Dallin Said- Race Day Filings

Yesterday, I ran my first race since having surgery on my foot this past winter. It felt really good to be back in the saddle, so to speak.

Runner's high.

Running this race was kind of a last minute decision, but since I had been running with my friend Rachel as she trained anyway, I felt like this decision was meant to be. I easily found someone selling their race bib and they happened to actually be in my age division. It was a sign!

Finish line hugs.

I seriously re-thought this meant-to-be scenario when, 2 days before the race, I acquired the stomach bug my children had been passing around since school let out. Luckily, it was a fast and furious 24 hour kind of thing and even though, I was feeling a little pooped (pun-ny), I was able to make it to the bus and down the course finishing with an official time of  2:42:02. Our unofficial time is more around 2:31, due to my running buddy's call of nature and the race organizers lack of porta-pottys at mile #6. Seriously, the wait time for a turn during a race should not be almost 11 minutes!

But, we are happy with our unofficial time considering we only had a month and a half of training with little to no running up to that point. I proved that my foot is back on track and Rachel, who suffers with Chronic West Nile, showed that pesky little mosquito just who is boss.

Happy finishers.

My wonderful friend and neighbor, Carrilyne was running her first full marathon yesterday also, so of course, I had to stay and see her triumphantly across the finish line. With Richard having business in the Philippines, my munchkins were on their own until I got home around 10:30 in the morning.

Me with my marathon hero.

I walked through the front door, carried by the euphoria of a runner's high, expecting an excited chorus of greetings asking me about my race. Instead, I got this-

Dallin: "Clean it up."
Me: "What?"
Dallin: "The cat puked. Clean it up."

(A long, probably too long, stunned pause.)

Me: (in my best angry, but hurt voice) "I love that I come home from just running 13.1 miles and I don't even get a "Hi, Mom. How was your race?" I just get a demand- clean it up."

Dallin: "Soooorrrrry. I'll file that in my brain under things not to say if you ever run another race when the cat pukes."


Please, give me another race to run. It's far easier than dealing with a 9 year old.


*Thank you to Rachel and Kristen, who I shamelessly stole these pictures from off Facebook. Thanks for all of the great captures.

Kid-isms

*The pictures in this post are courtesy of my old laptop and my very first digital camera- which by the way, leaves a lot to be desired, since my good laptop and all recent pictures that have been captured are in the shop. Again.*


Dallin Said...

"I don't like this closet...it's weird. It stares at me."

The Sunday morning before the Primary Program Presentation- "I have my faith filled boxers on, so I'm going to be just fine."

"I don't think it's cold enough to get ammonia yet..."

"My bladder's gettin' ANGRY!"

Boxer Boy?

"Mom, you know what? Cleats are like high heels."

"If Orcs come to the U.S. I'm gonna join the Army with my cross bow and take those suckas out!"

"Mom, we should get an emergency kit in the car."
"That's a good idea, Dallin."
"Yeah, we should put things in it we might need like bottled water, food, deodorant, blankets, flashlights...."

Look at those brown eyed boys loving their new sister who would end up with their same beautiful color of eyes.

Dallin's comment after the large mirror that hung in our living room was broken recently and taken down- "Mom, I miss that mirror because now I can't just sit and look at myself..."

Ben-isms


To Richard while he's handing out foreign money to the kids for their collections after returning from a business trip to the Philippines, with stops in Tokyo & Hong Kong- "Come on! That's only ten cents in Japateens."

"You know what kind of meat is my favorite? That kind of chewy, Chinese meat, that almost chokes me. It is soooo good."

What real happy nappers look like.

"Dad, do you get money for your job?"
"Well, yeah."
"Oh. I thought you just got hotel points."

Ben appears in the kitchen dressed in nothing else but his underwear. With his chest puffed out and his hands planted firmly on each hip he declares- "I'm underwear boy and I feel POWERFUL!"

Ben- "Let me be the baby."

