So Alex turned 7 last week. It's amazing that I've been a mom long enough to have a 7 year old. We of course got pictures and thought I'd share them with the world.
Looking at last year's picture I see now that he's older but I guess I didn't notice it until now. That and when he told me that he wasn't a baby anymore.
He loves 1st grade and has recently joined the "Jump Club" which is exactly as it sounds. They meet twice a week and jump rope. "Coach" Aldridge teaches them tricks for an assembly at the end of the year and Alex is one mean double-dutcher. Right now his life's ambition is to lose a tooth as he seems to be the only 1st grader who hasn't yet.
So Carolyn left a couple days ago to fly to Spokane to watch her sister run in the Washington State cross country meet (Her team won, way to go Andrea). Since I took a few days off to take care of the kids during the day I figured I would also fill in on the blog. Those of you that know me, know that I am the oldest of 6 kids and I had many opportunities to watch my younger siblings. This has made me very comfortable and capable of taking care of the kids. I think the only difficult thing is that because I am not there for the day to day items I am a little lacking in knowledge when it comes to the common tasks.
One thing that is not uncommon is for me to drive our van. I like to drive, so whenever we go anywhere as an entire family I am 99.9% of the time in the driver's seat. After we dropped Carolyn off at the airport (I think any city that only has flights out on certain days doesn't need an airport, they should just call it a landing strip) we were driving home and Alex called up to me from the back of the van and says, "Dad, if I call you Mom it is just because I am not used to having you driving the van". Apparently he felt the awkwardness that was about to occur as I tried to command the ship for the next couple days.
Since I took some "days off" so I can watch the kids I decided that first night that I would do something fun. Xbox is a great way to relax and I hadn't been able to play at all recently, so I sat down after I got the kids in bed. I stood up again at 2:30 in the morning and got into bed about 3:00 just in time for Sydney and Camryn (who share a room and can never wake up by themselves) to come in because Sydney had a dream and was scared. I went to put them back into bed and Sydney said she wanted to sleep in my room one night while mom was gone. I figure hey, this night is half over so get it out of the way. Well not only did I get to bed very late but I didn't actually sleep at all because I had Camryn kicking me in the back until she decided to sit up at 0600 and hit me in the head saying, "I up". Not a great way to start the days and a single parent.
Alex got off to school just fine so then it is time to get the girls dressed. That is not a problem, I've dressed them many, many times. One thing that I do not take care of is hair. Carolyn adopted an amazing compulsion from our good friend Cathie about the girls always having their hair done when they go out in public. I know how important this item is so I will do my best. Sydney's is pretty easy, brush, berrett and done. Camryn is a different story. After a long period of combing and re-combing along with wishing deeply that I had participated in the 1980's hair-band hair, I finally managed something that was presentable, please judge for yourselves and make any comments that will let Carolyn rest easy. I call it "The Deb" (watch Napoleon Dynamite). It is a little hard to tell from the angle but it is off to the side, not on purpose unfortunately, but then again some of the greatest inventions were accidental.
After this attempt I felt much better and have decided to track a portfolio of my work. This next piece I call the Dorothy (check out the shoes). I realize that Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, where I got my inspiration, had braids but one step at a time. Now you may see this and not think much of the final product, but this picture was taken against her will after 2 hair rubbing incidents and hanging upside down for 10 minutes (don't ask). I will unfortunately only be making guest appearances doing hair after Carolyn returns but keep your eyes open for my future work.
Sydney has mostly been good, but did give me many insights into the personal hell I can expect when she is a teenager. Lots of hands on hips and things, you can picture it I'm sure. She went to a friend's house after preschool on Friday and about 4:30 I get a call from the kid's mom. "I just wanted to let you know that our dog nipped at Sydney and she got a little scrape. She kicked our dog who is old and a little angry. She said that she kicks her dog but doesn't get bitten". This is horrible to hear on two accounts:
1. She should never kick any animal and animal kicking is not something we condone (except neighbor's cats that poop in our yard, but we never let the kids see).
2. We never have had and probably never will have a dog.
At least she can think on her feet right?
To continue with the honesty department, Alex won an Icee from school. Friday was nice so he, Camryn and I rode down to the gas station to redeem his coupon. There was not a good place to leave the bikes and I did not want them to fall onto someone's car so I told him to get it on his own. He is almost seven so he should be able to handle this. The coupon was for a 12oz Icee. I told him to look for the 12 oz cup and get that one. He comes out with a 20oz glass (only filled about 18ozs) and I say, "I told you to look for the cup with 12 on it". He replies that the sign had a 12 and that is the cup he took. They let him have it and really what is 20 cents. I had him wait with Camryn and the bikes so I can go to get something for Cam and I. Sure enough one sign says 12 ozs, where the 12 ozs cups are located. The other sign says 21 ozs where the 20 ozs cups are located. We'll be having him checked for dyslexia this week.
