How do you know you've been on vacation too long?
Well, I'm not sure, exactly, but on Sunday, Sam looked at me and said "Mom, thank you so much for us moving here and getting this dog!"
Maybe the tipping point is when your kids think you've moved and have officially adopted the local pets. Poor Daniel, Sam just must think we soldier on without him now.
We'll be home soon!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Too Much Credibility
The other night, I was sitting around my parents' dinner table and said that while I was here in Utah, I was going to try to meet up with a friend from Jr. High, Emily, and meet her kids. My parents said "Say hi to her," or "How's she doing these days?" and the like. Sam, however, got really quiet, and in the same voice I use to tell her terrible news, she said softly, "Oh, Mom. Uh, Emily died. I'm so sorry."
I was just voicing the words "Oh, no! When did that happen?! What happened?" like a moron when my words were interrupted by the following train of thought...
"Wait a minute! You're three. You don't even know Emily! You don't know any of my old friends! I'm not even sure you know what dying actually means. Even if you did, where would you have heard that? Are you on Facebook?" It was then I realized that another friend of mine, Keley, passed away in June, and that must have been what she was thinking of. I let Sam know that she was thinking of my friend Keley, but Emily was alive and well, and had a daughter about her age to play with. Sam sighed and said "Oh good. I'm happy Emily is okay."
I'm happy Emily is okay too. I am not happy, however, that my first response to my three year old is just to take whatever she has to say as if she's a credible source of information! When did I start buying whatever my preschooler tells me? Why did it take so long for me to figure out that she couldn't have known what she was talking about? Am I losing a step here, or am I just tired from my baby staying up late and my husband back in AZ unable to pitch in for the midnight shift?
I hope it's just the latter, and I further hope that any and all future embarrassing moments where I hand over way too much credibility to my kids do not happen in front of my parents to provide them with endless giggling. I live to serve, Mom and Dad. So glad you enjoyed that.
I was just voicing the words "Oh, no! When did that happen?! What happened?" like a moron when my words were interrupted by the following train of thought...
"Wait a minute! You're three. You don't even know Emily! You don't know any of my old friends! I'm not even sure you know what dying actually means. Even if you did, where would you have heard that? Are you on Facebook?" It was then I realized that another friend of mine, Keley, passed away in June, and that must have been what she was thinking of. I let Sam know that she was thinking of my friend Keley, but Emily was alive and well, and had a daughter about her age to play with. Sam sighed and said "Oh good. I'm happy Emily is okay."
I'm happy Emily is okay too. I am not happy, however, that my first response to my three year old is just to take whatever she has to say as if she's a credible source of information! When did I start buying whatever my preschooler tells me? Why did it take so long for me to figure out that she couldn't have known what she was talking about? Am I losing a step here, or am I just tired from my baby staying up late and my husband back in AZ unable to pitch in for the midnight shift?
I hope it's just the latter, and I further hope that any and all future embarrassing moments where I hand over way too much credibility to my kids do not happen in front of my parents to provide them with endless giggling. I live to serve, Mom and Dad. So glad you enjoyed that.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Firework
The 4th of July has come and gone for another year. This year we are counting two special blessings 1) Utah legalized aerial fireworks (in other news, Santa got Daniel's letter) and 2) after the night was over, Daniel was still sporting all 10 fingers. Hallelujah!
Samantha was extremely excited for fireworks this year, possibly because her father told her all sorts of stories of how wondrous and beautiful they are. Even more exciting, she got to go over to cousin Molly's house to watch them, which has a playground and a plethora of awesome things in addition to her 2nd cousin who is exactly her age. A lot of excitement going on all around that day. We had a lot of firework shopping, a family bbq, and then off to light the fireworks we spent the morning gathering, pricing, comparing, and purchasing to put together the best show ever. When all was said and done, our family firework pool had about 800 dollars worth of aerial fireworks to blow up. That's a LOT of pyrotechnic amazement, right there. For our AZ friends who aren't familiar with fireworks, the aerial fireworks we bought were the huge shells that shoot 150 feet and burst into ginormous circles of color like they have in the professional shows we normally sweat to death waiting for in Phoenix. We even bought one with 3" shells for a huge grand finale called the "Mega Lode." Can you go wrong with something called "The Mega Lode?" No, you can not. The boys were so excited by their haul that they immediately took pictures and posted them to Facebook. They put Sam behind the fireworks to provide perspective and show that some of the firework displays they purchased were nearly as tall as she was even when they were still in the boxes. It's a guy thing, I guess.
