Alter Egos

This peeked out at me from around the corner in the toy department:

Hulk Megan

Two different versions of this skeleton disturbed my Sunday nap:

Creepy Doll Skeleton- seriously creepy!

Creepy Doll Skeleton coming to get me

Captain Underpants Skeleton

These kids crack me up.  And sort of creep me out.  But mostly crack me up.

Goals and Budgets

Last month Jacob set a goal to earn his Bear Cub Scout badge by this month's pack meeting. He worked hard to finish off all the required achievements. We finished up one of the requirements last night - just in the nick of time since pack meeting was tonight! The requirement was to discuss family finances with a parent and identify ways Jacob could help with the budget. He came up with: packing lunches more often rather than always buying school lunch, not begging for fast food, taking better care of his shoes and clothes. He also pointed out hat he was too young to get a job and so couldn't really contribute money to the family. He's a smart one.

On the way to school this morning, I said I was thinking of making some cookies for an after school snack and asked what kind he would prefer.

Jacob: Well, we should probably try to do something to save money. (Good, remembering last night's discussion.)

Me: Yes, that's why I'm going to make cookies rather than buy something. What kind would you like?

Jacob:  Hmmm. I don't know. (Said with a mischievous grin.) Maybe, um, well. . . we could waste some money and buy donuts instead. 

Haha!  Love that kid! 

He proudly received his Bear badge tonight. Goal accomplished! He's already planning to earn as many arrow points as possible before the next pack meeting.  Way to go, Jake!

Details

"The Lord is in the details of our lives."  

- President Thomas S. Monson

I have loved this quote since I first heard President Monson say it.  I try to look for the Lord's hand in my life and acknowledge His presence in the details of my life.  One day last week I was feeling rather down. As I cleaned my kitchen after dinner, I thought to myself, "I'm going to go buy some flowers for my kitchen."  Fresh flowers in my home always lift my spirits. I continued wiping down the countertops and pondering things that were distressing me.   Not long after, my doorbell rang.  A sweet friend was on my doorstep with a small bouquet of fresh flowers.  She said, "I came into some flowers today and thought you might enjoy them."  She had no way of knowing that was exactly what I needed right then!  I hadn't prayed for someone to bring me flowers. I was just going to buy some myself, but she and her small gift were evidence of the Lord being aware of me and my simple need that day.  I have felt His love each time I glance at the flowers on my table. I am so grateful for seemingly small, but deeply meaningful experiences, for dear friends, and for the Lord and His goodness and love.

Dig

I don't know what it is about boys and dirt, but my boys can't get enough of it.  Last year our in-ground trampoline bit the dust.  After removing it, the boys have loved digging in the pit that was left behind. We're still undecided as to what to do with the pit.  Fill it in and put a new trampoline above ground?  Put a new trampoline back in-ground?  They've requested - begged, really -  that we leave the pit as is so they can dig in it whenever they want to.

Well, the last few days they have been in filthy dirt heaven out in their pit.  What are they doing, you might ask?  Digging.  Holes.  Just because.  They were literally out there today for about 5 hours.

Armed with shovel, spade, and knee pads

Checking hole depth

Overheard during a brief drink and bathroom break:

Jacob:  Do you want to stay inside?  I think we've probably had enough digging time today. We've been out there for like three hours.

Matthew:  Yeah.  We've been building character and we've been building muscle!  It really does build character, Jacob.

Jacob:  I know... Am I still gullible?

Matthew.  No. Not as much.  Just sometimes when people are younger they're more gullible and stuff.

Jacob:  Yeah.

(They returned to the pit for a couple more hours after this break.)

Oh, how I LOVE my boys!  Building character, muscles, and relationships (and apparently becoming less gullible!) while simply digging holes in the pit!  I wish I could plant a secret device outside to record their conversations while they're digging. I hope they'll always be best friends.  

Prom

March 21st was Junior Prom.  Megan was escorted by the esteemed Garrett. He asked her about a month ago with a darling bear that had a recording of his voice saying, "Megan, will you go to Prom with me?"  She ran around squealing for quite some time that morning and I think she sleeps with the bear every night.

 

I really had a lot of fun looking for a prom dress and accessories with Megan. We checked out our local dress shop and found a lovely gown that Megan loves and looks beautiful in.  We found glitzy earrings and a bedazzled headband as well.

The date began with a hike and a picnic with other couples in their group.  It was a beautiful day and they had a great time.

Pre-hike

After returning home from the hike, Megan raced to get ready for the evening.  She pulled it off in record time and had to figure out what to do with herself for an hour before being picked up.  I don't know how she does her hair and make up so beautifully.  She is really so talented in that!  She had fun hanging out with some of her friends who are too young to go to the dance while she waited to be picked up.  They oohed and ahhed over how lovely she looked.

Beautiful!

When Garrett came to pick her up, he said, "Wow! You look AMAZING!"  He had a beautiful bouquet of roses for her as well as a lovely corsage.  They kindly posed for a picture and then they were off for pictures with friends, dinner, and the dance.

