Grocery store

So, I have mentioned that I believe there is an overabundance of advice shared at grocery stores here where I live. The older generation is a bit too excited to tell you how you should be dealing with your kids at each and every public outing. I believe this is due to the fact that they still think this city is a small town and that they should know and be friendly with everyone. Whatever the reason, I get a lot of not-so-positive or nice feedback on my parenting. Also, my kids are pretty good, so I cannot imagine what these people are saying to the parents with the totally out of control kids running all over the store screaming and basically unsupervised!

That being said, today I stopped at the store. We ran quickly through and got to the checkout where chaos always ensues. (Please, please, please, for the love! Take the dang candy off the check outs and away from little fingers.) We had one of those car carts where the 2 boys were sitting in the front with Kindle in her carseat in the cart itself. At the checkout, after being told to stay in and not grab stuff or put body parts out, Ender decided that was the best time to try to get out. There was not enough room as I had already repeatedly told him, and he was getting "squished" and saying"mom, it hurts." I said, "Yeah I know, go back in so you won't hurt." He's like "No, I am getting out, I'm just stuck!" He continues to try to get out where there is NO room, and I kept telling him to stop and go back in. He did not listen over and over, finally I said, "Gosh Ender, I was going to ground you from the Wii for not listening to me, but I guess right now you are just experiencing the natural consequences of this. You are hurting because of the poor choice you are making. Let me know when you are done and have decided to go back in and stop hurting yourself. " (Obviously, he wasn't actually going to injure himself really-it was just squishy and uncomfortable) It took him about 20 seconds to muse over that and to get back in the car.

Anyway! The older couple in front of me in line had just finished paying at that point, and the wife came back and grabbed my arm. I thought, 'Oh boy, here it comes, the lecture on the behavior.' Instead she said, "You are doing a great job mom! I am so glad to hear you with your kids-I loved you letting him experience the natural consequence and explaining to him that it was happening because of his choice! My husband and I actually teach parents how to deal with their kids through the school district and you are the perfect example of the concepts we teach in action! I will be telling all my students about you! Thanks for being a shining example-you are great!"

I was stunned and surprised. (And tearing up with joy as I was caught in a good parenting moment for once and it was noted!) Then the manager of the store came over and told me that that couple is like the main big wig experts in town and they are on the news and stuff all the time talking about parenting.

So, Yeah for me for being a good parent today-I just thought I deserved a pat on the back and I wanted to share it with you all (and I wanted a nice story up here to read over when I am frustrated with myself as a parent)!

I hope all you parents out there get told how great you are once in a while too!! Cause I know my readers and you all are GREAT parents-thanks for being my examples and for helping me to have moments like this!

Comedian or Clown?

Careful what you call your kids-they will live up to it! No sooner had I posted about Armour the Comedian yesterday when he decided to make himself a clown. Oh yeah-that's right people, he got into mom's makeup-and let me tell you, he does not do anything halfway! If I had not caught him when I did...well. I'll just let you finish that thought after you view the pictures!

Wow-Miracles and Hard Work!

Well, I posted the blog about the bunk bed and the fact we needed to get one for the boys. Well, since we moved here, Solace has been saying she doesn't fit on her (toddler) bed anymore and she needs a new bed. For a while she even slept down stairs on the guest bed. Well, we cannot afford to get her a bed now and kept telling her to wait for her birthday and maybe she could get a birthday/Christmas gift of a new bed. However, on Wednesday a friend in our ward said she had a bed she had just pulled apart to get rid of and wondered if we could use it. The next morning (yesterday) she came over to the house with the pulled apart bed, sheets, and bed skirt-the whole shebang. I spent a good part of yesterday sweating and laboring over putting the bed together. Thank you to the Youngs for the bed-it was a true blessing and Solace was so happy to have a bed that fits. Here is the final product (ignore the messiness):
The girls room!

Callie the Chrysalis

This is Callie the Chrysalis-she conveniently turned from Caterpillar into chrysalis last week right in the middle of C week when we were learning about her transformation! Here she is:

Greek festival videos

OK, this post is special for my Xiaxia and my mom, her sisters, Spence and the rest of the family. At the Greek festival as my kids were dancing and playing, I could not help but think of aunt Cathy doing the same thing every year at the Greek festival. It was a joyous memory, and to share that with you all I took video of the kids dancing-I am sorry the 2nd one is sideways-I do not know how to turn it-if anyone knows how, please comment and let me know! Enjoy!

