Ben & Carolyn & James

MOVED!

2010-06-20T12:46:00.002-07:00

Ok, so there's a new blog now! The new address is on my facebook page--go ahead and add it to your reader list :) If you don't facebook, or just need an excuse to email me: carolinabond at yahoo dott ccomm.

The new blog is already up and running! Come visit :)

Summation

2010-06-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ben and I got married and moved to Las Cruces less than 2 weeks later. We affectionately refer to our wedding/reception/moving time as the "five state nightmare." We had an engagement party in Utah; we got married in Oklahoma; we had an open house in Kansas, a reception in Texas, and then we moved to New Mexico. It was slightly insane. I can freely say this now since 6 years have gone by. Yep, six years! A lot happened in those six years.

*We learned how to be married :)
*I taught middle school for a couple of years.
*Ben started and finished his masters and phd.
*My parents served their mission in Vanuatu.
*We became parents...We had JAMES!
*I taught p/t for the community college.
*We served in church callings.
*We made some very dear friends and we miss them terribly!
*Etc, etc, etc.

Las Cruces will always be near to our hearts. I can't say enough about the dear friends and experiences that made our time there so sweet. It was hard to leave. I imagine I will feel sad everytime I think about it for quite some time.

I think this is a good time to have this blog made into a book and call it done. I'll be starting a new blog and I'll post here soon how to find it! Until then, vaya con dios :)

The End

2010-06-11T11:52:00.007-07:00

Well, you know that I am now posting in new job land. I'll talk about that later. What I want to do now is to finish up my Las Cruces posts. This might be boring, but once again, this is more for me than anyone else :0

The day after graduation was Mother's Day and I can barely remember anything...we were so exhausted from all the graduation celebration/last minute visits to important LC places/parents in town/goodbyes/packing/cleaning/etc. I do remember James going up to sing with the primary and ahead of time I thought it would really make me cry, especially considering the imminent move. I didn't cry; I laughed! He just stood up there with a goofy look on his face. I think he sang 2 or 3 words and then the rest of the time he looked around to see what everybody else was doing or looked out at us in the congregation. I was happy :)

Church ended and I proceeded to cry like a baby. I tried to take a route that would involve me seeing the least amount of people possible since I was a wreck. It mostly worked. I cried at various points during the next 4 days...and then some. On Monday some wonderful guys came over and loaded up the truck for us. We had to give away a desk and a chair so that everything else would fit in the truck. Note to self: A sixteen foot truck was not sufficient! Some lovely friends came over and brought food, drinks, snacks, and love. I kept telling everyone to knock it off so that I could stop crying already! Several lovely ladies came over and helped clean out our "darling" student family housing apartment. YOUR NAMES ARE REMEMBERED IN HEAVEN! Seriously, I pretty much think cleaning someone else's oven, fridge, windows, walls, etc qualifies you for heaven. Anyway, we checked out of our apartment at 5pm. And then I cried... probably more from relief this time. Meanwhile, James was living the good life being spoiled by granny and papa. Shopping, movie, lunch out, etc. After check out of the apartment and check in to the hotel we all went out to dinner together and then crashed hard.

The next day, Ben and James left the hotel early in pursuit of green chiles, dry ice and styrofoam ice chests. Yep, we drove across 13 states or whatever it was with 2 coolers full of chile! We were successful! Granny and Papa and James had a flight out of El Paso that morning and I really really really wanted to be HAPPY so that James wouldn't freak out about leaving without us. The tears started leaking out...but at least I wasn't sobbing, yet. As we were saying goodbye in the parking lot, James saw me crying and said in his full-of-himself way, "Mommy, it's ok if you cry. I know you're going to miss me." That just made me laugh and we quickly hastened our goodbyes. They drove away and THEN I started sobbing. Ben put his arm around me and walked me through the hotel lobby where no less than 12 people thought we had just faced some horrible tragedy. The management looked especially concerned.

We went up to our hotel room and I calmed down. We packed up our stuff and headed out. The management looked at me very carefully as we checked out. I think they wanted to make sure they didn't need to call the police or anything. Ben got in the moving truck, I got in the car and we drove away. And then we drove and drove and drove and drove and drove. Although we had to drive by ourselves, the walkie talkies were a LIFESAVER! We drove for 4 days straight. I temporarily suspended my ban of soda to consume large amounts of dr pepper and coke to keep myself awake. I was sooooo happy that our new car has free satellite radio. I did talk on the cell phone a few times to wake myself up. I barely remember most of the trip. That's somewhat scary. I saw the St Louis Arch and drove over the Mississippi and Ohio rivers for the first time. But the awesome part was that we drove over 2500 miles and only saw 20 minutes of rain; we didn't have any car problems; neither of us got a ticket or had an accident; neither or us fell asleep and for the most part all of our directions were accurate and we never got lost. We were very blessed.

We got into new job town at exactly 5pm on Friday night. We checked into our new place and went out to dinner. I think I cried in my pasta. We slept on our air mattresses that night and the next morning several awesome guys from our new church congregation came and helped us unload the truck. We bought some essentials and spent the rest of the day unpacking a bit.

The next day I flew back to Houston to my family's house. I was so happy to see James and sooo happy that my parents kept him alive! We stayed there for another week and then flew back together. James was happy to see that new job town had all his required happy places: McDonald's, Chuck E Cheese, a movie theater, etc. He decided we could stay.

She's baaaaaack

2010-06-09T06:06:00.010-07:00

Holy Cow it's been a long time! You can't say I don't have a good reason...I'm coming out of the fog now and have to say that the main reason I haven't been blogging is because our desktop died right before the move and I HATE typing on a laptop. Anybody want to send me a keyboard to plug into the laptop as a house warming present? Anyway, time to play catch up. Also, I think that once I catch up with a few Las Cruces posts...I'm going to make a new blog. It won't be private, but it's an effort to be a little safer online.Without further ado....

Ben GRADUATED!!!!!!! Yayyayayayayayayayayayayayay! It was a great day! I LOVE graduations, maybe just as much as weddings.(Except don't get me started on Preschool and Kinder graduations!) It's geeky, but when I'm at a graduation, I think about all the effort that all those students put in over the last years and it is AWESOME! I am so proud of him :) I thought my heart was going to explode when I saw him walk up and get 'hooded'! It was very emotional, and kinda funny. They should have provided a step ladder for his professor!

James fell asleep during the ceremony. Who can blame him? There are only so many snacks and diversions. He was leaning against papa who was trying to get him more comfortable. I tried to adjust him, the movement woke him, he was startled and YELLED, "HEY, THAT'S NOT FAIR! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Yeah, right in the middle in the graduation. My dad couldn't stop laughing and I was mortified. Granted, it was in the middle of a basketball arena, but still, all the people around us were wondering what the heck was going on. I have to thank Marie with the AWESOME camera for getting shots that I never could with my sad little camera.

After the ceremony we ran home and continued to pack. We took a break that evening to honor the graduate with one last dinner at La Posta. Yes, we had to wait 1 1/2 hours but we enjoyed our time in the Mesilla Plaza. We went home and you guessed it, packed and packed some more.

Ben is squatting as much as possible so they can reach over his head to put the hood on.

My handsome boys

2010-04-19T14:50:00.003-07:00

I tried to get some normal pictures of my good looking guys on Sunday...James wearing his first dress shirt and tie. Not so normal, but still cute.

Friend Birthday

2010-04-18T15:15:00.007-07:00

EVERY year on James' birthday, the wind blows approx. 45-60 miles per hour. I'm not even kidding. Last year at his party in the park, the wind blew the giant city garbage cans over, it blew the cake off the table, etc. This year we went indoors. Although Mcdonalds no longer throws parties for kids, apparently they have no problem if you bring your own party to them. We had a GREAT time :)

He wanted Spongebob cupcakes for this party.

Happy Meals can really make you happy!
I think James knew I was concerned that we'd get busted for using matches inside Mcd, so he blew candle out before the song was through.

Then we saw a lot of these blue-iced faces:

Then he opened presents...

But mostly we saw a lot of this, as the kids ran off to play again and again...

It was a great celebration!

Family Birthday

2010-04-15T18:16:00.008-07:00

The birthday boy wanted Spiderman cupcakes for Preschool.

He got his first ties and dress shirts from Granny and Papa.

Here he is loving the money from Grandma and Grandpa. He ran and put it in his bank and said it was only to be used for Chuck E Cheese!

Opening presents from Mommy and Daddy. (Thanks Walmart after Christmas Clearance Sale!)

At his Birthday dinner

Leftover Spidery cupcakes double as the 'birthday cake'. He was quite concerned about the fire.

We LOVE the birthday boy!!!!!

James' not-very-exciting reading of Grandma and Grandpa's card :)

Somebody had a birthday!

2010-04-14T21:43:00.005-07:00

Turned 4! Eating peanuts at his choice of birthday restaurants. When we asked him where he wanted to go he said, "Does this town even have a PF Changs?" :) Yeah, so his 2nd choice was Texas Roadhouse even though he's only been there one time.

Turned 3! I am admittedly really bad at picking out presents for this kid. Most of my "big gifts" turn out to be really bad ideas. He's only been on the bike 3 times in a year.

Turned 2! Here we are at the park on his birthday. Hard to believe he actually needed a jacket. It is NOTORIOUSLY windy on his birthday here every year. This year I decided to have his party indoors, and yep, it's been calm all week.

Turned 1! He wouldn't eat that cake! He ate a few bites of frosting if it was fed to him, but otherwise, he was content just to smash it around.

Sweet baby just born! He had a GIANT head and GIANT feet. All the rest of him was giant in no time!

Easter Fun

2010-04-09T12:18:00.004-07:00

This child is going through a "I can't smile normal" phase.

James and Lilly got together for some egg coloring fun...

Easter morning: Once again full of strange smiles-this time a bit sleepy, too.

Ben's Easter Basket for me...A nest made out of a new body pillow, a new book, a booklight, a duck and some "eggs" that the duck laid. I'm a lucky girl :)

James enjoyed playing conference bingo while we watched on TV. It was funny because even when we weren't playing bingo, everytime I heard a new topic come up, I shouted it out-in my head!

Another day of fun!

2010-04-02T21:07:00.008-07:00

Ben and I went out to dinner to celebrate the end of the phd!!! We had a wonderful time!

To celebrate James' upcoming birthday, we all went to Sesame Street Live today. He was sooooo excited and we had a great time. It is a super fun show!

First of the springtime fun!

2010-04-01T17:45:00.003-07:00

Despite the fact that James looks like he's in pain in the first 3 pics, we had a great time today! We had a lunch/playdate/egg hunt adventure at Brooke's house. The winds were blowing like none other but that's what you get here in the Spring.

YAY FOR DR. BEN!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-31T14:36:00.002-07:00

For those of you who didn't see my gushing on Facebook, Ben just passed his dissertation defense this afternoon! I'm sooo proud of him!

Please no comments asking me what it's about. I've proofread it multiple times and I still don't know :)

Now if the job fairy would visit us...

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!

Kids say...

2010-03-27T13:35:00.006-07:00

As I walk into the office, James yells, "Mommy, don't look at what I'm doing! Go away!"

***
Me: I don't think I want to know why this is wet.

James: It's just cause I peed on it.

***
James comes into our room at 6am and pokes me awake, "Mommy, it's so lonely in my room. Only one person sleeps there and two people sleep here. I'm alone." (insert pouting here.)

***

While playing Wii anything, "I've got MAD SKILLZ!" If either Ben and or I play badly, "Oh, that's too bad, you've got Sad Skillz."

***

He's very sassy mouthed lately. He often says, "Mommy, you already told me that and I don't want to hear it again. Stop talking." Then the timeout starts.

