Freedom of Speech . . . Is Over-Rated

Sunday was a bad day for Jackson.

In sacrament meeting he "crapped his pants," then he got upset with Jayden so he spit on him.

Of course I couldn't stand for that so I pulled him out of the meeting and placed him in a "dark room" (aka the handicap bathroom). I usually put him in there and hold the door closed until his "time out" is complete and he is ready to behave.

This time it back fired on me.

Big time.

Jackson was trying hard to get out and with the lights out in the bathroom, he didn't know how to get out. He groped for the door handle but accidentally pushed in the lock.

Fantastic, I thought as he continued screaming inside.

In a state of panic, I rushed to the kitchen to find a knife or something I could pick the lock with . . . hoping that no one would walk by in the mean time and think I was a horrible mother.

Fortunately, by the time I came back, Jackson had figured out how to unlock the door in the dark and was coming out . . . ready to behave.

In primary, he was very upset with me because I had taken his bear away and put him in the "dark room." He was also very restless and since the child who was scheduled to give a mini speech was absent, I thought Jackson would love to fill in . . . and focus his energy on something positive.

The topic was on "Love in Families."

Always one to encourage my children to think for themselves and express their thoughts, I fed Jackson the beginning of a line and let him finish it.

(Me) "I love my family. I especially love my . . . "

(Jackson) "Dad. And Jayden. And Avery. But not you mom. I don't love you. Only Dad, Jayden, Avery, and Guillermo."

Lesson learned. If I ever decide to give a child the opportunity to speak in front of people, I should probably tell them what to say.

Or just not let them have the floor if the day has been questionable in any way.

Roller Coaster Love Affair

Can you remember back to your dating days and how there would be one boyfriend/girlfriend who you knew was just not right for you but kept coming back?

And for what ever reason, (whether it was the familiarity, the 'feelings', their attractiveness and charm) you just kept taking them back and going through the whole cycle over and over again?

Maybe it's just me . . . but I'm sure you get the picture.

That's how it has been for us and this house.

We first fell in love last October. We were impressed right away, but didn't want to commit just yet. We wanted to play the field a bit.

Then Christmas came and we realized that there weren't any other potential suiters out there who could measure up. We wanted to get serious, but figured we'd wait until after the holidays.

Then came the shock of being stabbed in the heart . . . someone else had beat us to the punch. And our lives were over.

It took some time, but our hearts healed a bit and we tried to be optimistic about the spring and new houses that could easily fill the void.

Then, on my birthday I thought I would check mls, you know, for kicks.

And there it was. "Our" house. Again. For sale.

I called up our realtor to find out the story. Apparently it was slated to close on March 1 but failed to. The buyers were given to March 17th to come up with financing, but until it was final, it would go back on the market.

And it was sitting empty. While the sellers were already moved into and paying for their new place.

How can anyone dream of such a perfect position to be in as a buyer??

We checked on it almost daily. Some days it was up online, others it was gone. Finished, sold. Again.

And then it would be back up again.

We waited until the 15th to go see it. It was still pretty fantastic.

The 17th came and our realtor found out that the buyers had indeed bought it.

And on the 18th it was officially on the market.

That weekend we made an offer.

I somehow thought buying a house would be much more fun than that. I will have to say that it was good that we went through the "encyclopedia-like" thickness of paperwork when we leased our current place to prepare us for this. And our realtor made the offer much less painless than our white-knuckled, pale-faced bodies were preparing for.

We offered low (hello, have you turned on the TV lately?), and they responded by dropping only $2000. A little insulting, since we thought we were being fair given the market and location of the house. They asked us to offer our highest figure . . . which coincidentally was just about the same figure we began with .

As the clock ticked, we knew we were going to be rejected. It just wasn't meant to be. We began preparing ourselves by thinking of other options.

The deadline came and passed. We heard not a word from the sellers.

So, to avoid certain heart break, we moved on, telling ourselves that it wasn't good enough for us. That other options were far better suited to us. And that we were actually relieved that it fell through.

I spent three days calculating finances for 3 different houses, both for the short term and long term savings.

And when I found another place that seemed to make the most sense financially and space-wise, I even began moving our furniture in. Seriously. I made a to-scale model of the floor plan complete with scale models of our furniture.

