Just a Sign we saw

Wes and I went out on an actual date one night and we saw this sign...

That is all. I have no other comment.

Boy have I got a deal...and it's bigger than the kids are tall!!

The other day I posted about our amazing deals at Hy-Vee (you can read that post here). In that post, I mentioned that the reciept for the great deal Wes got (50 cans of soup and 4 boxes of Frosted Flakes for $10.52 and he got a coupon for a free gallon of milk value up to 4.19-see picture above) was taller than our kids. Just thought you all might want to see a pictur of that! So, here are Ender and Solace next to the reciept:

Funny, right?!

Ah...Sundays...

I am a blogging slacker-part of my problem is that I cannot find my cord to upload my pics and I want to post pics about what we have been up to. But, I thought I could tell a story or two anyway. This picture is actually from the museum, but you will find that it expresses so much about this short tidbit.

Last Sunday (Ok actually the one before yesterday-the 19th) Wes and I were sleeping in, so we were still in bed when Ender woke up. He came in and asked if he could watch PBS kids on our TV. Wes said, "Actually no, because it is not on this morning, today is Sunday and you need to get ready for church." Ender's face fell, began to look like that picture and as he ran out into the hall way he yelled, "Oh Dear! Not againnnnnnnnnn!"

It was hilarious, and I hope not one of those had to be there things...if it is, sorry...just know, we laughed and laughed!

Bringing Sexy Back Decade by Decade...

We saw this on Sarah and Paul's blog and totally had to try it. I hope the results will amuse you as much as it did us! BTW-I look just like my mom & her mom & her sisters...Could I be more XiaXia in this first one?! I will write above them what year they say the hair is from!

1954 1966
1970
1974
1982 (mom?!)
1984
1994 (Angela)
1996
2000
And now for Wes...
with hair...
1952

1968

1976
1982-oh yeah...
And here are my favorites...so funny...

1988
1990

Get into mommy's makeup once, shame on you! Get into mommy's makeup twice, shame on me!!

Oh yeah-for the second time in like a week Armour got into my makeup. Awesome...

Look how much he likes it!

For Wes

Bring on the 30s...

OK, so I have been in my 30s now for 3 days. Here are a few differences I have seen so far:

1-The latest I have been to bed since I turned 30 is 10:15-yeah I am serious. But I have been awakened by very sick kids around 1 am and had to stay awake with them, so maybe I cannot call it on this one yet-maybe the going to bed early has more to do with lack of sleep, and less to do with age?!

2-I have been sick. My whole 30s better not be like this.

3-I am pretty sure I have a significantly larger number of wrinkles. See:

(Obviously I also go a snazzy new hat!)

But on a positive note:

I do not have to have another birthday where I change decades for 10 more years!

I am now old enough that the fact I am not up on current trends and fashion is not only OK, but expected.

I am still married to a man in his 20s-what a cradle robber!

I have heard a couple things about being 30 like:

"Thirty, flirty & thriving"...well, I am 30 and thriving I guess...

"Thirty is the new twenty." no, no it is not...

I want to note that when we moved to Nebraska the first time, we had a friend turn 30, and we went to a surprise party for him. I remember thinking that he was so old. I also remember that pretty much every present he received had something to do with Viagra. So, I guess I can just be glad I am not a guy and I did not get any Viagra.

Oh and once again-thanks Andrea and Ashley for marrying guys older than me so I did not have to be the first 30-yr-old in either family!

But, all that being said, I am getting over the fact that my 20s are officially over, and I do take some solace in the fact that all my friends that might otherwise harass me are also approaching this milestone so they are note quite so harassing. And now all there is to say, it bring it on 30s-bring it on!!!

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...

My Kissin' Boy

I just want to note that I was surprised by the overwhelmingly negative response about the Ender kissing story. Then when Wes read it he thought I wrote it in such a way that made it sound worse than it really was. So, I just want to make sure to say a couple things. 1-I was just trying to tell the story in a humorous way and set up the Richard Dawson thing just right, and in the process may have made it seem worse than it was. 2-and this is the more important thing, Ender does not kiss people for the reaction, he does it because honestly, he is a genuinely loving and affectionate kid. None of his stranger kissing events were really a huge deal. Even the bagger, though his initial reaction was a surprised mortification, he wasn't too phased by it and he still liked Ender when we went back a few days later! And the other 2 ladies, well, lets be honest, they loved it and it endeared Ender to them!

Like I said, I must have made it sound a lot worse in my attempt to humorously set up the Dawson parallel. Also, as as side note, he is saving his kisses now for family and mostly he is going to save them (and I quote) for his "future wife cause she is the only girl that gets all my lip kisses!" So, watch out family and future wife-I think a lot of love is comin' your way!

Survey Says...

Recently I posted a blog about how I think because of his crazy humor, that I am raising the future of comedy in this child: However, I must tell you that after the past few weeks, Wes and I think we may in fact be raising someone else. Just a couple quick stories of explanation first: The other day I went to the grocery store with my boys and Kindle while Sol was at school. After I checked out, and was paying, Ender ran around to the cashier threw his arms around her and gave her a big hug proclaiming: "Thanks for doing our groceries! You are the best!" Now this nice lady bent down to hug him back thinking he was just adorable. What she did not expect was when she leaned down, it got her face low enough for him to lay a wet one right on her lips. That's right folks, he kissed the checker. So, then we go out to the van and a nice teenaged male bagger helped me out. Ender was by now in the lovely car cart. So, when the bagger finished putting the groceries in the back, I was about to pull Ender out and he threw his arms around the bagger that was right there and said "Thanks for doing our groceries! It's just too hard for my mom to do alone!" And yes, once again kisses the bagger. He, being young and of excellent reflexes was able to dodge a bit and received his kiss on the cheek. He looked mortified.

