The Big Trip

I've been meaning to post this, but you know how life goes- something's always getting in the way of getting things done. Anyway, here we go!

Andrew & Brian made it to Kansas City safely on Thursday night. They stayed 2 nights there, and on Friday went to check out the college & town for Brian. Apparently it's smaller than the high school that Brian went to here in Tucson. Only about 900 kids total! They have every sports team known to man, so we figure that over 1/2 of the enrollment is just the athletes. Andy says that the campus is very small, but gorgeous, and that the school will be perfect for Brian.

Brian says that this is MY chair. Thanks a lot, Brian. I'm not that big!

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They checked Brian into the dorms on Saturday morning, and immediately had to make a trip to Wal-Mart for fans & some other necessities. Us Arizonans do not understand the lack of A/C in other parts of the country, but I guess they don't need it like we do!

Brian dropped Andy off at the airport in KC, and Andy finally arrived back in Tucson LATE Saturday night. Luckily, my mom had taken the kids to Thatcher to cousin Reagan's luau birthday party, so I didn't have to worry about dragging them with me. It did make my day LONG, though, as I didn't have anyone in the house with me from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm when I left to go get Andy. I did struggle through some housecleaning, but mostly just watched the Olympics. Surprising, I know.

All in all, Andrew says that the trip was awesome, and that he's really glad he went. It's a once in a lifetime chance to do something like that with Brian, right? I'm glad they had fun, and my next post will be of some of the pics from Brian's campus.

And They're Off!

This week I get to be a single mom.

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I love that my husband is totally willing to do extreme things to help other people, and this latest venture is certainly a doozie.

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Our nephew Brian Paul Korn received a scholarship to Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, and reports to college on Saturday. We were talking to him about his trip out there when we discovered that he was going to go all by himself. Well, Andrew just couldn't have that! He instantly volunteered to "sacrifice" his time & accompany Brian Paul to college, just to make sure that he "got there safely." (Yeah, right.) Aren't I lucky to have such a noble & selfless man in my life?

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So yesterday they both squeezed into Brian's little car & set out on the open road. Last night they ate at the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX, home of the 72 ounce steak. Yep, it's that place that you see on the Food Network all the time. There had been talk of trying "The Challenge", but they both took 1 look at the size of that hunk of meat & chickened out. Weenies!

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Today they drove to Springfield, MO to visit the original Pro Bass Superstore. (Yeah, this is a total sacrifice for my husband!) Tonight they're going to stay in Kansas City & tomorrow they'll go scope out Baldwin City for Brian. I told them that they need to make sure & try some authentic Kansas City barbeque while they're in KC tomorrow. Andy will fly home on Saturday night, just in time to go back to work on Sunday.

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Seriously, I'm really excited that these 2 are getting to have this adventure. A few weeks ago I even encouraged Andrew to go, but now I'm not sure what I was thinking. I need a nap!

Insulted by a 4 Year Old

My 4 year old is starting to give me a total self-confidence complex! Lately there have been about 10 instances in which she made totally innocent comments that just blew me away. For instance:

Emma, Frank, & I like to make a choo-choo train as we cross roads or parking lots. The kids like to take turns being the engine & caboose. I have had the privilege of being named the car-carrier, big box car, and other railroad mainstays.

But, on the way into school on Tuesday:

Emma- Mom, I'm the engine, Frank is the caboose, and you're the tanker car.
Mom- Why am I a tanker, Emma?
Emma- Because you're tanking up, Mom!
Mom- What does that mean? (I am so afraid of this answer!)
Emma- You're getting all tanked up & round & full, so you need to be a tanker car!
Mom- BIG SIGH

Last Saturday:

Emma- Mom, you're getting so chubby!
Dad- (taking Emma aside & chastising her) Emma, it is NOT nice to ever call anyone chubby!
Emma- (whispering to Dad, but loud enough for everyone else to hear) But Dad, she is super chubby these days!

Last Week:

Emma- Mom, you shouldn't wear that shirt. It makes you look too chubby!
Mom- Emma, I'm not chubby, I'm pregnant. It's just the baby that makes my belly round.
Emma- Whatever, Mom. You sure look chubby to me!

OK, I know I'm getting big, but I DO NOT need my 4 year old reminding me of it all the time!

Today:

Mom- Emma, it's OK that Daddy's not here. We'll have lots of fun & he'll be home before you know it!
Emma- I don't know, Mom. I miss him so much already! (Dad wasn't even out of the driveway yet!)
Mom- We'll be OK, honey.
Emma- I guess we could have fun at home, even if it's just you here & not Dad.

What did I ever do to deserve this? Oh, yeah, I was just like her when I was her age!

IT'S HERE!!!!!!

I have a confession, I'm a total Olympics geek. I can remember back as far as the 1988 Olympics, and being so angry because my other family members wouldn't let me watch women's gymnastics. I guess it's easy to be overruled when you're the only 1 out of 6 kids in the house that wants to watch little girls fly through the air with the greatest of ease. And during the Barcelona games, I refused to go to the car races (a huge thing for us at the time) because I didn't want to miss the women's event finals in gymnastics.

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But now I'm the ruler of my own remote, and I can watch as long as I want! I have to admit, I haven't turned off the Olympic coverage since the competition began on Saturday morning. I guess the opening ceremony was cool, but as far as I'm concerned, it's just a big waste of time & money, because all I want to watch is sports! I spend hours & hours surfing back & forth between the NBC channels, and have even been known to make lists of what's on which channel so that I don't miss anything. Like I said, a total geek.

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I remember during the Athens Olympics, I swear my husband wanted to leave me. He got so frustrated that the only channel I would ever watch was the Olympics. He is interested, but not completely rabid like I am. So in the evening when he would go in the other room to watch normal TV, he wouldn't see me until the next morning when I again would be watching Olympic coverage!

