In a Stunning Lack of Foresight--

I forgot to take pictures of my kids on crazy hair day. Lucy isn't really into going to school all cattywhampus looking, even though "everybody else does it." (Yes, I actually DID try to use peer pressure so she would let me do something crazy and cool with her hair. Yes, yes, very bad idea. Yes, YES, I am ashamed.) Kye let me part his hair down the middle and do a mohawk on either side. It was awesome. Can you visualize it?

So to make amends for such a lame blogging lapse, I will now post pictures from our Family Adventure to the Thanksgiving Point farm a few weeks ago. Totally makes up for it.

Dancing in "Miss Kitty's Dance Hall" at the farm. Lovely--the kids get to emulate showgirls--er--show people. Notice where they end up next.

That's right: JAIL! Show dancing apparantely leads to a life of crime??
Zach and I bailed them out and Lucy was thrilled to spend a little time in the bunny house next door.
Riding the big fake cow.

Adam riding the little real horse.
And Lucy--
And Isaac, too.
All in all, a successful day on the farm.

Flashback Friday

"Kyenstien" doing a little scientific exploration--Sept. 2004

Flashback Friday--Adam

September 19, 2007. That was then . . .

Septemer 19, 2008. This is now . . .

Happy birthday, baby boy. The joy you bring to our home is immeasurable.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for 32 beautiful migraine-free years. I had my first one today. Ummmmm, ow.

Our expected visitor

Kye expects the Tooth Fairy any minute now. He's been wiggling like a maniac for the past month, and tonight he asked Zach to pull his tooth. One big push in, a little tug, and it just popped out.
He's very excited about the hole in his smile. Can you tell?
The note under his pillow reads: Dear Tooth Fairy, I want $2 for my first tooth. Luve, Kye
(Grandpa D told Lucy when she lost her first tooth that she should hold out for $2 for that tooth. She insisted that Kye expect nothing less.)

Flashback Friday

We came out of our house on July 24, 2005 and saw this:

This is the view from the other side of our house, where the rainbow ended.

My New Best Friend

3 words: NA-SO-NEX. Okay, I know it's only one word, but it is so fabulous I wanted each syllable emphasized. No more itchy eyes, throat, or ears. No more miserable nights. No more need for a box of kleenex a day. Beautiful, beautiful thing.

Thankful Thursday

This is more of a flashback, but since it's Thursday, it's been given a new name. This morning on the way to school, Kye told his carpool that all the flags were out in the yards "because our country got blown up. . . or, well, part of it." On Sept. 11, 2001, we lived in AZ and I was just getting Lucy some breakfast when my MIL called me and told me to turn on the news. I turned it on and had it on for the rest of the day. My sister, KT, and her family lived in Brooklyn, and both her and her husband worked in Manhattan. My brother Matt also lived in NYC. (KT's BIL was a securtity guard at the Pentagon, as well.) I was worried about them, but really felt like they were okay. None of them worked in the World Trade Center, though KT's office wasn't too far away. KT and her hubby watched from across the river. Matt was stuck in the subway for a long time and finally got out somewhere close to the WTC. He could see people jumping out of the windows.

Zach was in UT on business, and couldn't get a flight out, because they had grounded all the planes. He ended up getting one of the last rental cars available at the airport and driving home. My MIL and all of my SIL's were planning a girls' trip to NYC--we were supposed to have gone about 10 days later. We cancelled it, but I decided to go ahead and go a few weeks later to spend some time with KT. The flight Lucy and I took was empty, as were the streets of New York. We went to the WTC site, and it was eerie, especially because signs looking for loved ones were still posted all around.

It's been awhile since I've thought about 9/11. How quickly we forget and become complacent. Once upon a time when I was thinking of getting a master's in American Studies, I wanted to do my thesis on the "pride cycle" in American history, though it would probably have had to be named something else. Maybe someday . . . . Okay, flashback complete. Continue on with your day.

Top Ten--August 2008

Any of you who know me well, know that I over-explain everything when I write. (Amy, I'm sure my teachers would have used the word "verbose" had the term been used--ever-- at my high school . . . ). So expect this to be a little long. I just feel the need to share. Perhaps I should start having someone edit my top tens. Anyone up for the job? No? No takers? Really? Then it's your own fault this is so long. (Anything to exonerate myself . . . )

Top ten things said, done, or noticed at the B’s this month.

