Can I Please Take A Nap Now?

So not too long after I finished my last blog post, Trista and I both headed inside Costco with the kids--for the very first time. Usually when we go to a store, one of the kids wants to stay in the car, so I chill in the car with them. While Trista ran down an aisle to sneakily grab a giant bag of M&Ms, I manned the cart and goofy kids. Sam was so amazed that he could fit his whole head in between the stacks of nuts! :P

And, of course, he managed to get completely inside! He got quite a few chuckles from some people passing by.

Oh! And this seems to be one of Brooklyn's and Sam's favorite ways to "get around" Costco. I give Trista props; it's gotta be difficult dragging a kid like this through a store AND walking/pushing haha. Not likely to be the easiest feat.

The last couple of days of work has been extremely...Difficult, to say the least. It sure didn't help that, first, the gal I nanny for said that her mom (who has the rest of the summer off from work) offered to watch the kids for free. My boss is struggling with money and had been having issues paying me, so having one less payment (me) would be a huge help to her. She talked to me about it, because she didn't want to leave me hanging dry without a job. I told her I would continue to look for another job, because I had already been looking for another part-time job. Well, unfortunately, my boss decided to tell Austin that his Nana would probably be watching him sometime soon. So this last Thursday and Friday, all I really heard from Austin was, "I'm sooo glad, because after these two days, I'm never gonna see you again, and my Nana is gonna watch me!"...Yeah. Ouch. It's just been so strange the entire time I've watched Austin, though, because one minute he'll say he hates me and tell me I'm the meanest person ever and a spoiled brat (believe me, he knows much much worse words; luckily he doesn't use them often...) And then the next minute we're laughing, and he's jumping on me, giving me a hug, and telling me he loves me...It's insane. Anywho! Thursday and Friday were just downright LONG days. Austin lightly drew on the white wall with a deep purple crayon, and when I saw and asked him, "Ohhh buddy, why'd you do that?? You know your mom doesn't like that."...He then gave me this evil look and jammed the crayon into a new pretty squiggle on the wall. Gahhhh. Later on, when we were playing with some bead art things, he randomly got up, went out the door in just his PJ pants, and said, "I'm going to Mom's work"...Uhhh no bueno. I quickly got up and went outside, but Austin started running. Instinctively, I started to run after him. Also not a good idea, but what was I supposed to do? Let him run? So as he's running and hollering, he glances back and sees me running. I am fairly positive I scared him to death, because he immediately fell to the ground, bawling, and crying that he wanted his mom and that I was the meanest person ever...Whew. That was a ridiculously rough day. There were some good parts, however!!

Lately, Austin has loved the idea of forts. We tried making a couple super cool ones, but little Nick likes to ruin them, of course. So Austin has decided that his mini fort under the table will suffice. (: According to him, only Lanny and Austin are allowed in. Unfortunately, Lanny and Austin both can't fit haha.

Russ and Trista got this urge to go camping, and they decided they wanted to try "boondocking"! It sounds like a blast haha. So on Thursday, they went to go look at some needed camping supplies and get a couple mummy bags for the kids. Well I guess Trista wanted to try them out. :P Please, if you don't watch any of the videos, make an exception for this one. I couldn't stop laughing, and Trista was having way too much being a caterpillar haha. But this is also a picture of being zipped up haha.

So! Friday afternoon, after deciding I should probably stay home from camping to finish working on my talk and to give my talk in church, they all took off to go camping! I went to go watch Madeline and Claire again that night and worked on my talk afterwards. I'm assuming Trista, Russ, and the kids had fun from what it sounds like haha. While they were gone on Saturday morning, I decided I should make some breakfast...Crepes! :D Mmm.

Saturday was also my first day off of work for a whole week, since Austin and Nick were going camping with their dad! So what did I do??...Yes. Job hunting haha. And so began the several days of endless job searching, filling out applications, and never-returned phone calls and emails. I did get out of the house, though! I'm a fan of thrift stores, so I decided to head down town to at least find a pair of jeans (sadly, one of my two pairs of good jeans ripped. To the garbage they go!)...Gave myself a budget and went in search of the jeans!...You know what's ridiculous? Neither of the shops that I went to had a changing room! Ugh. So at the first store I found one thing that I *hoped* would fit. Can you guess? I bet not...A skirt. **Gasp**...AND...It wasn't black OR white. Imagine that. I wore it on Sunday. :P

The next store didn't have a changing room, either, so I had to take a couple risks. First off, I found a pair of jeans. Whether they fit or not, I did not know haha. But I gambled on them. And I gambled on another skirt. Insanity, I know. Annnd it is very possibly that I also found a green sweater that I fell in love with. Yes, I had to add to my sweater collection haha. But whatever! Every item was $4 :D Jeans for four bucks? That never happens.

