One Year Later....

Today my baby turns 1....

American Idol-David Archuleta

Even if you're not an American Idol fan, this kid is very good and he's very likeable. He's got my vote this week!

Geek Mom 101

Okay, so let me start off with, not only was my lunch idea bright but in my opinion it was simply brilliant.

My kids are in a charter school and they do not have a cafeteria so there is no hot lunch program available. That means sack lunches everyday. When the weather is good they eat outside on the lawn and when the weather is bad they eat in their classrooms while the grounds teacher reads to them. Since there is only one class per grade and only 250 kids total in the school, the kids are all very close friends and they spend alot of time together. I have 3 in this school. My kids want go-gurts, Capri sun drinks, fruit cups, fruit roll-ups, and IF I was really cool I would let them take lunchables. Sadly, I'm not so cool but I have tried to buy some of these things when they are on sale. The problem I am running into is, if I don't pack them what they want, they either don't eat, they barter the unwanted stuff for more desirable, less healthy foods like Twinkies or donuts, or their friends will just bring extra goodies to share because they feel sorry for my kids pathetic lunches. Very nice friends, but not okay with me. Each week I end up spending a ridiculous amount of money on their cold lunches. I would really prefer they just take last nights left overs but that would be really damaging for their fragile self-esteems.

So, this last weekend when I went shopping, much to the panic and dismay of my poor starving children, I bought some small containers and small refillable juice boxes at Target and then bought bulk yogurt, canned fruit (lots of different kinds even), pudding, and jello so they can fill the little containers with whatever they want. I bought lots of cans of 100% concentrated juice so they can make a pitcher at night and fill up their little bottles with good juice not sugary punch, and Hubby has been drying some jerky and fruit for them as well to put in their lunches.

Honestly, nothing bright in this idea at all. And I'm sure that any of you would or are doing the same things with your children's cold lunches. I didn't mean to leave you all in suspense. It was the reaction from the kids at school that struck me as funny. Because I'm trying things that are more home made, I'm thought of as the "weird" mom. My poor kids. (I wonder what other bright ideas I have had that have been the topic of discussion among the lunch buddies.)

Each day when the kids get home from school the first thing they tell me about is how their lunches went over with the other kids and what things are totally not cool to do again. The thing that makes them the happiest is when they don't stand out from the other kids. They just want to blend in. I had no idea cold lunch would be such a social event. I thought my idea was sort of like the real deal. It could be worse. I could make them eat really healthy embarrassing stuff.

So, since we are on this subject, what things do you put in your children's cold lunches. We are half way through the school year and our lunches are starting to become boring.

Ummm.....not sure what to say

Conversation at lunch yesterday as told to me by J:

Kinsey: Looks at J's lunch and says, "Oh man, did your mom have another one of her bright ideas?"
J: "Yea, only she's serious about this one. If it works, we have to stick with it."
Kinsey: "I'm so sorry! I'm just really glad that my mom is normal!"
J: "I wish mine was."

What do your kids say about you when you're not around?

Where's K?

Yesterday after church we all climbed into the sub. The kids were all laughing and playing and arguing over who sat where and Hubby and I were just relieved to have survived another Sunday. For some reason, Hubby didn't drive right off but we chatted for a minute. I turned around and noticed that all the car seats were empty and the kids were all crammed in the back seat together having a party. I could see H and the older 4 but not K. Just as Hubby put the car into drive, I asked who had K. Suddenly we could hear a panicked muffled scream. It was K, but where was she. No one had her on their lap so we decided she wasn't in the car. Hubby looked out his side mirror and there she was, standing by her door waiting for someone big to open it for her. When she heard the car start up, she panicked and screamed. That's the scream we heard. Suddenly the reality of how close we came to either leaving her, or worse, running over her suddenly set in. We looked up to see several ward members staring at us in disbelief. I can only imagine the circus act we must have looked like. K cried for most of the ride home. She said that we scared her cuz she "foughts we had forgot 'bout her". Talk about guilt. One more reason to justify why couples should not have lots of kids.

Or....maybe I'm just thankful for another tiny miracle.

Dancing....

Last night our church had a family dance. We did not go. We stayed home and played our own music really loud and had our own silly family dance followed by poppy seed cake and ice cream.

So, do you (or would you) go to a family dance? Why? or Why not?

Here's my opinion: I do not understand the purpose of having a family dance at church. I'm not trying to have a bad attitude. It just makes no sense to me. When I went to dances as a teenager, I went to dance and flirt with cute boys. Even when I was old enough to date, going to dances was not the fun part of the date. Sure it was fun to dance a little with my date but mostly we went to just get pictures. It wasn't about the dancing at all. So now that I am happily married, I honestly do not see the purpose of having a church dance. I'm not interested in dancing with anyone but my husband. Trying to keep track of all my kids while holding my baby and trying to dance in a dimly lit church gym surrounded by other happily married couples and all their little kiddos running around just sounds like stress to me.

So now that I've sort of explained my thoughts here, maybe you can share with me what I am missing. In all fairness, I have never been to a dance since I have been married so I don't know what I am missing. I would love to hear your opinions. Our church has this dance every year so give me your opinion as to why I should or should not support this dance next year.

How do you say...?

Last night, S's class was asked to perform for the school board. Hubby and I left the other kids home and just took her. Her class has been learning Spanish so they sang a song that lists the days of the week, a song that lists the months of the year and then they did some conversation exercises for the board. They were really cute and I thought they did a great job! Afterwards, we stopped at the grocery store to get a couple of items. While there, Hubby was teasing S that they had mispronounced some of their words. S was quite sure that they had said them right since her teacher is always right. After several minutes of teasing each other, Hubby took S over to this cute little Spanish couple that was also shopping. They spoke very little English, so Hubby spoke to them in Spanish. He told them that S was learning to speak some Spanish but that some of her pronunciation was wrong but that she wouldn't believe him so would they please tell her the correct way to say some of the words. S was so embarrassed. It was so funny! We laughed and laughed. She just kept saying how she couldn't believe her dad would do that to her. We got our groceries and went to the checkout line. While we were waiting, I decided to make sure I had some money with me to pay for our stuff. I didn't! The store we were at only accepts cash or local checks so then it was my turn to embarrass S and Hubby. Hubby was kind of mad at me and kept saying how I was way too spacey sometimes. As we were walking out the door, empty handed, I saw one of my friends. Now I was embarrassed. As we passed her and I said Hi to her, she quickly showed me her ATM card and whispered, I forgot my money so I hope I can remember my PIN number so I can get some cash to pay for my groceries. I instantly felt better. I told her that was why we were leaving with no groceries. See, I'm not the only one like me out there. (OR maybe that doesn't say much for my friends.) We went and got our groceries at a store that takes a credit card. The whole evening S kept reminding us about how embarrassing it had been to hang out with her parents. I remember being young and thinking my parents were embarrassing also. I actually felt bad for doing that to her but we really had a good time with her and we laughed alot so I wasn't considering the evening a complete failure. Then, just before she headed off to bed, she came over to give me a hug and she said, "Thanks mom for a really fun evening. I had a really great time being with you and dad!" It reminded me of those LDS church commercials that say "Family....isn't it about TIME!"
Thanks S! Daddy and I had a great time with you also! You make us laugh!



P.S. My traps are full again this morning. This is not so much fun anymore. In fact I'm kind of mad about it today! I'm not very patient and this problem is getting old already! I guess it could be worse though. Hubby just stopped in for lunch and said that he has been investigating a dead body all morning. I guess my little dead mice problem is maybe not so bad. Wait, YES IT IS!!!!! YUCK!!!