Ben turns to me after about 10 minutes of nice Saturday morning cuddling and says, "I love to cuddle with you, Mom. Especially since you don't seem to mind I keep farting on you."

And one for all of the Parke family who read my blog-
"Dallin's going to be on the weird side of the family....like Uncle Jim."

A joint effort by Dallin & Ben at writing lyrics for a song-
When you're sitting on the john 
and all the paper's gone,
be a man......use your hand. 

Perfection at rest. 

And last of all, how do you know when you use coupons maybe a little too much? When you are driving home from a shopping trip at Wal-Mart where you bought some Halloween decor along with your normal groceries and your 4 year old asks, \
"Mom, did you have a coupon for that Halloween stuff?"
"No."
"Then why did we buy it?!"

A Few More...

Just a couple of Kid-isms that recently happened and one that I forgot in the last batch.


Ben- "I wish I had really long, puffy hair."
Me- Why in the world would you want really long, puffy hair?"
Ben- "Cause then I'd have a built in pillow."

Ben trying out what really long, puffy hair would be like with Richard's travel pillow.

A conversation with Dallin after he listened to me tell a neighbor about a time Ashton got lost and I thought he'd been kidnapped.
Dallin- "I remember when that happened. I must have been really little, but I still remember it."
Me- "Sorry, dude, you weren't born yet. You were still in my tummy."
Dallin- "Well, then I must have been watching through your belly button 'cause I remember it!"



A bit of info you need to know about this next one- I am not a fan of the really tight T-shirt trend. They are all well and fine if you have the figure to wear them, which about 90% of the population do not- including myself. I don't really want to look at my own rolls and bulges and figure that more than likely, no one else does either. So the majority of my shirts are loose and probably unfashionable, but I don't care. The other day I pulled out my flag T-shirt to try on; it's one of the clingier shirts I own, but I was feeling pretty bulge free and thought it was loose enough to get away with .

I thought wrong.... according to Emma.

Emma- (While patting my tummy) "You look like you're going to have a baby!"
Me- "Are you saying I'm fat?"
Emma- "Yep, really, REALLY fat!

I guess I need some more core work and a new flag shirt.

Or perhaps just a new daughter.

 Just kidding...kind of. ;)

Kid-isms

If you are reading this then my gamble was successful. I have been experiencing technical difficulties with my computer that involve weird noises and smoke! Obviously, I have been hesitant to use it, and have been using my e-reader for the majority of my electronic communication. But, as amazing as it is, it can't do everything (or at least very well) so if I successfully post these few kid-isms you'll know that my computer worked without creating a campfire in my lap!

Yeah, I'm still going to have it checked out. Sorry, no smores for you.

Dallin Said...

"We had a substitute in library today, so we went outside and drew pictures with sidewalk chalk. But she wouldn't let us write words- not even Jimmer or BYU, so I just drew a bunny with 2 chainsaws."

"Dad, did they even have cars in Spain when you were on your mission?"

"Mom, I need a picture of myself to put in my room."

Ben-isms

While hiking up the mountain on the trail to the 'Y'- "Why don't they get rid of all these rocks?"

*Singing what he learned in Primary* "Praise to the Man who commuted with Jehovah..."

Emma's Three Sense

"I think Daddy should be the prophet when he grows up....no, no, the ice cream man!"

Emma: "Have you always been a mommy?"
Me: "No. I became a mommy after I grew up and married daddy."
Emma: "And then you moved here and I came to your porch?"
In my head- "Yeah, something like that. Something just like that...

Recitals

As I see it part of a mother's job is to worry. And I am so happy about this job requirement because it is one I have down pat. I am seriously perfect when it comes to worry. So last week when Dallin had his first piano recital and Ashton had his guitar recital I was just fulfilling my role as their mother by worrying about it.