***

He came into our room last night shivering because he had a fever. He says, "I....I...I...can't...can't...stttttooopp...wwwiggling." Poor baby.

Vomit and an apology to my mother

2010-03-24T13:52:00.007-07:00

When I was a kid, I would get the stomach flu occasionally. Sometimes, when it struck at night, I remember the following scenario.

Me (shaking my mom to wake her): Mom, I just threw up.

Mom: (In a half asleep daze): Where?! Did you throw up on the carpet? Your bed? In the hallway? The bathroom rugs? Where?!

Me: I made it to the toilet.

Mom: Oh, ok. Poor baby, how are you feeling?

I always thought it was hilarious that she inquired about the furnishings first. When I was older and devious, I would bring these little stories up at opportune moments (shopping, etc.) as a way to secure things I wanted.

Evil, evil Carolyn. Sorry, Mom.

Last week, James had the stomach flu and yeah, I was quite occupied with every surface that kid was throwing up on. Our bed and bedding, the carpet, the towels, pillows, clothes, etc. Man, that kid was puking every 20-30 mins all day. He wasn't showing any signs of dehydration, but we worried about him because he couldn't keep ANY liquids down. He fell asleep around 6:30pm and we called his ped. She said to let him rest for a couple of hours and then give him pedilyte again. If he couldn't keep that down, then we should take him to urgent care.

Well, lo and behold, we had to go to urgent care. Except all the urgent cares closed at 9pm so we had to take him to the ER. It was actually a delightful visit to the ER. Yep, I said delightful. There was not 1 person in the waiting room and they got us in immediately. James was assessed and they gave him some meds to stop the puking. After the medicine worked its magic, they gave him water and it stayed down, yay!

The medicine turned him into a total goober. He took the disposable vomit bag and turned it into a puppet, a hat and other fashion accessories. When the doctor came in to check on him, I swear he was batting his beautiful lashes and practically asking for her phone number.

2010-03-24T13:44:00.004-07:00

We went to the El Paso zoo a couple of weeks ago. It's not a great zoo, but we had a good time.

It was weird

2010-02-13T14:39:00.002-07:00

Monday was so weird this week. It had the potential to be quite stressful since Ben was out of town and it was the first day of the (ESL) semester, but all these strange things kept me entertained.

Before I got to work, I found out that one of my students is here b/c of political asylum. Said student was being hunted by some unsavory characters in their country. I got a notice that a film company is shooting a documentary about this student for the Discovery Channel and that they would most likely be filming in ESL. I have two questions....If people wanted to shoot you down, why would you want to appear on national TV and Can you please put a little black square over my face? I guess we'll be out of Las Cruces by the time they finish and air it, but really? I like life.

I got to class and met my new and returning students. I was thinking one of my students had a twitch because everytime I looked in his direction he winked at me. I observed him from afar and realized that that, no, he didn't have a twitch, he just likes to wink when he answers my questions about English. Lovely. WHY?

After class I was walking through the cafeteria and noticed a guy eating his lunch. That would be pretty normal, except he was eating noodles and veggies with a fork right out of a Walmart sack. No container, no plate, just a big ole bag of stir fry out of the plastic sack. Why? I really almost stopped him to ask WHY?!?!?!

As I walked home from class I noticed that my neighbors' cars are now advertising a lovely new business: Dog Poo Cleaners. The thing is, I'm not even kidding. Each of their cars has those big advertisements on all sides announcing that they will come clean up dog poo at your house. I don't know if that means carpets or grass but WHY?

James' first talk in Primary

2010-01-17T14:59:00.003-07:00

Today was James' first talk in Primary. The topic was "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me." Yesterday we helped him decide what he wanted to say and we planned to have him hold the pictures while Ben whispered in his ear, but he informed us that he could 'do it all by himself!' He read his own talk in Primary. He was afraid of the microphone at first, but as soon as they turned it off, he did just fine. (I was teaching Gospel Doctrine so I couldn't be there to see it.)

We can't take credit for his reading; we continue to be amazed ourselves. I think it's a combination of Leap Frog DVDS, Starfall.com, Pbskids.com and his BIG OL' NOGGIN! The really good thing about him reading his own talk is that there was no room for improvisation. He didn't have a chance to say something embarrassing like, "My mommy likes to watch ICarly." or "My daddy snores like a chainsaw."

2010-01-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

For Family Night Ben taught a lesson about "scriptures" since we just gave James his first set on Sunday. We were examining the books when...

James: Hey, my name is on this book!

Ben: Yes, it's the King James version of the Bible.

James: I'm the king of the Bible? HEY! I'M THE KING OF THE BIBLE! I'M THE KING OF THE BIBLE. I'M THE KING OF THE BIIIIIIIBBBBBBLLLLLEEEE! (Runs around the room like a chicken with his head cut off.)

Ben: Come back! We're not done talking about the scriptures.

James: I'M THE KING OF THE BIBLE!!!!!

(Finally got him calmed down to listen to the rest. I'm pretty sure the only thing he got out of it was that he is the King of the Bible!)

Someone save me

2010-01-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

James: Hey, let's play the gas game!

Ben: How do you play it?

James: Whoever makes the most toots wins!

Ben: *gasping and not able to breathe from laughing so hard*

Me: Welcome to manhood.

(As I'm typing this, James is reading over my shoulder insisting that I write that HE had the most toots and that HE won. It's true.)

First Day of Primary!

2010-01-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

Tried to get a decent pic of James today for his first day of Primary. His was happy but quite disinterested in posing. I was *told* that he was really well behaved today, but it's probable that's what they tell all the mamas of the Sunbeams. His class shouldn't be too bad since it's just him, his Bff Lilly and one other cutie boy.

We got him an inexpensive set of scriptures and Daddy gave him his case.

Sniff. He's growing up. When we were walking to the car after church, this is how it went down:

Me: Did you have an awesome day at Primary?

James: Yep.

Me: How was your teacher?

James: Really nice.

Me: How was the class?

James: Same ol' Same ol'.

(Am I already raising a teenager?!?!)

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T19:00:00.003-07:00

The first thing you may (or may not) notice as you look at these pics is that James is wearing pjs in every single one. We spent Christmas in Kansas this year and we passed around the gift that keeps on giving: Stomach flu. James got sick the 2nd day we were there, and as he was getting well, Ben got it; and as he was getting well, Grandma got it. (Knocking on some serious wood here: I never got it.)

We had fun despite all the sickies and enjoyed our time not only with Grandma and Grandpa, but also Uncle Jared, Aunt Nolita and COUSINS! James was once again in cousin heaven!

James jumping up to express his excitement about the marble run he got for Christmas. Daddy always makes the best designs. (The dark area on his pjs is from vapor rub...)

Ben at the height of his sickiness, accompanied by Grandpa at naptime.

James looking sicky. Just included this pic because this is how Joshua spent his holiday...in perpetual motion!

James yelling out, "Merry Christmas, everybody!" as we were opening gifts.

James was a bit nervous about Rocky the Robot Truck. We all LOVE this toy! Worth the money!

The best way I could capture the happiness on Christmas morning.

Kids table on Christmas Eve. James was still feeling icky and would only eat Asparagus for dinner.

Elizabeth is a dear cousin! She spent many patient hours doing things with James.

Grandpa Swan gave James his sign from his parking place at the library. What an awesome gift!

Opening gifts with cousins....Joseph entertained that child forever!

Christmas morning waiting for the presents to be passed out.

This Christmas was full of magic for James. Anytime we drove past a house with ANY minimal Christmas lights, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "LOOK! THEY ARE GETTING READY FOR CHRISTMAS!" or simply, "CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!" It was enough to make us almost wreck several times. I tried to use the whole, "Santa is watching you" threat sparingly-and it worked! He loved talking to the Santa at the mall in LJ over Tthanksgiving and once again at the church Christmas party. When I asked if he had thanked Santa for his gift at the party, he insisted in waiting in line again so that he could tell Santa thank you up close and personally.

And true to his recent trend of declaring everything the "best _______ ever!", all day Christmas he declared, "This is the BEST Christmas in my whole life!"

Sympathy

2009-12-11T22:45:00.003-07:00

James: Poor Baby Jesus.

Me: What's wrong? (Thinking maybe he would tell me something profound regarding the Christmas Story)

James: He's so sad.

Me: Why is he so sad?

James: Because he has to sleep on toilet paper. Poor baby.

(The manger below was made from half a toilet paper roll.)

You can't win them all

2009-11-22T21:47:00.002-07:00

James continues to be super competitive. I can't remember if this started with preschool or not. Anyway, everything is always, "I did it fastest, I win!" or "I did it better, I win!" or "I got there first, I win!"

This afternoon we were all lounging around and James says, "I know a game we can play. The person who wakes up in the morning wins!"

I hope everyone who reads this is a winner tomorrow and for many mornings to come!

Annual Pics

2009-11-13T11:42:00.004-07:00

I'm really happy about how pics turned out this year. I told them I didn't want any fakey fake backgrounds and minimal props. No sleds, no presents, no balls, no other cheesy studio stuff. Here's a few of the best:

(I guess one good pic with a fallen greek column is ok.)

2009-11-12T14:57:00.002-07:00

Ben was getting James dressed this morning and they had the following conversation:

J: I want some Bob the Builder underwear.

B: I don't know if they make those kind.

J: Just go to WWW dot Bob the Builder Underwear dot com and look for them there.

2009-11-11T17:08:00.004-07:00

(This is from back in November. Not sure why it didn't post.)

I'm not a big fan of the early morning. I'm not up singing The Day Dawn is Breaking while it's actually breaking. The boy has made sure that I got a couple of early morning laughs this week.

Monday morning I'm in the shower before work. Ben is out on a walk so I *think* I'm going to have some solitude.

James throws open the bathroom door and yells, "THERES A BUG IN MY ROOM I WET THE BED AND I NEED CEREAL!" Well good morning to you too.

This morning James walks into our room at 6:00 and starts poking me in the back while saying, "Mommy, my butt itches!"

I guess there are a lot worse things he could tell me in the morning, so I'll be grateful for what I got.

Blue's Clues

2009-11-11T16:50:00.003-07:00

I wanted to take a pic of James in his Blue's Clues shirt with his BC pals. Something made him start laughing and he gave me some real smiles.

He was really tickled...

And then he wasn't.

ESL

2009-11-09T22:01:00.002-07:00

Usually the stories I share regarding my ESL classes are generated by the students. For example, in my morning class today the students were comparing and contrasting what you can/can't do in the U.S. with what you can/can't do in their home countries. Here were some of the tibits submitted:

In the U.S. you can't be a prostitute. It's not legal.

In the U.S. you can buy alcohol and guns. (Sounds like they've spent some time in TX)

In the U.S. you can't pay police for your tickets. They don't like money.

In the U.S. you can't little. (I later found out this was supposed to be "litter".)

In the U.S. you can't hit your wife. (And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I won't get beat....)

In the U.S. the government follows the laws. (Well, sometimes, maybe, depends...)

Anyway, today was a bonus day, because the student teacher assigned to my night class yelled out, "EVERYONE SHOWER TOGETHER NOW!" I was only half paying attention in the back until I heard that and finally realized she meant to say, "Everyone, say 'shower' together right now." (English is her 3rd language.) Thankfully it is a beginner class and the only one raising their eyebrows and giggling was me.

2009-11-08T21:38:00.003-07:00

I'm pretty sure we'll be sticking with the bed guardrail for sometime.

This week in James land:

We were playing wii tennis with him. He likes to change up his mii (character) constantly. At the time, his character had long brown hair, facial hair and was wearing a white shirt. He stops midgame to say, "Hey, it's Jesus playing tennis!" Great, just great.

