Summertime blues

The other day I had to spend an hour pulling a apart all the melted gummies in the bottom of a jar of vitamins I bought. 

I paid like $10 for the stupid jar and didn't notice that somewhere between the factory and my kitchen cabinet, they turned into a pile of goo at the bottom of the jar.

I didn't want to waste the money, so I painstakingly tried to separate them.  Getting the solidified blob out of the bottom was the hardest part.

They did in fact separate, but they don't look like cars any more.

I'm so done with Summer.

And there's still like a month of "official" summer days left.

And then there is another month after that where I say to myself at least once a day, "Seriously?!?!? How can it still be so hot out?!?  It's Fall for heck's sake!"

You know, when I was in Utah, people would ask when we were going back home to Arizona, and I would tell them around August 1st.  And they would look at me funny, or make a comment, because with a month left of summer, surely I could stay longer. 

Then I would reply that school starts a week after we get back and we need to get the kids ready for that and blah, blah, blah.  To which their reply was,  "Really?!?! That's so early!  Why do they start school so early?"

And then I would mention how hot Arizona is, and there's not much to do, and so why not send the kids back to school a little early, and then take extra time off during the year when the weather is lovely out?  My kids get a week off in the fall, and a week off in the spring, and more time than I ever got at Christmas time... In fact, if it were ever put to a vote, I might actually vote for year round school like one of the neighboring cities here does, with two weeks off in fall, and two weeks off in spring, and like a month in December.

Anyway, I seem to forget all that when the kids are back in school, I start ranting at the temperature display in my car, "Don't you know summer is over?!?! Cool off already, won't you!"

And then I remember that summer isn't actually over, it's just the brand new pencils, and college rule loose leaf paper, and fresh boxes of crayons that fool me into thinking that the start of school and autumn go hand in hand.

I think my low point though was last week, I picked up a couple shifts at the Scholastic warehouse, you know, where I get paid in books to work, and it was so hot and humid and gross.

Besides being hot out, it's monsoon season, which brings humidity and for about a month effectively nullifies that old argument "At least it's a dry heat".

The warehouse was equipped with fans and a swamp cooler, but everyone knows swamp coolers don't work in humidity, so it was fairly yucky there.  Luckily there wasn't much to do.  Customers weren't coming in, and although I asked if there was anything else I could help with, apparently there are very strict rules about what volunteers can and can't do. 

So I just stood there, with nothing to do but think about how my jean capris were sticking to me, and felt totally gross, and that I would feel much better if I just took them off.

Seriously, there was a second or so there where I thought taking my pants off in public was a good idea.

My brain must have been pretty fried, and I think fortunately a stray breeze must have passed my way and brought some sanity with it, because I caught myself in time, but still...

So if anybody asks, fall has my permission to come early.

~~~~~~

"Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do, but there ain't no cure for the summertime blues." - Eddie Cochran

cause I'm a blonde

Speaking of being able to think again...

I ran across some old junior high school yearbooks while cleaning out my closet, and took a brief trip down memory lane.

In my ninth grade yearbook (which while I was technically a freshman, 9th grade was considered junior high in my home town) I ran across something my Spanish teacher had written.

Okay, he was more than just my Spanish teacher, I took Spanish in 7th and 8th grades, then in the 9th grade he persuaded me to try out for Student Court, because he was the advisor.  He was a crusty guy that liked to give kids a hard time and had a reputation of being kind of a jerk.  But for the record, I liked him and thought he was pretty funny.

 But I think he liked me.  I don't think he would have suggested I try out for Student Court otherwise.

I just mention that because this is what he wrote in my yearbook, and for those of you who don't speak Spanish, I found the translation on another page, I think I had my next door neighbor translate it for me.  (Clearly my two years of Spanish probably still left a little to be desired.  Also for those of you who do speak fluent Spanish, he wrote it in cursive, so I might not get some of the spelling correct.)

Kirsten, Eres la primera persona que la conocido quien al dire aumenta con mas anos.  Ojala que algun dia puedes pensar dos veces en un dia.  Tenga buena vida, Senor Hortin.

Which roughly translates to-

Kirsten, you are the first person I've ever known who gets more air headed every year. I hope some day you can have two thoughts in the same day.  Have a beautiful life, Senor Hortin.

Clearly I made an impression.

My theory is that in the seventh grade I was painfully shy, and didn't speak much. But as I grew more comfortable with the people around me, people got to know me a little better. And my blonde-ness would start to show.  Sorta like that quote-   "Keep your mouth shut and people will think you stupid.  Open it and remove all doubt."

Good times.

