Not ready for a pet

Goldie

Anika came home from school last week super-excited. Her teacher was getting rid of all her fish! Anika said the kids could have a fish if they brought a signed note from their parent giving the green light. Well, I wasn't thinking anything would actually come of that! There were 20 kids in the class to compete with after all.

Anika wrote the note with white crayon on black paper. It went something like this: "My Mom says I can have three fish; the orange one, white one, and striped one. She needs some food for the fish too". What a cute thing for my daughter to do! I didn't think that paper would actually make it to school.

The next afternoon Anika comes home with a ziploc bag with a fish inside. Ack! The teacher was serious. Anika wasn't lying. We weren't really mentally or physically prepared for a pet. I liked having pets as a kid but now as a parent there are already enough reasons to wash my hands.

So anyway, reasons why we shouldn't have a pet, let alone a fish:

• Isabelle already put enough fish food in the bowl to feed 100 fish. For some reason, fish don't get obese from buffet-style eating. They just die.
  
• Fish have really good digestive systems, if you know what I mean. Certainly no backed-up problems. However, that means frequent bowel cleaning, I mean bowl cleaning. (sorry, couldn't help myself!)
  
• Animal Right Activists will be knocking down our door once they see the cute (but teeny) home our fish has. Our fish hasn't hit the glass once yet. (I really don't see a point in long-term investment in a fish bowl at this point- don't fish have a life-span of about 2 weeks?)
• The kids like to get their hands in the bowl and feel the fish. Is that okay? Very hands-on learning at this house.
  

So yeah...any suggestions on how to keep kids satisfied with potato bugs for pets?

Sad update: Goldie just jumped the tank. Literally. I started blaming the girls when I saw him/her 3 feet out of the bowl, but after I put her back in (she was fine), she jumped out again! A few minutes later she died. Now I'm sad...I feel like the worst pet caretaker ever.

Pageant Queen and dreams

Last night I was flipping through stations (I know; last post I was also watching tv! sorry!) and landed on Nebo TV showing the second best part of the Miss Payson beauty pageant: the infamous "lifestyle and fitness" swimming suit competition. (the best part of course is the questions!) Anyhow, I was feeling quite uncomfortable for these girls flouncing around in their half-nakedness. Some did have some good tone in their thighs, though- that was cool. ANYWAY,

Later that night I was dreaming. I was in a pageant! At church. No swimsuit thankfully, but it was the dreaded talent competition. I was going to sing! Yes, I am Russell's wife after all...."My Country, 'Tis of Thee" was the song. Before singing, I was thinking of bailing. But I knew I couldn't. There was a USU scholarship to be won. I wondered to myself....singing ain't my thing- why didn't I practice? Why didn't I write a poem? (I was a really good poet once when I had love wounds to write about). Then I realized I should have brought my HULA-HOOP. Because I am a great hoola-hoop artist! I should have put that in the agenda at last year's family reunion. But I sang and sucked the microphone and was "pitchy" but it was okay.

Moral of the story: I do have a talent. I am a good hoola-hooper. Anyone up for a contest?

Chocolate Vanilla twist cone?

I was watching a show on KBYU the other night on ice cream. Not only did it make me salivate, it made me yearn to make memories! It basically was just a documentary on several different ice cream places around the U.S. and how the owners came to make ice-cream and why their shops brought in all the customers. We even went to Ben and Jerry's! People who work there get 3 pints a day! No wonder they looked well-fed, especially Ben. Anyway, ice-cream was equated to happiness, good memories, and good life.

Growing up, we got ice cream cones several times a year. I would even say once a month, but maybe my memory is being overly generous? We would go through the drive-thru at McD's for a cone. Chocolate Vanilla twist cone was my preference. Very regrettably, McD's doesn't make chocolate any more, those losers. I don't believe in vanilla.

After viewing the show, I vowed to take the kids for ice cream cones more often so they could have those endorphins in their mouth sparked more often and also so they can think I'm the best mom. Childhood memories are at stake here! I just need to find a place to go get good ice cream cones.

Do you guys have a place you go with your family for special treats? Do you believe in this being a good family bonding experience?

Why it's great to put stuff you want on your blog...

