Un-Fortune-ately

I was beginning to think that I was the least lucky person in the world. I never win anything. So when Tyson and I ordered Chinese a couple of weeks ago, my fear was confirmed. I looked at the three fortune cookies, studied them, and picked the one that was calling to me. I quickly cracked it open, and there it was, nothing. Seriously. Who gets a fortune cookie that has no fortune? Only me, the one person who apparently has no fortune. It was a mere confirmation of what I had already suspected. I'm unlucky.

So, now imagine my surprise when I began winning. I should rephrase that. I'm used to winning when it's a sport or something that I have some control over. It's the random drawing and such that I've never in my entire life won. Never. Then, in the past week, I won two drawings. One had 219 entries, the other 85. I was luckier than 302 people. Now don't get all excited. I won a Spongebob DVD set in the first, and a set of Pokemon cards in the second, but still, I WON. Yea me! (I do watch too much Suite Life...) But anyway, I'm no longer the least lucky person in the world....so pass me a fortune cookie, please.

Thankschristgivingmas

[rant on]Am I the only one who feels that every year Thanksgiving is becoming more a part of Christmas and less it's own holiday. I suppose we wouldn't want to stop and be thankful for what we have when we have less than a month to complete our want list. Seriously! I'm not opposed to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, or even decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving, but the stores go straight from Halloween to Christmas, with only a Black Friday to remind them that there was another holiday somewhere in between. It's not that I don't shop for Christmas before Thanksgiving, because truthfully I try to have most of my shopping done before Halloween. But no one seems to take the time for gratitude anymore. It feels like the kids are learning to go from the "trick-or-treat, give me candy" holiday to the "I want, give me" holiday with no thanks in the middle. What's a mom to do? [rant off]

We did have a good Thanksgiving this year. I spent the morning making rolls, and then we headed over to Tyson's mom's house for dinner. Everything was delicious! Afterward, we went to my sister Lisa's house for pie and to see my family. It was a great day; even the bulimic toddler couldn't ruin it for us!

The next day was decorating day. My mom and I both got our wishes that day. She wished to have kids to help her decorate, and I wished that my kids were gone while I decorated. Poof! Granted! McKayla bossed Tanner around all day at Grandma's house, and Tanner did a fabulous job hanging ornaments on Grandma's tree.



I did save our tree for the kids to decorate, and we had a great time.

Seriously, Tanner, the Y?

Who can resist a rivalry like Utah/BYU? My parents did their parently duty and raised me to be a BYU fan. Then, when it came down to choosing a college to attend, and after deciding to stay in-state, my choice was easy. Utah was the only school to offer a physical therapy degree. They weren't offering as good a scholarship as some of the others, but it did pay for all my tuition, books, and fees. Sure, I could have done my undergrad at any school, but I figured that to transfer credits and prerequisites would be a hassle. If I had to finish at the U, I might as well start there, right? So I got my undergraduate degree and graduate degree all from the U. Somewhere in the midst of it all, I converted. Actually it was the first day of classes.

So, here I stand, a U fan among Y fans in my family. My dad told me when I was choosing colleges that he'd pay for my school anywhere but the U, and he's a U alumnus. So, I shouldn't be surprised that my oldest son is also defiantly choosing his own path, right? I did all I could, but in the end, Tanner's got to make his own choices - even if it means rooting for the Y. I guess he does look cuter in blue than red. Good call, buddy.

Gives a whole new meaning to sibling rivarly:


Here's the real culprit: Aunt Jamie. She provided the shirt to fuel the fire. At least McKayla's got it right.

Kids are Worse than High School...

.....on your self-esteem. Each of my children have taken a shot at me in the past week. Yes, even sweet little 2-year-old Tayler.

McKayla: She overheard me complaining to Tyson about needing to lose several pounds. She piped up with "No, Mom, you should just stay big. When you get old you'll lose your appetite and then you can be skinny." Whatever happened to the "No, Mom, you're great just the way you are?" At least she was talking about old as if it were in the future!

