Danger Zone

Sadie has an independent spirit. She will not hold a hand while crossing the street, insists on walking everywhere, and tries her very hardest to get in the car BY HERSELF, until admitting defeat and allowing a little helping hand. She is also fearless. All of my kids have been fairly fearless until they were about one, when they seemed to discover that they could get hurt, but Sadie's fearlessness has continued on. It is scary, but somehow I got over MY fear to document some of it!

Last night I walked in the living room to find the children performing this trick. Let Sadie climb onto a stool 3 1/2 feet off the ground (over concrete floors), and then jump to a waiting 5 year old.



There is even video, which proudly displays her independence. When Megan attempts to help Sade onto the stool, you can see Sadie's indignant reaction.

Here Jackson and Sadie document a slight variation of the first trick. This time Sadie is standing on an inch and a half piece of wood.

In this picture Jackson apparently got too close which forced Sadie to hold her hands up to stop him. She is also waving them around and staying "no, no, no" continually.

Lastly just a couple of pics of Sadie throwing herself around the couch, with Eric trying to avoid imminent danger.


If you enlarge this picture, you will see that Sadie looks just about happier than I have ever seen her look. Apparently danger agrees with her.

Thongs

Don't worry this post is not about thong underwear, but rather thongs as in flip-flops or known around the world as chappals, jandels, pluggers, or go-ahead (courtesy of Wikipedia). Anyway, today while driving in the car I happened to mention to my children that when I was little we called flip-flops, thongs. And it got me thinking, at what point did I stop calling them thongs? Was it the pressure from the rest of the world calling them flip-flops, or with the rise of thong underwear did it just get confusing as to what thong I might be referring to. By the way, Australians exclusively use the term thong. Possibly there was a large secret Australian population in Cache Valley (where I grew up), that blanketed the city with the term, forcing all of us to forget about the more popular moniker flip-flop. So I am curious,

"Did you grow up using the term THONG?
Also how many pairs of THONGS do you own"?

I myself have 10 pairs, and I wear every last one of them. Except for the purple ones. Really those could be thrown away. Hideous!

Overbuyer

I have a bit of a problem. I am an overbuyer. If I see something that might possibly fit, might possibly go with something I already have, might be good for the kids, or is on clearance, I feel like I need to buy it. What if I got home and discovered that I really needed that item, so went back to get it, and it was gone? I still have regret over a white skirt I left at Target a few months ago, that has now been wiped from their shelves. So all my goodies, that turn out to be duds end up in my closet. Here is what I am returning today.

5 shirts

2 skirts
6 pairs of shoes
3 backpacks
Lots of miscellaneous birthday party supplies
invitations
1 necklace
1 pair of earrings
2 bottles of paint
headphones
And finally, one Transformer that I bought Jackson for his birthday, but he was so overwhelmed with other gifts ,he has forgotten he even received it, so I am taking it back.

The heart of my problem lies in the fact that I am completely indecisive. I think that if I take it home I will have more time to determine if I really like it. But what really happens is that it sits in my closet until I realize that my returning deadline (90 days for Old Navy and Target) is up, and so I finally return them. It's a sickness.

After re-reading this post, it looks like I am a compulsive shopper. But I really am not. I am just a deal seeker. For example, all 6 shoes cost me less than $35.

"Are you an overbuyer?"

Jackson's 5th Birthday

This year Jackson requested a friend party. And since Megan had a friend party from the time she was 3, and Jackson had yet to have one, how could I say no. Given his obsession with HotWheels, I was not surprised when he said he wanted a HotWheels party. We started off his party by painting (that's right painting with 5 year olds) some race cars.

The finished products.

Then we had lunch which consisted of race car shaped sandwiches, and fruit.

Jackson's crew.

Opening of presents.

Followed by cake.

We ended the party with a HotWheels themed treasure hunt, which led us to the take home goodie boxes. The last two clues read, "You have been caught speeding and sent to jail. Go to the place where you sleep behind bars" (Sadie's crib). Followed by, " You broke out of jail, now finish the race. Your car needs a bath, what's the best place" (bathtub).

Jackson spent the afternoon playing with his new toys, including this Spiderman sprinkler.

After dinner Jackson got to open MORE presents! This time from us and other family members.

Opening MarioKart from my mom and Ken. He was so excited. After he finished opening his presents inside we had one more surprise for him.

Doesn't he look cool driving a motorcycle? Much cooler than driving around that Barbie Jeep. I'm sure he feels much more manly now.

I think Jackson had a great day. He received so many wonderful gifts, cards, and phone calls from everyone who loves him. Thank you to you all!

At 5

My little sweet man Jackson turned 5 today.

At 5:

• He is obsessed with anything HotWheels! Cars, games, tracks - you name it, he wants it.
• He still has not shown a dominate hand.
• His favorite color is green.
• He is always hungry! I hear "Mom can I have something to eat" at least 20 times a day.
  
• Lately he has been using the term, "I swear ya." For example, "Mom I swear ya, that soup is hot."
• His eyelashes seem to get longer and longer each year.

• He likes all of his shoes to be too big for him.
• He loves to play on the computer.
• His favorite cartoon is Penguins of Madagascar, followed closely behind by Spongebob.
• When I drive in the car with just him, he talks and talks and talks. However when Megan is in there with us, he barely says a word.
  
• He can count to 150 and probably more than that, but I usually cut him off.

• He loves to play outside.
• Just recently he has become more comfortable in the water and has learned to swim without his life jacket.
• He comes out of his room almost every night pretending that he fell out of bed.
  
• He is a very slow eater.
• He insists that he can't clean his room unless he is listening to music.
• He hasn't yet found a sport that he doesn't enjoy.

