Kids Say the Darndest Things - Oct. '12 Edition

Taken from the Sidebar...

At the end of General Conference, our prophet, President Monson, got up to speak.Me: "Brookelle, who's that?"
(she looks at the pulpit for a moment, thoughtful)Brookelle: "Heavenly Father." 10/12

Cruel, Harsh Reality

LAST WEEK
   


This Week 

Living Life one Cruise at a Time

I was hooked the moment I first stepped foot into the ship's lobby and the Cruise Staff formed a line on both sides of the entrance for us to walk through while the lead guy announced loudly, "Disney Cruise Line welcomes The Brenchley Family!" and the others applauded and smiled at us as we passed by.

And the royal treatment never ceased the rest of the week, either.

I decided then that cruising was the way to vacation!

Disney Cruise, Western Caribbean ~ March 2005 

Holland America Cruise, Alaska ~ August 2007 

Princess Cruise, Mexican Riviera ~ February 2010 

And now I get to go with these favorite people of mine! 

For a Disney Cruise ENCORE.

BON VOYAGE!

A New Chapter

Hey.....Can you HEAR that?

...Listen... 

It's QUIET.

Absolutely no one is home except for me.  This has not been the case for over 16 1/2 years!  Since becoming a mom, I have always had a child(ren) home with me.

And now, somehow the years went by, my babies grew up,  and my youngest "Baby" goes to preschool 3X a week for 2 1/2 hours.

Admittedly, I have dreamed of this day; when I could be free to run errands and go to appointments without a child in tow or having to find someone else to watch them for me.  I always said IT WOULD BE SO NICE....

....And now the day is here...and it is weird!

I won't deny that it IS nice, but it is definitely weird - I think I feel a little bit lost. 

I find myself wondering what I should do.

NOT because I don't have anything to do -- believe me, I DO!

It's just that, up until now, someone ELSE (my babies) have always controlled and dictated WHAT I would do.

Make a snack
Change a diaper
Fill up their sippy cup
Reach something that is too high
Watch them attempt a somersault
Put on a band-aid
Make lunch
Clean off their messy face
Change their clothes
Put them down for a nap
Call or walk them to a friend's house
Put on a band-aid
Wipe their bum
Find their shoes
Get gum out of their hair
Pull the finger out that got stuck in the drawer
Put on a band-aid
Get a fruit snack for them
Wash their hands
Set up the Play-dough
Put the Play-dough away
Open the door
Put on a band-aid

....And NOW....I CHOOSE WHAT I will do.

I was even at Wal-mart recently in the checkout line with a v-e-r-y SLLOOOOW checker, but I was okay with it - I didn't have a tantrum-throwing child with me, after all.   The gal behind me DID and she had to be at another engagement in 20 minutes, so she was stressing, checking her watch, and scoping out alternative checkout lines that might possibly be shorter/faster (there weren't any) the whole time.  I was actually in a position to offer her to go in front of me in line because I am free and I wasn't in a rush!

It's a very NEW concept for me.

So many choices, so little time!  2 1/2 hrs. in not very long!  Especially when I work during her preschool time twice a week. 

But, just so you know, don't be at all surprised to see me hanging out alone in the Hallmark section of the store just reading (not buying) all the cards just for funsies -- just because I CAN!  :)

Dare to Stand Alone

I have been serving in the Young Women organization in our church for just over a year now.

This week, I especially had them on my mind, and a prayer for them running through my heart.

Because of that, I was reading this month's issue of The New Era, a magazine geared for the youth, ages 12-18, published by the LDS church, for some inspiration and comfort. One article referenced THIS clip and I thought it was great.  It hit me as SO pertinent for them - and for me -- and for all of us.

I love this message from our living Prophet.....

"In reality, we are never alone, when we stand with our Father in Heaven."

My Own Kind of Victoria's Secret

Considering the fact that my husband
 is a lifelong Denver Broncos fan, 
THIS could pass as my "Sexy Lingerie" 
these days, couldn't it?!!? 

In honor of our recent anniversary, I snatched up this Old Navy find for under $15.

To which, my son asked in his disgusted voice, "MOM, do you even know who they're playing this week?"

That's NOT the point. 

It's very exciting, don't ya think?  ;)

Freak of Natures -- that's what we are!

