Late Memorial Day

I know it's a little late but I wanted to post my thoughts on Memorial Day. I guess because it is still on my mind. I have a hard time with Memorial Day, I guess because it feels weird to celebrate missing someone you love, like "Remember that person that we loved that died? Let's roast hot dogs." Maybe I just don't like being told when to think about someone. I remember people I love most at random times when little things remind me of them.

I guess this Memorial Day would be an exception to that though. The week before was the first week I had spent watching Katie's girls. I had been thinking about Ryan all week. Spending so much more time with them made me realize how much he is missing; like when Zaya and Dewy walk up to each other and die laughing for no reason, or when Sage sings the words to Arabian Nights wrong ("where they chop off your ears and they poke out your face"), or when Asha does one of the million crazy things she does everyday. I don't know who I feel worse for Ryan or his girls. I guess the best we can do is remember him and love them.

A few months ago the girls were having a tea party with a few of their friends. I got out the tea set that my mom made me when I was a kid. Seeing the girls with a tiny piece of her made me miss her like crazy. I was sad for my girls not being able to know her or have her in there lives. There is a picture of her in Dewy's room. For a while, every time Tilly saw it she asked, "Is that the grandma that makes me cookies?" It tugged at my heart every time she said it because she never got to make her cookies and know she would have been "the grandma that makes her cookies." I guess it is just one of those things that you can move past but you never really get over.

Zaya and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

I was outside filling up water balloons and the kids were standing in the open doorway because it was so hot. They started yelling something about a hummingbird. I tuned them out figuring they just saw a hummingbird. Then Sage ran to the door and said "There's a hummingbird on Zaya!"

I said "On her?"

"Yes it's on her"
Then I saw Zaya through the blinds, screaming with her hands up. Jon ran toward her and a hummingbird flew onto his pants and then out the door and on its way. I rouge hummingbird had flow into my house and landed on the one child who is already terrified of birds.

Then while I was at the Kindergarten Water Day, Jon was watching the kids. Dewy became territorial over his powerwheels four wheeler and bit her.


Then we went to Fiesta Fun after school and Uncle Daniel and Uncle JP took all the kids on the bumper boats except for Zaya because she was too little. She was so sad, crying and saying "I ride." Then she spent the entire ride walking up and down the gate yelling "Daniel".

On a side note, the trip to Fiesta Fun was I think worst for Daniel who treated all the kids and then once he was on his bumper boat with Dewy asked me if I could catch his phone. Apparently, however, I couldn't because he threw it to me, I missed it, it hit the fence; shattered into three pieces; and all three pieces flew into the bumper boat pool. Sorry Daniel. If anyone has an old T-mobile phone that they are using, send it to me that my burden of guilt might be eased.

P.S. Don't ask me to catch anything, ever.

Farmer Jenny

Here you have it ladies and gentlemen; my first crop of peas! Yes I know there are only three pea pods. I love gardening and this is my first time trying to grow peas. When it is all said and done I will probably have enough peas for one serving for one person, but that's okay because I enjoyed every minute of it.

Glitter Balls?

Okay so it is finally time for me to comment on the toy that has become an integral part of our daily lives: The Glitter Ball.

Jon told me about glitter balls quite awhile ago, but it was several months later that our girls came home and insisted that they were the only people in school without a glitter ball. For some reason Jon decided that they should have one. Maybe there were some lingering childhood issues there, but he didn't want our kids to be the only ones without one. The only problem was they were all sold out every time I went to buy one. We finally made it to Walgreens and they had one left (blue), but they also had these little ones with lights inside. Tilly settled for the small one with the light, not really realizing that it's just not the same. You know, not quite as cool. I also bought a small one for Dewy. When we got home, Dewy and I went outside to water and when I was done he said he couldn't find his glitter ball. I looked for it but couldn't find it either. Then he said he threw it down the drive way. After we took Cricket to dance, we went on a walk to see if we could find the missing glitter ball. About twenty feet from the bottom of our driveway, Tilly dropped her glitter ball. (For those of you who don't know, we live on a hill.) She became frantic running as fast as her little legs would carry her chasing after her pink glitter ball that lit up as is bounced down the street. I became frantic telling her to stop, but she completely ignored me. When she hit the pull through to a non existent street, she slipped in the gutter sliding feet first with a half twist ending up face down in slimy gutter filth. She was hurt and very dirty but she jumped right up and continued her pursuit of a ball which about thirty seconds later came to a gentle stop behind the tire of a parked car. Our walk was an unproductive fiasco, but Jon later found Dewy's ball on the swing set. Oh the irony.

