No to Navy Blue, Green, Brown or Gray

Last Wednesday Michael and Jacob turned 13. For their 12th birthday we got them their first suit since they would be Deacons at church. I wish we would have measured how tall they were at 12, so we could have seen how much they have grown in one year. Michael is at least 6 feet tall and Jacob is probably an inch or two shorter. Well, those suits we bought last year are too small now, so we told the boys for their birthday we would buy them another suit.

Last Tuesday night we got a babysitter for the girls and went out alone with the boys. We had a fun dinner at CB Potts. The service wasn't quick, but it didn't really matter because we only had the boys and they can now behave when we go out to dinner.

After dinner we headed over to the Flat Irons Mall. We thought for sure we could find a suit at one of the major department stores. We went to Dillards first. The very helpful salesman measured the boys. He said that both of the boys measured as a size 36R. Unfortunately, they only carried 36S (short). I guess most companies think if your a size 36 you're also short - not my boys! The salesman suggested we check out Macy's. We walked to the other end of the mall. The helpful saleswoman said the same thing we heard at Dillards - no 36R just 36S. She was a quirky lady that said all her life she had a hard time finding clothes that fit so she started to make her own. Rex replied, there you go, Bek, why don't you make them a suit? I don't think so. The only thing I sew in the clothing department is Halloween costumes because it's dark when you wear them and people can't really see how well you sew. The quirky saleslady suggested we go to Nordstorms. Wouldn't you guess the last store we go to and they have two 36R suits? One was gray and one was sort of green. Jacob tried one on and it did fit quite well. The salesman left for a moment and I asked Rex how much they were. He turned the price tags over - one was $795 and the other $895. What?! We weren't about to spend that kind of money on two suits that our sons would probably wear for less than a year. Have you ever been in this situation? You find out how much something costs and you know it's well out of your price range? You know you need to get out, but how? We turned and left. We just kept walking.

Luckily, I was headed to Utah to scrapbook last weekend, so I suggested that I just pick up two suits at good old Mr. Mac's. We could get them altered here in Colorado. So that's what I did. The boys gave me explicit instructions, "We want black suits, plain black suits."

Mr. Mac does have LOTS of 36R suits. Since Michael is a bit taller we decided to get him a 38R so the suit would last a bit longer. I went to the Mr. Mac in Salt Lake thinking they would have a better selection. Can you believe it? They didn't have a single solid black suit in 36R or 38R. I called Jacob. "Jacob, which would you prefer a navy suit or a black one with pin strips?" He answered very quickly, "The black one - no navy." Unfortuately, they didn't have any black suits for Michael - no solid black, no pin stripes. So yet another trip to Mr. Mac's in Bountiful. Yes! They had a 38R plain black suit for Michael. Who would have thought it would be so hard to find two black suits?

Oh, and if you've had a hard time telling Michael and Jacob apart, now you know: Michael, plain black and Jacob, black with pin stripes.

Band-aids

Why is it that kids LOVE band-aids? They learn what they are at very young age, don't they? Band-aids to small children are nothing short of miraculous. Every "owie" needs one even if it's not bleeding. The moment the band-aid touches the skin the pain goes away, but unfortunately they come off easily. The instant one falls off the pain comes back.

If you have a young, independent child like my Brooke you might go through several of these magical pieces of plastic everytime one is needed because they want to "do it themselves." You sigh, knowing full well that the moment they take that band-aid in their hand it will crinkle in their small fingers - two sticky sides touching each other and immediately your child will ask for another. Sound familar - or does this only happen in my family?

Yesterday Brooke bolted upstairs without warning. I called to her, but she was a gal on a mission. I was in the middle of dishes so I kept calling, but she didn't respond. When I got upstairs several minutes later this is what I found. She had opened the linen closet door (with a child lock handle thingy on it), scaled three shelfs to get herself a band-aid. I'm sure she planned on getting just one, but when that box FULL of band-aids stared back at her she just couldn't resist. :)

Okay and even more funny is the fact that her mother hadn't done her hair yet that day and she resembles the Professor from Back to the Future just a wee bit.

I've heard that somewhere before

After visiting last week my mom mentioned in an email that Brooke is like a little adult in a child's body. I have to agree.