Recently, while in San Diego attending a work-related conference, Matt & I were at a dinner party with a group of his business associates - many of whom we were meeting for the first time in person.

In the course of the getting-to-know-you conversation, the topic of kids came up.  We were asked if we have kids.

Yes.

How many?

Five.

FIVE??!!!??

Quoting one person exactly [as she dropped her fork and half-choked on her food],  "HOLY CRAP!!!"

Keep in mind, the people in attendance are not of our faith, nor are they from UTAH (Indiana was the furthest west that any of them reigned from), so the concept of 5 children was really UNHEARD OF to them.  We're talkin' Foreign territory.  This especially made sense when we found out about all of them, too; their number of children were 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 3.

(Meanwhile, I'm silently thinking about those who have even larger families than mine - like my aunt who has 12 children - how would they react to that?)

I did tell them that Matt came from a family of 7 kids, and my family has 6, so we're not even measuring up by comparison.....but then I had to stop talking about it because I felt some of them were at risk for a heart attack!  :)

When they recovered from the shock, one guy thought he was being all FUNNY by making the joke, "You must NOT have cable TV!"

To which Matt replied, "We don't."  (seriously)

Oh, can you imagine the raucous that caused?  Our table erupted in ROARING LAUGHTER.  Bah hahaha hahaha.  Intermixed with that noise were people's "smart" comments, "No Wonder!"  or "You should try cable!"  or "Atta Boy!"  or "I was right!"  It was one of those things when all the rest of the people at the restaurant STOP what they're doing/talking about and look over at "that table."  (The guy who made the original joke was REALLY proud of himself!)

Now they can't decide which thing to be MORE astonished about:  5 Children or NO Cable TV.

{Of course, I'm sure the unlimited wine served with their meals, influenced this EXAGGERATED reaction in them.}

Right?

Because it's not even a big deal to live without cable.

RIGHT?

RIGHT?!?

HELLO?

Is this thing on?  tap....tap... [on the microphone]

hello

WHAT "Lazy Days of Summer?"

This is officially the last week of Summer vacation for us and it's simply CRAZY to me.  How can it be over just like that?  

Every year, my children mourn the end of summer and dread the start of school, lamenting,

"We didn't even DO anything this summer!!" 

in their best feeling-jipped-voices.  Which really means they didn't do a million, ba-jillion, totally outrageous, much-too-lofty-of-a-plan, EXPENSIVE, UNREALISTIC things.  Like go to Legoland, Universal Studios, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, The Grand Canyon, Seven Peaks, Timpanogas Cave, the Taj Majal, MLB games, Florida, Texas, New York, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Washington, Canada AND Mexico at least once each.  And that they didn't go to Boondocks, swimming, Dairy Queen, Galaxy, the zoo, Classic Fun Center, mini golfing, bowling, gymnastics class, to the movies & museums, boating, hiking, to the beach, and parachuting at least once a week.
And they LOOK OVER the ton of "other things" they DID do!

It never works -- I never have felt sorry for them!

UNTIL THIS YEAR.

Because, THIS YEAR, when they say, We didn't even DO anything this summer.....it's pretty much true!

As far as the traditional SUMMER-ISH FUN that is supposed to go on.

I even bought a pool punch pass and declared, This summer we are going to have "Water Wednesdays" which means we will go swimming every Wednesday.

We went once.

I'm joining the "feeling jipped" members of my family now.

Matt & I even missed our August date....and we were doing SO WELL - DANG!  But, we're in San Diego together right now, just the two of us, does THAT count?!?  ;)


Instead of the "Lazy Days of Summer" we've:

• Sold our home -- TWICE!  (The first people cancelled after a couple of weeks)

• Signed, dated, scanned, and emailed back and forth 14 addendums for the sell of our home.  (Our realtor joked with us that he should start taking a higher commission on offers that go past five!)

• Which also meant I had a continual stream of phone calls and texts from the Realtor

• AND we kept showing our home until we past the "Due Diligence" period with the buyers.

• Built a new home

• Made 1,000 decisions on brick, paint, tile, floorboards, door knobs, driveway and walkway shapes, trex decking color, lights, woods, closet layouts, faucets, stucco, windows, trim, size of patio, banisters, patterns, doors on the left or on the right?, plug outlets down low or up high or somewhere in the middle?, If I should UP my anxiety meds or keep them the same.....