Dallin is shy, easily frustrated, and quick to tear up if that frustration doesn't disappear quickly- all the ingredients for a recipe of disaster when it comes to recitals. Especially first recitals. I knew he knew his piece "Frosty the Snowman," because it is all we have heard for the last 2 months in varying tempos and octaves. But I worried would it come off in front of a room of people, who with the exception of 5 family members and 2 friends, were complete strangers?

Then there was Ashton.  He has taken to practicing in his room clear on the other side of the house from the kitchen and laundry room where I usually reside, so I can't hear him. I really had no idea how his piece was coming along except for 1 or 2 impromptu performances and no "Can you get him to practice more?" calls from his teacher. He said he was good, so what could I do but take his word for it.

And cross my fingers.

Here are their performances.

Turns out I really didn't need to worry that much after all.

Dallin Said...

While talking with Ashton about their future plans, Dallin said, "I think I'm gonna go to clown college....or Yale."

During a discussion about ways people learn second languages Dallin announced, "Well, Dad learned Spanish at the ATM before going on his mission."

While visiting Temple Square to see the Christmas lights a few weeks ago, the boys were asking their Dad what the Assembly Hall was used for. When Richard replied that it was used for recitals and concerts, Dallin excitedly asked, "Like Bon Jovi?"

I tidied up the boys closet and when Dallin discovered what had been done he looked at me with mock disgust and demanded, "What have you done!?"
Then his disgust turned to a smile as he finished with, "You beautiful woman, YOU!"
Then I got a nice hug. I'm thinking he'll make a fantastic husband someday.

Oh....and he also said that he wants YOU to have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Trusty

In our house we have a rule- no eating outside of the kitchen. Out of all of our rules this is the one that is broken the very most...so much that sometimes I wonder why we even have it, but we do. And as with most rules there are exceptions, like when we have movie party or if you are given special permission.  But even special permission privileges can be revoked if your dishes don't make it back to the kitchen. Which they almost never do.

So after a long string of suspending privileges I was skeptical when Dallin asked for special permission to take a piece of his birthday pumpkin pie upstairs to watch Ben reach a new level on some video game. I reminded him of the rules and as I handed him the pie I added this little phrase for good measure, "Now I'm trusting you."

He looked at me and said, "Don't worry, Mom. I'm trust-a-ful."

And it's a good thing that he's so trust-a-ful because he was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church yesterday by his dad.

Congratulations Dallin! Mom and Dad love you and are so proud that you are such a trust-a-ful guy.

We wouldn't want you any other way.

Ready to go in the jumpsuit also worn by his dad, older brother Ashton, and now him.

Dallin Said...

First day of school 2010

"Smell me....if you DARE!"

"Guess what, Mom? I AM the new Tom Sawyer." (I am still wondering what exactly that means?)

"I can have Cookies & Cream AND Vanilla ice cream 'cause I have flat abs.

Said while putting on a robe "Rich people wear these, so I'm rich.... Now where is my allowance?

"There's a policeman! Everyone act nostril!!!"

Dallin- Is that the cheese from Maceys?

Me- Yes.

Dallin- I don't want it. It's Californian. I like Wisconsin. (What 7 yr old cares that much about his cheese?)

Some friends from Canada came to visit us before school started. While hiking to Timpanogos my friend was getting Ben excited about starting Kindergarten by asking his brothers what good things they remembered about Kindergarten. Dallin who is now only in 2nd grade replied somewhat reminiscent, "I remember Kindergarten like it was 2 years ago." 

Dallin Said...

Lately, I cannot believe my 7 year old. It's like he's been possessed... in a good way. Dallin is known for being shy and sweet, but lately we have discovered he also has a humorous and somewhat wild side. He has been making us smile, cracking us up right and left, and at the end of the day it seems like I am always telling Richard, "Guess what Dallin said..." or asking him to remind me about something off-the-wall Dallin said.

There were many more than I have here. I wish I had recorded them all, but I didn't.

I will try to do better.

Without further ado, Welcome to "Dallin Said".

" You better have washed that really good. I don't want a single strain of strawberry DNA on it."

