Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Some things just don't make sense. And sometimes that's pretty funny.

True story...

I was at Menards a couple of weeks ago. As I walked down the aisle where the cash registers are, I saw a little boy (maybe 6 years old) pulling on something that seemed to be connected to the shelving, it looked like a pipe.

He was really tugging and pulling to loosen whatever it was. I was about 5 registers away when he finally pulled it loose and he was pretty surprised. And I finally figured out what it was. One of the railings on the endcap. That was supposed to not probably come out. It was about 5 feet long (longer than this boy was tall) and it was shaped like an "L".

He looked up to see me walking toward him and gives me this guilty face, an "oh boy am I in trouble now" look, as he was holding this railing in front of him with both hands. I kept a straight face and when I was about 6 feet away, I shrugged and gave him an oops look. He shrugged with the same look back. As I passed him I said, "Well, these things happen". (I do not know WHY that's the ONE THING that popped into my head as logical to say in that situation.) He shrugged again and smiled a little.

Once I was about 6 feet away I looked back to see what he was doing and saw him just standing there, holding this long railing, trying to figure out what to do with it. Then as I watched, he dropped it to the floor, looked around to see if anyone heard the noise as it hit, then walked away... quickly.

It's still making me laugh even weeks later.

Some happenings I posted on Facebook...

I moved a small bench with shelves from the living room to the boy's room. I guess Katie wanted a change for her room too. She told me that she wants me to "move the objects in her room around so it looks different."

Jackson is so precious. I was singing the song that repeats God made me and God loves me and substituting Jack's name for the word me. I heard him singing the words right after me... Substituting my name. He was singing "God loves mommy" and "God made mommy". It was so sweet.

Leaving urgent care with Katie and I was pushing the button to open the van door but it wasn't working. So I did it a few (or like 10) times and it STILL wasn't working. I was getting frustrated when Katie says, "Mom? Isn't THAT our car?" And points to the car BEHIND the one I was trying to open by yanking on the handle. Once I looked up, I saw that ours was about 3 feet off center from the one I *thought* was ours. This brings back memories of my mom trying to teach me how to drive a stick shift in the parking lot of the church near our house. Apparently we seemed like a threat to the older ladies inside of the church who were watching me drive back and forth, stalling and jolting, around the lot. Enough of a threat that they called the police. Yes, they called the POLICE. Which was a little embarrassing at the time, but funny now. (I still can't drive a stick shift.)

I was telling Katie something about the history of the U.S. flag and she cut me off saying, "Do you have my teacher's phone number?" Like MY guess wasn't good enough. So I told her we would google it when we get home.

(On a side note, does having children make *everyone* feel like a big dork sometimes? Or is it just me.)

Jacob is saying "Hello Oklahoma." Which would be great... if we weren't in Austin. Texas. (We were driving home from a family vacation to Texas with my parents and me and the kids. We were about 5 hours into the drive... with about 30 hours left to go. Thank you for the reminder of how far we had yet to go Jacob.)

On our trip to South Padre, Jacob got one of those water canons (the kind where you draw back the handle and suck water into it, then push the handle to force the water out). He started out by spraying our family; my aunt and uncle, cousins, his sister and little brother, grandpa, grandma. That was a little naughty. But then, THEN he started to spray other people who were not related to us. Like the two older women who were standing in the water up to their knees in shorts and t-shirts just having a nice chat. Or the little, little girl playing near us. And a number of other innocent bystanders. It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't laughed like a villian EVERY TIME he did it (a hearty HEH HEH HEHHHHH laugh), RIGHT in front of the now wet, not thrilled children and adults he had just hosed down with water (salt water too, yuck). It was terrible. But funny. No, terrible... No, funny. Yep, it was funny. Mostly because *I* was safely sitting on the beach.

Katie lost her THIRD tooth today while she was eating a piece of hard candy!! I asked if she wanted to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy and she told me she knew the tooth fairy wasn't real. She was suddenly a believer after hearing that kids who don't believe in the tooth fairy don't get money from the tooth fairy!

And finally, just for fun, here's one of the (surprisingly many) pics I've taken in the car (while stopped at a red light, or parked!). My head looks abnormally large here, but I promise you it's perfectly normal. Jacob or Katie are usually making some odd face in almost every car picture if I give them advance notice that I'm taking it. If I go stealth (or if I provide treats), I can sometimes get a sweet picture of the two of them talking quietly or just gazing out the window. I'm not often stealthy enough. And my treat budget is limited.
 Photo: At a red light.

Well, that's enough for now. Hey! I'll have to post about our trip to Texas soon. It was so much fun! Mostly the actual *being in* Texas. Not so much the getting there and home part. But that is definately another post.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

The beat goes on.

My last post was a little... negative. All about stuff that was going wrong at the time. It's amazing how a little time (and tax money) can change things.

Like...
I was down to one car. Out of the blue my mom tells me that one of her friends posted on Facebook that she wanted to sell hers. And its... a minivan. A MINIVAN! Hmmm. Room for my three kids, groceries, kids friends, kids stuff, kids seats NOT right next to each other? SIGN ME UP! I heard about it on Monday, went to look at it on Tuesday, drove it home that night. The color wouldn't have been my first choice, it's gold, but it's beautiful.

Like...
The kitchen chairs are sadly damaged. The table is wobbly. Those things (at least ones that can stand up to three small-ish children) aren't cheap. Someone at work advertised that they were selling their table. A round, oak table. With FIVE chairs. At a hugely reasonable price. Bought it. Love it!

Like...
Getting bad news from the fridge repair guy that my fridge was on its last legs. There is a part that they can no longer find. Sad news because the fridge is awesome. (Water and ice dispenser = awesome in my book.) Found a NEW one just as nice as the old one for about $500 less than I expected to pay.

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My cousin offered me one of those outdoor block things for kids to play on. For free! She came with her little girl and husband to deliver it. The kids played while her husband put it together.

Like...
The air conditioning finally went out (bummer, right?). Bad news on top of everything else. Service Plus came out the day after I called to give me an estimate. It's a lot. BUT, I can pay a small amount each month to pay it off.

Like...
The kids have been doing well... aside from Jacob's scares with pink eye (yes, scares plural) and Katie's ear infection. Jackson... well, he's fine so far aside from the normal bumps and bruises that come from just being 2 years old.

There are some things in my personal life that are a little tough right now so when I need something to be thankful for I just remember that I have three sweet (mostly!) and totally wonderful kids (always), a supportive family, and great friends.

And remembering all of this awesomely good stuff that has happened in the last 5 months doesn't hurt either.