Kid Report

Kids minus Eva

Nicky

• Is super busy all the time with his rich social life
• Works concessions at a concert venue to pay for his performing arts fees
• Works two nights a week belaying for rock climbing classes
• Loves working with people with special needs and has a few special needs friends that call him all the time to talk 
• Has a broken down Jeep right now (update: the Jeep is fixed!)
• Is taking voice lessons
• Has been to youth conference so far this summer and will be going to young men camp and FSY soon
• Is going to be a senior in high school (sniff)
• Is taking an online English class
• Has won tickets to three different concerts on the radio (Stevie Nicks, New Kids on the Block, and Heart) (I was driving one morning and suddenly heard my son on the radio answering vacation trivia)
• Always has to be doing something adventurous. He cannot sit still. 
• Is going to lots of missionary speaking events (the big summer wave of missionaries leaving has begun)
• Has a makeshift pottery studio in one of our sheds

Daisy 

• Is bored 
• Might have broken her toe this week (update: seems like it might just be a sprain now)
• Loves watching Dance Moms
• Watches movies with me a lot and has just started wanting to watch a few scary things (A Quiet Place and The Village)
• Has been listening to The Hunger Games books (she’s on Catching Fire right now). We went to a rescreening of the first movie at our local theater yesterday. 
• Can sometimes be convinced to make a dessert for us
• Is obsessed with Ryan Gosling 
• Makes a lot of bracelets
• Is not being social at all right now, which makes me kind of sad
• Is going to high school this year
• Loves pizza rolls and salad with honey mustard poppyseed dressing 

Zoe

• Is doing a summer theatre camp
• Likes to go ride her bike and listen to audiobooks
• Is currently our most contentious child
• Claims she is going to make her own scuba diving tank out of a milk jug
• Is still full of big, exhausting ideas 
• Is going through a phase where she won’t eat chicken nuggets out of respect for chickens. She eats other kind of chicken, just not nuggets
• Asks everyday if I will take her to KFC
• Will be going to girls’ camp for the first time this year, and I’m terrified to let her go (even though I will be there)
• Loves bean and cheese burritos

Eva

• Does hundreds of cartwheels a day
• Is always full of energy at night and can’t shut down
• Is a sassy little thing
• Refuses to brush her teeth
• Refuses to do her chores
• Is very sneaky 
• Is ravenous from 7:00-10:00 pm and eats non-stop
• Lost a tooth this week and then texted Scotty to tell him and included a gif that said “Hell yeah!”

Currently (June 2024 Edition)

Reading: still nothing. I haven’t read a book since the beginning of April.

Drinking: NOT soda. As of Monday. Again.

Never mind. Wednesday got me drinking Coke.

Cooking: Asian BBQ Chicken 

Watching: 

Sick of: social media. 

Wearing: a shirt that says “May the Lord be With You” and biker shorts.

Buying: dish soap.

Annoyed by: new credit cards. I hate having to update all my accounts.

Laughing about: I recently had to draw a pen*s, and I realized I had never drawn a pen*s before (even though it’s like the most frequent form of vandalism of all time). 

Dreading: doing a sleep study. 

Missing: being able to read books and enjoy them.

Craving: homemade brownies.

Singing: songs from Bright Star. I’ve listened to it twice this week.

Thinking about: what time I’m going to get out of bed and go to work in the morning. 

Playing: 

I play Bloom and Quixx with Daisy a lot.

Trying: nothing. I’ve been a quitter at everything lately.

Needing: to vacuum the sand from our California trip out of the van.

Excited about: going to lunch with my friend Lynsie tomorrow for her 40th birthday (which was May 11, but you know how life goes)

Eating: Chinese food (with Lynsie!)

Regretting: drinking a Diet Coke on May 18th at Woody’s Drive In after not having soda for a while - thereby putting me back on the wagon even though I don’t like diet drinks.

Smelling: dry shampoo.

Struggling with: everything (to put it simply).

Wanting: a new trampoline.

Remembering: James. This week is the one-year anniversary of his passing.

Hoping: to start blogging normally again, but I just haven’t had anything to say lately.

Procrastinating: finishing this post (I’ve been working on it since June 1st). 

Wishing: that Zoe didn’t have to go to junior high someday.

Avoiding: returning a voicemail from earlier this week.

Noticing: that boys have really terrible hair throughout all eras. 

Wondering: why I have so many zits. 

Grateful for: my five senses. 

Adventures in Hollywood

While Daisy and I spent a day in Disneyland, Scotty took the other kids on an adventure through LA. They started at the California Science Center. We’d been there a few times, but it had been a while. Some of the exhibits have been updated, and my kids were excited to report that they learned all about reproduction!

