13 Years

As of today I have been married 13 years. It has been 13 years full of surprise music mixes and funny things like this on my door-- 

How can you not love that?

Family Night

Last Monday we told the kids we were going to do something entertaining and educational after school.  When we arrived at our destination Madison was very disappointed.  Apparently the library is not on her list of entertaining venues. So, in an effort to make the evening more enjoyable we decided to stop for a shake on the way home.

 

Of course they all had to sit by dad. You might think this bothers me.  What am I?  Chopped liver?  But honestly, that night I didn't have to tell Kai that a group of foxes is called a skulk, show Madison where the bathrooms were, calm Chase down after he saw a shark on the television, or talk Davis into keeping his pants on.  I think I came out ahead on this one.

Happy Bithday!

Happy Birthday Michael!

Here's looking toward to the next "Michael Activity Day!"

Anniversary Smanniversary

For our anniversary Michael had a painting made for me. It was done by Nate Ashby, and it is the coolest thing EVER.



Everything in the picture represents something memorable from our 10 years of marriage.

For example, we got engaged on Halloween so there is a mummy proposing to a witch. There may be more symbolism in that than I'd like to talk about.

There is a blue bird on one of the buildings because when Maddie was young we lived in the second story a dinky little apartment by Pioneer Park. A lot of homeless people sleep at this park and one night a drunk homeless man started wandering up and down the street yelling that he wanted everyone to call him Blue Bird. It was pretty hot that night so we didn't want to close our windows.

Needless to say the painting is pretty damn cool. You should come and see it in person.

10 Years Ago Today I Actually Talked Someone Into Marrying Me

That's right-- today is my ten year anniversary, and from the looks of this picture I got married when I was 17.

As a special anniversary present from the public school system my kids don't have school today. I decided to take this opportunity to sleep in until 8:15 when I heard my children say these two things--

Kai: "WOW! Look how many coco puffs I have! I think I need more!"

Chase: "I smell something STINKY!"

You'll be relieved to know that Kai hadn't filled his bowl with half a bag of coco puffs and no one was stinky. Apparently it just a ploy to get my lazy butt out of bed.

Happy Anniversary!

I Know Two Boys Who Need Some Lessons In Sharing

Marriage, Missions, and Fairies.

Kai:  I think I'm going to marry Dayna, and if that doesn't work out I'll marry Kaes.

Mike:  I don't think you should worry about who to marry just yet.

Madison:  Ya.  You don't have to think about that until your a teenager.

Mike:  How about you wait until you get back from your mission.

Kai:  I'm not going to go on a mission

Mike:  Why not?

Kai:  I don't want to walk FOR TWO YEARS!

Mike:  I didn't walk the whole time.  Sometimes I took a car . . .  I even road on a ferry!

Kai:  You road on a fairy?

Happy Birthday!

This is Michael and today is his birthday.  

You can tell by his outfit that he has a desperate need for attention.  

So, if you see him today you should make a really big deal about his birthday because he LOVES that sort of thing.  

Happy Birthday Michael!

Davis Update

I've been fielding a lot of phone calls about Davis so I decided it might be easier to put an update on the blog.

Davis was checked into the hospital Wednesday night. They just wanted to keep an eye on him because his white blood cell count was low, due to him being sick for over a week. His blood count began to increase so he was released Friday morning and is doing really well now.

We appreciate everyone's concern and support. Especially my parents who watched the other three kids with out complaint-- which is something I have a hard time doing!

One funny thing though, when Davis and I went the the hospital Wednesday morning for more blood tests we happened to have the same lady with the Russian accent. Even though we had seen her Monday and Tuesday she still did not remember us. When she went to draw his blood and saw the previous marks she asked if his blood had been drawn recently. "YES!" I said, "on Monday . . . by you!" She didn't believe me at first but after a quick ponder she replied, "Oh! You're the stool sample!"

My Baby is One

Davis celebrated his first birthday on Father's day. I was trying to figure out how often this would happen, but then gave up because I hate math.


Anyway we celebrated this momentous occasion with white cake and strawberries. I think we should do this every time Davis has a birthday on Father's Day. How ever often that is.

Snow, Glitter, and Glue

This weekend the boys played in the snow and made a wee snowman. It is one of my favorite snowmen they have made. At Kai’s insistence, it even has eyebrows. They all had a lot of fun and were freezing cold by the time they came in. I think it was worth it because I managed to get some great pictures of Chase to send to Holt (Chase’s adoption agency in Korea).

With all the snow it is starting to feel more like Christmas, and with Christmas comes the approaching New Year. So I have started to think about New Year Resolutions. I don’t usually make one because I’m realistic and don’t often enjoy taking on the task to better myself. However, I feel like making a resolution this year, so it is important I pick something that is attainable. Deep down, well maybe not so deep, I’m lazy. So if it’s something hard, I won’t do it.

