eventful weekend

Friday, we went to take a ride on Thomas the train.  It was part of Trey's birthday.  His birthday isn't until June 7th, but Thomas is only in town memorial day weekend.  So his party was a little early.  Since riding on Thomas is really expensive (at least to me)  I told him he could pick two friends as long as one of them was his brother.  He picked Waylon for his other friend.  The boys thought it was great!

They each picked their favorite train to stand by for this photo.  It cracks me up that Trey's favorite train is Rosie.

after riding the train and seeing all the other adventures in the land of Sodor, we headed over to the Dairy Keen in Heber City.  It was really fun they have tables set up like trains for the little ones.  They also had such a fancy drink selection my boys were in heaven.  They chose peach sprite and raspberry sprite.

I also surprised my kids with a trip to St. George. I woke them up at 6 a.m and told them to get in the car.  When they discovered we were going to St George and staying in the Hurricane house they were so excited.

 We went to sand hollow and played.  It was really windy but the kids still loved it.

PJ was a little afraid of the water which made me happy.  I was concerned before we got there about him being too brave.

My kids also enjoyed taking advantage of their own private movie theater, located in the home we stayed in.  I have to say I enjoyed it too.  It is kind of funny that when we go on vacation to st George we stay in a bigger, fancier home than we live in every day.  However, I think that is half the fun for my kids.

Also, on the way home we stopped to eat lunch.  It was Carlene and Kyle and I with 6 kids.  Landan couldn't come with us because of work.  Well, our waitress totally thought we were a polygamist family.  She kept making strange comments and then my favorite one of the day " I can't imagine what it is like for you two women to fix dinner for this crew every night"

good times were had by all.  My kids were not happy campers this morning when I informed them that the fun is over and I made them do their jobs and summer school work.

tre cheers for Trey

The awesome Trey did it! He graduated from preschool.  I was so proud of him and the progress he had made over the last two years. 

When we arrived at graduation Miss Stacy told me that Trey was going to welcome everyone at the beginning of the program.  I was beyond shocked.  This is little timid, shy, Trey who wouldn't go to preschool without crying for the first few months.  I worried that he wouldn't really do it.  To my surprise he did! I could tell he was scared and he needed a little coaxing from Miss Stacy but he did say " Welcome to the VIP preschool program and graduation"

seven cousins/second cousins that were all VIP pre schoolers.

 Miss Stacy and Trey.  When he found out She wouldn't be his kindergarten teacher he said " maybe I don't want to go to kindergarten after all."

Trey's mom is very proud  of him

cheesing it before the program started.

PJ insisted on dressing up like Trey.  He never wants to be left out



   Grandma Carla and her four graduates.

After the summer I will have a 3rd grader a kindergartner and a preschooler.  They are getting so old

I love my kids(celebrate childhood)

 

So today I was thinking how much I love my kids.  Despite all of their naughtiness, I find them to be quite delightful.  I really do wish they would fight less (a lot less) but in moments like this when they all get along it is priceless.



Today, before church, we were already to go except for one little detail.  We could not find one pair of shoes for Trey.  Not One!  not even gym shoes or sandals or flipflops.  After about an hour of searching we did find one pair of shoes that would work for Trey.  We put them on and left for church.  However, the shoes we found were not even Trey's.  They were cousin Waylons's lost shoes.  Moral of the story is.......

 if you can't find your church shoes at least match your tie with your shoes.

Trey is such a joy.  He makes me laugh every day.  His latest thing is brushing his teeth multiple times a day so his gums stay protected from "gingerbitis"  He loves to sing, dance, tumble, read, spell and use big words.

 So onto PJ. as pictured above shows, PJ insists on dressing himself.  He has much enthusiasm for life.. some (like myself) might say too much.. He does absolutely everything I tell him not to do.  He spends a lot of time in time out in which time he figured out how to unlock his door and escape.  I don't love the fact that he recently peed in the jockey box of my car.. but I do love the fact that he wants to help his daddy fix his car and bike, lawn mower etc.. and help me load the dishwasher and cook dinner.  Might as well put all of that energy to good use.

And then there is Addie.. I don't love when she is "Addie Attitude" or for  short Additude but I do love how she is all things girly. I enjoy going places with her.  She is a good companion one on one.  She loves to write notes of appreciation to me and her grandmas and teachers.  I also love how at age 8 she still calls the lawn mower a "mowlawner"

I think we should all celebrate our kids for the qualities that make them, well, them. We should think they are stinking cute and adorable and it is ok to say so..  it doesn't mean  I condone  their bad behaviors but  instead celebrating their childhood, which go by much quicker than we think.  Enjoy each moment.. well... at least try.

girl time and pageant

Addie and I attended a mother daughter dinner last week.  We dined on pasta and bread sticks and then painted each other's nails.

 Addie and her friend with a fresh coat of paint on their toes.

 The Miss Santaquin pageant was last weekend.  PJ fell in love with Lauren Burton- current miss Utah county and one of the MC's for that night.

 Idid the choreography for Miss Santaquin.  They were a great group of girls to work with..