At Chili's on Friday night we were all sitting there enjoying a family dinner when out of NOWHERE James says, "First boys kiss girls, then the boys run away and then the girls cry." What the heck? I'm pretty sure they're not teaching this at preschool or on Nick Jr. This statement pretty much sums up 50% of dating relationships, right? Ben counseled, "Skip the kissing part and just run away."

We've been trying to get an idea of what he wants for Christmas so we can tell the various Santas in our life. Lately when I ask him what he would like for Christmas he kinda looks at me as if I should know and says, "Mommy, I just want everything, ok?"

This is what crazy looks like

2009-11-05T21:39:00.004-07:00

This is what James was doing after Trunk or Treat activities. (Disclaimer: I was out of state, you can't blame the dirty house on me!)

Halloween activities

2009-11-05T21:26:00.005-07:00

James had a Bob the Builder birthday party this year, and suprisingly enough, he's stuck with Bob all these long months....Since I went to TX for the funeral, Ben and James did Halloween and all its many events on their own.

Getting ready to trick or treat

A cheesy Bob

With Lilly at the Trunk or Treat. So sad the photo is blurry, they are sooo cute! Lilly's mama made that AMAZING Tinkerbell costume!

At the Preschool Party

All the kiddos who attend the preschool on different mornings. We LOVE our school!

It's our first Jack o Lantern, Charlie Brown!

2009-11-05T21:12:00.005-07:00

After going to the Pumpkin Patch, we had to carve one up! James told us he was "so excited" to take out the guts, but once he got a load of them, he changed that tune rather quickly. He wouldn't touch the stuff because "he didn't want to get dirty." Ha! A three year old boy who doesn't want to get dirty. Whatever.

Helping Daddy draw the "Vampire Pumpkin"

Watching carefully so that Daddy "does it right"

Doing the happy pumpkin dance?

With his eyes all aglow in the dark

Smiling like his new vampire friend

First Field Trip Ever!

2009-11-05T20:51:00.008-07:00

So I took James to the Pumpkin Patch/Farm last year, but this year it was even cooler b/c it was for his first FIELD TRIP! It was too cute. He was soooo excited to go there with his friends from school. We had a great time, as documented by the photos...

The cute pumpkin he thought he wanted

Smiling for Mommy in the Pumpkin Patch

Smiling despite how freezing cold it was that morning

Our self portrait in the patch

The pumpkin he decided that he really wanted
Hanging out in the tire
Being King of the tire mountain with some of the boys from preschool

Trying to remain king of the Tire mountain while the kids gather around...

Going down the giant slides again and again

NOT wanting to pose by the flowers. Notice how his finger is pointing where he wants to be

Trying to drive the big tractor

Pumping at the water well

Mmm, roasted "cob on the corn". After eating 3/4 of it he told me, "Mommy this has a HORRIBLE taste!"

My Grandma

2009-11-05T16:16:00.006-07:00

My Grandma (dad's mom) died last Monday, October 25th. Even though she was 96 years old, we were all surprised when she passed. She went to sleep one afternoon and didn't wake up. We should all be so fortunate to die that way.

She was the youngest of 17 brothers and sisters; all have passed on. She also lost her husband before I was ever born, and her only daughter in the early 80s. My dad was her only (living) child, and my brothers and I were the only grandkids. I imagine there was a very large, happy family reunion when she passed.

Almost the whole family was able to get together for her funeral. It was a really nice, but strange experience. The funeral was on Halloween. A few of us thought that was odd, but Dad said that she wouldn't mind and seeing as how chocolate was her favorite food, I enjoyed some for her on that treat day.

That night a few of my TEENAGED nieces and nephews all decided they should go trick or treating together and I could tag along as their chaperone. I wish I had a pic--they were too funny. No neighbors complained that they were too old and they sure hauled in the loot.

It was a quick exhausting trip, but so worth it. We all had fun together and remembered lots about Grandma. One of my favorite things about her was that when she was in her late 60s/early 70s she drove a Camero. It was my Aunt's car, and when she died my Grandma decided to drive it. She was cool. She also knew her way around a can of Spam. Ha! And Wyatts Cafeteria. And Kmart. She taught me how to play all kinds of crazy card games and dominoes. She always told me I was beautiful and smart. She always wanted to be a teacher--so she was extra proud that she had lots of teachers in the family.

Miss you, Grandma. See you on the other side!

Back to work

2009-09-19T19:49:00.003-07:00

ESL classes resumed this week and I'm teaching a couple of classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. My night class has got me a bit concerned. All 20 of my students are Spanish speakers and it is the very lowest level, i.e. they can answer the question, "What is your name" and "How are you?", but that's about it.

I'm doing a little experiment this semester and not letting any of my students know that I speak Spanish. It has been my unfortunate experience that once they know I know Spanish, the vast majority of their questions are asked in Spanish and they want Spanish explanations, etc. I'm using the word Spanish a lot. Anyway.

It's been really difficult to pretend that I don't understand the conversations swirling around me and watching them struggle to put together simple questions when I KNOW what they want to ask, but I want them to at least try to do it in English.

There's a couple of other issues to deal with in the class. I've been assigned a Grad Student who is doing her practicum to get her MA in TESOL. She has to teach practically half my class. Yeah! Kinda. She's from France, has parents from Tanzania and English is her 3rd language. I'm not doubting her abilities, I'm worried about the accent. I guess that's a bit hypocritical since I've done my fair share teaching Spanish to gringos. We shall see.

Third issue: I've got 20ish students and there are 7 Marias. I'm not even joking, and none of them want to be called by any other name. I guess I'm going to have to call them by their first and last names or just use a lot of pro active eye contact. The class thinks it's hilarious.

Ben texted me the other night during class and I told him I was busy dealing with 7 Marias. He made me laugh out loud as he responded, "How do you solve a problem like 7 Marias?" I'll let you know the answer as soon as I figure it out.

Branded

2009-09-19T19:23:00.003-07:00

Here's James, shortly before bedtime. Bob the Builder hardhat, Spongebob pjs and Elmo Slippers. You have to admit, he's a cutie!

2009-09-05T21:21:00.002-07:00

In the bathroom this morning:

James: I hope my pee comes out like honey.

Me: What are you talking about?

James: Well, I ate Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast this morning.

(Well, honey pee would be better than the nut alternative.)

At the restaurant this afternoon:

Server: What will you have to drink?

Ben: Water

Me: Water, and can you bring him (James) a water with a lid on it? You never know with these little kids. Better safe than sorry.

10 mins later, before our food had even arrived, I knocked MY WATER glass over. It covered the whole table, ran off onto James' lap and puddled all over the floor. Hello, Karma! Teeny, tiny one room restaurant. Thankfully there were no obvious mockers. The employees didn't even mop it up while we were still there. They just kinda stepped around it carefully in their comings and goings. Weird.

All I want for Christmas...

2009-08-31T15:00:00.001-07:00

Inevitably when we go to Walmart or Target or anywhere on the planet earth, James sees something he wants. The miracle is that he is almost always placated when we say, "Oh, we should put that on your Christmas or Birthday list."

Today we were watching a bit of TV and an ad came on for a new kind of bathtub cleaner. I said, "Oh, that looks like that would do a good job. I should get some of that."

James says, "Ok, we'll have to put it on your Christmas list."

I am so excited to open presents this year.

The Chucky Experience

2009-08-30T17:00:00.004-07:00

There are no thumbs up for Chuck E. Cheese here.

When we were in Texas we decided a nice air conditioned activity would be to visit CEC. James had never been there and was MEGA WAY OVER THE TOP EXCITED when we told him we were going. Papa even decided to go with us. Yay! We thought we were all jumping in the minivan to provide James with a one of a kind special experience. The one of a kind special experience we had was probably the most traumatic thing that James has gone through since exiting the womb.

He was fine when we got our hands stamped and ordered pizza and got drinks. His beautiful long lashed eyes were all aglow as we walked through the maze of games and rides. And then it was all over. James spotted him. Yes, him. The 10 foot tall furry rodent staring at him dancing mechanically like the tin man on a stage. James stopped dead in his tracks and could not even say a word. We picked a table to sit at and we led James by the shoulders to sit down because he had his eyes focused on the mechanical monstrosity. He still hadn't said anything and his mouth had been hanging open so long that he had probably begun to drool.

All of a sudden he snapped into life and said repeatedly, "I don't want to see that. I don't want to see that. I don't want to see that." We turned his chair and we thought he was ok, but he continued with the whole slack jaw stare thing. Papa cut up pieces of pizza and put them in his mouth and he just sat there mechanically chewing. (I know it's sounds terrible but Ben and I thought this was all terribly entertaining, especially since James isn't even fond of pizza.)

We sat there and ate for a few minutes more and then I saw HIM coming. Yes, him. The man who comes out every hour dressed up like Chuck E Cheese. We had spent the last 20 minutes convincing James that CEC on the stage was a machine and would not come get him. And here comes trouble, BIG FURRY TROUBLE. Before I could jump up and warn him not to come near us he made his way over. I wish I could convey James' reaction. It wasn't a scream or a cry, but he looked up, saw CEC standing right next to him, and it was one of those moments that would have brought us $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos. He startled, just about fell out of his chair and started the whole "I don't want to see him!" thing again. I have to credit the man-CEC for his very rapid backward stepping tiptoe departure. I thought we were going to have to leave before spending any tokens.

However, James was wa-ay excited when Ben proposed that they go play games and ride the rides. He looked around continuously to make sure no CEC was near him and then went on with his business. We won lots of tickets and got him some fun little prizes. We thought all the trauma had been forgotten. How stupid are we.

For the next week. And I mean 7 days, people, James said the words Chuck E Cheese and Chuck E Cheese's approximately 30,000,000,000 times. It was like this:

"We went to see a mouse named Chuck E Cheese at a Place called Chuck E Cheese's. He lives there. It is a machine. Sometimes it is a man in a costume. He dances like this. [does demo of mechanical dance] I don't like Chuck E Cheese. Chuck E Cheese wears clothes that are purple and red. I don't like Chuck E Cheese. I only liked the games. I don't like Chuck E Cheese. Chuck E Cheese blah blah blah. Chuck E Cheese blah blah blah. Chuck E Cheese blah blah blah. Chuck E Cheese blah blah blah. Chuck E Cheese blah blah blah. Chuck E Cheese." Etc. Granny was pretty sure we needed to get the kid in therapy.

Anyone who came by the house was subjected to his narrative about CEC. He'd tell people at the grocery store, church, on the sidewalk. Wherever. Then after about a week the story changed and he LOVED Chuck E Cheese. Was really excited about it, talked positively about the whole thing. Granny felt tons better and we regained our sanity about having to hear him repeat everything a million times a day. Things sounded so great that Granny and Papa decided to take him again before we returned home. Two days before our departure they told him, "Hey James, we're going to go to Chuck E Cheese today!"

Long story short, we didn't make it back to CEC. It was a major "NO I DON'T WANT TO GO!" I don't know why I'm bummed out that he doesn't want to go back to the land of gross expensive pizza and ridiculous games and cheap prizes, but I kinda am. C'est la vie, right? I don't see Disney anywhere in our near future, either ;)

James and Friends

2009-08-27T09:51:00.001-07:00

After Fruit Snacks soothed the savage beasts!

James and Lilly, being angelic for a moment.

Sad, But True

2009-08-26T20:36:00.002-07:00

These are the only pics I took when we were in Texas. I could have taken pics at Gatti Land, the sea center, the pool, with more family, at the INFAMOUS Chuck E Cheese's (which you will surely hear about soon) The Great Texas Mosquito Festival, The Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory, at the park, etc etc etc, but we just didn't do it. Shame on us.