"We need to get another tramp or a swing set with a hot tub on it, because our backyard doesn't have any PI-ZAAAZ!

To Emma while cuddling after just waking up- "Emma, you'll always be my very best friend forever.... at least right now."

To Ashton- "Well you're gonna go bald, 'cause you're from dad's side of the family."

To me during a conversation where he was informed that since I am a woman I grow hair under my arms- just like men- only I shave every day. Don't ask me how we got on that topic because I couldn't tell you, but Dallin said, "You have hair growing in your armpits?!? What... Are you on drugs or something!?! 

Vacation Hang Over

Vacations despite their good intentions, can be hard on you. The travel, lack of schedule, and just plain being out of your normal environment can take its toll on your psyche and physical body. Just ask poor Dallin. 

After spending 11 hours on Saturday crammed in the back seat of our minivan with two brothers, countless souvenirs, and fast food wrappers as we made our way home from sunny/smoggy So Cal, I think the hour drive to visit our Grandpas yesterday pushed him over the edge.

After visiting with Grandma & Grandpa Parke, we made our way to Grandma Jeanne and Pop Marlin's house where Dallin, after complaining of a sick stomach, lost all color in his face and started to turn a ghastly shade of green.  A trusty barf bucket was located and he took up residence on the floor of the upstairs bathroom. Richard checked in on him after a few minutes and this was what he found...

...poor Dallin suffering from a vacation hang over.

Luckily, it was nothing that a little nap on Grandma Jeanne's fluffy mauve bath mats couldn't fix.

Hmmm....Do you think those magic mats could help with the vacation laundry abyss that's awaiting me?

This Interruption Was Brought to You By....

This 2+ week interruption Of a View from the Parke Bench was brought to you courtesy of the last week of school and the first week of summer vacation.

Events worthy of being too busy to post included;

-Benjamin's Pre-School graduation. He was beyond ready to move on from pre-school and is excited to start kindergarten in the fall. I, his mother, am really excited too. I think his pre-school teacher was ecstatic.



Dallin's acting debut in his class play/musical titled the "Three Piggy Opera". He played the part of one of the very nervous and shy straw peddlers.

As you can see he was a complete natural.



-Ashton's class award presentation where he received an award for making it into the "Foot Hall of Fame". To make it into the "Foot Hall of Fame," one must read as many books that are at least 120 pages as your foot is tall. And for a 5th grader whose feet are bigger than his mothers that is quite a feat. No pun intended.


The first week of summer;

-Memorial Day found us up north visiting with family, barbecuing, and sitting around the campfire. We made S'mores and a mess with these gigantic marshmallows that were about 4 times the size of a normal one.
They were awesome. Can you tell?

-Pedicures in the backyard. I did Emma's and she did mine. She gives a new definition to 'Glitter Toes'.

-A new chore system. Like anything new this is taking some getting used to and called for the resurrection of the "Nazi Mom".

(Sorry, no pictures are available because she ain't pretty.)

-Lessons in getting dressed by ourselves. These lesson include, but are not exclusive to the correct appendages in which underwear are applied.

(Note- If you are ever in need of a straight jacket try inserting the offending child's arms into the underwear and wrapping them around the shoulders. It works pretty well. I am considering this trick for all 4 children on our upcoming vacation.)

-Simply enjoying summer with my friends. Four of the best you'll ever meet.

Thank you for your patience. Regular posting, which is usually irregular at its best, will now resume into your regular blog reading which obviously, is already in progress. 

*Sorry about all the camera phone pictures, but I figured bad pictures were better than no pictures at all.

My camera is having issues with its shutter and is currently awaiting surgery at the camera hospital. No need to fret, if by some unfortunate circumstance he does not return, a replacement is already on its way.  

Dreams and Nightmares

Easter morning Ashton woke up after having a dream about owning a turtle with the desire and determination to have one of his own. Last Friday night, that dream came true since he had worked hard for and saved enough money to finally buy this Russian Tortoise.