Fast forward two weeks- Cricket and Tilly buy new glitter balls with their allowance. The next day Jon went to the hotel trying to get rid of some of our old junk in a yard sale. Dewy snatched Tilly's glitter ball and ran away in a state of complete delight to the sounds of her shrieking. When she caught him, she shoved him to the ground and the ball rolled under the truck. They stopped at my work. When the bell rang, in walked a hysterical Tilly with black smudges on her face and tears running down her cheeks. Sob, gasp, "I need to." sob "wash" gasp "my face." "What happened?" I say.
"I" gasp "don't" sob " want" gasp, gasp "to talk about it."
I had to find this out from Jon because she never would tell me why she was crying. The whole things was just too upsetting to explain.

My days now consist of several "Mom where's my glitter ball"s and even more "don't bounce those in my house"s (those things are stinking heavy) and one or two "Dewy thats my glitter ball. Go find your own"s. The truth be told if you ever get hold of one, you might actually enjoy it. Bouncing them is kind of relaxing, but for some reason they sure don't have a calming effect at least not on Tilly.

Go Back to Work!

So Jon has begun to work four tens, which is great! He had Friday off but spent the day pouring concrete. Then we went to Cricket's softball game. Saturday and Sunday were our usual busy schedules with me working. Plus my sister was in town so on Mother's Day we went out to breakfast and then went swimming. (I know that is breaking the Sabbath, but Mother's Day is really hard for me so judge not.) Then I went to work Sunday afternoon. Jon had Monday off because he has to work this Friday at a Fire Marshall Training. He insisted that we go boating for the first time this summer. After boating we went straight to softball practice and then to his Staff Carnival. We were all exhausted and made it there late and barely in time to eat. (I have never had a hamburger with less meat on it by the way. Seriously people, "Where's the beef"?) After we ate dinner, we waited in line for the kids to ride this train of crates being pulled by a golf cart. When the train pulled up the line went to hell and every kid within the vicinity bum rushed the train. I was yelling at a mob of about twenty strange children for not waiting in line, but to no avail. My children had to wait in line again. I hate stuff like that where people just let there children run about uncivilized and unsupervised. My kids have been around me too much because they were about as thrilled as I was. Tuesday morning Jon stayed home again so that I could go to Cricket's field trip. He was dying to get back to work. He hasn't had that kind of time off since he graduated from college and he could barely stand it.

I told him that I wanted him back at work too, because I couldn't seem to get anything done with him at home. But alas I have come to realize that he is not the problem. I just can't seem to get anything done at all. I have been trying to clean my house all week and it is still a pig pen. I have to run and cook dinner for my kids (including Daniel and Fiti). In other words, I have to go not clean my house.

It Has Begun

Pound for pound, Dewy has always been able to eat the girls under the table, but he has just started to verbalize very clearly what he wants and how. We went through the drive thru after dance this week and I asked everyone what they wanted. I asked Dewy if he wanted a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets. He thought about it for a second and then said, "Both a um." When we got home; he tore through his chicken nuggets and wanted more. I said there were no more so he started in on his cheeseburger. He got about half way through it. Then looked around the table and said, "Where's my tato?" Think of a teenage Jon eating 5 hamburgers and 5 cheeseburgers in one sitting.

Like Father Like Son

When it is time to mow the lawn, Jon and Dewy are happy as can be. Dewy has his own lawnmower and weed-eater and they both take the whole things very seriously while having the time of their lives. When they are done, Dewy comes to find me to tell me that he is a worker and that he used the leaf blower. I am glad I have them; I find the whole thing a lot less appealing than they do. I am happy to water my garden and prune my rose bushes but no thanks on the power tools. I can't wait until Dewy is older and they can fight about who gets to mow the lawn for real.

Shut Down....Again.

Once again we have the left the District Science Fair without a victory. Good Job Tilly, better luck next year. She did a lot better with her defeat than Cricket did. She made a small sad face and quickly moved on.