Readers Tag

Now that I have been tagged by both Kristin and Kristy for my top 10 reads I suppose I better quit procrastinating trying to narrow it down and just get it done! As you all know I love to read so here are a few of my favorites in no particular order:

1- Sotah by: Naomi Ragen
2- These Is My Words by: Nancy Turner
3- Gone With The Wind by: Margaret Mitchell
4- Pride and Prejudice by: Jane Austen
5- The Poison Wood Bible by: Barbara Kingsolver
6- Roots by: Alex Haley
7-The Time Traveler's Wife by: Audrey Niffenegger (this has several racy scenes between the husband and wife- you've been warned. But I loved the story so much I had to put it on the list)
8- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by: Lisa Lee
9- Les Miserables by: Victor Hugo
10- Battlefield Earth by: L. Ron Hubbard

Oh, this has been so fun reminiscing about these wonderful stories. I hope you read them if you haven't before! Enjoy!!!
I tag:
1- Halaulani
2- Shayna
3- Sheila

Uh Oh.

This can't be good. Look what I caught AlyCat doing the other night- showing off her mad climbing skills on my oven. I seem to remember this type of thing not ending well for some little children in Hansel and Gretel. Our friends the Furni have a daughter who was quite the little climber at a young age and I remember being amazed by it. Now that Aly is showing some interest in climbing I'm feeling a little less amazed and a little more stressed. Don't you love the look on Aly's face in that first picture? Like, 'that's right. take a picture- might as well cuz you can't stop me.' What do you think the chances are she will just forget she has acquired this new skill? I know, I know...not good.

The Dreaded Bindi

Today I'm thinking the Amish are on to something with their shunning of technology. Last night I put my cell phone in the front pouch of my sweat shirt as I gathered up my cup, pen, planner etc. and got ready to go up to bed. At one point I leaned over to pick something else up and spilled about 1/3 cup of my water out onto the floor. I didn't realize until about 5 minutes later that some of the water had fallen into my shirt pouch and was giving my cell phone a nice bath. Turns out cell phones don't like baths. *Quick Flash Back* Last time Nathan and I were looking at cell phones the cell phone guy opened the back of Nathan's phone, pointed to a red dot and asks me with an accusing tone, "Has this phone been dropped in water?" I told him I had no idea because it was my husbands phone and he said, "Well, this red dot right here tells me it has been. It is white until it gets wet." He went on to say this helps the phone companies know if water played a part in someones phone suddenly 'just not working'. For some reason I came away from that feeling quite chastised and became determined to keep my dot white. I got the impression that if my dot turned red they wouldn't believe me or help me with phone issues. So back to last night. I get up to my room and discover that every crevice of my phone is soaked. I slowly slid the back off of it and popped the battery out and to my horror, there it was; the Mark of the Beast. I steadied myself on my night stand as I fought the waves of guilt washing over me (I would make such a great Catholic- I can feel guilty about anything) how could I have let this happen!? But after the initial shock that my dot had turned red, I realized I had a bigger problem. Phone no workie. As of this moment I have not had a working phone for exactly 12 hours...and it has been awful!!! I feel totally handicapped and cut off from the world. I wanted to text Rosie and see if she could watch Aly while I go to the phone store but then had the sick realization that I had no numbers written down anywhere except in my phone. What was I thinking putting all of my trust in a stupid flimsy little SIM Card that is the size of my thumb nail- to be my link to family and friends? So I drug my entourage with me to the phone store and they were so good for exactly 4.8 seconds and then each went into slow meltdowns. I was there long enough to learn that the SIM Card reader is what is not working and though I will still have all of my contacts, I will have to buy a new phone. Arghhhhhh!!! I am so irritated! Of course they aren't still making my phone and I do not like any of the new ones. You know, for as convenient as technology is supposed to make our lives I am feeling pretty dang inconvenienced. I guess technology gets the last laugh...touche.