Eva was excited to see these tadpoles hanging from the ceiling

After the science center, they explored Hollywood. 

They stumbled into a gift shop where they were able to buy some really cheap souvenirs, much to Zoe and Eva’s delight. Nicky was happy to be out and about - he is not okay with sitting around relaxing. He wants constant adventure. I joke that he is like a high energy dog breed that needs to be walked several times daily.

They had some really yummy brick oven pizza for dinner (I later enjoyed the leftovers).

That evening, Scotty took the kids to Downtown Disney to wait for Daisy and me. They got beignets and watched the fireworks from outside the gates of the parks. 

They also listened to some live music and walked through the stores. They were all really good sports about Daisy and me going to Disneyland. We were expecting a little more pushback, but they were great, and they had a really good day with their dad.

Before we left the Disney property, we hung out for a while and talked about everything we did that day. Happy reviews all around!

The next day we kept things low key and hung out at the beach and pool. Then we had dinner with all our fam and played some games. Nicky got his first seat at the poker table, and he ended up being the big winner. 

On Wednesday we went to Knott’s Berry Farm. Sadly, it was chock full of school buses, and the lines were 2-3 hours long. 

We ended up spending most of our time eating and walking around the ghost town. We gave up on rides. We had a meal plan for 3 of the 6 of us that let us get an entree and side every 90 minutes, so we just wandered around from snack time to snack time. We also had a soda package that let us get a fresh refill every 15 minutes. We were sad that we missed out on a lot of the rides, but we made the best of it. Knott’s closed at 8:00, and on a whim, we decided to hit Downtown Disney again before we headed back to our condo. We watched a band play, watched the fireworks from outside Disneyland, and got beignets. We got back to the condo pretty late and slept in on Thursday. 

We spent Thursday lounging at the pool and getting packed up and ready for the drive home Friday. When we left on Friday morning, it felt like we were heading our way too soon. Our vacation flew by! It was really nice to get away. 

Disney with My Girl

We just got back from a vacation to California. It was a bit of a weird trip because we never really took time to plan it. May was crazy for all involved (we went with some of Scotty’s family), so it felt like we all marked our calendars and then just rolled out of bed and showed up on the right day. 

One of the highlights of the trip was that I decided spontaneously (8:00 the night before) to take Daisy to Disneyland on Monday - just the two of us. I was originally going to send her and Nicky, but then I thought, ya know what? Nicky got to go in March with his school, and Scotty went earlier this year for Brocation. I was going to take a turn! So I got online and bought the tickets and went and told Daisy the news. She was so excited!

On Monday morning, Scotty dropped us off, and we spent the day park hopping. Yes, I’m still mad at Disney. Yes, I forked over all the monies to make it a good experience. Just like they want me to. Yes, it cost a fortune. Yes, we had a blast.

It took me a week an a half to write this post (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: Nothing about May feels normal or okay. I keep thinking about how last year I hosted a social event at my home the last day of school. I let my kids invite whoever they wanted, and we had cookies, popsicles, and sodas in my front yard. Who was that person? Why was she able to do that? There’s no way I could do that right now. 

Fact #2: We celebrated our 21st anniversary a couple of weeks ago… by taking our girls to their dance concert rehearsal. 

Fact #3: We have a makeshift pottery studio on our backyard for the summer. Nicky has taken ceramics every year so far in high school, and his teacher let him bring two pottery wheels home. 

Fact #4: Scotty tried throwing a pot yesterday four days ago nine days ago for the first time in 18 years. He was a little shocked to discover that he’s lost his touch.

Fact #5: We have squirrels living under our shed.

Fact #6: I’ve been working on this post for several days. I’m hoping I can finish it before June.

Fact #7: Other than pumpkins, our garden is all planted and ready to grow! Our pumpkins are always ready a little too early, so I’m trying a later plant date to see if they’ll hold off til pumpkin season.

Fact #8: The pumpkins are now planted (I’ve been writing this for a really long time).

Fact #9: The other day I went to see a movie, and this was the seat I picked:

Fact #10: I made six of these at work this week:

Goats and toast are two of my favorite things, but I’ve never considered combining them to make home decor.

Tried It, Liked It

I think more often than not, we humans decide we don’t like something before we even try it. Sometimes we are spot on, but I also think we can be wrong. Lately I’ve been thinking about some of the things I thought I wouldn’t like, but I tried them anyway and ended up loving them. 

Sushi

I understand why so many people won’t try sushi. Aside from the whole raw fish thing, there are strange textures and flavor combinations. Plus seaweed. That doesn’t sound appetizing at all (plus it’s kind of chewy).

