Baby-Proof?

I haven't been able to upload any pictures to my blog for a while. It has been quite annoying. I think I've got the problem fixed now. It just required me to switch from internet explorer to google chrome. So now that it is working, I am going to post a ton of pictures that I've been saving. Starting with Baby Jim!

This kid is really testing my baby-proofing skills. One day during the summer, my neighbor rang my bell to return the boy to me. She told me he was standing by our mailbox, waving to her as she drove past. Key word = DROVE!  She quickly stopped her car, scooped him up, and returned him to his befuddled mother. Sheesh. I figured that one of the kids must have forgotten to lock the front door. I admonished everyone to remember to lock the door!

Then a few days later I saw this.  I took this picture on July 22, 2011. Baby Jim just shy of being fifteen months. Can you believe it?! I sure couldn't. The little rat was jiggling the locks and actually managed to undo one before I caught him. For heaven's sake! I obviously cannot go to the bathroom anymore. Or blink. :S

Differing World Views

Miss Nita is always asking questions. The darling girl has an insatiable curiosity. This fact, coupled with her life experiences, however, make for some interesting conversations. I want to record some of her world views here so that I will always remember.

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Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary earlier this month. My kids always enjoy looking through our wedding album on our anniversary. They think it is hilarious that Hubby and I look "so different" now...since we are obviously super-old. ;)

As Miss Nita was looking at our wedding pictures, she asked "Where are Rose and Anne?" I explained that they aren't in the picture because they weren't born yet.

Miss Nita said, "What!? You got married before you had kids? Why would you do that?"

I started to explain, but only got one word out before Miss Nita continued...

"I think you should have waited until after you had your kids because then they could have seen your wedding. Didn't you want your kids to get to see you get married!?"

She went on to lament the fact that my poor kids did not get to see my wedding and how I had deprived them of that experience.

Hubby and I were doing our best not to laugh.

I explained that Hubby and I met before we had kids. I told her that it's okay for people to get married before they have kids and that some people prefer to do things that way.

She was not happy with that explanation.

I tried to console her by pointing out that my kids could always look at the pictures. She guessed that was alright.

Hubby had to leave the room at that point because his laughter was about to erupt.

Just for the record, my children really don't mind that they missed attending their parents wedding. They are content just looking at the pictures. ;)

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A few days ago, I was at the computer working on homework while Cakes and Miss Nita were coloring. Out of the blue, Miss Nita asked me if Hubby and I were best friends or if we were husband and wife. Without looking up, I told her we were both.

She gasped!

Loudly.

I looked up from the computer and was met with a completely appalled and disgusted Miss Nita. Seriously! It was the funniest face I have seen in a few months.

Anyways, Miss Nita, still looking disgusted with me, informed me that you cannot be both. She confidently stated that you can be best friends OR you can be husband and wife, but you can't be both.

Trying to hold in my laughter (again), I explained that the best kind of marriages are when you marry your best friend. I told her that Hubby is, in fact, both my husband and my best friend.

She just stared at me. And stared. And stared some more.

Finally, she shook her head, gave an exasperated sigh, and went back to coloring.

Hilarious!

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I almost forgot this last one! 

During Miss Nita's first week with me, while Hubby was at work, she asked me if Hubby was my boyfriend. I told her no, Hubby was my husband.

She said, oh. And went back to playing.

A few minutes later, she asked me if Hubby was my husband. I told her yes. We were married and he was my husband.

She responded by asking, "If Hubby is your husband, then who is your boyfriend?"

I told her I didn't have one.

She told me I needed to get one.

I told her that I was married to Hubby. I explained that when you are married that you don't have boyfriends anymore.

She informed me that her Mommy had a boyfriend when she was married so she knows that you are supposed to have boyfriends.

She told me, again, that I needed to get a boyfriend.

I told her I would think about it.

I told Hubby about this conversation when he returned home that night, including my acquiesence to Miss Nita. He just stared at me. And stared. And stared.

Then he informed me that he would be my boyfriend and my husband.

I told him I would think about it. ;)

Regular Visiting Teaching

I got a new visiting teaching route this month. I have a new companion and new gals to visit. Of the three gals assigned, two had phone numbers listed. Of those numbers, one actually worked. I left a message for that sister. Didn't hear back.


I searched for phone numbers for the other two sisters, but came up empty handed.


So...My new companion and I decided to do scouting visits.


