Whacky Hair Day

Here they are--all whacky. You know how there's always a slight fear that you're doing your hair whacky and you get to school only to realize that it's not really whacky hair day? Well, that didn't happen. But. . .we were talking about that as we were getting Lauren ready that morning and it didn't surprise me at all when she said, "I don't care. I love this hair. I want it like this everyday."

I'm really in for it with this child.

And now for my "human" experience this week

I got a call from the school on Wed. letting me know that Lauren had been checked, along with all the other kids in her class, and she was one of 5 in her classroom who had lice nits. So, they checked Emma and decided she might have some too. So, Wed. night was filled with lots of shampoo treatments and combing with that little comb. Then it was the changing of all the bedding and pillows and stuffed animals, etc. It took the entire evening and most of the next day to do all the laundry and vacuuming and stuff. Eeuuwww! Luckily, the rest of us seem to be free and really, Emma didn't even have much, if any.
But the funny thing was the way Maddie freaked and got Ellie to freak with her. Upon returning home and hearing the news she immediately grabbed a shopping bag and tied it around her head and got Ellie to do the same. Then they locked themselves in the bathroom for about an hour. Do I have drama princesses or what? I was lucky enough to get Maddie to pose for this shot. So here she is. . .lice free.

Sorry it's blurry. I accidently deleted the good shot. Now, picture Ellie done up just like this. I didn't get a photo of her. She wasn't handy when I had the camera out and I was a little busy with other things that day.

Okay, it's a fish

I guess it wasn't really all that hard. But here is the story as told by my sister-in-law, Christina.

When talking about the strangest things found when moving furniture to clean, I win. I found a dead gourami stuck to the wall where our fish tank used to be. He must have made a jump for freedom and gotten stuck to the wall on his way to the ocean. Stupid fish. I don't know how long he was there. But he was pretty dry. It was gross. The boys thought it was great. We took pictures.

This isn't the first fish we found outside the tank. But he certainly is the last. Ha Ha. I crack myself up.

There was a time when we were finding them outside on a semi regular basis. So he could have gone missing then. They were also being eaten by other fish (mean little cannibals) so we weren't ever very surprised when they just disappeared on us.

He was bent up like a J. That's why it looks a little distorted. E had the privilege of pulling him off the wall. Hygienic conscious L provided him with a latex glove so he wouldn't get any death germs on him.

I just love it when weird and slightly gross things like this happen. It makes me feel like I'm normal and reminds me that we are all so human. It's great.

Take a guess as to what this is. . .

For those of you who know, no fair spoiling the fun. It comes with a great story that I will share if I get permission. I laughed so hard that I just had to share the moment.

Ellie and Jaq

Ellie and her friend Jaq went to the Nut Tree in Vacaville last week. They always have fun together and it doesn't hurt that Jaq's mom is one of my best friends too, so a great time is had by all. Thanks for being great friends. We will really miss you.

Happy Easter

The kids had another great time at the ward easter egg hunt/breakfast. It's always a fun activity.

Spring Break Golfing

One thing we like about Sacramento is that there are tons of miniature golf places here. We went to SunSplash this time. My kids seem to like this activity. We don't keep score and everyone is very forgiving when it comes to skill. So, even though not a one is very good, they just have fun. The disappointment always occurs when they find out that we're not doing lazer tag and they are still too short for the go carts (or goat carts as Emma has always called them).

Emma's Science Fair

Congratulations to Emma! She won 2nd place for 5th grade at her school science fair. Her project was about how household products kill bacteria. You'll be happy to know that her findings showed that all of the household products that claimed to kill bacteria, that she tested, really did kill bacteria.