• AND then made many of these decisions AGAIN when the bids came back TOO HIGH or TOO LOW (who am I kidding?  THAT never happened!), or my selections were OUT OF STOCK, or the granite slabs I had picked out BROKE the day before they were to be delivered & installed.

• Called the builder way too many times MORE than he wanted me to.

• Babysat the builder.

• Made the builder fix way too many MORE mistakes than he wanted to.

• Fought with the builder.

• Started the loan process with a lender for our new home.

• Completed tons of paperwork and scrounged up all kinds of info they wanted about past names, drugs taken, jobs, income, marital status, insurance, residences, driving record, credit scores, best recipe for chocolate chip cookies, etc.

• And then the underwriters came back with a list a "conditions" and we had to send them a butt load of other things; copies of account statements and down payment checks and employment verification and my mammogram results....(just wondering if you're still paying attention!)

• All the while fielding 10 calls/texts (minimum) a day from the lender with updates and requests -- one of which I was not able to take because I had just gotten rear ended on my way back from picking out my granite the second time at the warehouse too far away from my home! 

• Closed on our home - and became renters of our own [well now THEIR] home.  We paid more in rent than we did our mortgage pymt - so sad!

• Packing up our home

• Gathering boxes from all sources:  KSL.com, Walmart, friends & family, the Liquor store (it's TRUE - they're great for our canned foods/food storage)

• Packing up

• Packing

• Packed some more  - it just grew!  When I thought we had done a ton - there was still a ton to do!

• Moved the majority of our things into THE GARAGE of the new house (we hadn't officially closed & it wasn't ready yet) because our buyers were taking possession of ours SOON!

• Shop for and buy beds & bedroom sets for the kids who were changing their sleeping situation (going from a shared room to an own room, going from a toddler bed to a "big girl" bed, etc.)

• Packed up the "essentials" we had kept with us at our home, including my work office stuff because I worked up until the last day we lived in that home.

• Moved the rest into the garage 

• Cleaned & did paint touch ups at the old  [empty] home -- thanks to my VT, brother's family, and MIL for helping us with this trying-to-beat-the-5PM-deadline-to-be-out-EFFORT!

• Signed closing papers on the new house

• Got frequent phone call updates from the lender who "camped out" at the title company for two days making sure that our case was getting worked and pushed it through.(thanks to him!)

• Then when we got word that the house was officially ours, we moved AGAIN.  We could move the things from the garage into the new house.  Word came in the late afternoon, so we didn't have anything set up to sleep, so we stayed at our brother & sister-in-law's house that night.(thanks to them!)

• Unpack the new house

• Move things in from the garage to the house

• Put everything away

• Forgot where I put it away

• Unpack some more

• Put together beds

• Unpack

• Hang butcher paper in the windows (after I got tired of crawling around on the floor below window level) so the neighbors don't "get more than they bargained for."

• Unpack

• Called all the Utility companies to stop service at our old home and start at the new one.

• No one knows our address exists, so make several other phones calls to resolve this....still not sure if it's totally "resolved."

• Call for Internet

• Comcast won't serve my "area" - yet the homes on all the streets surrounding me have it - am I not in their same "neighborhood?" 

• So desperate for internet use, set up an "Internet Cafe" on my in-laws porch and "tapped into" their wireless internet.

• Call another company for Internet - they can't come out for another week.

• Begged and bargained with my co-workers to cover my shifts since I didn't have the capability to work from home without internet

• The internet co. came out and couldn't find a ground wire --then they do -- but the main cable has been spliced (inadvertently?) and they can't get anyone out for 4-5 days to fix it. 

• Went over to my neighbor's to use her internet --Since when did we become so dependent on The Internet????

• Had to drive out to the [way too far away] JetBlue office to work (due to no internet and phone at home) when I couldn't get shifts covered at 2:45 in the morning - yep, just me and one semi on the road at that time!

• Unpack

• Meanwhile, we haven't received mail for 10 days - after 3 trips to the post office, we start getting our current mail, but no one knows what happened to all the mail BEFORE she "found" us!

• Unpack

• It takes a couple of phone calls to get new garbage cans delivered, so we have tons of garbage bags piling up.  THEN once they'res delivered, the garbage man passes us by - he can't find us either?!?  This warrants a trip down to city hall myself to get this straightened out.  WHEN YOU'VE JUST MOVED, YOU HAVE TONS OF GARBAGE and we can't be skipped!

