I remember ...

I don't know if I've ever told this story, but it's a good one, so I'll just have to risk repeating myself. These pictures were taken March 17th 2003 (yep, 6 years ago, so he would have been all of 8 years old, 3rd grade!) Kale had planned and schemed about what he wanted to wear for St. Patty's Day for quite some time. He decided on the full-blown green hair, I painted his nails green, he wore green (of course), had the little pin and for the finishing touch ...
he had me draw this shamrock on the back of his neck with green eyeliner. For some reason I also recall the shamrocks being drawn onto his forearms (kind of like tattoos), but don't have pictures to prove this weak memory of mine. Anyway, he was pretty darn stoked about how he looked and getting to school. So, we were off.

Well, we pull into the school loop and he's not seeing what he was expecting to see (a sea of other green fanatics), and he decides to freak. And I don't mean in a small way. He flat-out refuses to go to school, he pulls the Jekyl and Hyde card and goes bonkers. The rest was kind of a blur. I do recall Austen's former 3rd grade teacher showing up and instructing Kale that he would have to go to school, or I'd get in trouble with the police (something along those lines). And because my memory is so terrible, I had to just text him and ask him what the end result was. He said I took him home to change and then we went back. What a stinker.

Do you have any plans for today? I have the corned beef in the crock pot. Shawn will be excited. He likes just about anything that's made in the crock pot. :)

Happy St. Patricks Day to you all! (And Lex: I don't think there's a whole lot of Irish in us).

Excerpt from Roxy's Diary.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

8:00 am - Breakfast! Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

10:00 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Ran around the yard! My favorite thing!

3:30 pm - Kids are home from school! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

4:10 pm - Milk Bones! My favorite thing!

5:15 pm - Dinner! More dog food! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play with my stuffed santa dude! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV on the couch with my people! My favorite thing!

9:30 pm - Sleeping on the bed with Bailey! My favorite thing!

And then what I imagine a cat would say (like Zack):

Day 3,776 of my captivity...

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Jerks. There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

Until next time ...

Parking lot carnival.

You gotta love a parking lot carnival (no dirt and dust being kicked up). And with the wind we were having that was certainly a good thing! We spent about $20 in 20 minutes. Haha. Kale was such a sweet big brother and agreed to ride three rides with Bailey. Of course, there were only 5 to pick from. Kidding. But seriously, there weren't too many more than that. And I don't know that I'd call the above thing a ride. That would be generous. It was more of a fun house, and I use that term loosely as well.

There's the fun house in the background. :) Now, we all know how carnivals can be. You gotta wonder where they get the people to work them, right? And the rides themselves are just downright unsafe looking. Am I right? But I think this carnival might have been a first for us. Not only did they have a one-eyed dude running a ride, and several that sadly seemed slightly disabled, they were also hispanic and I'm not sure they spoke a lick of English. This was especially unnerving for Kale when he was asking if there was a weight limit on the Kamikaze ride he rode (the last 3 pics below) and just got a huge grin from the guy, a few words in Spanish and was quicky buckled in.

At this point, the people working the carnival must have pushed "play" on the CD player as a Spanish song filled the air, with lots of "uno, dos tres" going on. I was getting a good giggle as Austen started dancing around, as did Kale while he rode this ride with Bailey.

This was the last ride that Bailey picked. It was between this one and the ferris wheel. My choice? The ferris wheel, for sure. But for some strange reason she picked this one. Yikes. She onbviously had no idea that it would be going upside down, and eagerly boarded the monstrosity. There's Shawn giving Kale and Bailey some words of advice. Haha. Just kidding. He was probably making sure they were as securely fastened as they could be and then he said, "I love you", as they were wisked away. (Notice they are the only two riding the ride?)

Unbeknownst to us, Bailey was flopping around quite nicely in her seat belt. I mean, she was secure as she could be. She wasn't going to fall out. But her rear end was definitely lifting off the seat, and there was some "give" in the overhead seatbelt device. Scary thought. At one point, Shawn said, "oh my god, I think she's going to throw up". Thankfully that didn't happen, and once it was over she said she was completely fine, that her mouth was just filling with air, as they descended. As mentioned, Kale was such a good sport to go on these few rides with her. I know it meant a lot to her.

Once we'd had our fill of carnival fun, we had lunch and then went to Sports Authority to get Bailey knee pads for volleyball.

Welcome Spring.

