In a Pickle (Ur What? Part Two)

Scene Set Up:

We bring home a giant jar of dill pickle slices from Smart n'Final. Travis eats two small bowls of pickles and drinks the juice. He is very happy. Aaron hates pickles and refuses to eat them.

Scene:

Travis is running around with a pickle in his hand. The pickle is his toy and he's having a great time with his little pickle friend. Enter Aaron.

Aaron: "Mom, Travis is waving his pickle at me!"

Travis laughs maniacally. Aaron screeches.

Aaron: "Mom, Travis just touched me with his pickle!"

More laughter ensues and Aaron about loses it.

I on the other hand am just laughing, especially after the Uranus episode of last week. Apparently we've moved on to Travis chasing Aaron around with a pickle. I intervened before Aaron needed counseling and told Travis to keep his pickle to himself. Boys.

I apologize to all of you have offended. I assure you more sane posts will be made later...in about 15 years.

--Laurel

Ur What?

An actual conversation held earlier this evening in the Baker house.

Aaron: "Look at my homework Dad, I finished it."

Aaron proudly displays his solar system drawing to Billy and names off the planets one by one.

Billy: "Great! But you're missing one."

Aaron looks perplexed.

Billy: "Have you ever heard of Uranus?" (Ur-Anus)

Aaron gives Billy a quizical look.

Aaron: "No, I must have missed that one."

Billy: "Hmmm...."

Aaron: "Where is Uranus?"

Billy: "You don't know where Uranus is?"

Cue another weird look from Aaron as Dad, Mom and Austin start laughing.

Aaron: "Where does Uranus go?"

Billy: "Uranus is somewhere between Neptune and Pluto."

Aaron thinks again.

Aaron: "What color is Uranus?"

Billy: "I don't know, I've never seen Uranus!"

Dad, Mom and Austin are now laughing doubled over. Aaron laughs nervously along with us unsure of why we're cracked up.

Please note: we took mercy upon Aaron's little soul and let him in on the joke. His take?

Aaron: "You mean Uranus is your butt?"

Billy: "Yep."

Aaron falls on the floor prostrate laughing uncontrollably almost to the point of tears. Now hopefully he won't get kicked out of school tomorrow when he tells all of his friends.

Okay, Okay, Okay!

Fine! I give in. Nobody is blogging right now because they all have jobs to do. The one day that I have nothing major to do no one is posting anything. I've been trying to avoid housework by wandering around the blogs and have found little to fill my time. Because of your virtual silence I can hear my conscience telling me to get off my butt and clean the bathrooms.

Let it be known that you all have driven me to scrub toilets free of little boy pee for entertainment.

Some group of friends you are!

--Laurel

The Greatest Cure

Today was much better than yesterday. The only real stressful time was at the Post Office (then again when is it not stressful? ) Plus, I have issues with mail men....just ask Billy. Don't get me wrong, I love my current guy, its just the random ones I have run into elsewhere.

I could feel my crankiness ramping up again this afternoon at the grocery store where I screwed up with my coupons. Ralph's messed up on their end as well by about $6. When I went in to have them correct the problem they overcorrected it and I came ahead in the end. As we drove home, poor Tamila the sacrifical lamb who had gone shopping with me, was munching on a Crunch bar (free!) when I spied the remainder of it in her hand. Seeing it I realized she was holding my cure. Chocolate.

Let me tell you, that little square piece of chocolate was just as miraculous as a whole bar. I feel much better now. As for the rest of the day, I got to enjoy watching both Aaron and Austin play baseball at the same time. To see Aaron on his field doing his little happy dances while the big guys slug it out on their diamond brings about an awesome feeling of parental pride. Meanwhile, Tamila and Travis ran from field to field with their pack of friends and got along well.

So there,
Chocolate + cranky family= world peace!

--Laurel

Monster

Last night I crashed big time. Maybe it was the kid friendly pancake dinner, hormones or who knows what, but I was cranky. My eye was hurting and I was tired. I wanted to go to sleep and I wanted to go to sleep as soon as possible. I rushed the kids off to bed at 8:30. The older kids were in bed by 9. When someone came out to annoy me with an idiotic question or excuse I tersely shooed them back to their rooms.

In short...I was grumpy.

