Yes, Jonny wants a pet. He suggests an anteater. And I'd gladly go along with it, if it would get the ants out from under my table. Yesterday, I caught him catching ants and forcing them into the traps (they don't work.) Simon is a little more gentle in his approach. He talks to them "Ants, do you want to eat poison?" "Oh yes I do" he answers in a tiny voice (don't worry, he knows PEOPLE DON'T EAT POISON.) This morning, Jonny told me maybe the Easter Bunny would come squish them for us.
James told me he read a book about giant ants attacking a city. He thought it would be scary for me. I told him I would love ants that are big enough to shoot with a gun. Both he and Amelia are making huge strides in their table manners, in an effort to keep food off the floor.
So why have I written 3 posts in one night? Well, I finally gave up on the traps and vigorous cleaning. (10 days should have been enough time don't you think?) Don't get me wrong. I'll still clean, vigorously too. I'll also use ant spray. It stinks though. You should see me running around with big rubber gloves, a hot pink shower cap and a bandana to cover my nose, spraying the dickens out of those little bugs. (maybe not) That's what I did after I tucked the kids in bed. But did I mention it stinks? So I have all the windows open, trying to air things out and I'm not going to bed til things smell good.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Short Sale Shimmy, but I forget which chapter
Some one did not get the message that we finally bought our house. That someone was an obnoxious lawyer who sent 4 letters this weekend, telling us our home was in foreclosure and up for auction. Don't you love how letters like that arrive on the weekend when the sender is closed? Turns out it was a bank error. Everything is fine. But still, it took a few days to find that out.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Catch Up
There's so much I thought about saying over the weekend. I forgot it all by now. I hope by writing, I'll remember SOMETHING.
Simon asked me a few weeks ago what the walrus says. I made what I thought were appropriate grunting noises. He told me "no. Goo goo ga joob." (can you tell we got Beatles Rockband in the last few months?!)
James got tap shoes for his birthday and he loves stomping around in them, for a few minutes at a time. He is signed up for a late spring tap class at the rec center and couldn't be more thrilled. Well, I guess he could be. Amelia also chose the same tap dancing class for her birthday present. Boy was he mad about that. I let them each choose one class from the catalog and they weren't allowed to tell which one- to prevent copycats but they are both fascinated with tap dance and ended up choosing the same one. Did I ever tell you James likes to bake? Biscuits are his specialty. They turn out most of the time. He baked brownies for fhe. They were from a box and they turned out well. He can also heat up canned and frozen veggies but he never eats them.
Amelia can often be found reading the Friend magazine. She loves doing that more than anything but most especially baths, homework and chores. She consents to the hula dance practices. "It's just like taking medicine" (she says.) She LOVES to be on stage. Her hair is getting close to princess length, just how she wants it. Thankfully, she did not give in to the pressure to be bald. Millie (as she now prefers) has turned out to be quite a helper. She has learned to load and unload the dishwasher and even does it every now and then, by her own choice. And since she is so helpful, I really feel like being helpful too. Like when she hollers that her room is too messy or showers are too scary or what ever. I am glad that our relationship can go both ways.
Jonny and Simon love "scooter time." Since it has warmed up, we take the scooters around the block after lunch. Ahh- I am so glad to have the scooters out of the house these days. Since Simon got one for Christmas, I let him ride it in the house only until the weather warmed up. It didn't seem fair for him to have a present he couldn't use. I think I could have taken a beginner's timid riding through the house. Well it turned out Jonny liked the scooter more and he was fast. The faster the scooter went, the louder it echoed. Thinking about it now, I guess I am the one that likes "scooter time" the most.
Jonny loves to pretend he's a baby. It's a good thing Simon loves to play "daddy" because I don't have the patience for 4 year old babies. He and Simon also love to pretend to be "Busty the Dog" (Gary has a theory that he chose that persona because it has no /r/ /l/ or /sh/ in the name) Simon is "Puncil the Bear." They wear around their hooded animal towels and have high times together.