James finally allowing Aries to be near him.

Styling Papa's hair

Enjoying himself at the beach. All he wanted to do was keep throwing things into the waves and watch them come back.

Shapes, Letters and Numbers

2009-08-25T14:21:00.002-07:00

James likes to point out shapes, letters and numbers in odd places. He'll call out numbers on a truck passing by or arrange his noodles to be a certain number. Sometimes he'll make letters out of sticks, etc.

Yesterday I heard him calling, "Mommy, mommy I made a J!" When I realized he was calling me from the bathroom I should have congratulated him from afar. When he demanded that I come see it, I should have politely declined.

At least I didn't take the picture he requested.

First Day of Preschool

2009-08-24T12:53:00.002-07:00

James has wanted to go to school for the longest time. Every time he reads me a word I didn’t know he knew or says something bright I ask him, “Where’d you learn that?” and he always answers, “At school.” He asks about school all the time and frequently our days are full of him asking repeatedly, “What are we going to do next? What are we going to do after that? What are we going to do then? What are we going to do after nap? What are we going to do before dinner?” Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Once I started to tell him he was going to get a fun treat called a tranquilizer, but I didn’t think that would sound good if it came out in public.

Ben usually watches James while I teach 1 or 2 classes per semester, but that just wasn’t a possibility this time around. We had to decide what to do with the James. It was pay to have a friend watch him or pay to send him to a bit of preschool. After much agonizing (only on my part) we finally decided to do the preschool thing. (Something that really helped me make the decision is that one of our regular babysitters just got hired as the classroom assistant and knows the owner and teacher.) Today was the first day and I was up half the night worrying about this morning. I can’t really explain my drama; I just knew that things were going to be different now. It’s a small preschool with a certified teacher and includes the kindermusik program as part of the fee.

Today was ‘transition day’ when the parents come and spend the morning with the kids at the school. In other words, transition day = "hold your breath while you hope your child doesn’t do or say something mortifying while you’re actually there to witness it" day. James was in love from the first moment. He just ran in and started playing with the toys and trying to talk at the other kids who were still surgically attached to their parents. I think he went from one room to the other looking at every single thing and touching them and asking about what they were for. I am hoping (really hoping) that he learns the culture and norms of being in a preschool soon. Well, there’s only so much culture (ha!) you can have in a room full of 3 and 4 year olds.

Miss Yvette started putting down circles on the ground for the 8 kids to sit on.

James: I want a green one. I want a green one. I NEED a green one!

Other assorted kids: I want a red (blue/purple/yellow/white) one!!!!

(At this point I once again remembered why I could NEVER have a career with other peoples’ young children. I found myself thinking, “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit! If you ask me for a specific color, you can forget about it!” HA!)

Miss Yvette starts reading a story about the first day of preschool. This becomes a heated competition to see which of the BOYS could yell out the end of the sentence first. (Meanwhile the girls were sitting quietly in their cute pink outfits being all polite and quiet.) Seriously, what is with boys anyway? Miss Yvette handles all of this quite tactfully.

The kids go outside for playtime with Miss Audrey while the parents have Q&A with Miss Yvette.

Parent 1: So how was your summer, Yvette?
Parent 2: Anybody see any good sales this weekend?
Parent 3: Oh, so and so’s baby is soo cute.
Parent 4: I can’t believe it rained this morning.
Me: So who will call me if there’s an emergency or something like that?

Everybody gets all quiet and looks at me and one mom says, “Oh, first time, huh? He’ll be fine, don’t worry, blah blah blah”. All the rest of the moms continue to console me until I feel like I want to console their butts right out of the room.

Snack time: The kids get to choose what they want off of the serving plates. You hear a chorus of: I don’t like oranges! I don’t like bananas. I only like oranges. I want a WHOLE banana. My mom says I can’t have cookies. This orange has seeds. My banana has a brown spot. William has more milk than me. I only drink chocolate milk. I want juice. Jonathan took my cookie. I dropped my napkin. AAAAAHHH! So glad transition day is only once a year.

After doing some time at different stations, it’s time to have the going home story and song. Miss Yvette (M.Y.) gets one page into the book:

Kid 1: My dog made poops in the house this morning.

M.Y. acknowledges and goes on with story.

Kid 2: Walmart doesn’t have any more purple notebooks.

M.Y. acknowledges and goes on with story.

Kid 3: I don’t like peanut butter.

M.Y. acknowledges and goes on with story.

JAMES: My daddy says…. My daddy says….

M.Y.: What does your daddy say, James?

(PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE DON’T LET HIM SAY, “My daddy says my mommy has hairy legs.” Or “My daddy says I need to not touch my face after I pee.” Or “My daddy says President Obama pooped his pants.” (Which James has said before, but Ben did NOT!) )

JAMES: My daddy says I can be Bob the Builder for Halloween.

(Ok, HALLELUJAH it wasn’t “My daddy says my mom should wear more clothes around the house!”

M.Y. acknowledges and goes on with story.

Ugh. Soon enough it is time to collect our belongings and head home. James is weeping because we have to leave and I’ve had more than enough preschool for this year. James goes back solo on Wednesday and I’m pretty positive I’ll be glad to see him off.

This child!

2009-07-06T14:42:00.002-07:00

As in this child may not survive 3 years old!

He has turned into Sassy McSassy over the last couple of months. We try not to humor what he says, but sometimes he just amazes us with what comes out of his mouth. We came down hard on his use of poop jokes and he finally complied after a couple days worth of timeouts. Next thing I know he is making PEE jokes. I tell him, "Let's go look for daddy." He says, "OK, let's go look for Pee Pee." Is this a little boy thing or a 3 year old thing?

Another joy is when he is in an ornery mood-he loudly contradicts EVERYTHING anybody else says. This got him yanked out of church yesterday when he said, "NO SHE DOESN'T LOVE JESUS!" in response to someone's testimony. I was pretty much mortified. Later during church he was being a little tyrant in the nursery telling all the little kids, "BUBBLES ARE JUST FOR ME!" Later he chucked a block in anger and it hit a little girl who happens to be our neighbor. I think he was being a beast mostly because of the late night July 4th and lack of breakfast. After a huge lunch and lo-ong nap he woke up nice again. We had him make an apology card for his little friend and he insisted on taking a bag of cookies and juice box to her, too. He's such a sweetie when he's not being the giant tyrant.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-06T14:34:00.004-07:00

We had a lovely July 4th! Lots of good friends, good food, good swimming, good naps and good fireworks! I am thankful for all the freedoms we enjoy, namely worshipping as I choose, freedom to study whatever I wanted at whatever University I could get into, freedom to choose whatever career I was qualified for, freedom to marry who, when and where I wanted, freedom to have as many children as we can, freedom to wear whatever clothes I want, freedom to shop at Walmart or Target or both, and freedom to say whatever I want on my own little blog!

Here are the only pics I took all day:

James enjoying his own version of smores.

The Star

2009-06-28T09:10:00.003-07:00

This video is cute, but I'm mostly posting it for Lilly, James' other rock star friend!

Being 3 years old is funny

2009-06-24T11:23:00.005-07:00

I haven't blogged in the longest time, and I totally blame it on Facebook. Ok, so I don't post that often over there either, but I spend the time that I would normally spend blogging. I keep forgetting that I am blogging not only to keep the family and friends in the know, but also as our family journal.

Ok, so James was a great 2 year old; 3 is not as peaceful. He enjoys doing the opposite of what we say just to see what will happen. He's been quite vocal about what choices we give him. We hear this alot:

"THOSE ARE NOT MY CHOICES!"

"I DON'T LIKE THOSE OPTIONS!"

He's been so funny, but I've been forgetting to take note. I can't forget what happened the other day though. My parents and Ben and I took him to see "UP". He was really scared about being at the movie because "Monsters vs Aliens" ended up being too scary for him back in April. (I took him out of the theater that day and walked around the mall with him.) Anyway, he kept hiding his eyes and staring down at his legs during the commercials BEFORE the previews because he was that nervous. He started to cry a little bit, so I told my mom to say some happy things to him.

Granny: This is sooo fun! We're having a great time!

James: (Staring down at his legs) (cry) yes (cry) we (cry) sure (cry) are! (cry)

We were all laughing so hard that it made him forget he was scared. At least until the previews came on. He finally relaxed after I 1) bought him a bag of skittles 2) He sat on my lap for the whole movie. Ugh, that was not comfortable.

He's in swim lessons at the university this summer and he has been enjoying himself. He's not daring at all, but he's having a good time. The teachers have been taking all the kids down to the 13' side of the pool at the end of class to give them each a chance to jump off the high board, low board or starting blocks. He just sits on the side of the pool and keeps telling his teacher that he'll try to do it "tomorrow". (whenever that is!)

And last but not least, here is an entertaining video of him dancing. I have no idea what gets into this kid sometimes! (and it is entertaining to hear my cackle laugh and my parents singing "shake your booty".)

James' Ears

2009-05-26T16:07:00.004-07:00

First, some gratuitous cuteness: Here's my guys making a treat from the Cheerios Cookbook. Thanks, Grandma!

As cute as James' ears are, they are causing us more grief than I bargained for. For the first 2 years of his life he had a ton of ear infections. He got tubes put in right around his 2nd birthday--and that day was a nightmare. When the tube in his left ear fell out a few months ago, the hole remained. The ENT has been watching it since January, but it never closed. It was time to finally do something about it and today James had a "procedure". (Procedure doesn't seem like right word when they take your baby away on a gurney in a hospital gown and put him under anesthesia to fix his ear.)

James had a "paper patch" put in to fix his ear. Basically the dr goes in, scrapes the ear drum up to irritate it and places a tiny piece of rice paper over the newly irritated hole so that the skin is "encouraged to grow". We are hoping and praying this works, because if it doesn't, the next procedure is more like a major ear surgery. Sigh.

Anyway, things went really well this morning and the only things we have to worry about are 1) Not letting James blow his nose and 2) Not changing altitudes for a couple of weeks. We can handle that!

Oh, and for those of you who wanted to know what the receipt was actually for in the last post, it was some kind of water hose repair kit. Ha!

Aah, Walmart

2009-05-07T21:55:00.003-07:00

I was going through our receipts tonight and found this gem. If I had known that it was that cheap, I would have got me some of that a long time ago! I hope they sell it at your local walmart. Ben even bought it for himself!

Heaven Help Us

2009-05-04T21:21:00.003-07:00

Earlier this evening:

Ben: Let's get ready to go to Albertsons. James, do you want to wear your Star Wars shirt?

James: (Starts crying) No! I don't want to wear that one!

Me: James, what's wrong with your Star Wars shirt?

James: (Still crying) The girls at Albertsons won't like that shirt! Waaaaaahh!

(Ben and Carolyn try, oh we try, to contain the hysteria of his crying and our laughter. James chooses his Bob the Builder shirt.)

20 Mins later at Albertsons:

Female Employee: Hi James!

(I am not kidding: James sticks out his chest and pulls out the corners of his shirt so that she can fully see his shirt.)

Female Employee: Oooh, I like that shirt!

James smiles and gets all shy.

Yeah, heaven help us.

Potty Training Update

2009-05-01T13:17:00.002-07:00

Well, It's May 1st and we started potty training on April 1st. It hasn't been that bad, though I can't say that we're done by any stretch of the imagination.

Some of the highlights:

*Missionaries came over for dinner on day 1. As we were eating, James kept telling them about the Potty Party, Pee, Poop, all of his new underwear, etc. As they tried to share a message with us, James kept interjecting potty talk, potty humor and he would dash off to bring in some of his new underwear and wave it in the Elders' faces. Yeah, thank heavens it was new underwear.

* Has to be nakey from waist down to do his business. Not so convenient in public restrooms, you know.

