A 4 Year Old's Delight

Ashton's birthday was a delightful day.

It started out as any birthday should...with cake batter.

"What do you want for your birthday breakfast?"

"Love pancakes with a mad alien."

As much as I love birthdays this one snuck up on me.

I didn't have the time (or money) to properly plan for his birthday.

But...with some wrapping paper and ohh's and ahh's, the 4 year old was

tickled with his loot.

"My very own nails!!!?"

Jason explained that he and Ashton would build a sandbox together.

The one he's been waiting for...

His very own Star Wars Battle Droid!

Can the day get any better?

After a Birthday Bike Ride, we came home

to a cake decorated by his very own brothers.

A perfect day. I love 4 year-old birthdays.

Why it's good to tell your kids, "No".

Yesterday, after I dropped my mom off at the airport, Ethan and I had a few stops to make...IKEA, Home Deopt, WinCo and the Dollar Store. Ethan waited patiently for the Dollar Store. He had a dollar he was eager to spend. He looked and looked for the perfect thing to spend his dollar on. He kept reminding himself that the Dollar Store toys break easily and was starting to get frustrated with the selection process. Until...He found...the perfect item.

It was black with white tips.

Long, slender and not too cheap looking.

A magician's wand is what he bought.

He was giddy with magical plans. All the way home, he practiced magical words, spell, and tricks. He learned the trick included with the wand and had plans for his black Dracula cape. He said he needed a magician's hat and ran into his closet to find one.

Today, he asked me if I would make him a tall, black magician's hat. I said, "No".

He asked if I had stuff to make him a hat. I told him an oatmeal canister would work well but we don't buy our oatmeal like that. We buy it by the bucketful. He asked if I had black paper. I said, "No".

He asked if I would paint some paper black for him..."Nope".

I told him he would have to make his own magician's hat. I also suggested using the red and white striped Cat in the Hat hat. He wrinkled his nose at the very idea! AAAgh! How could I be so unkind, uncaring, ungracious?!!

Right now, Ethan is at the table with scratch paper, scissors, tape and crayons. He's put on his Determined Face and is working on creating the tall, black part of a tall, black magician's hat. I'm sure within the hour, he'll have a perfect magician's hat.

Where You'll Find Me...

...somewhere
over the rainbow
skies
are blue...

...somewhere
in waikiki
with my
honey...

...in blue, blue
(not as warm as i expected)
water...

...with my love
of fifteen + years
still holds my hand
and my heart
goes 'a flutter...

...on the beach
6 'o clock
side by side
"you said you were goin' to swim"
just a smile in reply...

...just together
could be anywhere
a touch on the back
a destination vacation
happens when i'm with you.

My Very Own Teenager

We have a teenager in the house.

{Collective, audible sigh/groan/Please feel sorry for me}

He's a great kid....really.....except when he's being a teenager.

I met him after basketball practice today. It was right after a 10 mile bike ride. I was sporting my running pants (which I actually think I look goood in), bright shirt (I don't want to get hit by a car...I'm totally into safety), camo bandana (I live in a house of boys. If it wasn't bought specifically for me it's camo) (to keep my hair out of my eyes), and bike helmet (not a big brain bucket...it's pretty cool actually).

I had to laugh at myself as I rode up to his school. I hadn't planned on going to meet him after my ride. I looked at my watch and realized I would be done the same time he would finish practice. Hey! Why not SURPRISE him and just show up.

I try not to embarass my kids too much. I won't go INTO practice if I'm in my pajamas. If I drive him to school and I'm in my pajamas, I drop him off across the street. (That's probably just as much for my vanity as it is for his social survival. But we'll call it for him today.)

So there I am at practice, in my riding attire.

(as you read this, do you think a teenage girl would have acted differently? Is it just that he's a boy and he didn't even NOTICE what I was wearing? Or does he really love his mama THAT much? I need a serious ego boost so we're going with option #2).

He says hi, his friends say hi, and we have a great walk home. I asked him if he felt older. He said, "Yes", "Why?" I said because you sure have been acting like a teenager lately (I'm real subtle like that.) He asked for more information (which is kind of funny because he's usually trying to find ways to disinfect his ears from the TOO MUCH INFORMATION information that I usually give him.) so I gave him a few words that described the way he was acting.

He smiled....it's a great smile. And he laughed a little. I ended by saying, "So next time you're acting like a teenager and I laugh, don't think I'm laughing with you. I'm laughing at you." His face was still for just a quick moment and then it registered....

And then we were laughing together. Only the way a teenager can laugh at a joke that years before wouldn't have been funny.

Jupiter & Venus...I need you NOW!

So, I have three reactions when my kids are hungry for each other's throats.

1. Ignore it. Surely it will go away and they will magically learn how to be nice, patient, cooperative, loving, considerate, soft-spoken, generous, respectful, helpful, obedient, long-suffering, selfless, forgiving, humble, and cheerful.

2. ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME??? Of course, this is the funnest reaction. For me and kids. I get to come up with numerous alliterations, similes, and comparisons all the while maintaining a level, wall-shaking, unquivering voice. Proper head shaking and bobbing are important as well as punctuating key points with perfect head and finger wagging rhythm. Kids enjoy because they count and watch cautiously as dear mama's forehead, neck and eyeball veins pulsate to the above mentioned rhythm.

3. I Love You & You Love Me. When the stars are aligned and Jupiter and Venus are in perfect orbit, I remember that I make head-shaking and finger-wagging mistakes ALL. THE. TIME. (refer to reaction #2 specifically). I remember that we are continuously taught the same thing over and over and over and over...until, someday, in the eternities, it clicks and sticks. My gratitude goes out daily to a loving Heavenly Father who continues to trust in me despite my theatrical performances and occassional lassez-faire attitude.

Please post here your feelings about white socks at church...

I opened my little mouth..it isn't big at all..and surprise, surprise...said something I wish I could have taken back. You know the feeling you get right before you're going to throw up. You wish, wish, wish you could hold it in but there's no chance it's going to stay put. Uh-oh...here it comes and there's no going back. It is what it is and now you have to deal with it. That's what happened a few Sundays ago while I was giving a talk in church. We are in a small branch rather than a regular size ward. So giving a talk in sacrament meeting is more like teaching Sunday School...pretty up-close and personal. It's kind of fun actually but then I like giving talks anywhere. So I made a comment and looked at a friend's son and wished I had a hole to jump into.

Turkey Tastes Good

You're probably completely uninterested in the following but I usually lack for anything interesting to post so this should look like it belongs.

I have a ton of turkey burger in my freezer...I just do because it was given to me and I just couldn't pass up perfectly good, healthy (?) meat. Especially since my meat budget has been $0. Thank goodness for a few college nutrition classes or might not know how to make protein without the kind that comes from animals.

So what do you do with turkey burger? It definitely has it's own poultry-ish flavor. It's not like hamburger and it's not like chicken. Thankfully, I have found a few recipes that it works well in and...here's the clincher...my kids eat and say, "Wow, this is really good!". I don't know if they are saying this because they are surprised turkey burger can actually taste, um, okay. Or if, really and truly, they're taste buds are doing little, happy loop-de-loops.

So, if you have some ground gobble (that's sounds really gross), pitch me a note and I'll give you some pointers.