Today as I was driving the boys to school, Dawson caught me off guard when he said " I wish we could have a car crash into us really hard, but not kill us." His reasoning being, that he wanted to see the machine that the firefighters use to rip open cars. He also said that he wanted the crash to happen in my "zoom zoom" car, the one I drive to work, so that it wouldn't interfere with the t.v. in the Tahoe. I don't have any idea where he would have even seen the Jaws of Life, and he obviously values the t.v. more than me. Great.
Tonight DeAnn, and I spent the evening creating the appearance of being homemakers, as we assembled our monthly meals at DreamDinners. I went to the grocery store the other day, with good intentions, and a big list of things to get, so that I could actually cook some dinners. Fate was against me though, as I hovered above the toilet seat, the list fell out of my back pocket and into the toilet. I ended up leaving the store with 2 pairs of new shoes, some bananas and aluminum foil.

This morning Dylan, Emma, and I went down to my Grandma Beth's house to see my cousin Laura and her 2 kids. They live in Portland and we never get to see them. She has a son, Coen, who is right in the middle of the boys and Dylan was excited to play with him. It was funny to watch and we commented about how kids don't really need introductions or niceties. Dylan walked in, they sized each other up, and then Dylan handed over one of his motorcyles, and they both dropped to the floor to play. It was really nice to see them.
Tonight we went down to Scott and Vicky's, to help give their baby Ryker, a blessing. He is having heart surgery tomorrow and Vicky was a wreck. I can't even imagine having a sick child. Ryker was funny tonight, he was excited to be the center of attention. To watch him play, you would never know that he has a problem. I hope things will go well for them. On the way home from Salt Lake, the boys were watching Curious George. Dawson said to me, "Mom, that man got mad at Curious George and sent him away." I told him not to worry, that I was pretty sure that he got him back. Dawson started this funny little laugh and he said "Yeah, that kinda made tears come out of my eyes." I looked in the back and sure enough, his little eyes were glistening.

Definently My Genes

I worked all day Saturday and Sunday, and when I talked to the boys on Sunday night, I told Dyl that I would bring him a treat home from work. When I got home last night I went into their bedroom to tuck them in and they gave me the update on their day. Both boys give me every detail of what they do on the days that I work, including every morsel that is consumed and specifics on time-outs-(why,where, how long, ect..) So last night Dylan was excited about his treat. He definitely is more like me when it comes to sugar. He has no self control and eats it as soon as he has it. Dawson is far more like Dave in that regard. He doesn't really have a sweet tooth, and he hoards his candy for months. He would rather count it than eat it. So last night, I broke out the candy bar while they were updating me on the day, and gave each boy a tiny little piece of the chocolate. They were giggling because Dave had told them they had to wait until the morning to have any-( I didn't know this at the time.) I told them they could share the rest in the morning and put the candy bar in the night stand. This morning I was showering from my sweat fest with Shauna, when the shower door was thrown open, and Dawson was standing there bawling. I asked him what was the matter, and he told me that Dylan had barricaded himself in their room and was eating all the chocolate. I told him to go tell Dylan to share the candy with him, and he ran off. 5 minutes later the shower door goes flying open again. This time Dawson is chewing his chocolate and bawling. "Dylan won't open the door, he just pushed a tiny bit under the door for me." I am having a hard time keeping a straight face, but I tell him to tell Dylan I want to talk to him. Just then Dylan comes into the room with chocolate all over his face, and a huge, smug, grin. Dawson was appeased when I told him he could control the chocolate next time.

Dylan

Dylan is definitely a stubborn kid. He really needs his nap, but doesn't want to take one anymore, because Dawson is growing out of them. If he doesn't get enough sleep he is up all night, and there is no reasoning with him in the night. Yesterday we went to Costco during nap time and he was very happy. He doesn't like shopping, but he hates naps. After we had gotten our haul, we got into a pretty short line. I noticed an elderly couple behind us, with just a 24 pack of Diet Coke, so I told them they could go ahead of me. The boys didn't see me talking with them, but when they maneuvered their cart in front of ours, all hell broke loose. "Mom! The are trying to cut in front of us." I know they were not innately born with a sense of injustice, so I probably ought to be better about not honking and cutting people off, ect.. Anyway I calmed them down and then the elderly man thanked the boys for letting them in front. I told him that it was fine if they went ahead of us, but they had to choose at least one kid to take with them. They laughed and asked Dawson if he wanted to go home with them. He said no right away, and kind of backed into my legs. Then Dylan says " how far away do you live?" and the old man told him that they lived very close. Dylan thought a few minutes and then nodded his head and said, "alright, I'll go with them." I have to say, I was a little tempted. I was really wishing I would have sent him about 3:00 this morning. Without his nap, he was overtired and about 3AM, Dave and I hear screaming from the boys room. This is how it went down.
Dylan screaming
Dawson- "Dyyyllllaannn, be quiet."
Dylan- "AGNOOOOORE ME" and then more grunts and yells
Dawson- "Dyyllllaaaannnnnnn wah, wah"
Dylan-" AGNOOOORE ME......
This went on about 10 minutes and then they went back to sleep. We are having naps tomorrow.