(Yes, this is a little crazy, especially for a house we haven't even bought, but 1) we have crazy huge furniture: baby grand, large sectional, king bed, and MASSIVE dining table measuring 122" without including space for chairs and room to sit in the chairs, and 2) I was emotionally so spent with house hunting I just wanted to get it over and done with and just pick a place and not have to worry about anything not fitting.)

And then I had to convince Brad that he shouldn't just blow off house buying again for another year, but that this house I had picked would be great for us.

We had a decision. And we would never look back.

And then the phone rang.

Apparently, the sellers for the "near dream house" all of a sudden have reconsidered our offer if we could move in right away.

Oh, you were planning to keep the later closing for that price? Maybe we could lower our price to get you in sooner.

And even though through all of this we seemed to have realized that while the house is amazing, it just may not be perfect for us right now, our heart strings are being tugged. Whether it is the care that was taken to oversee every single impressive detail in the house, the open spaces surrounding the house, or the way the 10 ft ceilings and spectacular kitchen and master bath made us feel like royalty but comfortably at home . . . it's come back to haunt us.

Breaking up is so very hard to do. Especially when you can't be guaranteed to find a better replacement.

Bedtime Stories

Most children like to have books read to them before bed. They usually involve fairy tales, the latest Pixar animated characters, or at the very least are non-fiction books about animals, cars, or whatever aimed at a child's understanding and vocabulary.

Not Jayden.

He asks, no BEGS and PLEADS for me to read four vehicle profiles from his newest "Consumer Reports Cars" magazine.

Instead of reading, "Once upon a time there was a . . . " we read,

"Hummer H2: Based on the previous-generation Chevrolet Tahoe, the H2's V8 grew to 6.2 liters and produces 393 hp, and is mated to a six-speed automatic. Standard ESC and some interior imporvements, as well as a better third row seat, are also new. Fuel economy was only 11 mpg overall in our tests. . . . "

You can easily believe that when we went out as a family to the local automall the other day to "car shop" we had one very excited boy.

In fact, as he reviewed the brochures he picked up from Honda, he made special mention that we really needed to purchase a Honda Pilot because you could "wash it." (Referring to a photo in the brochure that had a family out "washing" their car together.)

Clearly our cars aren't washable. That is definitely the reason I haven't washed them.

Clearly.

Is That The Jail, Mom??

I took Jackson and Avery to the police station today.

I thought it would be a great field trip and that Jackson for sure would love to see all the police men working, and maybe even a cop car. I even brought my point-and-shoot to take the precious photos of Jackson smiling beside a police man, even posing in the driver's seat of a cruiser.

Naturally, I would be voted "Mom of the Year" for thinking of such a creative way to spend a morning.

(It most certainly wouldn't have been because I might have maybe been forced to go to the police station within 7 days because I was pulled over--kids in their car seats--because I 'forgot' to renew my registration--in spite of Brad's constant reminders to go renew. No, absolutely not. I was a creative and fun mom.)

But, for some reason I kind of froze up going into the station.

Maybe it was the notice and the entrance that I would be under surveillance and subject to questions and inspection just by walking in.

Or, the embarassment of being pulled into a police station with criminals and other good people who were fighting traffic tickets (that clearly was not their fault).

It could also have been the way Jackson asked, in his regular volume (which is louder than most people shout),

"Mom, are you going to jail? Is the police man going to put you in jail? I want to see it. Where is the jail? Is it behind there?"

"Mom, is the police man going to take you away?"

All of a sudden, all my hopes of making this a fun, educational trip went out the window and I just wanted to show my receit and leave as soon as I could.

I handed over my ticket and receit to the officer just before I melted into a puddle of embarassment on the floor.

A Little TOO Hydrophillic

Once upon a time there was a little girl who was deathly afraid of the water.

Oh, how she would scream like someone were ripping her organs out or subjecting her to a solution of 90% Hydrochloric Acid. (Can you tell the author of this post might have had a little bit of chemistry in college?)

But this little kitten soon grew to tolerate water. In fact, after much prodding and patience (kind of) by her parents, she grew to LOVE water. It was fun to splash her brother in the tub. Especially when he kept telling her not to.

It was fun to play with all those bath toys.

And, it was even fun to get her hair washed and feel the water trickle down her head and onto her back.

She loved this part so much she would hand her mom the wash cloth and beg to do it over and over again.

But, what do you do when it isn't bath time and the desire to feel water trickling down your head and back comes to haunt you?

Well, apparently the natural answer is to grab a dirty wash cloth from the laundry basket and soak it with water from the toilet.