Her name is Ricky; the short and feminine version of Richard, Ashton's dad. Can you tell my kids idolize their father?

I was not particularly fond of the thought of this purchase, but look at the smile on that boy's face? He even kissed her shell the other day when he took her school. Gross, I know. But how do you say "no" to a love like that? If you're a sucker like me, you don't....and you end up the co-owner of a turtle that will probably outlive you.

And this is where my nightmare begins. 

You can't have 4 kids and have only one of them get a pet. The others let out cries of unfairness and protest favoritism, so your husband takes them to the store and comes home with ...no not another turtle, but 3 goldfish and 2 very creepy arachnid-esqe crabs. I know it is probably just payback from all the birds, lizards, hermit crabs, and turtles that I as a girl tormented my own parents with. But fish? Why did they have to want fish? Really, is there any pet stinkier than fish?


Anyway, our aquatic family members have been dubbed Cocoa, Jason, and Chad (who as of yesterday, is now swimming in the greater waters above. YES! I mean...How sad). Ben's crab is named Anchor and Emma's is "Nice Crab" as she so lovingly calls it.
 

Within the space of 24 hours we went from being a one psychotic cat family to a seven blended pet family.

A horrific nightmare, indeed.

Now I have six five more strange, stinky, slimy, scaly, somewhat freaky, and helpless individuals to help take care of....

Okay, maybe it is do-able.

It's not too much of a stretch from having kids.

Just kidding...I really do love them.

The kids that is.

Kid-isms

I haven't posted a Ben-ism for a while because....I've been accused.
Of being partial.
By my mother.

I tried to explain that I can't help it if Ben is the main child home during the day that speaks in full sentences and does and says the silliest things, but it just doesn't stick in my mother's brain. I need to spread the love around, my mother says. So I have conceded to my mother to include some posts about some things my other 3 kids say.
And the truth... is they do say some funny stuff too.
Thanks mother.


*Emma and I went shopping one day. Our first stop was the Distribution Center to pick up my new scriptures.
As we walked toward the store Emma asked, "What we buy this store?"
"We are getting mommy new scriptures." 
"Get me scriptures too?"
"No. We'll buy you some when you turn 8 and get baptized."
(Really excited) "When I get my Holy Ghost?"

*Emma has taken after me and loves black "lick-lish". Only I call it "licorice".

*Dallin asked me what year it was in Canada.

*One morning as we hurried to get out of the door to school, Ashton asked Dallin, "Do you have lipstick on?" Dallin being embarrassed, hurried to wipe at his mouth as he emphatically declared, "NO!"  I explained to both boys that his lips were just stained from the Popsicle he had for a bedtime snack the night before. Ashton seeming somewhat relieved replied, " 'Cause dude, that's just not your color."  

*A few weeks ago we opened Ashton an e-mail account. The day after when he came home from school and I asked my usual "How was school?" question I was met with this very unusual and unexpected response as he ran upstairs- "I'll e-mail you." 

Spring Marathon: Easter

I don't know why they call it Spring "Break" because at our house it is never a break, it's more like a marathon. We just go and go until school starts again signaling our finish line. 
I have debated about how to record all of this because I want it for future family history and I have family members that keep up with us through blogs, but yet I hate to bore all of my friends with a travelogue. So I've decided to do it in parts and if you are bored all I can say is keep on scrolling... 

 Easter

Checking out their baskets.

Easter for our family was really simple this year. Life simply didn't allow time for anything else.  We didn't color eggs and the Easter baskets were simplified, although the kids still received enough candy to last them until Halloween. We didn't even attend any egg hunts, except for one on Easter morning in Grandma Jeanne's and Pop Marlin's livingroom. This room is not the ideal place for an egg hunt because it really has a lack of nooks & crannies that make great  places to hide plastic candy filled eggs. This made the whole Easter Bunny part of Easter very short, but that left the rest of the day to focus on the real reason we celebrate Easter.

