Maryn and Charles...

Okay, the other day, I was listening to Maryn and Charles talk to each other and it made me laugh out-loud! Their conversation went like this:

Charles: "Maryn, here's a show you like. Do you want to watch it?"
Maryn: "I want to watch it, but I don't want to watch it."
Charles: "That doesn't even make sense!"
Maryn (with exasperation): "Uh! I knew you were going to say that..."

Seriously?!

I have debated in my mind whether or not to post about my week. I had an insanely busy and horrible 5 days! I thought it would be fun to document it so I can see how truly insane I really am when I go back and read it years from now.

At the beginning of the week, my sister and her family, and also my mom and her husband, were all here in Orange County to see each other. I was so excited to spend the time with both of them!

Monday started off our school Book Fair and I am in charge. It is always a busy time finding helpers and also setting it up and taking it down everyday. But, Monday night my mom and sister planned our annual "Bonfire at the Beach". They were kind enough to wait for me to be done with the Book Fair before they started. We went to Sunset Beach and walked to the fire pits on the state side to save the $15 parking. We had hot dogs, sausages, chips, s'mores, and corn on the cob that we cooked in the ocean water! All the kids had fun except one of my nieces that just wanted to go home the whole time! I took the kids down to the water and collected seashells with them. It was nice being the only ones on the beach!

After the beach, we went to my brother, Slade's house for his daughter's birthday party. We had fun watching her perform songs with her new microphone! She's so cute!

Tuesday was a day that I will never forget! My sister had planned her big Disneyland Day! Charles was not liking the idea of missing school for Disneyland, (he wants the Perfect Attendance Award) so I took the kids to school in the morning and decided to pull them out early so they wouldn't be counted absent.

When I got to the school to check them out, I parked in the drop-off zone right in front of the office. I hopped out of the car and it took a couple of minutes for the kids to meet me in the office. When we walked out, I looked at my car and the window was completely smashed! There was a huge hole where someone had reached in and grabbed my purse! I sprinted (had no idea that I actually could!) back to the office and told them to call the police. I then called my bank and closed everything I could before the police even showed up. The office manager stayed with me until the police showed up. Glenn was on his way home from work so he met me there.

Long story short: The kids went back to school, Glenn and I searched the neighborhood for my purse in case they dropped it somewhere, $300 to fix the window, no Disneyland, 1 hour crying with the bank teller while she changed my accounts, worked the Book Fair because I had nothing else to do, went to the DMV and was 237th in line, then went to Bunco to regain some sanity, and then visited my sister before she left town.

Wednesday was the emotional aftermath. I dropped the kids off at school and then came home and took a short nap because I had the worst headache from all of the drama of the previous day. Then I went to Disneyland to get our passes replaced. Luckily, I had the police report number, so they did it for free! Then I went to school and did the Book Fair. I ran home after and got ready and made it to the church in time to set up for our YW in Excellence night. It was so beautiful and special! We did that and cleaned up and I made it home and went right to bed!

Thursday I dropped off the kids and went shopping for the food for the Book Fair Family Night event. Then I met Maryn's teacher for a conference. She is doing really great in Kindergarten and there's a few things we need to work on. I am so glad she has such a wonderful teacher! Then, of course, I did the Book Fair! I went home and made dinner, bathed the kids and climbed in bed for a nap before the midnight showing for New Moon!! Glenn got me the tickets and made sure we had the best theater that had the HD screen! Ronda met me at 10pm and we waited in line together and had hot chocolate! I loved the movie and had so much fun!

Friday I was at the school, for about 12 hours! I dropped off the kids, helped in Maryn's class and then went to an awards ceremony for Charles. He got 3 awards!! He had Perfect Attendance, Outstanding Citizenship for Responsibility, and he made the Principal's Honor Roll (4.4 to 5.0 GPA)! Glenn was there and we were both so proud of him! After that, I did the Book Fair, met Charles' teacher for a conference, and then set up for the Family Night event. It was so fun! We sold hot chocolate and cookies, families bought books, and our principal had a reading corner where she read all sorts of books to the kids!

So, that's a week in my life. I am extremely grateful to my kids for being so patient and always coming along for the ride. I love them so much and they are the reason this life is worth living.

Maryn's Nonsensical Conversations...

Maryn LOVES to talk! A lot of times, she has the most random conversations with me. Today we had two little interactions that made me laugh:

Maryn: "Mom, you're not sick today, are you?"
Me: "Nope."
Maryn: "Yay!! That means you can take us to school, huh, mom?"
Me: "Yep."

This made me laugh because I haven't been sick for over a week and when I was, I took her to school everyday! In the next one, "Ahnika" is her doll:

Maryn: "Mom, I want to bring Ahnika in the car with me."
Me: "Okay."
Maryn: "I can bring Ahnika in the car because she won't melt, huh, mom?"
Me: "Yep."

These are the types of things that Maryn talks about while I am busy doing things like getting ready, cleaning, doing her hair, making breakfast, etc. It's rare that I remember what she talks about, but today I wanted to record it before I forgot!

Glenn's Fabulous Birthday Week-end!

This past week was Glenn's Birthday! Since the kids had that Friday off of school, I planned for us to go to our timeshare in Palm Springs for a night.

The morning of his birthday, we dropped the kids off at school and headed to Disneyland. Glenn got his $72 birthday gift card from Mickey! We enjoyed having a fun day to ourselves! Glenn really wanted to eat at the new BBQ restaurant because it's all-you-can-eat. He ate 4 buckets of meat!! I sat and watched him and ate my fruit cup. After an hour, I had had enough and asked kindly if we could go. The entertainment was great, though. There was a cowboy with a guitar walking through the audience and making up songs about people! There was a table of kids that were laughing hysterically when he would sing about how messy they were with BBQ sauce all over their faces!