I thought about cutting back on the caffeine, but I’m not really motivated to do that for some reason. I could stop anytime, really, I could. I just don’t want to stop right now.

I also figured it might be good to eliminate a few choice words from my vocabulary, but being realistic, I know that isn’t an attainable goal until all four of my kids are married and no longer under my controlling influence. Yeah, that one is going to have to wait a few years.

Exercising and losing a few pound . . . uh, no.

Fortunately for me, I have a wonderfully helpful two year old. I found him in my craft/laundry room creating this. . . .

It consists of one box of Oxi Clean, one bottle of gold glitter paint, one bottle of dry silver glitter, and a bag of fruit snacks.

My resolution for next year:

I am going finish unpacking, clean, and organize my craft/laundry room. I am also going to be buying a hook and eye for the top of that door, but hopefully that will happen before the New Year.

I Have Flying Soap in My Inventory

I would like to explain why it is that I am awake at 7am on a Saturday.

It wasn't long ago that I was asleep. I was having one of those crazy mom dreams. You know where I go to put the kids in the car, but realize that I have left the baby's car seat in the place we came from. So I run back to get the car seat and am stopped my some girl who tells me that Chase did something gross that they want me to clean. She won't tell me what it is and just says that I have to see because it's just "so gross." I started to explaining to her that being a mom I don't say, "eeewww . . . " giggle, and run away when someone says the words "poop" and "pee" and "vomit" and would she please just tell me what he did so I can get what I need to properly clean it. I was in the middle of perfectly good lecture when (in real life now) my husband leans over and touches my hand and says, "Wait! Don't move, don't move, don't move!"

me: huh?
husband: You have flying soap in your inventory now.
me: Flying soap?
husband: Yes, in your inventory, you know, like on your belt.
me: What the Hell . . . are you awake?
husband: I know it sounds weird, but I am awake.
me: So why did you wake me up?
husband: Because it's your turn.
me: Oh. Is the baby fussing? (we take turns when he fusses at night-- and it is currently my turn)
husband: No.
me: Are you sure your awake?
husband: Um. Never mind.
me: No, and this point I would like to know why I was woken up.
husband: Ya, maybe I wasn't awake then. But I am now.
me: Okay so I am going to go back to sleep.
husband: . . . . (apparently he is back already asleep . . . though I'm not sure I believe he ever woke up)

At this point I tried to roll over and go back to sleep but unfortunately we forgot to turn the kids alarm clocks off last night. We have them set for 6:30am so they can get ready for school. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs and the boy growling while he says, "STOP FOLLOWING ME!"

I decided to just go ahead a get up. But I shut the bedroom door because I think the husband could use a little extra sleep. Just a hunch.

Teenage Mom Meets Dirty Old Man

When I was a kid my dad used to tell us that my mom was older than he was. I believed him. My mom told me that Gilbert dies at the end of Anne of Green Gables, or is it Anne of Avonlea? I don't remember. The point is, she told me he dies and I believed her.

So it really shouldn't be a surprise that a few years ago I told the boy that I was 25 and I was going to be 25 forever. At the time he was 3, Maddie was 5 and Michael was 29 so it really wasn't so bad. But he still believes me and I'm not about to correct him.

The only problem is that he likes to tell everyone our ages. The grocery store clerk, the doctor, the stranger in the parking lot, the nurse giving him his flu shot . . . no one is exempt.

"Hey guess what! I'm 5, and Maddie is 7, and Chase is 2 and Davis is 4 months, and my dad is 31 and my mom is 25."

As you can see, I have now become a teenage mom and Michael is toying with the idea of being a dirty old man. Everyone else keeps aging, so it gets worse every year.

I was just going through the boy's school folder and found this picture. It's a partial family portrait. He has gone the extra mile to write our ages on the pictures. Maddie is 7, Michael is 31, and I'm 25. See Michael's big nose? That is probably because he is getting so old. As I understand it, your nose and ears don't stop growing. I'm not sure who that is looking over Michael's shoulder. Maybe its the grim reaper.

Mental note: take out life insurance . . . .

Happy Birthday!

If I remember correctly this was the bus trip from Hell. Even the bus driver wanted us to get off. I think he'd done one to many tours that day! Yet some how you still look like your enjoying yourself! What a dad! Happy birthday.

This post hasn't been up long and I'm already getting multiple questions as to why this was the bus trip from Hell. In order to help clarify things I am going to list a few things I learned on this trip.

1. Just because it is going to be a quick trip doesn't mean you should leave your diaper bag in the car.

2. The bus driver will tell you when you have asked too many questions . . . even if the questions aren't being directed at said bus driver.

3. Peeing in the woods isn't an innate behavior in all little boys. Some of them would rather "hold it" until it can be held no longer.

4. Even though it seems improbable, you may get the same bus driver on the trip back down as you had on the trip up.