Dinner was at Garrett's house and his mom had made their basement beautiful with candles, classical music, and an adorable little sister as their server. After a smashing time at the dance, they all returned to Garrett's house for an ice cream bar and a movie.  Garrett sent Megan home with a small gift.  It was a pretty little heart shaped picture frame.  (She loves frames for her pictures.)  Megan reported that it was soooo much fun and that Garrett, once again, spoiled her and was a complete gentleman.

I'm so glad she had a wonderful time and that Garrett treats her so well.  What a fun time of life!

All hail, Mr. Lincoln!

Jacob had an assignment to research an American who has positively influenced our lives today.  He chose the honorable Abraham Lincoln.  He was also to dress up as his chosen person and present some facts at the class "wax museum".  He chose the elements of his costume and even had some letters stuck inside his hat as Lincoln often did.  He did a great job!

Here is the paper he wrote:

"Do you want to learn about Abraham Lincoln?  If you do read this.  He was a great man.  He was born on February 12, 1809.  Its sad that he got murdered. Read this now. He rocks.  This has many facts about him and his life.

He was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky.  His parents' names are Thomas and Nancy Lincoln.  Guess what?  He did not go to high school or college.  How strange.  He taught himself.  How crazy is that?

He was married to Mary Todd Lincoln.  He was the 16th president of the USA. Did you know that he freed the slaves from slavery?  He kept America together.  He was very honest, strong, and athletic.

He died on April 18, 1865.  He was actually at the theater and someone camp up from behind and "bang".  They shot him right in the head.  He died at the age of 56.  Lincoln Memorial represents him. He was also a lawyer.

I think he should be guarded.  I hope you know how important he is.  I also hope you enjoyed this.  But remember he rocks.  I really hope you liked it."

A Fond Farewell

Saturday, February 21st, was the end of an era.  For 13 years I have carted my family around in The Durango.  (Well, maybe for 12 1/2 years it was dear.  It started it's life in our family in a rather bumpy way.  Darin decided to go for a drive one day and came back with The Durango.  Purchased.  No talking to me. BUT, I forgave Darin his misstep and the rocky beginning gave way to delightful times ahead.) But last Saturday, The Durango was traded in for a newer, zippier vehicle. As we left it sitting at the car dealership, I had to stop and reminisce about the adventures we had together. I may have shed a tear or two. Because I'm silly that way.

The Durango

The Durango was still in pretty good condition with one exception - fickle brakes.   Back in November, I was toting the kids to church. (Darin was already there for choir practice.) I found a parking space and started braking as I turned into it.  When I pushed the brake pedal for the final stop, nothing happened.  It was as if a block or something was placed underneath the pedal.  We jumped the curb and made it halfway up the lawn toward the church building before the brake pedal finally depressed and we stopped.  The kids were all yelling, "MOM!  What are you doing?" (I have to laugh at this because, seriously, did they think I was doing that on purpose?!)  The brakes worked just fine on the way home from church, but we took the Durango to the shop the next morning to have them checked. Clean bill of health. So weird!  Between November and now, the brakes have worked just fine, but every now and then I've heard the sound they made right before they failed and I've been a little paranoid.  I have certainly pulled into parking spaces with much more caution!  The Durango had many strange quirks that we had learned to live with, but brake problems are not something you should probably mess with.  It took Darin four months to convince me of this. Yes, I can be rather stubborn.  And sentimental. Stop reading now if you are bugged by sappy, sentimental ramblings . . . about . . . cars.

Really, a car is like a home in so many ways. After so many years of "living" in it, it is hard to distinguish between the actual vehicle and the memories that were created in said vehicle. Some of our favorite memories:  bringing our two baby boys home after their births; trips to the Jersey Shore, Boston, and Rochester, New York to visit family and friends; two cross-country trips to Utah; singing songs at the top of our lungs; telling silly riddles; fighting in the backseat; listening to audiobooks; Yellowstone, Zion, and other camping trips; the list goes on and on.  I asked everyone to share a memory.

Darin:  Kim was pregnant with Matthew and I had reminded her of how quickly her labor went with Megan and to keep gas in The Durango so we could make a speedy trip to the hospital when she went into labor.  I encouraged her to keep the gas tank full because she has the tendency to drive any car until it's running on fumes before she fills it up and the hospital was about 20 minutes away.  The night she went into labor, we were about 5 minutes into our drive to the hospital when the gas light went on and alerted us to needing gas.  I was worried that we wouldn't make it to the hospital before running out of gas so we had to stop and put some in.  Ironically, Kim was laughing at the situation in between gasping with contractions.  I did not find any humor in the situation.  I was stressed that I would have to deliver the baby on the side of the road by myself.  She still thinks it was funny.  I still shake my head in disbelief.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I, Kim, wrote this little memory up because Darin is still trying to de-stress from the experience nearly 12 years later.  I don't think he'll ever let me forget it. Haha!)