My Birthday in Chicago

Thank you to all Birthday well-wishers. I got cards and texts and emails. More than I remember getting in many a birthday. Thank you so much. It's nice to be remembered on my first 39th birthday.
Thanks to Mom and Dad who came for a visit and watched the kids I was able to go to Chicago for my birthday. It was pretty great. I flew into town and Richard picked me up. We spent the day walking around Chicago, seeing the sights and getting a feel for the city. This included going to the top of the Sears Tower which is a very similar experience to going to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle. I never really know quite what to do when I get up there. You look down, say, "Wow" and then what? Next time I do something like that I'm taking a lunch so I have something to do up there. But, now I can say I've done it. WooHoo for me. :)
We stayed at the Hampton Inn downtown so we headed back to get ready for the show, but I decided not to change or anything. I took a little nap instead. Then we walked over to the Ford Theater to see Wicked. I'm not sure I can express my feelings about this show. I'd been wanting to see it for years. I've been listening to the music, I've read the book, I've watched nearly everyone I know go and see it, and the anticipation did not spoil one bit of it. The Lord has blessed me many times in my life and this was no exception. Richard got the best seats in the house (7 rows back and dead center) and the seat in front of me was empty!!! I felt like I could have watched it for 10 hours straight and never tired. Throughout the show I would have an onset of tears of pure joy and happiness. At the end I just stood there having a *Space Mountain Moment x 20. I loved it so much that I couldn't stop the tears. They were just dripping off my chin. I wasn't even wearing water-proof mascara, so I had to sit and compose myself afterward. I looked a mess, but I was so exhilarated that I didn't care much. (Oh, who am I kidding, I don't usually anyway.)
The next day, we drove into Naperville and looked for homes. There are plenty to choose from, but we didn't make any decisions. Richard will probably end up finding something on his own like he usually does. He has a pretty good idea of what is important to me, so I think he'll do a good job.
Then, back to his place for my big birthday gift. This is the gift he has been talking up for weeks. He has been so excited to give me this gift. He told my friends what it was and none of them would tell me. It's had quite a build up and he assured me that it would not disappoint. So what was this incredible, purely satisfying, worth-the-wait gift? Drum roll please. . . . . . . . . . a towel warmer. Yes, that's right. I will never again have to get out of the shower to a room temperature towel. Everyday it feels like it's hot right out of the dryer. This is, for sure, the most frivolous gift I have ever received. I didn't even know there was such a thing, but Richard knows how comforts like this make me so happy. He truly tries to think of ME when buying gifts. He's really good that way. Thank you, Hon.

*A Space Mountain Moment refers to the time I went to Disneyland and they had a special feature of the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing in the ride and a cool light show going on inside. I was the only one who would go on the ride and the thrill of it was so intense that I cried tears of happiness and excitement all by myself throughout the ride. ie. a feeling of succumbing to one's emotions without the ability to control oneself.

What Does Your PB&J Say About You?

What Your Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich Means

Your eating style is gluttonous. If you like something, you're going back for seconds... no matter how full you are! You have an average sweet tooth. While you enjoy desserts, they aren't exactly your downfall. Your taste in food tends to be complex and sophisticated. You're probably a great cook, and talented at mixing unusual flavors. You are probably a fairly normal, upper middle class person. You don't rock the boat too often. You are a tough person who isn't afraid to live life fully. There isn't a lot that scares you. You are a pretty easy person to please, but you do have your own little personal quirks. You're far from neurotic, but you can be a little picky at times.

What Does Your Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Say About You?

Lease to Own

Well, incredibly, we sold our house--kinda. We decided to do a lease to own deal. We'll hold the note and let someone "rent" our house at the mortgage price and then eventually they will own it all. It's a great way to unload a house in this market. I have to hand it to Richard, he's always going with the more unique option to almost everything. This time it turned out to be just the thing we needed. Yay!

What Spice Are You?

You Are Cilantro

The bad news is that there are some people who can't stand you. The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world. You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

What Spice Are You?

Ellie and Jenna

We went to Fairytale town again; this time with our friends, Cheryl and Jenna. It was another perfect day in Sacramento. Thanks for taking us gals. You are great friends. We will miss you.

San Francisco

This was our weekend in San Francisco. We had a great time. The weather was perfect. Our plan was to ferry out to Alcatraz Island and take the tour there. **Note to self (and anyone else who might be interested)--you have to purchase tickets days in advance to go out to Alcatraz. I hadn't done that, so that part of our trip was foiled. Dang!! So, we ate lunch at Pier 39, walked over to see the sea lions, and headed over to Ghirardelli Square for some sight seeing and local music. Just FYI, they are turning Ghirardelli Square into time shares. That would be a great place to stay someday, I'm thinkin'. Then we headed over to the Exploratorium. This is an amazing place filled with hands on science exhibits. All of the kids loved it there, but I think the target age is about 8 and up. Richard and I may have actually learned the most while we were there. Lauren kept wondering why we didn't have those cool things at home. She just kept asking, "Wow, why didn't we ever have this at home?" Maybe someday we'll have to install the giant spirograph poster maker. It was pretty cool. We topped off the day by getting In-and-Out on the way home and driving over the Golden Gate Bridge. Good-bye, San Francisco. We didn't see enough of you while we were here. I'm feeling bad about that.