I typed up the message for the month, put a nice "Hello" message at the top along with mine and my companion's phone numbers, and printed it on bright green paper. Bright green paper is lots easier to see than plain old white paper. I figured if no one was home, I'd tape the message to their front door. And once I knew where they lived, I could come back at different times to try and meet each sister.


My new companion picked me up about 9:15 this morning. We stopped at a bakery on our way out and bought a cinnamon roll far each lady. Why? Because Baked Goodies have magical, mystical powers. Some gals do not like surprise visits from church ladies. Some gals find it rude and decide that they do not like you and will never like you and further more they now do not like the church even more. BUT, if those church ladies come to a gal's house bearing baked goodies, they are usually forgiven for their surprise attack and welcomed into the gal's home. As I said, baked goodies are magic!


We got to the first gal's house and had quite an eye-opening experience. I won't go into the details here for obvious reasons. (In case you don't know what the obvious reason is, I will spell it out for you...p-r-i-v-a-c-y.) The thing I will share here is that this gal seems to not have had visiting teachers for YEARS.


The second gal we visited wasn't home. As I was debating whether to tape my message to her garage door or stick it under the windshield wiper of her guy's work truck, a neighbor came to see what we were doing. I explained that I was looking for the gal. He informed me that the truck was his. He was parking it at her house to make it look like someone was still living there. The gal herself had moved out several months earlier. She was now living in a town four hours away. 


This gal had only been baptized a year earlier. She should have had super-visiting teachers coming to see her for a year after her baptism to help her with the transition. I don't know what happened there. What I do know is that she has been gone for several months and her visiting teachers failed to report that. Which most likely means that her visiting teachers were not visiting her.


I couldn't believe that these two gals, who so obviously needed the love and support of visiting teachers, were passed over. I expressed my disappointment to my companion. She told me that she really hadn't had visiting teachers the whole time she has lived in this town either. She told me there was one lady who came to see her every so often (not the regular monthly visiting teaching), but that lady (I know for a fact) moved out of our ward over a year ago. This means that my companion hasn't had visiting teachers for over a year! And she is another one who could have really used the love and support of a visiting teacher.

We got to the third gal's house at that point. She was home and invited us in. We had a nice visit. She was so happy to have us in her home. And she was glad to see the treat, but even more excited to see the little handout I had made with our phone numbers on it. She seemed delighted when we told her to call us anytime she needed help.

Since returning home, I have been thinking long and hard about visiting teaching in my life. I try so hard to visit my ladies. I have since I was eighteen years old and was first given the calling of visiting teacher.

The first two years I lived in this ward, I had the same companion, Sister S. She and I tried to do an in-home visit every month. Sister S was kind of shy, so I was the one who usually made the appointments. If the gals we visited weren't available for an in-home visit, I asked them when was a good time for me to call back and just chat. I let them know that I was interested in them and their lives.


Sister S and I had one gal who just wouldn't commit to visits, so we surprise visited her more often than not, bearing baked goodies of course! We would only stay for a few minutes, but we CAME! We did our best to show her that she was important to us.

My companion was moved to a different route during the third year. I was on my own for a few months, but continued to contact my sisters every month. Now there were a couple of times when I was only able to call them because our schedules were crazy, but I contacted them one way or another every month! I can't same the same of the gals who were assigned to visit me. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times a visiting teacher has actually come to my home to visit me or purposely called to visit with me. This is kind of sad considering that I have lived in this same ward for three years. I'm not writing this because I'm mad or feel left out or anything. I know life gets busy. I'm not trying to judge.

I just wonder...what has become of Visiting Teaching?


And what will become of the women who are forgotten and overlooked in my little town?

What's In A Name?

My sweet Baby Jim is a PUNK!

At the young age of 13 months, he knew that I was "Momma" and Hubby was "Dadda". He called us that for about two weeks.

Then he started calling me "Dadda" and Hubby "Momma". At first I thought he was just confused. Then the boy called me "Dadda" again and started laughing like crazy.

He knew what he was doing. He was calling us the wrong names on purpose. At the tender age of 14 months, he was already developing a sense of humor. He continued, for the next two months, calling me "Dadda" and Hubby "Momma" and laughing every time. He thought he was so clever. You could see it in his eyes.

At 15 months, Miss Nita and Prof. X joined our family. They call me "Sarah". For the last two months, Baby Jim has heard them calling me "Sarah".