Baby girl will be making her appearance in roughly 7 weeks. She seems more active during the day than my last 2. I hope that means she won't be a night owl. Still no name, but at least she's healthy. And speaking of babies and pregnancy, it dawned on me that this time around I've been craving "Bruce's Yams." Yes, yams. They seem to sneak into my shopping car more often than not as of late. (I seem to have only one food fetish per pregnancy. They were 1. cucumbers 2. ice cream 3. baked beans 4. coleslaw 5. yams)
Since the weather was warm last week, we ate dinner in the yard one night. I handed Simon a sandwich and told him it was ham. He gave it back and told me he does not eat hamster. I told him it was pig and gave it back. He ate the meat and left the bread.
I am super happy to see all of the spring bulbs coming up in my yard. I have no idea what any of them are, but maybe when they bloom I'll recognize them. Okay, I wrote this last week. They are daffodils (the yellow kind and the white kind) and hyacinth (purple and pink.) And I love to see them bloom in the yard. The kids have to be talked out of picking them to bring to me. While I love the sentiment, but I have to tell them they look best in the ground or else the yard will be bare.
Simon asked me a few weeks ago what the walrus says. I made what I thought were appropriate grunting noises. He told me "no. Goo goo ga joob." (can you tell we got Beatles Rockband in the last few months?!)
James got tap shoes for his birthday and he loves stomping around in them, for a few minutes at a time. He is signed up for a late spring tap class at the rec center and couldn't be more thrilled. Well, I guess he could be. Amelia also chose the same tap dancing class for her birthday present. Boy was he mad about that. I let them each choose one class from the catalog and they weren't allowed to tell which one- to prevent copycats but they are both fascinated with tap dance and ended up choosing the same one. Did I ever tell you James likes to bake? Biscuits are his specialty. They turn out most of the time. He baked brownies for fhe. They were from a box and they turned out well. He can also heat up canned and frozen veggies but he never eats them.
Amelia can often be found reading the Friend magazine. She loves doing that more than anything but most especially baths, homework and chores. She consents to the hula dance practices. "It's just like taking medicine" (she says.) She LOVES to be on stage. Her hair is getting close to princess length, just how she wants it. Thankfully, she did not give in to the pressure to be bald. Millie (as she now prefers) has turned out to be quite a helper. She has learned to load and unload the dishwasher and even does it every now and then, by her own choice. And since she is so helpful, I really feel like being helpful too. Like when she hollers that her room is too messy or showers are too scary or what ever. I am glad that our relationship can go both ways.
Jonny and Simon love "scooter time." Since it has warmed up, we take the scooters around the block after lunch. Ahh- I am so glad to have the scooters out of the house these days. Since Simon got one for Christmas, I let him ride it in the house only until the weather warmed up. It didn't seem fair for him to have a present he couldn't use. I think I could have taken a beginner's timid riding through the house. Well it turned out Jonny liked the scooter more and he was fast. The faster the scooter went, the louder it echoed. Thinking about it now, I guess I am the one that likes "scooter time" the most.
Jonny loves to pretend he's a baby. It's a good thing Simon loves to play "daddy" because I don't have the patience for 4 year old babies. He and Simon also love to pretend to be "Busty the Dog" (Gary has a theory that he chose that persona because it has no /r/ /l/ or /sh/ in the name) Simon is "Puncil the Bear." They wear around their hooded animal towels and have high times together.
Baby girl will be making her appearance in roughly 7 weeks. She seems more active during the day than my last 2. I hope that means she won't be a night owl. Still no name, but at least she's healthy. And speaking of babies and pregnancy, it dawned on me that this time around I've been craving "Bruce's Yams." Yes, yams. They seem to sneak into my shopping car more often than not as of late. (I seem to have only one food fetish per pregnancy. They were 1. cucumbers 2. ice cream 3. baked beans 4. coleslaw 5. yams)
Since the weather was warm last week, we ate dinner in the yard one night. I handed Simon a sandwich and told him it was ham. He gave it back and told me he does not eat hamster. I told him it was pig and gave it back. He ate the meat and left the bread.