After this fun experience, we had a big conversation about strangers and personal space. I thought this conversation went well, a lot of dialogue occurred followed by a rousing Q & A, after which I was pretty sure he understood and we were free of the stranger kissing...

WRONG...

So, we go to the baseball game, and there is this probably 50ish-years-old woman, her husband and their daughter sitting nearest to us (2 rows up and over a few seats.) These people were completely amused and entertained by Ender. He was quite encouraged by the response he got from them every time he loudly tried to start a new cheer or trash talk the other team, or yell that he was hungry, or yell "It stinks out here because I have been farting a lot. Maybe it's time to take me to the potty again dad." Yes, they loved his craziness. They had to leave the game early, and this was the conversation:

Lady to Ender "Well, we have to leave, but thanks for sitting near us and talking to us, we loved sitting by you."
Ender: "You don't have to go!"
Lady: "We do, He (her husband) has to work early in the morning."
Ender: "My dad works EVERYDAY early, but we are staying!"
Lady, laughing: "Well, he (her husband) is much older and needs his sleep."
Ender, runs over to her and hugs her and kisses her: "Please don't go!"
Me, mortified: "Ender, remember, personal space."
Lady, laughing harder, to husband who has already stood up and started to go: "Did you see that?" (then to Ender) "Be careful-I think you'll make him jealous."
Ender: "I don't care if he's jealous, it's all his fault you have to go." Kisses her again.
I make him come over to me as the lady and her daughter are leaving and laughing hysterically and telling Wes and I how much they loved sitting near us and our cute kids.

So, you ask, who does this mean we are raising? Him:

For those that are my age or younger, and do not watch Game Show Network, this is Richard Dawson, former host of Family Feud, frequent guest on Match Game, and notorious for kissing everyone...

So, I figure at this point, I am either raising him or Mickey...

Deep Thoughts by Beckee J: Weight loss

Do you ever wonder why it is so hard to lose weight, especially after having a baby? This morning as I ate carrot cake for breakfast, I sat and pondered the same thing...I guess we'll never know why it's so hard...

And why does it seem so easy for husbands to lose weight? Maybe I'll ask Wes to think about that as he is taking his nightly 5 mile run tonight...

The world according to Ender...

So, yesterday I tried to keep track of all the words misused by Ender. He likes to take existing words and use and define them in his own way. Whenever he uses a word I have heard but he uses it in his own way, I ask him to define the word. These are a couple words I learned from E yesterday...

"Fashion" means beautiful and is used in the following context: "Kindle and Solace are fashion."

"Inspirational" means comfortable and yesterday was used in this context: "Mom, I love the new booster seat it is very inspirational!"

When I grow up...

Do you ever look at your kids and think, "Hmmm, what is he/she going to be like when he/she grows up?" I often think that about each and every one of my kids and wonder that.

But lately, I have been thinking about this kid in particular:
And when I start to wonder what he will be like, who I am raising, more and more the following faces come to mind:


I am pretty sure I am raising the future of comedy right here in my home!

I can only hope that he will be just as funny but not as crude...here's to hoping!!

It's 10 pm, do you know where your kids are?

So, I went to check on the kids in bed tonight and this is what I found...

In the Boy's room

Ender's bed

Armour's Bed

Girl's Room

Kindle's bed

Solace's bed Parent's room

Our bed

(Kindle has learned to smile and we almost caught the cute smile in this pic)

About that office/guest room...

Funny story about the room we now use as an office/guest room...

It is in the basement. It has no windows. It is the room that we had to get re-carpted when we moved is as it had grease stains from the previous owner's exercise machine that he kept in there. Now, we never met the seller/previous owner.

So, the first day we were in the house, the people came over to do our Internet. The guy in charge of the cable installation walked downstairs into that room, and came upstairs with a look of shock and amusement on his face. He asked me if I had ever met the previous owner. I said no. He told me he never forgot this house or the owner cause it struck him as so funny when he came to install the previous owners Internet that he had a huge exercise machine in there. Evidently, the previous owner was a huge, 6'6" blond cop that was obsessed with exercise...that made the fact that there are mirrors all over the house even funnier to me...

So, now, that being said, this is my son...he is almost 2, and he sure acts his age... This is my daughter, sleeping on the bed in the office/guest room. Isn't she cute? The other day she was happily sleeping there while the other kids were watching a movie, and I was trying to get things done. For some reason I thought, hmmm, maybe I should move her to her own bed and get her used to sleeping there. So, I picked her up and moved her.

This is what the room looked like when I came back down...
I know what you are thinking, so what?! The door is closed, big deal. Take note of a few things int his next picture...1-the keyed lock on the door. 2-the hinges are not on this side. 3-the screws on the doorknob are not on this side. I thought 2 thing-"Wow-good thing Kindle was not in there anymore!!" and "What the heck was this guy doing in his exercise room that he needed such security?!"
Well, I called our Realtor and asked if we could track down said seller and see if he had this key (we had already tried to get other keys from him which he did not have, so I thought this was a real long shot). It turns out I was right-he did not have a key, in fact he didn't know there was a lock on the door as he had never closed it because the exercise machine was too big and took up too much room to close the door.

So, we were down to 2 options-break it down ourselves or call a locksmith. Our Realtor, who evidently knows everyone in this city, suggested we call a place called Leapin Lizard Locksmiths. That's what we ended up doing...And look, now we have keys to that room...
And now we can all take a deep breath and a sigh of relief...