* As we were falling asleep one night, I told Ben if he could get James to poop on the potty the next morning I would pay him $20. I still owe him that.

* Every one of the songs he knows now has the word "poop" inserted in it somewhere.

We are DEFINITELY still working on the whole poop thing. He's not a big fan of doing it in the right place. However, I think we are progressing...Happy Meals are a powerful bribe.

I don't know what to do (or if something needs to be done) about the whole pee thing. It's been 30 days, and he's only had 10 accidents, total. (yeah, I keep a calendar and make tally marks.) Most of those were in the first week. But, and here's the big but, he's never, not once, told us that he needs to go pee. We've just increased the time between potty breaks every week and now we're taking him every 2 1/2 hours or so. Do we need to try to get him to tell us when he actually needs to go? Or do we just leave it alone and keep taking him according to our schedule?

High Fashion

2009-05-01T13:15:00.001-07:00

I guess I spent too long making phone calls this morning...but isn't he cute?

Family Birthday

2009-04-21T21:55:00.003-07:00

(If someone can tell me how to rearrange pics in the order I want them after I've uploaded them to Blogger, do be a dear and TELL ME! )

Granny covering James' eyes to hide the surprises.
Opening something.

Sitting proudly on his Birthday Bicycle. It's the last time he's been on it. He's way afraid of it :(

Cheesy family time.

Cheesy James time.

Blowing out the candles

Other cheesy people.

James with one of his favorite presents. It's a giant 24 piece puzzle.

The Latest

2009-04-21T21:37:00.002-07:00

We went over to walk around the mall this evening.

James: What does that sign say?

Me: Barnes and Noble Booksellers

James: That's a NAUGHTY word!

Me: What word?

James: BOOKSELLERS!

Me: Um, are you sure?

James: Yeah, trust me.

*******

Later, inside the mall

Me: Ooh, I like this***. Tell Daddy to buy it for me for Mother's Day.

James: But when is James' Day?

Me: Every day is James' Day.

James: Yeah, I like that.

***Is something I want, which Ben will have to drag James around the mall in hopes of finding with a 3 year old's description. Hee hee hee!
****************

Tonight, around the dinner table.

Everyone: chat chat chat chat chat

James: Barack Obama came to my nursery yesterday.

Me: Oh really? What did he do?

James: He talked.

Me: What else did he do?

James: He sang the "lead me guide me walk beside me" song.

Me: Uncontrollable laughter

Ben: You better go put that on the Blog. Your parents are gonna LOVE that.

2009-04-19T18:21:00.002-07:00

Ben and James trying to fly the dragon kite on campus. It didn't work out, we went to Caliches.

James' most recent drawing. A self portrait.

(Ok, so I'm kidding. Granny drew that.)

Grandparent love!

2009-04-19T18:11:00.003-07:00

During Spring Break, we traveled to Kansas to visit Ben's parents and after the break my parents came here to visit us. A good time was had by all!

This is what happens after my mom and James hit the bottle. (Ok, Dad. I want my $20.)

Before the drinking.

Granpa Swan, Ben and James playing Candyland!

Grandma Swan and James cheesing for the camera.

Paw Paw obliging James' request to "draw my feet."

2009-04-18T22:19:00.002-07:00

Our little boy just turned 3!!!!! Here are some of my not-so-lovely pics from the party at the park that we had for him. He chose "Bob the Builder" this year.

Bob is just like one of the family now.

We couldn't light any candles at the park because of the hurricane type winds we were experiencing. I told him we'd have real candles on his real birthday. He wasn't amused.

The stupid wind was blowing so hard that it knocked over every kid's cup of water, half of their food plates, an industrial size garbage can, and the cake. (It blew the last 1/3 of the cake off the table once we had cut it and passed it out. The box saved it-well kind of.) The table cloth below kept taking flight.

Some of James' friends and mamas.

James taking his turn at whacking Bob.

James' initial reaction to the Bob pinata. I felt that way too as I was sawing into him the night before to fill him. It was stuffed with newspapers from Juarez and I was sure that a kilo of some illegal substance was going to come pouring out. Add that to last year's mari*juana in the garden scare...

The cake that I DID'T make, but should have.

Overheard

2009-04-09T21:47:00.001-07:00

(Ben takes James into the bathroom for potty time.)

Ben: Wow, James, that's a lot of pee! Where did all that pee come from?

James: Albuquerque.

(I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.)

2009-04-07T21:31:00.002-07:00

If you don't care about potty training, then skip this post.

Well, seven days of potty training done here. No poops in the potty yet. He was doing well with pee until today. We hadn't had a pee accident since last Thursday, and then he had 3 today. Is that normal?

One of the pee incidents today was funny--but we didn't treat it as funny here-I don't want a repeat.

James had been playing with his big Aquadoodle mat and dumping the water from his pens onto it. Next thing I know, I walk into the room and he is standing on it, peeing, watching his pee hit the mat. I say, "JAMES! What are you doing?" His answer, "It turns blue like the water, mommy, see!" Good grief.

2009-04-02T20:13:00.002-07:00

We're at the end of the second day of potty training. Can I quit yet?

Well, I guess I won't quit, yet. I've got the timer set for 30 minute increments and I'm hoping to lengthen the time soon. I'm worn out from:

1) Being really excited and enthusiastic about pee.

2) Being really casual and nonchalant about accidents and the subsequent clean up (we've had 3 each day.)

3) Hefting him onto and off of the toilet every 30 minutes or so.

4) Thinking about doing this for the rest of forever.

5) Thinking about what will happen when I actually let him leave the house.

He already told us, "I don't want to be a big boy anymore, give me back my diapers." I wanted to agree, but then I remembered that we'd most likely have to move on to Depends.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day. I wonder what would happen if he peed on the floor at Sam's Club.

On a non-potty related topic...

How do I know what size bicycle to buy for James? We want to get him a bike with training wheels for his birthday next week, but I don't know how to buy a bike. Somebody, anybody, help with this, please?

2009-03-18T22:26:00.004-07:00

My Kitchen Helper:

James' Airplane

James' Thomas the Train

Family Night

2009-03-16T19:55:00.002-07:00

Most of Family Night was normalish ...but here's how it went down when we went to have lesson time:

Ben: Tonight's lesson is on...

James: No! I want to be the lesson tonight!

Ben: Ok, teach us a lesson.

James: Wait a minute, I'm thinking......(30 seconds later) Tonight the lesson is about going to the Mall. First, we go to the mall. Then we eat at Chick fil A. Then we get a balloon. Then I need ice cream. And that's how you go to the mall. (Disclaimer: we go to the mall MAYBE once a month to walk around and while it does usually lead to Chick Fil A, the other parts I have no idea what he is making up.)

(Ben and Carolyn praise James and try their very hardest not to rupture internal organs from holding in laughter.)

James: Ok, Daddy, now it's your turn to teach us a lesson.

Ben: Ok, tonight's lesson is on the Priesthood. (Teaches a short and simple lesson, highlights blessings for when you are sick... follows up with a few questions.) So James, what can Daddy do to help you when you are not feeling well?

James: You can give me Jelly Beans.

(Ben and Carolyn smile again, sigh, and reteach.)

James: Mommy, now it's your turn to teach us a lesson.

Carolyn: Ok, um, tonight's lesson is on...

James: BAPTISM!

Carolyn: Ok, sure, Baptism is when .....(teach previous lesson on Baptism. Then I decided to expand a bit...) After you are baptized, you will also get a very special blessing so that you can have the Holy Ghost be with you all the time...Then

James: (Crying) I don't want a ghost! I don't want a Ghost! I'm scared!

Carolyn: It's not a scary ghost, it's actually a help...

James: No ghosts at all! I don't want any help! (Crying goes to wailing.)

Ben: It's a good thing, James, it's more like a spirit...

James: NO! I don't want it! (Wailing)

Carolyn: Ok, who wants treats?

Yeah, that stopped the mayhem.

And that, my friends, is a model Family Night. (Snort) They're probably going to ask us to do videos for the church and everything. (Crying from so much laughing) The only thing missing was Jello.

Advice

2009-03-09T23:29:00.002-07:00

Do you ever have the irresistible urge to give advice to someone, even when they haven't asked for it? Well, I'm actually asking everyone to open up and spew forth their comments. Tell me anything and everything you've ever wanted to tell someone about Potty Training.

We're going to start potty training James for real after our long road trip. We're kinda practicing right now, but want to do it for real after we get back. Please, pretty please, tell me what I should know!

Let me give you a few particulars...

*He is TOO BIG for a potty chair (already tried that out) so we have to do it on the toilet.

*We have a cushy seat to put on top of the toilet to make it smaller for him, and he is NOT afraid of the flushing.

* I have no problem bribing/rewarding with candy, stickers, larger rewards after a while, whatever.

*I will have 2 weeks off after our road trip is done.

* If we put him on the toilet and tell him to pee, he can pretty much do it on demand.

* I've never read any books on the subject, so if there's something I should know, or something that worked great for you, PLEASE TELL ME!

This kid is funny

2009-03-09T23:21:00.002-07:00

I know I haven't posted pics in a million years, but we haven't taken any. So there. I do have to write down the funny things he says, though.

He helped himself to a fun size bag of skittles from the office at Church. I told him to hurry up and get in his car seat so we could leave and THEN I would open the candy for him. I got him buckled in, opened the pack, and then he popped one in his mouth. He says, "Mmm, I can taste the rainbow!" (Seriously, do they still do those ads? I don't think I've seen one for years. Where did he get that from?)

He has added a new phrase when he has to wait for something. "Oh, now I'll never get to..." Seriously cracks me up everytime. As in, "oh, now I'll never get to go to Walmart." or "Oh, now I'll never get to have dinner." All said very dramatically. Would make a teenage girl proud.

This afternoon we were playing on the wii and he did something really well. I told him, "Way to go, Schmoo!" (Our nickname for him.) He looks at me quite seriously and says, "You don't call me Schmoo, you call me James."

First Five Friends Fabulous Freebies!

2009-03-05T19:28:00.002-07:00

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me for you!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will love what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It’ll be done sometime this calendar year.
4. You have no clue what it’s going to be … it's a complete surprise.
5. You must offer the same deal on your blog to the first 5 people to comment on your "First Five" post. (If you don't have a blog, you must make something for someone after you receive my gift!)

I'll ask for addresses later if I don't have them! Good luck!

This week in 2 year oldisms

2009-03-01T22:32:00.002-07:00

I had a bad cold this week and was dragging myself around.

James: Mommy, you need new batteries. Where do I put them? Let's look under here. (Pulls up my shirt in the back.) I'll get the screw driver! (I stopped him at that point.)

We were all playing on the bed and somehow potty humor made it's way into our lives.

James: I'm going to write a letter to Granny. "Dear Granny, I love you, from poop." (?????? Are they just born knowing bodily function jokes?)

Ben asked James what he wanted for lunch yesterday.

James: I'll have chicken nuggets, french fries, a drink, a toy and that will be all, thank you. (Ben doesn't own any Mcdonald's outfits...)

This morning in Stake Conference they were announcing some people being called to new church assignments. The Stake President said something about a Sister Carolyn something or the other.

James: Hey mommy, hey mommy, he's talking to you! (yeah, thank heavens he wasn't.)

Are you kidding me?

2009-02-26T20:10:00.002-07:00

Ok, there are AT LEAST as many Spanish speakers in this city as English speakers. Can you tell me why I would get a English/Spanish Flyer at work that says things like this:

Kids are welcome with their parents.
Los cabritos son agradables con los padres.

Are you serious? Who speaks Spanish like that? (Besides my dad.) This is the work of a monolingual weirdo wielding a bilingual dictionary. Couldn't they have asked one of the 50,000 (or more) people in this city that speak Spanish?