• Hire someone to install cold storage shelving

• Get a water softener guy to our new house -- hard water and oil-rubbed bronze faucets and fixtures DO NOT GO TOGETHER!

• Go up and down the stairs 25+ times a day - needing a shower by the end of the day from all the sweating I'm doing.  I've lost 5 lbs. in the last three weeks.  It's called the packing-moving-unpacking diet!

• And I managed to get Ryan registered for High School (his Junior year!) and Kyle registered for Jr. High (an 8th Grader!)  WHAT?! 

• And we went school shopping - four different days for four different children.  I realized, girls are FUN to shop with - BOYS are not.

So, ALL of THAT dominated our whole entire summer!  But, we're in our new home (pictures coming sometime!)  not totally MOVED IN, but we are sleeping there now.  There are still unpacked boxes and things in the garage that need to be put away, but we're working on it EVERY DAY - some project or another.

Next up:
Window coverings
couches
Bonus room organizational system - I don't know what to do!  Suggestions?
yard
other furniture
TV(s) (that's only on Matt's list)  :)

So, we're FAR from done.  WAAAAAAAHH!

BUT, to make up for everyone's "LOST SUMMER" we've got a Fall Family Vacation coming up that we have been saving for and planning for years......

 

It will be a nice break from all the selling/buying/moving WORK we've spent the summer doing.  :)

Kids Say the Darndest Things - Jul. '12 Edition

Taken from the sidebar...

Brookelle LOVES to have her back scratched [on her actual skin]. Matt was doing it tonight...
Brookelle: "It's not good when the nails are LOWER, only when they're HIGHER -- like Mom's!" 7/12

Pure Torture

On Monday, I took my, University-of-Utah-FANATIC, loves-The-U-so-much-it-hurts, pure-crimson-through-and-through, defender-of-"his UTES"-forever, never-lets-an-opportunity-to-debate-the-superiority-and-excellency-of-THE-U-pass-him-by, cries-if-the-U-of-U-loses-to-BYU, crosses-the-line-of-respectfulness-frequently-when-speaking-to-zoobies-(BYU-fans), has-ill-feelings-about-anyone-who-opposes-his-beloved-University-of-Utah, SON down to THE ARCH ENEMY, BYU campus, to attend EFY (Especially for Youth)!

When we started heading "down South" he told me he didn't feel well.  When we entered Provo, he said he was SICK!

(I'm sure this didn't have anything to do with the fact that he hadn't eaten anything that day, yet -- because he was still packing [surprise, surprise!])

He tried to pack ALL of his UTAH shirts that he owns!  I limited him to ONE - either go there wearing it the first day, or pack ONE for another day - and he was not happy with me.  I tried to teach him my "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" philosophy, but that lesson was TOTALLY lost on him!  I have a feeling he may have smuggled more in after I closed up his suitcase, removed it from his bedroom, and took it upstairs for our "doorman" to handle.  (Wait, that "doorman" IS Ryan!!)

He chose to make his statement from the start.  I found it humorous to see him walking around BYU campus housing sportin' his "U"  Just while I was with him during check in, he got several comments about his shirt, including one EFY staff member who [jokingly] said, "And now you'll have to leave."  Ryan didn't even crack a smile -- quite the opposite, in fact -- good thing his sunglasses were covering up "the evil eye" I KNEW was under there!  I told him he's asking for it - swimming in dangerous waters - and IT IS TO BE EXPECTED!  So, break out that sense of humor and DEAL WITH IT!

And because he was starving, I went over to the BYU Creamery outlet store and bought him something to "hold him over" -- When I saw it in the bakery case, I just couldn't resist!  A "Y" glazed doughnut!  He was thrilled.  ;)


Ironically, after arriving at his dorm, his counselor instructed all the kids to change into their EFY T-Shirt for the first day's activities....so, his UTE wearing glory was cut short.  :(  I'm sure he feels SO JIPPED.  He'll find a way to "compensate" though - like PASSING on all the "BYU worthy" clothes I made him take and pulling his real shirt back out again for another day - or two - or three....

{Oh Dear}

But, seriously, I hope he can let his anti-BYU feelings GO and have a great time at EFY.  I LOVED [all four years of] EFY when I was a teen!