Tuesday, June 23, 2009

So We're Back...

.... and my first post from being back from SoCal should be all about how great SeaWorld was, how crowded Disneyland was, how awesome it was to see so much family that we haven't seen in forEVER, and how pooped out we all are....

but it's not.


This is about how very much I HATE ARIZONA CREEPIES.

Hate.


haaaaaaaaatehatehatehatehate.


And I'm not even talking about the really creepy ones, like Tarantulas or Rattlers. Nope. I'm not even going to go there, because I already have a headache from thinking about what I saw tonight, no lie. My head actually hurts from how creeped out I am still.

I went to change the laundry, since I'm only now finally starting to wash clothes from being home, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a big lump of something by the washer. Hmm... it's about 10 PM, so it's that time, the time when ickies come out. I stay nice and clear, and turn to look, and it's some kind of spider that looks like it's on steroids or something. I get goosebumps, my voice goes up about 5 octaves, and I start "ewwwww"-ing like the wimpy girl I am. I run inside and do the first thing any normal wimpy girl does. I tell my mummy, since she happens to be visiting.

Me-"Mummmm!!! ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. Mum, there's something totally creepy in the garage!!!"
Her-"well KILL IT!!! And did you bring the clothes in? What if it goes in the basket with them!!"
Me thinking: crap! I have to go back out there??
Me-"noooo.... but mum, it's just THERE. And it's funny looking."
Her-"well KILL IT!! Oh no, what if it's a tarantula?! GET THE CLOTHES!"
good to know she's concerned about my safety.
Me-"fine... but I'm taking my camera and getting a photo of it."

So I go out there and use the zoom on my little camera, but it's blurry. So I grab the clothes basket, give it a good shake (in case anything was hanging onto the bottom, you never know) and drop it inside the door (it's CJs day off tomorrow, he can put them away because I assure you, I am absolutely *not* touching them) . I grab the trusty Rebel and get brave enough to get closer. Still not good enough, so I stick my arms out as close as I dare and hold the camera and take the photos, hoping it's close enough. It is, woo! Quickly run back inside and look at the photos.

Me-"Oh my gosh. THOSE ARE BABIES ON ITS BACK. ewwwwwwwwwwwww... ewewewewew!!!"
Her-"well KILL IT!!!"
Me-"I can't... I'm having some kind of twisted mother-sympathy for her. She's in the garage, not the house... and she eats cockroaches, which creep me out more. Plus she's carrying all her babies, training them to eat the nasties I hate. I... can't do it."
Her- just stares at me, shakes her head, and goes back to watching the movie.

Yep, I did not kill her, which I am sure is a wolf spider (from looking it up online, which has aggravated my headache by the creepiness of other things I have seen on these sites). She's a fellow mommy (granted, of many more kids than me), just trying to teach her babies their way of life. In a sick, twisted way, I understood a spider. Gross.


If she comes in the house though, it's on like Donkey Kong. My empathy goes out the window.

**if you want to see the photos on here, too bad. I am not okay with getting creeped out everytime I come to my own blog. but they are posted on Facebook for the next few days, before I get too creeped out by them even being on there.**

Monday, June 8, 2009

Before You Meet My Children...

Sometimes I feel like I need to slap a Surgeon Generals Warning on my kids, before they see people they don't know or haven't seen in awhile. Seriously. My kids are slightly crazy, even by my standards (and I'm sure those of you who've known me for awhile, especially pre-marriage, who say I have some strange tendencies cute quirks) . CJ thinks they're just toddlers/pre-k'ers, so people will just think it's cute. But, to be a totally honest person here, if *I* met my kids for the first time and they did some of their moves on me, I'd think their parents must only feed them by throwing Cheetohs at them or something. Okay, maybe not... but I'd think "Whoa. That's.... interesting... MY kids would never do that."

So, since we're going to SoCal in a few days, on the off chance we run into anyone who reads this blog, consider yourself forewarned, try to be more like CJ than like me when you see my kids. And remember, they're freaking adorable to look at, so maybe just admire from afar and pretend they're the poster children for normal life.

When M meets someone new that she likes or gets excited about something, she acts like a dinosaur. You think I'm lying, but I'm not. She bends over, puts her hands out like claws, and kind of marches on the spot on her tippy toes, and starts growling/roaring. She (and P) think this is hilarious, and it usually results in her chasing P around the room while he giggles hysterically and she giggles/roars at him. And sometimes, if you're really lucky, she'll start going in a circle by herself, not chasing anyone, almost like a dog dinosaur chasing its tail.

M loves to make up random stories that you won't understand half the words in. And if she mentions that it's Jeremy, Isis or Mollys birthday, just nod. That's her toy cat/real cat/real dog. Every week one of them has a birthday, apparently. Luckily I cottoned on to that before she suckered me into buying Molly a present. I wasn't quick enough to figure it out before Jeremy's birthday though, so the toy cat she carts around with her has a very nice green collar with a bell on it. Happy birthday, Jeremy.

P will not look at you. At all. Chances are he won't look at us either. And he won't answer any questions, from you or from us. Sorry, it's my shy side coming through in him. But give him a few minutes to warm up, and he'll charm the candy away from you with his infectious laugh though. The kid can get almost anyone to laugh, just by hearing his giggles. Best sound in the world.

