"The Song of Mom and Dad"

Last night Charles stayed up in his bed with a flashlight and wrote this song:

"The Song of Mom and Dad"

I love mom and dad so much.

They take care of me, they feed me, they take me special places.

My parents are the best thing that ever happened to me.

They are nice, talented, and helping parents.

I LOVE MY PARENTS!

Love, Charles

I will treasure that poem always.

IHOP, Primary Activity, and Pizza Moment!

This past week-end was so much fun!

On Friday night we went as a family to Disneyland and finally got Charles and Glenn their passes. We ate dinner there and got on three rides before the crowds wore us out and we had to go home.

Saturday morning, Glenn got up at 5am to go shooting with some guys from the ward and scouts. I got up at that time and worked on sewing costumes for the stake play.

Then I took the kids with me to the Stake center to meet with the Johnson's and the sewing ladies about the costumes. The kids were excited because Danette let them each pick a donut. Since we had some time to kill between that and the primary activity, I took the kids to IHOP for a real breakfast.

When we got there, I knew they weren't that hungry, so I ordered one meal and a carafe of OJ and we shared. When we were eating, a man approached us and offered to make balloon creations for the kids and we thought he was weird at first. Then as he warmed up to us and we started talking, I felt better. He made Maryn an Ariel balloon and he made Charles a drooling alien hat! They looked so awesome and I couldn't believe that the guy was working out of a restaurant! I tipped him $5 and wished that I had more. He was so talented!!

Then we made our way over to the church for the primary activity and it was so much fun! We divided the kids into different "families" and went on a scavenger hunt around the building. Then the kids played a couple of games that were designed to make them work together as a "family". It went really well.

Today in church, Sister Hicks was asking the kids if they could name different types of "houses" we should be making according to the scripture we've been studying this month. She was looking for answers like, "a house of order, a house of fasting, etc..."

My daughter was yelling over all of the other kids, "A HOUSE OF PIZZA!!!", multiple times! What is wrong with her?

My Wolf Cub!

Yesterday Charles got to go to scouts for the first time!

We are so excited for him. He's been looking forward to this for a long time because he knows it's a right-of-passage. He's growing up!

We went the day before to purchase all the things he needed. $75 later, we left the store. My friend, Mindy, tried to tell me how expensive everything was, but I was still shocked! I am so grateful that Mindy had found a secondhand shirt and gave it to us, or else the total would have been so much more! Thank you, Mindy!

Glenn was so excited to see Charles go to scouts, that he woke up and took him. I confess, I'll continue to encourage that male bonding thing. Anything to cut down on my taxi driving.

Medieval Times!!

Today I had the opportunity to go to a fundraising convention at Medieval Times for the PTA. My friend, Cheyenne, is over the fundraising at our school and invited me to go with her.

We had so much fun! The fundraising exhibits were very creative and involved a lot of free little treats and give-aways. We even got the pictures for free! They served a continental breakfast and gave away so many raffles- of course I didn't win. :( We also got to see all of the horses they use in the night show.

After all of that, they did a mini show for us with all of the horses and sword fights. They served us hot breadsticks during the show. We got to wear our paper crowns and cheer for the Black and White team!

When it was all over, we received gift bags and a roll of gift wrap on our way out. They were filled with coffee mugs and two Entertainment Books!! I can never get enough coupons! I had so much fun and came home with candy and cookies for Glenn because he missed out.

Fun With Desi!!

Last night Maryn's friend, Desi, came over for a sleepover! Desi's mom had doctor's appointments all day today up at UCLA, so I offered to babysit. We had so much fun!

When Dawn dropped her off at our house, she came with two hot pans full of enchiladas. She does this because I have always been praised for my enchiladas, but my kids like hers better! She gets a kick out of this and it's her way of rubbing it in. They are really good.

That night we let the kids go crazy and destroy the playroom. Charles slept out on the couch so that the girls could watch movies and play late. I knew they were going to have a hard time going to sleep, but 11pm?! It was crazy! I was so tired! They stayed up with flashlights and read books and told bedtime stories.

This morning Maryn was up at 6:30am. I knew it would be an interesting day, but it turned out surprisingly well. I made a special lunch- chicken salad sandwiches on rolls, fruit, string cheese, freshly baked cookies, and we headed out to the LA Zoo. Desi was very nervous about the zoo because she heard there were gorillas there and she's afraid of gorillas. But, once she saw them, she realized that they weren't as big as she imagined them, and she was fine after that.

We ate our lunch by the park. There were a lot of school groups there, so it was hard for the girls to play because the other big kids kept running into them and accidentally hitting them. Desi was nervous about trying the chicken salad sandwich, but she liked it! I was happy because it's the first time that I've made it.

The animals were pretty lazy today! The weather was really warm and they were all sleeping. It was hard to get any good pictures of them.

The girls were worn out pretty quickly from their nightly activities and asked to go home soon after our lunch. So, we slowly made our way out of the park as they whined. It seemed their energy quickly refueled when the Dippin' Dots cart came into view. We stopped and I got them each some ice cream.

Then we stopped at the gift shop to get them matching necklaces to remember their zoo day. We had such a wonderful time with her and when we dropped her off at home, her mom had good news, too! There's a surgery they want to try on her heart so they can wait on the heart transplant! Woo-Hoo!

Charles' Good Day!!

Today when I picked up Charles from school, his teacher told me that he was the fastest runner in the class when they did their 3 lap run! She also said that he got 100% on his Language test and won their class spelling bee!! I am so happy for him! He is such a talented boy and I'm glad it shines through sometimes!

Pre-School Drama!

All this year, Maryn has had little upsets at preschool with two of her little friends. She has come home quite frequently upset by some thing they've said to her or done. Mostly she gets her feelings hurt because they'll tell her that she's not their friend anymore.

When this happens, we talk about feelings and how we feel when people say mean things, and what we should do, and all the right ways to talk to others. So, for the past few months, Maryn's been trying to do her best. She'll come home and tell me that they said they weren't her friend anymore and she'll tell them that they are all friends at preschool. So I've been feeling like she's learned a lot this year.

Well, yesterday I was approached by one of the girl's grandma. She told me how her grand-daughter came home crying and so upset that Maryn said she wasn't her friend. Then, this morning, I was approached by the other girl's mother to tell me the same thing! I couldn't believe it! These girls have been talking like that all year, but the first time Maryn says it back, they get all upset!

I felt a little glad that Maryn stood up for herself, but at the same time, I had to remind her about what we've talked about. I tried to explain to both women that Maryn's been hearing those things all year. I apologized for what Maryn said to smooth things over. Now I'm caught between what I should have done. Should I have told the women earlier in the year about their girl's behavior? I didn't want to make a big deal out of 4 year-old's drama, but now I feel like they think Maryn is a brat. The women are asking the other mom's if they've heard about all the pre-school drama that's been happening and telling them about what Maryn said!! I'm seriously feeling like I'm in the Twilight Zone!