It's my own fault really, we all make mistakes....

One last post for 2010

It's my own fault really....

If I'd just buckled her into her booster chair she wouldn't have eaten all of my food.

At least she is eating....

I'll probably never learn that this kid likes to paint with his hands.

At least he is having fun...

I never should have let her have a candy cane and a tissue at the same time...

Then again she's always in need of a tissue.

A candy cane not so much...

I can't seem to remember to lock my office when it's not in use.

It's a museum of interesting stuff that Lyon can't wait to get his hands on...

Forget keeping hands out of a cookie jar,

I need to teach this girl to keep her hand out of the pudding...

Yes, it's my own fault, I hope for many more faults in the year 2011 ;D

Happy New Year!!!

Have a very merry christmas everyone, and a happy new year...

I am not driving my truck in a winter wonderland...

Not by choice.

Today as I was leaving to pick up my son from kindergarten my truck stalled.

I was in the process of backing out of my driveway.

At first I thought maybe I'd run out of gas.

I was certain it wasn't the battery because the radio was still working.

Until it wasn't.

Nothing was working anymore after a few minutes.

So there I sat, in my truck with my two little ones.

The truck sat half on my driveway and half on the street.

Well, at least it isn't blocking traffic.

Yeah it is still sitting there.

What can I do?

I got a ride home for Bear.

I called Superman at work.

I stood in the falling snow looking dumbfounded.

I opened the hood and took a look.

It just seemed like the thing to do.

Then a good friend offered to help.

We tried this we tried that, the truck wouldn't start.

Still I'm grateful for friends willing to help.

I am not pissed off about the whole thing.

I am actually smiling because it is kind of funny.

To think where my truck is currently sitting.

What will people think?

That some woman didn't know how to park on the driveway.

That maybe I couldn't see it.

That I got stuck and couldn't make it up the slight incline.

Who knows.....

For now it'll just have to leave people wondering though ;D

And Bear says...

I was helping Bear write the title for his present for Superman,

He instructed me what to write,

"Membery book, by Bear Graves and Mom......... 

Uh, Mom?  What is your last name?"

Bringing new meaning to the term...

"Sitting on the pot."

Kiddie Candids

I could go for hours talking about the nightmare that is 

getting my children's pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids.

But if you are a mother, and you've been to Kiddie Kandids you already know.

So I won't bore anyone with the detestable details.

Quite frankly I'd rather not relive it.

Instead I will simply say:

With all the muss and fuss and all the expensive equipment,

Kiddie Kandids photo's of my daughter are no where near as good as this unprofessional shot.

Had we a reflector with us when we took this, it would be even better still.

Just sayin...

Today...

Today on my way to meet the girls for lunch....

A teenage girl flipped me off because she didn't realize I was pulling over to the side of the road so I could run into the library.  She was pissed because she kept trying to wave me over and I ignored her.   I don't know why she didn't just go past me, there was plenty of room to do so, lol!  Darned teenagers.

Then I saw a guy riding a motorcycle with his golden retriever sitting on the back [of the motorcycle].

Whoa, seriously that was shocking!

You would cry too if it happened to you...

My daughter....

Yesterday she cried about everything.

Particularly while in nursery.

Or so Superman tells me.

He sat in there with her for the last 15 minutes.

He told me how she bawled about everything.

Like:

She was looking at a new little baby in his car seat.

The big brother of that baby didn't like her looking, so he pushed her down.

She cried.

She was going to sit down at the table for snack time.

She chose a chair that another kid had already claimed.

When that kid told her "NO!" she couldn't sit there,

she cried.

She cried when her toy got taken away,

she cried when she got kicked out due to her runny nose, 

she cried when she didn't get more snacks.

Yep, cried about everything.

But.

You would cry too if it happened to you, wouldn't you?

Say you were admiring someones cute baby and their husband pushed you down 

because he didn't like you looking at the baby.

You would cry too if it happened to you.

Say you were about to sit down next to your friends,

but one of them told you "NO!  You can't sit there!"

You would cry too if it happened to you.

Say you were told you had to leave your group of friends because

you had a runny nose.

You would cry too if it happened to you.

You would cry if you had something in your hand and someone took it away.

You would cry if you were hungry, but you couldn't have more snacks.

Wouldn't you?

I know my feelings would be hurt, lol, but I guess I wouldn't cry.

We learn not to as we get older.

Because someone might be mean and make us cry ;)

Of course I must say that my daughter did look absolutely adorable while she cried.

Don't you think?

Don't tell me if you don't think so.

That would make me cry, because

I made that dress and flower.

And Bear says...

Bear and Lyon are in the kitchen looking through a wal-mart add.

There are a whole lot of pictures of toys.

Bear saw one of a toy guitar.

He wanted it and asked if he could get it.

I told him he'd have to ask Santa.

He said, "No, YOU just buy it!"

A boxing glove

I just don't know where he comes up with this stuff...

This ^ is a boxing glove.

Apparently.

Bear made it himself.

