All Those Children Getting Kidnapped.....

I love dogs. Every few years I get a real itch to add one to my family (I do feel a little trashy admitting that after reading one of Jessica Crapos latest posts - I guess it would mean an end to taking food to neighbors. ;). The last time I started seriously looking into a dog we ended up getting Max. Technically I had a dog until a couple months ago. I adopted a great little Black Lab named Maggie from the pound when I was 19. She replaced a lousy boyfriend. She was the perfect dog: mild, affectionate, a good leash walker, pretty. She did have one little problem. She liked to step in her poop. Most dogs have a natural aversion to their own waste, somehow Maggie was missing that. Anyway, she would step in her poop and then when she was excited to see you she would jump......enough said I guess. Maggie stayed with my parents when I got married, and she died a couple months ago when I was home over Thanksgiving. Anyway, this post isn't really about Maggie. It's about me wanting a dog right now. So, I've been preparing as well as I can - I've been reading some books by the "Dog Whisperer" Ceasar Millan. They are the best parenting books I have EVER read. I'll probably do another post about that sometime. So, I decided to start checking out dogs and the kids and I went to an "adoption" at Petsmart the other day. The woman who was in charge starting talking to me. She was passionate about the dog rescue work she does. She told me how long she'd been involved, how many dogs she had rescued, and a few stories about particularly interesting cases. Then she began telling me about how good it is for families and children to have canine companions. Her main point was safety and protection. "A dog is better than a gun," she said. Then she moved very close to me, so our shoulders were touching, leaned her head in so that our heads were nearly touching, covered her mouth with her hand and lowered her voice (we were in Petmart remember). She said "I've done some research. You know all those kids in California and Texas and......that keep getting kidnapped. ALL of their families had CATS!!" It was all I could do to keep my face as serious as her, and solemnly whisper "oh." There you have it - if every family had a dog there would be no more missing kids.

As a note, I wish not to offend cat lovers, if you like 'em, good for you.

Here's a couple examples that lead me to believe that show me my kids would do just fine with a pet.

Milking a Cow

Riding a Pig
Hugging a Bear
Riding a Horse

"He Cooks.....He Microwaves"

I love that my daughter never ceases to amuse me. She's been really into cooking lately - using works like chef, and cook, and all things related. It started when her dad jokingly told her she could work at McDonalds when she grew up. She was really excited by that possibility. So today during lunch she was talking about being a chef, and the following conversation took place between us:

"I love the food dad cooks."

"Dad cooks food?" He doesn't. Ever.

"Yea, he's the best chef."

"Really, what does he cook?"

"He cooks.....(thinking, thinking).......he microwaves!"

"He microwaves? What does he microwave?"

"Chinese."

"Oh, like the Chinese we get at a restaurant and bring home?"

"Yea, it's sooooo good."

I'm just glad she likes it.

Since I'm on this topic of food, particularly Chinese food - yesterday Quincy helped me make this recipe for Sweet and Sour Chicken (and that's what we were eating during this conversation). It's really good. My mom thinks it's really easy - I think it takes a while but it's worth it.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

4-8 chicken breasts - boneless, skinless (I've tried 3 and 7, and think that 5 would probably be perfect).

1 beaten egg

cornstarch

oil

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup vinegar

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. garlic powder

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Dip them in egg to coat. Dip them in cornstarch to coat. Cook them in a small about of oil until light tan ( ;) TerriLyn). Place them in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix all the rest of the ingredients together - sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic. Pour the sauce over the chicken and stir a little.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes.

Here's a pictures of The Girl helping me, I was kind of surprised, I would never touch raw meat until I got married and was forced into it.