This Dance

Look at this genuine moment I caught today! I put on some music and as usual the children all come running so we can dance a bit. But this time Kennedy and Kohen are spinning to the music in a circle together just laughing- and I caught it! Woo Hoo! The picture below is about 2 seconds later and gives you a better idea of each of their unique 'get down' styles. I would like to draw particular attention to Kennedy's outfit: Witch hat, Tiara, snow beanie, Witch dress, tutu, Cinderella shoes and wrist decoration. It is also really rare that Kohen is not wearing dress ups. I love our family dances so much, I start to get depressed when I think of them ever not wanting to have them. Pretty soon it will just be down to their lame-o Mom and Dad who are dancing like dorks. I am appreciating it while it lasts.

Reason #275 I Suck at Being a Single Parent

The other night Kennedy and Kohen were playing on the floor when Kennedy picked up a stick and said some phrase about how it was smoking. I honed right in on that and after asking a couple of questions realized she was in fact talking about smoking. This was my first opportunity to teach her about smoking/drugs and as I realized this my heart started pounding and the pressure was mounting as the seconds ticked by and I wished her dad was home so he could explain it perfectly like he always does- but instead the spotlight was on me…say the wrong thing and she may become preoccupied with smoking and have a subconscious desire to do it…don’t say enough and she may naively want to do it. The time had come. I had to say something. I opened my mouth and all of my sage words of wisdom and concern scattered to the far reaches of the desert that was my brain. So in a panic I gathered up the only 4 words I could find, put them in order and shoved them out of my mouth, “CIGARETTES WILL KILL YOU!” In the ensuing silence Kenna’s eyes got real big and I realized the magnitude of what I had just said to my poor 5 year old and back pedaled as quickly as I could. I did a little better on my second try but my first statement resulted in several difficult follow up questions. I think I got the buggy a bit ahead of the horse on this one. I bet a simple, “Cigarettes are yucky” would have sufficed for now *sigh*. Kennedy must have gotten some serious cosmic kudos for being willing to come down here and let me be her mom…at least she has Nathan as her dad…that should help even things out some, right?

My Missionary

So as you know my baby brother is serving a mission in Taiwan. I thought maybe you guys might want to see a picture or two of him. The first is obviously one of Justin visiting some gold Buddha on his "P-day" (prep day) and the second is him holding some part of of a turbo for a car??? I think? Some guy asked him for help with it and he was just totally put out to take a look ;) Anyway, I thought that I would leave this post open for anyone who would like to leave a comment for Justin-I am going to print off the comments and send them to him for Thanksgiving. He is in a new country learning to speak a new language and working every day to teach people about Christ so I know that it means so much to him to get mail and hear from family and friends! So go ahead, leave a comment!

Matching dresses

I found this adorable dress for Aly (at Carters) and when I got it home I realized I probably loved it because it is a similar pattern as a favorite dress of mine. And Aly even looked at the camera for a split second!!!

Our little artist

I know that just because a child likes to color doesn't mean they are an 'artist'. However, Alyssa's interest in scribbling has started much earlier than Kennedy or Kohen's ever did. If she finds a writing utensil she is occupado for the next 15-20 min which is saying a lot for a 16 month old. This has proved very helpful at church or if I am trying desperately to get dinner done amid the wide spectrum of interruptions 3 children are so apt at providing. In these pictures I found Aly coloring all over my grocery list with the pen that I had so thoughtlessly left out. So I traded her a pencil (though she came unglued when I took the pen out of her hand till she saw the pencil) and she happily scribbled away. Halaulani, the short mechanical pencils the girls sent with Kennedy's b-day gift are the perfect size for kids but Aly especially- thanks!

Happy Halloween?

Happy Halloween!!! As you can see my group photo shoot didn't go very well, I had some less than cooperative participants. Kennedy is Cinderella, sporting the dress she got for her birthday and a new smile that looks like she has her finger stuck in a socket. Kohen is Cowboy Kohen and acting the part by strutting around and even taking off his hat and bowing- course he was too distracted to even look at the camera when I was taking pictures, bless his heart. And then we have our resident 'Aly Cat' who at this moment was acting more like a banshee...but I tried.

