Never Leave Your Lunch At The Bus Stop Unattended

On Friday I brought my Mommy A-game. Calvin left his show and tell thing at home, and when he burst into tears on the way there, I knew I had to bring it to him. I dashed home to get it and sailed in just in time to give it to him.

Phew! Crisis averted.

I was so glad to do it, especially when he gave me such a sweet smile and 'I love you' eyes. In the pic you'll see Calvin in the car after preschool holding his goods. He needed his Lightening McQueen lunchbox full to the brim with pennies, nickels, and dimes for show and tell. Too cute.

Rescuing Calvin reminded me of a time that my Dad rescued me.

While Rachel and Austin and I were waiting for our elementary school bus, we were too busy playing to notice anything else. Then the bus came, and we picked up our lunches and hopped on. Very quickly I noticed that my brown bag lunch was wet.

Immediately I knew the problem. The rogue dog wandering around the bus stop PEED ON MY LUNCH!!!!

What the? What had I done to that dog? I wept sincere tears. I wept for my appetite, which was gone. I went for the brown bag that was now soggy. I wept for my future 30 minute lunch, which I was sure was going to be miserable as I would be hungry. I wept for the loss of my youth. I had to grow up prematurely. I had to accept that into everybody's life a little rain (or pee) must fall.

At school, I had a brief visit with my teacher, who tried to convince me to just eat the lunch as the items in the plastic baggies were dry.

Ew. Come on. Yuck. I'm still grossin' over that one.

Luckily, the tears were working for me because she sent me down to the office to call my Mom. There was more weeping, a little wailing, and probably some gnashing of teeth. My Mom gave me such sincere comfort. She understood that I was hurting. Really suffering. And she promised to bring me a new, non-peed-on, fresh, lunch.

This consoled me, and I was able to complete my multiplication tables without another tear.

You can imagine the happiness I felt when the secretary paged me to the office. I knew that I would find my Mom down there with my new and improved lunch. But as I rounded the corner, I didn't see my Mom. Instead I saw my Dad.

And he had that smile on his face. If you are a parent, I think that you might know "that smile." It was the kind of smile that says, "I'm trying not to laugh at my child." Or in his case, "I'm trying hard not to laugh because a dog peeing on your lunch is so funny, but I love you so I'm going to just send you a big smile and dancing eyes."

I loved the smile. The new lunch was pretty awesome, too. He had stopped at the gas station on the way to the school and bought me a King Size Baby Ruth candy bar. That is a man that knows his daughter. There has never an emotional issue so big that a King Size candy bar couldn't cure it.

Now I have two smiles that I love to remember. I loved seeing my Dad's smile when he brought me the lunch, and I loved being Calvin's Mom and seeing his smile when I brought him the lunchbox. Ahhhh, the little stuff. It's the good stuff.

***** Side Note *******And seriously, if you see a dog circling the bus stop, watch him closely. You do not want a peed on lunch. It's gross. Bad gross.

For Jaime

BINGO, GNO, and PALS

Gotta talk about a couple of things left over from Tennessee. First and foremost, BINGO. As mentioned, those Crazy Cruzes love BINGO. We are going on our 8th year of this being a family tradition. To sum it up: We play Bingo on Christmas Eve. We tuck all of those ga-zillion pesky kiddos in bed and party it up. With prizes.

In years past these prizes have been donated my Mom and Dad and have included, but are not limited to: jumper cables, lint removers, kitchen gadgets, money, gift cards, candy, knives, etc., etc. You know, just the stuff your heart has been longing for all of your lives. In recent years, there have been a few grand prizes including various versions of ipods. Needless to say, it gets serious right after the jumper cables and candy are won, but when the lint remover is still in play.

However, once my Dad, the Official Bingo Ball Selector, announces, "This Round is the Grand Prize," many things occur: everyone grabs a couple of cards each to up their odds, sweat starts pouring, brows begin furrowing, and silent prayers get muttered. Here are few candids from this years BINGO game. And no, I didn't win the grand prize. Rachel and Terry cleaned house with a nano and and itouch.

I'm a caught here in what looks to be mid-sassy comment. I'm sure it was one of the usual BINGO jokes. You know: B4, before what? I 25, Dad you're not twenty five. You wish. (feel free to fill in your own version now)

Awwwww SNAP! Yeah, I won this necklace. Jealous much? You probably wish you had it, along with the neck freckles.

Secondly, GNO. The stars aligned for me in a couple of ways: lots of gratuitous babysitting and a meeting of long time girlfriends. These are ladies I hadn't seen in a quite awhile, and it was so much fun. It's true that everything and nothing changes. We were all the same, but totally different. It was interesting to me how easy it was to slip right into conversation, like we just saw each other yesterday. Thanks for the lunch gals! Let's do it again. We'll all go to the city and eat sushi. Okay, we can eat something else. I'm not committed to sushi. Italian? You pick. Let's just get together again.

And lastly, PALS. Seriously folks, with a building like this do I really have to convince you that they have amazing greasy food? The hot dog, hamburger, and fries are ginormous!!! It's the kind of food that will send you right to the treadmill. It's worth every step and more. I have had quite the love affair with this drive-thru. Many, many hard earned Chick-Fil-A dollars spent here.

I have a confession: I rarely get to eat here. It is in Kingsport, and I almost never down there, but I was already in town for our GNO lunch. I was ALREADY FULL from this said lunch when I drove by PALS, I actually flipped a U-TURN and stopped by for a burger and shake. Despite being full already, I was groaning in ultimate satisfaction.

Let's go there sometime. We'll sit in the car and tell jokes while we eat frenchie fries and chipped ham and cheeses. Then you'll probably say something like this, "Katie, er, I mean 'yo mama,' that was so good I could kiss you." To which I would respond, "No, I'm not comfortable with that." Unless it was Noah, and I would say, "Yeah baby. Just a sec, let me finish this bite of chipped ham and cheese though. And make it quick 'cause these fries are gonna get cold." Kidding. I would never rush through a Noah kiss . . . . but, I do get to go there so seldom . . . . no, no, I wouldn't rush through it.

A Christmas Gift Just For You!

I'm feeling givey today!

One Problem.

I don't sew. Sew what?

I try, and I will show you pics of my tries later, but anyhoo. That's another post - - for another day.

I don't make things to give away.

I'm not so crafty, unless you consider cupcaking artistic.

But, let's face it.. . . I'm not going to mail you some cupcakes. That would probably be waaaaayyyy expensive, and I think they wouldn't be as yummy as if you would just come over and let me chat with you whilst I baked you some up. So, just come over. But not this week, I'm headed to Tennessee. Try me in January.

Back to the point.

I made you a mixed tape. Kinda of. Just click on my sidebar. I replaced the reminisce mix with a house cleaning mix. If you don't like it, just don't click on it.

But if you do, just put it on in the background while you are busy. It'll be fun.

The songs are a blend of songs from jobs that I've had: dishwasher at Chick-fil-A, waitress at Cracker Barrel, Mom, babysitter, and file clerk. I can't remember them all, but that doesn't really matter. I also, just for the fun of it, included a few songs that my brothers used to listen to while they lifted weights in the garage.

Because cleaning up after your kids is a lot like weight lifting.

Not really. Unless their toys are super heavy, which my kid's toys are not.

Enjoy!

So, I Found This Old Picture From College

Among the ba-gazillion readers that I have who attended Ricks College, if anyone has some answers to my questions, please fill me in.

1. HOW DID WE SCORE THIS PICTURE WITH PRESIDENT BEDNAR?????
2. What ever happened to Dave-O?
3. Kelly and Dave, where were you guys? And why didn't you get the memo about spray painting your dancewear and dancing under the disco ball?
4. Meghan and Mark, see question 3.
5. What's with that look on my face (this question is open to everyone)? Jaime, is this really what dance face looks like? Why didn't I save it for the dance floor?
6. Cornrows? Seriously. Those are a little too dressy for a dance.
7. Does V-Max Peppermint really exist?

Need A Good Laugh?

Have a few on me. Noah likes to take pictures of me when I am not expecting it. This began a few weeks into dating and has continued until today. We get a kick out of the awkward facial expressions and body postures.

Here was the first surprise shot. I was caught typing a seemingly very serious research paper.

This beauty is our favorite. It's been over six years since I was surprised just as I walked in and shut the door. I've accepted that there were more problems than just the angle.

Some shots are taken when I'm sleeping . . . wearing noise prevention headphones. Come on. If you have kids you know how precious an uninterrupted nap is. My favorite part is that it could be mistaken for me singing in a recording booth. If I weren't lying down . . . or asleep . . . or if I could sing.
Sometimes we're not quite sure what I was doing. It looks like I might be seriously contemplating the heel of my shoe.
Busted picking up a toy.

"Huh? Oh me. I'm just watching an episode of 'Lost' online."

I turned the tables and got a shot of him trapped in the bunk beds he assembled.

Last shot of him with a surprised, sideways smile. Too cute.

