Welcome to the 21st Century

Well, as soon as our numbers are ported over, we will officially be a cell phone only family. This is exciting. I know that I am in no way a trendsetter. In fact, I like to wait long enough for something to be out so that by the time I buy it the cost what I'm willing to spend. Even Matt has a phone. Funny how getting a cell phone is like Christmas. I could see the gleam in his eye and he immediately started reading the user manual and saying things like, "Did you know my phone...? and If I press this and do this my phone can..." I'm impressed. He even read through and figured out how call me using voice activitation. It was inspiring so I read my manual too. Pretty sure I forgot everything I read too.

Back to the halloween subject. Remington is not gonna be a bionicle (yeah!). Instead he found a wicked double edged skeleton sword and a nasty mask to go along with it. We already have a black robe (Ihope it still fits) and he is ready to get his candy groove on. After looking around on the internet, Porter decided he wants to be Waldo from Where's Waldo. Will he make the perfect Waldo or what?!

Halloween

I'm really excited about Halloween. I went to Other Mothers and found two costumes so I'm halfway there! Nata's gonna be a cute gangster girl (think tommy gun and mobsters). Grant, we found a Tigger costume. It's a full body costume which will keep him warm (if it stays cool). This actually is a huge relief. Usually my kids can't decide what they want to be until last minute. Of course, Remi wants to be a Bionicle and showed me the pictures of what he wanted. I'm figuring lots of boxes and acrylic paints and imagination will have to go into this costume. But it's ok cuz I'm done with 2 costumes and it's only the beginning of October! Do a little jig for me.

Really, really, big nuff. Does anyone translate 3 yr old speak?

Ok, so I'm getting a veneer in about a week and I'm nervous again. I've always had this crooked tooth and as I've gotten older it's turned more. For years I've gone back and forth about getting a venner, I mean, this is my signature tooth. If years down the road someone didn't recognize me they could identify me by my crooked tooth. Ya know? This has been my tooth for 36 years now (well, ok subtract a few years for my baby teeth), I'm a little attached to it. I'm always worry what if I don't like it when it's done? It's not like I can go back to the old tooth. Now, I know my dentist is very capable of making my teeth beautiful, but the underlying fear and uncertainty is always there. Bet you didn't know I was such a 'fraidy cat.

Well, it's 12:37 and I'm eating potato chips dipped in full fat sour cream. I think this is a mother's version of nothing good happening after midnight. I can feel the second chin coming out.

It looks like I won't be volunteering at all at the film festival. Matt will be on a campout with Porter and the other scouts and I don't feel like going without him. Also, there were only 1 or 2 movies we were interested in seeing and, of course, there were no more volunteer slots open for those movies. So I'm going to be a 'bad' volunteer and bag the film festival. Instead, I will do something fun with my kids. Yeah, fun things with your kids are fun.

Idaho International Film Festival

I always try to volunteer for the film festival. I guess it makes me feel special to be doing something different. Of course, I like getting the free t-shirt and free movie passes. It has to be one of the easiest volunteering jobs ever. All you do is take tickets until people stop filing in and then you get to go sit in the movie and watch. Then when the movie is over you hand out pieces of paper and people rate it. Simple. Matt is coming with me again. He doesn't understand why I like this and I am bad at articulating my reasons so he'll probably never understand. Plus, he doesn't understand the downtown thing. I just like being downtown sometimes doing the things that people downtown do. I was born, raised and have always lived in suburbia (except for the Vernal stint) and knew that cool things go on downtown, but never knew what. Well, now I'm an adult aware that something cool is happening in downtown Boise and what to be in the mix of things. I guess I should have Matt read this blog. I hope the movies are good and we don't end up in some weird ones. There are some weird ideas out there. I don't like leaving the movie with the chills. I'll let you know how it goes.