If you've got a husband like mine who is always looking for gift ideas, then just put a picture of that diamond bracelet or gardening shoes or special book right there on your blog. See my Mother's Day present? There it is, whipping up my cookies! For all of you interested in how I like my mixer, I must say I'm impressed with it's relationship with cream cheese and frostings in particular. The cookies taste as great as ever and I could even make a batch holding Sam with one arm! You do have to buy one of those cookie scoops so you don't have to use two hands to drop the dough. Amazing. I guess I'm a Real Chef now.

Don't you hate it when this happens?

Experts have said that toilets are cleaner than the floors, handles, and especially sinks. What do you think...is this a rinser, a boiler, or a tosser?

At a loss for knowledge

As I was telling a story at naptime to Isabelle and Olivia the other day I decided to have a teaching moment. What better time to impart knowledge? Both girls lying sweetly in their beds, ears open, ready to be edified. My story was about a girl named Sally who went to the moon. I thought maybe I could teach the girls a little about how big the moon is and what it's like up there. However, as I quickly dove into the recess of my intelligence bank I came up with less than I started with (I had really thought I had known something about astronomy!). What in the world- how long since I've had a science class? Very long...so here are some answers for your next story!

* how big is the moon in comparison to the earth? Um.... (I guess it's about a fourth the size of the earth)
* how far away is the moon- how long would it take to get there? (2 days in a spaceship; 250,000 miles away)
* how is the temperature up there? (-280 degrees-260 degrees F depending on whether the sun is shining on it or not. Also there is no water or atmosphere, so that means no weather!)

So anyway, like any good Mom would do I brushed over what I didn't know and quickly put little Sally back on solid ground.

I do try to watch "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader" to freshen up my knowledge on simple facts that are embarrassing not to know. But about that, I really think those kids have a study guide to read before each show. There is no way they know all those answers. Anyway.....

Are there any subjects you'd really like to brush up on?

Spring moments

I love tulips. Oops..there is a weed within them! Isn't that a metaphor for something? Now you know that we haven't made time to start one of the unpleasant chores that comes with Spring beauty.
Speaking of Spring beauties...I always feel like a good Mom if I let my kids stomp in the puddles without any worry of the stain removal process that is inevitable afterward. Luckily there was no stomping today; just standing in the pounding rain for a few minutes.
Rain makes me thirsty. Anyone else? I like rainy days as long as they are just One Day. More than that induces gloom. Anyone else have a surefire pick-me-up similar to my mystery drink?

Why I love my 2 1/2 year old...

Olivia plays so hard she doesn't have
time to take a nap. Thus many requests for treats later (tiredness feels like hunger to toddlers), and a lock-hold with Mom on the soft rug for 5 minutes, and she's out at 4 pm.







She loves chapstick so much
she doesn't limit it only to her lips.
Makes for a nice sun-kissed look.
She is a fun girl who knows how
to express herself with her face.


That's all for now!

Kids and their free will

Each day I see my kids make their own choices. As parents we are trying to help our kids learn and grow. But how come they so often choose the way that leads to toil, turbulence, and tears? If they'd just do what I say then we would have such a harmonious home (not to mention a lot of free time on my end)! I followed my kids around with a camera and let them hurt each other all for the sake of this post. I hope I didn't go too far.

Olivia chose her own outfit and orange hair accessory. I try to give her style lessons on not mixing pink hearts and red plaids but she defies me.









Should we play together and
have fun like sisters dancing
in the meadow or should we
see who gets to tell Mom first
the other's iniquities....

Yep- that would be Olivia who got
called out first for pinching Isabelle! You can totally see the guilt on her face as she's caught right in front of me.

No healthy
snack! I want
cookies!
Okay, it was a little mean to
put the cookies in front of
her like that just for me to say no.
I did give her a tiny piece after that.





And the last chance I give them for making a better choice is an opportunity to help their Mother in the kitchen with dinner prep. Any takers??

Isabelle loves her remote

Oh yeah. How could I forget *Cyberchase is on?



*actually, to be honest I'd rather not have them help me in the kitchen. I cherish my 5-5:30 time to be free while I throw dinner together. I'll teach them the basics of food preparation during the other 5 meals we have during the day.