feild trip to the islands

neice #1: in the orange lavalava
nephew #1: dancing with the girl in brown
nephew #2: dancing with the girl in purple
nephew #3: dancing with the girl in greenish greyish

This morning Big P and Miss F and I all went on a *ahem* field trip to see my nephews and my niece perform at their school. Here's them sitting next to my brother while they were warming up. Wake up Carlito!We had a good time and the kids, of course, did great. Makes me wish that Norwegians had cooler customs. Doesn't it look like fun!?!

modest sleep walkers

So last night, just as I was *ahem* in the bathroom and about to go to bed, something slammed up against the door. So I peeped the door open to see what had cause the minor earthquake. To my surprise I found Miss B, wrapped up in a comforter, with her eyes shut. I figured that the light was probably a bit shocking to the iris which was why they were closed.

"Sweetie, do you need to use the bathroom?"
"fdlaspogarena; souf," she quietly mumbled
"MISS B. Do you need to use the bathroom?" At this point, I was exiting the lavatory.
"asiodufnasre,dfgiauwrngfa,xdnfviausrtq," she mumbled, a bit louder this time.
I put my hand on her shoulder and knelt down. "Miss B. Do YOU need to go potty?"
"No. No potty."
"Then what are you doing in the hallway?" She rubbed her eyes and then looked at me.
"No. No potty."
"Then why are you here, honey?"
"I'm just standing here right now." At this point, I started laughing.
"You're just standing here? Wouldn't bed be nicer? Why don't you go hop into bed goofball?" At this point, I assumed that she had woken up a bit more because she smiled and nodded. I thought that she had realized where she was and was confirming her silliness with the appropriate reaction.

This morning when I asked her if she remembered last nights incident, she insisted that she did not. I retold the story (with all the kids listening and laughing) and she seemed surprised by it all. Does this mean I can look forward to her sleepwalking out the back door to meet up with friends in the future?

my new favorite holiday

Yesterday was brilliant.
Truly.

Easter has been bumped up to my new favorite holiday. It is replacing... a different one... but only because I don't think that I've ever considered which one was my favorite until now.

All life begins and ends with this day. He coulda chose not to... but He did. My life began that day. It is my birthday.

The pictures don't reflect the joy experienced - they never do, though, do they? First, time spent with church family. Next, time spent with Mom (and extended) family. Then, time spent with Dad and family. Last, a cool down with my family. What an amazing thing, all of these people in my life, chosen for this time, set up in this place, to have lives interwoven with mine. I am just so dang thankful!
(Brova, it WOULD have been perfect if you were here. I know, I know. Getting meatballs thrown at you is more important but I love you anyway. Know that you were missed.)

God rocks.
Not that you needed me to tell you that.

What I Did

okay, bare (bear?) with me. this is yet another cute kid post.
so this morning Miss F is learning about writing papers that concern personal experiences. It's the first lesson so it's a fill in the blank thing. I gave her the paper and told her to write about something cool that she did. What she wrote is as follows (bold is the pre-written goblygook) :

I went to the couch.
Nobody went with me.
I saw my puppy sleeping on his bed.
I heard my mom typing on the computer.
Something I tasted was spit.
I smelled cupcakes baking.
I felt good.
The best part was when I was reading.
Other things to tell about: I saw my big brother doing his work. I saw the lamp by the dogs bed.

Thrilling, no?!? What an exciting life Miss F leads!

Right around there somewheres

It's been right around a year since Big P and I got home and I've been thinking a lot about it all lately. I was looking through pictures and I didn't realize (then) how skinny that that boy was! Check this one out:
That was his first time coloring. Ever. I didn't bring crayons with me because I figured that an 11 yr old wouldn't be into that. But he was so we just (ahem) borrowed from other kids.

That's one of him "swimmee."

So check my little man out now:

In one year, he's grown 6 1/2" and gained 30 lbs. That's some crazy stuff right there. This picture is of him attempting to appear studious. According to him, math isn't for smiling.

