A Little Excitement

so, a little girl in reno got swine flu. now everybody around here is freaking out. andrew didn't feel good last night so i took him to the hospital. i'd rather have it be nothing at the hospital than swine flu at home. anyway, he just had a stomach virus. the doctor gave him an anti-nausea suppository, which andrew didn't seem to mind. andrew just needs fluids and i shouldn't focus on foods right now. actually, this morning andrew seems fine. you wouldn't even know that he was sick last night. we got to the hospital at about 1ish and left around 3:30ish. i forgot my glasses, so i couldn't see the clocks to well. the kids were nice enough to let me sleep until 10 this morning. they didn't get into any trouble. they're pretty good kids.

My Foot Hurts, Can I Go to the School Nurse?

i think there is something wrong with my foot. just my left one. whenever i'm up on my feet for a long time it really starts to hurt. last night i was dancing at the church and when i was at home i put my feet up. in about five minutes my left one was really hurting. it makes me limp. it still hurts this morning. by afternoon, though it shouldn't be hurting so much. this happens almost every morning, but last night i was more strenuous than usual, which is probably why it happened last night. i don't know what to do to stop the pain so i just deal with it. i mean, as long as i don't walk on it and keep it elevated it doesn't hurt. it's just when i get up to do something.

Uh Oh

i'm in the living room and i can hear my children laughing hysterically in another room. i'm afraid to go in there to see what they are laughing at. i don't want to yell at them if they turn out to be doing something that they shouldn't be doing. it almost sounds like they are trying to play baseball. andrew has a hockey stick that he's been playing with all day. he got it back today. yesterday i bagged up all of andrew's toys that were in the living room and dining room and put them in a closet so that he couldn't get to them. today he was being nice so he got them all back. certain toys were apparently very important to him. like his mario toy. it's a plush mario that he got for his birthday. he was really upset when that went into the bag. he was just refusing to clean up his toys so that's why he lost them all.
hmm, the kids are being quieter now. they must have destroyed whatever it was that they were playing with before. i really don't want to go in there and see what a mess andrew's room probably is.
the kids have good imaginations. they can take a toy and make it into something totally different. like a hockey stick becomes a bat, or legos become a gun. i know that i shouldn't let my kids play with guns, but they see their daddy doing it. you know those arcade games where you hunt animals. derek likes to play those. he also watches duck hunting videos. of course i watch crime dramas. they do see guns. i'd rather have them know what they are and what they are for than to be really curious about them. they also see things on kids' movies. remember the old willy wonka and the chocolate factory? little mike teavee shoots a toy gun at the tv. the new charlie and the chocolate factory has mike teavee playing a video game yelling "die die die!" sometimes andrew will say that. i wonder what people think. back in the day i would have been very disapproving of that sort of behavior. now, i try to just deal with it. i do have limits to what they can watch and do. there was one thing that i liked to watch that they also like, but when andrew started to repeat a certain word i didn't let them watch it anymore. they really like to repeat what they say. my sister thought she heard andrew say swear word the other day, but she knew she must be wrong so she asked him to repeat what he said. "mommy got her 'chine back" is what he really said, but she didn't understand 'chine as in machine the first time. she knew that we don't ever use certain words so she made him repeat himself and then she understood. see, my mil borrowed my sewing machine for a couple weeks and when i got it back i made some church bags for the kids. a little girl in andrew's class asked why he had one and she didn't so my sister told her i made it and that's when andrew said what he said. last night one of my sil's said a word that, while not technically a swear word, isn't something i want my kids saying. andrew was asleep, but emmy was awake. i gave her a look and reminded her that children repeat what they hear. she was sorry.
anyway, this wasn't supposed to turn into a lecture, or fillibuster. i guess i should go see what happened in the other room.