Sarah:  "That one time when The Durango freaked out." Five or six year ago, I took Sarah and the other girls in our ward to the stake center (about 30 minutes away) for a volleyball tournament.  On the way home, I stopped at a craft store to look for a certain item that was unavailable at our local craft store.  Because it was a pretty chilly day and I knew it would be a quick in and out trip, I left the car running with the girls inside.  Not long after I had gone into the store, a couple of the girls came running in to tell me that the car was "freaking out".  With no provocation, the horn had started honking incessantly, all the exterior lights were flashing on and off, and the windshield wipers were going back and forth so quickly that they might have lifted The Durango off the ground. Bewildered, I turned the car off.  No change in the crazy behavior.  The girls were completely undone by this turn of events and were fairly confident The Durango would explode at any moment.  They nervously asked if we should evacuate the area.  I nervously giggled and tried to reassure them. This continued for about 10-15 minutes until the lights and wipers stopped, but the horn continued.  As luck would have it, there was a nice man in the parking lot who offered to unplug the horn to stop the honking.  I was very grateful to him as I had no clue what to do.  Seeing as the car seemed "fixed" after that, we started up the engine and returned home unscathed.  No mechanic, Dodge dealer or otherwise, could ever explain that experience, but from time to time when I was driving the lights would suddenly flash and the horn would honk on it's own. Just keeping me on my toes, I suppose.

Megan:  "The milkshake stain!" We went to get milkshakes as a family one night.  Sarah and Megan started laughing hysterically about something.  I wish I could remember what it was!  Anyway, Sarah was laughing so hard that her arm was jerking around and she got milkshake all over the back of Darin's seat. This set Megan off again and as she jerked in hysterics, her milkshake got all over the ceiling of the car!  There is a stain there to this day from her milkshake and she remembers that fun night every time she sees it.

Megan also had an emergency stash of microwave popcorn packets tucked safely into the pouch on the back of the passenger seat.  She told me that you never know when you might go someplace and wish you had some popcorn to eat so she always had some in the car.  She and I love popcorn, and I declared her idea brilliant!  I now take a package of unpacked popcorn with me whenever I go on trips. We'll need to make sure to designate a new popcorn stash location in our new car!

Matthew:  "When we got Cooper!" Two and a half years ago we made a rather spontaneous trip to Morgan, Utah to look at some puppies.  We had talked half-heartedly about getting a puppy for sometime, and I was nervous that once we saw this litter, we wouldn't be going home empty-handed. As soon as we climbed out of The Durango and started playing with the puppies, I knew we were sunk.  There were three adorable puppies, but there was one little puppy that Matthew especially liked.  He was very playful and energetic and chased Matthew around the yard, would fetch a little ball, and climbed all over us.  The other two seemed much calmer.  We were having a hard time deciding which puppy to choose.  In a brief moment of insanity, we even considered taking two of them!  In the end, we decided to take a little drive to discuss what we should do.  We were talking about taking one of the calmer puppies that had very short legs.  My concern was that it wouldn't really be able to go for long walks and hikes with us with such little legs.  Darin and I secretly decided he would be the only one to get out of the car to pick up the selected puppy. Haha! We're so sneaky! We would tell the kids that we would get the calm one with curly fur, but in reality, we would get the more energetic one with curly fur.  We were sure he would have and plenty of energy and long enough legs to go for many adventures with us.  We made the selection, paid the breeder, scooped up that adorable puppy, and headed for home in The Durango.  The ride home was spent taking turns holding the puppy and discussing a proper name for him.  And so, Cooper came to be in our family!  Matthew remembers this ride with fondness and has truly bonded with Cooper.  After hearing Matthew say to many people, "It's a good thing we got the calmer puppy!  Can you imagine if we had got the crazy one?" and laughing behind our hands every time we heard it,  Darin and I finally revealed our little "trick" about six months ago. True to form, Matthew thought it was hilarious and is, of course, very glad that we did, in fact,  get the "crazy" puppy!

Jacob: In true Jacob fashion, he simply said, "Going to the pool."  Since moving to Utah, we've bought a membership to our local (slightly ghetto) pool each summer.  Think, "The Sandlot" type of pool.  No fancy bells and whistles, just a pool, two diving boards, and a little snack shack.  Each summer, the pool has been quite a draw for the boys and myself.  Most weekdays we go to the pool in the afternoon for at least an hour or two.  You'd think they would get bored, but no, they want to go pretty much every day.  It is such a simple activity, and I have loved spending the time with my boys there.  The trip from our house to the pool is a short one, but we always have plenty to talk about on our way there and back, and the trusty Durango has taken us back and forth many times.

Jacob almost always sits in the third row of seats in The Durango, even if no one else is in the car but me and him.  He usually sits quietly gazing out the window.  I've often looked in the rearview mirror at his sweet face and wondered what was going on in his mind. He's a deep thinker, that one.  I hope I'll still be able to see him in my rearview mirror in whichever seat he claims as "his" in the new car.

So much tied to The Durango! Loving, fighting, laughing, crying.  Living. Farewell, dear car!  You have served us well!  And now, we're on to new adventures and memories to be made!  Adieu!