Car Humor

My husband, Jon, used to often take the BART to get to his job in the city. In January he and his younger brother Greg started their own company which is now located in our town. They have received a few offers to buy their company and recently decided to merge with another company. It has been a whirlwind adventure to say the least.

Yesterday, I was driving with my 4 kids in the car next to a BART train and I hear Wells says "I think I see Dad on there." I said "Wells don't you remember your Dad now works in our town and no longer takes the BART?" Maren says "Yeah, remember his old MASTER was too hard on him so he got a new job?" Too funny. . . . I had to post.

Closet Believer

After receiving the picture of the tooth fairy in his room, I thought Wells was now a believer. I was with my kids before bed last night and I heard Wells say "The Tooth Fairy, Santa and Easter Bunny aren't real." Then he turned to me and whispered "I just said that so they would send me more pictures."

Quart Cabinet Picasso's

Jon gave me this antique quart cabinet for our one year wedding anniversary. We both really liked it at an antique store we saw in Northern California. I was very surprised, a few weeks later, when he gave me an envelope on our anniversary, which we were celebrating in Lake Minchumina, AK (very remote and rustic area), with a picture inside telling me it was mine. That was such a special moment. I loved it!

Fast forward to when we have 4 children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My first anniversary gift has now become the kids designated "Art Place". They each have a shelf and they love to look through their art they have done through the years. Their art collections are getting larger and larger and sometimes it is difficult to close the doors to the "Art Place". It annoys me a tad when that happens.

The other day I was talking with Sidney about how I am considering taking pictures of all the art and putting the pictures in binders so they could still remember it but our lives would be a little less cluttered.

Sidney's reply was "Mom, would you rather have a picture of a Picasso or the real thing?" I loved it. I guess I will keep the art place cluttered a little while longer.

She's Real!

Wells had doubts the tooth fairy was real (in addition to other magical characters). I felt a little sad that he was an unbeliever at the age of 6. He "mysteriously" received this picture a few mornings ago by the side of his bed. The girls were disappointed they did not have a picture with the Tooth Fairy. I told them I thought it was because they were already believers and maybe the Tooth Fairy wanted to keep Wells believing.

If you have unbelievers, Steven left me a great comment under my last post. Thanks for the tip!

Toothless Wells

Wells lost his first tooth at the age of 6. He was extremely uncomfortable trying to eat dinner before it came out so Jon took the tooth out with a napkin. Wells is so thrilled because his twin sister Maren has lost quite a few teeth.

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet came to visit the other day. We were surprised to see her. She was so charming and we were disappointed when she ran out of time and had to run off to get ready for gymnastics.

My Best Mother's Day

This year was my best Mother's Day.

It started early in the morning by Jon asking me what I would like for breakfast. I said "We can have cereal." He said "No, you can pick whatever you want." So I said "German Pancakes (knowing I'm the only person in our household who makes them - I just wanted to see what he would say)." He said "OK." That was the best. I gave him the recipe and he made us German Pancakes. It was so thoughtful of him. My favorite part was watching him assemble the ingredients and review the recipe.

The kids made me special cards that they had been waiting for a few days to give to me:

My card from Dean (aided by Sidney).

My special ornament and note from Wells.

A card for me, made by Maren.

Sidney made me a 3D card and a few other Mother's Day items.

We attended Church and the children sang some of the same songs I loved to sing to my own mother when I was growing up.

After that, the girls performed in "Lard" by Barrett Lindsay-Steiner. "Lard" is a spin-off of the movie "Grease". All of the actors/actresses play the role of pigs coming back to high school after summer break is over. Barrett is so witty and he comes up with all of his own script, music and lyrics. It is truly enjoyable to watch the kids in Barrett's plays. He had a rose for each Mother in the audience.

Wells proudly held our place in line before they let the crowd in.

Maren, played Kathy, one of the students at the high school. She was a bit worried about her performance and was afraid. She remembered all her lines and her fear was not noticeable.

Sidney is becoming quite the little actress. She was very convincing in her role of "Barbie" one of the popular girls in the school. She seemed to really enjoy her experience.

Me with my girls.

Jon's Mom and Dad came and watched the performance and it was nice to spend time with them.

Then . . . . . .

That's not all! For dinner, Jon prepared a Mother's Day dinner of Mahi Mahi, Steamed Broccoli, Basmati Rice and Chilled Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce. It was delicious. The kids made the cutest efforts to set the table and it was so sweet.

Sidney's special shrimp arrangement.

Needless to say, I loved Mother's Day this year.