I realize now that I am cementing the fact that this post is a jumble of only loosely related things. Oh, well, it's my blog, I can do that. Some day Quincy will love reading all these things about herself - I hope. Anyway, she said something today that reminded me of my dad. When I was a teenager, he referred to me as an "aggressive" driver. That's law enforcement man talk for someone who goes through tires and brakes quickly. I wasn't really aggressive as in mean, or road rage. I just liked to let my car exercise. I have received alot of tickets though. I've become of big fan of cruise control, but I call it ticket control. As a side note - sometimes you can, and sometimes you can't get out of a ticket by saying you are hurrying to the next bathroom - I think you have to have beads of sweat on your forehead to get away with it - so keep a spray bottle close. I think I have only received one ticket in the last four years (I've been a mom for four years too, that's probably why). Anyway, my dad became pretty good natured in his heckling me. One day I pulled into my parking spot while he was outside. He said something like "Were you just parking a car, or landing a jet?" That always makes me smile. Yesterday I was getting the kids in the car and after I buckled Quincy in, and while I was buckling myself she said out of the blue "Ready for takeoff!" Funny girl.

Too Funny To Not Post

I've haven't blogged for a while, and this is going to be no significant post, I just had to put these up for Laura to laugh at.

Max has been sick for what seems like forever, and he's lost his appetite. In fact, he lost about a pound and a half in the last 2 weeks. A friend dropped off a couple bags of caramel corn for Christmas, and I have been giving Max little pieces throughout the day - it's about the only thing he'll eat. Well, somehow he got ahold of the bag and helped himself to the whole ball. I think it's so cute. He carried this giant popcorn ball around for an hour, and just pleasantly snacked.

Now for Miss Q. Everynow and then I'll double pajama her - if I think she'll be chilly I'll put a lighter pair on and then some heavier ones over the top. Apparently Quinn thought it would be really cold tonight. She came downstairs looking like the Pillsberry Dough Girl - when I started counting the layers - she had on 7 pairs of pj's! Cracked me up. She looks grumpy in the pictures, that's because she doesn't like me laughing at her, but I couldn't stop.

If you ask nicely and you don't get what you want, try more aggressively.

I was pretty sure that Quincy's prayere wouldn't be answered to her liking, I was right. I started to prepare myself for "Why didn't Heavenly Father kill the mosquitos?" She didn't bother to ask. The next day, when we were walking out to our car and they came buzzing she walked right to the middle of the road (obviously she was more visible from heaven there), and put her arms straight down her sides and her head all the way back so she looked like a gymnast just finishing a routine. Then she yelled toward the sky "JESUS! KILL THESE MOSQUITOS. I HATE THEM. KILL. THEM. ALL."

My Childs Prayer

Here's what Quincy had to say last night:
"Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for our blessings. Please kill all de mosquitos. You shouldn't have made them on this whirl-ld. They sting us. Please kill dem. Amen."

My Child, An "Urchin"?

Quincy and I love to read these books by Lauren Child. They are about a brother and sister, and they always start with the sentence "I have this little sister Lola. She is small and very funny." Anyway, I mention that because it seems like I start alot of posts with something like "My sister Julia......"

I have this little sister Julia, she is taller than me (everyone in my family is) and very funny (most people in my family are). I think she likes it when I mention her on my blog. In fact, I think she schemes of ways to get me to mention her on my blog. Lately she's going a little farther than necessary in this attempt. She told me that my lovely blue-eyed, golden-haired, button-nosed daughter looks like an urchin.

It went down like this. I posted a picture of her on my last post. The next day, I get a text asking me what size shoes Quincy wears. A few hours later, when I was talking to Julia on the phone, she told me that "Quincy looked like an Urchin" in the last picture I posted, and that "it looks like her toes are about to pop out of those shoes." That's why she was asking about shoe sizes. She was going to take matters into her own hands, she thoughtful that way - last year Quincy got a package of new socks when Julia decided I was neglectful because Quincy's socks looked to small to her. Anyway, it's a good thing that I was on my way home from purchasing both of my children two new pairs each of shoes at the time Julia enlightened me, otherwise I would have felt bad. Okay, it's true, Quincy's shoes were looking a little worn - I had just been waiting for Payless to have another "Buy One Get One 1/2 Price Sale," and they are now. Anyway, we still love you Julia, even if you think we look urchin-ish.

I could understand this being called urchan-ish.

On another note, here's the latest thing that Quincy's done that totally cracked me up. Last night after they had their baths, Quincy was watching Max get dried off when she proclaimed:

"Eeewwww. I'm never going to marry a man (yes she used the word man) wiss ( her pronunciation) a naked pee-pee under his pants!"