~~~~~~

"I never learned to read and I never learned to cook.  Why should I bother when I look like I look?"-  Julie Brown

the sounds of silence.

I can think again. Hallelujah.

You know, it was a toss up the last time I wrote about things being quiet in my house between this song by Simon and Garfunkel and the Depeche Mode one I actually used.   I went with the Depeche mode one because I think I was trying to prove (mostly to myself probably) that I do listen to music that was written after I was born. 

Anyway, back to the silence.

Last Thursday a friend came over to drop some things off and chit chat for a bit, and she brought her four year old along with her, and apparently he used the upstairs bathroom while we were downstairs chatting away. 

No big deal, right?

Except, apparently one of my kids (the one named 'Not Me') plugged up said toilet and left for school without saying anything. Also, our toilets are like 8 years old, and probably some of the cheapest on the market cause that's what builders like to use, so they have a habit of continuing to run, and you have to jiggle the handle, and if that fails, stick your hand in the tank to adjust whatever is malfunctioning. 

You can see where this is going, right?

The little boy did his business, flushed the toilet, and then when he saw the water running over the side of the bowl, quietly shut the bathroom door and went back to playing with my kids' toys.

I figured it out when water started coming out of the light fixtures in the kitchen.

We got it cleaned up, but one look at my ceiling told me I might have a bigger problem on hand,

so I called some friends who own a disaster clean-up service.  

They were pretty busy with all the damage from the many storms in the valley (gotta love monsoon season) but they were able to come out here, cut a hole in my ceiling,

 ripped out base boards in my bathroom,

and they left behind a few industrial dryers to dry out the space between my floors.

Anyways, they were loud.

They wanted to make sure everything was thoroughly dry, so those blowers ran for three and a half days.   Believe me, I'm grateful that they did a thorough job, you hear of too many businesses these days doing shoddy work, and I really appreciate the 'better safe than sorry' attitude, but those blowers gave me a headache and I couldn't even think.   It's like they were in my brain.

I mostly hung out in my bedroom all weekend. Besides being the quietest, it also happened to be the coolest room in the house, which is ironic cause it is usually the hottest. I think one of those dryers put off so much heat, that it messed up the thermostat, (temporarily) and so despite the fact that I raised the desired temperature of our house quite a bit, my bedroom stayed nice and cool. I made good use of my time and cleaned out my closet. I also read a lot.

Anyhow, the noisy dryers are gone, my house is quiet again, there's still a lovely hole in my kitchen,