Favorite Closeups

As you could see from the previous post Alyssa was in no mood for our shenanigans. This picture is BY FAR the best I got of her all night and I got it by holding the camera out in front of us as she sat on my lap so please excuse the lack of center. Kennedy and Kohen did provide one of the highlights of my month though this evening. Last year I bought a package of mustaches for 50 cents and as a cowboy, Kohen was all about wearing one which was comic relief in and of itself. Of course for 50 cents I guess you can't expect the adhesive to stick and so the mustache wouldn't stay on :( When it fell off the first time Aly who had been (and after this brief respite continued to be) so crab cakes- she just completely started laughing. So then Kennedy got a mustache too and they would both put it on and then blow some air out of their mouths and the mustache would go flying. Aly was squealing and giggling so hard I had to get the video camera out so I didn't get any pictures but it was a hilarious few minutes- best 50 cents I've ever spent!!!

Just A Few More?

My favorite picture of the night: Kohen straining to lift his bag to show me how much loot he had.

Wickedly Cute

I just found these pj's on clearance and I love them. The top says 'wickedly cute' and I would have to agree. Some of the faces Aly was making made me laugh. She certainly wasn't going to stand still while I tried to get a picture! Watch out! She's coming through!

Genuine

I know this is naughty for me to think let alone memorialize in a public forum but I can't help it. Why do we as women think that offering our help to another woman in need, is enough? You know how we all say, "Well, let me know if there is anything I can do..." or "Seriously, if you need anything just give me a call...". I have said all of these phrases as much as the next woman so believe me when I say I know just how sincere they are being. I am being sincere, actually. I think we all are, the problem is that without realizing it by saying 'call me if you need anything' you are forcing some person already in a vulnerable position to further admit defeat by calling you to say they are so inadequate that they can't do it on their own so they are at your mercy. I never thought of it this way until recently when a lot of people have been saying these phrases to me. I don't want to seem ungrateful because I appreciate the gesture...but frankly I have come to think that 98% of the time, that is all it is. Service isn't just saying 'I'm here if you need me' it is more like showing up at your friends house and saying 'I'm here because you need me...now let me in you stubborn prideful person who isn't going to admit she could use help'. Why is it that I need someone to insist they are going to help me? Am I alone in that? I doubt it. My point is this: We all need help at some time or another. Contrary to the tone of this post I am actually doing well but I have just realized over the last month or so how I can improve my service towards others. Me saying the phrase, "Call me if you need anything..." translates into "blah blah blah, I am not going to help you unless you make me". The people who were the most helpful to me were those who were adamant (you know us completely capable housewives have to protest at least a few times) and specific. For example, "Which day can I come and get your kids this week?", that is a lot harder to brush off- especially when you need the help anyway! So my goal is to try and be more specific and genuine when I offer help to others...and maybe be better about accepting help once in a while as well.

Trunk or Treat

Kennedy: Why do they call it "Chunk or Treat"? (she meant trunk or treat)

I'm thinking that is what they call it when you do too much trunk or treating :) lol, I kill me.

Kennedy's 5th Birthday

Turns out the cupcake frenzy was only the beginning of my madness. I am not a big fan of big birthday parties because I feel like it can give children a sense of entitlement, like they deserve a bunch of presents etc. So Nathan and I had decided long ago that we may do a few milestone birthday parties but other than that we felt that family was fun enough. I don't know why I decided to invite 2 of Kennedy's friends then...I don't know why I did a lot of things for her birthday, really. We were all really tired on Sat. because Nathan had arrived home late the night before and we all stayed up to hang out with him. And after spending some 4+ hours on cakes -a castle cake and then my own creation, the Cinderella cake to go with the castle- I was feeling like I had put more work into things then a 5 year old could be expected to appreciate. By the time the get together started Kennedy was already showing signs of being tired- her manners weren't in tip top form. We did have fun though. We played pin the Tiara on the Princess, then they spent some time whacking away at a Nemo pinata (which I finally exploded open on my 2nd hit, thank you very much) before opening presents where Kennedy did have a few moments where she opened a present and her reaction was, "Oh cool! (chuck present to the side) Where is another present?" While cringing inwardly I tried to keep in mind she is 5, not 15- and this could actually be a good teaching opportunity. Anyway, the Bell's are the best. They all showed up to help Kennedy celebrate which is really very nice, I was grateful. And my mom tuned in via Web Cam so it turned into quite the little get together and in the end I learned several valuable lessons that made a lot of my hassles worthwhile. At any rate, happy birthday Kennedy!