This morning as I was driving Aaron to school I mentioned that I was feeling much better from sleeping last night. Aaron smirked and said, "Yeah, Mom you were a monster last night."

I told him he was being silly...I wasn't that mean!

Nope, he reiterated again this time with a serious look: "Mom...you were monster."

Ouch.

Mind you this is coming from a kid who makes blood curdling screams and acts as if he's on death door when any of his siblings look at him wrong. That little grain of salt doesn't make the statement any better.

So here's looking for a better day and evening: no more pancakes for dinner no matter how hard the kids beg. Pancakes are bad for their emotional health!

--Laurel

Scary

Aaron's team mom sent me the link to this predator mapping website. John Walsh put together the website so you can know who's in your neighborhood. I tracked at least 5 convicted criminals within a mile of my house--all of their crimes involved children under the age of 14. So, check out the site: it will scare you, yet give you a heads up on who is in your area. (It includes pictures, profiles and descriptions so you know who you're looking out for.)

--Laurel

Yo I'm Out

I'm going to try to borrow some sugar. The blogathon was great!

Yeah, I know this'll gross you out

I went to the Dr. today because my eye was irritating me. Apparently I have a corneal edema (not threatening in any form.) The edema is that little blistery thing you see on the white of my eye. I have to stay out of the sun and use all sorts of eye drops to stave off infection and keep things lubricated. Dr. Aish said that I probably got it from the sun. Lovely, eh?

Just thought I'd share my point of view.

-Laurel

P.S. Kurt I told him that you thought he was an awesome Dr. He thought you were a nice guy.

I Am Missing Earl

This Blog - a - thon is preventing me from watching what appears to be a really funny episode of Earl. Every time I start to watch it (I TIVO ed it) I see someone's new comment and miss all of the punchlines. I will watch it later. I am going to try to watch "Survivor" now.

Take Your Medicine

If you know me very well, you are aware that I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I usually have to get things off of my chest when I am not enjoying something before I can begin to enjoy it.

Right now I feel like forced blogging is like taking your medicine. It is not always fun to take your medicine, but it will make you feel better. That's how I feel about forced blogging, but later tonight when the blogging marathon is over I will be better for it.

I Ate Real Sushi in Vegas

Curtis, Shane and I went to NAB in Las Vegas this week and as always had a great time sharing and learning with the boys at GURUS as well as continuing the new building process with Ben and the boys from Mankin Media.

At lunch yesterday we went to a Sushi joint. I usually will have a California roll or tempura, maybe even a spicy tuna roll. This time, I took a big leap and ate a Red Dragon Roll. It is essentially a spicy tuna roll with a piece of tuna wrapped around it.

To some, no big deal, to me a breakthrough. The texture and taste was not at all like what I imagined looking at it on my plate. It worked out great and I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Kurt's Comics

Whew! Dodged a bullet!

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) just had a representative on Fox. He was telling all Californians to expect a massive earthquake sometime in the next 30 years. Mind you he was "forecasting" an earthquake-- not "predicting" one. As he was delivering this lovely reminder, the scroll across the bottom reassured me with this:


"USGS says California will not fall into the ocean."


I feel much better now. I will no longer have to wear flippers and a life vest wherever I go!

-Laurel

Wah? Huh? Where did Everyone go?

I started crashing on the couch around 7:30 tonight. I vaguely remember Aaron and Travis running in and out of the room. Somehow I managed to direct them in my sleep haze to take their showers and put them in bed around 8:30. Next thing I know I woke up a little before 10 and the whole house was dead quiet. All of the kids were in bed. I checked their rooms to make sure they all hadn't ditched me for a party somewhere, but sure enough--they were asleep.

I have no idea when the older two went to bed. Obviously sometime before 10. I know in my day I would've been whooping it up by watching tv or reading books if I'd had the chance. I used to drive my parents nuts by never wanting to go to bed. In fact, they would send me to bed and I would lurk on the stairs waiting to see what happened after my bed time. I had this strange fantasy that they would breaking out the smokes and start cussing up a storm once I was out of earshot. Alas, that fantasy never came true. But I did spend an inordinate amount of time waiting on the stairs. My poor parents were stalked by their own child!

Anyway, you know you've reached a new stage in life when your children put themselves in bed without you saying a word or even being conscious. Now if I could only train them to do the dishes before they head off to La La land.