I don't think I need to say more.

(Except for maybe that our "Keep the bathroom doors closed at all times" policy has been put into strict use.)

Biting You in the Butt. Literally.

A few weeks ago we were all traveling in the van. Brad recounted, to me, a commercial he had seen from Saturday Night Live.

It was about an elderly woman who didn't want to play tennis with her grand daughter for fear that her bowel incontinence would strike. Her husband lovingly told her about "Oops, I Crapped My Pants" new adult diaper product.

It brought a chuckle to me, and Brad laughed hysterically talking about it. He couldn't drop it, even though I reminded him that other ears were listening and it would come out at the wrong moment at a later date.

Of course, Brad assured me that it wouldn't and he told the boys not to repeat it.

Flash to church yesterday. I was in the mother's lounge with Avery while the Sacrament was being passed. (Read: absolute quiet in the chapel.) Jackson let out a small, um, fart.

Instead of pretending it didn't happen, or softly saying, "Excuse me," he said, at the very top of his lungs, "Oops Dad, I crapped my pants."

Brad was mortified.

I hope a lesson was learned.

The Happiest Place on Earth

From the moment you drive up to the parking booths, to the second you get off the parking tram to find your car, you are reminded to "Have a magical day!"

And it was indeed, magical.

And happy. One might even say that it was "The Happiest Place on Earth."

(At least up until about 3 pm when kids were ready for naps and parents were beginning to get exhausted and stressed that their kids were no longer sitting still, waiting for the parade.)

Here are our Top Ten Magical Moments:

1. I got in for FREE. Magical.

2. Instead of turning the big 3-0, I became 21.

3. The boys met their heros. Jayden met Peter Pan, and Jackson got to talk to Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. (They were in heaven, seriously. Their lives were pretty complete after we b-lined to Adventure Land.)

4. If meeting the "Great Pirate" wasn't good enough, Jackson got to meet Captain Jack Sparrow and take an oath to be one of his pirate men.

(I must say that who ever was playing Jack Sparrow was absolutely amazing. He looked identicle to Mr. Depp and had the exact manerisms as Jack did in the movie. To make it even more amazing, his "on the spot" wit was astoundingly similar to the scritped wit that Sparrow had in the movie. When he told all the kids to leave him and go back to their families, everyone scattered . . . except Jackson. Captain Sparrow commented, "I said you could go back to your families. Now go! If you don't like yours, go find another one!" Fortunately, Jackson didn't go off with another family.)

Avery had a blast on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride . . . however, when we went on the "Flight of Peter Pan" later on in the day, she was terrified. (I think mostly of the crocodile . . . or maybe it was because she was up in the air??)

5. Mickey's Phillarmagic was one of the favourite attractions of the day. The boys jumped out of their seats several times to try to catch Donald and other characters who were flying out of the movie screen.

6. The jungle boat cruise was awesome. Really, it was. I think mostly because our guide was so good. Sure, he had corny jokes, but he carried them off with flair. His name was Jason (if you enjoyed the ride) or Stacey (if you didn't).

7. We didn't lose Jackson. Well, at least not for good.

8. "It's a Small World" was a hit. I was really surprised. Honestly, I didn't think such an old ride could be so great, especially since we had to stand in line for 15 mintues for it. But Brad and I thoroughly enjoyed it and the kids all loved it!

Another old school ride was "Dumbo" and it was much more popular with the boys than with me. (I really didn't see the reason to be standing in line for 30 minutes just to ride Dumbo . . . but since the boys have really gotten into watching the movie now and Avery picked out a Dumbo toy . . . I guess there is something I'm missing.)

9. The "Spectral Light Parade" was a hit for Avery. (The boys were stuck on a train riding around the park while we were squeezing in some last minute Disney Princess purchases when we caught the parade.) She loved all the lights and would practice her "royal wave" to those passing by.

(Obviously these aren't from the spectral light parade . . . I was too busy holding Avery and her recent purchases to grab my camera. This is the "Celebrate Melanie's Birthday Parade" from 3 pm.)

10. The fireworks were amazing. (And such a nice touch for Disney to have done that for my birthday.)

Jayden watching the fireworks show. I did have one picture with fireworks, but there were people standing infront of us (and we were the closest anyone could get to the rope barrier) who ruined the picture.