Bailey and I took pictures of the tree in our front yard last week. So glad that we did. I've been meaning to, literally, each spring for the last 4 years. This is one of the things I absolutely love most about Roseville. All the trees! And I love that in March we have a few warm-ish days and before you know it, all the trees explode into this. I hope Bailey will post her pictures on her blog. They are so good, without her even trying! She just snaps away and the results are crazy good. I think too much and try too hard. Haha. She got a few with the house in them (I was going for the close-ups, as you can see). But I'm really happy that she captured the house, as it will be our last spring here. Yes, that's right. We have made the decision to let the house go. There is some serious sadness, of course. We've been in this house 5 years in May. But there is tremendous relief, too. We know we've done all that we can. Countrywide has been completely unreasonable and unworkable. And so we have decided to move on (staying in Roseville, of course) and start over. Change, like the coming of spring, is good.

It's a no-go (for now).

Friday: Austen at the DMV. Studying last minute for his permit test. Honestly, he doesn't seem all that enthused about getting his permit. You got to figure. He was 15 1/2 last July and barely started bugging me in October to get his permit. I dragged my feet a bit. Even now, it seems like no big deal to him. Well, your allowed to miss 8 questions on the 40-question test. He missed 11 (his favorite/lucky number). And they were eaaasy ones. Rushing? Just not thinking? I don't know. I did have to giggle later in the day when he was commenting on the number of questions missed and that it was eleven and how "his number" always pops up. Bailey quickly commented, "Don't you wish your favorite number was 3??" Ooohh, good one Bailey!

Note: he will try again in a week. :)

Bailey's "to-do" list.

This enormous sized white board (think 4'x3') is Bailey's "to-do" list. Now, I love a good list. You know it's true. I write notes for myself all the time. Well ... okay ... I have to write notes for myself otherwise I can't remember a thing, and nothing gets done. But you know what I'm sayin'. So back to Bailey's "to-do" list. Shawn brought this giant sized white board home many months ago. It found its way into the garage and then Kale thought he wanted it. That was short lived. Then, Bailey thought she'd have a go of it. She tried putting it in the front closet (where she likes to play "school"). As you can imagine, though, the dry erase markers are pretty potent, and not really conducive to being used in such a tight space. So, she quickly rearranged things, pulled out the dog food container, and propped the white board right up there. Problem solved, apparently, as it's now been sitting right there for about three weeks. (It's a good thing I don't stress about this eye sore right at my front entry!)

She's real good about updating it. When in doubt, i can always check the board. haha.

Written on it this morning:
3/11/09 School day

1. School (I'm glad that she has established that there is school on a "school day", as noted above). *giggle*
2. Homework/Must do's/Read
3. Maybe Sports Authority (she wants knee pads for volleyball)
4. Put all pencils in a pencil box (and for some odd reason she spelled pencil, pencal).

What I loved the most about her list is her little notation at the top: 10 days until Twilight. (She's counting down those days until it's released on DVD).

Making the most ...

... of something I sometimes dread. Shopping. Ugh. The word sends shivers up (down?) my spine. haha. We had to go to the mall this weekend. Bailey literally had one pair of jeans that fit. Thankfully they were jeans because she would wear them day after day, with an occasional washing thrown in for good measure. Kidding. I would wash them every chance I got. So we headed to JCPenney and found several pairs of capris/bermuda type shorts. Kale also needed new Levis. Great for summer and they were on sale. I've been keeping Bailey's camera in my purse and I'm really happy that I've done that. When I'm bored I always pull it out and I almost always end up with some photos that make me smile.
I love this one. She was spinning around and I surprised her with the camera! Gotcha.

And of course, I love this one too. Me and my girl. A moment in time.

And here are the three men of the family. Kale would not turn around, Shawn decided to show me his gum and Austen is doing his best to ignore me. Of course that's not hard to do with phone in hand and an iPod earplug in.

What you vividly imagine ...

I believe this statement to be oh so true. Don't you? I like to think that if the boys and the band play their cards right, and do these things, their dreams could inevitably come to pass.

Hecka sick. And I don't mean "cool".

Kale was home sick today. With Austen having mono and being sick for so long, and Shawn having walking pnuemonia, it seemed best to just take him to the doctor. Which I did. So far, we've been told it's probably just a virus. They did take a throat swab. If it's strep throat, we'll know on Friday. If he still feels drained and miserable next week, we'll take him back for a mono test. Apparently, mono will not test positive in your system until its been there for 7-9 days. So even if he technically had it today, if we tested him today, it would just come back negative. Does that make sense? So, interesting tidbit ... Kale's temperature was 99.2 (just like Shawn's had been). I said to the doc, "oh he has a bit of a fever". And he said no, not really. I said, "oh what about in an adult?" And he said no. There's variables, of course, but your temperature can be as much as a full degree above normal and still be considered normal. You know, if you're covered up in bed, if you naturally run warmer, if you just ran around the block, your temp would be higher. Anyway, frustrating how doctors all have something different to say. But good info to know.

