Dodged the dog bullet one more time

The bi-annual dog guilt trip was a little behind schedule this season.  I think the fish that wouldn't die, the constant restocking of snails (the last one escaped and we found his decomposed body in the lego box) and the adopted class tadpole (which the fish ate while we were out of town) bought me a little more time.  But it was bound to happen and we had the same conversation we always have, them telling me I'm denying them of their childhood, me telling them I don't need another mouth to feed and more poop to clean and and then deflecting all other inquiries to Jason.  Yes, I know the look on their faces would be priceless if I got them a dog, but I get that same look from Jayden every time I tell him we can have ramen for dinner, so I still don't see what's in it for me.  But I definately got some serious mom points when I told them they could keep this frog and lizard that they found stranded in the pool.  They spent the day creating habitats, catching bugs, narrowing down names and giving the lizard rides on the trike and remote control truck.  And then if you give a mouse a cookie...they decided to scrape up every last penny and buy like a terrarium or something.  Jayden spent the entire day on petsmart.com and walmart.com pricing out lizards and tanks. The next day I took them to PetSmart with a get-a-lizard-and-go mentality, but it's never that easy. Of course not.  The $7.99 green anole lizard turned into a $60 tank, lid, heat lamp, bulbs and food investment.  Two hours and like twenty pet choices later they are the proud owners of hamsters.  Chinese dwarf hamsters none the less.  It was a good choice, they are over the moon about them and once again it proved that I don't have to get a dog to be a good mom.  Buuuuuut if they are this excited about hamsters, can you even imagine the excitement over a dog...?  Better go buy more ramen.

all this love and then they dispose of them in the backyard like yesterday's trash the minute they get the hamsters. He really was a sweet and tame little lizard. Jayden would sit with him on his shoulder while watching tv and it never tried to escape. When he did let it go in the backyard it just hung out on the back porch for like 15 minutes. I kinda got attached to the little fella and would slip him a bug or two and lettuce leaves when no one was looking.  I was sad to see him go.

Jason thinks they look like rats, but I think they're really cute.  This is, however coming from a girl who snuck her own pet hampster to church and it chewed a hole right through her scripture case.

Staring death straight in the eye

Boots, scarves (and we're not talking the summer scarf type), soup, pumpkins, leaves, Halloween, bike rides, park days, cozy blankets...so many reasons why I'm so beyond being ready for fall.  But then we have days at the lake like this and it makes me second guess my loyalties.  I wasn't planning on bringing my camera because there is such a thing as too many lake pictures, but Jayden was planning ahead and insisted that I brought it so that I could take a picture of him getting "big air" to put on his poster when he's star student.  I'm glad he convinced me to bring it so that we could capture our death defying stunt and prove that us old moms still got a little juice left in us afterall.  It was terrifying. Melissa walked away with a self diagnosed torn rotator cuff, or dislocated shoulder or something that deemed her immobile.  Her doctor husband said it's most likely a deep bone bruise, but that doesn't sound as dramatic. We both heard a distinct crack when we collided and I'm diagnosing myself with a cracked rib.  If I had a better life insurance policy then I would think Jason was trying to kill us, but he claims he was just trying to add some excitment to our diaper and dirty clothes filled lives.  That he did, that he did.  Besides the moment when my children were almost left without a mother, the rest of the afternoon and evening with our good friends was so much fun and the hot dog and marshmallow roast was the perfect ending (and riding back over the dark abyss with scenes from "What Lies Beneath" flashing through my head).

Pretty sure this is exactly what I looked like the last time I gave birth

My kitchen side kick

lace trimmed orange gingham apron and all

Thank you, Target. I think.

All date nights end at Target (or wal-mart, but that one's not by choice).  Usually because Jason wants to go to Sport Chalet and after spending way too much on all things boating he let's me go next door to Target to even out the playing field.  We're all about equality.  We justify our spendings by skipping out on fro yo, because a new pair of yoga pants (used for tv watching, not yoga-ing) on clearance trump fro yo any day.  Sometimes we'll pick up a little treat for the kids and I was so excited to come across a slip-n-slide marked down to $2.50.  Okay, so maybe it was only $4.99 to begin with, but there's something exciting about $2.50 anything. The kids were thrilled about it and I wondered why I hadn't bought them one before.  And then I watched as the grass was turned into a mudpit and a small fortune of water went down the drain and THEN I remembered why.  So enjoy it while it lasts, because this is the first and last slip and slide, no matter how much those orange clearance tags are marked down to.  Oh shoot, those faces might just change my mind. Dang, they just did.

