sink. The water in the sink was really hot and hurting my hands, Abby was shoving her head between my knees (her preferred method of getting my attention when she feels ignored), and I was very ready to go home. The boys were shoving and running into me, so I said, "Billy and Bobby, you need to stop." No response, of course (and not because those aren't their real names; I'm protecting myself. See title).
"Billy. Bobby."
Nothing.
So I yelled. "BILLY! STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
I definitely got his attention, anyway. I think I actually scared the poor kid. Sister Lefler (me) is normally such a calm, low-key person. Now he knows what happens when she doesn't get any Muddy Buddies.

Crystal's Thursday Three

Top Three LEAST Favorite Songs:

1. Maggie May by Rod Stewart
2. The Reason by Hoobastank
3. It Wasn't Me by Shaggy

I can recognize the first two by the initial 3 beats or so, along with the impending feeling of doom I always get seconds before they're played. I've skillfully avoided hearing either of them for years with my quick-draw channel changin' fingers. The third one never gets played on any station I actually listen to, so I don't worry about it.

2009

Happy new year! I hope you all have some lovely and promising resolutions for 2009.

I don't. Because I'm already practically perfect in every way.

Okay, okay, I don't have any because I'm a procrastinator, but I refuse to make that the subject of a resolution. We'll probably start resolving tomorrow, for family home evening, but if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments.