"Me" and the Ballerina

This is my favorite thing Kenyon does lately:

At random moments throughout the day he will stand at the back door with his hand raised yelling, "ME! ME!" He is just waiting for me to ask, "Who wants to go outside?"

Also had to share pics of Maya at her new ballet class she started:

The ballerinas posing after a hard day of dancin'

Times are Changin'

Jer took Kenyon to Home Depot with him yesterday. It is not often for Jer to take the kids out alone so he is not as used to fielding questions and comments from onlookers about our family. However, when recently asked if Maya and Kenyon were brother and sister - he replied "yes" and moved on. Way to go!

Back to Home Depot - Kenyon ran up to a man sitting at a table with balloons yelling, "BOON, BOON, BOON!" The man turned to Jer and asked if he was his dad. Then he asked, "What is he?" I would have answered "a boy," "a child of God" or something less informative, but Jer went ahead and answered, "Biracial - half black, half white." The man replied that he was also biracial. They had a brief conversation and as Jeremy walked away, the man said, "Times are changin'."

I have thought about this incident Jeremy shared with me. Times ARE changing and it is my hope and desire that people are becoming more and more accepting of our "different" family. That said, I know there are others that don't approve of our transracial family. Others that will be hurtful to my children. Am I preparing them to deal with this negativity that will be thrown at them? I sure hope so! For now, I take it one step at a time, teaching them about differences, feelings, that they are a daughter/son of God, a God who had a plan for them to be in our family and finally, that we are a family - though we don't look alike, we are a tight family that loves, embraces, and supports one another, even if the world around us doesn't view us as such.

We will be fine.

The Nanny

Jeremy has been working some funky hours this week. Some early mornings, late nights and everything in between. That said, it has left him home with us at times he is not usually home. One day he joined the women and children for lunch at a very girly home decor store that has a cute little deli (Poppy's for all of you locals!).

When Jer was done with his meal and the moms were still eating, he offered to walk around with baby Gavin who was getting fussy. Of course I sent my kids with him too. This is what he looked like when an employee stopped to ask, "May I help you find anything?"


To which Niki said, "He is the nanny!"

What a guy!

P.S. Kenyon did get his hair cut today, but don't worry - just a trim! I could never part with those delicious curls. Speaking of delicious, this morning when I asked Maya what she wanted for breakfast, she said, "MOMMY!" and began pretending to chew up my leg. Kenyon thought that looked fun and came and took a real chunk out of my leg. No more pretending to eat each other for a while around here!

Hats

I have waited for the day that Kenyon would leave a hat on. I love the look of his little curls sticking out the side and back. He will still only leave it on for a few seconds, but it was long enough for me to snap a couple of shots!

Oh he is so cute!

I know, I know, it is time for a hair cut. Aunt Camille and Grandpa Gary were giving me all kinds of crap last night for his "old lady look." So what do you think... just a trim or the full shave it off look (or at least cut it short)? I just can't decide!

Plug for Olive Springs Retreat

My cute, talented friend Katie in Lehi, UT has a darling salon in her house and has started a blog with monthly salon specials. If you are in the area and need a hair cut, color, eye brow or chin wax, eyelash extensions or any other salon service, she is your woman! She has done my hair since long before she had her license and has always been amazing at cutting and coloring my thick, curly hair!

Here is her new and exciting blog:

http://www.olivesprings.blogspot.com/

Please support her so we can go back to Maui with them this next spring like we did last year!! :)

Joni

Anyone seen a Backyardigans, Dora, Diego, Sesame Street, or Super Why episode with a Joni in it? You see, Maya recently got married to Joni. They even kissed on the lips "like mommy and daddy do." Joni is always around nowadays.

Before I welcome Joni to the family as my new son-in-law, I would like to find out a little about this Joni fellow and his past...

Sunday Morning Jobs

Dad's job: Take out braids

Mom's job: Put in braids

Maya's job: Hold still

Kenyon's job: Look cute

I think we all do a pretty good job!

Just Warm

Mommy getting ready for her date asks, "Maya, do I look H-O-T hot?"

"No, just warm," Maya replies.

I love her honesty.

Random Friday Thoughts

1. I discovered these two on the porch swing yesterday just sharing a sibling moment. Precious. I am the luckiest mom in the world.


2. My ring is back and more beautiful than ever. It had come unsautered and was in the shop for a bit. I am not too good about remembering to wear my wedding ring everyday, but I sure missed it when it was gone.


3. I can't wait for this man to get home from work and take me out on another hot date. The best part: free babysitting! Tonight is the first night of our babysitting swap. They watch our kids this Friday and we watch theirs next Friday. Win-win situation for everyone!

4. To set things straight, it is not me guzzling the Nyquil in the picture below and I don't know why she is not wearing a shirt. After Jeremy and I laughed our guts out looking at that picture, how could I not post it.

5. And finally, the cutest baby on the block right here. I told Jeremy the other day that I am falling more and more in love with Kenyon every day, to which he replied, "Yeah, Maya and I have noticed." Something might be true about the mother/son bond being strong!

Have a good weekend!

A good man

He really is a good man, that husband of mine. I have a sore throat, snotty nose in one nostril, runny nose in the other, ragin' sinus headache and blasted cold and he just came home with these:

He knows the key to my heart!

Help!

Some Britany out there owes a ton of collections agencies money and for some reason they have decided that my cell phone is hers. Her name is Britany (last name is my maiden name) and she lives in Pennsylvania. Collectors are calling day and night for her. Any advice? Anyone know her? :)

It might be time to change my cell phone number. That is a big step for me - I have had the same number for 10 years and it is my last tie to Utah since I never changed to an Arizona number. Maybe it is time to bid farewell to Utah and take the Arizona plunge.

The Women

It takes a strong man to walk into a movie theater full of women. Tonight there were two - Jeremy was one of them. Before telling him I wanted to go see "The Women," I made a deal that he could pick the restaurant and I pick the movie. He was trapped!

Thanks honey for a hot date! Oh and the movie was good, not great, but good - I think Jer laughed more than I did! Another interesting facet is that there is not a single male shown on screen in the entire movie - a true chick flick!

Late Night Thoughts

Those of you who know me well, know that I don't function too well after 9:00 pm. So here it is almost 11:00 and I am still up. Here are my thoughts:

Why is this little boy growing up so fast! He is talking more and more everyday and if he is really going to be our last baby (which we think he is!), he really needs to stop growing. Tonight at the park he climbed up the ladder to the big slide all by himself. I don't like it one bit!

This little angel has started coming to me and telling me when kids call her names. Name calling at three?! I can't take it!

My two bffs think they are going to leave me and move back to Utah. Really, they have told me since I moved here that the day would come, but I have been in denial. I think it is coming...

To top it off, after already feeling sad, I read sad blogs. Blogs about loss of loved ones, infertility, sickness, disease, horrible things happening to innocent people, etc, etc, etc. Why? And to Hurricane Ike - I can't help but think of an amazing young woman somewhere in Texas tonight. I went to her small town, south of Houston, a couple of months ago on an adoption trip. Now I see that her town was evacuated. Those who stayed were told to write their names and social security numbers on their arms. Please tell me she left! I can't stop thinking about her.

This is why I go to sleep early - I stop thinking rational and am carried away in my thoughts, thoughts of sadness tonight.

Dinosaur Museum

Today was the day Maya has waited for - the preschool field trip to the dinosaur museum. We had a great time. Maya really loves her teacher. We always hear about what she says and does, but didn't realize that she hears the same about us:

Teacher: "What kind of dinosaur is this?" (pointing to Tyrannosaurus)

Maya: "A big-a-saurus!"

A little while later:

Teacher: "Meat-eater or leaf-eater?"

Maya: "Meat-eater! My dad eats meat! He LOVES to eat LOTS and LOTS of meat!" (in a really loud voice!)

And it hit me - so I said: "You know all about our family - no family secrets?"

Teacher: "I know ALL about your family!"

Kyle, Ben and Nate came along for the field trip - thanks for joining us!

It is actually the Museum of Natural History so they have stuff other than just dinosaurs - the nasty jail cell!

Panning for gold

Fun day!

This is what happens when kids take over the house:

Maya feeds Kenyon

Or he climbs on the table and feeds himself

Better yet - he goes straight to the pantry

No hair is done

Maya gets drinks for everyone

They run naked

Parents are a good thing!

From the mouth of Maya

I saw this questionnaire on a friend's blog so I quizzed Maya.

1. What is something Mom always says to you? Maya, please quickly obey

2. What makes Mom happy? when I listen

3. What makes Mom sad? pushing Kenyon

4. How does Mom make you laugh? jokes

5. What was Mom like as a child? Kenyon

6. How old is Mom? 3 years old

7. How tall is Mom? (put her hand above my head)

8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do? cooking (most of you know this is NOT true :)

9. What does Mom do when you're not around? leave

10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? a princess

11. What is Mom really good at? games

12. What is Mom not very good at? batteries (we always have toys with dead batteries and that is "Dad's job" to fix them!)

13. What does Mom do for a job? letting me go to time out

14. What is Mom's favorite food? broccoli and I like carrots

15. What makes you proud of Mom? sing (really, I have the WORST voice!)

16. If Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? a Wal-Mart character

17. What do you and Mom do together? go on dates

18. How are you and Mom alike? hair

19. How are you and Mom different? we have different hair

20. How do you know Mommy loves you? because you love me SO much!

She really is that cute!!!

Not a proud mommy moment...

But certainly a happy one! Kenyon will now give me a good 10 minutes of television watching. Don't tell the American Academy of Pediatrics on me. They recommend that kids under 2 have no "screen time." What do their kids do while they shower??!!

And for a proud moment - I watched 4 of my friend Kiara's 5 kids this morning for a little while. Yep, I managed 6 kids!!

Here they are making music:

And these silly boys wearing the cymbals on their heads:

These 2 have a total love/hate relationship. I think they fought and made up 5 times in 5 minutes!

Jeremy came home and said, "The house looks great. Ready for some more kids?" No thanks, honey!

"All by myself, without Mom or Dad"

We hear this all of the time around our house. Today she came out of the bedroom and said, "I got dressed all by myself without Mom or Dad." For her control freak Mama, this is too much! I get to pick out her outfits until she is 18, right? RIGHT?!

I quit!

After getting comments and phone calls from other teachers out there, stressing about it for a week and finally calling the cashier's office today to hear that today was the last day to withdraw and get my full $ back (I think God was SCREAMING my answer to me by that point!), I did it - I withdrew from school!

I feel like a total quitter, but right now I am going to focus on being a good wife, mom, daughter, friend and adoption agency worker. There was a time when I was a good student. During that time I longed to be a mom. Now that I am a mom, I need to put aside being a student for another day. The good news is that my license doesn't even expire until 2010 (am I an over-planner or what?!), so if I decide it is something I NEED to do, I will do it then.

Thanks for hearing me out!

P.S. If I have been planning a trip with you for this Fall, I am back in and Shantel, now you can't move to Utah because I will still have plenty of time for you here in AZ. Please don't leave us!!!!