(It also says things like, "crecido fuera pesticidas" and "llamada o parada cerca". Lovely, isn't it?)

2009-02-21T23:10:00.002-07:00

James is understanding what we mean by "peanut butter breath" "chocolate breath" "onion breath" etc etc etc. He has been using it EXCESSIVELY--as in, he'll watch you carefully to see what you're eating and when you finish and then climb on your lap and tell you what your breath smells like.

He has also expanded this little gem into "oooh, you've got 'work breath'" (when one of us comes back from teaching) or "Albertsons breath" if we've been out shopping. He has also told me that I have "sleeping breath" after I wake up.

I just know, in my heart of hearts, that this is going to come back and bite us on the butt really soon. He is going to snuggle up to one of the lovely nursery leaders and say, "eeew, you've got sacrament breath" or "goldfish breath" or heaven forbid "poopy breath" or something equally charming.

He told me yesterday, "Mommy, your elbows are scratchy! you need lotion now!"

I am worried about the impending "see and say" stage. Kids' filters don't come in until, what, 5 or 6 or 7 years old, right?

You know you're a mom when...

2009-02-15T22:56:00.004-07:00

Before I had kids, if I found a brown streak on my arm or clothes I would think, "Huh? I wonder how I got chocolate on me?"

Now that I'm a Mom I think, "Oh man, I hope that's not poop."

"Milestones" and such

2009-02-14T22:55:00.003-07:00

James info: 2 Years, 10 months.

I'm not really up to date on what the "2 year old Milestones" are, but I think I have a pretty good sense of what James excels at and what he is lacking. He still needs help on some of the playground equipment, and he is none too interested in using the potty. (We're going to hit that during my long break in March, I think.) He can't peddle his little bike yet and he's hit or miss while catching a ball. I guess most of these things are gross motor skills.

Open topped cups are still iffy, and he spills here and there with spoons.

However,

(here comes the part where half the world may think I'm bragging, the grandparents will be proud, and I'm just keeping records...)

If I load the Nick Jr website for him, he can use the mouse and do what he wants all over the site. He has known all his colors since before he was two (we didn't even teach them to him on purpose) and he can draw great things for his age.

He knows all the upper case letters and most of the numbers 1-10. I guess we should move on to lowercase, huh?

The thing that gets me the most are his verbal skills. He was a LATE talker, but did a lot of catching up and he just amazes us everyday with the things that come out of his mouth. These are some examples of what he says to us:

*Where are we going next... I don't want to go home yet... I want to go somewhere else.

*For my birthday I want *Bob the builder cups and plates and napkins and a cake and a pinata and presents and games. (*Character changes several times a week.)

*I love Mcdonalds, it is my favorite restaurant in the whole world. I want a happy meal with chicken nuggets, french fries, a drink and a toy. Can we go there please?

*Mommy, where is Daddy? I miss my Daddy and I want him to come home NOW!

*Mommy, you be a *horse. Does the horse like carrots? Does the horse like to play? Does the horse want a happy meal? Does the horse like trains? (*Animal always changes and he gets MAD if you don't answer him with the sound of that animal.)

*I don't want a timeout, I want to play right now. I'm going to my room to be mad!

*I want to lick this ketchup off my finger. Can I lick my finger? I'm going to dip my finger in my ketchup again, ok?

*Can we go in the storeroom to get a snack? I want to pick it out. You don't get my snack, mama.

*That food (or whatever) made me sick. I need to see a Doctor. The doctor will look in my mouth and my ears and I will be all better. (He even told my mom, "I'm sick. I need to go to the hospital.")

And today's favorite: anytime I've given him anything today he has responded, "Why, thank you, Mommy." I know he has to be copying someone, but it is sooo cute.

He has also started inventing stories, often to cover his own hide or to make his version of events more interesting. (He told me that he and Ben went to Target to buy me a present. True. He also told me they stopped and got popcorn, a drink, candy and other refreshments. Not true.)

I am actually beginning to understand why people would want to study early childhood development. I LOVE THIS AGE!

2009-02-13T14:56:00.002-07:00

I was tutoring at my apartment yesterday morning (which I rarely do at home) and so I was trying to keep James occupied while I taught the oh-so-enthused-awake-too-early-teenaged-boy about verb conjugations. James was in the computer room playing on the Nick Jr website. (It really is amazing to see him use the mouse to play games and move throughout the site. Geekdom here we come...) Anyway, I heard him dancing around and singing to a Dora music video and I thought I'd peek in and see the cutie.

Not only was he dancing around and singing, he was also clutching my last Godiva chocolate bar in his hot little hand. Completely unwrapped. Dark chocolate all over face and hands, he says, "Hi Mommy, I LOVE this chocolate!" (Continues dancing and singing and eating.) All I could do was laugh out loud and wish I had the video camera out.

Valentine's is tomorrow. Maybe cupid will bring me a yummy replacement :)

2009-02-09T20:32:00.003-07:00

I tried to make my birthday funny so that my niece, Chelsea, could get some enjoyment out of my blog this week, but nothing doing. It was a lovely two day event! On Thursday, I was cooked for and pampered and all that Jazz. My class surprised me with flowers and balloons and candy. James and Ben gave me presents and I got lots of birthday emails and phone calls and cards. One funny thing that did happen... I got an unsigned birthday card in the mail. Cracks me up--almost like a prank phone call, but nothing perverse.

On Friday, we set up a marathon babysitter and headed over to El Paso. Per my request (and with free movie passes in hand) we saw two chick flicks in a row! I cannot recommend "He's just not that into you" But we really liked "New in Town".) Ben was a sport in two theaters full of women laughing, gasping, and saying things like, "oh no he didn't!" Anyway, afterwards we headed over for a late dinner at PF Changs. I love that place! It was an awesome date!

Your Highness?

2009-02-09T20:21:00.002-07:00

"Does your highness hurt?" "Ok, what's wrong with your highness?"

If you were a fly on the wall of our house, you would have heard those phrases lately. We're not raising royalty here. If I were to spell what James meant if would go like this:

"Does your hinus hurt?" "What's wrong with your hinus?"

Due to the prolonged rash he had we did a lot of discussing his hiney and another anatomical word that when combined with hiney = hinus. He came up with that hybrid all on his own. One day he was just walking around, grabbed his diaper and said, "Owie, my hinus is owie!"

Ever since, I've not thought of royalty the same.

2009-02-01T20:14:00.002-07:00

So what would you think if you were sitting quietly in church and all of a sudden heard a child yell out, "MOMMY, EAT MY BRAINS!"

As soon as you know, let me know so I can get over it.

(We just taught James about his brain and his heart this week. He calls kissing him a bunch of times in the same place "eating".)

2009-01-31T18:57:00.003-07:00

I think I had a miscommunication with the hairstylist today...but I guess it doesn't look that bad even though I almost cried.

And we have a special message for Grandpa! Friday was his last day as Director of the Central Kansas Library System and Administrator of the Great Bend Public Library!

Grandma and Grandpa

2009-01-27T20:16:00.002-07:00

To Grandma and Grandpa Swan, these two are especially for you:

This morning, James had 2 little friends come over to play. One of the little boys started stepping on a doll that Ben's mom had made for him when he was little. I asked him not to step on it, "...because James' grandma made that doll." James looked at me all amazed and said, "My grandma made that doll?" I answered him and they went off to play again. At snack time the guys were sitting around the table, each eating a packet of fruit snacks. James stopped, looked at the one little boy and SNOTTILY said, "My grandma made these fruit snacks." It was too funny!

And for Grandpa Swan:

James was terrorizing us Sunday night, just generally being a 2 year old. I told him he was being naughty and to calm down. A few minutes later this dialog happened:

James: I AM YELLING AND SCREAMING!!!!!

Me: Yeah, Se nota.

James: NOTA!

2009-01-23T18:31:00.002-07:00

For any of you that were worried, James survived the week. Just barely.

On MLK day, I woke up and saw a posting on Freecycle for a twin size captain's bed. (You know, the kind of bed with drawers underneath.) In my half asleep state, I stumbled into the living room and asked Ben if he thought I should try and get it. "Sure" he shrugged. We've been thinking about getting James out of the ol' crib, but haven't done anything about it. I sent an email to the owner and she picked us to have it. Yeah! But then all of a sudden I realized everything that would have to happen that day--there is no room in the apartment to store a bed of that size so that meant getting James into that bed that night.

We started having abnormally excited and enthusiastic conversations about beds in front of James. After the trap was set, we asked James if he wanted a big boy bed. (Heretofore known as the BBB.) He was excited at first, but when we told him we would go to the store and buy him new sheets and then go to Sam's club to buy a mattress he was running around the house in circles. (I'm sure that the thought of new domestic items was exciting for him but he was probably equally excited about getting a pretzel from Sam's.)

We went to Target and let him pick out sheets. He picked Spiderman. He's never seen Spiderman. We've never talked to him about Spiderman. He doesn't know who Spiderman is, but he picked Spiderman. (We might send him to live with you, Karla.) I was hoping to soften the blow (to me) of moving him to a BBB by swaddling him in some kind of baby-ish sheets, but no way. He never called it a BBB, he calls it his "Spiderman Bed."

We went to Walmart and got a rail and all the appropriate mattress coverings. Not very exciting.

We went to Sam's and before we could go get the mattress we had to have lunch at the cafe. (I use that word very loosely.) But, all of us getting lunch for $7.00 is fun and exciting. We picked out the mattress and wedged it into the minivan. All very exciting.

This story is getting too long, but if you're getting bored, just go back to facebook.

At home, James was DEVASTATED that he had to take a nap in his crib. Apparently all of our very enthusiastic brainwashing talk about BBBs should have been saved for after nap time. After naptime, Ben and James took down the crib and put it in the storeroom, sigh. (I do miss his crib, but I do NOT miss hefting the kid over the rail.)

A nice friend of ours and Ben went to pick up the bed (conveniently located on campus.) Apparently it was very heavy and could not be taken apart. Anyway, they got the bed in the room, I wiped it down ('cause I'm paranoid about things like that) and we set everything up. When it was time for bedtime, I think James was a wee bit apprehensive, but he fell asleep after a little while. I worried about him falling out of bed all night! I checked on him probably every hour on the hour all night long. Ridiculous, I know. He slept happily and beautifully, I didn't sleep at all. All week long he has done well in his new bed. My checking on him has been reduced to about 2x a night.

All in all, its been a great transition. Although he can get himself in and out of the bed, he doesn't get out until we come for him. I am DREADING the day when I feel someone watching me in my sleep and wake to find James standing at the edge of the bed staring at me. That will probably send me over the edge.

It's wrong to beat your children, right?

2009-01-13T18:08:00.003-07:00

(For any potential CPS people out there, it's an empty, sarcastic comment, ok?)

James may not survive the week. After the special 'keys' incident we had Sunday, he follows up with this:

This morning I had a ton of dishes to wash so I asked if he wanted to watch a DVD. I set him up with Blues Clues, a snack and milk.

I washed and washed--all the while hearing him talk to the video. I knew he was safe and out of trouble.

Oh, if it were only that easy.

I finished the last dish, dried my hands and went into the living room to play a game with him. When I walked in, I saw JAMES' LIFE flash before my eyes. It's a good thing I saw the cute and cuddly parts, because that, and that alone, saved him from his first spanking.

He had taken his sippy cup of milk (without the stopper), turned it upside down, and shook it all over just about every surface in the living room.

Couch? Check.
Chair? Check.
Ottoman? Check.
Pillows? Check, Check, Check and Check.
Large area of the carpet? CHECK.