• He is a tender-hearted, loving, good-humored boy that we couldn't love more.
  

At One O'Clock

At 1 O'Clock Today:

1. I have three sick children. 2 (Jackson and Sadie) who seem to have the same thing, and seem to hopefully be on the mend, and 1 (Megan) who has a fever, cough, sore throat, and is exhausted. Since Megan is generally not a sleeper, finding her asleep in her bed at one o'clock in the afternoon, makes for an unusual day.

2. I also have a very hot house! Since Megan is sick and has been extremely cold all day, I have had to turn my air conditioning off. For your information 84 degrees, inside, is feeling very hot today. And it keeps getting hotter. It now reads 86 degrees!

3. I captured a little snapshot of my countertop that very accurately describes our morning. Multiple medicine containers, peanut butter and honey (from lunch), and my DIET Dr. Pepper which is disgusting but I am drinking it anyway in my quest to lose weight.

4. At one o'clock I also found this sweet boy putting laundry away, without ever being asked. I am also working on a hotwheels themed birthday party for said boy this week. Luckily his guest list is very, very small, and still very young, so they won't be too critical of my party planning skills.

"Have you been dealing with summer sickness?
What do you keep your house temperature at?
Do you drink Diet drinks?"

Pioneer Days

I really am grateful that we have a huge pioneer days celebration in Nevada, since it was almost my very favorite holiday when we lived in Utah. Some pics, with a little commentary.

The temperature may have been cooler than normal, but the humidity had to have been a lot higher, because we were all sweating like crazy. Poor little Sadie's hair was plastered to her head the entire time.

Luckily Megan and Jackson had ample opportunity to get wet.

Both Megan and Jackson tried the dunk tank. Megan sunk Jackson in 3 throws, while Jackson sunk Megan in 2.

Megan and Jackson both went into this dark maze inside a semi-truck. Apparently they were in there for a really, really long time and some of the parents were starting to get worried. Finally a group of older kids came out and said they had been in there scaring all of the littler kids (oh great!). Then a kid came out with a bloody nose. And then a couple of kids came out crying. Eric was expecting the worse when Megan and Jackson came out, but they finally appeared completely unscathed, and unafraid. I would have been one of the kids who came out crying.

While Eric took all of the kids around, I spent most of my time working the Bake Sale. This picture was taken at end of the night, and I really felt like I had melted.

Girly Belt

This boy of mine is quite "all boy." He was born loving, loving, loving hotwheels cars, sports of all kind, guns, swords, and dirt. Since I have an older girl, he has also been around hoards of girl toys, but has generally abhorred them. However today, he has taken a special interest in something I think is decidedly girly. He discovered this lovely, pink, yellow, and purple belt that I was throwing away. I informed him it was a girls belt. Eric informed him it was a girls belt. Megan informed him it was a girls belt. But Jackson informed us it was not a girls belt, it is a rainbow belt, and therefore good for boys and girls.

By the way, see the yellow part? Jackson says it is not yellow, it is green. On an interesting note today at tennis lessons, Megan and Jackson's coach told Eric that if you ask boys what color a tennis ball is, the overwhelming majority will say green. But if you ask girls what color a tennis ball is, the majority will say yellow. Very, very interesting.

Typical Sunday

At the end of a typical Sunday spent dealing with our 3 typical children and their 3 typical personalities.

I said: "Eric after spending all day with us, do you better understand why sometimes I am not overjoyed when you leave at night to play basketball."

He just smiled.

Today I

Today I:

Seriously have no patience. I just played a game with the kids and thought many times about screaming due to slowness.

Am thinking about how much I hate making lunch. Nothing ever sounds good to me! I think I have had toast 5 out of the last 7 days.

Want to watch T.V. but everything I would choose to watch can't be watched with children. Have I mentioned that they seem to follow me all around the house.

I am considering selling things to Children's Orchard. I am also considering selling things on Craigslist. Does anyone have experience with either of these?

I am also considering buying Lagoon tickets for our upcoming trip to Utah. Has anyone been lately? I have not been in over 15 years.

Oh and, I just discovered I am completely out of diapers. Sadie is currently wearing a swim diaper.

Curly Q

The ringlet in the middle kills me, and is the main catalyst why I cannot in good conscience cut her hair. I adore it too much.

Also the fact that she smiles on demand: IRRESISTIBLE!!!

Megan Said

Megan has slipped on some water and fell earlier in the day.

Megan: "My butt hurts."
Me (teasingly said): "Maybe you broke it."
Megan (with a smile on her face): "Well it does have a crack down the middle."

I have to say I do enjoy having a witty, sarcastic child.

Frugal Friday

Every week I go through all of my store ads and inevitability there are numerous things at numerous stores that I want to purchase. However I have no desire to go to 6 different stores, so I finally decided to try price matching at Wal-Mart. I have to admit that it was a bit of work, that required extra time, and a lot of organization, but compared to driving to 6 different stores, it was worth it. Price matching alone ended up saving me about $30. I used ads from Walgreens, CVS, Smiths, Vons, Albertsons, and Food 4 Less. I also chose to go at a time (9:30 p.m.) and chose to go to a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market instead of a regular Wal-Mart, in hopes that I would annoy fewer people. Luckily it wasn't that busy, but 5 people behind me did end up leaving my line when they saw I was price matching. Well too bad for them. I saved $30 and they didn't. I could have saved more, but I restrained myself to only buy things we actually need. I have a tendency to buy things I don't need, just because they are such a good deal, so I do need that restraining.

Check out the size of my receipt? It almost spans the entire kitchen table. Couponing and price matching creates a huge receipt and a huge mess. My table is still not cleaned up.