Public school warning.

Hey Everyone,
I just wanted to alert you all to something Parker learned at school yesterday. He came home, and thankfully asked me and Randal, about a survey they studied at school. Needless to say, I was SHOCKED they would teach the kids about this, especially without the parents knowing ahead of time. He said, "Did you know that 9 out of 10 parents steal candy from their children's Halloween buckets?" I don't know what the school was thinking, but that is NOT something I wanted my kids learning about! Anyway, we might all want to speak up on this issue. First, I had to ask Parker what his definition of stealing was and then I had to ask how many candy was considering stealing. Let's just say, according to Parker, I (Randal too if he man's up) have some repenting to do. My opinion was, if a tree in a forest falls down and no one is there to hear it, it DIDN'T HAPPEN! Or whatever that great philosophical question is. Truthfully, I thought this issue would be like the Santa thing, if you catch my meaning (I'm being a little cryptic in case some of your children read over your shoulder like mine sometimes does.) I just figured at the right time, they knew and took proper security measures. Oh well, this may be one of those things that is a blessing in disguise. Later Taters!

Pink eye, STINK eye

So, we just can't seem to get healthy at my house. And after a month of basically the same four walls, I am feeling a bit exhausted even though I'm not doing anything. Surely, you know what that is like. So busy taking care of sick kids, but you're not running around or anything. Well, here's how the last month has gone. First, my aunt Linda passed on which had me in a funk for a few days. Then the two little ones get a cold, lasts about a week. Next, they are 110 % better and I have the cold, again, lasts about a week. During my sick week, Perry gets a hearing test and his ear drums don't respond, so he goes on antibiotics that taste GREAT (they had me taste it at the pharmacy.) And the grand Finale (I HOPE) is I think we have pink eye in our house. Now, I've seen pink eye before. It's about as forgettable as pink hair. And normally, about medical things at least, I'm a rule FOLLOWER. But the thought of another Dr appointment, another co-pay, and a big fat lecture about not knowing if it's viral or bacterial, yada yada yada, and I am left doing my own doctoring. You see, we have leftover medicine from the last time Pink visited our house, TSK TSK. And I am 95% sure on one kid, and about 80% sure the other one has it. (We caught it early, I think, in the second one.) SO, here's to leftover meds. I have leftover generic Vicadin and some other pain meds from post c-sections, if anyone is interested, HA HA. I don't know what to do with leftover medicine. You aren't supposed to flush it or put it in the disposal because we don't want a bunch of strung out fishys. I don't want to just throw it in the garbage and be responsible, though not directly, for someone, somewhere finding the medicine and overdosing or something. And who can remember to grab the stuff and take it to a pharmacy, where I THINK they can dispose of it properly? Oh, and while I'm confessing, I still have cough medicine AND decongestant for infants, though the supply is getting low and they don't recommend giving it to little ones anymore. I think confession time and grumping time are over now. It's funny, just this morning I read President Monson's talk "Finding Joy in the Journey.' It's a great talk. And I know intellectually that someday I'll miss this time (not pink eye, but time spent at home doing nothing with the kids.) But today, I'm just not feeling it. I guess I need to read it again, because I think I missed the point. Thanks for reading my grump. I feel better actually just getting it off my chest. Here's the gross picture I found.

Past Lives

Hey Everybody, In my search for photos for my birthday tribute to Ami, I found some H*I*L*A*R*I*O*U*S photos from my own past. Some of you have come to think I'm a somewhat stable and normal person (LOL.) But I have proof otherwise. I still have not been able to find any pictures from the hot pink hair days, but I did find some photos of me as a black belt. You might also note the number of ear piercings. I have to give props to Shandy for fixing the photos for me. She has a great new business in which she can correct photo flaws (like red eye, development issues, etc.) or change color photos to sepia or black/white photos. She could tell you more, but I just want to say her prices were awesome, she was fast and, of course, she did great work. See for yourself. http://photoflattery.blogspot.com/
So, I humbly submit these photos for laughing purposes only.

One of my favorite moves in the forms, was when we did a down ward knife-hand aimed at the groin. Then you are supposed to grab and twist and yank up. It's a powerful visual.

Sid the Science Kid:

I get this song stuck in my head ALL the time. So...I'm sharing. The cool part is missing. "I love my mom. UH-HUH! My mom is Cool. Uh-huh. Now it's time, to go to school."

Like a Virgin

Okay, don't let the title offend you. This just has to do with my Little-Middle who is only four. Peter is a great smart boy, who had speech therapy when he was young and may need it again once he's in school. The other day Peter was talking and talking and talking, mostly about video games. And I was replying as much as I could when the conversation doesn't make sense. And all of a sudden Peter says, "Do you know that Virgin I like?" Okay, think fast. You know he didn't really say what you thought he said, but what could he be talking about-that's what I'm saying to myself. Well, I finally realize he is trying to ask, "Do you know, that VERSION that I like (still talking about video games.) So now, I keep trying to get him to say that word to others in sentences because I think it's funny and I like to see other people's reactions. But it also reminds me of so many other cute things my kids have said that I am starting to forget. So, I need to make another list at the bottom of my blog. Later Taters.