I yelled, "WHAT DID YOU DO IN HERE?!?!?!"

(Looks at me with the "oh man, she found out what I did" look.)

Me: Go to your room RIGHT NOW!

Waaah, Waah, waaah.

I put the pillows in the washing machine, I wiped down the (thank-heavens-they're leather) couch, chair and ottoman. (At this point, I called Ben and told him to come home NOW instead of an hour later. The whole incident was going to make me late to work.) Then I hand scrubbed the carpet once with wet rags and then again with carpet cleaner.

Ben and I had a brief conference on discipline. We have always said we would try to stick to 'natural consequences' as much as possible. Ben got James out of his room and supervised him scrubbing the carpet for 20 minutes or so while constantly reminding him that he has to clean up the messes he makes. We also revoked the privilege of having drinks in the living room.

I was exhausted and frustrated before I ever got to work. I had my students (all mothers of babies and young children) journal about the things their kids do that frustrate them. I felt better after hearing the other tales of toddlers gone bad.

Man, I wish I had a lovely bathtub to soak in.

2009-01-11T21:55:00.002-07:00

I know little kids will lie. I didn't think that James was old enough to do it.

First: While we were at my parent's house we left James with Granny and Papa and we ran off to Houston for the day. While we were gone, James walked up to granny in the kitchen and said, "I cut my finger." He had a little bit of blood, so she cleaned it up and bandaid-ed him. When she asked how he did it he said, "I used my nail clippers." Granny went with him to find the nail clippers and instead found a lamp he had knocked down with a broken lightbulb. Mmmhmm. Nail clippers. Right. When she asked if he cut himself on the lamp he fessed up to it.

Today: I brought him home from church and as we were walking in the door he asked if he could hold my keys. Sure, whatever. I used the bathroom and then left the door open as I went to my room to change. I heard him go into the bathroom, slam down the toilet lid and flush. He then walked into my bedroom--without the keys. I asked him, "where did you put my keys?" He walked me into the bathroom and said, "In the potty."

"YOU PUT MY KEYS IN THE POTTY!!!???"

"Yep."

"YOU ARE IN SOOO MUCH TROUBLE. You are going to time out RIGHT NOW!"

waah waahh waah

I went through various attempts to find my keys in the toilet. NO luck. I asked him again where my keys were.

"In my room." "In your room" "At church" "With daddy" etc etc etc

I sent him to his room. I kept looking around the apartment and finally found the keys stuffed inbetween couch cushions. I brought him out and showed him the keys in the couch and told him he needed to tell me the keys were there and not make up a story.

"Ok, mama."

Oh, please somebody tell me I'm not raising Cain here.

So WRONG!

2009-01-11T21:44:00.003-07:00

When I saw these two things today I just kept thinking, "It's soooo wrong!"

First, when James saw Ben put on a tie for church this morning he all of a sudden decided that he must have one too. We dug out the two little ties that Ben's mom had made for him when he was a toddler. We don't have any solid color dress shirts for James, so Ben just tied this BROWN FLOWERED 25 year old tie over James BLUE STRIPED button up. Good grief. The guys at church loved it though.

Second: When I was ready to hand this over to James for dinner, I had to snap a pic. Can you believe it? He didn't want the fish we were having, but he LOVES asparagus. So here you go, a cheesy hot dog and asparagus for dinner. FINE DINING.

2009-01-09T23:04:00.003-07:00

There are two things that made me smile a lot today:

Ben chose the red ones, James picked the yellow ones. Thanks, guys!

Oh, and I have the funniest story ever about James...but I'm not posting it here for the whole world to see b/c it mentions certain body parts that some may not want to read about. If you want to know about it, just email me :)

Holidays

2009-01-07T17:48:00.006-07:00

I haven't blogged in a wa-ay long time. I kept thinking about things I should write about, but I just wasn't feeling it while out of town. (One is worth mentioning. We were sitting around at my parents house and the phone rang. Ben looked at the phone to see who it was and the caller id said, "Jesus C". When he told us who was calling, everyone froze and looked at each other with the "I'm not answering it" look. I would like to talk to Him, but not via Comcast, you know? My mom finally answered it and it turns out that it was coming from "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." It was the Bishop. Maybe still a good option to avoid those phone calls.

Here is my Mom's beautiful tree with my beautiful boy on Christmas morning.

I'm not sure if our holidays were more like this:

Or this:

Yes, yes, we had lovely times. But James' holiday went a bit like this: Cold, Croup, Cold, Ear infection, Croup, Broken lamp, Time out Chair X 1,000, naughty, sassy, disobey, disobey, disobey, breathing treatments, ear drops, nose spray, allergy meds, cough meds, rash meds... But we're home now and he's not so demanding--in many ways. I shouldn't complain, he was healthy throughout the whole fall until right before we left for Christmas break.

While in TX, there was a lot of movie theater activity. Ben and I saw "Bedtime Stories" and thought it was great. The guys saw "Valkyrie" and dug it. The girls saw "Yes Man" and one raunchy scene ruined the whole thing. I saw "Marley and Me" with my mom and really liked it and really cried. We still want to see "Seven Pounds"--we heard it was awe-some from a lot of people. We also had lots of good food--both from home cooking and gulf coast goodness. Hello seafood and barbeque!

The best part was all the family we got to see. We saw everyone there was to see in Texas-on my side and Ben's. James was in cousin HEAVEN! He loved every last cousin and Aunt and Uncle! He loved having so many people to play with and so many people catering to his whims. He had tons of fun with the older cousins and all their nice gadgets. And once again, he was totally smitten with Elizabeth. He looked across the dinner table at her and said in his best charming voice, "Elizabeth, you soooo pretty." I just about died it was so adorable.

You know how it's always the random presents that people like? Well, I got Ben a plug and play "Deal or No Deal" game for his stocking and that thing got played a lot. James loves it and when he opens any case he yells, "Whoo hoo! $50!" Ben got me "The Price is Right" DVD game and we wrangled granny and papa into playing that with us while James yelled "Come on down!" continually. Our family present was a Wii system with extra controllers and games that Ben got at Sam's at 4am on Black Friday. I told Ben we couldn't open it until he had finished his Dissertation Proposal. He sighed and agreed. We haven't opened it yet.

Meanwhile, the water main behind our apartment broke last night. The R.A. pounded on our door at 10pm at told us that any minute they would be shutting the water off..."for a long time." We started filling up any and all large containers with water for the toilet, washing hands, cleaning up, etc. We didn't really need much during the night and thank heavens they turned it on briefly this morning and we all raced through showers and filled up the tub for James and then it was off again. We made it through the day and tonight I think the problem is solved. I'm not pouring out any of our water reserves until I'm sure.

I went back to work today. It was good, but I wasn't jumping for joy or anything. It's hard overcoming holiday laziness. My students must feel the same, because only half of them showed up.

Now, if all those people who owe me pictures (ahem, granny, David, Melodie) would send them my way, I could show ya'll some pics.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas somewhere

2008-12-17T21:14:00.002-07:00

Here's some of this year's Christmas pictures. I think it's totally ridiculous to use a sled as a prop considering where we live, but I didn't have the heart to tell the lady to "put that stinkin thing away." And it was the exact same "snowy background" as last year. At least they didn't put him in front of the wrinkled hearth again. Ugh. The pics are not as good as last year's (I don't know if we'll ever top those) but they'll make the grandmas happy!

2008-12-14T23:17:00.003-07:00

We went to see "Australia" last night. I expected it to be a bit "different" considering Baz Lurhmann ("Strictly Ballroom", Leo Dicaprio-Romeo and Juliet, and "Moulin Rouge".)

It wasn't different, but it was quite violent. It made me sad, but it didn't make me cry. It made me a bit happy, but I didn't experience a post movie high.

I liked it, but then again, I liked Twilight (and other useless movies), so consider that your fair warning.

Aah, Final Exams

2008-12-09T22:27:00.002-07:00

NO, no final exams for me. I am sooo done with that part of my education...

Ben has been teaching another psych class this semester and today was the final exam. When he walked in, most of his students (~70) were already in place and had heads down doing last minute studying. When it was time, Ben instructed the students to put away their things and he handed out the finals. As he was looking around, he noticed a few students that didn't look too familiar. No big deal, lots of students come out of the woodwork for finals, right?

A few minutes after he had handed out the test, a girl walked up to the front of the room to ask him something: "Um, is this the computer science final?" Ben smiled and told her it was a psychology final. She handed in her exam (she had completed the first page) and sheepishly walked out.

For the record: None of her answers were correct. Good thing it was the wrong final.

2008-12-01T23:50:00.002-07:00

James has insisted on taking one of his favorite things to bed with him for some time. Last week I snapped these pics of two of his recent choices. His "Bob the Builder" CD and the keyboard we gave him.

The wisdom of 2 year olds

2008-12-01T23:33:00.004-07:00

James has been killing us lately with the things that come out of his mouth. He was in trouble the other night and I told him, "You have two choices, you can pick up your toys or you can brush your teeth." He looked at me and said, "I want choice number 3."

He woke up and asked if it was Christmas for the millionth time. Exasperated, I told him that Christmas was not here yet. He thought for a minute and said, "It's already Christmas at Walmart. I want to go to Walmart for Christmas."

I already told you about Jesus and his band.

He wasn't eating his green beans the other night and when I asked him why he told me, "These green beans are dangerous." Huh?

We were at Walgreens and he saw a giant M&M bank. He started the "I want I want I want" drama and I told him, "We'll have to tell Santa you want this." We turned the corner and we were face to face with an old man with white hair. James of course says, "Santa, I want the big M&M!" Thank heavens for faulty hearing aids! The man asked me what he said, and I truthfully answered, "he was just telling you that he wants that M&M."

He crawled under the bench at church yesterday to retrieve a stray crayon. He came up, pointed under the bench and said, "They can hear me." No one was sitting there and I have no idea who they were. It was kinda weird.

He HATES when we pick him up from nursery at church. He'll cry and wail until we get out into the hallway and then he'll stop crying and take off for the clerk's office because they keep candy in there. He will dodge people all the way across the building while I get stuck behind people having conversations or whatever. By the time I made it to the office yesterday I heard him say to one of the leaders in there, "I need Bubbles and a candy. Where are they?"

Say what?

2008-12-01T23:23:00.003-07:00

A conversation I wish I had never been a part of:

Lady in scrubs: Hi, my name is __________ and I'm a student phlebotomist. Is it ok if I practice, oh I mean draw your blood today?

Me: (looking around for someone else) Um, ok.

Lady in scrubs: Great, 'cause I need all the practice I can get!

Me: (thinking to myself) OH CRAP!

Time passes as she ties up my arm and jabs the inside of my elbow.

Real Phlebotomist: Did you find anything?

Lady in scrubs: I think so. Is this it?

Me: (thinking) OH CRAP!

Real Phlebotomist: I don't know, feel around for it.

Lady in scrubs: I think this is it. Oh wait, maybe it's right here.

Me: (thinking) OH CRAP! Maybe I don't really need this test.

Real Phlebotomist: Did you find it? She does have two arms, you know.

Student starts over on other arm, and repeats the phrase, "Is this it?" no less than 15 times. I am NOT exagerrating.

Me: (thinking) This is for the good of science. Someone else will suffer less because of me. You have friends in nursing school, they have to practice on people, too. At least it wasn't a 'practice' epidural or a 'practice' cathether or a 'practice' surgery or a 'practice' root canal, etc.

Twilight

2008-11-25T21:27:00.002-07:00

So I don't think I've ever posted about this and it will probably be the last time, too. I read all the Twilight series and enjoyed them enough. They were good "traveling" books, you know-don't have to pay a lot of attention, or when you can't sleep at night, or when you're pretending to pay attention to your family or that 5 minutes when your child is actually entertaining himself on the plane, etc.