I couldn't tell, could you?

He made his boxing glove with folded up pieces of construction paper and a sandwich bag.

He's a smart kid, he made two, one for each hand.

The paper didn't do much in the way of providing cushion or padding.

And.

The boxing glove didn't last very long.

I'm glad I didn't have to buy one.

Only to be furious when it only lasted one night.
I suppose you'd call it a one night stand with a toy

BYU football games

I've slowly been losing interest in going to BYU football games.

Or watching them on the tele.

It's not that I don't enjoy a good game.

It's not that I don't get excited at the prospect of an awesome play.

It's not that BYU didn't have the best season this year.

It's because no matter how hard I try I can never seem to watch the game anymore.

I miss almost every single play.

I can't follow a whole play.

I can't keep track of the ball.

Where it is on the field or which team has possession.

Why?

Well I've got kids.

Kids who no longer watch the game because they want to play it.

Kids who need things, all the time.

I am the one who always has to get those things.

Let's face it.

If I left it up to Superman our kids would most likely be starving, dirty, tired, and probably lost too.

At least for the duration of any of the BYU football games.

So it's up to me.

Back and forth, in and out, up and down.

Making this, making that.

This takes a toll on my ability to pay attention to any kind of program on the tele.

There have been a few times that we have taken our kids to watch some 

BYU football games at the stadium.

This is how we survived the last one.

That'd be Lyon.

Watching a movie on my ipad.

Up in the stadium stands.

Reclined in a stadium chair.

This would have been far more successful had I remembered to bring ear phones.

Regardless of this distraction,

I still missed 90% of the game.

This is why I say "no" when asked if I want to go to the football game.

That and the reasons listed above as to why I don't want to leave my kids alone with Superman while he is watching a BYU football game.

LOL!!!

Oh come on babe, you know I am kidding ;D

Well, since nobody is going on about swine flu anymore, it must not be that ;D Winter fever...

The family has the flu.

My family.

Except for Superman, who never gets sick, no surprise there ;)

Lyon got it first:

103+ degree fever.

Runny nose.

Horrible sounding cough.

Etc.

Lyon set up camp on the couch.

Though he has had a few moments where I thought he was getting better,

 he keeps ending up back on the couch with a fever.

He kept me up all night the other night.

He was half asleep, and mumbling random phrases.

I could hardly understand a word he said.

I'll admit I was worried, but it was still funny.

Bear was next, waking up Monday morning with:

103+ degree fever.

Runny nose.

Horrible sounding cough.

Etc.

He seems to have more energy due to this illness.

He talks a thousand miles a minute.

Runs circles around me.

Has made a million and one art pieces.

And all I can think is, what the heck!?

Fenix woke-up Monday morning just like Bear:

103+ degree fever.

Runny nose.

Horrible sounding cough.

Etc.

She hasn't reacted to being sick at all.

I wouldn't even be able to tell if I hadn't taken her temperature.

The cough gives her away too.

But still, she carries on.

She plays, she whines, she gets into markers and draws on her face.

She has all together way to much energy.

Then there is me:

Basically I have a 103+ degree fever.

And I feel like someone beat the crap out of me.

I want to set up camp on the couch.

Sigh, but I'm the mom, I can't do that.

Because there'd be no one else to make food, wipe noses, fetch blankets, and go crazy.

This is one adventure that Superman can't rescue me from.

I keep thinking we'll get better.

We really should be better by now!!!

It has been several days too long.

I have things to do and places to go and if we are sick I can't do anything!!!

ANYTHING!!!!!

It's a terrible tragedy ;D

And Fenix does..

Forget zooming it around like her brothers do,

she is going to use it to haul her stuff.

I guess carrying her toast in her hand just wasn't as cool as having a toy jeep hold it.

vacuum cleaner

Guess why she is crying...

Go ahead, guess....

Okay,  I'll tell you.

She is crying because her necklace, the one around her ankles in the picture below, 

is stuck in my vacuum cleaner.

She put it there.

Then she tried to pry her necklace out with her toys.

She couldn't get it out.

So she started to cry.

I turned the vacuum cleaner upside down and the necklace was rescued.

Fenix was happy.

So, she promptly put the necklace back into the vacuum cleaner.

I didn't get it out.

I said I'd do it later.

Then I forgot.

I found it later.

When my vacuum cleaner 

(that I had been trying to use non-stop to suck up building dust and carpet debris)

stopped working due to a massive obstruction.

It took at least an hour to unclog it.

And what was the last thing that I pulled out of my now working vacuum cleaner?

Fenix's necklace.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that.....

I washed it and gave it back to Fenix.

Christmas tree decorations

We put up our Christmas tree last night.

Well I helped my kids put it up.

I hauled our fake tree up the stairs and set it up in the front window.

I have a whole box of Christmas tree decorations.

Of those Christmas tree decorations I only planned to put up the lights.

Well...

I got the lights up, with a whole lot of "help" from Lyon, Fenix, and Bear.

