Publicity

The blog is public again so you shouldn't have to sign in to view it. We decided to change it since Jason is now home and we won't be endangering anyone's mission or safety with our possible posts. More about Jason's homecoming later. For now, I am just enjoying the time with my family.

First Day of Kindergarten

Brendan is in a K-1 class at Honeycutt Elementary. At this school they stagger the entry date for Kindergarteners so that only half the class arrives one day and the other half on the second day. Then, next week, they all meet together. Its nice because that way the 8 or so kids that arrive in a day have a better chance to get acclimated. Brendan's first day was today, though its really the second day of school. We parked and walked him in to his class though he will walk in on his own from here on out. He was very excited and I had to ask him to say "Goodbye" to me since he was so preoccupied. My impression of his teacher is that she is firm but fair. I hope she turns out to be a bit more cuddly because he needs that, but I am very pleased with the firmness part. He will do well with her, I think.
The beginning of the day felt normal as he has been in some sort of half-day program for a while now. But it felt really odd not to have him at lunch with us, or at quiet time. It will definitely take some getting used to.
When I picked him up from school he had a sad look on his face. The first thing he said was, "Its a bad day." I thought, "Oh no!!" But then he continued, "The rain is ruining my day. Kindergarten was fun!" Phew! I'm so glad it was just the rain that was making him cranky.
He filled me in on details at home. He thinks his teacher, Mrs. Norris, is pretty. He made a new friend with a boy wearing a Cookie Monster shirt. His frog stayed on blue (behavior chart) and his lunch was great (yay Mom!). I know his teacher is already working her magic because he came home with a picture in which he used more than 2 colors (he's not very into art) with the title "Aline and the astrnaut" and "written by Brendan" on the back. This is significant since he is reticent to write because his letters aren't "pretty". I think a little was lost in the teacher/student spelling help but I'm impressed with the effort. The only bummer was that he left his water bottle at school. Oh well, I expected something like that.
It is very different being on this side of the first day of school. I have been through many myself as a teacher so I know how stressful they can be, but as a parent, my hopes for it lie in different areas. I am grateful that his first day was fabulous and that he's looking forward to Monday.

A cool backpack with a super cool Darth Vader lunchbox inside. :)

Potty shot

I did not stage this. It was all Darby's doing. She brought the potty out. I looked over to see this - in the living room, diaper on, book in hand. "Cheese!"




Keep in mind that I have not even begun to potty train this one yet. Maybe I can catch a break.

Bay-bee!

Darby has a few great loves in her life right now. She loves books, baths, her siblings and baby dolls. She has a few in particular that she loves. The small princess doll takes the cake since she won't sleep without it. I wanted to buy a duplicate so that if we lost it we'd have a backup. Well, I didn't pay attention to sizes and ordered one that ended up being MUCH bigger. So now she has 2 babies that she must sleep with. Oh well. I am hoping this baby obsession will transfer over to her younger sibling come this winter.

PG 13 Reticence Explained

Jason here. I love reading that story of our first date! The part that gets me is the PG 13 thing... I didn't intend for things to be taken like they were but I wanted to avoid a scenario that had happened on a date before my mission. Here's the story.



So I went on a double date with some friends from church. We were going to go see a movie. Side note for posterity: do not go to movies on a first date, it's a bad idea. Anyways, the movie we wanted to see was not playing. So I suggested we go see Brigham City, a movie by the guy who made God's Army. I figured it would be harmless since it was made by an LDS filmmaker. The movie was intense and somewhat violent (it's a small town murder/mystery in a Mormon setting). At one point my date is giving me the stink eye for dragging her to this movie. She then asks if the movie gets any worse. "Nah, I think it will be okay..." And just then this guy gets shot in the face. I leaned over and said, "You are not going to go out with me again, are you?" Not really a question but a statement. "Nope."

And we never did.

When I dropped her off as we were walking up I noticed a skateboard on the front porch. "Who skates?" I asked. "My little brother," she replies. Eager to redeem myself I mention how I love skateboarding, have been doing it for years and if it would okay if I tried it out. "Fine." I ask to borrow his shoes since I am wearing nice shoes and skating tears up shoes. I put his big floppy skate shoes on and try a 360 kickflip, my favorite and most impressive trick. When I go for it, and I am not making this up, one of the big floppy shoes comes flying off my foot and hits the younger brother right in the eye. Date over. It's time to cut my losses and run. I shake hands and go back to my car and congratulate myself on the worst date ever.

Fast forward a few years and I have a girl that I am very interested in asking if I want to see a religious PG-13 movie on a first date. Not a chance. And no skateboarding tricks either.

