What am I grateful for?

My boys. Two fun quotes from this past holiday:

"I need to grow more eyebrows." This is what Maxwell whispered to me as he sat on my lap watching, wait for it................Tangled. The only thing that could have made it better? If he had said that when "Eugene" was doing the Smolder.

"I LOVE this! This museum is AWEsome!" Courtesy of Blake, while riding the flight simulator at the Air and Space Museum. (Yes, my worst nightmare is that my children will hate museums.)


That's it folks.

I usually have the patience of a turtle.....

Actually, if you know me well enough, that statement might make you laugh. Indeed, I have what I refer to as a Zero Tolerance Policy, or ZTP. That's right. I allow for Zero, zip, nada, when it comes to time-wasting. You do NOT waste my time. Or your time. And you do NOT cut me off in traffic. Ok, so nothing will actually happen if you cut me off, but watch out if you're wasting my time. Things might get ug-uh-lee. Why am I bringing up my ZTP this morning, you ask?

I got a pretty good laugh this morning at, wait for it..............the school drop-off. If you've ever seen a status update on Facebook around 8:30am or 3:40pm, you probably think laughter at, near, or around these times is highly improbable. I HATE dropping off the kids, and I REALLY HATE picking them up after school. I am usually irate because someone (usually more than just one person, I might add,) has stopped their vehicle, gotten out and then proceeded to chat with friends and neighbors. All while their vehicle is blocking traffic - not even kidding. While I enjoy socializing (believe me, I don't think that is a waste of time,) I think that right after school when 300 other parents are also trying to pick up their 2.1 children, might not be the right time to be doing it. Anyway, that is the past, and I have started to accept the things that I cannot change (AH.HA.HA.HA.) This is how I found this morning's scenario so entertaining. Several people that I either know, or have seen around a lot, because, hey (and yes, totally stuck in the 80s dad who I see EVERY MORNING with your hair the exact same, in your same bright yellow jacket and your single diamond earring, I am speaking of you) you can't NOT develop some kind of relationship with these people you see every day, when I look like I just got out of bed because.... guess what? I just got out of bed. Anyway, back to the scenario. I turn the corner of my street, only to catch a woman I obviously don't know well, taking a corner at a speed sure to wear exactly 1.2 inches off her tire tread. Now this woman, or so I thought, has always seemed very um, I can't think of the word, but I have never seen this woman raise her voice, have never seen her laugh uncontrollably, or jump up and down with excitement, and I have never, NEVER seen her be late. So imagine my surprise when I look at the clock and realize that she is in fact probably driving her child to school (she almost ALWAYS walks) because the bell is going to ring in exactly two minutes. I guess she isn't as demure as I thought she was. As I approach the school, there is a LOT of traffic. Well, more than the usual "late" crowd anyway - which yes, I am the PRESIDENT of! I recognize another Mom whom I occasionally socialize with and sometimes, if I'm in really top-form - I beat at the games we play (that's right - I saw you this morning - dropping her off late, mwahahaha,) mostly because she tried (ok, she succeeded) to pull a left-hand turn that almost, almost cut someone off. I continued to watch (while still obeying the "rules" of morning drop-off) as more cars flowed in, and yes, this included the 80s guy, who pulled past us and then tried to cross the street, while a white mini-van tried to pass all of us, doing about 90mph, while the "rule-followers" tried to pull back out of line so that we, the rest of the "rule-followers" could pull up and drop our kids off - anyone remember cutting in line as children? Well, guess what? It continues into adulthood. Who knew? So while the blue explorer and the white mini-van duke it out over who is going to give whom the right-of-way, and the 80s dude is trying to not get run over by either one of them, the second Mom I know flips on her blinker and coolly slides into the front spot. Okay, so it didn't look cool, it looked a bit more frantic. I suppose it didn't surprise me to see that Mom number 2 is as equally ruthless and competitive at the drop-off thing as she is when playing board games. Now cue the background noise during this whole 30 second debacle: "Let's drive safely, now. Safe *BRING* driving,*BRING* everyone. Let's drive safely." - courtesy of Mr. Simpson (the gym teacher), who was apparently watching the same thing I was. Now why was I laughing? Because for the first time this year, I was NOT the bad driver. I was NOT going to be the parent who got in an accident or ran someone over. So thank you, Mom numbers 1 & 2, 80s dude, white mini-van and ford explorer for making me not feel so bad about my past driving :)

To Aurelia, on her birthday.