Some Bad and Some Good

when the weather changes people get sick. this just seems to be a fact. i think it's because people go without jackets or appropriate dress because they are so excited about warm weather. i don't think this applies to me though. i never wear a jacket. usually i don't get sick when the weather changes, but this time i did. i don't know why, but i musta just gotten what everyone else got.

anyway, on a lighter note. emmy has been more interested in going potty. she sees andrew getting all these stars and she wants them too. she's still wanting her prize. it's a tinkerbell teapot house. i don't remember tinkerbell ever living in a teapot, but i guess it's possible. emmy really likes tinkerbell. she loves watching the movie. i don't mind because i think it's really cute. she got some tinkerbell wings for easter. they're a little big on her 'cause she's so tiny. so, she's been going potty sporadically. andrew is much better, but then i have to remind myself that he's older and would be better at it. andrew is going for a remote controlled thomas the tank engine. he's been asking for it for months. now it's in the bathroom waiting for him to win it. it will be his third prize. the teapot is emmy's first prize. i think this may be the last prize for andrew. he's getting the hang of going potty pretty good. his pullups are even dry a lot of times when he goes. when he's always dry then he gets the thomas underpants. i don't know what we'll get for emmy. i hope they make panties her size. they must. right? maybe.

Woo Hoo

Andrew went stinky in the potty! Yay! he got two stickers on his chart for doing it.

Explanation

so, at three in the morning i will think almost anything is funny.

i'm gonna explain that last post. when i was a kid i used to watch the Great Muppet Caper a lot. a lot. anyway, as a kid i didn't notice a lot of the jokes that were meant for adults. now, watching it with my kids, i get them. at least most of them. i'm sure there're some that i'm still to short for. at one point in the movie gonzo is telling the gang how he found out about the jewel heist that's gonna happen. first we see the bad guys making the plans and then the camera spans to gonzo looking dumbstruck. next scene is the muppet gang with gonzo saying "so there i was, under a table. i was doing a little photographic essay on knee caps" and everyone just kinda nods like this is normal. to me this is just hilarious. the fact that they find it so commonplace is what cracks me up. well, that movie is pretty funny. lots of good lines outta that one. especially janice. anyway, back to the original story. the other night my kids wanted to watch "the frog movie" as they call it. it was too late at night so i didn't let them. i got them to sleep and me too. since i went to bed when they did i was up in the middle of the night. i tried to go back to bed and i thought about that line, then i thought that would make a funny blog post. it was like 3am so this idea just cracked me up. i had to cover my mouth so i didn't wake anyone up with my laughing. that's when i decided i was going to do that. two of the pictures are my kids and the other three i got off google. andrew's picture kinda makes it look like he's missing a leg, but it's just under him. he's whole. emmy decided her hand should be in her picture. anyway, i thought it was funny.

A Little Photographic Essay on Knee Caps

Outside

we went to the playground today. we just got back. andrew found a rock to make his pet. he says it's a girl rock. it already took a nap, but now it's awake, so he's playing with it. i told him not to throw it, or he would be in big trouble. i can just see him throwing it at the china cabinet and smashing all the stuff. emmy doesn't seem to care that he's got a rock. she's coloring pictures that are hanging on the wall.

so, i was at the park and derek called. i told him where we were and he almost didn't believe me. apparently, he thinks i hate the sun. it's true that i don't like to stay in the sun for too long. i tend to burn. my skin is very fair. i've gotten sunburns on cloudy days in autumn. so far the kids have never gotten bad burns. they've gotten just a little pink, but not what you could call bad. i've heard that one really bad burn as a child can lead to skin cancer later in life. if that's true then i'm in trouble. i've gotten many bad burns. when we go swimming at my mom's we always make sure to put sunscreen on.

so, back to my earlier thought, i really don't like the outdoors. i would much rather be inside. when i was a kid i liked being outside. i went to the park almost everyday unless it was wintertime. then i would play in the yard. i guess as i got older i just got more irritated with the outside. i don't like the sunlight, the bugs, the morning dew. i always laugh when my sister tells me that on dating sights everyone seems to love the outdoors. taking long walks on the beach. i don't live near a beach, but if i did, i don't think i would go for long walks there. i like water, to an extent, but at a beach it always seems so cold. like lake michigan, for example. i went there several times as a kid, but it was always cold. the sun would beat down on it all day long, but it would never get warm. that's why i like pools. especially indoor pools. you can heat them. anyway, that's why derek was shocked. he thinks i think i'll melt if i'm outside too long.

