New Kind of Cheese...

I was making lunch for Jackson and Landon the other day. They both requested turkey sandwiches.

Me: Jack, do you want colby jack cheese on your turkey?
Jack: Yes please.
Me: Landon, do you want colby jack cheese on yours too?
Landon: No. I want colby Landon cheese please.

Funny boy. Doesn't think Jack should be the only one with a cheese named after him.

Choices....

I consider myself a pretty successful person in life---so far anyway. I think I've made some pretty good choices that got me where I am. I got a college education. Married a really great man. Have 5 adorable kids. I recognize the fact that I am who I am because of the way I was raised. My parents taught me strong values from the time I was little, and because of that I had pretty high standards set for myself. And I still do. I always try to do what I believe to be the right thing. Lately I've been encountering people from my past on facebook. And also blogger. It's weird to see people I knew in Jr. high all grown up with their own families. It's made me think about how choices really do affect the outcome of our lives. As I've grown into myself with age, I realize that I led a pretty sheltered life. I only knew what was in front of my face and took it all for granted. Thinking how lame it was that a certain boy in my history class never showed up to our group project meetings because he had to work. I wanted to fail him (we graded each other), but the group decided to give him at least a C because he did what he could in class. In retrospect I see that I had absolutely no idea what his home life was. Maybe he was working because he had to financially support himself and if he missed work he'd lose his job and it would cause an avalanche of problems as a result. I actually think this might have been the case. I remember another boy that was in most of my classes. He was a pretty smart guy. He was very closed lipped about his home life, but from the bits and pieces I got I gathered that he lived with a single mom who had severe emotional issues. I, however, treated him like he was living the life I was. I have recently discovered that he has become successful in this life, just as I have. He has a great job, a dedicated wife, and a few kids. He seems really happy. Both of our outcomes are the same. A lot of the choices we made to get to our outcomes were also the same. But, how is it that we made the same choices when our upbringings were so drastically different? I wonder if I would still be the same person I am today if I had been raised by an emotionally disturbed mother, or an abusive father. Would I have been able to make the choices I did? He did. I can only hope that I would have been able to overcome a hard upbringing. I guess I'll never know what I would have turned out like. And I'm glad I won't. I do know that I want my own children to realize how good they have it. I want them to know that life does exist outside of the 2x2 square around their own heads. A lot of people don't have it as good as they do. Most people don't have it as easy as they do. I want to teach them to be understanding of others situations, and sympathetic to them. Not to be as ignorant as I was. And maybe that just comes with being a teenager. Ignorance that is. And selfishness. And thinking everyone should be able to do what you do because every one's life is the same. I would love for my teenagers to see then what I waited until now to be able to see. Maybe that kind of thinking is me being ignorant. But I think it's worth a shot.

Cereal...

Presley started eating rice cereal tonight. I can't believe she's already old enough. Crazy. I always start with it pretty runny, but was distracted while mixing it up and it was thicker than usual for a first timer. Not a problem for this little chunky monkey. She ate it up like a pro. After a few bites I think she started to question me a little. Like, maybe this was too good to be true. Or, maybe she thought it just wasn't right. She kept eating. She ate the equivalent of about 5 tablespoons. Unheard of. She was obviously ready for this new addition to her food repertoire.

I love her little dimple when she smiles. Nothing makes her smile like a full belly and a clean diaper. And her older siblings entertainment of course.

Pin Store...

Last year sometime we took the kids bowling. Landon has talked about it ever since. He is obsessed with anything bowling. For a long time he called it the "pin store". It took us about a month to realize he really meant the bowling alley. When we told Landon we were going bowling on Saturday he was so excited he could hardly stand it. First stop? Shoes. Little bowlers get to wear their own. Jack used the metal guard rail to get his ball down the lane.

Kennedy and Ethan waited patiently for their turns while watching the balls come through the shoot. Landon started out using the guard rail but felt he was "too old" for it. This video shows how he reacted every time he bowled. Hilarious.

It took a little over an hour to play one game. We thought about playing another but decided Dairy Queen was the better option at that point. Landon, however, was very upset. He burst into the most hysterical tears I've ever seen.We had to man handle him just to get him out of his bowling shoes and into his own. He just kept running over to where his ball was, looking up at the screen and saying, "But it says it's my turn again!" We dragged him out crying with promises to return again soon. I guess we've found his passion in life.

Tough...

Today when Landon got himself dressed he came running out of his room super fast. He yelled "today I'm wearing my fighting clothes!" I inquired as to why. "So I can fight Jackson when he gets home". Sounds like a logical reason to me.

Moving Out and Dressing Up...

Presley is officially in her own crib now. I love not having her in my room. Not that she isn't connected to the monitor that now sits on my nightstand, but she is still down the hall. Now all that cute bedding is being utilized.Since Landon has been potty trained, he tends to run out of pants. When he has an accident I'm none the wiser because he takes care of it without telling me. For a few days he was seen in numerous outfits. I usually didn't notice. Except when the outfit he put on resembled this.

He figured that since he'd worn all his pants he'd just use pajama bottoms. And the new socks need to be pulled up all the way or they just aren't right. Nice.

Ringin' It In....

We rang in the new year with the Fields this year. We all decided they could put their girls to bed in our basement bedroom so we could play games until the wee hours of the morning.

True to Katherine, she represented with the food. Chocolate fondue was a hit. Kennedy and Frannie dipped more than they ate, while the rest of us just ate. I made a vegetable tray to curb my hunger, but the fondue was tempting enough that I indulged.

We put the kids to bed at 9:30 and talked the night away. Once we realized it was midnight we broke out this fabulous game:

Sequence. Now added to my list of addictions. Slow paced, or fast, whichever way you like it. Around 2:00 am the Fields decided they needed to go home. We probably would've played all night. But we would have regretted it in the morning.

After a good nights sleep, and a lazy afternoon, we all headed over to the Fields house. Katherine decided to duplicate a tradition of Ashley's----homemade manicotti. Mmmm. I'm glad it was us that got to participate in this new tradition. Then Shawn and I decided we would challenge Katherine and Bobby to a game of sequence. The night before it was girls against boys. (After playing connect 4 at home, Shawn agreed I was a worthy partner.) After about an hour the kids were wrestless. Why don't kids like their parents to have a good time? Thanks Bobby and Katherine for letting us ring in 2009 in your presence. It was great. And I'm practicing sequence. Next time Shawn's in town we'll have to challenge you again. This time we won't bring our kids.