Happy 35th Birthday Ami

I have a few kind friends who think I have a talent for gift giving. I try to graciously say thanks, but don't always feel like I suceed in giving the "perfect gift." SO, what do you give your best friend of more than 20 years? Through the years, we've done homemade mix CD's(and even, GASP, cassette tapes), various other music CD's, movies, spa gifts, chocolate, gift certificates, various other gifts and wall plaques (my favorite being a saying about good friends bailing you out of jail, but best friends are right beside you saying, "Damn, that was fun!") This is the friend who introduced me to the gospel and the LDS church, thus changing my life perspective and course forever for the good. Without Ami, I'm not sure I would have gone to college. I wouldn't have met my husband and had my wonderful children. I wouldn't have had so many wonderful opportunities to love and serve Heavenly Father's children. I may not have learned how to forgive others or myself. I wouldn't have some wonderful recipes like shrimp dip and that naughty Snicker's salad. I wouldn't have had a second family to help raise me. And so many other things. So, I post these pictures, most of which are older, not to embarass, but to introduce all my newer friends to Ami. I still can't think of a tangible gift to give and I am not great with words either. I'm out of time because her birthday is today. And all I can say is that I am truly blessed for knowing her. Happy Birthday, Ami!

Aunt Linda-could be a little sad, sorry!

Yesterday, I got a phone call that I knew would come. My aunt Linda had passed away from cancer. I knew this was coming (though it didn't make it easier and I wasn't expecting it yesterday, if you know what I mean). She's been fighting the fight for about three years now. It looked bad then, but some amazing doctors and treatments were actually able to help her have more time with her family (she was only in her 50's) and I believe it was quality time meaning that she actually was feeling good during that time until the end. ANYWAY, I'm a little sad, but wanted to tell anyone who would listen, that though I didn't know her well, I loved her and she was a great lady. I'm still the only LDS member in my family, and that still causes a lot of awkwardness with almost all of my family. But my aunt Linda didn't mind. She is a Christian in the truest sense. We were able to talk about God and Jesus on the common grounds we share and didn't worry about the rest. I LOVED to tease her about liking the Backstreet Boys. She was just like a teenager about them and even went to a concert of theirs. So I changed my playlist today just for her. The first time I met Aunt Linda (as an adult) was when she came to Utah for my wedding. That was wonderful to have some of my family there and especially that they didn't care or worry about it being a "mormon wedding" or the "temple" or "UTAH." Even I still worry when I go to Utah :) And my wedding was near her anniversary, so I think they celebrated their anniversary by coming to my wedding. I also got to spend a lot of time with her when both of my grandparents died. She was a very insightful and understanding lady (our family is kind of dysfunctional in case you didn't guess.) Did I mention she was beautiful too. Well, she was. Anyway, I don't have much more to say, but I did love her and am having a sad moment. And in case you are tempted to never read my blog again because today was just a bit maudlin, then let me tempt you with the fact that while digging through a bunch of old photo in order to make a tribute to my best friend on her 35th birthday, I found some truly hilarious pictures of me and some of you too probably. The ones I intend to post are from my Tae Kwon Do days. Did I mention I think they are hilarious?

Blankies

My husband has a problem with Peter at bed time. You see, he can't tell Peter's "Baby Ginkie" apart from Peter's "Teddybear Ginkie." So, silly though it seems, I thought I would post the pictures and see if you notice the differences. I guess my husband can see the differences, he just can't keep them straight. Anyway, Peter's Baby Ginkie has a blue ruffled edged. It also has different colored bears holding hearts on it and a chintz back. The Teddie Bear Ginkie had a blue back and all the bears are wearing pink pajamas. Both blankies were actually gifts to Parker, but he never got attached to them. So Peter got them and loves them. The pink pajamas the bears wear always remind me of a song/poem that R says his mom used to sing to them. I think it's hilarious, so here it is. "I wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it's hot. I wear my flannel nightie in the winter when it's not. And sometimes in the spring time and sometimes in the fall, I just between the covers with nothin' on at all." I never got to meet her, so this little poem makes her real and likable to me. I'm sure it's the greeting I'll get when I do get to meet her.

In all fairness, I thought I would include the two other blankies in our lives. Parker, when he was three or four, drew a pretty good replica of his blanket and if I figure out my scanner problems, I'll include it. He inluded in his drawing the tag and the holes it had at the time that I only recently noticed have merged into one hole. He also spent the first few years, for reason unknown to us since he did know his colors, calling his blanket "Pink." You may notice that it is red. Then one day, out of the blue (he he,) we told him to go get "Pink" and he said it was "Red!" We no longer hear about "Pink" and that is kind of sad.



Perry is our little Linus. And I have been searching for duplicate blankets, to no avail, on the internet, just in case the blankie perisheth or even so I can wash it without the blankie separation anxiety. Here is his beloved.

Parker's thoughts on his family.

Parker was once asked to respond to the question "If you could make a totem pole for your family, what stories would it represent? This is his response:
It would be a tiger to represent my smarts. A fish for persistence for my brother Perry. He never gives up. A cheetah for speed and my brother Peter who has lots of speed. A monkey that is funny and that's for my dad. A killer whale for her (mom's) kindness.
Am I missing something? I wasn't aware that killer whales are kind. I think it's the killer part of the name that throws me.

SNL VP debate

This is too funny!