4 and 4

Here is a little sumpin' sumpin' if you want to get down on some tagging. Go to your fourth picture file and select your fourth picture. Then post and explain. Thanks, Lori for the idea. Here is ours:

This is just a sweet picture of Calvin and Noah from February of last year. I've always liked those jammies that Calvin is wearing and the cute smile on Noah's face.

One Good Thing

When I was growing up our family had a tradition of saying "one good thing" that happened to them before we went to bed. That tradition has hung around with me, and I try to coax my kids and hubby into confessing their one good thing everyday as well. Here are a few of my "one good things" for today.

• Calvin and Wyatt laughed and played together much of the day. I love the sound of their laughs.
• I ate cake just 10 minutes before dinner.
• I had a good hair day.
• The Doctor told me that I was a good Mom.
• They celebrated Calvin's birthday at preschool today with ice cream sandwiches, a birthday hat, and a song. He was over the moon when he got in the car to go home.
• Noah came home early.
• Wyatt is feeling better.

Step off, Russian Nannies!

Seriously, I wish that I had a pic for this story, but alas I don't, so I have added one that might kinda sort go, but not really. I just thought a random picture of me and my Mom in a suuu-weet late nineties gem of a prom dress might pique your interest enough to read further. Okay, now that you're in, let's begin.

So, let's get down to business. I was at the park the other day. I was watching Christy's kids along with my own so that she could help a sister in the ward (I went to help, but my kids did more messy harm than good, and since we were there to clean, I was rendered useless.) Back to the park. Cool park (as is the style of New York). There was a big playground for bigger kids and little playground for smaller kids. As the five children who were under my care gleefully ran into the playground, I knew I had my work cut out for me. Wyatt still requires a lot of supervision; and plus, five is just a lot of kids. As the kids were running around playing, I took survey of the crowd there and noticed that I was alone in a sea of older, Russian nannies. They were all holed up together in a corner of the park with large, expensive strollers, gourmet snacks, fancy schmancy continuous spray sunscreen, and we're-wiser-than-you eyes. They looked like they actually owned the park, and I could sense that this was a group of women, excuse me, mothers and grandmothers turned nannies, who would not put up with any bologna that we newcomers might try and serve. This, however, did not throw me off because I was just waaaaaaaayyy too busy. As the kids were playing I noticed that a little girl from Team Russia was crying, and I surmised that she was been told by a little member of Team Almost-In-Over-My-Head (that's my team) that she can't play with their brother. Her personal Russian Nanny would have none of this, marched over, consoled her, and directly asked one of my team's kids, "Can she play with your brother?" (use a Russian accent when you read that question). To which, she was given no answer, and the small, yet defiant, members of Team Katie retreated to the other end of the playground.

At this point, a dark cloud passed over playtime as the Nannies regrouped in the corner by the swings and spoke very quickly, in Russian, with a flurry of pointing in our direction. Yikes! I was feeling the heat! But, you know what? Kids are kids. We will have a talk about this later. Right then I was in full on watch the kids mode. Until . . . . yep, Wyatt runs to the big kid playground and tries to climb. Then, a true New Yorker amongst the Russian Nanny Crowd, in her best abrassive, New York accent says, "He's too little. (well, duh). You should take these kids to a better playground. You are in over your head." Double Yikes! Now my pits started to sweat a little bit (for those of you who know my sweating situation this is a real big deal). I was a little intimidated. I mustered my courage and said, "Don't worry about. I got it." Hurray for me! I have a backbone. Now I removed little Wyatt from danger and decided I needed to regroup.

I called Team Pretty-Much-In-Over-My-Head over to the bench, sat them down, laid out some rules, and fed them some crackers. That brief moment of calm had refocused me, and that was where it all changed. I decided I was not going to chase those kids around the park, but instead they were going to have fun in a way that didn't frazzle me. If you can imagine a scene in a movie where some tough lady puts some leather gloves on and goes to work then you can imagine me at that moment. I totally owned that playground from that moment on.

I started working my magic on them. I taught them Red Rover, made a big pile of sticks with them, assigned them all Thomas the Train names, and even played duck duck goose. And as we were having fun in the shady corner of the park, along came the little Russian kids wanting to play with us. So, of course we let them play with us, and before we knew it we had a big group of kids (from both teams) playing on the shady end of the park. And to add a little sugar on top, the cold-hearted Russian Nannines start to melt. A few siddled over and smiled while their kids played with us. Then one nanny said to me, "You have gift with small children." (again, read with Russian accent). That comment was so funny to me because I didn't consider it a gift so much as a survival tactic. But hey, whatever works, right?

I hate to use my blog to brag, but seriously, I brought my A-game that day, and it felt kind of good.