Considering that I was FREAKED out at the mere idea of having an insta-son at the age of 11, this boy SO has a spot in my heart. Just ask Husband. Today I'm at a place of valuing all the steps that we took... all of the ones that brought us here. I wouldn't change a thing. God is too good.

Never Gonna Break My Faith

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Put your iPod or other music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the NEXT button to get your answer.
3. You MUST write it down, even if it's lame.
4. Share it.


IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Something in the Way She Moves - James Taylor
(hopefully this gets more clever as we go along)


WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
(don't say anything)


WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used to Do? - Hank Williams Sr. (IT'S HUSBANDS MUSIC!)
(didn't I just tell you not to say anything?)


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Smile - Lyle Lovett
(for real.)


WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Din Din Wo (Little Child) - Habib Koite
(yeah. I'm one of those world music fruitcakes. the world is big, man.)


WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Broken Hearted Melody - Sarah Vaughan
(HAH!)


WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
Let Go - The Godson Concept
(true.)


WHAT IS 2+2?
Brazillian Portuguese, Pimsleur Lesson 24
(umm..)


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Outro - Kirk Franklin
(not actually. this is just a song game.)


WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Eternal One - Robbie Seay Band
(hmm.)


WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP??
Vesuvio - Spaccanapoli
(Prissy's favorite song!)


WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE??
Promises - India Arie
(back to not clever again)


WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Brokenhearted - Kirk Franklin
(AHAHAHAHAHAHA)


WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever - Susan Tedeschi
(FINALLY one that fits! ..stop and lip sink to this one a minute..)


WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
For My Good - Lashun Pace
(I hope that it'll be a celebration. Make sure there's a mariachi band, okay?)


WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Os Grilos - Marcela
(Tab, can you translate?? The Crickets??? but this song is really freakin' good. ..dance in the chair..)


WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Sunshine - Mos Def
(wow. the cuts are getting better and better over here.)


WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Prone to Wonder - Chris Rice
(HA!)


WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Crazy Love - Van Morrison and Ray Charles
(this is a fat lie. I'm in crazy love and it's crazy good. have you met Husband!?!)


HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Hallelujahs - Chris Rice


WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To - Ella Fitzgerald
(does my ipod have something against Husband?)


WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
In the Belly of the Whale - Veggie Tales
(more like makes me cry. I'm so. tired. of. veggie. tales.)


WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Look at Me Now - Kirk Franklin
(now that's just not nice.)


WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Joy - Newboys


WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Let Me Touch You - Kirk Franklin AGAIN
(ummm...)


DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Stormy Weather - Etta James
(should I take that as a no?)


IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Tired of My Tears - Susan Tedeschi
(true freakin that. ..jam out some more.. "sick of your lies, tired of my tears, go if you want, you better tell it like it is")


WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles
(it does. it hurts.)


WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Never Gonna Break My Faith - Mary J Blige and Aretha Franklin
(have you heard this song?? turning up volume. man, I've got good taste in music. I love Mary.)

tunafish

Plans by Maxine Kumin
Orated by Miss F

she's back at it...

The unofficial Underwear Fairy is back in the states (until mid February) and she's started another pledge. BUT since ya'll gave a bazillion pairs of undies, this time she's asking for help with some Flinstone (type) vitamins. Ash, does this make you the Flinstone Fairy??

Can we do it?
Yes we can!