10—In honor of our ridiculously obsessive viewing of the Olympics, Lucy and her cousins performed a rock concert in "China" (a neighbor’s lawn) for the Unicorn Olympics. I gave it 2 thumbs up—Lucy’s a natural at chopsticks on a Lincoln log bucket.

9—Cardboard boxes provide unlimited amusement. Aside from the shanty towns constructed in the basement day after day from the endless supply of boxes on hand, the kids have also invented a time machine and a duplicator (influenced by “Calvin and Hobbes” of course). The duplicator was a disaster, duplicating neither Lucy’s water bottle, nor Lucy herself, much to their disappointment. The time machine had a little more success, transporting the kids all the way back to SD this past summer. Lucy exclaimed, “Look, we’re heading back to Gma and Gpa’s house.” Kye’s immediately responded, “Don’t forget the Wii!”

8—
A: Polly pockets and accessories, beads, grapes, trash, leaves, polly pocket arm, chips, toilet paper, money, ginormous bug found on our hotel room floor (ewww!), grass, dirt, and bark chips.

Q: What did we fish out of Adam’s mouth this month?

A: Green Beans.

Q: The only thing Adam has ever spit out of his mouth VOLUNTARILY.

7—Isaac (attempting to dress himself): Mom, I can do the undies, and pants and the shirt. GO AWAY!!!!
M: Isaac, that’s not how you talk to mom.
I: Ohhhhhhhh. Okay. PWEASE go away!!!!

6—Lucy’s obsession with the IPOD, now that we have speakers so everyone can hear it. After listening to “Tainted Love” for the 4th time, she asked me very seriously, “Mom, do you think a boy will sing this to me when I’m in high school?” He’d better not, and what the heck was I doing allowing my 7 year old to listen to “Tainted Love?” Fortunately she didn’t understand most of the lyrics.

5—Kye still surprises me with the intensity of his reactions sometimes. He can go from pleasant to psycho-tantrumer in under 3 seconds. He came in from the backyard one night demanding, “What’s for dinnerherherherherher?!?!?” (foot stamping accompanying each syllable). I said, “Grilled chicken,” and Isaac whined, “I don’t want girl chicken. I WANT BOY CHICKEN!” I just can't win.

4—Adam’s new hobby. See here.

3—The race to the front door. Every time the doorbell rings at our house, there is a stampede to see who gets to answer it. I’m somehow always last. I heard the doorbell early one morning and raced out to find Kye answering the door . . . in his underwear . . . for the electric meter guy. New rule: mom ALWAYS answers the door first.

2—While congratulating Zach’s coworker at his wedding reception, I asked when their flight left the next day for their honeymoon. He said, “9 a.m. . . . not too early.” My eloquent (read “I-can’t-believe-I-actually-said-this-to-someone-I-barely-know”) response? “That’s still sounds pretty early—especially because the wedding night is soooooooo exhausting!” For the record, I meant to say wedding . . . w-e-d-d-i-n-g, NOT wedding night. Good grief! Zach’s still laughing about that one.

1—The fun new game Z and I discovered on our way to a Brian Regan comedy show: the “answer-the-question-as-fast-as-you-can” game.
S: How many years have we been married?
Z: 14! 10?—no 11!!
S: Ummmm, no. What YEAR were we married?
Z: 2000 . . . no 1997. Yes, 1997. It was 1997.
S: Seriously? Ummmmmm, still no. It was 1996, sweetie.
Z: Let’s play something else.

Flashback Friday

Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico--February 2004.

We met my parents down there for a few days of the beach, my dad's delish cooking, my mom's delightful interaction with Lucy and Kye, and beautiful weather.

Gma Tina and Kye-kooski
Lucy, Gpa Ron, Gma Tina, Kye
Our view from the deck.
I really want to go back sometime in the next year. I'd better get cracking on passports for the kids!

Move Over Mozart

Adam's new hobby:

Life is full of bumps and bruises, but nothing a little music won't cure.