Anywho! I went back home, finished my talk, and went to a friend's birthday BBQ. I wish I had taken more pictures with a few of my other friends, but I didn't even think about it until after I took this next picture. By that time, most of us were ready to head out. I went and met up with Kelsey, who also just finished up her first year at BYUI and is also going into exercise phys. Not only that, but we are visiting teaching partners. She's pretty much awesome, and we obviously get along super well. And then I gave a ride to my other friend, Autum, who was baptized about a week before I came to California. She's really quiet, but we both enjoy each other's company despite the fact that we don't talk much. (: Anywho, this moment gave everyone a good laugh haha. This is our Elder's Quorum President, Chris. He is pretty tall and definitely did not fit on this little bike thing haha. Chris actually works at the Sandia Labs with Russ, and when I told Chris that my brother in-law worked there, Chris said, "Oh really? Huh. I'll have to look him up in the system." After Chris told me this when we first met a few weeks ago, I get home and mention the same thing to Russ. Russ says, "Oh really? Huh. I'll have to look him up in the system." It was pretty funny. But yes, this is him attempting to ride bikes with this little kid haha.

Sunday I gave my talk, and I think it went pretty well! The other two speakers forgot they had talks, but the topic of service isn't too difficult haha. One talked about his conversion story and how service from others helped convert him, and the other guy also gave a few examples of people he knew and their service. About ten to 15 minutes before leaving for church, however, Trista, Russ, and the kids all walked in the house from camping! I was pretty bummed that I was leaving right as they were getting home. But when I came home from church, Russ was playing with his new friend. A dragonfly. The dragonfly, unfortunately, had a few broken wings and couldn't really get anywhere. So Russ thought it'd be a great idea to humanely kill the bug and dissect it later! The twist: Russ got attached haha. It became his "compadre", while Russ was searching nice ways to kill a dragonfly, which did not include drowning, stabbing, squishing, etc.

Oooh! And this is our "unofficial-but-always-around" cat. He sleeps outside my window a lot of the time, but he's becoming more friendly. I can pet him and have picked him up a few times...but on Sunday he just came to say a quick hello, be petted a bit by myself, and then scared by Brooklyn haha.

Ahaha! So everyone (other than myself of course :P) smelled like smoke, including Sam. Well he was feeling pretty sick and not in the mood to take a bath...FINALLY he did. He got a little distracted watching cartoons, and this is what I saw when I glanced up. Bahaha it made me laugh hysterically. :P

Monday morning was my first day off, and Brooklyn had managed to catch the snot-nosed, endless coughing sickness that Sam had. Sooo this is pretty much what the morning/afternoon/entire day looked like. :D

All the while, I was continuing my job hunt and listening to Sam watch Rugrats. I suddenly get a text from my good buddy, Garin. You must understand that Garin rarely ever texts or returns texts. Rather frustrating when I actually need to know something haha. So I was super surprised when he texts me and wants me to get on gmail to videoe chat! Haha it was quite the conversation, and I'm fairly positive I massively confused Trista when he asked me to show him around Trista's house haha. He just felt like talking while he was icing his ankle. It almost made me miss home and my other friends! Well it did make me miss everyone, but not enough to go home haha. Anywho! He was pretty bored, and we were talking about the Spider-Man movie. He had this "genius" idea. His camera was flipped upside-down, since he was laying down while icing. His genius idea was to do the goofy upside-down kiss in the Spider-Man movie haha. Welll needless to say, I was just doing my best to "pucker up" without busting out laughing haha. He got the picture, sent it to me, knew that I had a blog, and suggested I post it. Wish granted lol.

P.S.- That is my new absurdly comfy sweater that I've fallen in love with and bought for $4. (;

On Tuesday we all went to the cheap movies and saw the Legends of the Guardians with the owls and such! We made a quick stop to the grocery store afterwards, and this is how the kids and I spent our time haha. Gotta entertain them somehow! (;

Annnd Russ got his package in the mail for his own mummy bag! With blinders!! :P

Later on, I went to institute. A big group of us had wanted to start up some volleyball games and such, and it turned out to be a big hit! There were plenty of people and plenty of playing. The main group of us stayed until about 11 before we finally decided we should probably call it a night...Turns out playing dodgeball for FHE and then volleyball the next night will give ya a couple of good blisters!

This morning was another pretty chill beginning to the day. As I was filling out more applications and continuing my endless search for a new job, Sam was devouring numerous oranges! This isn't even all of them!

(Yes, I did get a couple calls back, and yes, I have an interview for tomorrow!...We'll see how it goes. Definitely better pay and better hours...But...Haha we'll see.)

And at last, Kelsey and I have finally been able to work out a day to go visit teach our two gals! So that's where I left to this afternoon. Unfortunately, we finished just after five...Yeah. Awful traffic. But whatever, it's been an insanely busy afternoon it feels like, and I am off to go to an activities meeting to finish planning for our stake Fourth of July: Patriots & Pioneers Day celebration! Adios!

"Typical" Routines of Life

I've begun to notice this recurring routine throughout my recent blogs while I've been here in California. It basically goes like this: nanny and FHE on Monday, errand-running (and occasionally institute) on Tuesday, veg out Wednesday, nanny Thursday, half-chill and half-nanny Friday, relaxing Saturday (usually), church on Sunday, and then we start over again! I'm kinda bummed that I've accidentally turned my blog into a timeline and omitting anything going on sort of in my head...? I'm not sure how to explain, but oh well! It's a concept for me to grasp and produce, while you sit back and read haha.