Along with celebrating Christ's atonement and resurrection we did get to watch or hear all sessions of General Conference which led into a funny conversation with Dallin on our way to Goblin Valley that afternoon.

Dallin's finds.

Dallin- I wish Jesus was alive and living on the earth right now.
Mom- That would be cool, huh. But you know he will come again and we never know when, so we want to be trying to do what's right so that we can be counted among the righteous.
Dallin- Ashton makes that really hard.
Mom-  What's that?
Dallin- Trying to be righteous.
Mom- (fearing to ask) How?
Dallin- He does things to annoy me, so then I have to call him bad names.

Ashton & his loot

Those darn older brothers.....they're just gonna keep us from going to heaven because we have to call them  bad names!
You know, I kind of wish we could blame some of the not so good stuff on older brothers. Then when I reach the judgment bar I've got three of them to pawn stuff off on.

Maybe there is hope for me getting into heaven after all.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Ben's new movies

Grandma Jeanne helping Emma find an egg the boys didn't get to first.

Emma happy with her 2 eggs.

Worn out after a successful morning.

Needs

After spending too long at our weekly girls night on Thursday, I came home and darkened the lights, locked the doors, put the cat away, and lay across the foot of my bed exhausted past the point of easy sleep. I inserted my ear buds to drown out the sound of Nick Jr.’s “Oobie,” which would occupy Emma’s attention until she drifted off to dreamland, and dialed up my most recent download on my iPod.

I just caught a snippet of this song on the radio that morning while dropping the boys off at school and it stirred something in me. So I went home and downloaded it, but I hadn’t had the time to really listen to it until I lay down to sleep that night.


As the lyrics swirled around in my head, I thought about;

My 11 year old who couldn’t go to bed until I was safely home. Making it a much later bedtime than a school night should be,

My sweet boy who went to bed with his newly lost tooth stuffed under his pillow counting on the Tooth Fairy to compensate him generously,

The boy, that earlier in the day, I was ready to sell while shopping at Wal-Mart, but who as night falls can’t sleep unless it’s in mom’s bed,

And my baby girl, who lately has a case of the "Me do it myself"-itis, still wants mom’s hand to hold as her eyelids grow heavy, finally, giving those beautiful brown eyes a much needed rest.

But as the song ended, I realized that even though I always tend to think it is me that they need, maybe it is really the other way around.

Kitchen Moments

There are times in my life where I am reminded of how lucky I am to be married to the man I call my husband. Times when I am grateful for his patience while I was a fickle and silly 19 year old girl who was still growing up, and that continued patience as I still have much growing up yet to do. It is during these times when I realize just how much I do love him and why. I call these moments, “kitchen moments”.


They are called kitchen moments because 9.5 times out of 10, that is where they happen. Why the kitchen? Because, as I figure it, the kitchen is where I spend at least 50% of my life. It is where my computer is, my desk and calendar, and of course, the dishes and all those appliances necessary for cooking and preparing food which come in quite handy for sustaining my family’s lives. It is where homework and projects happen; meals, bedtime snacks, and even the morning combing of hair before we dash out the door for school. It is where life happens and hence, also my “kitchen moments”.

One particular kitchen moment happened a few weeks ago on an ordinary night as the boys were finishing homework and I was attempting to clean-up the kitchen, but found myself very distracted by the music coming from my new under cabinet docking station. “Moon River” a great song to waltz to, was playing and I was itching to dance with someone. So I grabbed Dallin and proceeded to drag him around like a rag doll. He finally got some sense of the rhythm along with that I would die if my friends saw me doing this, but I kinda like it look and we danced until I felt like I had adequately humiliated him in front of his older brother and I let him go.

That’s when Richard walked in. I feigned great disappointment that Dallin didn’t really want to dance with me and Richard said, “Start it over and I’ll dance with you.”

My husband does not do things he considers unmanly; dancing is considered one of these things.