11. (I can add in an extra one, it's my list!) The boys were so tuckered out that night that they barely hobbled into the hotel room before they crashed on the floor. They didn't even bat an eye when we moved them into their bed. Now that is total magic and worth the $80 ticket price for each of them!

It was a great day. We hit the Magic Kingdom hard, from 9 am until 9 pm at night. We went on virtually every ride possible that our kids could go on.

We left the park with ample Buzz Lightyear trinkets, a few plush Disney babies, a Mickey/Minnie balloon and lots of Disney candy.

Story time with Belle. Avery didn't care much for this one so we walked around outside of the garden. It looked like a fun time though as Belle got audience members dressed up as part of the "Beauty and the Beast" story.

We took the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom instead of the monorail. It was a great way to enter the park.

Yesterday

Yesterday we were basking in the warm sunshine of Celebration, FL. Every one was moving at a slow, lazy pace. There was no need to rush, or worry. No need to panic about what I was making for dinner, or to stress about how much dirt has entered my house. There weren't any set time frames for taking one child here or another there . . . Just bliss and relaxation.

It was only yesterday.

And yet it seems so very, very far away.

Today we hit the pavement running. Seminary in the morning for Brad, mountains and mountains of laundry for me. Oh, and we had some wonderful surprises in our fridge too! (Seems the brie was battling the other foods out for space in the fridge.) Groceries needed to be bought and stored, hungry tummies needed nourishment, and dirt and clutter kept trying to push me out of my house!

Add all of that to tired, whining, screaming children and you have one mom who is begging to go back to her vacation.

Keep checking back . . . vacation posts and photos will be coming. I have posts started for them all, but they are further down than this post.

Things You Shouldn't Do

after a 6 day cruise with amazing food (all available 24/7) and after shelling out obscene amounts of money at Disney World.



1. Check your bank account statement. (Darn that magical place for making me NEED all those Disney toys for my kids and 6 different Disney Character frames that will never go with any decor!)



2. Step on a scale. We'll be waiting for a month . . . and about 200 000 miles of running before we do anything like that!

Worms

“Mom, what do you think my friends will say when I tell them I have worms again?” Brad and I did everything to stifle the laughter that was dying to burst out to this very serious question.

Could you just imagine what people would think if they heard Jackson asking them this out of context?

About 20 minutes before, we were discussing with Jackson about how he couldn’t eat his gummy worms until he got home because all of his friends would eat them all.

He spent about 20 minutes describing to us how he would prevent his precious worms from being devoured by anyone but him.

(Brad) “You friends will say, ‘Oh Jackson, those worms look so tasty. Can’t I have just one?’”

(Jackson) “Sure, but just one.”

(Brad) “But then they will look at your bag full of worms and say, ‘Oh Jackson, that was so delicious. And you have so many in your bag. Could I have just one more?’”

(Jackson) “Oh, all right. Just one more.”

(Brad) “Then your friends will look and see that you have more still and say, ‘Oh Jackson, you still have so many. Surely you can let me eat just one more!’”

(Jackson) “All right, but that’s it. No more!”

(Brad) “Then you will have just one more left and your friends will say, ‘Jackson, can’t you just share that last gummy worm with me? We can cut it in half.’”

(Jackson) “I would say, ‘No!’ and punch them in the face.”

(Brad) “No, we don’t punch people in the face.”

(Jackson) “Then how else do I get my gummy worms back?”

Apparently, we are teaching our children wrong.

A Dino-mite Time in Downtown Disney

The first evening we got in to Orlando, we went to check out Downtown Disney.

Wow! What a place. You could just forget about the ticket price at one of the amusement parks and just go hang out at this place for free. (Or, nearly free. It really depends on how accessible your cash is because there are plenty of things to spend it on.)

One such place was the T-Rex Cafe.

Let me just say that it was INCREDIBLE. Think Rainforest Cafe but with Dinosaurs. It was so neat. The menu was fun (we ordered Dino eggs--aka breaded hotdog pieces--among other things), there was always a lot of interesting dinos to look at (or keep Jackson scared long enough to enjoy a peaceful dinner), and then every 10 minutes or so, there would be a meteor shower and the dinos would all come alive at the same time.

The food was on the pricier side of "bar and grill," but it was well worth the money considering the cool ambience and it was even high quality food.

Instead of "friendly" pigeons watching for crumbs to fall from our plates, we had a hungry teradactil

The had a spot at the entrance to do digging in sand for dino bones, and had a fully stocked gift store with everything dino.