The boy with a naked pee-pee under his pants. He's proud of it.

Just Because I Think He Looks So Cute In His Hoodie and Jeans

For Mula and Outsmarted Pillow Talk

A few nights ago I realized I needed to just go to bed when I sat staring at this box and had the following ..... what's it called when you're talking in your head? It can't be a dialogue, that's two voices.....any way, this is what was in my head:

"Non-Drowsy For Mula. For Mula? What's that? Who's Mula? Is that some kind of spanish word?"

In Quincy news - Every night after I read to her I lay by her in her bed for a few minutes. Everynight I say, "ok, goodnight" and she says "two-more minutes, (or five or three)" and I oblige. This is how it went that night:

"Love you, goodnight"
"Five more minutes:

"One more minute"

"Five more minutes"

"Two more minutes"

"Five more minutes"

"Three more minutes"

"Five more minutes"

"Four more minutes"

"Nine more minutes!"

Outsmarted, no doubt about it.

Thanks Aunt Julia!

Another "Nobody Told Me"

I have found, during my brief time as a mother, that there are certain things that nobody told me to expect. I've made it my personal mission to document those things, and now I have a couple new ones to add to the list. Nobody told me how joyful it is to watch one of your children celebrate another. I discovered this as part of Max's first birthday. I took Quincy to Target a few days before the birthday, and told her she could pick out a present for him. She scanned the aisle briefly, and quickly found what she thought would be the perfect gift - a set of blocks that came whith thier own wagon. She was so excited to give this gift to her brother (and to play with them herself), she could hardly wait. I also let her help pick out the cake. Yea, I'm not such a crafty and creative mom as some kids have, so Max's cake came from the grocery store. We found something with just the right creamy white frosting that she was sure he would want. That night as we lit the candles and had the cake I was struck by the love that showed in the way she enjoyed the evening. Sitting at the computer now it's hard to put into words, but I'll never forget the way she looked at him, and tended to him, trying as hard as the rest of us to make sure he had a great day. I am truly amazed and grateful by what this child shows me. In the Book of Mosiah, King Benjamin told parents to teach their children to "love one another, and to serve one another." Now I see what a joy it is when children do this. My next "nobody told me" concept isn't technically a "nobody told me." Quincy starts official, school based preschool on Thursday. Who hasn't heard women talking about how they cried when their child went to school? The thing with this, is that I just had no inkling of how that would really feel, and somehow I thought it would be different for me. So, although I'm familiar with the concept, this has totally taken me off guard. It's slowly sinking in for me that this little companion I've had for last nearly 4 years is suddenly going to be away from me for half the day on a regular basis now. Oh, how bitter sweet. I feel like she is ready. She's bright and ready to be taught in a formal setting by someone other than her mother. This is going to be a really great thing for her, but I'll miss her so. I'll miss the constant chatter that, at times, I have thought annoying. I'll miss the taking our time over breakfast, and staying up late watching Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I'll miss the morning walks, trips to the park, and just hanging out. I'll miss my girl.

Here's one of those random conversations that I will always remember and laugh about:

"Mom, do I have to get married if I want to have children?" (I love that she uses the word "children")

"Yep, you do"

"How do you get children in your tummy?"

"Heavenly Father puts them there."

"But how does he put them there?"

"Uh................."

"Do you have to get a shot?"

"Yea, that's it, a shot."

And then this on just a few minutes ago

"Mom, do you know who those guys are?"

"Yea"

"Ali-bama"

"Obama"

"Obami. Sounds like bummy. And that other one?""

"McCain"

"And I approve this message"

"How Hard Is It To Upload A Few Pictures?"

That's what my sister, Julia, says to me nearly every day. Someday she'll be a mom and she'll realize just how much time it takes to give Quincy her morning snuggle, go outside and watch the tree cutters working, say hello to the roaming puppy, fix Max french toast sticks, fix me and Quincy toast, turkey and cheese, load the dishwasher, clean and put away the crock pot, wipe the counters, sweep the floors, put the kids in the tub, make three beds, clean up a closet full of toys, wash two kids, dry two kids, dress two kids, do two kids hair, shave your legs, wash yourself, get yourself dressed, do your hair, and brush your teeth. Someday she'll understand that its not that hard to upload pictures, it's just getting to the task that is hard. But for now, here's the darn pictures Julia. :)

It's pretty lucky that we had this fireman's hat to go along with Max's new engine. Too bad he won't wear it.I love this smile.
The new outfit is dang cute - thanks Julia.


