It's kind of hard to feel like you have anything exciting to say after you've blogged about such exciting things as jungle zip lines, surfing and deep sea fishing. But I thought I'd make an attempt at SOMETHING. But beware this may be kind of gross and a tad bit on the mundane side.
Wednesday was the day that we planned on going to my sister, Dana's house for Thanksgiving. Tuesday night was the night when my children started puking. Last time we tried to go to Vancouver (only a month ago!) they did the same. Do you think there's some sort of conspiracy here? Luckily, it turned out to be a very short lived illness and by Wednesday afternoon we decided that we were well enough to hit the road. But first we had to hit McDonald's because we were hungry. And to be sure that Carson would have plenty of food in his stomach to hurl in the back of the car as soon as we were stuck in Portland traffic. Aahhh, good times. Good times. But those McDonald's cups did come in handy at that blessed moment of upchucking. He and Daniel happened to be sitting in the third seat of our car, which is approximately 3 miles from where I was sitting in the front seat. So I could do nothing except pass cups, napkins and water bottles to our nurse, er, Daniel. I bet when he decided to come to America he didn't envision holding McDonald's cups for a puking child, did he? But he was great and luckily he isn't a sympathetic puker. That could have been bad. After it was all over, he put the lid on and passed the cups up front. Eeeew! Something about the warmth of those cups still haunts me.
End of story. You can all breathe a sigh of relief now. You survived the gross. Now it's time for the mundane.
You know how you sometimes write about the funny things your kids do? Well, I'm gonna do that now. Except it's about my husband. (Hi honey! Please don't kill me.)
So I got a little behind on the laundry and Chris found himself with no -uhem- underclothes to wear yesterday. So we gathered up some laundry and put it in the washer. But we decided not to start it yet because we were all trying to shower for church. Later on, he put the clothes in the dryer and then took what he needed to wear when they were done. Last night we decided to fold our Everest of Laundry, and when we were almost done I noticed a sock with a little bit of food stuck to the bottom of it. So I started to inspect all the other clothes and guess what...We had just folded a bunch of clothes that had been dried, but not washed. Doh!
Another fine example of the craziness that takes place behind these four walls. Sometimes I wonder why God thought I could handle three kids.

Toilet Paper Graffiti

As our friends prepare to move to Portland they have been going through their things and doing what every American does before they move...They get rid of everything! And so because their house is only a block away and Keaton and Carson consider it their second home, they have run home begging me to buy various things. Last week things got really ugly around here when they decided they REALLY wanted one of their hamsters. The funny thing is, they never really wanted one until that day, and then all of a sudden, they wanted it BAD! The dinner conversation was a pretty heated discussion:

Me-- "Hamsters are for kids whose parents won't let them have a dog."

Them--"No, they're not!"

Me-- "You don't take care of the dog you have."

Them--"Yes, we do!"

Me-- "Hamsters stink."

Them--"No, they don't!"

And so it went. On and on and on and on. Voices were raised. Tears were shed. Doors were slammed. And signs were hung. Wait. Huh?

Allow me to explain. When Keaton was in second or third grade, they stopped having a salad bar at school. This occurred at a time when the kids happened to be learning about health and nutrition. They were outraged that such a terrible decision was made without their consent. So they did the only thing they knew how to do. They made signs and hung them all over the school. "BRING BACK THE SALAD BAR!" was pasted on every classroom door and everywhere in between. And guess what...It worked.

So when Keaton REALLY wanted something and he didn't know what else to do to get his way, he drew upon that earlier experience. Never mind that he can't spell hamster. This is genius!

On my bedroom door

In the front entry

On the ceiling above my bed.

On my bathroom door

Yes, this IS the back of the toilet seat. This is getting a bit personal.

And my personal favorite...On the toilet paper.

Each and every square.

And, oh yeah, he still lost.

Frank discussions

*WARNING---We try to be very open with our children about human anatomy, which sometimes ends up with very funny results. If you are offended by this kind of talk, please stop reading here. Because I just HAVE to record this story so that I can remember it. It would be a shame to not be able to relate this to future boyfriends.

The other day, my mom, Jantzen and I were sitting in the living room reading a book that mom had brought to share with the kids. This book was given to her as a gift a couple of years ago, and she had never actually read it. But it was about animals, and so she thought it would be fun for the kids. Apparently, it was given as a joke because it only took a few pages for mom to realize it was all about animal sexuality. And the word "penis" slipped out. Jantzen repeated the word a couple of times, and then the conversation went like this:
Me: Jantzen, do you know what a penis is?
Jantzen: Yeah, it's our balls.
Me: Well, not exactly, but it's a boy's private part. Girls don't have a penis.
Jantzen: Then what do I have?
Me: (regretting I ever started this conversation) You have a vagina. (My most unfavorite word EVER!)
Jantzen: A vagina? I love that word! Vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina! (Then to the tune of some unknown song) Vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina! (Then her tongue gets twisted and it starts to sound different) Bagima bagima bagima bagima bagima bagima
Mom (trying anything to make her stop): Ooh, that sounds like pajama! Pajama pajama pajama
Jantzen: No it doesn't! Bagima bagima bagima bagima!
Me: Aunt Jemima! Aunt Jemima! Aunt Jemima!
Jantzen: Bagima bagima bagima.

Wow, that girl just can't be deterred.