Lucky

I have been feeling very lucky again lately. I am so lucky to have such great family and friends, healthy kids, and just everything. My friend Sharon was visiting from Tahiti and she totally uplifted me. She's one of those natural therapists and natural mothers. She was giving my kids kisses and telling them she loved them and helping out random crying children who couldn't find their moms at Chuck E Cheeses (where she met us even though she didn't have her kids with her! Now that's a true friend!) She made me feel so good, telling me I was such a good mom and just talking with me about everything so deep. I felt so good for a couple days after wards, and then I felt good for awhile after she called me from the airport in Los Angeles to say bye and tell me what a good friend and mom I was again. I wish she still lived here. Everybody needs a friend like Sharon.

Josh!

Josh and Brad went to Scotland for 9 days and when they got home on a Wednesday night and didn't get in bed until after 11 with 26 hours of travel behind them, I didn't know if Josh would be able to stay awake in school. He woke up at 4 a.m., but he said he was fine when school was starting, so I took him to class and left his teacher with my phone number to call in case he started falling asleep. It just warmed my heart and made me want to cry happy tears when we got to his class and his teacher saw him and was excited and said "Hi Josh!" Then all of the other kids in his class, boys and girls, said "Jossssh!!!" They all started talking at once "Where were you? We didn't know if you were coming back. Where did you go?" A boy said "He went on vacation" and the kids asked where and the boy said "He went on vacation to Scotland." Josh just stood there in one spot, with a blank face like he does. Not a bit of emotion on his face, but I know he was happy that he was greeted back with such enthusiasm. He is such a silly kid. I'm so glad all the kids in his class like him and missed him. His teacher said he's a total ham at the last parent teacher conference. She said he will say funny things in front of the class and make all the kids laugh. A good group of friends and classmates for your child is priceless.

My Mom

Wow. First of all, she came to our house every evening while Brad and Josh were gone to take care of the kids so I could sleep and go to work. All except Friday and Saturday when Dad and mostly Julie watched (and spoiled!) Connor and Kaytlynn. 8 nights she came, would fix dinner, take the kids out on their scooters, or do projects or teach them to cook. Then she'd give them baths and put them to bed, and get up with them in the night, then help me with them in the morning when I got home, then she would go to work and come back that night to help me again. She picked up stuff at the grocery store and cleaned. Basically she was my replacement Brad, and we appreciate her so much! So Wednesday night I went to pick Brad and Josh up from the airport and as we were walking from the baggage claim to the escalator, I suddenly realized my engagement ring was not on my finger. I went to twist it so the diamond was in the right spot, which I do all the time out of habit. I gasped when I realized it was gone and stopped. I looked back and didn't see it on the floor, so I called mom to see if I had left it on the bathroom counter. I always take it off and put it on the counter when I take a shower. I usually put it right back on. She didn't answer and Brad and Josh were tired, and I didn't see it on the floor anywhere, so we went home. I was worried the whole way home. When we got back, I went straight to the bathroom and my ring was not there. I called the airport lost and found and it wasn't there, then I called again to see if they would just scan the area quickly and see if they could find it. They didn't find it. Brad got me my engagement ring in Greece on his way home from minesweeping in Iraq. It is one of a kind and we definitely wouldn't be able to just go get another one that is the same. I had to work at 3 a.m. and it was about 11 p.m. It had been a long day and I was tired, but I knew if I didn't go back to the airport I would always regret not going back to look for it. I thought I could find someone to work my 3-7 shift, go and look, then come back and sleep. Then my mom called and said that she could go look. I took her up on her offer because I was so tired. I went to bed and my mom called at 2:45 a.m., just after my alarm went off. She had just gotten back from the airport. She had talked to security and the cleaning people and found out the police were doing a practice using rubber bullets at the airport at 2 a.m. and they would be doing a big cleanup after that. She had everyone on the lookout for my ring and had other people at the baggage claim helping her look. I felt so bad that she lost so much sleep and I felt so indebted to her. I couldn't believe she would do that for me, because this is a woman who needs her sleep! It made me want to cry that she would do this for me. In the morning when Kaytlynn woke up, I thought I'd just ask, not thinking that anything would come of it. I asked Kaytlynn if she took a ring off the bathroom counter and she didn't say anything, just turned around and went straight to her room. Brad and I followed her as she walked straight to her little doll crib, opened up the cabinet underneath it, and took out a little ziplock bag that had a spare button in it earlier. She looked so proud of herself as she brought it to me, with my ring in it. What a relief!! I felt so bad my mom spent so much time and energy looking for my ring that was at home the entire time. But overall I felt good and happy because I knew my mom would be so happy that I had it. My mom and I did not get along too well when I was growing up. We both hope we will never have to live together again. We have different religious, political, and parenting views, but I love her and I know she loves me, too. Thank you, mom!! This means so much to me!