Once when I was sitting in Pancake City, Kirksville's local greasy spoon, I overheard the waitress Kathleen, who is missing her two front teeth, say "It's not pornography! Everyone has naked pictures of thier kids." For some reason that always comes to my mind and I laugh a little - Kathleen will never know that someone will remember those words forever. I don't have very many naked pictures of my kids because I rarely have my camera in the rooms where they are most likely to be naked, but I took this picture just so I could document Kathleens words.

And finally, Max on his new fire engine, thanks Grandma. He loves it. I think he may grow up to be a symphony conductor, because he does the same thing with his right hand every time the music starts.

Update and our Va-K

Israel finished his second year of medical about a month ago, and for us that meant a move from Kirksville, Missouri (I just barely mastered the spelling of that word, and now we don't even live there anymore....) to Trenton, Michigan. The first two years of his school were done at the site of the school, and were basically all class work. Now he begins his rotations, which means he'll spend six weeks each with all the different kinds of doctors. It's a pretty exciting move for him. For me it was kind of sad, it means starting all over with making friends and finding things to do. It's also farther from "home." Funny, but I grew to love Missouri so much that it feels like home too. I sure to miss everyone there. Anyway, thanks to everyone who helped with our move - especially Katherine and TerriLynn for helping with our kids - and my mom and dad for helping with everything else. I have been blessed with such great friends and family. Anyway, we got here and the house was gross - seems to be par for most of us moving to Michigan. I actually thought to myself 'should we just keep the truck loaded and go look for something else right this minute?'. After several hours of cleaning and scrubbing (thanks for that too mom) I started to feel like we could make things work out. Now we're settled and enjoying our new place. I'll write more about that later....maybe.

Israel had almost an entire month before rotations began, and after we kind of settled in we started to get board. Most people in our situation headed out west to visit family, but we hadn't made any plans. It started to feel like we were just "spending" days, but not really doing anything or having any plans or purpose. I hate that feeling. So on Wednesday morning I told Israel he had 24 hour notice - we were going on vacation. We've never really gone on vacation before - anyone who knows me knows that I don't even count our honeymoon to Alaska as a vacation. So we spend that day looking at our atlas and deciding what to do. Here's what we came up with:

Our first day we drove from home to a little town called Carlisle, Pennsylvania - aka Charmingtown USA. I am in love with this place. We chose it because I got a good deal for the hotel on hotwire.com, and it was close to where we wanted to visit Friday - Gettysburg. I am so happy we found this little place, just by chance. I loved it. I would have stayed there a week, but we kind of ran out of stuff to do there. Anyway, it really reminds me of England where I served my mission. Here are some pictures. I hope that we go back to Carlisle sometime. (Besides - Carlisle is one of my favourite Twilight characters.....)

So the second day of our trip we visited Gettysburg. I was surprised by my experience there. I enjoy history and historic things - and can you get much more historic than Gettysburg? We stopped at the visitors center and bought a cd that you can use to have a guided tour in your car. Then we drove around the battlefield for the next couple of hours listening to a dramatization of the events that took place there. The longer I listened, the more I just felt sorrow. So much pain occured in that place. So much life was taken - for a noble cause, I know, but it is still sad no matter how noble. I can't help but think that if I had lived in a different time, those stories of suffering may have involved my Israel, or my Max. When we visited the gift shop, and I bought a bag of candy, I couldn't help but feel that all these people, talking soo loud and acting so lightminded were desecrating a place that that should be hallowed and sacred. In the Gettysburg address Abraham Lincoln said "We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

The Devils Den, where the worst of the fighting took place. Got it's name because it was like a Hell on Earth.

After this experience we needed something a little lighter, so we spent a couple hours in Hershey Pennsylvania - yep, the home of the chocolate bar. It was fun - and we got the most delicious piece of cheesecake. Quincy enjoyed her cupcake.