Shortly before the sun went down, a little rainstorm came in. This provided great relief to Molly's dad and anyone else shooting off fireworks as it greatly reduced the chance of setting a roof on fire with a renegade firework. It also dropped the temperature by a lot very quickly. Sam, our little Arizona girl, was totally freaking out about being chilly in the middle of summer. Suddenly, she desperately needed a jacket because she was "super freezing."
Molly's mom wanted to accommodate the little girls, so she ran through the rain in and out of the house several times, first bringing a blanket for them to share, and then a jacket for Molly, and then a jacket for Sam to borrow so they could have the same things (and me, being just as much an AZ girl as Sam hadn't thought to bring a coat for a July 4th trip either!). Sam didn't actually need a raincoat, since she was under a gazebo, but it kept her from wiggling out of the blanket. Plus, it was pink with hearts on it--be still, Sam's beating heart! Once Molly's mom put that jacket on Sam, life was sweet! She couldn't shut up about the dang jacket! "Hey, everyone, I got a jacket! Look at my jacket!"
The fireworks started going off, and Sam just got louder "Oh, pretty! Look at my jacket!!!! Mike, did you see my jacket!? Sarah, did you see it? Mom, I love this jacket! These fireworks are loud, I'm so glad I have my jacket!" She asked every person there, by name, if they had noticed her awesome jacket.
Occasionally, she also said something about the massively loud burst of exploding color over her head.
My cousin's boyfriend was completely cracked up by Sam's deep love for this borrowed jacket. As soon as the explosions died down so Daniel could light another round, he turned to Sam and asked "So, what do you like best, the fireworks, or that jacket?"
Sam thought long and hard for a minute, and then smiled and yelled "Fireworks IN my jacket!!!!!"
The fireworks display was awesome, and we all had a great time. I think Sam had the best time of all though, and it had little if any thing to do with the display her father and grandfather had so carefully crafted!
We capped off the night but opening up 150 glow sticks and finding all sorts of fun ways to wear them. The girls were covered in glowing bracelets and necklaces, you could probably see them from outer space. Sam lined the sleeves of that jacket with glow bracelets, and went to sleep in her room at Mack and G's using 50+ glowsticks sprinkled around the room as a nightlight. Awesome.
Family BBQ: $100 worth of food. Aerial firework display: $800 Glow Sticks: $15 Borrowed pink raincoat: Priceless.
Samantha was extremely excited for fireworks this year, possibly because her father told her all sorts of stories of how wondrous and beautiful they are. Even more exciting, she got to go over to cousin Molly's house to watch them, which has a playground and a plethora of awesome things in addition to her 2nd cousin who is exactly her age. A lot of excitement going on all around that day. We had a lot of firework shopping, a family bbq, and then off to light the fireworks we spent the morning gathering, pricing, comparing, and purchasing to put together the best show ever. When all was said and done, our family firework pool had about 800 dollars worth of aerial fireworks to blow up. That's a LOT of pyrotechnic amazement, right there. For our AZ friends who aren't familiar with fireworks, the aerial fireworks we bought were the huge shells that shoot 150 feet and burst into ginormous circles of color like they have in the professional shows we normally sweat to death waiting for in Phoenix. We even bought one with 3" shells for a huge grand finale called the "Mega Lode." Can you go wrong with something called "The Mega Lode?" No, you can not. The boys were so excited by their haul that they immediately took pictures and posted them to Facebook. They put Sam behind the fireworks to provide perspective and show that some of the firework displays they purchased were nearly as tall as she was even when they were still in the boxes. It's a guy thing, I guess.