Then while I tried to figure out why the top strand of lights weren't working, Bear and Lyon went downstairs and found the box of Christmas tree decorations.

"Mom, can we put on the candy canes?"

"Alright go ahead."

They hung the candy canes and Fenix ate about six of them in the process.

Thus she was quickly covered from head to toe in sticky.

She needed a bath.

So while I gave her a bath Bear and Lyon went nuts with the Christmas tree decorations.

Some of the decorations they put on the tree weren't even Christmas tree decorations at all.

They had so much fun decorating all by themselves that I didn't mind.

They laughed and smiled and were so excited in a way only a kid can be.

It was fun for me to see my boys like that.

Brought back a lot of my own childhood memories.

I could have corrected them and told them the tree looked weird and that I'd need to "fix" it.

But what for, so I could break their hearts.

Naw, I told them it is the most beautiful tree we've ever had.

And I meant it!

:D

Rock hard potatoes...

I wash my kids sheets multiple times in any given week.

Other than being irritating, it is generally less than interesting.

Until the day that I opened up my washer to find chunks of a baked potato.

Why Bear found it necessary to SNEAK a baked potato for a midnight snack I don't think I will ever know.  And why he didn't throw the pieces that he didn't eat away 

instead of hiding them in his blankets I can only guess.  

And Fenix does...

I had to call poison control again.

This time it was due to the toothpaste that Fenix had eaten and then smeared all over her body.

I was surprised at how quickly it burned her skin.

Fortunately she was fine.

I gave her the poison control recommended milk to drink.

I poured it over the burned areas too.

She didn't get sick.

The burns cleared up quickly.

And when poison control called me back an hour later I was able to report 

that my daughter was doing fine and dandy.

Where was I? Oh yeah, still at Wal-mart...

As I told this story to Superman I felt stupider and stupider.

This is why:

I told the kid, "Well I am actually headed down that way, I could give you all a ride."

To which he responded, "Well, we really don't want to leave the car behind.  It's my grandma's and we really need to get it back to her."

So first he asks if I can help them out by giving them a ride, then when I offer it, he turns it down.

Hmmmmm....

Well I could certainly understand not wanting to leave the car more than 30 miles away from home.

So I made another suggestion.

"Well why don't you get your sister and her kids and I will give them a ride, while you and your brother sort things out with your car."

He hesitates, "Well, we really want to stay together."

He was the one who asked for a ride in the first place, what is this kids deal?

He continues, "We really just need gas, we've found a guy who is willing to take us to a gas station, but we only have sixty five cents."

Translation:

"What we really need is your money."

I'm suspicious now, "Soooooo, why don't you go and get your sister and her two little ones, I will give them a ride so they don't have to wait it being so late and all.  

I could maybe give you five dollars for gas."

Again he declines my help, asking only for money.

Yeah, money, big surprise.

I tell him I am not just going to hand money over to him.

I tell him he has got to show me his people and prove that what he is saying is true.

No answer, he starts to walk away thanking me anyway.

Who is the idiot?

Obviously I am.

All I could think though was, 

but what if he ISN'T lying.

What if there really are some poor tired stranded kids wanting to get home, eat, and go to bed?

Here are the clues that he was in fact not helpless at all:

1-Would somebody really have pulled several miles off the freeway, to go to Wal-mart, thirty miles away from home that late at night, with two very small children?  

2-Would they really have been so dumb as to run out of gas on a road trip home.  

3-Don't people normally monitor their gas to be sure they can make their trip.  

4-If they were about to run out of gas wouldn't they have pulled off the freeway and into a gas station instead of the nearest Wal-mart.  

5-If they really didn't have any money for gas, what the heck were they doing at Wal-mart anyway?
6- Obviously asking for a ride to a city located more than 30 miles south was bound to get refusal.
7-What are the chances someone would actually be headed that way?
8-Who in the heck shops at a Wal-mart that far from home?

I should have thought a bit harder about his story before believing it.

Here is what I should have done:

Questionable looking young man approches me, "Excuse me maam.....we need help...."

Me, "Okay well, I'll tell you where you can get it.  Go to the nearest pay phone, look up the local police station, call the number listed there.  Tell an officer your problem, they are there to serve, so let them.  Now run along, good luck, have a nice night."

Then I should have hauled ass into my truck, looked up the local police stations number myself, and then called to let them know what this kid, with this car, with this license plate number, was doing.  

And perhaps saved someone else a few dollars or some wasted time.

The story doesn't end there.

Because I had to know if he really was lying or not.

I was just too darned worried.

I loaded up my truck, watching where this kid went out of the corner of my eye.

I saw him walk toward the entrance to the store.

I saw him meet up with two other guys.

I lost track of them while I got into my truck.

I waited, not long though.

The kid came back to his car, opened the door and then went back into the store.

Alone.

I drove around the lot.

I saw him with the two guys again.

They knew I was watching.

I pulled out of the lot drove around a restaurant and watched as these three guys climbed into their car, started it, and drove away.

Need I say more.....