She's also more than happy to take gift cards (which rocks for us cause then we don't have to pay for shipping) for the major stores. You can sign up below:

and if that doesn't work then just go to this place... or look to your LEFT. didn't you notice that overtly large purpley block of words??

an ode to 4Runner Man

So last night when I was following you home from West Seattle, you very well could have saved my life a million times over.
I know, I know. A woman probably shouldn't drive at night when it's snowing with six kids and a husband in the car (whom could've driven but I didn't want to pullover and get stuck) when she only can see with one eye. The possibility of a negative out come was... shall we say... extremely high.
But you, my dear friend, wisely stayed in one lane. You threw on your flashers while we were going up that incline near Boeing Field, just to let me know it was a bit treacherous. You maintained a speed limit between 30-40 mph, not too fast and not slow. There were a few times when you splashed so much water/slush/mud onto my windshield that I had to hit the brakes until my wipers cleared off the mess, but because of your previous kindnesses, I continue to assume that it was accidental.
I do wonder if you have some sort of super hero strength. Night vision maybe? The ability to connect/understand weather? Not even Husband could see the difference in lanes on I-5 last night. At one point, before I found you (or you found me, rather) when I was on the West Seattle Bridge, I was unintentionally driving in two lanes. I only noticed this upon going under another bridge when the signs above were either off center or I was.
When it was time for me to take our exit and I had to leave you, I did feel a bit remiss as I watched you plow on into the night. I'm quite sure, though, that there were others out there who required your aid and it was your duty to meet their needs. I honestly would've preferred to follow you all the way to our driveway, but you must have felt that I was calm enough to continue on without you. Superheroes intuitively know these things.
4Runner Man, wherever you are this morning (probably your secret hideout), I thank you.

what to do

When the weather outside is frightful (aka slushy/rainy/leftover snow) this is what we do:

go on a walk

take a nap

read a few books

build a snow wall/fort

do some hair

celebrate a couple birthdays

throw snowballs at the cameramom


sick the cameramom's husband on 'em

voting

Not all of that political junk... I'm talking a real deal and upfront vote done by yours truly. I will even take the time to tell you why I chose to vote the way that I did. Sociologists, eat your heart out.

You may ask yourself, what exactly is the purpose of Halloween? Well, let me tell you. You spend VERY little money on your children's costumes and you send them out to beg for candy door to door (big ups for those who helped spend $5.77 billion. your money encouraged the creativity {or lack thereof} of this blog). Upon the candy arriving in your home, you immediately send them to bed, wait for them to truly be sleeping (none of this fake snoring junk), and quietly tip toe to the motherload.

Yes, there are full size candy bars in there too.

On a rating scale of 1-10 gold stars, here's the results:

• Milky Way: 0 gold stars (as in none). The center gooey marshmallow crap is blanchable. You'd have to talk me into eating one of these if I was starving on a desert (or dessert island! how punny of me) island.
  
• Tootsie Roll: 3 gold stars. I would give them a one because they're always the last to get eaten at our house. However, I gave them a three because I will eat them if desperate. Plus, they're classic. Not sugar babies classic; classic classic.
• Kit Kat: 3 gold stars. I hate them and yet, without fail, I think that I might like them every year. So, 3 gold stars for succeeding in trickery.
• Nestle Crunch: 1 gold star. The chocolate in these bad boys is something ferocious. I don't think that it's actually chocolate... it's something plastic-ier. And who came up with the idea to throw some Snap crackle pop into some plastic chocolate?
• Hershey's Milk Chocolate: 5 gold stars. Mostly the stars are for effort, longevity (on the market), and everyone buys this brand for sm'ores. I'd give it a 3 for flavor, but, it's a classic classic.
• Starburst: 8 gold stars. Honestly, judging this one is a bit more difficult. So many flavors to choose from! What to do? What to do. So, I went with an overall gold star effect. The delicious pinks outweigh the mildly bitter oranges and so forth. I also appreciate that these don't get stuck in your teeth. If you shove too many in your mouth at once, though, it does get trapped in that sneaky space down low between the back of your cheek and molars.
  