It was a good time as always. 

huh?

so I listened to a podcast today of transracial adoption.  Everything I ever read or hear about transracial adoption errs on the side of negative.  This topic was about how we cannot be "color blind" and we do need to raise our children differently than we would if we had our own biological children.
I am addressing color blind first.  What is the speakers definition of color blind?  Of course we can't pretend that our children are the same color as us. Duh!   However, by drawing attention to that fact and telling kids to expect to be treated differently is insane to me.  That is keeping racism and prejudices alive.  Yes, our children might experience incidents of racism but by telling them to plan on it,  aren't you creating racism in their minds? As well as inadvertently suggesting that they themselves are not good enough. lesser than individuals because they are adopted transracially?  Shouldn't we be promoting how much these parents wanted them?  If and when the incidents occur, address the issues then.  I don't believe in being Naive but I don't believe in helping to create a problem either.  Every person I have heard on radio and TV that were supposedly raised transracially always have a sob story.  But I personally, have spoken to black teenagers and adults who feel lucky to have been adopted.  Why are their stories never told publicly?
which brings me to my next issue.  Why does no one bring up where these children would be if they weren't adopted?  Is being raised in foster care or by a mother that is 13, 14, 15 or 16  and does not have the proper education or maturity or most likely finances  to parent really considered better than being adopted by parents of another race who love these children dearly and most cases waited years to get the opportunity to be parents?  It was stated that now 40% of adoptions are transracial.  I would think with statistics like that things should be bound to get better.  It isn't so odd to have parents of  a different race.
Now as far as raising these children differently than we would our biological children.. may I ask why?  When they are adopted they are legally our children.  When they are adopted as infants they don't know or understand another culture.  Why should we create a culture different than ours?  When someone of German descent adopts  a child of Irish descent no one suggests that they must start doing Irish jigs in their home to make than child feel more comfortable.  Why don't we let these children determine for themselves who and what they want to be?  Teach them with love.  Teach them to be honest, hard working, caring individuals.  Yes, we will make mistakes. our kids might hate us at times but guess what? biological parents have struggles with their kids too.  Did we forget that?  That is why no one says parenting is easy.. adopted, adopted transracially or biological no one can make the calls of how your children will turn out.  Let's not assume we can.

eyes

 so my eye has looked like this for the last couple of days. It just always looks half shut and swollen.  Landan swears that it looks normal and that I am imagining it.  However, other people have noticed it. Maybe his Lasik surgery didn't work as well as we thought.

 I ran the torch run yesterday.  It rained on us the whole time. I had to take two scalding hot baths last night before I felt warm again.  I ran with the Santaquin, Payson, and Salem police departments and finished my run is Spanish Fork.  It was 14 miles.  I was happy to have made it that far because I had been sick in weeks earlier and felt like I got really out of good running shape.

The torch run is probably my favorite special Olympics event.

After part of Trey's blanky came completely off, he has finally decided to let Grandma Carla make him a new one.  I hope he will actually accept a new bbf (best blanky forever)  because he has loved this one soooo much. 

Trey came in the door from pre school singing "Just the way you are" by Bruno Mars. It was so cute I had to record him. Unfortunately he is way more shy when the camera is on. It is still cute.

mom stuff

For Mother's day this year, we went to the zoo.  For the first time, all three kids enjoyed it.  PJ loved seeing all of the animals.  For real Mother's day it has been quite uneventful so far.... Landan went to work at 6 something this morning.  My kids have been their typical selves.  We went to church.  I did get a giant size peanut butter cup.

 on the train.  The only picture we have of the whole family

 the 4 kids.  Only three of them are mine.  The smallest in the bunch is nephew Chad.  He and his mom, Kelly came with us.

 PJ loves the elephants the most

The giraffes are always one of my favorites.
One of the many reasons I like being a mom is because kids are so funny.  I love hearing how they view the world.
funny sayings this week from my kids.


1.  Addie's mother's day card:  I always want to help you.  When I don't help you it is not because I don't want to, it is because I don't feel like it.
2.  Me to Trey:  Don't you know it hurts my feelings when you and PJ fight?  Trey to me: We have a problem I want to better your feelings but I want PJ's to feel bad.
3.  Me to Trey:  Why do we have mother's day? Trey to me: because it isn't father's day. Is Daddy a dad or a boy?

pot stirring

Just one of the many crappy posts I will be writing in the next several months.  For those who are unaware this is about the controversy going on with the new Santaquin Sewer.. and how the town is acting like getting the new sewer is the worst thing ever because most of them have been misinformed about the subject from a small group of men who are finding joy in trying to ruin the reputation of good people.  For these men(and their wives) it isn't really even about the sewer.  It is about their egos and in their minds winning.  The main man behind it even told my dad he would ruin his life if he ran for Mayor.  Honestly, why are people listening to him?



We all know pot stirrers.  These people love to make others miserable.  My psychology answer says that they are unhappy people and since we all know misery loves company, they are dragging others down in the crap with them. However, even knowing that, I am  amazed at how many people get plopped into the crap being dumped in the pot.  What happened to giving people the benefit of the doubt? or doing research to get facts before forming an opinion?  Just because your neighbor is nice and maybe is the primary president does not make her a reliable source.  Maybe one should be so bold as to ask where they got their information?  did  they attend meetings on the matter? Did they read articles written in the paper?  Did they look at statistics? Did they talk to someone in charge of the project?  We elect city officials to make decisions on our behalf.  The reason we do this is because the average citizen in not knowledgeable enough to know what is best for his/her community.  So why are so many challenging their leaders they have voted in?  Is it because they listened to the pot stirrers, thus joining them and causing a major clog. We we all know what can happen when there is a major clog. Things start to erupt and spew.  This town has erupted and spewed with anger and contention. People are lashing out in anger and hating those who were once good friends.   I wish people would stop to think about their actions.  Should an issue be making them this angry?  Could it be that maybe the stuff they have heard is a bunch of crap?  maybe it is time to take action and start cleaning out the pot.  Every little effort will help.  With each person who steps forward and is willing to get the facts for themselves from the proper sources the pot will get a little clearer.  Pretty soon we might be able to flush away all of the negativity and once again become good neighbors and friends.