Shortly before the sun went down, a little rainstorm came in. This provided great relief to Molly's dad and anyone else shooting off fireworks as it greatly reduced the chance of setting a roof on fire with a renegade firework. It also dropped the temperature by a lot very quickly. Sam, our little Arizona girl, was totally freaking out about being chilly in the middle of summer. Suddenly, she desperately needed a jacket because she was "super freezing."
Molly's mom wanted to accommodate the little girls, so she ran through the rain in and out of the house several times, first bringing a blanket for them to share, and then a jacket for Molly, and then a jacket for Sam to borrow so they could have the same things (and me, being just as much an AZ girl as Sam hadn't thought to bring a coat for a July 4th trip either!). Sam didn't actually need a raincoat, since she was under a gazebo, but it kept her from wiggling out of the blanket. Plus, it was pink with hearts on it--be still, Sam's beating heart! Once Molly's mom put that jacket on Sam, life was sweet! She couldn't shut up about the dang jacket! "Hey, everyone, I got a jacket! Look at my jacket!"
The fireworks started going off, and Sam just got louder "Oh, pretty! Look at my jacket!!!! Mike, did you see my jacket!? Sarah, did you see it? Mom, I love this jacket! These fireworks are loud, I'm so glad I have my jacket!" She asked every person there, by name, if they had noticed her awesome jacket.
Occasionally, she also said something about the massively loud burst of exploding color over her head.
My cousin's boyfriend was completely cracked up by Sam's deep love for this borrowed jacket. As soon as the explosions died down so Daniel could light another round, he turned to Sam and asked "So, what do you like best, the fireworks, or that jacket?"
Sam thought long and hard for a minute, and then smiled and yelled "Fireworks IN my jacket!!!!!"
The fireworks display was awesome, and we all had a great time. I think Sam had the best time of all though, and it had little if any thing to do with the display her father and grandfather had so carefully crafted!
We capped off the night but opening up 150 glow sticks and finding all sorts of fun ways to wear them. The girls were covered in glowing bracelets and necklaces, you could probably see them from outer space. Sam lined the sleeves of that jacket with glow bracelets, and went to sleep in her room at Mack and G's using 50+ glowsticks sprinkled around the room as a nightlight. Awesome.
Family BBQ: $100 worth of food. Aerial firework display: $800 Glow Sticks: $15 Borrowed pink raincoat: Priceless.
Warning From Above
In order to reach my parents' house with our sanity intact after a 12 hour drive with two small children, we opted to leave at 3am in the hopes that our kids would sleep for a large fraction of the trip. If we waited until the first light of sunrise had started around 4:30 or so, Sam would be totally finished sleep-wise.
That resulted in Daniel and me waking up around 2am to pack the car and get ready so we could wake up the kids, do a diaper change or potty trip, and stick them in the car still in their PJs and hopefully, still sleepy.
Daniel finished packing up the first suitcase for the car and walked out of our bedroom to find Sam had woken up and was standing outside her door jiggling with excitement already.
"Is it time for Utah?!" she asked. She had asked us that every night for over a month at this point, but she was finally right! Daniel told her that it was time to go to Utah, but he had to load up the suitcases and she needed to go wait on her bed for me to come get her soon.
In response, she looked down the staircase to the first floor, looked at the suitcase, looked at Daniel, and then said "Be careful, Dad. There's a lot of dark down there."
So true, Sam. So very true.
That resulted in Daniel and me waking up around 2am to pack the car and get ready so we could wake up the kids, do a diaper change or potty trip, and stick them in the car still in their PJs and hopefully, still sleepy.
Daniel finished packing up the first suitcase for the car and walked out of our bedroom to find Sam had woken up and was standing outside her door jiggling with excitement already.
"Is it time for Utah?!" she asked. She had asked us that every night for over a month at this point, but she was finally right! Daniel told her that it was time to go to Utah, but he had to load up the suitcases and she needed to go wait on her bed for me to come get her soon.
In response, she looked down the staircase to the first floor, looked at the suitcase, looked at Daniel, and then said "Be careful, Dad. There's a lot of dark down there."
So true, Sam. So very true.
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