I am super happy to see all of the spring bulbs coming up in my yard. I have no idea what any of them are, but maybe when they bloom I'll recognize them. Okay, I wrote this last week. They are daffodils (the yellow kind and the white kind) and hyacinth (purple and pink.) And I love to see them bloom in the yard. The kids have to be talked out of picking them to bring to me. While I love the sentiment, but I have to tell them they look best in the ground or else the yard will be bare.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Variety Show Drama
You probably didn't know that the kiddodiddo's school is having a variety show next month. You also didn't know that the kids have a book called "the Berenstein Bears and the Trouble with Grown Ups" where Brother and Sister put on a skit for their school's variety show.
When the fliers went out, Amelia was so excited to be in the show (because of the book.)
She hasn't had dance lessons or singing lessons and she doesn't play an instrument. So what could she do for a Variety Show?
Hmmm. How about a hula dance with her friends? That's what I did in 1st grade. So we got together a group of friends. By the time of the first rehearsal, the group of 7 was down to 2. Amelia and her friend Lexi have had a few practice sessions (read: disasters on wheels. ) I don't know how to hula, but I found directions on the internet and have been trying to walk the girls through. They can hold it together (some what) when they aren't too busy giggling and chasing eachother.
Today was the first Variety Show rehearsal for real. Once Amelia saw the other acts she was afraid. Very afraid. So afraid that she changed her mind. But once she vented out all of those feelings, she realized that practicing everyday (like taking medicine, she said) wouldn't be so bad. In fact it might help. So we might have a hula dancer after all. One that has now been scared into taking things seriously.
When the fliers went out, Amelia was so excited to be in the show (because of the book.)
She hasn't had dance lessons or singing lessons and she doesn't play an instrument. So what could she do for a Variety Show?
Hmmm. How about a hula dance with her friends? That's what I did in 1st grade. So we got together a group of friends. By the time of the first rehearsal, the group of 7 was down to 2. Amelia and her friend Lexi have had a few practice sessions (read: disasters on wheels. ) I don't know how to hula, but I found directions on the internet and have been trying to walk the girls through. They can hold it together (some what) when they aren't too busy giggling and chasing eachother.
Today was the first Variety Show rehearsal for real. Once Amelia saw the other acts she was afraid. Very afraid. So afraid that she changed her mind. But once she vented out all of those feelings, she realized that practicing everyday (like taking medicine, she said) wouldn't be so bad. In fact it might help. So we might have a hula dancer after all. One that has now been scared into taking things seriously.
Monday, March 01, 2010
Hair Dos and Don'ts
In the last few weeks, the kiddodiddos have been obsessed with the following list of words:
mohawk
geezer
goatee
bald
Everything is more funny is one of those words is involved.
The last few haircuts I've given Jonny, his simple request has been this: make me bald. Just wait 20 years I tell him.
Friday I was giving James a haircut.
His request: make me bald.
Just wait 20 years I tell him.
He persists, but the shortest I am willing to go on top is the 3, with 2 on the sides and 1 on the edges. It's not too bad for a mom cut.
He begs me to go down to a number 1 all over. I tell him that Dad knows more about men's hair and if he wanted it that short he would have check with Dad first.
Saturday night, I came home from the quarterly ladies meeting at the church and Gary is asleep. He mentions something about James "having your razor fall on his head while he was in the shower." It was a nice, new razor and pretty sharp but if it simply fell on his head, it would not have done what it did. (Did I mention that James is in to telling whoppers these days?) Anyway Gary called him on it. Turns out he tried to shave his head. Thankfully, he's not very good with a razor yet.
At breakfast on Sunday morning, James came to the table with a hat on. I told him I heard about his haircut and he said "Yeah I was hoping it would grow back over night." 4 chunks taken out, front and center. Sigh.
There is an old saying that goes something like this:
If your mother's father didn't go bald, neither will you.
I took human anatomy in college. In the class, the teacher debunked that myth. I can't explain it all in detail because I forgot by now. I believe Gary also debunked that myth on this blog. But if there is any truth to it, Jonny and James should be very happy in 20 years. As evidence, I provide a little piece of my early childhood.