Ok, it's late, I'm going to have to make a Part II to this post.

"You Don't Have To Write Anything, Just Put Some Video's On," OK

Do Your Kids Have These Toys?

I've mentioned Quincy's facination with moles before. No, I'm not talking about the little animals in the ground, I'm talking about the kind on people. I have one on my wrist, and one on my chin. Here's a picture of the one on my chin, it's on my right side. I show the picture to demonstrate that's it's not some giant gross thing. My mom has one on her face too. Quincy loves to rub our moles. Usually, it seems like she's doing it kind of unconciously. I'll be laying by her, and think she's asleep, and she'll reach up with her eyes closed and her little hands will go straight to the mole and start rubbing. As I've said before, it is both endearing and annoying. Well, here's a conversation that I think I'll chuckle about for a long time. It happened the other day when I was drying Quincy off after her bath (it's written in Quincy vernacular, for the full effect):

"Mom, I love your moes"

"You do? Why?"

"Dey are like toys foe me."

"Really?"

"Yea, I can rub dem whenever I want."

There you have it, I have toys for my kids growing on my face.

Happy Birthday Max!

I know it's been a while since I've blogged, so some day I'll do a catch up of the last two months, which have been pretty eventful. In the meantime, Max will be officially one-year-old in exactly five hours, but we started celebrating early. Here he is with his presents. Quincy picked out the blocks.....I wonder who she really wanted them for :)

Could He Pass?

The other day at the wading pool I had Max in nothing but a white onesie. A lady there, who doesn't know us, said something like "Oh, he's such a boy. I can tell he's a boy even in just a onesie." I've gotten comments like that before. So, to test it, yesterday I dressed him up in one of Quincy's princess dresses, just to see how he looked. What do you think? Could he pass as a princess, or is he all prince? I promise not to be offended if anyone thinks he's a delicate little lady.

In other news, poor Quincy, she kind of has a bad deal for her birthday. It's on November 22, so it's always the week of Thanksgiving, sometimes, like this year, actually on Thanksgiving day. Who throws fun Thanksgiving parties? Little girl birthdays should be in the summer, with swimming and sqealing and running. Not the week of Thanksgiving with gourds and turkeys, and pilgrim clothes. Anyway, the last two years she's had birthday pumpkin pie - not so fun. I always feel kind of bad when I take her to other kids' fun parties and this year I'm really going to try to make her bid day fun. Anyway, so last week when she asked if she could have a birthday cake, I gave in. I made her a pink cake with pink frosting. I didn't let her know what I was up too until we were ready for dessert and I brought it out with a pink candle on it. She was thrilled. After we sang to her and she made a wish and blew out her candle, she insisted that we do the same for all of us - so Israel and I got a candle and a song too. It was pretty fun. The next night we went through the same ritual with our desserts. I have a feeling that these un-birthdays are going to become a regular thing around our house.

Quincy's World

I wonder if this little friend of mine while ever stop cracking me up - I hope not! Here's a few of the latest little things.

Yesterday we were driving out to the lake to meet some friends when this conversation took place.

"Quincy, I see Melissa, Adalin, and Kira behind us!"

"We've gotta lose 'em!"

"We've gotta lose em? What's that mean?"

"That means faster....with more POWER!"

......a few minutes later, after a few curves in the road.....

"Mom, you're driving CRAZY! Did we lose 'em?"

Then last night we had this conversation -

"Quincy, I'm going out with Heidi tonight, so you're going to hang out with dad."

"I don't want to hang out with dad, he picks on me."

"He picks on you? What do you mean?"

"He makes me do my homework!" (remember, she's not in school)

Then this from a few weeks ago. My dad had e-mailed a picture he had taken of a brand new baby buffalo to us and after Quincy saw it she called him to about it:

(Grandpa) "A few minutes after I took that picture, I went by again and saw him drinking milk from his mommy, you know, like Max drinks milk from your mommy."

"My mommy's not a buffalo!!"

Here she is with her rendition of Mary Poppins, "My Favourite Things" - wish I would have remembered not to turn the camera!

Of course, no post would be complete without a picture of handsome Maxwell.

Just Some Pictures