After Disneyland, we picked up the kids from school and headed to Palm Springs! It only took an hour and a half! We got there and immediately changed into our bathing suits and headed for the pool. The water was perfect and the pool was quiet. We had so much fun playing as a family.

After swimming, we headed up to the room and got ready for dinner. Glenn decided on Olive Garden for his Birthday dinner. We had a delicious dinner and our server was so nice. They even sang to him! He ordered a sugar-free dessert just so that I could share!

Then we came back and started a movie as a family, but we all started falling asleep, so we turned it off and went to bed. Later that night, Glenn was up. He was in severe stomach pain. He stayed up the rest of the night. I wonder if the 4 buckets of meat had anything to do with it? Hmmm...

The next morning, Glenn took the kids swimming again while I cleaned up and packed. Then Glenn and I went to a presentation because they promised us $60 cash if we went! Of course, they tried to sell to us, but we didn't buy and got the $60 to go! Glenn took Charles to the pool one more time because the water slide had been closed and he waited so long to go on it!

We all got ready and loaded up the car and headed back to Disneyland! We hardly get to go as a family, so Glenn and I were so excited! We met my brother, Slade and his family there. We had a nice day together. We used our $60 for dinner and a couple of trinkets for the kids. Glenn used his gift card to buy a few Christmas decorations, ornaments and a throw blanket. He gave up trying to find something he wanted for himself. We had gone to every store in the park looking and he couldn't pick out anything!

The next day, Glenn was wiped out and opted out of our LA Zoo excursion. So, I called up friend in the ward and we headed to the zoo with our kids! We have a family pass, so we all got in for free. We packed our lunches and had a blast together!

Overall, it was a wonderful week-end!

Okay, I've Been Tagged...

Okay, I have been tagged by Mindy who thinks it's been too long since I've posted. I am supposed to write 10 random things about me, so here it is:

1. In 7th grade I could beat every boy in school but 1 in arm wrestling. In 9th grade I could bench press 115 lbs.

2. I like to put ketchup on mac-n-cheese.

3. I love to pick at Glenn's back, but wouldn't dare touch anyone else's.

4. I am fascinated by serial killers and the Holocaust, and hauntings!

5. Chips are my weakness and I refuse to buy them anymore because I have absolutely no self-control!!

6. My favorite thing to order at Claim Jumper is the liver and onions. Glenn thinks I'm crazy and that it's "just sick and wrong" to order that!! LOL!

7. I am very forgiving with people, but it's almost impossible to earn back trust with me after it's been broken.

8. I was FHA President (Future Homemakers of America) in Highschool! So laughable now!!

9. No matter how many times I watch The Color Purple, I cry like a baby at the end.

10. I am insanely obsessed with these men: Hugh Jackman, Arnold Scharzeneggar, Elvis, Liam Neeson, Robert Pattinson, and Djimon Hounsou.
(Don't worry, Glenn knows about all of them!)


So, hopefully these are new things that you haven't heard before and I haven't scared anyone away!!

Maryn's Birthday #5!!!

We got to celebrate Maryn's birthday on her actual birthday this year! Her birthday was on a Friday. Instead of doing a big party, we opted to spend the money on a nice small party at Build-a-Bear Workshop. It was very nearly a perfect day!

We had her party at 11am. Since it was a Friday, they let us have the upstairs level at Downtown Disney all to ourselves! Maryn invited 5 friends to celebrate with her. I set a budget for each bear before-hand and the party workers help the kids find whatever works with that. It was so simple!

All the kids showed up and looked so cute and fresh! I was so excited and I know Maryn was, too! She wanted all her friends to have a bear so badly! We walked upstairs chanting all the way that we were having a party!

All the kids picked their bears and then sat in a circle and played some games. Then they took turns stuffing their animals. When it got to the part where Maryn put in her heart, all of the kids got to pick a heart, make a special birthday wish for Maryn, and put the hearts into Maryn's bear. It was so special to watch.

Then the kids got to shop for an outfit for their bears. They were so cute with all the things they picked out. I was so happy that all the parents were there to help. Then they all sat and dressed their bears and took pictures. They got their bear box and it had some party favors in it, too. I think they were all very happy with what they got.

After the party, we went outside to eat pizza and cupcakes! The store has a deal with Papa John's Pizza, so the delivered for an awesome price! Then we had the super-special cupcakes!! My friend, Cory, has been taking classes and decorating cute cakes for her kids. So, I asked her if she would make bear-faced cupcakes for Maryn's party. She said 'yes' and I became her first paying customer! They turned out better than I'd imagined! She made all of their little faces with different expressions. It was hard to eat them because I wanted to take them home, but they were really delicious!

(Cory, leave me a comment and link it to your website.)

After that, we all said our 'good-bye's'. I walked Maryn down to Disneyland and got her free birthday ticket. Glenn took Charles to the "Harry Potter" movie. We stayed at Disneyland for a few hours, but Maryn was so wiped out! We went on a couple of rides, she took a nap in my lap, and then she wanted to go home. Originally she had stated that she wanted to see the fireworks and stay until it closed! Ha! We were home before dinner.

Thank you to all who came and made her birthday such a wonderful day for us!

Maryn's Logic...

This is an example of Maryn's negotiating logic:

Maryn: "Mom, can I have my dessert now?"

Me: "Maryn, you have to eat your peas if you want dessert."

Maryn: "But Mom! If I eat my peas, I'll be too full for dessert!"