When the first person dies, you should remarry....and other deep thoughts.

My six year old son has been pondering life lately. Today, he has shared a great many concerns he has about life. As I was washing the dishes (and he was cleaning out the bowl from making blueberry muffins,) he said, "Grandpa needs to marry someone." "Oh," I asked, "and why is that?" "Because the first person is dead," is his simple answer. While it came as a bit of a shock to hear my mother referred to as "the first person," several other thoughts went through my head......"is the dishwasher full enough to start?" "why can't my seventeen year old brother figure out what my six year old son has already figured out?" "I hope they have mandatory all day kindergarten by the time Maxwell goes to school next year." "I wonder if Project Runway will make me want to vomit again, like last time." "I should have Blake call Grandpa and share his bit o' wisdom." "Is it time for bed yet?"




I digress.


He then shared with me the high standards he holds his Uncle Morgan to. How he is going to be just like Uncle Morgan, who is going to go to college, then get married and then maybe even have kids (does anyone else see anything vital missing from that equation? hmmmm?) Did I mention that Blake thinks Uncle Morgan is smarter than me? That Uncle Morgan knows everything? Gosh, I hope Uncle Morgan doesn't disappoint Blake.....or any of us for that matter :)


In his quest to share his knowledge, the next topic he wishes to discuss is, "There was a kid who brought a donut for lunch and he made such a big mess that he had to sit at the Manners Table." Now I have to stop here, because I need to lend you a little insight as to my frame of mind at the time. I had reluctantly put down the third and final book in the Hunger Games series to do the dishes. When Blake insists that he isn't allowed to bring donuts for lunch, I reply, "Yes, you can." He immediately and somewhat haughtily retorts, "NO! I can't!" "Yes, you can! I am your mother, I said you could take a donut with your lunch! I am your mother!" comes my equally rebellious response. Now that I know there is a manners table, alarms start going off in my head. What? The Capitol can't do that! You're only first graders! Who came up with that? President Coin? We live in the United States, the land of freedom...........Blake claims that whoever has to sit at the Manners Table has to sit there and is no longer allowed to eat. Curse you, President Snow!

I think I should go finish that book, which will hopefully put my mind at ease. I wouldn't want my child to think I am some kind of anarchist, haha!

A boy and a girl.

First,

Next,

Then,

Now,

Happy Anniversary, Darling!

Where my Huggies Deals at??

I was at Hy-vee (135th & Brougham in Olathe) this morning and saw these Huggies Wipes:

Just last night, I had purchased 720ct wipes from Sams – for $14.44! What a rip off! Anyway, I checked my coupon stash – I had these four coupons:

$2.50/3 Huggies Wipes 64ct or higher (printable)
Hy-vee in-ad coupon $5/25 total baby purchase (page 13 of the weekly circular, in store)
Two .50/1 Huggies Wipes coupons (64 ct. or larger) (can’t remember which insert, or from which date, sorry.)

Here is my breakdown of cost per wipe:

Without any coupons: $.0130

With only $5 coupon: $.0104

With $5 coupon and $2.50 coupon: $.0091

With $5 coupon and 2 @2.50 coupons (if allowable): $.0087

With $5 coupon, $2.50 and 2 $.50 coupons: $.0085

Sam’s club price: $.0201

Walgreen’s Deal from early this week : $.00986 (now dead)

Please note that the lady ringing this up made sure she scanned the Hy-vee coupon last, and even though the other coupons had brought down the total from $25, it still accepted it. Even if you can't find the in-store ad coupon, this particular Hy-vee always has the coupons at each register and will scan their coupon for you!

Woo-hoo!

We can hear the wheels turning....

Yesterday:

I decided I did not want to make dinner.
Brent needed to pick up a blower motor from AutoZone.
AutoZone is close to Dairy Queen.
Brent decided we needed more Turkey.
Turkey from Hyvee.
Hyvee is close to AutoZone.
Brent relayed the news to Maxwell.
Maxwell was excited (about Hyvee.)
We were driving.
We were starving.
Little Caesars is on the way to AutoZone/Hyvee/Dairy Queen.
I decided we did not need Turkey from Hyvee (or from anywhere else for that matter.)
Maxwell was not happy about no turkey from Hyvee:
NO! I WANT TO GO TO HYVEE! WE NEED TURKEY!
I told him (because I am MOM and I am in charge:)
No. We don't. We will get pizza, eat it at home and then come back for ice cream. Ok?

NOOOO! WE NEED MORE TURKEY! WE'RE ALL OUT! (he really doesn't even eat turkey)

No, Maxwell. Would you rather go to Hyvee, or have ice cream?

I WANT TO GO TO HYVEE!

Whaaaat!?






Two minutes later:

I WANT ICE CREAM!

Ok.

















3 minutes (and lots of blessed silence) later:








HYVEE HAS ICE CREAM!


Brent and I laughed pretty hard about that one! Needless to say, the boring part of the story ends like this:

We picked up the blower motor.
We picked up a pizza.
We ate the pizza at home.
We went to Dairy Queen.
Brent replaced the blower motor.
The blower motor was NOT the reason the air conditioner has stopped working.
Brent and my Dad narrowed it down to two possibilities: a transistor or the knob.
I am so proud of my husband for taking apart his car
.....and being able to put it back together again.

The world according to Blake (sometimes known as number 1)

We were driving around waiting for the potential buyers to leave our home. Numbers 1 & 2 were not very happy about this and just wanted to go home. They were asking all sorts of questions, like:

Blake: So, are they going to live in our house with all our furniture?

Mommy: No, we will take our furniture with us.

So, we'll live in their house with their furniture?

No, we will live in a different house with our furniture. Of course, we will probably also buy some new furniture.

Will you buy me a new computer?

You already have a computer. We just had to put it away to "de-clutter."

I don't want that computer!

What computer do you want?

I don't want a square computer - I want the other kind.

What other kind of computer are you talking about? A laptop?

No. A rectangular one. I want a rectangular one!

Brent and I couldn't help laughing. He was referring to the monitor. Apparently his mostly square 17" monitor is unacceptable - he needs a wide screen!

This is Maxwell's side of the conversation:

No, no, no, nnnnnnooo handlebars, no handlebars......

Metronome?

Telephone?

Magazine?

Gasoline?

Microphone?

I WANT TO GO HOME! NOOOOOO! I. WANT. TO. GO. HOME!

He's kind of into one-sided conversations, and loves repeating the last word to each stanza in that song.....it's all very cute......and sometimes annoying!

All while Jack watches and listens......probably realizing he must have been born into a crazy family :)

Bet you thought it was going to be the Beach Boys, didn’t you?

In between days at Disneyland, we stopped by the beach, to a place Noah said was Their Spot. We loved it. I could live on the beach, literally. In fact, when we first got to L.A., I hated it. Once I hit the beach, I could see why people loved L.A. so much. (I suppose the nice weather doesn't hurt either.) So here is my short film (again, it's a long one by my usual standards, sorry) entitled Chariots of Fire........

This one is dedicated to my Dad. Whenever I hear this song, I see them running on the beach. Love you Dad!

Autobahn at 120mph

This is the first post about our trip to Disneyland. One of the first rides we rode was Autopia. Blake LOVED it! He was so serious and told me, "Mom! Now I can drive your car. Because I know which way to turn. That way is left (he pointed to his left) and that way is right (he pointed to his right.)" In that moment, I realized that I desperately wanted to be able to cherish this memory forever. So I made him (trust me, he didn't complain) do it again, and this time I filmed it.........

*I always try to keep my videos short, as I know I usually lose interest after about 30 seconds. Stick with it, you'll enjoy it by the end, I promise!