I am so glad that the little boy that was being held hostage for a week in Midland City, AL is safe and free. It is also probably good that the bad guy was killed instead of living the rest of his life in jail and in court. I think he was mentally ill and the only reason the boy survived is that Mr Dykes was not perhaps as far gone as he thought and the Lord protected little Ethan. I have been praying along with many others and am grateful for his safety. It really scares parents when things like this happen. I don't know any of the people directly involved but I do have a friend that is a teacher at the school Ethan attends. It's nice to see communities come together to help one another and pray together. It's also nice that the law enforcement officers did a good job, so it seems, instead of making a mess of things. Monday night as we were having family home evening I thought about telling the kids about this story (he had not been rescued yet) and us praying for Ethan as a family but then I got distracted and didn't do it. I am a bit bummed because he was rescued an hour later and what a miracle that would have been to the kids, to pray for him and he be rescued an hour later. I was also worried though about scaring them. Anyway, I didn't know he was rescued until the next morning because I actually went to bed early. I was really tired from staying up all night watching the Super Bowl. What a good game! So Tuesday morning I told the kids about the hostage situation and told them how I had been praying all week and my and many others' prayers were answered and the boy was safe. They seemed interested in what I had to say and happy the boy was safe.
So speaking of the Super Bowl, that was a crazy game. I was like shouting when things were happening I just couldn't believe like that touchdown right after half time. The half time show was trashy junk, by the way. Do women really wonder why they get treated like crap by men when they run around mostly naked doing provacative things? Makes me sick. Yes, women, if you want anyone to show you respect you have to show respect for yourself first. Anyhow, the good part was the football. I was so happy the Ravens were playing well and then I just couldn't believe it when all of a sudden the 49ers scored like three touchdowns in three minutes. It was madness. The whole power outage was crazy too. The two head coaches are brothers! It was Ray Lewis's last game and I like him, partly because I grew up with an awesome guy in my home ward with the same name. There are several other awesome guys on the Ravens team like Michael Oher, two former AL players, three LDS players from BYU, UT, and Oregon and I'm sure lots of other great footballers. Plus, I lived in the Baltimore area for several years and would be a traitor if I went for San Francisco. It was so close at the end. I thought we were gonna lose and then I was so happy we didn't. I know the 49ers coach is complaining about two calls but they would have lost anyway. They should have played better the entire game instead of the three minute streak of good luck. The Ravens were the better players that night and I wish they would have won by more than three points but happy for them and I hear they had an awesome after party back in Baltimore.
So another thing I am glad about is switching the living room and play room. I don't know why I ever had it the other way. I guess it may be because the owners had that as their living room and it may be a bigger room. However, my couch did fit in here and the desk and now I can sit on the couch and see in the back and front yard, into the dining room and kitchen. You know what I don't see? Toys! The playroom is now off by itself where I can shut the door and not be bothered by their mess and it's a little easier to have them keep the toys in there instead of dragging them all over the house. This is mostly where Avery and Tristan play since Lidia and Aiden don't play with toys too much anymore but they will hang out in there with them and play or read. We spent the day Saturday moving the rooms. Tristan didn't want to feel like he was moving again he said but now I think he likes it better. Now their playroom has carpet and I don't have to look at the old fashioned green carpet or curtains. This room looks more modern too so that's a plus. The fireplace is in the playroom but we never use it anyway. It stinks to me and scares me to turn it on, it's gas. There used to be a wood burning firplace in this room but the owners covered it up with sheet rock for some reason. There is still a chimney on the roof. It is nice and more like home to have the kitchen, dining and living room connected. It's not as open as our house in UT but it feels open with all the big windows and now if I'm in the kitchen I don't feel isolated because I can still see and hear everything going on in the living room. This room is also warmer. The other room used to be the garage so the radiators in there were added later and are at the end of the line or something because they don't really get very hot if the others in the house are on so it's pretty chilly in there. I had a guy come out and he said all of the radiators need to be flushed. Residue builds up in the bottom and only the tops get hot. The property management is setting that up.
Another thing I am glad about and wonder why I didn't think to do sooner is the app where you take a pic of a check with your ipad or iphone and it deposits it into your account, no driving to the bank needed. This is very helpful for me since one of my accounts is in Utah and the other is a 75 minute drive and limited hours. I do have a UK account here in town but it doesn't take USA checks. I don't get checks from the states often but it does happen here and there.
I am also glad that my kids are learning to cook, not a lot, and I don't like the mess they leave behind, but it's nice they can feed themselves. Tristan often cooks himself an egg. It's cute to come downstairs and see him eating an egg he cooked for himself instead of a bowl of cereal. He does burn it a little but he still eats it. I bought some frozen waffles at Costco and Avery has been eating those but I kind of regret buying them because they are not whole grain and probably don't keep him full very long. Oh well, they will be gone soon and I won't buy them again.