Unlike a lot of people: I actually liked the "freaky" Breaking Dawn and thought it was more interesting than the other 2000 pages of Bella going on and on about how she will die without Edward and how Jacob is "just a friend". gag me. But what do you expect when you read this type of novel, huh?

Anyway, a bunch of us went out for girls' night out last Saturday and saw the movie. I LIKED IT, OK! The only things I didn't like were: The actress playing Rosalie, Edward's sparkle and Edward and Bella staring at each other on the grass for hours on end. I loved the baseball game and the characters the friends became. I warmed up to the actors playing Bella and Edward and thought her dad was an excellent pic. I really liked James, Victoria and Laurent. And after they toned down the makeup on Carlisle, I liked him too! And yes, I did a lot of laughing--as did most of the audience, but I don't think it was so much "ha ha, she's so funny" but rather nervous laughter breaking up stress/awkward/nervous moments in the movie.

IDK, maybe I'm stupid and have no taste, or maybe I just didn't have any expectations and I was pleasantly surprised. Either way, I'm happy I saw it and I won't be reading the books again any time soon.

Jesus

2008-11-23T17:30:00.005-07:00

There is a print of this picture at our Chapel. Today as we were walking in the foyer I asked James, "Who is that a picture of?"

James: Jesus!

Me: Who are the other people in the picture?

James: It's the band.

I was laughing so hard I didn't feel very reverent.

Earlier this week, James kept saying, "I need Jesus." At first I thought it was a little odd, but then I just thought he was being sweet.

As the morning progressed, James repeated "I need Jesus" and I would hug him and tell him that was sweet.

Later that day we watched a bit of TV and a Cheez-it commercial came on. James started jumping up and down saying, "I need CHEEZ-ITS!"

Ok, so he wasn't saying Jesus. My bad.

I'm soooo cute.

2008-11-17T21:11:00.003-07:00

Have a laugh at my expense:

I came out of the bathroom Saturday night with white goo spread all over my girly mustache. James took one look at me and said, "oh mama, that's sooooooo cute!"

Too bad he won't always be that sweet. Or funny.

2008-11-15T17:28:00.003-07:00

We have a problem on alternate days: Some mornings James wakes up, wants to be Elmo again and is so sad that we can't go trick or treating anymore. On the other mornings he asks if it's Christmas yet, if he has presents (Specifically ball and train) and if Santa is here. Good heavens. If it weren't for the stores decking the halls, I wouldn't even tell him about Christmas until December 24th. There's nothing I can do to dissuade him from Halloween activities since he experienced it this year.

Inspiring Quote

2008-11-12T11:27:00.002-07:00

Yeah, I found it thanks to DanaLee :)

It's from C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity (page 205 in the version I found it in).

I find I must borrow yet another parable from George MacDonald. Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently, He starts knocking the house about in such a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of -- throwing out a new wing here, putting an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

help...

2008-11-11T22:24:00.002-07:00

A friend has asked me to help her find a story, but I can barely recall any details about it and I've exhausted my resources...

It's a fictional story about God tearing down the walls and windows and whatever else you have built and you tell Him that it is really hurting you but He says something like "you were building a house, but I am building a mansion..."

Does anyboday remember that story and do you know where to find it?

Sheep and Cows

2008-11-10T22:05:00.001-07:00

If you gross out easily, you might want to skip this one:

When I lived in Ephraim, some of my bestest friends and neighbors had a sheep ranch or farm or whatever you call it. The first spring I lived there, they told me that they were going to be very busy during the upcoming months while all the lambs were being born (“lambing”) and then “docking” (cutting off the tail and castrating the males.) During the course of the conversation I became aware of something that horrified me: the men castrated the sheep with their teeth.

Yeah, see, you read that right and I’m not even joking. I didn’t believe them for a while and then one of my students came running into class the next week telling me how they had seen a man castrate a lamb with his teeth. I believed them then. I was telling one of my brothers about it and he said that it was impossible and that they were pulling my leg. What’s a sister to do? I sent my camera with the guys and they filled up a roll of film doing the deed. I processed it at Walmart, nearly fainted when I looked at the photos, told myself I would never kiss a man who had done that, and tucked the photos into an Easter card for my brother.

Muah ha ha ha ha. They believed me then!

A few months ago some of the Young Women at church were asking me about this because one of them had heard me talking about it with someone else and they wanted to know “the truth”. I was calmly and matter of factly telling them about it when out walks the whole Bishopric. Despite my best judgment I continued telling them about it and when all was said and done, the Bishop says, “I don’t believe it. There’s no way people do that.” Counselor #1 looks over and says, “Yeah they do, I’ve done it.” Girls scream, I laugh hysterically and the Bishop found out a few new things.

A couple of weeks ago, Mike Rowe showcased this little event on “Dirty Jobs”. I couldn’t even stand to watch it, ugh.

The University here has quite a few agriculture programs—and there are many animals surrounding one side of campus. I kept thinking that the cows in this one particular field looked funny—with big rings/circles on their sides. I kept driving past them wondering what the heck that was about and I finally asked this same Bishopric member who had done the teeth castrating. He told me that these cows (LIVING BREATHING COWS) were cut open and they have this circle/ring/rubber things put into their side so that students can REACH INTO THE LIVE COW to feel their stomachs digesting. Great. Several of the Young Women piped up saying that they had felt inside the live cows on field trips. Super great. Now I can’t drive home without passing the grazing cows with holes in them and wanting to puke.

I can’t think of any good reason why I should continue to eat meat when these things gross me out so much, but I just can’t not eat meat.

Pumpkin patch and farm, take two

2008-11-07T14:13:00.003-07:00

I got some pics of him this time because we had a good handful of mamas go who helped to control and corral all the kids. It was an awesome day and James is still asking to go back to the farm and to go trick or treating again. He keeps saying, "I want to try one more door." He cracks me up :)

Racing his farmer duck with a manual pump
Getting into mischief with Cooper at the water fountain

Being fearless; sliding down the giant slides again and again and not letting anyone go with him!

Cookie Drama

2008-11-07T13:55:00.003-07:00

I think most of you have heard me rave about our Albertsons store. At least one person from every department knows us by name and everyone is super friendly and helpful. (One thing that sticks out in my memory is when they got James unstuck from the cart for me :) ) Anyway, James usually loves going to Albertsons because he gets a free cookie.

Today when I took him over to the bakery, one of the employees came over to give him a cookie. I asked him to say "please" and he wouldn't. I asked her not to give him the cookie, and once again asked him to say "please." He yelled, "NO!!!" and started wailing at the top of his lungs. The employee said, "Oh, poor baby, here's a cookie because you're sad." I looked at her and said, "I'm sorry that you came over here to give him a cookie, but now he's throwing a fit and not getting one until he can ask nicely." The woman looked at me as if I should be turned in for child abuse.

I walked away and casually looked at my ad while James wailed and wailed in the middle of the produce. Yeah, I got lots of unpleasant looks from some college students and lots of understanding looks from the grannies. Anyway, he stopped crying ABRUPTLY and said, "I ready to be nice now." I asked him if he was ready to say "please" and he agreed.

We walked back over to the bakery and the same lady was there. James said, "I please have a cookie now?" She gave me a totally crusty look and before I could stop her said, "Here baby, have 2 cookies because you're such a good boy."

I'm betting good money she doesn't have children, and if she does, heaven help 'em.

Mormon Monday

2008-11-03T21:35:00.002-07:00

Short and sweet: Some of you might be surprised to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka Mormons) does not endorse candidates for any elections. The Church does not endorse political parties. The church will not tell you how to vote; They only recommend that you should study it out and vote! The LDS faith encourages its members to be politically active and to participate in government as they see fit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This election has been so interesting for the obvious reasons, but also because I've never seen a presidential election where I have so many friends with such differing opinions. I am on PINS AND NEEDLES waiting and wanting to see what happens tomorrow. I fear that it will turn into another 3 month ordeal or that it will get ugly. Either way, I think it is going to be soooooo very close... Ben and I voted early!

The public schools are closed on election day so I have the day off! I'm going back to the corn maze with James and friends :)

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T21:02:00.004-07:00

Before all things Halloween: Tonight James brought his drawing board over and said, "Look, mommy, it's Target!" That kid cracks me up! (And impresses me, too :) )

Pre-Halloween pose in our great and spacious kitchen:

Last night was all that a Halloween should be: good friends, good food, good costumes, and great candy. Our congregation had a chili cook off (which we didn't win-and don't feel bad about that. We tried out a new white chili recipe that after all was said and done, I didn't even like or eat at the party. Good thing other people ate it or I'd be eating it for dinner, yuck!)

Anyway, after the chili cook off, we handed out candy al estilo trunk-or-treat. Needless to say, the kid loved it.

Doesn't this next pic look like we dropped the kid on a dark, deserted road somewhere to trick or treat by himself? Ben snapped this in the middle of all the trunk or treat action!

After we left the ward party, we took James trick or treating for a while around family campus housing. Everybody thought he was the cutest kid ever! This one lady asked if she could take a picture of him. It was crazy. For the most part he was polite and remembered to say thanks, but it went like this:

James: Trick or treat

Candy giver: Oh you're so cute, blah blah blah (gives candy)

James: ThanksIwannatryanotherdooroverthere. (points and walks away)

Me: Um, bye, and thanks!

This was us at the end of the evening:

After we got James into bed, Ben and I experienced a new parental duty: raid, oh I mean, sort James' candy haul. We threw out all the Mexican candy (don't need any lead in our child's brain) took out all the gum, jawbreakers, now and laters, and anything else that would choke him, made sure that there were none of the now infamous chinese chocolate coins, ate a few here and there and put the rest in a stash for bribes or whatever. Who knows what we're going to do with all of it.

Who can resist this cutie face?

Staycation!

2008-10-30T17:34:00.005-07:00

I've always been a big fan of hotwire.com. I've flown a ton of different places (inlcuding internationally) with them and stayed in a lot of hotels through them. I've rarely been disappointed. I've been wanting to do something fun with my boys for a while, but who has the money or time? I found a fabulous hotel in El Paso on there for $30 last Friday and while Ben was at work, I packed up the van. I called Ben and asked if he would go to Albertsons with James and me after work. I picked him up and just kept driving until he realized we were headed to El Paso. He had no idea what was going on.

We drove into El Paso and we went out to dinner thanks to a gift card. Then we went to Krispy Kreme to show James the conveyor belts making the donuts and all. (Yeah, we bought some too!) After that I was driving past Holiday Inn and Ben said longingly, "I wish we were going there next, I'm tired." I pulled in and he gave me the oddest look ever! He still didn't know we were staying over in EL Paso. So after I checked us in we all went swimming at the hotel's pool. After all of those events, Ben and I were ready to go to sleep! James, not so much. It took til 11:00 to get him settled enough and to sleep. At 4:00am, James was up and ready to go. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ugh, we threatened, persuaded, bribed, etc, but he didn't want to go back to bed. (This is not a problem at home 'cause we don't share a room with him!) Finally Ben got really serious with him and put him back in bed and he stayed for about an hour. We *think* he slept a bit more. Ugh.

The next morning we debated just going home or staying and finishing out my plans. We decided to be brave and go on with our day. We ate breakfast and got ready to go to the ZOO BOO. All the kids are invited to wear their costumes at the zoo to do some trick or treating and they give the animals pumpkins and decorate the zoo. It was pretty fun, but there were 2 problems: James was way more interested in the candy than the animals, and James now thinks that the zoo is a place to get candy. It's going to be a long time until we can take him back there. I can tell you one thing, we are getting TONS of use out of this Elmo costume :)