But I figured if he’s willing I’m not going to pass it up, so we started to dance.

First, he started off like a snobby aristocrat at some fancy ball so stiff and proper; speaking with a fake English accent while commenting on how waltzing is lovely, or some other flowery word. Next we fell into a more relaxed sloppy sort of waltzing where many toes were crushed; the better part being mine. But this led into a portion where he seemed to be actually trying; being more led than leading we went around in small circles on the vacant piece of laminate floor. And even though, Henry Mancini & His Orchestra were playing a beautiful version of “Moon River” I had the words from another song playing in my head.

You make me shine like the sun

Fall out of bed, sing like a bird

Dizzy in my head, spin like a record

Crazy on a Sunday night

You make me dance like a fool

Forget how to breathe

Shine like gold, buzz like a bee

Just the thought of you can drive me wild

Ohh, you make me smile

Don’t know how I lived without you

Cuz every time I get around you

I see the best of me inside your eyes

You make me smile.

And then like a needle being ripped across the vinyl of an LP, my dreamlike state was rudely interrupted by…

“Do you guys really have to do that in front of us?!”

And

“That’s just wrong!”

And

GROSS!!!

…Spoken by our on looking offspring. And so we stopped. The waltz ended.

But I was reminded once again, how lucky I am that in a world that sometimes seems as though it has been turned upside-down and is filled with doubt and uncertainty I have someone there who, even when he may not want to, is still able to make me smile.

And as for my offspring, my greatest hope for them, besides learning some manners, is that they will be lucky enough in this life to find someone equally worthwhile to have kitchen moments with.

Which I hope will be rudely interrupted.

Santa's Helpers

I know that we are half way through January, but I have tried to send this video of my mother's reaction to her Christmas present to my sister-in-law numerous times and no matter how I try to send it, it will not go. So I am posting it here. Thanks for the indulgence.

As a young girl, when my mom would venture out of the house on various mom duties she would often be visited by "The Good Fairy". The Good Fairy performed all sorts of magical tasks that in our home where my 3 older brothers lived usually centered around organizing and cleaning. You never knew when she would strike; my mother would leave on a grocery shopping trip and return to find that something had been straightened, organized, or just put in a better state than she left it. My mother loved it when The Good Fairy visited.

Well, The Good Fairy has grown up, but she still on occasion, likes to make surprise visits to my parent's home. Growing up also means that she now has connections and accomplices, even ones that live all the way in Idaho. Having connections and accomplices also means that The Good Fairy's magic is greatly enhanced and even more complicated tasks can be accomplished.

Dallin, one of The Good fairy's best accomplices & Santa's helper.

Well, it has been a while since The Good Fairy made an appearance at my parent's home, so it was a big surprise to my mom and dad when she and some of Santa's helpers made a stop one weekend in December, working their magic and leaving them a Christmas gift that would leave them "floored".

The finished product

(I am sorry it is sideways, I didn't want to drop $30 bucks on new software to edit it right now, so if you get a kink in your neck from watching it, send me an IOU for a neck rub.)


The Good Fairy wishes to thank her accomplices in Pocatello who pulled off getting my parents out of the house for the weekend- even with a snowstorm looming- which is a major feat considering my father and his hatred of driving in the snow. Those "magical charms" known as grandchildren work wonders.You guys are the best; we couldn't have done it without you!

A disclaimer to the Parke Family in Denver- The Good Fairy's male accomplices did not, will not, and have not EVER worn tights in the accomplishing of their good deeds.

Toilet paper usage # 17

What do you do when your son asks you to tape toilet paper to his face?

You oblige, of course.

Because it just so happens to complete the outfit.

And it creates super cute copy cats.

Toilet paper and a seven year old's ingenuity- you gotta love it!

Predicting the Future

It seems everyone around me is excited for Christmas. Some of my friends are already listening to Christmas music (which I think is a sin, until after Thanksgiving) and one of my friends in Canada even has her tree up.