Cop ride along

I got to go on a ride along with our friend, Officer Bish, last week. The evening was very interesting. He has the night shift so we started at 8 in the evening so I was ready for some Friday night excitement. To start the night off a fire alarm was pulled at the knitting factory where Marilyn Manson was having a concert. I got to watch the audience file out of the building in their black attire. Corsets seemed to be in style for a few heavyset women. I hope one day they'll think to themselves, "What was I thinking when I put that on?" And there were a couple of really freaky dudes that made me feel sad for them. I always think of them as lost souls.
Officer Bish and I helped out with a few drunks walking the line. That was funny watching them try to keep their balance.
There was a fight involving a knife. I missed most of the action on that one. I could hear what was happening on the c.b. and I wasn't sure if I should get out of the car or check out what was happening. By the time I decided to see what was going on the people in the fight were separated and people were being questioned. I guess out of the blue a guy was punched in the face for no reason as he walked in the bar. Then 2 other guys who were with the puncher were gonna gang up on punchee (are you confused yet?). The punchee saw this so he pulled out his knife to defend himself. The oversized school yard bullies saw the knife and stepped back. Then the cops came around then. Bish actually saw the punchee throw a bag in the trash which contained the knife. The puncher went to the jail.
I also got to see a couple of cross dressers- they were ugly as women and probably not very good looking men, someone carrying a giant wooden cross, women holding hands, the fashions of the 80's in full force.
We cruised downtown a lot and sped to a few different bars to help break up fights. We also went out to find a prowler.
A couple things I learned- Cops have to put up with a lot of crap. It seems like if there's a cop there, people instinctively feel like they're doing something wrong (I have felt this way) and so they have to say something to them (I usually give a weak hello and an even weaker wave). I felt self conscious just sitting in the front seat of the cop car. At the beginning of the shift I separated myself from the police so I wouldn't get stared at.
To me, cops were always part jerks so it was good for me to meet a few of them and see that they were normal (as normal as people can be). I can see why they need to be 'jerks,' but I had a few laughs with them once I got comfortable.
Also, Robin, I remember you saying that you were trying to convince your children that nothing good happens after midnight and that thought kept going through my head all night. What I was seeing proved that. There's been a part of me that has wanted to go downtown and go dancing w/girlfriends(cuz when was the last time I did that?), but I realized I wasn't missing out on too much. Especially as I watched the hoochie mamas prancing by as the men watched and either whistled or made comments. I guess I'll have to stick with jamming in my van or dancing in my family room (in my underwear and black shades).
The last thing I got to see was the dispatch room. For some reason this was one of the neatest parts of the evening. Maybe it's because I have thought about doing dispatching. Each dispatcher has four oversized computer screens and they have really cool chairs. Really, they looked well, cool. And I learned that their desks are made so that they can be raised and lowered so the dispatcher can stand up and get out of their cool chair if they want to or sit back down. One of the dispatchers talked to me more in detail, but I can't remember what she said, but it was very interesting and I got to learn some stuff I didn't know before.

An Update on the Basketball Hoop

There must be something about Sundays that makes him want to shoot baskets.

A moment to remember

There are few things that are better than seeing your children get along. This morning as Remi left for schoool he started saying his good-bye's and love you's. Grant heard that and wanted to watch through the window as Remi left. Then I got to hear Grant pucker and blow as he and his brother repeatedly blew kisses to each other. It was one of those times you wish you had your camcorder going because I couldn't stage something that heart warming.

Basketball hoop

I have been waiting months to find a good deal on a childrens basketball hoop. Brand new they cost $45 for the Fisher-Price model! I was not willing to pay that much so I figured I had to wait this out and search on craigslist (which gets old after a couple of days) or find one at a yard sale (which I haven't been going to). Luckily, I did stopat a yard sale on the way home and found one for $10! It was such a good deal that I didn't even talk them down to $8. Anyway, Grant was shooting hoops off and on all day. And I am thrilled to have a kid that enjoys doing it without any prodding from me. He actually has pretty good form for a 3 yr old. Could he be my one? hee hee.

Ok, I was going to get a picture from the web for a nice visual, but I'm an impatient computer retard.

Boy, one thing about going back to school is you realize how much your kids have grown since the last time you had to buy pants or gym shoes. Porter turns 13 tomorrow and is now 5'9" with a 10 1/2 shoe size. Since he's my first one I don't have anything to compare him to, but I think he's a tall kid(with big feet). I know growing spurts happen at different times, but every morning I look at him in awe because I feel like he's grown overnight. The thing is I've been feeling this since last year. Now Remi has joined him. Both of them grew about 2 1/2 inches just over the summer. It's happening right before my eyes, but I still can't fathom growing that fast.