and that will get fixed, and we have plans to start replacing all the stupid toilets in our house. (Starting with the kids' bathroom)  My brother has one he is in love with.  Supposedly it can flush a whole bucket of golf balls without breaking a sweat.

~~~~~~

"Hello darkness, my old friend.  I've come to talk with you again." - Simon and Garfunkel

ding dong the witch is dead

I know.

I am a horrible person with anger issues and forgiveness issues and that is the song that popped into my head, and I looked for a better nicer song, and I couldn't think of any, I even googled different topics, and nothing came up, so that's the song title I went with, even though it isn't very nice.

But she wasn't very nice either. (not like that's a good excuse. I should be the better person.)

I'm talking about Professor Umbridge, the ALP (advanced learning program) teacher at the elementary school.

And I realize that other people liked her, and had positive experiences in her class, but in our case she was a horrible, horrible person who made it her mission to try to get Nick to quit ALP since she couldn't kick him out herself.  And believe me, she tried.  (If you test in to ALP, you are IN.  The only way to get out is if the parents, teacher, and student decide to have the kid withdraw.)

Let's examine-

1- She tried to kick him out of ALP on day two, and sent my kid home crying without a phone call or a note of explanation. Just a "You don't belong in here. Get out."  I had to call the school and yell and scream. Not really, I tried to be nice, but I was LIVID.

2- She told me that he was not gifted because he was not organized and he didn't fit the mold of what a gifted kid was. Excuse Me? If anything gifted kids are known for NOT fitting into molds.

3- She tried to reason that he "would feel more successful if he just quit". As if his inability to turn things in was just something that happened in her classroom, and his problems disappeared when he walked out of her classroom.  (and name one person that felt successful when they quit?)

4- She admitted to me that all the other kids got THREE days to turn in late work, but Nick only got ONE because she was hoping all those zeros would prompt the district to reevaluate his placement in ALP. (seriously unfair.)

5- She publicly excluded him from a math competition (although he took first place in a math competition a few weeks before) , and then proceeded to publicly shame him in front of the class daily.  "Don't be like Nick..."  I got a phone call from another mother calling to find out if this was true because her son came home horrified at the way Nick was treated in class. 

6- Nick finally got on the medicine he needed and then his grades started to improve because the meds helped him remember stuff (like his homework) and she yelled at him for doing well, called him a liar (concerning the meds) and told him his plan to bring up his grades at the eleventh hour wasn't going to work with her.

TWO YEARS of dealing with this crap.  Of Nick having to deal with her maliciousness daily.

And yes, I am well aware that Nick was not a model student. It's been an ongoing struggle,  with all his teachers and classes, but of all the teachers he's had, she was the only one who has ever treated him badly.  (and so yeah, I'm still a little angry and bitter)

So, yeah we made Nick suffer through two years of her, but I think it made him a stronger person, I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing him quit, (seriously, what kind of a teacher encourages children to quit?) and I was hoping to teach Nick that you can't just quit because you don't like someone. There will always be horrible people to deal with.

But we didn't see the need to put any of our other children in her classroom. I honestly and truly feel that she would have held their last name against them and life would be hell in her classroom for them.  Not quitting because someone is beastly is one thing, but I think knowingly putting your children in that situation is another.  So we decided that as long as she was the ALP teacher at our school, our kids would not be taking the test.  I just didn't want to deal with that. 

Which leads me to the whole point of this post, which was really not to rant about something I need to learn to let go, especially since it's been over three years, but obviously I still get upset just thinking about it...

But  I have really exciting news! Professor Umbridge retired at the end of last year, and a teacher that we LOVE took her position, so we promptly signed Zach up to take the ALP test, and he got in!  YAY!  Way to go Zach! We're so proud of you!

On a related note, I went to meet the teacher night at the high school, and I walked into one of Nick's classes, and the teacher was standing by a few stacks of handouts.  I asked if I needed those, and she said "Your student probably brought them home, but if you need another copy..." To which I smiled and replied, "My student is Nick Berrett."  Her response- "Oh, well Of course you didn't get these!" And then she gave me a big hug and told me how much she loved Nick.  This is Nick's second year having her, and from what I've gathered, she's normally not the super huggy, lovey type.

But that hug 100% made my day.  I've never gotten such a positive reaction from one of his teachers before.

~~~~~~~~

"Ding dong the witch is dead. Which old witch? The wicked witch!" - cast of the Wizard of Oz.

Ten

My blue eyed boy turned ten years old this week.

Double digits.

A decade.

I remember finding out I was pregnant (it was a surprise) and feeling all scared and panicky because I was not ready for another kid.

But that didn't last long, and before I knew it, I was having twins but the pregnancy was in trouble, and I lost one of the babies, and doctors were just telling me I should abort the whole thing and start over.

And then there were months of tears and prayers and doctors visits and then everything was okay.

And then finally 23 hours after my water broke, the doctor laid a bloody, slimy, disgusting, little creature on my stomach and it was totally love at first sight.

And he has been a joy in my life ever since, and I still get sick to my stomach thinking that I had a choice (it really wasn't a choice at all) to choose to live my life without his blue eyes, his contagious laughter, his creativity, his impressive mind, his kindness, his daily hugs, and his generous spirit.

So, we celebrated.