• Dots: 1 gold star. This is another one of those desert island force feeding candies. However, they recieve one gold star since me brova and Husband like them. Personally, they taste like wax to me and take up to two weeks to brush outta the teeth.
• Baby Ruth: 9 gold stars. I would give these a ten, but then I'd have to eat them in lieu of a meal. I just can't go there. I try to stay away from binging and purging. They're salty, crunchy, sweet center, perfection makes me smile with every bite. Nummy.
• Skittles: 6 gold stars. They're definately edible. A little better than a medium (5 gold stars) because there truly is a difference between flavors. But, really, do you know ANYONE who's favortie candy is Skittles? Now, if I were scoring tropical skittles then the number would go way up. But, alas, these are the plain old skittles.
• Milk Duds: 7 gold stars. I truly love carmel. LOVE. But these only recieved a 7 because they often taste out dated (what's up with the box for packaging?). And talk about getting stuck in your teeth! Every dentists' worst enemy.
• Smarties: 4 gold stars. There is zero difference in flavor from color to color on these. Major loss of gold stars for that. I love that they're tart and, for some odd reason, they're Husband's favorite candy.
  
• Lollipops, all types: 6 gold stars. My kids love lollipops and I think that it's due to their long-lasting-ness rather than they're flavor. Another bonus with these is if your mouth changes color. One more star for that brand. If you have gum in the center? Yo. Add another star.
• Raisins: 0 stars (as in zilch). Who in the heck thought that rasins would be a fun treat for Halloween? Come on. At least go with goldfish; they have a fun shape. Raisins look like mouse turds. Now that I think about it, 0 stars and two thumbs down.
  
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: 6 gold stars. These used to be my favorite candy and so I admit that I bumped them up for that factor alone. Now that I'm a bit older, I realize that whatever is supposed to be peanut butter in the center is some strange abberation calling itself peanut butter. Less stars for fibbing about the contents.
• Twizzlers: 2 gold stars. What is this crap? Really? It certainly is no licorice rope. Those are real candy. I think these must be a close cousin to plastic-y Nestle Crunch.
• M&M's (both with and without peanuts): 7 gold stars. These are so dependable. So reliable and consistent in there eat-ability. Not my most favorite, not my least favorite. Just smooth sailing M&M's.
• Snickers: 9 gold stars. Growing up, my mom would buy these and then hide them from my brother and I. I'm pretty sure that I have some subconcious backlash from that which encourages me to like these more than they deserve. However, it's SO deep that I see nothing wrong with Snickers. Except that they make you fat if you eat too many. That's lame. Minus one star for fattness.
• Now and Later: 3 gold stars. These are the KING of getting jammed in your teeth. However, it's easy to unlodge them - just get slobber all over your finger (whichever has the longest nail) and pop the bad boy up outta the tooth. The flavor of these is... meh. But what really made the stars go down is that they were handed out unit by unit. Now, when I was growing up, there were about 15 per package (each unit being individually wrapped within). So... did some people open up the package and hand out the units?? Minus stars for that.
• Mr. Goodbar: 4 gold stars. I would give these more as the idea of peanuts within chocolate sounds tempting. But, again, the chocolate in these bad boys is a bit disarming. More like chalk-olate (the puns are just rolling forth today - I apologize).
• Super Bubble: 7 gold stars. Automatically bubble gum gets a high star rating. It's pleasant, relaxing, and one can blow bubbles with it. I like to snap it myself. However, this particular brand very well could be the same company that put gum in baseball card packs. Powdery and short flavored, these lost points for lack of elasticity as well.
• Dove chocolate, all types: 8 gold stars. I said dove. Isn't that enough explanation?
• Body Parts gummy candy, all body parts: 1 gold star. The flavor is... none. The chewability is phenominally low for these tire-like boogers. 1 star for creativity. Reminds me a bit of Garbage Pail Kids.
• CapriSun juice: 8 gold stars. I was really thirsty as we were begging from house to house. I chugged 2 of these. So extra stars for necessity and originality.
  
• Werther's Original: 9 gold stars. There's something soothing and grandma-ey about these hard carmel flavored candies. ..sigh..

PLEASE join me in voting for your least favorite Halloween candy. The polls will close on the 10th so hurry and vote! You're allowed to vote for more than one nasty bit.