A couple of weeks ago we were trying to leave to go out to dinner. Isn't it always interesting to try and find socks, shoes and coats and not have it take 1/2 hour? Most of us were ready and Rex kept asking Brooke to please go upstairs and get a pair of socks. She told him "no" a couple of times and flat out ignored him a few times. Rex was exasperated. After increasing the volume of his request and asking one final time, Brooke looked at me and said, "Mom, could you please ask Dad to stop annoying me?"

Brooke, my sweet three-year-old, I love you to pieces!

We made the right decision

So many of you know that Rex and I pulled Michael and Jacob out of the local Middle School last fall. In 2005 we went from a top-notch Elementary School to a less than mediocre Middle School. They had a couple of good teachers at Vikan Middle School, but one in particular was pretty bad. Many days, I believe, she came completely unprepared, so to fill the time she told stories - hours and hours of them. It was a huge waste of time. We wanted Michael and Jacob to be challenged. Last Spring we found out about the Colorado Virtual Academy an online charter school completely funded by the state. The curriculum sounded challenging and I liked the idea of having the boys home with me.

Michael and Jacob have been in the band since 5th grade and I knew that they would miss their teacher Ms. "G" tremendously, so on the first day of school I called the principal to see if they might be able to still come to school for band and possibly another elective. Supposedly, funding doesn't become a problem until after three credits, so she said it would be fine. We ended up with the best of both worlds - a chance to take core subjects at their own pace and still attend elective classes and meet up their friends.

We've had our ups and downs and Michael claims he wants to go back to Vikan next year, but over all it's been a really good experience. Then today I get a letter in the mail from Vikan Middle School addressed to the parents of Michael Johnson. I open it up and what do I see? It's Michael's report card for the past two quarters. Strange, right? He's no longer a student there. Then I look a little closer. First quarter: Band - A+, Drumline - B, PE - A+, Language Arts - A+, Math - D. WHAT? His cumulative GPA is a 2.9. Let me reiterate Michael was not enrolled in PE, Language Arts or Math, but do you see the discrepancy in the grades?! I just don't get it - either they have another Michael Johnson and they mixed up our addresses (but why didn't we get a report card first quarter?) or the teachers at Vikan Middle School randomly assign grades according to how they feel. If Michael never attended a single day in all of those classes then shouldn't they all be F's?? He did get an "F" second quarter in Language Arts, but an A+ in Numeracy. Go figure. I can't wait to talk to the school about this one....

Yes, indeed, we did make the right decision.

The "Cleaning People"

From time to time growing up my mom had "cleaning ladies" come to our home - Merry Maids, Maid Brigade, Molly Maids, you get the idea. My memories are mostly from our house in Chelsea Cove (a subdivision in Bountiful, Utah). Picture this: it's the night before our "maids" come and my mom is recruiting us to clean the house because the cleaning ladies are coming tomorrow. Does this seem strange? It does to me. But unfortunately there are some things that you do growing up that you just can't shed no matter how weird they are.

I've always dreamed of having a "cleaning lady." Since we moved into our home in March of 2000, I've had someone clean my home. It hasn't been the same people for the past six years - I think there have been three sets. Maria Saenz was the best. And now, like my mother, the night before they come I rush around cleaning the house. As I frantically put away piles of laundry, toys and papers, and sometimes even clean a toilet, I think to myself, "What am I doing?" Why do I feel the urge to clean before they come? The excuse that I repeat outloud is that they can't really clean if they have to move around a bunch of stuff. I know I'm kidding myself.....it's not because they can't clean around the stuff. The truth is I don't want people to see how a live most of the time. Unfortunately, none of my children got the "neat freak" gene. We're all guilty of living in a somewhat messy house. I wish I was a better housekeeper, but I'm not. The cleaning people came to day so for at least 24 hours I have a clean house. :)

Happy Birthday Erin!

Yesterday was Erin's 6th Birthday. It was fun to have her birthday fall on a Saturday so we could have her party on her actual birthday. Erin and I decided to have a "tie-dye" theme. We invited 13 kids and 12 of them came - YIKES. Aunt Liz has become the designated "cake maker." She has made a birthday cake for Erin every year since she had her first birthday. This time Erin wanted to participate, so they did the decorating right before the party.