We had cake, took donuts into his class, took him out to lunch, and I gave him the option between a friend party or money for Legos.  He chose the money. And despite my repeated attempts to get him to save some of that extra dough, he spent every last cent of it on his ongoing Lego obsession.

~~~~~~~~~

"By the time I get to ten, I can see how blessed I've been.  I'd choose you all over again..."- Jewel

Vogue

A couple of my kids have had some fun pictures taken awhile back that I recently got my hands on.

Madison had some dance pictures taken before her recital last May, and with two dance classes and two dresses to buy and two picture opportunities, I went really cheap and bought one 5x7 of each. (Which really wasn't that cheap considering)

So here's a photo of those photos (which I am sure breaks some kind of copyright laws, so shh don't tell anybody.  good thing only like 4 people read this)

Isn't she darling?  I think so.

Also last May, I got a Mother's day present that nearly made me cry. (Ok, more than nearly.)  I honestly and truly love all the mother's day presents I have been given, from the simplest hand print on up.

But when I opened a present from Christopher, the first thing I noticed was the re-order form.  At first I was thinking "What kind of present comes with a re-order form? "

And then I opened the present to find this-

Seriously?!?!

He has never taken a better picture in his life.  I didn't know it was possible.

And it came with a sheet of 18 different proofs.  Eighteen!

I stared at the proofs and the order form for days, and couldn't make up my mind.

And then summer came, and I had other things on my mind.

And then the other day I was going through a pile of papers, (which seem to multiply when I'm not looking) and I came across them again.

I didn't see an option to buy a CD (with the pictures and the permissions to use anyway I wanted) on the reorder form, so I drove down to their office (conveniently located in Gilbert) to see what I could do.

The lady was super nice, she owns the place and personally took these pictures and she teared up a little bit when I told her I teared up when I first saw the pictures, and we bonded a little bit, and then she sold me a CD with 5 of the pictures and gave me a super deal on the whole thing.

Of course I haven't gotten any printed up yet, but I can. Hopefully soon. And maybe if the grandparents are nice I will send them some in the pose and size of their choosing, but only if they promise to try and stop complaining that we haven't had a family picture taken since 2004 (no exaggeration) because I need to lose 50 pounds first. Yes, after all this time that is still my excuse.  I'm working on it.  Who knows how many more years it will be until the next family picture is taken after that, so if I'm gonna have to stare at it for awhile, I want to look good.  (Besides I wasn't entirely sure Christopher would cooperate for a photo shoot, he never has before.)

~~~~~~~

"Ladies with an attitude, fellows that were in the mood, don't just stand there, let's get to it, strike a pose, there's nothing to it."- Madonna

Every breath you take

When I was in high school I had a green leather Franklin Day Planner.  I carried it with my everywhere.  It helped me keep track of my homework, work schedule, and even served as my wallet. I even had a Social Studies teacher (who really did like me, he just knew I could handle a little teasing) who would take my planner and pretend to read it aloud to the class.  "Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out..." or "Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot..."  Basically insinuating that I couldn't even perform basic functions without the aide of my precious day planner.

That was 20 years ago.  You don't see people carting around giant day planners anymore. You see smart phones everywhere.

I have one, and it keeps my life straight, instead of reminding me about homework and work schedules, it helps me keep the kids' schedules straight, and it's super handy for things like shopping lists, snapping a quick picture, keeping track of the kids' allowance, or helping me navigate my way to somewhere I've never been.   Amazon's shopping app gets used more than I care to admit, and I find that I can't just sit and do nothing, if I have more than a 2 second wait for anything, I use it as a boredom buster be it facebook, pinterest, instagram, twitter, kindle, netflix, or any of the half dozen or so games I have stored on it.

John loves his iphone apps too. 

 John's phone can show him how to navigate any subway, translate any phrase, and even tell him what the daily conversion rate is.  It keeps track of all flights, hotels, etc (which given how much and how quickly his travel plans change, that's HUGE)

About the only thing missing on his phone are game apps.  Except Uno, which I refuse to play because his phone cheats.  Seriously. Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater.

