Good Times and Cows...

Something in the air at Disneyland must inspire my children to say strange and hillarious things! We drove thru Burger King on the way home (which, to my credit, we haven't eaten at one in probably 4 years!) and Brayden and I got Whoppers and Savannah had a cheeseburger. Brayden called out to me from the backseat, "Mom, did you know right now you're eating a cow?" My mouth was completely full of cow, and yet I answered him, "I sure do, and I love it!" He was silent for a bit, eating the burger that he had already deemed delicious, and then said, "Mom, I don't want to be a cow." "That's good buddy, 'cause you're not going to be one." Maybe thirty seconds went by and he said, "but mom, if I was a cow, I'd still want to celebrate holidays and stuff, and play with toys, and eat cheeseburgers and not get hunted." I couldn't really think of a great response to that, so I just said, "hmmm," I mean, really, what is there to say. He has a great imagination...or a serious problem.
So, now for the reason we were at Disneyland on a school night... When Kelly and I were first married we met another young couple in our ward that we clicked with immediately. Bryce and Jessica Mecham. We spent many Sunday evenings eating dinner and playing cards, laughing and talking. They were (and are) some of our very favorite people on the planet. The last time we saw them was right before we moved to Califonia, almost 16 years ago. Over time we've both moved and lost touch, and then comes the beauty of Facebook. We finally found eachother and have been talking. They brought their family to California to go to Disneyland and we were privileged to have them come to church with us on Sunday and then come back to our house for dinner and good old fashioned hang out time. Their entire family was such a breath of fresh air and we were reminded how truly blessed we have been to have some remarkable friends in our lives. We were able to pick up right where we left off and it was amazing to spend time with them. If it's not too cliche, I would call them 'kindred spirits.'
We joined them at Disneyland after school for "Family Home Evening" and had a great time. Our Brayden and their Ellie get along fabulously, they may be twins separated at birth! So we're grateful for good friends and looking forward to the time when the four of us can travel together ... 'cause you can't do that with just anyone, y'know!

A note to creepy, stalker salesmen in parking lots...

Whenever a (now usually younger), man approaches me in a pair of khakis and a collared button-up shirt with his hands out and says, much too loudly, "hey, excuse me, don't worry, I'm not crazy!" I automatically think to myself, "what's he selling now?" This happened to me today at Sam's Club, as my rear end is literally hanging out of the back passenger door of the Denali (more on that to follow). I squinted into the sun to see not one, but two, twenty-ish dudes, dressed alike, trying to hand me a brochure to look at. Mind you, I did say I was at Sam's club, but I should clarify that I was LEAVING Sam's, which means I had about $350 worth of meat, milk, refrigerated foods and two boxes of the awesome-est Swiss Miss fudgesicle bars all playing beat the clock before I melt or rot in the ridioculously-still-hot weather that is California. I was in my workout clothes from the gym (the fudgesicles only have 100 calories each!) and my hair was a little frizzy from the sweat. Rico Suavee and his Jr. Companion are trying to sell me 5 visits to the local spa and wanting to know if I've ever had a facial...seriously?! His big cheesy grin fell of his face and dripped down his freshly ironed shirt when I refused to take the card and said, "sorry, I'm not interested right now." He looked at me like he couldn't believe it and skulked off like a child. I finished loading ALL of the groceries into the backseat since the back of the Denali is FULL of cans waiting to go to the recycling center. I'm assuming that they were once bagged up securely, but when I unsuspectingly opened the back door to load my groceries today, a mountain of them fell noisily out of the back of my car! I was totally embarassed as I picked them back up and threw them into the car. Cans were EVERYWHERE! I looked like I had just come from the park where I'd been going through trash cans to collect bottles. Thanks Quincy, my super industrious 11 year old, always trying to make a buck. I finally got into the car and turned the air on high...As I sat lamenting the situation, I saw my fine khaki'd friends approaching another woman trying to unload her Sam's cart...only she had a child with her. They were sent packing yet again. Yikes! Think about it boys, you'd probably do better not holding up the mom with a cart of groceries...I'm just sayin'!

What the hay...

We had yet another late night last night, but it was all good. We went to visit some friends in Glendora that we haven't seen for 6 years!! It's sad how quickly time can pass if you don't pay attention to it. They are dear friends from our ward in Covina and it was amazing how easy it was to pick right up like we saw eachother yesterday. Thanks Stephanie and Hector.
We got home around 10:30 (we wanted to make sure we wore out our welcome!) and Kelly picked up the Bishop's two boys who were spending the night with us because their parents are out of town and they wanted to go on the paint ball trip today. We got everyone into bed and then we get out of bed to go put h20 bottles in the freezer and make lunches for all the paint ballers since they didn't do it earlier...SURPRISE! We finally get back into bed and are talking when Kelly has to excuse himself...not feeling too well. WHENEVER someone in my house has the flu or anything like unto it, my stomach freaks out! I start feeling queasy and it takes a while for me to figure out if I'm physically sick or mentally sick. I'm just thanking my lucky stars I didn't kiss him goodnight yet because then I'd have "it" for sure. He's back and forth for a while and we finally get to sleep. The next thing you know, Brayden is in our room, whimpering that he's scared. He's been coming to get into our bed a lot lately, but I don't want him in there (even more than usual) because Kelly's sick and I want to stop the spread of whatever it is. Brayden is bouncing up and down like he does when he's delirous and needs to use the rest room, so I tell him to go to the bathroom and then I'll take him to bed. He's in there for a little bit and I call out from my bed, "you okay in there?" He says he is so I remind him to wash his hands, with soap and then I'll tuck him in. I get out of bed and we go get him settled in once again, turn on the closet light, and I throw in the obligatory, "you feeling better now?" He cuddles up with his sheets and says, "yeah, I just hope I don't vomit again!" NOT expecting that answer! "What do you mean, vomit? You threw up? Where?" He's starting to fall asleep now and says, "in your bathroom." "Did you throw up in the toilet?" I asked, my stomach is now doing flip-flops! "No, I threw up when I was sitting on the toilet." I'm doing a mental calculation in my head of the last time we had a "using the bathroom and throwing up at the same time" incident and how I wished he had been sitting on the pot for that one and think maybe I dodged a bullet, but I still can't believe what a casual conversation we're having. "You threw up and you didn't tell me?" His eyes aren't even open now. "Sorry Mom...I forgot." Well, I'm taking that as a good sign, it couldn't have been too traumatic and I didn't hear him getting sick, so...
SO...I come back into my room and see Kelly standing at the bathroom door with the light on, dumbstruck, and we both say, "what the..." Vomit is an understatement! I left the room, Kelly cleaned it up, washed his hands and feet, and we finally get back into bed. Just before he falls asleep he rolls over and says, "Happy Anniversary." Because it is now, even though we shouldn't be awake to know that!