At one of Scotty’s former jobs, he was introduced to sushi at business lunches. He always said he didn’t like sushi (not that he’d ever really given in a chance), but after he started going to sushi lunches with work, he became a fast fan. He came home after his first sushi lunch and said, “I don’t know what has happened, but I can’t stop thinking about sushi.”

At Scotty’s next job, his boss took us out for sushi. I was being a good sport going along, but I didn’t plan on enjoying any of it. I imagined suffering silently through a few bites to be polite and then hitting a fast food window on the way home. So boy, was I shocked when I started eating the sushi, and it was really good! And I, like Scotty, couldn’t stop thinking about it for days!

I love sushi. Who knew? (I didn’t!)

Risk

I had a few guy friends in high school that played Risk all the time. They would sometimes talk about it in front of me, and I would glaze over with disinterest. Scotty also liked playing Risk, and 20 years ago, he agreed that I probably wouldn’t like it. 

Somehow I ended up filling in for someone else in a game of Risk. I learned how to play, I saw it through, and I got hooked. Risk ended up being what clued me in to my interest in strategy board games. Would I ever have learned this about myself if I hadn’t taken a risk and played Risk?

Lagoon Passes

We got season passes for Lagoon, our local theme park, last year. I loved Lagoon as a kid, but as an adult, it has always seemed like a fine method of torture. Crowds? No thank you. Hot summer days? Yuck.

It turns out, I love having Lagoon passes so much that I secretly bought more for this year behind Scotty’s back because he said we weren’t getting any.

A Quiet Place

When A Quiet Place came out, multiple friends tried to convince me to go see it with them, and I gave them an absolute no. I don’t like jump scares, and I don’t like creatures. 

So I was very taken aback when I eventually did watch A Quiet Place, and I loved it. It’s one of my favorite movies.

——-

I’m sure if I thought about it long enough I could come up with some more, but these are the ones that stand out the most. I definitely don’t enjoy being wrong, but in these cases, I sure was! I’m glad I gave them all a try.

Currently (May 2024 Edition)

Reading: nothing! For the second month in a row. I think I’m broken. 

Drinking: NOT soda. I’m 15 days soda sober… again… you know how I be. I almost gave in on Wednesday because I bought a fountain drink at Sam’s Club, and the lemonade wasn’t working. I ended up trying to get Pepsi Zero (I figured I would drink a soda, but not a soda that I LOVE. That way I could have a drink but maybe not totally spiral out of control) and that wasn’t working either. Then I tried for Diet Dr. Pepper, and that, too was not working. At that point, I figured the fates were trying to keep me from breaking my streak, so I threw the cup away, and called it a loss. But before I left, I tapped the regular Pepsi dispenser to see if it was working, and it was. 

Cooking: some menu items on this week’s list are crock pot chicken and rice, cheeseburger soup, and spam sandwiches. Don’t be hating on my spam sandwiches. One day they were sampling fried spam on King’s Hawaiian Rolls at Costco, and I’ve been addicted ever since. 

Watching: 

I think this is the third time I’ve worked my way through 30 Rock. It’s kind of lonely because I have a million 30 Rock references available in my head and no one to share them with.

Sick of: church events. I am so burned out.

Wearing: a Cinderella sweatshirt and shorts. 

Buying: food for stake young women camp. I’m in charge of the food, and we are doing every meal as a stake. Big task, but since I love mass food production, I’m in. Although it does involve my least favorite thing on earth… committees. 

I made my first purchases this weekend - Italian ice pops and gluten-free Oreos, and my sister-in-law hooked me up with a bunch of free lunch meat. 

Annoyed by: weeds. It’s not even time to plant a garden yet, and I feel like weeds have already taken over.

Laughing about: today Nicky and I had to explain to my mother-in-law what crop dusting means.

No, mother-in-law, the crop dusting problem at Senior Ball over the weekend was not related to aircrafts or pesticides. 

Dreading: some of our summer obligations. There’s a lot going on this year that I don’t want to deal with.

Sad about: the lack of youth in our ward. 

This week, for the first time since we were moved to a new congregation, I had a good cry. I thought we would be okay with the new ward, but as time goes on, I am more and more sad for my children. 

Missing: soda. 

Craving: breakfast sandwiches. I adore them. 

Thinking about: how amazing it is to wash a breakfast sandwich down with a Coke. 

Singing: Benson Boone. Nicky and Daisy are big fans, so we always have Benson Boone playing in the house and car.

Playing:

I bought the Qwixx Mixx score pads to add a new twist to our Qwixx game. 

Trying: to lower my blood pressure (one reason I’m soda sober). It’s not working. Spam sandwiches definitely won’t help.

Needing: to go to sleep, frankly. 

Missing: my kids’ former love for Daniel Tiger. 

Grateful for: comfy blankets.