The First Date

After talking to Jason on Skype today (and missing him) and after reading some old blog posts, I got a bit nostalgic. So I decided to post part 2 of the story of our courtship. See this previous post for part 1. Here is the story of our first date.

(Jason) A week later there was this singles dance for FHE. I had a feeling that Christine wouldn’t be going, so I called her up with the resolution to ask her out. I called to see if she was busy. Christine said that she was grading papers, a favorite pastime of hers. I said that was too bad, and that I wanted to hang out with her, maybe catch a movie or something. She was up for that so I came by and picked her up and away we went. We looked in the paper for a movie and settled on Johnny Lingo. It was ok. After the movie I had this insatiable urge for a Slurpee. All we found were Circle K’s, no 7-11’s. In reality it was all a ploy to keep Christine around so that I could talk to her. We ended the date when I dropped her off at her place and was about to shake her hand like a gentleman, but instead moved in for a… hug. I thought the evening went very well, and that I would definitely be taking Miss Christine Telford out again sometime.

(Christine) I was sitting at home on a Monday evening doing my usual (grading papers). Not being a dancer myself (those were spoiled for me as a youth), I knew I was not going to the dance for FHE. I received a call from my home teacher, he asked if I was going to the dance. I responded that I was not. He said that we wanted to take me out. He had not seen “Finding Nemo” yet and wanted to. I said okay and he came over to get me. We went to get a newspaper in hopes of seeing a nearby theater where it was playing. I remember seeing that the film “Luther” was playing. I taught about the Reformation to my fifth graders so I was interested in that biography. When I told Jason, he responded with, “That is PG-13. Are you sure you want to see it?” Well, I felt like a total sinner at that point and wondered if we would get along at all.
We finally settled on “Johnny Lingo” and drove to the theater. It was a cute movie but nothing that I wanted to see again. I spent a lot of the movie wondering what Jason was really like. I thought him very serious. That changed a little when he was dying to have a Slurpee afterwards. He was dead set on having this slushy frozen sugar-water so we spent at least 45 minutes trying to find a 7-11. It was amusing.
When he dropped me off at my door he put out his hand to shake mine. I had been wondering how the date would end. Then he suddenly put out the other hand and said, “Aw, gimme a hug!” I was surprised but hugged him anyway. As I closed the door I told myself that it was an okay time and that I’d go out with him again if he asked me, but I didn’t think we had any sort of connection at that point. I thought that he was just being a typical RM and dating around.
(Jason) Allow me to interject something. The reason that I declined the reputable looking PG-13 date movie is that I had a disastrous first date experience (I will tell that story later, it is pretty funny) with a movie along the same lines, and didn’t want to repeat that mistake. Oh, and by the time I dropped her off, she was MADLY in love with me: none of this “no connection” nonsense.

And that was it. Hard to believe we were married 4 1/2 months later.

Locked out

Today something happened to me for the first time - I locked my keys in my car. The best I can figure is that I put it in my purse and they fell out when I leaned across the seat to grab a napkin from the glove compartment to wipe Eva's face (she had a treat from her speech therapist, where we had just come from). We were at Target, running a few quick errands before we had to go to Darby's pediatrician appointment. We are busy, busy these days in preparation for school and Daddy coming home. Anyway, I noticed after we had made our purchases and got to the car that I couldn't find my keys. We went back inside and asked if anyone had turned them in. Nope. So we quickly retraced our steps (fun with dawdling kids). No luck. So we went back to the car. Finally I saw them resting so peacefully, tauntingly on my seat. Grrr. The kids were hot and whiny so we went back in the store and I called roadside assistance from my insurance, USAA.
Let me pause for a moment to tell you of my great love for USAA. Can you love a bank/insurance company? I do. I cannot think of a single thing to complain about them at all. Not one thing. Every representative I have ever talked to is pleasant and helpful. I have never been on hold more than a few minutes. I love that banking, kids savings, investments and insurance are all in one place. Our interest rates are insanely low and getting a loan was so easy. Insuring both cars and have renters insurance is a great price and they have an app where I can do all my banking, including deposits by taking a picture of the check, from my phone. Lastly, I get discounts for travel, renting a car, buying jewelry and even sending flowers just by having an account. I love them. The catch is that you can only bank with or be insured by this company if you, your spouse or your parent is/was active military. It's one of the perks of military life.
Anyway, back to my story. The USAA guy arranged for a locksmith to come and unlock my car and it wouldn't cost us a thing. Sweet. And the guy who came to do it was very nice. He even chatted with Brendan and was helpful in getting the kids in the car.
Bad news is that we missed Darby's appointment and now have to go back next week. Now, I do not ever want to lock my keys in the car again but at least it was a mostly painless experience, minus the whiny, naughty little people that had to endure it with me.