Uhh- I lied. I can't find the picture right this very minute and I have Joy School to prepare and too much laundry to fold to hunt it down. So it'll have to wait. Trust me though, the picture I drew of my dad at a very young age is worth the wait.
mohawk
geezer
goatee
bald
Everything is more funny is one of those words is involved.
The last few haircuts I've given Jonny, his simple request has been this: make me bald. Just wait 20 years I tell him.
Friday I was giving James a haircut.
His request: make me bald.
Just wait 20 years I tell him.
He persists, but the shortest I am willing to go on top is the 3, with 2 on the sides and 1 on the edges. It's not too bad for a mom cut.
He begs me to go down to a number 1 all over. I tell him that Dad knows more about men's hair and if he wanted it that short he would have check with Dad first.
Saturday night, I came home from the quarterly ladies meeting at the church and Gary is asleep. He mentions something about James "having your razor fall on his head while he was in the shower." It was a nice, new razor and pretty sharp but if it simply fell on his head, it would not have done what it did. (Did I mention that James is in to telling whoppers these days?) Anyway Gary called him on it. Turns out he tried to shave his head. Thankfully, he's not very good with a razor yet.
At breakfast on Sunday morning, James came to the table with a hat on. I told him I heard about his haircut and he said "Yeah I was hoping it would grow back over night." 4 chunks taken out, front and center. Sigh.
There is an old saying that goes something like this:
If your mother's father didn't go bald, neither will you.
I took human anatomy in college. In the class, the teacher debunked that myth. I can't explain it all in detail because I forgot by now. I believe Gary also debunked that myth on this blog. But if there is any truth to it, Jonny and James should be very happy in 20 years. As evidence, I provide a little piece of my early childhood.
Uhh- I lied. I can't find the picture right this very minute and I have Joy School to prepare and too much laundry to fold to hunt it down. So it'll have to wait. Trust me though, the picture I drew of my dad at a very young age is worth the wait.
The Split
At church yesterday our ward was split, along with five others in our stake. They made six wards into seven plus a branch, for a total of 11 wards and one branch in the stake.
For our non-LDS friends, think of it as redistricting in the LDS Church. In the LDS Church, you don't pick a church or congregation. You attend the congregation to which you are assigned geographically.
Yesterday's split was done very neatly. Everyone met in their old ward's building and there was a webcast with handouts. The handout had low-resolution hand-drawn maps that must have taken hours (note: next time, call me!). But it also had lists of who is in which new ward.
The most common rumor--that the new boundaries would more or less follow next year's high school boundaries--turned out to be true, at least in our part of town.
They asked all the members of each new or reorganized ward to stand and sustain the stake presidency in the changes. When our new ward (which is the new ward in the stake) was asked to stand, we were almost the only ones in our building who stood. There was also a single woman and a visiting high counselor and his wife. This in yesterday's congregation of 400+ (two wards).
We live in a town where we used to live, as you may know if you were a frequent reader of The Short Sale Shimmy. We're actually going to be in a ward with more people we know than we knew in the short time we were in our old ward since moving to the new house in September. So we're pretty happy about it, though we made some good friends in the old ward too.
For our non-LDS friends, think of it as redistricting in the LDS Church. In the LDS Church, you don't pick a church or congregation. You attend the congregation to which you are assigned geographically.
Yesterday's split was done very neatly. Everyone met in their old ward's building and there was a webcast with handouts. The handout had low-resolution hand-drawn maps that must have taken hours (note: next time, call me!). But it also had lists of who is in which new ward.
The most common rumor--that the new boundaries would more or less follow next year's high school boundaries--turned out to be true, at least in our part of town.
They asked all the members of each new or reorganized ward to stand and sustain the stake presidency in the changes. When our new ward (which is the new ward in the stake) was asked to stand, we were almost the only ones in our building who stood. There was also a single woman and a visiting high counselor and his wife. This in yesterday's congregation of 400+ (two wards).
We live in a town where we used to live, as you may know if you were a frequent reader of The Short Sale Shimmy. We're actually going to be in a ward with more people we know than we knew in the short time we were in our old ward since moving to the new house in September. So we're pretty happy about it, though we made some good friends in the old ward too.
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