Last week, Baby Jim and I were playing. I had looked away for some reason. Baby Jim called to me, "Momma". I was so happy! For an instant I thought, Finally, that boy is going to start calling me "Momma" again. I turned back to look at him. With a mischevious glint in his eyes, the boy then said to me "Sa-ah" and erupted into laughter. That rat has been calling me "Sa-ah" all week and laughing everytime he says it.

In other news, he has gone back to calling Hubby "Dadda". :P

Recovered

The bike was recovered last night. They brought it to our home about 7:00 pm. Obviously they were able to track down the girl fairly quickly.

Turns out she is 15 years old and attends the same high school as Miss S. The police officer went to the girl's home to talk to her. The bike was out front. The police officer asked the girl's mom about the bike. Mom said the girl said she had found it at a park. And I am wondering:

"Dear Girl's Mom: If you're daughter found a bike at a park, don't you think the owner of the bike is looking for it? Did you really think someone would just abondon such a nice bike?"

Personally, if my kid came home saying they had found a bike, I would do one of two things. 1) Call the police to report that we had found a lost item or 2) Put up flyers around the park to find the owner myself.

So, Mom calls for the girl to come out front. Police officer asks about the bike. Girl says she found it at a park. Officer informs her that he has video showing her stealing the bike from the library.

The police officer told Hubby, Miss S and I this info, along with some more details that I am not including here. The funny thing here is Miss S's reaction. She was a bit flabbergasted that the police officer had not thrown the girl into jail. She kept asking the officer, "What is going to happen to the girl?" She was quite affronted that the girl seems to have gotten completely off for stealing her bike. She felt a bit better when the officer said that after more questioning and a hard look from her mom that the girl started crying. Miss S figures that shows that she is getting into at least a little trouble. Hubby assured Miss S that this is only the beginning of the girl's punishment. She will still have to go to court and will possibly be fined.

Miss S does not think that is good enough. She actually said to the officer, "You really want people like that out walking around? She thought it was okay to steal my bike. She will probably steal again. And you are just going to let her?"

Can I just say, I am really enjoying having Miss S in my home. :)

Stolen

Miss S and Rose rode their bikes to the library yesterday afternoon. They have done this before and have thoroughly enjoyed themselves. There is a grand sense of satisfaction that comes frombeing able to transport one's self from point A to point B. Rose inherited my old bike after I broke my tailbone for the second time. Bicycle seats and fragile tailbones do not mix well. Miss S received her bike about a week ago from her lovely CASA workers.

Upon leaving the library, they discovered that Miss S's bike had been stolen. The lock had been busted off. Rose called from the library to tell us. They had notified the library personnel who called the police. Hubby immediately jumped in his truck to go help. Due to Hubby's profession, he has a few connections that can help in a case like this. Along with filling out the police report, Hubby and the girls were able to watch the video surveillance that shows the bike abduction. And this is where it gets interesting.

The thief looks like a middle school girl. Rose actually saw her in the teen room. The girl was leaving as Rose was entering. Video shows her walking out of the library, looking quite smug, with two guys. Video shows her testing the locks on ALL the bikes in the rack. It shows how she settled on Miss S's lock and busted it off. It shows her straddle-walking the bike away. And it leaves me with three questions:

1) The bike rack is right by the front entrance of the library. Was everyone so oblivious that they couldn't tell that she was trying to steal a bike?

2) What kind of home/friend environment is this kid a part of that she smuggly steals a bike? Seriously? I would like to see that environment.

3) Did the girl honestly not notice all the cameras watching her? And did she not think that "Oh, I was just using the computers in the teen room and had to use my library card to access it and that the card has all my personal contact info"?

Anyhoo, Hubby is in the process of tracking her down. He would have already had her, but there are some protocol issues that he absolutely has to follow. But those should be completed soon and then, Dear Little Punk Girl Who Stole Miss S's Bike: WATCH OUT! We are coming for you. You are not as sneaky as you thought.

Quick Update

Wow. It has been almost three months since I have posted. The non-posting is due to a combination of business and laziness. I think that is most summers can be described as a combination of being busy and being lazy. Haha! Anyhoo, here is a quick update on things we did this summer.