Kennedy's First 5 yrs

Cupcakes from H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

Making 3 dozen cupcakes with homemade frosting and decorations for a bunch of kids who will lick the frosting off and then throw away the rest...what was I thinking? With all of the interruptions it ended up taking ALL day to finish the project. And when I was finished all I could think was, "these looked so much cuter in my head."

The Mighty Sword

This is one of Kohen's chosen methods of being armed. I find this particularly funny because for as clever as it may be to put the sword down the back of his shirt, watching him try and get it out is pretty hilarious. Let's just say that if the sword was real he would have killed himself the first time he tried to take it out. And it would have been a slow death cuz it took him like 3 minutes to get the sword out. His other way to carry it is to stick the sword down the side of his pants- but that becomes a problem because he can't bend his knee to walk; makes a quick gettaways difficult. So his best option is to wear a 'seat belt' (what he calls his belt) and then let the sword hang on it on the outside of his pants. Sometimes I daydream he is the inspiration for a SNL skit and pretend he is some character who goes around carrying his sword just as unthinking as Kohen but the characters sword is real. You know, I picture the sword hanging from his belt and he turns around quickly to answer one person and obliviously mows down the guy standing next to him etc...maybe that is only funny in my twisted mind...Anyway, the truth about Kohen's sword is that he can't resist whacking someone with it for very long and the sword usually spends 98% of the day in time out. But he just loves it so much I keep letting him earn it back. Geez. That seems like really weak sauce parenting when I write it out like that.......

Wonder Woman

No, I will not shut up. Sorry, I just picture either of my sisters seeing these pictures and shouting, "Shut, up!!!" So no, I will not. For homecoming week at Kennedy's school they invited the preschoolers to dress up each day with the high school students. Thursday was Superhero day and I put together this little Wonder Woman outfit. When I went to take a picture I asked her to pose and the first picture was her first pose and I seriously cracked up- she had 5 or 6 great poses, all looking very Superhero/Save the world- ish. Side note, the cape is blue, but the under side is black so in the pictures you can't see the bright shiny blue very well...and yes, this was probably more fun for me than anyone else :)

Little Ms. Muffet

As I was helping Kennedy find her shoes while we prepared to leave for school she suddenly stops and calmly calls my attention to what she is observing. I too am calm until I realize what she is looking at. A spider. Huge, black, hairy, with monstrous fangs...okay... maybe not the fangs, but how do you know if he didn't have them? Exactly. I wasn't taking any chances. I hollered at Kennedy (who was strangely unmoved by the arachnid) to "GET BACK!!" and then I stood there panicking and sweating trying to quickly think of a solution. As I look back on it now it is almost comical how the spider just sat there on the floor completely still as if hoping we hadn't seen him and the hollering wasn't about him, and maybe in a moment or two he would discreetly make his escape. Not likely since he was seriously the size of a quarter. And he wasn't all long skinny legs either. No, he was very...thick. He looked like he'd had the same trainer as Marion Jones; and I am pretty sure he wanted to eat me. Anyway, there were a plethora of shoes about (good cuz I could theoretically smash him, bad cuz had one of those shoes been his home??? Ughh) but I didn't smash him for several reasons. He was on my carpet and I imagined some huge gory stain and also because when I was in 5th grade I was at my friends house and we tried to kill a giant spider with a shoe but realized too late that trying to smash a spider with soccer cleats is less than effective...still traumatized by that...Anyway. I frantically threw a shoe box over him and then bolstered my insanity plea by balancing a big Halloween bin on top of the shoe box, as if the spider might bench press the box off of himself or something. At the time it seemed like a reasonable threat. I quickly evacuated my children to the car and once we were safely on the road and in the rear view I didn't spot a shoe box with a big orange bin on it chasing us- I took a few breaths and called who I always call when I am in a pinch here in VA...Rosie. I asked her if she would please come kill the spider...Oh yes, I did. Thankfully she had taken care of my 'situation' before I arrived back home. I can't believe I was such a wuss I had to out source a bug squashing. I can usually kill spiders no problem. But I do have size restrictions. Pretty much when they start looking more like wolves than spiders, I'm out. I was so unbelievably grateful to Rosie for fulfilling my ridiculous request that I had to get her a little something as a thank you. Aren't you all glad you don't live closer so I wasn't calling you for help???!!!