The Blogosphere

why is it that some people will blog when others won't. i come from a family of nine and my husband is from a family of ten. my mom and three of my sisters blog. one brother's wife has one, but she doesn't do it anymore. basically half of my family blogs. now my husband's family is mostly brothers and their wives. it's the wives who blog. in that family four of his brothers have wives who blog. so, half of his family. why is it just the girls? is the blogosphere really unequally proportioned like that, or is it just us? a lot of the family blogs are said to be couple blogs, but i never see the husbands contributing. i wonder what it is about blogging that appeals to women so much. i just like having somewhere to go and say whatever i want to say. is that it? is that how all the women feel? well, i guess not all the women. i have a sister who doesn't blog. i don't know why. sometimes she'll log in as my mom just to look at a certain blog if it was really funny. i don't know why she just won't do one for herself. i think one time she said she didn't have anything to right about. i can think of plenty. anyway, she just doesn't want to. my dad doesn't have a blog, but he does have a log in id. he gets on here sometimes and reads our stuff and makes comments. he just blogs on myspace. well, i guess so does my one sister. i used to blog on there, but now i just come here to do it. i like that i don't have to do anything but write. anyway, green olive just wanted to know why our one sister doesn't blog. sorry, i just don't know.

Easter Ham.

well, it's easter sunday. derek is gonna go to church with us today. sometimes he has to work on sundays, but his work is closed on easter. isn't that nice? anyway, his mom might also come with us to church. she goes to a different ward at a different time, but she said she'd be up late last night, so she may come with us since ours is later. church starts at 11am for us. that's my favorite time. not too early, don't need an alarm to wake up, but not too late so you lose the whole day. after church we're gonna go to derek's mom's and have dinner. we're gonna eat ham. i was wondering why people eat ham on easter so i looked it up. turns out there is no religious significance at all, christian, pagan, or otherwise. it turns out that back in the day the romans used to bury their pork near the sea to get a salty cure in the fall. it took so long to cure that it wasn't ready until spring. it just happened to be around eastertime so it was a convenient. this tradition of eating pork in the spring, or more to the point, easter, has been around for thousands of years. the early american settlers continued this tradition, brought over from europe. it's amazing to me that this tradition has survived into this day and age when we can get pork at any time of the year. well, at least it's a tasty tradition.

Easter Bunny?

well, easter is upon us so it's time to dig out my one and only easter decoration.

Emmy's Interview

What is your favorite color?
my favorite color is pink

What is your favorite food?
uh, i like to eat cereal
(magic stars)

What is your favorite movie?
yo gabba gabba

Who do you like best on Yo Gabba Gabba?
foofa

What is your favorite day?
foofa

What animal do you like best?
blue

What's your favorite book?
blue
(i think she's confused...)

well, i don't think we're going to get anything but colors out of her for now. she is only 2, after all.

Interview Time

interview with andrew.

what is your favorite toy?
a big car
(it's a new little tykes coup)

who is your best friend?
i don't know who my best friend is

what is your favorite game?
computer
(i think he means mario party 8)

what song do you like the most?
the doodlebops
(okay, we just saw a comercial for them. he doesn't actually watch the doodlebops because i hate them)

how old are you?
four

what do you like to eat?
i think, uh, cereal. cereal
(well, it is breakfast time)

what is your favorite animal?
a train

what is your favorite movie?
little tykes land
(it's new)

what do you love about daddy?
gives me a hug

what do you love about emmy?
my emmy is a girl

what do you love about mommy?
for computers
(i guess 'cause i play the wii)

what is your favorite day?
tomorrow

what is your favorite color?
green
(he's wearing it today)

well, he's busy watching pollyanna so i don't think i'll get much more out of him.