A Meemay Deer

For your Monday morning pleasure, I would like to introduce you to Miss B in all her glory....

the newest member

I'd like to introduce you to... Bubba or Honey or Dog X. We're not sure what his name is quite yet. He's a lab/sheppard mix who's just about as sweet and docile (yes, has lots of puppy energy too) as can be. He's just 4 months old and has already managed to pee inside - lucky me. Less than 10 minutes ago we had 16 kids in the backyard, 10 of which came over to meet him. I have a feeling that this puppy won't be hurting for company.

promises you don't wanna keep

So, a couple of weeks ago Miss Priss asked me if she could get a puppy. This is not a new topic, mind you, one that I have dismissed many a time with reminders of poop in the yard and our serious lack of people willing to do the job.

But the girl wouldn't drop it.

Other kids got on board.

It wasn't looking good for me - I was outnumbered.

So, I did what any good mom would do; I made it REALLY difficult for them to get the dog so that I wouldn't have to say no. They had to come up with a business plan: who would feed, drink, walk, pooper scoop on which day. They had to have $50 down, pay for the dog (however much that was going to be), pay for a kennel in the back, and come up with $15 a week (this would cover food and the leftover would go into an account for anti-flea junk and vet bills) for the life of the dog. What group of kids would actually follow through with this? I figured that they'd give up on day number two and move on to greener and easier pastures.

As of 8pm last night they've earned $103.

Chows are cute dogs... right?

ahhh colloquialisms

The kids are playing some Marvel comic book video game right now. Big P had a controller and he threatened, "You wanna piece of meat?"

But it doesn't end there. The smack continued...

He went on to shout, "I will throw it at you!"

Do us all a favor and turn your head from this post if you vomit easily

So, about a month and a half ago, the bathroom sink was a bit slow in the draining department. I dumped some Draino down, which helped a bit. For like 24 hours. So I dumped some more down about a week later. Which helped for like 2 hours.
Just for fun, I dumped the rest down the shower drain.
Which matters very little to the story that I'm telling.

The sink has continued to be SLOWLY draining and this is particularly irritating. Especially when I watched the kids' toothpaste spit just floating around in there. Gross. So Husband and I, being the adults that we are, blamed it on the boys. I questioned them and one in particular looked a bit guilty when I asked him if he had shoved a toy down the drain. We left it at that and I've been not-very-patiently awaiting for Husband to clean out the pipes.

So Husband told me that first this morning there was still water in the sink (from a kid washing their hands after a late night bathroom trip?) and so he began to plunge the drain. After lifting the plunger out of the sink, to inspect the goods of course, something caught Husband's eye. He thought he saw something moving but, that's just weird so he dismissed it and went back to plunging some more. After a few thrusts, he took out the plunger again and thought he saw something moving again. He waited for the water to still because two times deserves a closer inspection; right? Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he leaned in to see what on earth was moving and it was a freakin' worm. Not an earthworm mind you. And I quote, "Something quite a bit more parasitic looking than that. Thinner, long, blackish, nasty."

So, folks, we've got some worms coming out of our sink. That's right. If that doesn't make you want to take a shower (at someone else's house) and scrub off with an SOS pad, I don't know what will. They're called drain moths and if I talk about the whole thing for much longer, I may urp up something myself.

burrowing

I admit it.
I've been burrowing away lately, reading yours but not posting my own.
Nothing is too bad or too good.
It is too busy.
Does that count?
I'll return show-tly.
I'm thinking that it ought to happen any time now.

The classifieds

(possibly posted in the want ads by yours truly)

Looking for a good excuse to go to Africa. Not to mention the money as well as the time to go. If you are able to supply any of these things (excuses, money, or time), please feel free to reach me; but I do request that you have your contact information readily available.

Oh. One more thing. I'm also looking for a different mode of transportation to get there. Know of any cruise ships headed to west Africa? That kind of thing. Please let me know.

elegance

Ever wonder what song Spiderman would choose when playing the piano?
Check out the sheet music.

that's what's up.