Tanner: First thing in the morning, while getting him ready for school, "Mom, did you sleep with Frodo [our dog] last night?" "No, why?" "Because your breath smells like him." Thanks bud! I'll never get you dressed without brushing first again.

Tayler: I had just done my hair and pulled my bangs back for the day. Tayler saw me and asked, "Mommy pretty?" Finally a kid that wants to build me! So I said, "Thanks Tay. You think Mommy's pretty?" "No." Then I realized he was asking if I had tried to get pretty. I guess I failed.

Aren't all kids, at least as young as mine, supposed to think that their mom is the best, most perfect, prettiest person alive? My kids missed that class. I hear it gets worse when they're teenagers. I can only imagine....better start my counseling fund now.

Busy Kids

Things have been pretty crazy around here the past month or so. The kids have kept us going non-stop with their projects and events. Here's some of the most notable activities of the past month:

• McKayla the Philanthropist. About a month ago she decided to collect money and buy toys to send with my mom on her recent trip to China. These children are generally very poor and don't have things to play with, so McKayla focused a lot of time and energy on her project. She (meaning her and me) made a flier and took it to each house in our neighborhood. She then went door to door a couple of days later to collect the money. In all she raised $204.30 and was able to send a lot of toys and make a lot of kids happy. Nice job, Kayla!

• Tanner the Artist. We spent one evening at the reflections award ceremony for Tanner's school. He received a trophy for his painting and the piece goes on to district for judging. Congrats Tanman!

• 

• McKayla the Rider. McKayla participated in a horse show last month at the barn she takes lessons at. She rode three rounds and received a ribbon in each round - 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. Yea, Kayla! The boys also had a chance for a pony ride.
  

• Tanner the Sickly. OK, not really. But he did have a horrible cough on and off for months, so when I finally decided to take him in, he was diagnosed with asthma. Looking back, it's been there for a long time, I just didn't want to connect the symptoms. Now that he's on a controlling inhaler and has an emergency one also, he's a different kid. I know, I know, why would I be happy that he has more energy? I'm not. But I am happy to see color in his little cheeks again!

• McKayla the Netter. Our first season of basketball. I cringe when she ducks and cowers as the ball is passed to her. I think Grandpa Joe does too, because thanks to him, the kids have a new basketball hoop to practice on. She's improving quickly. Her highlight was a trip to a Jazz game with her team. So far, no wins with a couple of games to go, but she's scoring points now and is very much improved.

Do you want to go to Juvy?

The kids (once again mostly Tanner) have been full of funnies lately.

• Tanner randomly asked Tayler when he was being disobedient, "Do you want to go to Juvy?" Seriously. I asked him what juvy was, and he looked at me like an idiot and informed me it's kid jail. OK, so he's using the reference correctly. Should I be proud of or concerned about my 6 year old?

• Tayler has been potty-training (his choice, not mine) and was so excited to see his poop in the toilet. "Look Mommy, poop fishies." Yeah, it was floating. We're very high class around here.

• Tanner was watching Tyson photoshop the last wedding he shot, and we asked him if the little girl in the picture was cute.

"No."
"So she's not your type?"
"Nope."
"So, what is your type?"
"More like Wii, Gameboy, and Xbox."

I can see him playing video games day in and day out at age 30 while living with me. Nice!

• I was trying to help Tanner realize his potential and was telling him he could do anything he set his mind to. He responded, "So if I set my mind to jumping on your head, I could do it. One day I'm going to jump on your head cuz my mind is set." We encourage lofty goals around here.
  

True Confessions

1 - I attended a political protest rally. Yes, I am one of those now. I even took my 2-year-old to join in the festivities. It was cool to be at the state capitol, exercising first amendment rights. Truthfully, though, I stayed way back, out of the news camera range. It was a cause I believe in, but I mostly went to support some good friends.