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I can't eat, I can't leave the house, and I definitely can't sleep. I might miss something! But I think I might be converting Andrew. Last night he actually called me & asked me to record the swimming portion of the program. He thinks Michael Phelps is a stud. I don't care who the athlete is- as long as they're from the good 'ol USA, I'll sit on my couch & cheer loud enough for them to hear me all the way over in Beijing!

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Only 2 more weeks and then I'll have to wait 2 whole years to experience this again.

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!!

Adventures with Wildlife

Emma has talked about her caterpillar from Mt. Graham for the last 3 days. So when she came screaming into the house this afternoon with news of a "huge, way-huge horny toad," I determined to break my "no-wildlife" rule & catch it for her. Even better, we were having some friends come over, so they could enjoy him too. I have a very strict policy that we may examine & enjoy the wildlife, but we are not allowed to poke, squish, de-tail, throw rocks at, or otherwise harm the little creatures that live outside. This was VERY hard for little Benson & Frank to comply with, but they did OK, and our little visitor eventually regained his freedom when Frank "turned him over, Mom!" The sight of the 2 2-year olds trying to throw the box back over the little escapee was hilarious, but he got away before I could get my camera.

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The kids went into the backyard to swing & play, and were pretty quiet until I was in the middle of doing dishes. I had seen them all getting up onto the trampoline, and they had actually been up there for a few minutes when I heard an absolutely eardrum-shattering scream from each of the 2 girls. "Mommy, there's something disgusting on the trampoline!"
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So out goes Mommy to investigate, and guess what I found? The decapitated, fly-covered remnants of a 9-inch (even minus the head) ground squirrel. Don't ask me how these kids managed to jump for 5 minutes without noticing this thing. It was laying right in the middle of the trampoline! Luckily nobody had touched it, but Mommy had to. YUCK!!!!
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Where's Daddy when you need him? After all, this particular little rodent had been shot by Daddy just yesterday as he tried to defend our garden with a pellet gun. [Well, he says it's for the garden, but I know he's just out there having fun killing God's creatures.] Anyway, he thought that he'd killed this squirrel, but it wasn't anywhere around when he went looking for it to dispose of the carcass. Lucky me to be able to do so after it'd been dead for over a day & the dogs had chewed off its poor little head.
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I'll have to remember to give a special Thank You to whichever of our cherished canines that just loves leaving these "presents" for us on the tramp. Not counting today, in the past month we've had 2 rodents, a few lizards, and 1 completely unidentifiable mess, all in various stages of decay. It's a good thing I was raised in the sticks & have had my share of experience with stuff like this. The older I get, the more I understand some of my "city girl" friends, and their utter abhorrence for rural living. Not enough to make me want to live in town, but I do understand.

Youth Immortalized

Have you ever wanted to remember a certain moment in time, but just didn't know how to make it stick in your memory?

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Maybe your child's first day of school, a baby smiling for the first time, or that awesome kiss you received from your true love?

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Well, I don't know how to capture those particular snippets in time without a camera, but I have found a way to make sure that I can always remember my kids at this particular age.

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Our favorite cowboy restaurant!

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What, you say?

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Behold- my children immortalized for as long as the Pinnacle Peak Restaurant stands.

We had so much fun going out to eat with Grandma, Grandpa, Brian, Jeremiah, & Sharissa. And I'll always remember that particular meal because my kids were identified as outlaws. No ties allowed at Pinnacle Peak! Some stranger in the other dining room wanted to 'string 'em up', but luckily we got out of there with their necks intact. Their neckties, however, will forever hang as a tribute to this beautiful age they're at, and the wonderful meal with family we enjoyed that night. Who needs scrapbooking? I've got ties!

First Things First- My Boy!

I am proud to report that my son is either totally obedient, or a total genius. Maybe both? It took a whopping total of 3 days for him to be toddler-bed-trained. The first night was not too bad, he just kept getting up to see what I was doing in the other room. The 2nd night was just a few minutes of trying to get up so that he could find toys to play with. The 3rd night he spent a whole hour climbing out of his bed & getting into Emma's bed. I WISH I HAD MY CAMERA ON THAT NIGHT! Even though Emma was completely asleep, he would climb up onto her pillow & sort of curl himself around her head. It was HARD to pull him out of her bed & put him back into his bed because it was so cute! When it finally got quiet in his room, Andrew & I found him standing with his feet on the ground & sort of laying across the foot of Emma's bed- sound asleep! It was freakin' adorable. But since then, he hasn't ventured from his big boy bed once. In fact, it's usually completely quiet the instant I put them in bed & leave the room. I think that I mentioned how hard this process was with Emma, so I was not prepared at all to have this be so easy. Next item on the agenda: Potty Training!

I also got my camera back from Safford (thanks, Dana), so I can share some pics of the kids at the Larson Family Campout. Let's just say that they had fun, because I think the pics say it all.

Emma & the infamous caterpillar. She is usually so rough with living things, I was amazed to see her be so gentle with this thing. She carried it around for over an hour until she loaned it to a cousin & it got lost in the transfer. Oh well. She wanted to bring it home, so I was kind of glad to see it disappear. Does that make me a bad mom?

Frank in his usual position- in the dirt! OK. So all of the grown-ups were sitting around talking & we noticed that the 2 2-year olds had disappeared. Next thing we know, we can hear the sound of a motor going, and see these 2 headed off across the campground. Frank wasn't even steering, and they almost ran broadside into Aunt Amanda's RV. Little thieves, but too adorable! Who's holding who here? And just for fun- if you choose to take weird pictures with my camera, they will get posted on my blog. Say cheese Uncle Tanner!