Garage Sales

A friend texted me last night and wanted to know if I wanted to hit a few garage sales with her this morning. I will almost always go if somebody compels me to visit a garage sale. I find them so intriguing. It's amazing to see the stuff people keep around, and sometimes it's even more amazing that they think I would want to pay for it. . . and . . . then there are the treasures. . . those one of a kind things you find that nobody else will be able to easily duplicate. I love to try to talk them down. I love it when I feel like I got a good bargain! Neither of us had any luck this morning but it was fun to get out with my friend in search of . . . treasure!

Double Diaramas

The twins did their first diarama's for a kindergarten homework assignment. They had to select a wild animal book, read it, report on it and then create a diarama about it. Maren chose to do hers on the Deer. Wells chose to do his on the Shark. Initially they were not very thrilled but after we started getting the boxes together they got very involved. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

Parking Lot & Cranky Me

Today I went to Target with Dean (who still uses a car seat) and a few of my kids. I recall taking a little time to park my vehicle in the parking spot so that my car was in the middle of the white lines. When I returned to my car I was surprised that somebody had parked to the left of my car with the tail end of their car going over the white lines into my parking spot. Needless to say, it was very difficult to get Dean into his car seat with my car being so close to the car on the left. I started to feel a bit cranky. I thought, obviously the person who parked to my left doesn't have children and doesn't realize how hard it can be to get them into their car seat if there isn't enough space. I tried to be careful not to damage the car with my door, even though my mind was thinking it would serve them right if they got a ding. So. . . . . with my limited arm mobility, I squeeze Dean and my arms and shoulders into the space and blindly hope he lands in the right spot. Then I begin to remember the shapes of the car seat buckles as my eyes can't see if I am securely fastening him. I am in this precarious position when I notice the young mother who shows up to her car on my left. Shockingly, she has a child in her cart. I thought she was going to say something along the lines of "Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize my car was so poorly positioned in my haste to get into Target!" . . . . . .but she said absolutely nothing. She sat there with her cart and child for a moment and then got into her car. She didn't even acknowledge my existence! At least she didn't try to drive away while I was still trying to blindly get Dean's seatbelt to click. I squeezed my way through to the front door of my car and got in, grateful I wasn't wearing clothing that would show I had rubbed up against two cars. She then drives away. I was feeling pretty cranky at that point. I'm over it now, but still amazed at the inconsiderate people we sometimes run into. Yeesh.

Maren & Emma

Emma is one of three pet turtles we have living in our pond. Yesterday, unbeknownst to me, Maren decided to take the one named Emma with us to a birthday party being held in the park across town. Thankfully Sidney notified me before we left her in our hot car for the duration of the party. We took her to the party and created a temporary habitat for "Emma" in a large planter box which had many old leaves in it. The kids at the park were very intrigued by Emma and at one point I wondered if she would need a bodyguard. After the birthday party was over, I drove the kids directly to gymnastics and I told Maren to leave the turtle in the car so I could take her home with me. I searched the car for that turtle and could not find it. I thought maybe it fell out of the car when the kids had opened the door. I walked around the outside area of gymnastics and didn't see her. I called gymnastics and they asked Maren about the turtle. She told them "It's in the place where you keep food." Yuck. Eeeewww. I didn't realize we had a place like that. I went to the very back of the car and opened the side compartment. There was the turtle, sleeping in it's shell. I'm so grateful we got that little turtle back into the pond where it belongs. I can only begin to imagine the stench my car would have had in a few days.

A Lonely Thank You

Lonely? How is it that we can be surrounded by people all day (and sometimes night) long and feel lonely? I am referring to the plight of the "stay at home mom".

I would like to say thank you to my blogging friends for taking the time to pop-in and make comments on my blog. I have really come to love your comments and I have to say it makes me feel closer to you. I know many of us are living parallel lives and it's nice to know we are all going through similar motions at the same time. Thanks to you I know I am not alone and I appreciate your friendship.

Diet Soda vs. Guitar

I amaze myself. I still haven't had a diet soda. It's been 3 weeks now. I felt mighty tired this morning but just drank a little water and moved on with my day. It was my own fault because I stayed up until 1a.m. researching guitars. Did I mention I decided to take the money that I was using on diet soda's and put it towards guitar lessons? Does anybody have an acoustic guitar they are no longer using? You could really help me out because I realize learning guitar is probably costing me a little more $ than my diet soda addiction. Learning to play the guitar is certainly better for me and my family than drinking diet soda's to my hearts content. Right?