1st Day Back To School

Today is the 4th day of my diet and also the 4th day without any diet coke. Shauna-the trainer, said I could have 8 oz. of diet coke a day, but what's the point? I went to her house this morning at 6:20 and it was frickin' freazing outside. She humilitated me for an hour then sent me on my way. The amount of fruits and vegetables that I am consuming has not been kind on my stomach, so in my own sort of way, I made her miserable as well. The kids were still in bed when I got home so I sat down on the couch and read the scriptures for awhile. In church on Sunday, the teacher read a quote about if you read your scriptures in your home and with your children, then they will be respectful, obedient, yada, yada. At this point, I am willing to try anything. They were excited to be going to school this morning and as I stepped out of the shower, I could hear Dawson talking to someone on the phone. This is what I heard- "Yeah, I get to go back to school today, and it's a good thing, cause I been like a little shit this week." I was mortified. I didn't have any idea who he was talking to, and then he handed the phone to Dylan and said "Nana wants to talk to you." I was a little relieved, at least it wasn't his teacher, or someone who thinks I have a clean mouth.
We picked up Harleigh, the little girl that carpools with us and she gave us the complete rundown on her Baby Alive, including the theme song to the commercial, on the way to school. When I picked them up they were both filled with stories. Dylan was concerned because his friend Blake didn't cover his mouth when he coughed, and my little germ-a-phobe Dawson, told Dylan, "next time tell Blake that he can't come to school if he doesn't have any manners." Dawson had a great time playing with Taylee, which was good, because Taylee can make or ruin our day with her mood swings. I wish he would find a little boy friend, but whatever. Anyway, it was good to have them back on schedule.

Ouch.

Just after Emma was born, I hired a personal trainer to get back into shape. However, when I had to return to work after 3 months, my diet and workouts went to crap. I called Shauna, the personal trainer, yesterday and groveled to her to take me back again. We are going to Mexico in May, and I need to be in thong bikini and stiletto shape by then. This morning I decided to start my workouts and went to the Endurance class. Jeff is living with us until he gets hitched in April and he went with me since he is working on his SMN diet-(See Me Naked). He was telling me that when he was home he was telling my dad about his SMN diet and my dad said he was also working on his SMNFS diet-(See Me Naked From Space). Anyway he ventured with me and it was the funniest hour of torture I have ever been through. There were about 30 women in the class and Jeff was the lone male. We staked out the back row, and it was a good thing. Jeff moaned and groaned the whole time. He was the only one that made any noise. At one point we were doing these pelvic thrust thingys, where we were laying on our backs and had weights on our hips and lifting, Jeff made a horrible noise and the instructor said "Did somebody just meow back there?" It was pretty funny, but Jeff and I were the only ones laughing. Next time we are going to take my fart machine and really ruffle some feathers.

Tonight we took the boys to a freestyle motocross event. We went to our favorite Vietnamese place first and Dave was trying to get the boys to eat the cucumbers and carrots that came as garnishes with the egg rolls, instead of the egg rolls. They weren't fooled. They enjoyed the egg rolls and each polished off a bowl of Pho. The motorcycles were pretty cool for the first hour, just when I thought they were done, and should be done, they announced a 15 minute intermission. Then another hour and a half of the same 4 tricks they did in the first hour and a half. Motocross riders are pretty sexy with all their gear on, but tonight taught me that they aren't necessarily hot without the helmet. One by one they interviewed the eight different riders and when they took their helmets off the average age appeared to be 45, and can I just say-WOOF! They seriously looked like a bunch of old guys that should be chained to their computers playing Dungeons and Dragons. Dawson's favorite rider lifted his jersey up to reveal an enormous gut that he squeezed into a bagel shape around his belly button, and jiggled it to the crowd. Dawson couldn't believe the guy had "boobos". Anyway the boys had a great time and kept thanking us for taking them. It was a good night.

Happy New Year!!

I have high hopes for this new year. In addition to the usual weight loss, more workouts, la-di-da, my main focus this year will be to be a better mother. I read a great article in the Ensign December issue by President Hinkley about rearing children. I will probably need to read it everyday to stay on task, but I can do it. I have great kids, and they deserve a great mom. We had a fun New Years Eve. I had to work the 7-7 and it had snowed really hard the night before, so I had to get up at 5:15 to make it to work on time. The drive was miserable and I ended up being 10 minutes late, but it worked out alright. We were ridiculously busy, but the day went by fast and I didn't have to do any death packets so I am counting my blessings. I have had a few rough shifts with a couple of unexpected deaths and 3 codes in my last 2 shifts. A few of the other nurses have been teasing me and telling me I smell like death, but what goes around..... Anyway, I ran my butt off and wasn't looking forward to partying to much. The roads were good on my way home, and when I got there the party was jumping. The kids were running around, and climbing the walls like they were on a meth high. My sister-in-laws were letting it rip on the karaoke machine and the guys were watching football. I felt like I had hit the wall when I sat down to eat, but Dave did a little Eminem Karaoke and started me going. I followed his number with an edited version (for the kid's sake), of Gold Digger. Dawson and Dylan loved doing Karaoke and performed Dawson's favorite song, You Want to Make a Memory. It was so cute, he sang it very soulfully. Dylan sang, Fall in the Ocean, with Dawson as back up and they had a great time. We broke out Guitar Hero and had dueling guitars for the rest of the party. We gave up about 11:30 and everyone went home. I was so glad to fall into bed, and was nearly asleep when our neighbors came out with their pots and pans and started banging and yelling Happy New Year's. I was pissed, but it was midnight, so whatever. At 12:25 they were still banging and screaming and I was swearing up a storm and hitting my pillow. I wanted to go over there and do terrible things with their pots and pans, but Dave kept hold of me until they finally stopped.

Happy New Year!!!!