Anyway, one day he was sitting in an airport waiting for his flight to come home and he was showing off one of his newly acquired apps to a co-worker.

It's an app for Onstar.  I drive a Suburban, which has Onstar, and I'm not sure all what the app does, John installed it on my phone, but I have yet to check it out.

HOWEVER, John likes to keep track of my fuel levels.   And he was showing the guy in the airport exactly how much gas I had in my car. (John texted me this picture so I could share it with you)

The guy's response?  "Uh, that sounds a little too 'Big Brother' for me."

Truthfully I would be a little, okay insanely annoyed, if he were using to keep tabs on me like "You drove 40 miles today.  Where did you go? Why did you need to go there?"

It's more like this "So Onstar is telling me you are really low on gas, don't forget to fill up today ok?"

And admittedly getting gas is one of those things I hate to do, so I always put it off until the last possible minute.  John usually keeps my car full, but sometimes I drive around too much, and he's gone too long, and I have to do it myself.

And although it's been a long time, I once really upset him when we were dating and my car ran out of gas in the middle of the night, and his mom got annoyed when I called after 10, so I hitch-hiked.  I don't think he's gotten over that.

Oh! Speaking of 'Big Brother' - esque apps, I just found out last night that the new program the schools are using to keep track of grades has an app!  Soon I will be able to see exactly how all of my kids are doing in school, which assignments they have or haven't turned in, how well they did on that last test, etc, any time, anywhere.  AWESOME. 

I'm just so glad my own parents didn't have access to stuff like that when I was a kid.

~~~~~~~~

"Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you."  -  The Police

Lucy in the Skyy with diamonds

Ok so I've been trying something new with the last half dozen or so posts. (because I like to try new things, and then give up on them randomly)

It actually started as a coincidence. First I was being silly and because I couldn't think of anything better so I titled the post about river rafting "Row Row Row your boat".

The next post was about our little excursion to the National Park Craters of the Moon.   And the title just popped into my head, "Fly me to the moon".

One is an accident.  Two is a coincidence.  But three is a pattern.  And when I titled the next post "The wheels on the bus" I knew I had to keep going.  Plus, it was fun. It's challenging.  And so I've been trying to come up with song titles to go with each post.

I had to set guidelines for myself.  Like it had to be a classic, or something at least well known.  And  I couldn't use groups or singers I have a total disdain for.  Like Lady Gaga. Or New Kids on the Block. Or Michael Jackson.  (unless the song is oh so perfect, and then I might drop my standards just that once)

And just so you know, today's title isn't a typo. It was either that or "The Vodka Song" or "Vanilla Twilight". Neither of which I have ever heard of, and besides, the Beatles is more ME.

Oh and my friend Chelsa (whom I ran this by to see if it was a dumb idea) thought that I should include a line from every song at like the end of each post.  I might have to do that, and go back and edit that into the previous posts :)

Anyway- here's my story about buying vodka.

In Utah I scored a bunch of vanilla beans from a friend who claimed they were old and she was just going to chuck them, so I came home and started a second bottle of home made vanilla. I already have a bottle of dark rum going, so I thought I'd use those little mini bottles that John sweetly brought home awhile ago. 

I used this cute bottle I picked up in Utah. (I called my mom that night to buy be another one so my vanillas could be in matching bottles, I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place)  After pouring in the vodka and adding the beans, I realized I needed more. So I went to the store.

When I was relating this story to a friend, her comment was, "You went to our store?!? What if someone saw you?"   I was afraid of that.  I had exactly two things in my basket, so if I ran into the Bishop and his wife (like John did when buying my rum) there would be no way to hide it.

Anyway, I go up to the register, the lady asks to see my ID, so I show her, and then her eyes bug out of her head, and she does a total double take.  Apparently to her I didn't look my age.  (I guess I should do my hair and make-up more often) I just smiled and thanked her and told her she just totally made my day.

Feeling so young and high on life, I went home and acted like a teenager (at least the ones I see on facebook) and took a bunch of pictures of myself (in my bathroom no less- cause that's where teenagers seem to like to take pictures of themselves.) 

I even tried (and failed) to make some of those faces that seem so popular with the younger set. 
(seriously, what is up with that?)

So, my vanilla is still stewing, but admittedly I didn't add all the vanilla beans.  This project might take awhile.  I thought the beans were still usable in something else first.  (ice cream, creme brulee, custard...)  Fortunately now that I am going back to weight watchers, (the summer did a number on my diet) I am fantasizing about all the things I could make that would kill my diet, thereby increasing the odds that I will actually use them.