2 - I already have tickets to Twilight opening night at midnight, and I'm excited, even if it ends up sucking. I'm a geek. It doesn't take much to excite me.

3 - I bought the David Archuleta cd. He's just so cute, in an I'm-almost-old-enough-to-be-his-mother sort of way. Once again, I'm a geek. I'm fully aware of this.

4 - I still attract weirdos. I thought it would end when I was married and no longer "out there." Now I don't attract them to ask me out and stalk me, I just attract them to converse with me. Take, for example, my experience last week. I'm out to lunch with a friend, minding my own business. It comes time to get shoes on kids and leave (yes, it was fast food once again. Perhaps my choice of dining locations is partially to blame for the weirdos), and Tayler isn't so sure he wants to put on his shoes. As I put them on him, he's gently pushing my stomach, making his point. A random man runs over, grabs Tayler's hands, and starts sternly warning him not to hit his mother. Looking back, I should have told him to keep his hands off my child and left. He had less right to touch Tayler than Tayler had to touch me. But at the time, I was caught a little off-guard by the situation and just hurried faster to get the shoes on and leave. In the meantime, I was lectured about teaching children respect and the fact that all boys should be Scouts or they should be shot. Like I said, weirdo. Things like this happen to me on a regular basis. Am I the only one these things happen to? Do I look like I'm nice and want to talk? Because seriously, I'm not nice. I'm grumpy. And I really don't want to talk to you weirdos.

5 - I took Tayler out to run errands in his PJ's in the middle of the day. It gets better. He also was wearing unmatched shoes and I was completely aware of this when we left the house. He's going through a phase that he will only wear pajamas. I dress him, and two minutes later he's changed into pj's. I change him again, and the cycle repeats. I was tired of the fight. Same with the shoes. He lost one of his favorite Thomas the Tank Engine shoes, but he insisted on wearing the one remaining, so I gave in. At least he had on two shoes, right? Poor kid is definitely a third child.

On a More Serious Note

This election got me very interested in government. Not that I wasn't interested before, I just needed a refresher on the roots and foundation of our country. So I reread the Constitution and some thoughts of the founding fathers. I must say that instead of giving me hope, it was a little disheartening to see our country going in a direction that was warned against by those who founded it.

First, the thought that struck me first in reading the Constitution that had never stood out before was that it seems to be written as more of a protection for the people than a direction for a country. I was very taken by the lack of what the government can do and the excess of what it may not do. It seems that the founders of our country were determined to provide a protection for the people from the government. It seems today that our government (and a lot of the people for that matter) feels it is its responsibility to provide for and take care of the people. That does not appear to be the original intent. The intent was a country that was free from the interference of government in their day to day existence.

The second, most disconcerting, point that struck me was in the description of our nation by the founding fathers. Maybe it's just me, but do some of these quotes send cold chills up and down your spine?

John Adams: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

James Madison: "To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea."

Benjamin Franklin: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.

George Washington:

1- "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens....And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education...reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

2- "Towards the preservation of your government...it is requisite...that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown."

In this day and age, the mention of God in government is nearly forbidden, but in the days of our founding, those who directed and established this country mentioned the Divine guidance that they received throughout the Revolution and the drafting of the Constitution. I could not find one piece of work from those original "politicians" (I hate that word. It doesn't seem to describe the great men of that time.) that denied the power of God in the establishment of our country.

Hopefully, we can return to the greatness of our nation, but I'm afraid that the path has already gone a different direction. We are becoming less religious, less virtuous, and less moral each day. I can only hope that our nation as a whole can learn from the greatness of the past and regain that decency that seems to be lost.

Happy Halloween

Halloween this year has seriously been weeks long around here. Or maybe it's only seemed like it. It started a while back with a church "fall festival" thing. I count it as Halloween. The kids had fun with the face-painting and other carnival-like games.