I am not there yet folks. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around Christmas this year and it's bugging me.  And then the fact that it's bugging me starts to bug me.

Maybe it's because Thanksgiving isn't even over yet; it is still in fact, a week away, and  my children are on their 2nd or 3rd Christmas lists already.
Or
Maybe it's because all my Christmas money is still tied up in a dedicated savings account waiting for its maturity date. That's got to be it... Shopping would definitely make me feel better...
Or
Maybe, it's because I have a cold; my head is foggy and my teeth even hurt, plus being snotty always makes me a little snotty.
Or
Maybe, it's because my hubby's supposed vacation time next week has gotten eaten up by a business trip, yet again...
Or
Maybe, it's because I am stressing over being asked to substitute and teach Relief Society this Sunday.  I haven't been in RS for how many years, let alone ever taught it, so I really hope the ladies in my ward like to play concentration and color pretty pictures to take home because that is the type of teaching I'm used to.

But there is one thing I am enjoying about the upcoming Christmas season; something a mother can never use to early in the year, but works particularly well with Christmas only a month a way- the phrase "Santa's elves are watching."
Even the most whiny, disobedient, and unruly child feels the power of that phrase- especially mine.  Call me evil, I don't care. A mom has to do, what a mom has to do, to get things done and the phrase is it.

So I unveiled the phrase the other day when I could no longer stand looking at the playroom that looked more like a war zone; complete with overturned furniture and all. Dallin and Ben were given their orders- clean the playroom and remember...Santa's elves are watching. They worked, but I didn't get up there to check it out until yesterday and I found it still needed a lot of work.

Dallin stayed home from school since he threw up during the night in his sleep...first off, before I go on, someone please tell me how that is possible?  How can you sleep through vomiting? Anyway, since he was feeling well enough to play soccer in my kitchen, I figured he was well enough to clean. So I herded them up to the playroom along with all of the phrases:

"It won't take that long."

"You'll feel so good once it's done."

 "Daddy will be so surprised to see it clean when he gets home."

 And of course,

"And remember, Santa's elves are watching."

I opened the toy room closet and found this from the previous cleaning attempt...

If Santa's elves are watching, I predict coal in two boy's futures.

Halloween Heroes

Each year as my children carefully choose their Halloween costumes, I notice if they don't choose to dress up as some kind of monster or ghoul,  they choose to dress up as someone they look up to; a hero of sorts. Usually, it is someone who displays extraordinary skills, has super powers, or just gets to accessorize with some neat contraption or accessory. But above all else they have to be cool.

In years past, we have had everything from superheroes such as Batman & Superman, to our everyday heroes like firefighters and policemen.  This year was no different.  All 3 of my boys chose a specific hero to emulate.

Dallin chose to be a BYU football player (surprise, surprise).  Sometimes, I feel like we give too much glory, and definitely too much money, to athletes, especially professional ones. I do however realize that there is a lot of hard work and determination that goes into perfecting skills to be good enough to play on college and professional levels and those values are something I don't mind him admiring.

Ben chose to be a freedom defending army guy and a cute one at that. Unselfishly defending our country and getting to carry a really awesome walkie talkie and gun; definitely hero-ish.

(Making his toughest army man face.)

From the day we first began talking about costumes for this year Ashton, knew who he wanted to be. He wanted to be a superhero of different a kind this year...

... his school teacher, Mr. Z.

And he wasn't the only one...

(The Z Squad)

...two other boys in the class did the same.

Of course, in this picture it was Halloween and even heroes like to dress up, so Mr. Z was pretending to be Wolverine, but on regular school days this superhero dons his suit of slacks, dress shirt, and tie and sports his extra cool accessory-spiky hair. And between the combination of suit and hair he unleashes his superpowers on unsuspecting 5th graders actually making school a great place they want to be, inspiring them to work harder, and simply to be better.

We could certainly use more superheroes like that.