~~~~~~~~

"Picture yourself on a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies".- The Beatles

enjoy the silence

The kids are gone for the day.

Even John is at work.

Shhh. You hear that? That is the sound of quiet. 

Middle of the night kind of quiet but it's daytime.

The only sound I hear is the hum from my laptop.

Music to my ears.

I used to think that the second my kids were gone I'd turn up the radio and listen to something I wanted to listen to, but more and more I am finding that that "something" is a whole lot of nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I do occasionally like to crank it up especially when I need some motivation to get moving, and maybe I am just getting old, but lately I am just loving the peace and quiet of an empty house.

No Spongebob or wii blaring in the background.  No fighting, arguing, crying, screaming, going on between my kids.  I can even have a thought in my head for more than four seconds without interruptions of "mom, mom, mom, mummy, mother, mom..." (of course I am more than capable of distracting myself all on my own)

And admittedly there's lots of noise that I like.  Pianos and violas being practiced.  Kids laughing, giggling, talking, and playing together.  That kind of stuff is music to my ears.

And as crazy as it sounds, I think my record for keeping the TV off is like 48 hours. (I think John is the one who actually turned it on.)  48 hours of no TV! And the crazy thing was my kids never once asked! I couldn't believe it!  That was last year during the school year. 

Anyway....I'm sure I never thought I'd be this person because once upon a time I couldn't even sleep without music playing, but I just love it.

And before I know it, the kids will be home needing my attention to regale me with stories of their day, and probably ask a thousand questions,  and someone will turn on the TV, and I will remind someone they need to practice first, and I will be ready and willing and happy to deal with a house full of busy kids because I had my share of peace and quiet for the day, and I am sure the day will come where there is too much peace and quiet and I will long for the sounds that come with raising four kids. (the good and the bad)

~~~~~~~~

Update-  the kids all had a good day yesterday.  Madison didn't mention once this morning that she needed to throw up. She did get lost lots yesterday, but found plenty of people willing to help.  She said one teacher yells a lot, but she is in a class full of  "bad kids."

Christopher has accepted his fate of going to first grade and was ready for the bus a full hour before it got here.  Which is pretty typical behavior for him, which is why it was so surprising when he announced "No more schools for Christopher." 

I didn't get many details out of the other two.  Zach said school was "good." Somedays it's like pulling teeth to get him to tell you anything.  Other days he talks non stop.

Nick gave me about the same response.  But in his defense, he was tired.  School started for him at 6:30, then he had cross country where he ran in 115 degree heat, in which nearly everybody puked, including one of the coaches.  He did mention that lots of people liked his shirt.  (He did most of his school shopping on the internet- he's into funny, geeky t-shirts these days)  It says "Expendable" - He really wanted this shirt for Christmas, but it was sold out.  It's a reference to Star Trek and the running joke that if you see a guy you don't recognize in a red shirt, especially if he is going with some of the main characters to explore a planet, it's a good bet he's going to die.

~~~~~~~~~

"All I ever wanted, all I ever needed, is here in my arms."- Depeche Mode





Be true to your school

School started today.

Half of my kids were excited and ready.

Half were not.

Think you can guess which ones were ready for a new year of teachers and homework and projects and all the extra stuff that goes with it?

This one was very excited. 

"Mom, I can't wait to get back to school.  It's like High School is my real life, and I'm just taking a break from it now, and as fun as this summer has been, I'm ready to get back to my real life."

I'm trying not to think too hard on the fact that I am no longer the center of his universe, but merely a bed providing, cash dispensing, food supplying, ride giving, side note. (but he still tells me I'm the best mom ever, so I'll take what I can get Ü)

This one was not excited at all.