To finish this off I will be getting slightly dirty (if you actually consider potty humor dirty) so read on at your own risk. After weeks and months of mostly constipation from Camryn, I was the big winner of the poop sweepstakes. I have changed way more poopy diapers than any one person should in 4 days. I will be buying South Dakota state lottery tickets to see if my streak continues.
We will be very excited to have mom home tomorrow, who will be coming back to us at the ripe old age of 31 since her birthday is that day. Please direct all "old" jokes and snide remarks below.
Just last week Aaron and I were able to ditch our kids with my sucker brother, his wife, and my sister and head down to Las Vegas to enjoy a brief 36 hours of couples vacationing with our good friends the Rasmussen's (who also ditched their kids). Our purpose in Las Vegas was simple: See U2!
It was awesome, as they always are! Even from the cheap seats in the back of the stadium (where we were) it was a most excellent concert. I attribute the fun, not only to the band, but to the spectacle of "fans" we were seated with. Again, we were in the back, so far back that there was no one behind us. As I found out that night, a slight sense of isolation combined with A LOT of liquid courage equals a fun time.
Let me introduce you to a man I'm going to call 'L Money 50 plus'. L for the leopard print shirt he was wearing, Money for the fact that he was wearing a $ sign necklace AND matching ring (both covered in bling) and 50 plus because he was. He is so awesome that he gets 2 awesomes!
Another favorite was "trashy ladies man". This fine male specimen dropped his sweatshirt into the lower bleachers where his woman promptly climbed underneath to retrieve it (never mind all the nast under there). Her act prompted "trashy ladies man" to let us all know what was going to happen that night when they got home (expletives edited) due to her heroics of saving said sweatshirt. That's where the trashy comes in. I don't' have a picture due the explicit poses they were giving - I'm trying to keep this a family blog. They unfortunately had to leave before the end of the show due to his woman's inebriated state. I'm sure that she slept soundly all that night.
We ended our vacation flying back to Utah in time to watch BYU get a beat down by TCU (expletives again edited). This was not awesome. In fact, it was the opposite of awesome although I still smiled for the pictures.
So I was coming out of Ashely Home Furniture Collection today (looking for a new couch for those who are curious) with Camryn and there was a guy getting out of his car at about the same time. Since we were the only two in the parking lot I smiled and was ready to say "hello" when he looked at me and said, "Oh... I see you have a little one with you". What? I've been trying to figure where that thought came from and where it was going. Like "Oh... I was going to ask you out because you are super hot, but I see you have a little one so you must be married" or "Oh... I was going to ask you for money, but I see you have a little one so you're probably poor" or better yet "Oh... I WAS going to abduct you and drive off in my non-discript van, but I see you have a little one and don't want to leave her alone in the parking lot".
So I recently took Camryn to JC Penny to get her 2 year pictures taken. I thought you might like to see them too. They're no Picture People and I only spent $3.99 a page with free sitting (thank you Air Force) but I think they're pretty good.
Peace - Carolyn
So school has started. Alex going into 1st and Sydney starting preschool. Both are happy to be gone and honestly, I'm happy to have them out for awhile. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE MY KIDS, but it doesn't mean we have to be together all the time.
the other day while at school Alex was "laughing so hard at a joke that I fell over" and cracked his head open. Our house phone wasn't working at the time, Aaron's cell was off because he was in clinic, and my cell was inside charging while I was outside painting. Alex sat in the office the last hour of school waiting for someone to pick him up. Luckily the bleeding had stopped by the time I got there. Probably not winning any parenting awards in the near future.
For reasons bigger than myself I've started a blog. Seeing as I've have as of three weeks ago joined the world of cell phones you might be asking yourself where this 21st century Carolyn came from. I've often chuckled at my children falling downstairs, eating dirt, and pooping in the tube and thought "where is the mass media outlet that will allow me to share in my life's adventures?". Yet alas, I was too lazy to go out and search for the sweet release of publication.
In our move eastward our friends shouted "More! More! We want more! How will we fill the void?" Look no further friends for the answer is before you. No longer will you have to wait, wondering what we are up to, hoping for a glimpse of our simple yet distinguished lives. The answer is here before you on your very computer, i-phone, MAC, PC screen.
It is with this in mind that I dedicate this blog to you - My fans.
