A Year of Dates: Week 23

We got 2 whole dates this weekend, thanks to an obligitory dinner out on Friday night with Zach's new hire for Hawaii before she flew back to Honolulu, and a previously scheduled babysitter coming Saturday night. Dinner to Los Hermanos last night was nice--a first for Zach's guest and that's always fun, especially when fried ice cream was such a novelty that she took a picture of it for posterity's sake. Love it.

Tonight we went to a movie. It seems crazy to me how many movies are geared toward men born in the 1970s and 1980s who can see the cartoons and TV shows they watched, the comics they read, and even the TOYS they played with make it to the big screen. Star Wars (I realize this was a movie first, but still! All the toys!), Iron Man, X Men, The Hulk, TMNT, Superman, Fantastic Four, Batman, Transformers (A sequel? Really?), G.I. Joe, He-Man (still rumored), and as we saw tonight, Star Trek. Thank you, CG special effects, for making it possible for my husband to relive his childhood in a non-animated, grown up kind of way.

I would just like to ask one question. What would the men of the world do if their wives asked them to go to a movie based on the toys THEY played with as children? I can see it now. "Sweetie? I got us tickets for Strawberry Shortcake Begins at 7:30. It's supposed to be fantastic!" "That Pound Puppies trailer was UNREAL! Only 1 more month till it's in the theaters!" "Rainbow Bright? Did you SEE how her futuristic mini-skirt/boots combo glowed on the screen? It's gonna be outta this world!" Seriously, how weird would it be to see real live people playing The Cabbage Patch Dolls: Our TRUE origins? Very--in case you were wondering.

p.s. I actually really liked Star Trek. It was good.

A Year of Dates: Weeks 21 & 22

My goal for the month of June was to NOT have a stop at Home Depot as part of our dates. So far so good. I made no promises about other stores, however . . .

Week 21: We made a decision. It was a big one. It turned out to be a good one. Instead of going OUT to eat, we ate with the kids at home. Apple pancakes with cinnamon syrup and orange juliuses. Yummmmm--and it left room for popcorn later. Perfect choice. We went out on our semi-annual "buy-Zach-clothes-that-fit-and-look-decent-enough-for-work" venture. We combined it with the "find-some-cute-shirts-and-a-new-swimsuit-that-fits-right" venture for me. The first was successful. The second, not so much. We wound up by seeing the fabulous comedy/true love/action-adventure "UP." I can recommend it.

Week 22: Wanting to try something a little different for our anniversary, we went to a dinner show in Pleasant Grove called "Showtime-Utah." It was, well, uhhhhhhhh, a little different, that's for sure. A bit silly, but that's okay. On the up side, Zach had to dance with me for the first time in a looooooong time. My sister kept the kids for the night and we got to sleep in till 9 a.m. Diiiiiiivine! We ended our adventure Saturday morning with a 8.25 bike ride to my sister's house in Springville, with a brief stop for breakfast at the Model A Cafe in Mapleton. Omelets the size of my head. Good stuff.

Top Ten--May 2009

10—Things I have found in the laundry this month (though I never seem to find them until AFTER they have been through the wash): flip flops, Sunday shoe, Adam’s sandal, Legos, guns, and half of every pair of socks we own. The other half is never there.

9—M: Adam, it’s time for a breathing treatment.
A: (Cough) Emmo, watts? (Hack, gasp, cough) Watts Emmo? Emmo watts?
(He gets to “watts” Elmo during his treatments and he loooooooooves it.)

8—I: Mom, what’s it like being married?
M: Ummmm, it’s very nice.
I: But who am I going to marry?
M: You won’t know that for a long time yet.
I: But what is it LIKE being married?
M: Still very nice. What’s it like NOT being married?
I: It’s sad.

7—K: Stop dancing! I don’t like seeing your bottom shake!
Neither do I, Kye, which is why I never dance in front of the mirror.

6—K: No, no, no! Stop! I don’t like that, either! (I tried doing the salsa, polka, and waltz to no avail. Kye hated me doing all of it. This is very sad . . . for him.)