Andrew

andrew's first word was hi. one day he went into the bedroom and climbed up on the bed to derek and derek said "hi andrew" and then andrew said "hi". we were so happy. his next word was duck. he loved ducks. of course he thought that every bird was a duck. we put duckies on his first birthday cake. on his second birthday somebody gave him a thomas the tank engine and track. it was just something simple, but andrew loved it. he would play with it for hours. that's how his train obsession started. he has a lot of trains. i don't even know how many he has. probably about thirty or so. he has lots of track, too. he builds track all over the apartment. we just step over it, we're so used to it. he builds track that extends from one room to another. he builds bridges and tunnels. he loves to watch thomas videos. he does like other stuff, too. he likes the backyardigans, care bears, pingu, and some others, but his favorite is thomas.


andrew loves to wear yellow, orange, and red. he likes anything with thomas on it. he loves to wear sweater vests on sunday. lucky for him, he absolutely rocks the sweater vest.

andrew's favorite food is probably meatballs. he's not very picky when it comes to food, but if there are meatballs that's all he wants to eat. and eat and eat. that kid has some appetite. all day long. he's constantly snacking. usually he'll eat cheese, apples, lunchmeat, stuff like that. i guess he must be growing. he wears a size 6 in clothes. he's so big around. anything less than a six is too tight around his waist. his feet are size 11. he's only four and i'm starting to leave the toddler section for the little boys' section.

andrew loves to have fun. everything is a joke to him. he doesn't take anything seriously. well, he is getting better i guess. he's starting to do really good in church. my sister is his sunday school teacher, so she always tells me how he did. he usually sits still in class and participates. andrew has also learned to not run away from us so much. especially when we are anywhere near cars.

andrew's a rough and tumble kinda kid. he's fallen so many times, and hard, we are amazed that he hasn't broken any bones yet. he has gotten stitches. this past xmas we were leaving nana and grampa's and andrew was saying goodbye to everyone and he tripped and hit the coffee table. six stitches. that's the only time. we've taken him to the hospital for other things, but they've never had to do anything. andrew's daddy tends to overreact i think. anyway, i think andrew has a really hard head. with as many times as he's hit his head he should be a blithering idiot, but it doesn't seem to affect him at all. so glad he's got a thick skull.

andrew is a good brother. he looks out for emmy a lot. he doesn't like it when other kids pick on her. he's got a cousin who sometimes bugs emmy and andrew goes after him for it. we have to be careful when they're all together. a lot of times andrew starts things with this cousin and fighting ensues. anyway, sometimes they get along well. the other night they did okay until they started to get tired. andrew can be really moody when he's tired. he gets it from his daddy. he also gets his good looks from his daddy. i think andrew is extremely good looking for a boy. not a pretty boy, but more ruggedly handsome. if i were a little girl and not related, i'd have a crush on him. just sayin'. the other day we saw one of derek's employee's and she took one look at andrew and said that there was no mistaking who his daddy is. they do look a lot alike with just a tinge of me thrown in.

well, that's my wonderful little boy in a nutshell. i'd interview him, but he's asleep right now. maybe later.

Twilight

i know that it's been a while since i wrote last. i've been reading a lot lately. within the past week i read the whole twilight series. that's four books that are pretty long. no, i'm not a fast reader, i just stayed up really late a couple of nights. last night i was reading the last one while i was in the tub. i was probably in there for about four hours. i just didn't want to put the book down long enough to get out. i finally did get out after everyone was asleep. my husband fell asleep while i was in there, but he didn't wake up when i got out. this morning he told me that he dreamed i'd fallen asleep in the tub and drowned. as soon as he woke up he bolted to the bathroom to check on me. i was sleeping on the couch, so i didn't know any of that was going on. no, we're not having marriage problems. by the time i got out of the bathroom both kids were sprawled out on my side of the bed. pretty sure andrew fell asleep there, but i know that emmy was in her own bed when i headed into the bathroom, so at some point she woke up and joined the guys. this happens a lot. that's why i'm glad my couch is kinda big and comfy.