When the kids arrived we immediately started tie-dying. We choose to do "low-water immersion" in order to have the t-shirts done in time for the kids to take home. The kids had a great time choosing the colors for the t-shirts and actually dying the shirts.

We then played a couple of games - bingo and pin the nose on the clown.

Rex picked up Dominoes pizza and we fed the kids lunch. In between presents and cake and ice cream we rinsed the shirts and stuck them in the washer. When the parents arrived the shirts were slightly damp, but DONE! We ended up dying 14 shirts. I wish I had pictures, but all the kids left so quickly with their shirts. The party was a huge success and I could have only done it with the help of Michael, Jacob, Rex, Liz (my sister), Michael (my brother), my mom and dad.

Test

Lucy said she can't post, so here's a test.

An Overacheiver

Every Monday Erin's Kindergarten teacher sends home a stapled packet of homework for the week. The instructions are listed on the front page with a line by each day where the parent is supposed to sign. This morning when Erin sat down to do her homework (she has afternoon kindergarten) she decided to "do it all." She proceeded to complete every worksheet in the packet one after another. I signed the "line" for Monday and we were ready to go.

When I picked Erin up she told me that she no longer had a homework packet. Her teacher noticed that she had done all of the worksheets and so she didn't put the packet back in her folder. This wasn't my plan. I've seen the way her teacher "checks" homework and I didn't even think that she would notice that the sheets for Tuesday - Friday were even done...ooops. Erin wasn't distraught in the least bit. She said with a smile - now I don't have to do anything for the rest of the week. She learned a great lesson. :)

A Soccer Mom

I have never been an athlete.

My mom tells stories about the one and only time I was on a soccer team. Most, if not all of the players were probably better than me, so they'd tell me to get out of the way and not touch the ball. I also took dance for a short period of time - I don't have any recollection of this, but my memory is slightly jogged when I see the scrapbook pages my mom put into my album. I played volleyball on our Young Women's team. I enjoyed this, but was really only good at serving the ball. I could get it over the net with some sort of accuracy if I served underhand, but would have a huge bruise on my arm when the game was over. I ran track in Jr. High, but it's embarrassing to even think about how slow I was, especially since I married into the Johnson family where running FAST is a passion. I ran the mile and most of the time I finished last. I kid you not! I wish I could love running. It's such an easy form of exercise - something that doesn't cost anything and you can do it wherever you go. I just really don't like it. I do exercise (love my T-Tapp), but I wouldn't say I'm an "athlete."

So I'm not an athlete, but I love to watch my kids play sports. I LOVE IT! It really doesn't matter - soccer, track or basketball, I love them all. When I have to miss one of the Michael and Jacob's soccer games I feel truly bummed out, especially since I know it will probably be the game they win. Michael made two goals in one of the games I missed this past season. It made me sad to not be there on the sidelines. I would have be the loudest parent there!

I don't care if they win or lose, I want to be there to cheer for my kids!


Here are some pictures from tonight's indoor soccer game. We lost 1-5.


Left: Michael ready for 2nd quarter kick-off


Below: Jacob takes a penalty shot

Numero Uno

I really wanted to start my blog on January 1st, 2007, but look it's already the 5th and I'm finally posting. Why? Mainly, because the first post seems like it should be something huge, like the Target grand-opening we had here in Brighton last year. I love the idea of a blog. What a great way to keep in touch, to journal and to write down my day-to-day activities, hence the title My Mommy Musings.

Being a mother is something I've always dreamed of and hoped for. I never realized how hard it would be. I used to think I was patient. With every stage there are trials aren't there?

• trying to convince Brooke (3 years old) that Whitney (our dog) doesn't enjoy being drenched in Purell and then brushed
• listening to the 100th high pitch scream of the day as Erin yells, "Mom, they're torturing me."
• dealing with a moody twelve year old boy
• being scared to raise teenagers

But I have to say that I wouldn't trade the trials for anything. I love my kids. Couldn't imagine my life without them.

So as I start my "blog" I hope it will be something my kids will read in a few years and smile, laugh, and maybe even cry a little. I'm pretty sure they all got the Norman crying gene, so I can pretty much count on a few tears. Here goes.....