• Hubby took Joe and Cakes to Father and Sons. Camping, fires, throwing things, and general male goofiness was had by all.
• I studied for and took two AEPA: Elementary Education Subject Knowledge and Professional Knowledge-Elementary Education. I passed them both. (Thank Heavens!!)
• Our family recertified to do foster care.
• Miss A participated in a dance concert. She performed a hip-hop number with schoolmates. It rocked! 
• Miss J & Miss L participated in a dance concert. Miss J performed in two group numbers and Miss L performed in one. They were fantastic! 
• Miss L graduated from high school. It was a crazy day. Miss L went from being super-happy about graduating to freaking out about what she was supposed to do know. The roller coaster of emotions continued throughout the summer. Poor girl!
• Rose participated in a band concert. She has played trombone this year. She sounds good...which is saying a lot!
• Rose attended band camp. There were four classes each day: Theory, Intermediate First instrument (trombone), Beginning Second instrument (flute), and Choir. They had a concert at the end of camp. It was wonderful.
• Miss Q has shown back up in our lives. We are quite relieved by this. She has been wandering for a while. She was able to graduate from high school. We are helping her get started in college (hopefully) and get on her feet. It will be slow work...
• Rose, Anne, and Joe won awards for their Top Readers Group at school. They rocked the competition, each receiving awards and prizes for their reading amounts. They were so happy.
• 4-H had their year end banquet. It was an interesting night. Rose and Anne ended up being elected as Junior Officers for this next 4-H year. Rose will be Junior Vice President and Anne will be Junior Secretary. This will be a good chance for them to experience responsibility in a new way and to develop leadership skills. It will also be a good chance for me to perfect my driving skills as I chaufer them here and there. ;)
• I had a birthday. I spent it driving to the San Diego Temple with a friend. It was an excellent way to spend my birthday.
• Our whole family plus the Sisters Three attended Hubby's family reunion in Strawberry. We went to Fossil Creek to swim twice, took a hike to Clover Springs, attended a Fourth of July breakfast, played tons of games, and laughed uproarously as my teenage nephew blatantly (and poorly) attempted to flirt with Miss J and Miss L. Good times, people. Good time!
• Saw Harry Potter 7, part 2. As expected, the screen writer completely changed the story in disappointing ways. But I am so happy that I saw it because now it is done!!!  I never have to watch the wretched movies again. I can stick with the glorious stories that J.K. first wove.
• Miss A turned 14. She usually celebrates with her Mom, but was stuck with us due to the circumstances. The goose had quite the list for her birthday. We took her to Chuck E. Cheese, had a chocolate Hannah Montana cake and vanilla ice cream, sang Happy Birthday about fifty million times (each time she blushed and beamed), ate her favorite breakfast of cheesy eggs and her favorite dinner or burritos, had a pinata filled with candy, and watched shows that she wanted to watch. Miss A is quite young at heart. She had a wonderful, wonderful day.
• Our family (minus the Sisters Three who were visiting their Mom) drove to San Diego with another family. It was great. Hubby and I attended a Temple Session while the Mom and Dad watched our kids at a park.Then they went to the Temple while Hubby and I took all the kids to the beach. Afterwards we split up. The other family went to Sea World. We took our kids to see the San Diego Temple then went to the Morman Battalion Historical Site. It was a lovely, lovely day.
• Physical and Legal custody of the Sisters Three was granted to their dear Mother. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am by that!! Their Mother was so happy she came right over after court, packed up all their things, rented a trailer, gave me a hug, and drove off into (literally) the sunset. The Sisters Three are all doing well and are happy to be with their Mom.
• The very next day a sibling set was brought to our home. The girl (Miss Nita) is 4 and the boy (Professor X) is 6. They are cuties!
• And the very next week a teenage girl (Miss S) came to live with us too. So we have a full house again. We are in the process of rearranging our home to best accomodate everyone.
• I completed four Master classes. That is twelve more credits out of the way. Hooray! Only a year left. :)
• Everyone went to the Dentist. It was pathetic. Our teeth are all super clean, but we still got cavities. Only Rose had no cavitities. Hubby has one near an old filling. I have TWO! One near an old filling and one in between my very back teeth...the teeth that are too close together for me to fit a piece of floss through. It is very depressing.
• School started again. Joe, Rose, Anne, and Prof. X are in elementary. Miss S is in high school. It is going to be a great school year.
• Hubby built me a compost pile. It is 8 foot long, 32 inches deep, and 36 inches tall. It is beautiful.

Currently, I am studying for another AEPA: Middle Schools Social Studies. I think I am going to fail. History is such a broad topic and there are so many interpretations of events, I'm not sure that I will have the "correct" interpretation that the test requires.

I'm also getting ready to teach preschool to Cakes, Miss Nita, and a couple of boys from the neighborhood. It should be fun.