So after the doctor Shawn asked if we wanted to meet him for lunch. Kale wasn't totally feeling it, but he was a trooper and went. We had On the Border and it was so yummy. After, Kale and I had to run by the tire and brake place to have my brakes looked at. That's where I took the funny pictures above. Haha. We were hanging out in the parking lot, sitting on a little parking space bumper, waiting for the guy to return with my car. I tried to play Tetris, but it was too hard to see the screen in the sun. I think Kale was playing Tetris on his phone. So feeling rather bored I decided to sneak the little camera out of my purse and take Kale's picture. The first one was blurry, so I deleted it. These were my next two attempts. I don't know why, but I found this quite humorous.

Walking Pneumonia.

So, this little cutie has Walking Pneumonia. Okay, we all know this little cutie really isn't all that little anymore. He's cute, for sure. But little? Um ... no. Last night, he was having a heck of a time sleeping. He thought he had a fever and was chilling (not chillin', but chilling ... know what I mean?) Anyhoo, he also had a very strange pain/discomfort in his throat/esophagus/upper chest area. Mainly when he breathed in. Not necessarily when he swallowed. So, I got up around 2am and got him some Motrin. I also took his widdle temperature. It said 99.2. I don't know about you, but I would never consider 99.2 a fever. Especially not on Shawn who tends to run warm. Well, thankfully he got into the doctor first thing this morning. The best they can determine is that he has Walking Pneumonia and they have prescribed some antibiotics. Poor dude. And the doctor set me straight and told Shawn to tell me that a 99.2 for an adult is a fever. Who knew?

Hello March.

It was pouring rain for most of yesterday. And I do mean pouring. Finally, about 3:30pm the sky opened up and the sun was shining so brightly, but there were still a few sprinkles. Bailey got in the car after school and said that she and Ridge were just wishing for a rainbow, and low and behold ... Bailey looked behind us and there it was. So pretty. She grabbed her camera, which I've been trying to keep in my purse and she took several pictures, but I really liked this one. See the raindrops in the upper right hand corner of the windshield? Kind of cool, don't you think?

These two:

1. are such good friends. Love that.
2. are doing the Pinocchio play together. Bailey is a Marionette and Lauren is a school child.
3. both love their Build-a-Bears, American Girls, Webkins, and Club Penguin.
4. are learning the game of volleyball on Sundays from 12-2pm.
5. are lucky to have each other. :)

Happy Birthday Seth-o-nator. (a little early).

A favorite memory: March 2005, meeting Mr. Seth for the very first time. What an incredibly sweet thing for Danielle to do. Bringing her little guy here to Roseville to meet his Auntie Kristen. Okay, he met Shawn and the kids, too. And they were pretty darn stoked. But me? I balled my eyes out (of course). How could I not? Just look at that face. So, here we are 4 years later and he's turning 5! Seriously, where has the time gone?

So, we all wanted to wish Seth a very HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY! Wish we could have been down there for your party and can't wait until we see you again! Love, Auntie Kristen, Uncle Shawn, Austen, Kale and Bailey

Dragon Roll.

We decided to head out on Saturday to do something. We usually lurk around the house every weekend (and actually like it quite a bit), but thought it would be nice to get out for a change. We had lunch at a new place (new to us, although Shawn had eaten there once before because it's close to work). It's called California Roll and Grill and oh my. It was super tasty. The boys each ordered a Dragon Roll, and a teriyaki bowl. Shawn kept saying that is a ton of food! You are not going to be able to eat it. And sure enough. Do you see that Dragon Roll up there? It's huge.

And then here you can see the teriyaki bowl. Also mega sized. Little dummies! Suffice it to say, they did not eat it all, and we were not heading home, so we could not box it up. Such a bummer.

This is what Shawn decided on. Seared Tuna, with these gorgeous little onion rings. He tried not to eat those, because as mentioned in a previous post, he's trying to avoid as many carbs as possible. Bailey and I had Bento boxes that had teriyaki chicken and tempura. So good.

After lunch we went to the Arden Fair Mall so Bailey could pick out a few outfits for her Build-a-Bear. She and I had gone there months ago (maybe even a year ago?) and she made an adorable little dog called "Scruffie Dog". She named her Jacie. Anyway, she's been dying to get her some clothes, so we did. Cute stuff, that I'm hoping she'll post on her blog. :) I will remind her. The boys got a CD from A Skylit Drive called Wires and the Concept of Breathing. We headed back to Roseville and went to Walmart. And then headed home. In the evening, Austen, Kale, Will (from the band) and his girl friend went to Club Retro to watch a show and work (for free) while the show went on. I think they're trying to make brownie points with the owners. Not a bad idea for future shows that they play there.