As if that wasn't enough to empty your wallet, they had a "Build-A-Dino." Now, just what is a parent to do after enjoying a fabulous meal in a cool place when their child(ren) want to take some of that magic home via building a stuffed dinosaur??

(Maybe, just maybe, the parents thought it was pretty cool and couldn't resist helping their child make a toy. Or three.)

Both the boys wanted to make a dino, so naturally we had to make one for Avery too. They had a pink Apotosaurus, it was a natural fit. Jayden chose a velocoraptor and Jackson some kind of heavily armoured dino.

First we picked out our dino bodies, then chose a heart (or ten) to put in it.

We warmed the heart(s) up and gave it lots of kisses. Put it in our new friend.Next we stuffed our dinos with some help.

And then gave them a test-squeeze to make sure they were soft enough.It was then time to stitch our friends up.

Everyone needs a bath! Our dinos were no exception.
And, since we felt we had spent enough money on this trip, we declined the dino wardrobing and just went off to register our friends. Jayden named his "Velnek", Jackson named his "Bumper Head", and Avery named hers "D."

We weren't quite sure if Avery really cared to do anything other than take hearts and put them in her dino, but at the end of our time there she seemed very possessive of her pink dino. She refused to let go of the box (which was adorable--two holes on the front and back for the head and tail to stick out), even though it was the size of her little body.

Ever since she has slept with "D", tightly clutched in her arms.

If you are ever in Orlando, we definitely recommend this place as a must see.

Just be prepared to spend a fortune on stuffed dinosaurs.

Celebrating 21

Turning the “Big 3-0” didn’t bother me much. In the weeks leading up to the big day, it seemed as though 30 was more of a number than anything.

I certainly didn’t feel 30, or look it (thank goodness—it might have been harder to move up one more year in life if I looked 35 or more!) so it wasn’t a big deal.

Brad kept trying to make it more of a deal than I felt it was. Comments such as, “Soon you will be known as a ‘Cougar,’ dating a man in a younger decade than you.” “How does it feel to know you will be 30 and married to a young, hot guy?”

They might have held some weight if he a) weren’t so closely following my big day with his (in two months), b) looked younger than I did (on the cruise someone thought he had been around in 1964).

But being on the Celebrity Cruise Ship for a week where we were probably the next youngest to our own children, I started to feel old. Like a 38 year old mom.

How could that be?

Fortunately, I didn’t celebrate the big day on the ship. We made it to Disney World for that and it certainly maintained its reputation for a “magical” place.

The day started in true Disney Princess form: breakfast in bed of chocolate cake and strawberries, with a big Disney Princess bag of surprises including Princess plates and napkins. Somehow bumble bee (the transformer) made it onto my card. Flowers, a Disney shirt and frame rounded out the gifts.

Then it was on to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day.From the moment I put on the button that gave me “free” access to all the attractions, I became “21.”Every employee greeted me with warmest wishes for my “21st” birthday. (And yes, perhaps it was a little uncomfortable knowing that I really was old enough to need to use the “21st birthday” line, but for some reason, I didn’t really mind.)

Disney World itself did not disappoint. I will admit, at first when we dreamed up this whole vacation, I thought I would take one for the team and spend my birthday at Disney World so I could gain free admission and the kids could go enjoy themselves for a fraction of the price. But I quickly got caught up in the magic of the whole place and thoroughly enjoyed myself.The worst was the gift shops. How I could have ever felt that I “needed” Mickey and Minnie salt and pepper shakers, or oven mitts, I will never know. (Thank goodness I was able to restrain myself.)

But the rides quickly won me over too. We went on “It’s a Small World” to reminisce about our childhood trips to Disney World. Admittedly, I thought it was going to be lame. (How could something so old be cool?) But it was actually really fun! And it turned out to be one of the highlights for the kids too.

The characters themselves went out of their way to share my day with me. (If the button I was wearing didn’t clue them into my birthday, I’m sure the hat helped.)

Disney was gracious enough to arrange for not one, but TWO parades to help celebrate my day . . . and then they outdid themselves with a spectacular fireworks show . . . just for me.

Wow.

Afterwards, Brad and I got some Macaroni Grill to go (yum!) with caramel fudge pecan cheesecake and lemon tres leches cake for dessert. The best part? The boys were so wiped out from the day that we ate in peace. (Well, sort of. Someone was wide awake and really loving my chicken parm.)