She was scared and nervous and all that.  She attended an ice-cream social for the seventh graders last week and afterwards I asked her if she felt better about junior high.  (Junior High! Who decided little girls should go to junior high?!?

Anyway, after the ice-cream social I asked her if she felt better.  No.  She isn't worried about friends, and all that, she's outgoing and friendly and rarely has trouble making friends.  It was more the fact that she had to watch the horror show that was Nick's junior high years.  

Her nerves were so bad this morning she had to take a break from doing her hair to stand by the toilet cause she thought she was gonna puke.

This one was excited. 

He likes school.  He was excited for his teacher.  It looks like a promising year for him. I think he's a little sad to have to walk to and from school all by himself, but he's a big 5th grader now, so he puts on a tough exterior.

This one was not excited at all.

He's been trying to convince me for the past month that for him it's "No more schools."  Which was totally unexpected because he seemed to love school so much.  He just must love doing whatever else he wants more than he loved school.  (like playing on the wii for hours on end- and yes, I would let him play for hours on end.  So sue me, by the end of the summer I'm done playing cruise director, and just hope the messes don't get too out of hand while I settle in to a good book.)

He did finally concede to going to school (we've been trying to prepare him for the inevitable).  But he was not interested in going to first grade.  He'd tell you "I going to tenth grade with Nick." (He even told his teacher that at meet the teacher night)

I know the years go by so fast, but for the moment I still feel secure in the knowledge that I am still the center of his universe, and home isn't just some place to lay your head at night or call when you need a ride to somewhere else where your "real life" exists.  I may not be ready for any of my kids to grow up so fast, but despite his efforts to fast track his education,  I still get a few more years with this one. 

~~~~~~

"Be true to your school now and let your colors fly"- The Beach Boys

Kodachrome

It took me awhile to "get it" but I think I finally get what 'Instagram' is all about.  Basically it's a really really poor man's photo shop on your cell phone, where you can add filters and change the whole look of a picture, and then you share those pictures with whoever "follows you".

I got the basics, but it took awhile to get the "why".  Some body's husband summed it up  best on facebook, "Let me get this straight, Instagram is where you take perfectly good pictures and then make them look like they were pictures that were taken in the '70's and then left in a shoe box to rot in an attic somewhere only to be found decades later?" 

And in some cases, that is totally a true statement. In some cases, I think the picture looks better.

But then after playing around with it, I figured it out.  It's just fun.

So, I thought I would illustrate my point using pictures from some of the highlights from our summer that I have yet to share and that I have doctored with Instagram, and in some cases I shall provide 'befores and afters' for your enjoyment.  (Wow, that's a run on sentence. Got all that?)

Nick and John had a lot of fun on trek. He was worried, but clearly this smile says it all. Before Instagram-

And After-

Total improvement right?

Speaking of Nick- we sent him to cross country camp at BYU.  Supposedly his high school team had some kind of camp up in the mountains for several days, but the communication leaves a little to be desired, and it was way easier to drop him off at BYU than figure out a way to get him to Phoenix and back again, so we went with that route.  He loved it.  Even the day he had to run up to the Y, which I think was the day he ran 19 miles before breakfast. 

When I dropped him off at his dorm room, he kept commenting on how nice the dorm rooms were.  "Can't you see me living here?!?!"  Sadly, yes.  (I'm not in love with this filter, I just used it to illustrate my point that I have creative options)

Also, he'd kill me if I posted it on here for the world to see, but feel free to ask him about the award he won. Ü

We weren't able to go camping, so we settled for a picnic in the canyons.  Sadly, no fires allowed because of all the wildfires plaguing the area, so we ate subway sandwiches and the kids got dirty and threw rocks in the stream.

One thing we loved was the Alpine Coaster in Park City.  So Fun.  The line was long, and it was pretty warm out, (and it's not the cheapest thing we did) but it was worth it.

Even Christopher loved it.  He screamed the whole way down, (he rode on my lap) but I promise it wasn't the scream of a kid who is terrified out of his wits.  He only actually cried when we left.

Here's another "before and after" that I liked. 

This place has the best garlic burgers.  Plus, even though I only ordered a Pepsi to drink, they still ID'd me, which never hurts the old ego.

 Madison and I are really going to miss this stuff. Lime Rickey Sherbet.  Even Christopher loved it, and he ONLY eats white ice-cream. Sadly I don't think Farr's is available in Arizona.  At least I've never seen it.

I think that's about it, we did lots more of the usual stuff, like eating at all the same places (Bruges is ALWAYS a must).  And I am in love with this stuff called Speculoos from Belgium.  It's like graham cracker paste.  (That light brown stuff with the raspberries)

Other usual activities include school shopping at the outlets and visiting the Hansen Planetarium, which is really the Clarke Planetarium, but I refuse to call it that because I don't like change and loved the awesome old building that used to be home to the Hansen Planetarium.  And then of course no trip to the planetarium is complete without getting a good soaking playing in the giant fountain thing.  Only Maddie got really wet though.  She planned ahead and wore her swimsuit under her clothes.  The boys weren't that prepared and not at all interested in getting their clothes wet.

So that's about the rest of the highlights of our summer as seen through the Instagram app on my
phone.