Big Fat Greek Festival!

We have not gone to a Greek Festival in years-it was too expensive last time and not nearly as good as the one in Utah. However, last Friday I wanted to try again, so we went to dinner at the Greek Festival-it was awesome and not even really that expensive. Including our entrance fee and our food we only spent $32-that is with dinner and dessert! Awesome right?! I will totally go again next year. Here are some pics:

The little dancers leaving and the barely older group coming on (why do I not have my kids learning Greek dance? How would I do that mom or Xiaxia?!)

The main event-eating the food!!!!

My dinner-Spanikopitia & Tiropites.
Kids area (yeah-they had a Free kids area!! Awesome!!)

Nap Time

Just thought I would share some cute nap time pics from the past couple weeks:

Armour took this one unbeknownst to me...The next day the babies fell asleep snuggling on my bed-see...

Random Tag...

OK, so my sister-in-law tagged me. I am supposed to tell you 6 random things about me. I may have done this in the past, it might be similar...



1-Whenever I meet new people and I am supposed to tell them something unique about me, I always either tell them that I taught drama where they filmed High School Musical or that my husband's cousin (2nd cousin) wrote and directed Napoleon Dynamite. I decide which one to share based on my audience.



2-I do not like to pray in public, like in front of people. Whenever they ask me to pray in sacrament meeting I pretty much have panic attacks from the second they ask until the prayer is over. I would rather speak or sing, or run the whole darn meeting...go figure!



3-I am an insomniac...or maybe a night owl...I don't know which, but I don't sleep until late...or early depending on how you look at it, and thus am always tired!



4-When I was little I did not watch cartoons. Seriously-not at all. I had never heard of most of the classic cartoons of my youth until I was an adult...



5-I am a total klutz! Always have been!! Here is the bruise on my leg to prove it:

What happened you ask? I was running up the stairs to get a screaming baby and tripped over my own dang foot and smacked my calf against the top step that has metal over the corner-oh yeah-I am a true klutz!!

6-I am the resident handyman...Generally speaking, when something goes wrong with our home, I am more inclined to mess with it and try to fix it myself first, whereas Wes is more inclined to just call the appropriate expert in. Maybe that is a sign that I see myself as an expert in everything!

I tag: Melanie, Cassie H. & Laura N. (I only leave Andrea out cause Stef already tagged her)

More than one comedian here!

Ya know I always share the crazy comedy of my oldest son, but lets face it, he has a little brother that is equally funny. Yes, they have different personalities, and yes, Ender is a bit louder overall and very vocally funny. Armour's humor is often a bit more subtle...for those of you that know Wes & Ty, you will understand that Ender is more of a Tyson, and Armour is more of a Wesley when it comes to their sense of humor. No less funny-just a bit more subtle. Here are a few of the funny thing our youngest boy has done recently:

On Solace's first day of school he dressed himself for school backpack and all and asked me to take pictures of him posing just like Solace

At the air and space museum he went nuts on this little "fly a plane" thing and was moving so fast and so crazy that I could not get a clear picture. He had a ball! Check him out, blurry and all:


Self portrait taken at the quilting bee to keep himself busy.
And here he is just looking cute:
And here is his most recent antic. This is Armour's dad:

So, lets face it people, guys are hairy (usually) and as you can see, though Wes is lacking hair on his head, he is not lacking on his body. It is just a fact! (BTW-if you are squeamish about body hair, this is not the story for you!)
(As a very funny and very random side note, I feel I should insert here a little story of my past. As a young teenager, one week in Young Womens we were asked to write a list of the qualities we wanted in our future husbands. The first few "qualities" I wrote were 1-He must be at least 6' 4", 2-He cannot be bald, 3-He cannot be all hairy on his body. Wes and I have gotten a few laughs out of that list...I have since then reassessed and I love my 6'1" hairy bald man!!!)
So back to Armour...

The other day, Wes was laying on his stomach, and Armour lifted up Wes's shirt and started scratching his dad's back, and after a minute, he started grabbing individual strands of hair from Wes's back and pulling them out. I watched with interest to see what he would do next.. After he pulled out about 10 hairs, he walked around to Wes's head and started carefully placing the hairs on it. I laughed and laughed when I realized that he was trying to help Wes to stop being bald. It was a simple transfer, right?!...even funnier was how upset Armour was when Wes explained that it wouldn't work. He was like "But dad-you are bald only on your head!" He was pretty sure he could fix it-just another way he is like his dad-he sees a problem and isn't happy until he solves it. I wonder what he will try next-maybe one of Solace's dress up wigs-who else wants to see Wes with long red Ariel hair?! Silly...