Beggars can't be choosers!

-Laurel

A Rare Moment

Travis is asleep.

During the day.

Who is this kid and where did the real Travis go?

-Laurel

Brace Yourself ...

Travis Before

Travis After

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you. The boy has short hair. He's been begging for weeks for me to cut his hair and I finally gave in. Jolene gave me the push that I needed advising that it's only hair after all and it will grow back.

Still, hearts are breaking around the world tonight!

I do have to admit it is pretty cute. To top it off, I think Aaron has found his long lost twin!

-Laurel

What a Day So Far. . .

For many of you managing your kids alone is not a big deal. Laurel has to manage Saturday schedules more often than I do. I usually am around mornings before heading off to church. Today I woke her up at 5:20am so she could get ready and leave for a Children's conference in San Diego. I drove her over to Kelly's house at 6:15am and ran by the church for about an hour to tie up some loose ends before church tonight. I then ran home and picked up Austin at 7:45am and took him to the baseball fields at Marina High School for a game that started at 9am.

I ran home, showered, got dressed, layed out some clothes for Aaron's game, left Tamila in charge of the Aaron and Travis and headed over to Austin's 9am game. They lost. No team confidence today. We left for home and arrived at 11am. Aaron started to get dressed for his game. Tamila got out of the shower and dressed. I half dressed Travis and them gave them sandwiches that Laurel prepared last night. (Thanks!) I emptied the dishwasher, and started another load of dishes. Austin cooled off, ate lunch and I asked him to get some of my clothes together so I could start a load of laundry so I can pack tonight after church for a trip to Las Vegas. (I leave tomorrow.) I finished dressing Travis.

I then sat down and wrote these words. Now, we are getting ready for Aaron's game at 1pm and Austin's game at 1:30 pm. I hope the baseball is better. After the games we head off to church for Saturday evening services where we meet mom and then alas, we head home for the night.

All this to say, thanks Laurel for all of the Saturdays she has managed the logistics alone.


Billy

For your enjoyment...

Austin's disembodied head.


-Laurel

Just Another Day with Travis

I'm sitting at the computer when I hear:

"Hey Mom, look at my bum bum!"

I had to take a picture and share.

I swear this is not turning into a Travis blog.

-Laurel

Ladies and Gentlemen: Travis...

I couldn't help myself. I had to post some more pictures of Travis from Arizona. I apologize for the indulgence~

Laurel

Bear with Me

If the first age old question is "Does a bear go potty in the woods?" The second is obviously: "Do bears dance in the woods?" Having observed the answer to the first question by leftovers in the woods; I now know the answer to the second question.

My life is complete.

Follow this link to find out for yourself. (Aaron thought it was hilarious, so obviously this is "G" rated.) I cannot guarantee your life will be any better for having seen it but you will know the answer for yourself.

--Laurel

Yum...

Perusing the OC Register website today I found the latest restaurant closings for the OC. The following posting sounded just lovely:

"China Bowel Express, 11041 Warner Ave., Fountain Valley; cockroach infestation; permit suspended March 28; reinstated March 31."

Mmm....Bowel. And all along I just thought they were serving chicken. Ewww!

You don't have to thank me for this post. I just knew everyone would want to have a lovely thought such as this one to start their day with.

Laurel

Old is New

My kids are really into retro tv these days. It all started with WKRP a couple of months ago and has now morphed into a full Brady Bunch obsession. Austin's quoting lines and scenes from Home Improvement. Travis is excited because Mr. Roger's is coming back tomorrow on the tv to see him. Tamila and Aaron are catching up on the Brady Bunch. (The oldest episodes are their favorite.)

It's cool that they're enjoying the shows of my yesteryear but they make me feel old at the same time. (I find myself saying, "When I was your age..." quite often.) At least Tamila's past her Full House obsession: I could only take so much of that.

Making a Difference

Everyday we hear stories about the violence in Iraq and rarely the ones about people who are trying to make a difference there. I came across this Blog the other day: Can of Worms. The blogger lives and works with the people in Iraq. His goal is to bring "preemptive love" to the people before the terrorists win over their children's hearts and minds. He has alot of stories: good and bad. I highly recommend it for a close up view of whats going on there.

-Laurel

Some Arizona Pics

Pictures are all random and without captions...of course.