~~~~~~~~~

"I got a Nikon camera, love to take a photograph, so mama don't take my Kodachrome away."- Paul Simon

(baby you can) drive my car

All good things must come to an end.

We've been a one car family for awhile now. Almost three years.  And it's worked well for us, especially since John has been able to rent the ocasional car when he needs it.  There were a couple stressful days, where only having one car was a pain in the you know what, but 99% of the time it was awesome.

Well, those days are over.  Nick will be getting his learner's permit any day now (just as soon as he finishes up the paperwork for his Eagle)  and then we will have THREE drivers in the family.  And I'm not sharing my car with him, and I think you have to be 25 to drive a rental car, so that's out of the question as well.

So we needed to find a second car for the family.  (And we've made it clear that it's not Nick's car, it's the family's second car that he gets to drive.)

Fortunately for us, (although not so fortunately for her -she's not thrilled about her loss of freedom, but happy her car is staying in the family) my grandma can't drive any more, so she gave us her car. 

It's a 1994 Subaru Legacy. That's the year I graduated from high school.  Awesome right?

Nick wouldn't let my brothers remove the BYU sticker. I might not be a BYU fan, but I'm not against my kids aspiring to go there. It's hard to get in to. You need really good grades, and you need to excel in other areas as well.  Besides they could change their mind.  Once upon a time I wanted to go to BYU too, and look how I smartened up.

Interestingly enough, Nick's new car is the little brother of my first car.  I bought my first car from that same grandma when I was in high school.  It was a 1982 Toyota Tercel.

When she handed over the keys, I had to promise that I would take better care of this car than I did that one.  "You ruined my other car."  (I'm not sure who the people standing next to the car are, but that's my grandma in her car.  And I think it's probably practically brand new in that picture.)

I learned the hard way that changing the oil at least somewhat regularly is good, and running it out of oil is very, very bad.  Just sayin'.

Of course this car is showing it's age somewhat.  It was the stereotypical situation, you know, little old lady who only drove it to church and to the market.  It only has 90,000 miles on it, but for an 18 year old car that's pretty good.  

Anyways, it does have a few issues, like if you make it go over 80 mph it will start to smoke, so that can't be good.  And only half of the speedometer lights up at night, so if it's dark out it's hard to tell how fast you are going if you are going more than 30 miles an hour. Under 30 and you're still good though.  And sometimes the gas gauge doesn't feel like working. We filled it up with gas and I swear it was saying.  "It's to early to get up. This is too much work staying clear up there by the F.  I'm going back to bed.  I'll think about getting up later."

So, Nick is excited, and I have some leads on some good mechanics, and while John and I HATE car problems more than anything, at this point I think it's our best option. 

And if Nick is really lucky we might replace that cassette player with a CD player or something.  Either that or I'll buy a bunch of blank tapes off the internet and teach him the lost art of the "mix tape".

~~~~~~~

"Baby you can drive my car, yes I'm gonna be a star.  Baby you can drive my car, and maybe I'll love you." - The Beatles