I think he is hilarious, and so does he! See:

Of Cookies & Lightning

Two little Ender stories: So, our local grocery store gives away free cookies to kids in the bakery section, but the Wal Mart doesn't always. SO, one day we went to the grocery store, and Ender went over to the lady at the bakery and politely asked for a chocolate chip cookie for himself and Armour and a boy I was watching, Brandon. She obliged and brought out a box of M & M cookies. Lately we have been talking about how it is impolite to complain about things people give you and how you should accept whatever they offer without complaining and whining. So, when she came over with the M & M cookies, he accepted 3 (one for each kid), and as he was passing them out he very politely said "Thanks for the M & M cookies, but kids mostly like chocolate chip cookies. That's why I asked for that, but these are ok. Just remember next time that kids mostly like chocolate chip." At this point the lady was pretty much busting a gut and she said, "Hey, sweetie, would you like a chocolate chip cookies as well." and before I could protest, Ender had negotiated a second, chocolate chip cookie for each kid.

Fast Forward to Wal Mart a few days later, we are by the bananas about 20 feet away from the bakery, and someone was actually behind the bakery counter for once. Ender noticed and yelled across to the lady "(Name of Grocery Store) gives away free chocolate chip cookies!" The lady laughed and told him to come over and Wal Mart would also give him and Armour free cookies today.

Now, I am sure you can see how he easily negotiates his way into chocolate chip cookies, and he obviously believes that he is entitled to a cookie whenever he is forced to go into a food store with his parents and suffer through grocery shopping. So we were at the grocery store yesterday and the cookies they had were plain oatmeal-no raisins or anything. They were really, really good, but not chocolate chip. So, again Ender politely accepts it (Well, mostly politely-he did say, "Um, I think my raisins fell out, can I have a different one?") When he realized that he was really getting a plain cookie, he tried the same tactic again and explained to this woman (a different one than the one the other day) that kids like cc cookies. She says ok and basically ignores hims and sends him on his way with his plain oatmeal cookie. As we were walking away, he made sure to get in one last yell back "Kids only like chocolate chip cookies!!"

Man he is funny!


Now I know you cannot truly fully appreciate the Ender storied when you are reading them and not experiencing them like I do on a daily basis. I have to explain that he always speaks to adults as if he is right on their level, and more often than not his conversations are held with a very serious tone in his voice. Last night Wes went for a jog as I put the children to sleep. Then I was sitting in our room watching TV. Wes came home about 20 minutes after I put them to bed, and was met in the hall way with Ender standing there with his arms folded like a dad awaiting a teenager 2 hours after curfew. He said in his best matter of fact voice to Wes, "Well, How was it?" Then the following conversation happened (all with Ender's matter-of-fact voice)

Wes: How was what?
Ender: Your jog. You did Jog, right?
W: Yeah. It was good.
E: Did you get hit by lightning?
W: Um...no.
E: Did you see the lightning?
W: I didn't see any lightning.
E: Wasn't it raining?
W: Actually no. The other night when I ran it was pouring rain, but tonight it wasn't.
E: Dad, then why are you all wet?
W: Oh, that's from sweating so much while I was running. Ender, you need to go to bed.

Imagine how funny this conversation was to overhear from the bedroom! I was laughing pretty hard when Wes came in. The lightning line was our favorite part "Did you get struck by lightning?" Nice...

Labor Day: Wild Animals

We went to the wild animal park and got to all cram into our van to drive through the drive through parts. On the walking part, we got to see them feed the bears and the wolves. It was awesome. And somehow seeing those wolves so close gave me a whole new perspective on Jacob (from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight books)...wow...check out our wild animals as they look at the other wild animals.

Oh-and here we are crammed in the van.

Labor Day: Cars & Caffeine

So, we walked back to the cars after our walk and playground time, and we were thirsty. Note the Diet Pepsi in Solace's hand in some pics...

Poor Ender totally biffed it face first in the dirt-he looks pretty good considering, and he is a tough kid!

Armour loves Ender's Indiana Jones hat and wears it quite often...