Next came a Mother-Daughter costume party for Activity Days girls, which, or course, I'm in charge of. I hate dressing up. That part wasn't my idea. We did a dinner with an "icky" menu like tapeworms and goblin mucous along with bat droppings and toe scabs. Everyone just had to order and get whatever they happened to choose. That part was fun. We had Tyson come and do posed pictures of all the girls with their moms, and that was also fun. The planning, set up and clean up, not so fun. Here's me and Kayla. I really go all out with costumes, as you'll notice. It was quite a stretch.

Next was the annual Halloween carnival for McKayla's school. It is seriously packed with people. I remember it being fun last year. This year, I was already telling the kids before we got inside that if Tyson hadn't decided to leave work and meet us there, we would be turning around. I was done before we started! It's a costume carnival, so the kids at least got to use there costumes more than once. Seriously, though, it's way too crowded. Not my favorite. I wonder why I remember it being so much fun. Oh, that's right, I didn't have a two year old last year :)

And finally, Halloween. We started with a breakfast of "pumpkin" pancakes.

We had dinner at Nana's house early before trick-or-treating and then rushed home for the main event. Tyson took the kids out while I stayed home and handed out the candy. You can't beat the 60 degree weather during trick-or-treating. Here's some pics of the real thing:

McKayla as Hannah Montana

Tanner as Indian Jones

Tayler as, well, a cowboy on a chicken

McKayla's, I mean Hannah's, nails:

Tayler and his future bride:

Grandpa as Hannah Montana (ooh, scary!) I warned him that if he put it on, I was taking a picture. I don't know if he knew it would end up here, though.

The pumpkins

Be Careful Where You Trick or Treat

I try to avoid politics here, but when my SIL Summer sent this to me, I thought it was too good to not share on this election Halloween.

My 4-4-4,

So, this is supposed to be an easy tag. You are supposed to go to your 4th file on your computer, post the 4th picture in that file, and then tag 4 people. Easy for some. Those people aren't married to photographers. Those people don't have a husband who has more hard drives than they can count, as well as multiple computers they use on a regular basis. So, I chose a computer, then I went through each hard drive and got the 4th file, 4th picture. And now, I present, my gallery of random pictures.....


And there you go. Not sure how the Kinikini family made the 4th position in everything, but I'm sure it's because of Marlene's love of attention. For this fun adventure, I tag Lisa, Summer, Marlene, and Jamie (you can just post yours on Facebook, right?) Hopefully your computers are a little less spread out in their storage and you can post only one picture, which is actually the goal!

There is Good With the Bad

Too often I think I forget to share the good things Tanner does. This is one the several notes and emails I've gotten since "the incident" from his teacher praising his behavior. Maybe I'm not completely failing after all!

I do love his teacher! The other day, Tanner brought home a reading test that was scored 100%. They all have been, but I thought I'd ask him who was scoring them. So I asked if he'd read it to his teacher or to a mom. He looked at me like I was crazy and told me that he didn't have time to read it to anyone because he was too busy testing the other students. Apparently, he's the one scoring them! I guess that earns 100%, right?

At One with Nature

The kids and I decided that we needed some fun this Fall Break (if you ask me, the kids get too many breaks, but no one asks me) so yesterday we did Lagoon Frightmares, and today we headed up into the mountains for breakfast and a hike. Or maybe it was brunch, since I was in no way going to drag myself out of bed early to go freeze before the sun came up. Either way, we cooked some eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon on the camp stove and then took off on a little hike. I was surprised how well the kids did. I'm more of a two-parents-for-activities kind of person, so I get a little nervous trying things on my own, but it was actually great. It helped that McKayla is old enough to watch the boys while I cooked. She loves to be put in charge of the boys. I can't say they love it. (Last night I had to leave her for 20 minutes while I was a couple of houses away. Before I left she made me write a list of appropriate punishments for the boys, and when I got home she had a list of what she had used and for which offenses they were used. I know, I know - she's me. I can see the comments already:)) But anyway, it ended up being one of my best days in a long time, completely focused on the kids and being outdoors. Even Tayler was a great little hiker. I think he complained less than the other two.