Jayden's baptism

Such a beautiful day.  Seeing Jayden get baptized was such a special experience, especially seeing the transformation (even if temporary) afterwards.  While most boys his age have been wearing "future missionary" name tags since they emerged from the womb, Jayden has told me that he doesn't want to serve a mission, he'd rather live at home and play video games all day.  When talking about his baptism the one thing he was the most excited about was the candygram that my friend had promised to make for him.  I know he's still young, but now is the time to start planting the seeds of his testimony.  With that being said, seeing Jayden light up with the spirit at his baptism was amazing.  Seeing him read his scriptures on his own during sacrament meeting the next day and even marking his favorite verses just did me in.  It just so happened to be a missionary farewell and when he turned to me and said that he is so excited to go on a mission to Paris (he's convinced that's where he'll be called), I realized that this kid really is a good egg.  He may give me a run for my money, but he's got good roots and a sweet heart.  It's hard living so far away from family, especially during special occassions like this, but we are so grateful for our friends here that have become our family.  My friend delegated herself to be in charge of Ryder during the baptism and it was so nice to be able to just sit there with my arm around Jayden and focus on the speakers and especially the spirit.  We had a lunch at our house afterwards, I didn't get any pictures because I was too busy refilling (and eating) the brownie plate and hanging with friends, but just imagine our house filled to the brim with people and love.  So grateful for Jayden and the choices he is making, so grateful for the gospel in our lives and so grateful for the loving and supporting people we are surrounded by.

In case you haven't noticed, we don't have a beach in our backyard

As I was thumbing through the Family Fun magazine on our way home from the beach I found the perfect craft project to have on hand for when Maddox asks to do another crap project.  Because Maddox WILL be asking to do another crap project.  I saw something similar on pinterest, but it called for baby oil and let's be honest, I haven't bought baby oil since 1996 when I spent the entire summer on the back deck working on my skin cancer with the Spin Doctors keeping me company on the boombox.  This version called for vegetable oil, and I can do vegetable oil.  Just mix 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil for the closest thing to building sandcastles in the desert.  Two thumbs up, way up. 

How bad is it to have "fun" and "funeral" in the same sentence?

Jason's Uncle Simon passed away this past week. He had a stroke several months ago, followed by a heart attack. He was only 57 and the youngest of his dad's siblings, he was also in pain and ready for relief. The news of his passing was sad, but everyone also felt gratitude that he was in a better place. The funeral service was beautiful, atleast what I heard from the speakers placed outside the Rose Hill cemetary chapel while I dug hot wheels out of the garbage can, cleaned up little bits of styrofoam cup that entertained little hands for a solid 5 minutes and tried not to look like too big of an idiot running past the full length windows in my stillettos while chasing an irreverant toddler off headstones. This is the first funeral that my kids have been to and they were filled with questions which opened up some great dialogue about death and heaven and Maddox was relieved not to find a skeleton in the casket during the viewing. I only met Uncle Simon a handful of times, but I hear he had a great sense of humor and as we sat around the grave side with family and loved ones laughing and sharing stories about his killer British impersonations and his love affair with food that got him kicked out of all-you-can-eat buffets, I decided it wasn't so bad to admit that our trip to California for his funeral was actually pretty fun.  I think he would have preferred it that way. So tonight I made sweet and sour chicken just for you, Uncle Simon (and because I haven't gone shopping since we've been home and I had the ingredients on hand. But mostly for you, Uncle Simon, mostly for you).  You are loved and will be greatly missed, thank you for making the world a better place with your smile.

Jason's grandparents and great grandparents are also buried at this cemetary.  It is one of the most beautiful cemetarys that I have ever been to.

I love feeling like an honorary Asian when I'm with Jason's family.  I still don't venture too far away from the fried rice, but I have been known to say "shi shi" on occasion when necessary.

Sea World was the typical stuff amusement parks are made out of. Crowded, hot, overpriced everything, mediocre service and even more mediocre food. But after getting past the $18 deep fried chicken fingers, the smiles made it all worth it. The thrill of facing their fears on the roller coasters, the amazement of whales leaping out of the water, their wide eyes staring at sharks, the squeals when touching sting rays and the chorus of little voices asking when we get to go back next. Yeah, it was worth it. Just maybe not the chasing a baby all over creation and digging a used cigarette butt out of his mouth part. That I could have done without.

Maddox didn't know what he had gotten himself into when he wanted to go on Journey to Atlantis just like the big kids.  He said he kind of liked it, but mostly didn't.  And he'll never do it again.  Brave little boy, you can't even see his head, he's so tiny (we're in the last row).

And then came the beach. Oh I would take the beach over an amusement park any day {no offense, Shamu, we had a good run}. It was so nice having Ryder old enough to explore and not just sit on my lap eating sand. Jayden became the master sand crab finder (since Jayden is the master at whatever he does), Kylie overcame her fear of sharks and lived in the waves and Maddox devoted his time to sand castles, sand volcanos, sand bridges and what ever sand creations his little mind could come up with. We spent the next 6 hours sitting in the car with sand in our underwear, but it was a small price to pay for a beautiful day at the beach

Maybe I should have told them about the big wave sneaking up behind them?  Nah.