Now a similar story:
When Josh was just little-1 year old-he would throw things in the garbage all the time and put stuff "away". It was smart to always check the garbage before we took it out to the dumpster because we usually found something in there that didn't belong. One time I was feeding Connor and Josh came to me with a ziplock bag with my engagement ring in it, and he wanted me to close the bag, so I did. When I was done feeding Connor, I went to find Josh so I could get my ring back, and he didn't have the bag. For the next 3 days, I was looking everywhere--in the garbage, in shoes, in drawers--anywhere Josh could get to. I looked through the disgusting garbage and asked Brad not to take it out until I found my ring. I was dreading that I might have to go through the dumpster. Josh couldn't tell me where it was. I finally had an idea, so I put a toe ring in a ziplock bag and sat on my bed (where I was feeding Connor) I called to Josh and he came in sucking on his little pacifier (He was so addicted to pacifiers!) I gave him the bag and was sure to stay where I was so I wouldn't spook him. He walked out to the kitchen and I snuck to the hallway to see where he went. He went and opened up the drawer where we kept the ziplock bags and stuck the bag in the box. So I went out and got the box, and stuffed at the bottom under all the other bags was the bag with my ring. Relief!

One more ring story:
We went to a swimming pool for my work party. I didn't want my ring to fall off in the water, so I put it at the bottom of our pool bag under all the towels. When we were done playing, Brad got the towels out and shook them out, then put them on the kids. We left and I asked Brad if he saw my ring in the pool bag. He looked and didn't see it. We looked everywhere it could be and didn't find it, so I went back to the pool to look while they were having a private party. I looked in the grass around the area we were in for 15 or 20 minutes and couldn't find it. That night I went back with a flashlight to find it. I was going to jump the fence and look if nobody was there to let me in, but then I saw a no trespassing sign and that it was under camera surveillance, so I went home. In the morning I went back to look before the park was open and spent a long time looking with no luck. It was such a big area that the ring could have been flung into and the grass was wet, so it was shiny and sparkly everywhere. I wanted to cry. I thought I'd have to rent a metal detector and go back. I saw something shine in the grass, so I went to look and it was just a hair elastic with that little metal piece on it. I was really ready to go and I was late to something and I thought that I could go check out shiny wet grass all day long, so I tried to talk myself out of looking for a split second, but then I decided I'd just look at that one place, and it was my ring! I couldn't believe it. This is why I do not like having real, expensive jewelry, and if I do, I don't wear it, because I am so afraid of losing it. For good reason! I should probably go get a fake ring to wear around and put mine in the the safe or something. Seriously.

Is it a Big Deal or a Big Squeal?

Connors teacher says this, apparently. Connor says it almost any time Josh comes to tell on Kaytlynn for doing something. "Is it a big deal, or is it a big squeal?" Most of the time he comes to the conclusion that it is a big squeal and he really takes the time to think about it and not come to me with big squeals. Monday Connor and I went snowboarding. When we went to pick up Kaytlynn at my stepmoms house, she had been spoiled as usual, and Connor said he wanted a toy, too. He kept whining over and over "I want a toy." Then he stopped and said "I am going to say this one more time. Then if I am going to say it again, I will do this." He clapped his hand over his mouth. I thought that deserved a toy! He did not say it again, and he fell asleep on the way home, so I didn't stop at the store. He woke up when we got home, and looked at me with dissapointed eyes, clapped his hand over his mouth, and looked at me with puppy dog eyes. My mom graciously took him to the dollar store for a toy so I could go to bed. Kaytlynn said that while she was at grandma and grandpas, they all had a tea party. What good grandparents. Imagining the 3 of them having a tea party together on my dads break between jobs makes me smile :)