When one kid gets crazy, chances are the next in line will too. M and P are known for almost literally bouncing off the walls. They like to pretend to be very odd animals, and you end up laughing hysterically or else slightly embarrased to be seen with such mini hooligans. We try to calm it down, but they're 3 and 4. They don't really "do" calm, unless you catch them sleeping.

P loves to play WAKE UP! To play with him, you have to tell him "go to sleep!", he'll lean/fall over and pretend to be asleep by half closing his eyes and snoring. Then you have to yell "WAKE UP!" and he jumps and yells "aaahhhh!" and starts giggling. Then it's his turn to do it to you. Make sure you do it right, or he'll whack you in your pretend sleep. No joke.

J has taken to playing WAKE UP! too, and can drop down and pretend sleep better than most kids can. But he'll hit you everytime, just because that's how he rolls. Sorry, we're working on it. But he's 1.5 years old, he doesn't really get it, and he's not trying to hurt you. He just doesn't really talk yet, so he can't yell "WAKE UP!" at you yet, so he does the next most effective thing.

J loves to be a lizard. Yeah... I know, sounds wierd. He does it when he sees something he likes, or gets something he likes, like ice cream. He just flicks his little tongue in and out of his mouth, making a "thip, thip" kind of sound. Bad description, but once you see it in person, it's the cutest thing ever.

P is three right now. And acts it. He has a very dramatic side and a very sweet, funny side. I'm hoping on the trip the dramatic side stays at home to chill, but I'm not getting my hopes up. He has no problem yelling at me about very odd things, for example:
Me-P, would you like some Goldfish crackers?
P-NO! NO GOLDFISH FOR ME!
Me-okay, I'll put them away.
P-Nooooo! I said I WANT the Goldfiiiiiissssshhhhhhhh!
Me-err... right, okay, here you go.
P-THANK. YOU. *stompstompstomp*
And then, 5 minutes later:
P-Mummy, can you pwease pour me some juice?

It's all very disconcerting.

J hits CJ when J gets angry about something. It could be you that has made him mad, but it'll be CJ that reaps the punishment. We're still trying to figure that one out and nip it in the bud before it moves on to hitting others... like moi.

J is slightly very attached to me. Slightly. Actually, he'll play with other people no problem, just don't pick him up until he's ready, or he'll start pointing at me and saying "mama, mama, mama" until you hand him over or put him down.

I'm sure there's more things, but I can't think of them right now.



And no, I will not give you photographic/videographic evidence. That makes it even more obvious that it is in fact our fault that the kids are so bizarre, if we would film it just for the viewing by others.

But I'm totally willing to do it if you pay me.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Comments and Blogs

So, this has been niggling at me for a bit, because I'm like that. I hold onto random things that aren't really important to life, but I still hold onto them.

What makes someone comment on a blog? Is it a witty thought, or a good photo, or just a connection you make to something in the post? For me, I love to post comments just because I love *getting* comments back. It's nice to know that people are reading your blog, even if you can see they're reading it because you have a widget of some kind on the side of said blog. (yes, I have two of those. It's just fun. Besides, I still don't even know who it is half the time.) I love seeing photos of friends that I haven't seen in awhile, children that have been born since we last saw eachother, little funny stories... it makes me feel like I'm not as far removed as I feel like I am. We don't live near most of our friends that have blogs, and sometimes you read things on blogs that wouldn't come up in phone conversations. Plus I'm not very good at keeping up with people via the phone, for some reason talking on the phone makes me nervous (there's a random little fact most people don't know). There are some people that I wish I *could* talk to on the phone because I miss how much I used to laugh when I got to talk to them (Jesse... miss you and our prank calls... do you even remember that?) but am too chicken to be like "hey you. gimme your number so I can nervously phone you in hopes that you want to hear from me." So I read their blogs and comment, in hopes that somehow they can read between the lines and see how much I value them, even from afar. There's also family, all CJs, that I love to read up on and see how they're doing. We don't live close to anyone really, so this is the best way to keep up on family happenings. Who's pregnant (yay Melanie and Michelle!) who's going to the reunion, who's moving, who's.... and so on. There's almost no family left in my own family, so to have so many relatives through marriage now, well, it was a bit of a shock to the system, and I love it. Especially when there are so many around our age. I wish we were going to the Humpherys reunion this year, but it's too far for us to go this time, but hopefully we'll get to see some soon (Vegas cousin reunion, anyone?) . Sometimes I'm too chicken to comment, but I'm going to work on that...

Oops, I rambled again. Comment! Even if it's nothing but "I'm here!" or "zombies are attacking me, but happy to see things are going well for you!". I'm going to try to make sure I comment more, because I know that I get happy when I see comments, so other people must love it too... I hope? I should add, I'm not just talking about this blog. I'm talking about all blogs! Sometimes people get discouraged from posting in blogs because they don't get any comments, so why not encourage them along?

Ooh. I should give some motivation for people to post here, right? How's cute kid photos?

Our backyard wall is perfect for sidewalk chalk and practicing letters:


J trying to give the cat a kiss: