The Dream Car

I had a conversation with my girls a little while back and it still makes me chuckle, so I thought I'd share. As I was driving down the road one afternoon, Larissa says, "I don't want to ride in this car." "Which one do you want to take? Dad's car?" "No, I want one with a different door." After some probing questions, it clicks, "A sliding door like on Ben's car?" (they have a mini van). "Yes! Ben's car is cool!" Then Kaitlyn and Brenna join the conversation talking about an even better car. Kaitlyn explains, "Mom remember when we lived in the other house in Loma Linda? Ben had a different car then. Sometimes Kayleen let us ride in the back. That was the best car ever!" Brenna adds, "Yeah! I wish we had a car like that! That was really cool!" That started me laughing, envisioning them as teenagers, not liking minivans and outright complaining about riding in the back of an old (very old) oldsmobile station wagon. That's right! Their dream car is an old fashioned station wagon! Girls, you've got style!

Frank helped me out yesterday by doing the dishes. Today I was unloading the dishes from the dishwasher,and I see a film on some of the dishes. I thought it was caused by overloading, but one after another were still dirty. A light went off in my head and I ask, "Did you put soap in the washer?" "No, why would I do that? I didn't start it." (I did after he closed the door and walked away) I was totally frustrated at having to redo those dishes, and he couldn't stop laughing. He assumed I had added the soap since I pushed the start button, and I assumed he had done it before closing the door. Another case of Mars and Venus logic...

I'll take it

Anyone (or most everyone, I hope) with small kids has experienced the looks of annoyance, words of unsolicited advice, smiles, and the occasional word of encouragement--all from strangers. For example, there's the time when Larissa was two and having a major tantrum in a craft store. Due to circumstances, I didn't have the luxury of leaving and coming back later. As I hurried through the store looking for the needed item, I heard old biddies saying, "what an awful mom!" "Pick up that child" "That child needs a good spanking." "Stop that screaming." The two nice old ladies said "maybe she needs a nap" or "is she hungry? I have some crackers." It was an awful experience. Fast forward a couple months and I am walking out of target with a new born in one arm and a kicking, screaming toddler held football style in the other arm. As people make way, they are saying things like "God bless you" "keep up the good work" "you can do it" "let me help you". What a contrast!

Recently, I have had a couple verbal pats on the back. I prefer to remember those opposed to the angry glares, and sighs of annoyance. While I was searching for a particular item in the baby aisle at the grocery store, Larissa kept herself busy looking at books. When it was time to move on Larissa informed me, "I don't have this one at home mommy. Let's buy it." I responded with, "Guess what? When we get home you still won't have it, because we aren't going to buy it today." She looked at the book, shrugged, put it back and said, "I want it for my birthday." "Ok, we'll put it on your list and see what you get." This is a normal exchange between us-the list part. I say "not today", she says to put it on the list, drama averted. No need to say no.
But I digress. Back to the pat on the back. As we were leaving the aisle, a man who had been stocking a shelf said, "Excuse me mam."(am I that old?) He then went on to say that when I said no to the book, he was just waiting for the crying and screaming to start and was pleasantly surprised that it hadn't. "Most kids do, but yours didn't. She's a good kid." Well, she is definitely easy to shop with (now), but she gives me plenty of drama in other ways. He didn't need to know that though, and I glowed in my child's moment of goodness.

Then, last week, I was out with Kaleb. We found ourselves in a line of one (me) while we waited for the cashier to finish a return on dog food. I wasn't aware you could return a half used bag of food. The customer asked for the cashier to suggest a different type of food to try. She did and the customer asked "why." An explanation was given, and the customer asked... you get the idea. It felt like the exchange lasted forever, but it was really only a few minutes, 5 tops. Standing still with a toddler that long is asking for trouble, but I managed to keep Kaleb busy, barely. As we walked up to the cashier she apologized for the wait and said, "You have the best baby ever! I've never seen a baby in this store so well behaved." To which I said thank you and added, "I guess you didn't hear him scream when I forced him away from the birds and fish." But she'd already said it, my baby is the best, and the words had already made my ok morning great.

Date Night

For our first date in I don't know how long, Frank took me to see Airborne Toxic Event--Frank's new favorite band. We brought Frank's co-worker (Helene) with us, so you might not consider it much of a date, but we did have dinner alone beforehand.

I was relieved when the band finally started playing at 10:30pm. It was about time! I knew I would have to be up early with the kids and that my crabby mommy persona would most likely make an appearance - and it did, poor kids.

The one girl in the band was definitely feeling the music. Whether it was genuine or drug induced I couldn't decide. Frank assured me, that's just how she is. I was feeling the music too...literally. My clothes were vibrating and I could swear that my hair occasionally blew in the blast of the music. I wished the music was not quite so loud and felt like an old fuddy duddy thinking such a thing. Then Helene, who is an avid concert goer, complained that it was the loudest concert she's been to in her life (we're talking hundreds of concerts). So I felt a little better.

Although, it isn't apparent, I DID enjoy the music. During the last part of the concert we headed to the main floor to stand in front of the stage. There was definitely more energy and enthusiasm next to the stage. We ended up next to this guy whose dancing reminded me of David H. from my YSA days. He was really into the music, dancing all over the place, and his friend was busy keeping him from slamming into other people. It cracked me up! We should have headed downstairs sooner.

When the band was done and came back onstage for the encore, the girl in the band was barefoot and happy. Maybe the high-heeled shoes were part of the reason for the intense look on her face.

If you haven't heard of TATE, this is probably their most popular song:

Sometime Around Midnight

As we were leaving, it was announced, "Don't forget to stop by our bar for a drink on your way out." "Great..." I thought. "They're advertising drinking and driving."

Trip to Staters

I Went to Stater Bro.s today, and spent $32.35, but that cost will drop to $22.35 when I get my rebate back. Here's what I got (minus three pkgs. of idahoan potatoes-wonder where those are?):

All that sugar makes me cringe, but when I figure that I spent .59 per item (with all the apples counting as 1 item), I feel much better.

A New Pet

This morning the girls found a worm out back and decided they wanted to keep it for a pet. I gave them a plastic container then forgot all about it. Next thing I know, I'm hearing little squeals coming from outside...no one wanted to pick up the worm to put it into its new habitat (cracked me up). Brenna ran into, then out of the house. She must have grabbed something to pick up the worm with, because she came back into the house a minute later, proudly showing off their pet worm. It was a short lived excitement, though--the poor worm's celebrity lasted less than 5 minutes before he was dumped back into the "wild".

Girls Day Out

Last week I looked at the calendar and saw that my daughter had written "Disneyland" in Friday's square. With a question mark in my head, I went about my business. Then I saw it on the table-the school calendar, and it clicked. I had told Kaitlyn and Brenna that when summer was over, and they had a minimum day, I would take them to Disneyland. Kaitlyn had done her own research and scheduled the event for us. She was helping me keep my word.

So, it started out as a Disneyland trip with Kaitlyn, Brenna and myself. Then I remembered I don't have parking on my pass, so I invited Rose, my mil, to come. Tori took half a day off work to come too, and with that many adults there was no reason Larissa couldn't come . So our girls day out was born.

My girls were great -no complaining, and the lines were short. That, combined, made for a fun day. Here are a few pics:

It was Brenna and Kaitlyn's first trip to Toon Town. They had a blast!

Checking out Mickey's House.

When the fish started going up, her face had a look of pleasant surprise, and she let out an "ohhh!"

We ended the day with dinner and a carousel ride at California Adventure. I would have been better off without that ride, but the girls enjoyed it.
More fun memories made.