First ultrasound

Yesterday I had my first ultrasound with this pregnancy. This was not the ultrasound to determine gender, but the one to make sure that the baby is measuring correctly and to reaffirm the due date. It really helped me to calm down about this pregnancy when I was able to see the baby. I teared up a bit. He or she was very wiggly so we didn't get more than a flash of hands and feet (so no cute pictures of those) but I was able to see that he/she is well formed and has a fine heartbeat. The due date by ultrasound is a few days before the doctor determined one so all is normal on that front. I usually have early babies anyway. I just hope the baby decides that Jan 29th and Feb 4th aren't the days to come. And yes, there is only one in there. Sorry to disappoint those who were hoping for twins. :)

National S'mores Day

My cousin made this awesome calendar which chronicles all the ways to celebrate each day of the year. He and his family do some sort of fun celebration almost daily. His wife, Kristin, let me know that August 10th was National S'mores Day. It just so happened that I had a s'mores cookie recipe I wanted to try. The kids loved to help out where they could.


We mixed the graham cracker crumbs with yummy stuff to make the base. Then we spooned marshmallow creme on the top and drizzled it on top. If I were to do it over, I think I would use Magic Shell or chocolate shavings since the chocolate syrup slid right off the marshmallow. They were tasty though.

Six years old

I asked Brendan about a month ago what he wanted to do for his birthday. I gave him a choice of a big party with friends or a family trip to the aquarium when Daddy came home. He chose the aquarium. So his birthday was mainly a family celebration. He had summer camp in the morning where they sang to him and made a big fuss over the birthday boy. When he got home I made whatever lunch he requested (easy - he's not a very creative eater). After eating, he got to open his presents. He loved the all. Gifts ranged from Star Wars to building toys to deep sea creatures.




He disappeared to his room for quiet time without a peep to play with them all. After Darby woke up we went to Monkey Joes for some jumpy fun. Then he requested Red Robin for dinner, mostly I think because they were playing Jake and the Neverland Pirates on the TV last time we were there. Here he is, glued to some cartoon while we waited for the birthday meal.

I let him order and the waiters even brought him a sundae and sang to him. He was a little embarrassed by the singing but he liked it.

We had plans to visit the pet store on the way home to buy another aquarium snail but it was just too late. At home we got ready for bed and then had a nice talk about growing up. I think he had a nice birthday. Although he CANNOT wait for the aquarium visit.
I can't believe my baby is 6 years old and about to start Kindergarten, but he is SO ready to be a big kid.

Just some cute girls

I just had to post these. Little girls are sugar and spice. :)

I am a Mac

Well, at least, I own one. Let me explain. I shut down our 3 year old Dell PC one night over a week ago and the next morning it refused to turn back on. No fan, no whirring noise, no lights, nothing. Grrrrr. Luckily I have my iPhone so I was able to get online. I searched computer forums for the possible cause. Several people had success with replacing the power supply (PSU). So I loaded up the kids and the computer and took it to the Geek Squad, hoping they could point me in the right direction. They didn't have the power supply unit needed and, since that was step one in finding the problem, they could do nothing for me. It was suggested that I call Dell.
Well that was a long, round-about conversation that ended up costing me over 100 bucks. I talked to one guy who told me my warranty was over and told me I needed to be charged a fee for further consulting. Well, I needed this computer to turn on so I could back everything up at the very least so I agreed. Then I was transferred over to the supposed computer tech guy who asked me about five questions and told me I needed a new motherboard (the most expensive part in the computer). I even asked him if it could be the PSU. He told me it couldn't be. Then I was transferred over to parts sales to order. Yea, third person to be transferred to, long phone call, children running amok, you get the idea. I was then told that the motherboard I supposedly needed was out of stock. Just great. I told him that I wanted to order a new PSU (trusting my gut).
In the meantime, I talked to Jason. He was been wanting a Mac forever and we were both tired of the PC troubles we've been having. In our 8 years of marriage we have been through 3 desktops and 2 laptops, and numerous repairs and part replacements. So he did some looking and ordered me an iMac. It would be coming in the mail. Yay! In the meantime I spent many days using my iPhone a computer. VERY tedious.
Well, the PSU came in about 3 days. And guess what? Little ol' me managed to put it in, connect some wires and it started right up. Thank you computer forums. No thank you Dell Customer Service.
And my Mac came a few days later. I haven't unpacked it yet and set it up but will on Monday. So, if you are wondering why I am short on posts and most especially why I haven't mentioned anything about Brendan's birthday and the like, its because I am waiting to add the new pictures to my Mac and close up this here PC. More posts to follow shortly.

Quattro

Ignore the messy bedroom. What do you see? I'll give you a hint - we may just have another February birthday in the family.