A funny thing happened on the way to the sink.

My brother-in-law and his family were visiting a few weeks ago. Their son, Liam, loves finding and carrying around animals so he was thrilled when he saw our chickens. In fact, he checked the chicken coop for eggs a few times a day and reporting back to us what he did or didn't find. Well, one day he came into the house proudly showing us the egg he was holding. Liam held up the egg and was telling us (my sil and I)how the egg was slippery (ewwww). (We were wondering if he had helped the hen in the birthing process.) Well, it must have been slippery because he dropped it and it splat on the floor. Calmly, I got some paper towels and when I turned around I saw Grant walking toward us and I swear the rest happened in slow motion. I started yelling , "No! No! Go away!" and he stepped right into the egg and up went his leg and down came his rear end in the middle of egg. Then, of course, he started crying and looking confused at what just happened. All you had to do was replace the egg for a banana peel and I swear it was a scene out of my Saturday morning cartoons when I was a kid.

Weight Watchers

Two days ago I joined the Weight Watchers ranks and I feel a half pound lighter already!

Well, 4 new posts. I should be good for a couple of months, right?

Double Digits

Natalie Merrell turns 10!

The birthday gang.

L-R bottom: Cory Watts, Stevie, Remi, Porter, Adam and Rachel McCiuistion

top: Jennifer Jones, Natalie, Kayleigh Rice, Katelyn McCuistion
(for some reason Adam and Jennifer look like they have purple lips, but they really didn't)

We had Natalie's birthday party today. She turned 10. We had "brownie pudding" and ice cream. I made brownies for the cake. When I pulled it out of the oven I noticed it swayed a little bit, but thought it would stiffen as it cooled. So we sang Happy Birthday and I cut into it. It was basically a brownie crust over cooked batter. The kids didn't mind at all. Who can resist brownie batter? I couldn't (and it cost me a meal worth of weight watcher points). One girl was excited to have some because her mom never lets her have batter. Natalie wanted to go to the hot springs for her party so we took her friends to John's Pool and they swam. It was nice not to have to entertain kids. I just had to drive them there and the trip went by surprisingly quick.

Do these look comfy or what?

Come on in the water's warm.

Party's in the hot tub- next to the hot pool :) makes sense, right?

"'cary noman"

Grant's scary snowman.

We had to hurry and build this snowman before he melted. It was drizzling as we built him. By the end of the day he was a hunchback.

Fig leaves =modest snowman

Snowman kit means the buttons stay on and face stay on. Thanks, Aunt Janalee. The kit was perfect!

Now, it looked like Grant didn't have a problem helping with the snowman, but he wouldn't let me take a picture of him with it. " 'Cary 'nowman" (Scary snowman) so we had to take a picture together with it.

Sledding

Yay, we got snow this year and it stayed around long enough for us to go sledding. First, we went to Simplot which is a little dangerous. At Simplot, you're still picking up speed when you hit the street so you have to catch the kids (and adults) before they go into road. The drivers didn't seem to slow down for sledders either. And then we went to Camelsback which you have to watch out for the sledders at the bottom of the hill. Both were fun. This was Grant's first time sledding and he loved it. He would giggle as we went down. Here's a video of my brother sledding. It seems like when they're coming at you it doesn't matter where you move they head right for you anyway. So I thought I'd stay where I was. If you get motion sickness you may not want to watch the video. I can't seem to hold the camera still.

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas, as usual. My mom was here for the holidays. It was great to have her here. She's always a good sport when it comes to playing games. A week earlier we went to a couples Christmas Party and played Shaving Santa. Matt and I thought the kids would have fun playing so we decided to do it on Christmas Eve with them. My mom, grandma, bro, and sis-in law played along as well. This is a video of Natalie shaving Remington.

The finished product- let's just not put a razor in her hand, ok?

We enjoyed Up on the Housetop played by Porter.

Natalie and Remington performed a poem as well. What amazes me here is they could pass for twins in this picture. I always knew they looked alike, but didn't realize how much until I looked at this photo.

It was definitely a fun and memorable Christmas Eve. Thanks, fam.