Weekly Funnies

1. On the way to church Dad was teaching the boys about the Liahona and Go Go said, "It's just like a GPS!"

2. Don't Mess with Superman.

3. Our Peeping Tom

The Tooth Fairy Cometh

For the past several weeks we've been working on this tooth. Dad tried the pliers, an old family tradition, I'm told, and one that I think is horrible to the extreme. But who am I to stand in the way of tradition.

Finally today Mr. Pres worked on it for about half an hour at which point Dad went in with the pliers again and it just fell out into his hands with nary a pull. And here it is! Tooth #1 for the Tooth Fairy's stash!

Sorry for the close-up, but this was the best we could get. Later when we were talking to Grandma and Grandpa on the phone, Grandpa tried to explain the concept of inflation and the tooth fairy to Mr. Pres and I was hearing amounts of $5.oo thrown around! What Grandpa doesn't know is that the Tooth Fairy already used up her part of the stimulus package, it didn't help at all, and she is now asking grandparents to chip in to offset inflation.

Go Go's commentary on the event:
"Wow! He's almost an adult now!"
When we were discussing the gaping hole in Mr. President's mouth he said, "Gaping holes are good."

Mr. President's commentary on the event:
"Now my toothbrush will get stuck 2059 times!"

Chip off the old Rock

Blue Jeans is definitely a daddy's boy. If Dad is around when he gets hurt, he goes to him for comfort. (and mom tries not to feel bad about that) If Dad is around he wants to be sitting on, near or held by Dad.

If Dad is sleeping on the couch Blue Jeans will sit and watch him and wait for him to wake up. Our little Blue Jeans is a chip of the old Rock.

Would You Jump Off a Bridge?

Go Go decided tonight to jump off the ladder of the bunk bed and managed to really hurt his foot in the process. In his hysterical crying all we could get out of him was that "Mr. President told me to do it!" So, in an effort to teach him an important principle, I asked him what he would do if Mr. Pres told him to take a knife and stick it in his eye. He of course said he wouldn't do that and so I tried to explain that just because someone tells you to do something stupid, does not mean you should do it and it is not their fault if you get hurt! Go Go was still basically hysterical while I was trying to impart this wisdom to him and I guess I should have taken that as my sign to teach the principle at another time when he was a bit more receptive. He walked away from me, went down the hall where he yelled at Mr. Pres, "Don't tell me to to poke my eye out with a knife!" and then clocked Mr. Pres on the head.

Maybe we'll try to teach that important principle again another day... but we'll at least wait until Go Go comes out of Time Out.

"You're Moving WHERE?"

That's what most people are saying when we tell them our crazy news that we are moving to of all places New York City! Ok, so we're not actually going to LIVE in New York City, but Rock will be working there. He has accepted a job to work for Fog Creek Software right in the heart of downtown Manhattan-3 blocks from Ground zero and the New York Stock Exchange. We will most likely live in Northern New Jersey and Rock will ride the train into work. New Jersey is cheaper and actually very very beautiful I was pleased to find on our trip there. I was very glad that suburbia can in fact be found there, for as much as I loved New York City, I would NOT want to live there. And that's why when Rock first told me he'd applied for a job in New York City I told him he was insane and that I was never moving there. "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Obviously, God definitely had other plans for me then I had for myself.

Here's the story. We have felt for a while now that this summer was a good time for our family to make a change. Rock wanted to try something new at work and we both wanted a dryer climate. We both felt like it was time for us to move to a new place, have new experiences and grow in new ways. We were thinking somewhere in the WEST. As Rock started to job search he decided on a whim to apply for the job at Fog Creek just to get some good interview experience. As he got further and further in the interview process, we felt more and more like maybe this was something we should do. Three interviews later he was offered the job and we were faced with the major decision of whether to move our little family all the way across the country. New York City was virtually a foreign country to us. But after lots of prayers and a fabulous trip to New York and New Jersey, we took the offer. We are looking at it as a short term BIG adventure. I have always wanted to live out East for a time to explore all the church and history sights. And now we get the chance! It's all very scary and exciting at the same time. We don't know where we're going to live, we don't know if we can sell our house, we don't know even the first thing about moving across the country, but we do know it's where the Lord wants us to go... so New York City here we come.

Our Trip to New York City

I Really Meant to Blog About It
A five day trip to New York City deserves a daily blog post, but I was so busy walking up and down the streets of New York giving myself blisters, riding the subway for the first time with every nationality imaginable and walking down Wall Street next to the men in black Armani suits that I just didn't have time. I was too busy crying at Ground Zero as I listened to the loved ones of those lost and heroes from that fateful day tell their story while we looked upon that massive hole in the ground, the sky and our hearts. I was too busy shopping literally shoulder to shoulder with millions of other people at Times Square in the world's most amazing Toys R Us trying to find a gift for my boys that was Under $10.00. Too busy walking around not even a quarter of Central Park and it's amazing beauty while buildings of spectacular history and architecture loomed just over the tops of the trees. I really meant to blog right after I fulfilled my life long dream of seeing the statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I meant to post on Memorial day when I visited the cemetery of Trinity church where Revolutionary War heroes were buried and George Washington prayed. I really wanted to blog it as I saw it. But there just wasn't time. We filled every day to overflowing and as I think about all I saw I am still in awe of how little I really did see of this amazing city teeming with life and beauty. One minute you are looking at a massive pillared and ancient edifice and the next you are walking under a grove of the most beautiful trees and the next you are screaming along under the ground on the subway squished closer to humanity than you ever thought possible. It was a fantastic trip and I loved every minute. To see pictures of our trip you can go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamadawn/sets/72157618845327007/

The two things I took away from this trip:
1. ALWAYS carry hand sanitizer when in New York because none of the bathrooms ever have any.
2. Every American needs to see Ground Zero with their own eyes so that they will never forget nor let our government forget what happened on 9/11.

But We Had to Come Back
The break from kids and every day life was wonderful while it lasted. Little did I know how quickly we would be hurled back into parenthood. We arrived home late Monday night physically and emotionally exhausted. Today is Wednesday and we have since returning home had two sleepless nights thanks to a fussy toddler, two trips to the Dr.'s office with the same two children for pink eye and one case of weird bruise-like red, blistery splotches. Not one Dr. out of 3 could clearly identify it and as his skin started to blister and ooze I started to worry about things like flesh eating disease. Rock was in charge of the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby and took Go Go who was just barely over the 24 hour no longer contagious stage, and I went to the t-ball game with Mr. Pres and watched from the car so as to quarantine the pink eyed toddler. I finished off my welcome back to motherhood with a mad dash to the pharmacy before it closed to get the 4th prescription in two days. I wanted to reassure the people staring at Blue Jeans while we waited in line, "Don't worry, he's not really rubbing his green goopy eyes and then touching the cart handle that someone else will touch within moments!!!!" Ahahahggha! How can people let their children DO THAT! But yet, there I was, doing just that. It is now 9:15 PM and 2 children are finally in bed but not asleep and the third is still helping put away the Pinewood derby track. He is in heaven as he knows it, though, so what's a 10:00 bedtime? The house is a disaster and there is so much laundry in the laundry room we can barely open the door. Welcome home, Mom.

Some of Go Go's Latest Quotes

"Oh, I'm PAINED to death" when his tummy hurt.
"Mom! Only 14 more years till I can ride a motorcycle!"
It's pouring down rain outside and 45 degrees. He comes up to me with a sleeveless shirt and shorts, "Mom, can I pleeease wear these today?"