Tell me the stories...

Well, I spent the day at Disneyland with my three youngest children today, and it went pretty well. They were 'mostly' good, with the exception of growling at eachother if they were bumped, hurried, asked a question, looked at wrong...you get the idea. As we were leaving the parking lot at the end of the day, Savannah tried to give Brayden his DS (a gaming device, for the grandparents) and he snarled, "I don't want it, you hold it!" She snarled something back and I stood on my tongue to keep from snarling back myself. I decided we could all use a 'teaching moment', so I looked into the rearview mirror and said (more sweetly than usual), "guys, do you think when Jesus was a little boy he growled and snarled at his brothers and sisters or do you think he talked nicely to them?" Brayden admitted that he was probably nice; so having their full attention I 'taught' for a few minutes and then Savannah piped up from the backseat, "no one even knows what you're talking about...Mooother!" Oh, okay! As usual, my mistake.
We have a deal...they say their prayers at night, they get a back rub. Actually, Kelly made the deal, but I'm the one usually here to enforce it (le sigh!)...any hoo...tonight Savannah went first and said a pretty decent prayer. Brayden followed with the usual rush prayer for a back rub. After he hopped into bed I thought I'd have another 'teaching moment' because the first one went so well and all. I said, "I heard a lot of asking for things in the prayers, but not a lot of thanking. What could we tell Heavenly Father we're thankful for?" "Food!" was Brayden's immediate answer, and he usually does say he's thankful for the food in his bedtime prayers, but he forgot tonight in anticipation of the rub. "Besides food..." Blank faces. I talked about how it's a blessing that we can see and walk and Savannah reminded us of the man we saw with his feet broken off (he had no legs) at the movie 'feater. "Right," I said, "and what about today? Where did you get to go? Not every kid gets to go to Disneyland because it costs a lot of money. Your Daddy had a good job and was able to buy you passes to Disneyland, that's a blessing." Savannah propped herself up on one elbow and says, very seriously, "you mean the Daddy that doesn't have any hair?" Yep, that'd be the one. Thanks for the Disneyland passes, hairless Daddy.

Sunday Night Comics

We were just sitting around eating dinner tonight and Quincy asked someone to pass him the melk...not milk...melk. Of course I, being the family grammar police, said, "pass you the what?" He repeated, "melk." Makenzie rolled her eyes and said, "he's just trying to be stupid," and Isaiah laughed. Kelly said "what the heck is 'melk'?" Savannah, who was standing on her chair at the time, shouts, "it's spanglish!" We still haven't gotten out of her where she came up with that, we've never said it. We've asked several times where she heard it and she either responds with, "from myself!" or "you don't need to know!" Pretty darn funny!

Little Devil on Wheels!

I don't know if I've mentioned that Savannah is just like her older sister...competitive! Her friend Chloe learned how to ride a 2-wheeler and it took Savannah two seconds to request the removal of her training wheels. Chloe's dad, Larry, took the wheels off for Savannah, steadied her on the bike and off she went, not allowing any help after that. The next day she was flying down the driveway at break neck speed whilst standing up! Obviously she didn't get that from me...I think I was nine when I learned to ride a bike! She does a great job, but notice where her helmet is...

He said...She said...

First off, it's been a whole year since I've blogged...how sad is that? But, no time for excuses, things to write.

Savannah dropped Brayden's DS into the tub yesterday and fried it. We were discussing it at the dinner table and he says, "well, it's okay, 'cuz once I dropped it in the toilet and had to get it out, but I tried not to touch the poo!" Nice. It's always good to try not to touch the poo!

On the way home from swim tonight Brayden was making lists of foods he likes to eat (categorized into the 3 main meals and desserts!) He asked me what the difference between burritos and tacos was, so I started listing the different things that come on tacos; tomatoes, onion, lettuce, salsa...and from the back seat Savannah sings out, "garlic!" We actually don't put garlic in our tacos, but I thought it was a pretty sophisticated ingredient for a four year old!

As I'm typing the kids are in the family room with Kelly while he's watching one basketball game, waiting for the Jazz game. He told the kids, "play now because you're going to bed in ten minutes." Brayden replied, "um, no we're not, actually." Little do they know! Now see, if it were me in there, instead of Kelly, I'd be putting the kids to bed NOW, so that when the Jazz game came on I'd be all done with that little headache...higher thinking.