5—Things Adam comes running for: the doorbell, the screen door opening, the sound of a wrapper—any wrapper, because chances are he’s going to like it, the ice dispenser (“Eye-sh? Eye-sh, mama?”), and light saber fights.

4—Screen door saga: Once upon a time we had a screen door. Seven ginormous holes later, we got around to replacing it . . . only the replacement didn’t fit. So we bought new netting and a spline roller (which we immediately lost), stuck it in the shed with our old door frame and promptly forgot all about it. I finally remembered to buy a new spline roller and decided it was time for a new screen RIGHT NOW. Despite Zach’s severely sprained ankle, I requested(?) him to get down on the floor and replace the screen, which he did. We put it on and it looked so nice . . . for a day . . . until I forgot it was there and tried to walk through it while carrying the drill—bit first. Ahhh, well. At least this one only has ONE hole in it.

3—M: Isaac, if you are sooooo smart, what is the name of the state we live in?
I: New York. No, I can’t remember. What does it start with?
M: “U.” It starts with a “U.”
I: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! U Nork.

2—New microwave, new play set, new hitch on the van, new-to-us trailer, new sport, new experiences, new Bosch, new coupons for Mother’s Day, new garden. I like new. It’s fun.

1—Last soccer game, last days of 2nd grade and kindergarten, last hugs to the teacher, last Jane Austen book for book club, last carpools, last trip to Thanksgiving Point gardens and the Noah’s Ark , last choir concert, last trip to the store with less than 4 children, and last piano lesson. Until next year, anyway.

Summer, we are so excited you are here. Bring it on.

Our Summer So Far

Our first project for "mom" school this summer was our "I'm bored" lists. Each child had to come up with several things to do when they are bored. If they tell me they are bored and don't choose to do something on their lists, I get to give them a chore. It's a great system. (I don't think I've ever actually had to give an extra chore, but there is always a first time for everything:-)

Isaac's list:
1) Play with Lucy
2) Play with Kye
3) Jump on the Trampoline
4) Swing

(Verbatim)
Kye's list of what to do:
1) Go out side and play.
2) Play with a frend.
3) Play with Lucy.
4) Play with Isaac.
5) Jump in the sprinkler.
6) Go to the bech.
7) Go out to eat.
8) Play pig.
9) Bild a house out of lencki
n logs.
10) Mack a track and slid cars down.
11) Biy a presint for somwon.

(Also verbatim)
Lucy's List of Things to Do:
1. Go Outside
2. Jump on trampaline.
3. Play on the playset.
4. Play with Kye and Isaac. House. Pirates. Pig or Horse.
5. Play with friends.
6. Play in sprinkler.
7. Read.
8. Play with toys.
9. Play piano.
10. Mak a treat with mom.
11. Paint.
12. Draw.
13. Go to the fake beach with a fake dog.
14. Ride bikes.
15. Read scriptures.
16. Build a house out of pillows.
17. Build a time machine with cardboard.
18. Work on Faith in God book.
19. Do activeteis in Friend.
20. Email or letters.
21. Cardboard box into rocket ship.
22. Play with Adam.
23. Do a nice thing to someone seacret.
24. Play soccer and catch with Kye's beach ball.
25. Play doge ball.

We're off to an awesome start this summer. We've cleaned the window wells and all the bathrooms together, stapled down our landscaping fabric, made bread, learned about how yeast works, made crystals with epsom salt and water, played outside on the swingset, jumped on the trampoline with sprinklers underneath, harvested lettuce from our garden, organized all of the kids clothes, worked on our front flower bed, gone on 2 walks/bike rides, had friends and cousins over to play, met Zach for lunch before he flew to Houston, made a run to Home Depot, unloaded 54 (25 lb.) pavers from the car, and watched The Apple Dumpling Gang. Not too shabby. I know it won't last, but it's been a great summer so far.

p.s. Anyone know where I could get a beach? Apparantly the kids are set on going.