SO! Wednesday started out as it should: Veg Out Wednesday! The morning rituals of breakfast, cartoons, and "What the heck are we gonna do today?" thoughts commenced smoothly. (;

Okay so Wednesday wasn't exactly a "veg out" day at all, to be honest. Just as Trista mentioned in her blog, Brooklyn and her went to a meeting dealio for charter/homeschooling, so it was a Sam and Shelan day on Wednesday! Now that I think back, I really can't remember all that we did. I just remember lots of jumping, ball punching, and wrestling on momma Trista's bed, trains, marbleworks, and cartoons! Early in the day Sam had also asked to go to the dollar store, but he wasn't ready yet haha. Finally, just before 3, Sam was tired of trains and wanted to get out of the house. So off to the dollar store and the water fountain we went!!

He was so excited to be riding in the truck; he could touch EVERYTHING!

While at the dollar store, Sam bought some candy, and I bought a treat for myself even! It was so hot out, but we were excited to be munching on each other's candies and playing in the cold water. :D

For a treat, Sam wanted the candy necklaces/bracelets/rings etc. He was absolutely amazed that they had even made a candy watch! Yeah that thing was gone in two bites haha.

We had to get a bit wet in order to cool off!

I clearly remember laying on the hot cement after swimming when I was little, but Sam liked the idea of hot benches more. (:

Before Trista and Brook took off for their meeting, Trista had warned, "Okay Sam, now don't have TOO much fun..." "No Mama, I'm gonna have way too much fun!" Haha. I had a blast and was exhausted, so I'm hoping Sam was the same. (;

The next day at work was pretty regular. Being able to go to the park with Trista and the kids helped, of course, and I think Austin had a blast with Brooklyn and Sam minus a few mud-destroying fits. Whoops. But this is how the park went for the most part:

No, Austin often does not take off his helmet. However, I don't complain; he's a bit of a klutz at times, and I am often grateful he enjoys wearing it so often! :P

That night Trista and Russ felt like taking off for a movie, and Brooklyn and Sam were pretty chill that night, so I was down for what I thought was gonna be a "quiet" night with the kids haha. Well, yes, it was quiet-ish. Mostly because Brooklyn watched her movie, Cats and Dogs, which has spy cats and dogs in it--she decided she wanted to be a spy, as well! Her and Sam begin sneaking around with the recorder, saying, "Okay, Lanny, pretend you can't see us! We're invisible spies!"..."Uhhh okay! No problem, I think...?" So off they went! Haha. I had totally forgot that I was supposed to go meet with my home teacher that night, so I had called him to apologize and say I couldn't make it. Instead, he had asked if he could just quickly stop by on his way to his other appointment. We were talking in the front yard, and in mid-sentence he stops and gets a confused look on his face...I turn around and laugh, because it seems completely normal to me. To him, though, I can imagine the sight of two kids, "sneakily" crawling through an open window, videotaping, and only dressed in underwear...BAHA. I apologized and mentioned it had been a hot day without AC. (; But this picture is of Sam and Brooklyn being spies and hiding under a blanket while creeping up on me!

Friday had been such an awesome day! Besides the fact that Nick would not sleep during his nap, Austin and I had some pretty good times! It began with some cuddling while watching "Racing Stripes"...

It is rare to catch him in a picture smiling, because, like most little boys (or maybe just boys in general? (; ...), he simply likes making faces at the camera haha. During lunch Austin had reminded me of a time when him and I cleaned the kitchen together. I think I already blogged about that time, but basically I was sweeping, and he wanted to help. So we got our supplies and mopped by hand! He had a blast and apparently loved it, because he brought it up again: "Hey Lanny, do you remember when we cleaned the kitchen together??"
"Yeah buddy, that was pretty fun, huh?"
"Heck yeah! Can we do that again?? Maybe in my room, though..."

"...You mean you want to clean your room...?...OKAY!"

So after cleaning up the floor and putting toys away, Austin exclaimed that he wanted to make his bed ALL by himself. Off  go the toys and pillows, hello "making the bed"! (:

I was so proud of him, and he was so proud of himself! And definitely super excited to show his parents, "Lanny, who's gonna be home first? Mom or Dad?"..."Uhhh your dad, I believe."..."Oh! Perfect! I'll bet Dad is going to be so surprised!!" (: I then continued to grab all the extra blankets in the corner of the room, and I began to fold them up and stack them on a toy box. "Oh Lanny, I can fold, too! Here, let me fold those." Gah, it was awesome! I have never seen him so excited and proud of himself, except for when he tries to do things on his own, helps me out with stuff, or wants to surprise his parents. It is so awesome.

Obviously I went home in a great mood and a bit hungry. Trista has these papers on the pantry door with either quotes, lists of needs/feelings from the non-violent communication deal, or just little reminders for everyone. My favorite one is up top, and it helps me so much with Austin. He is a pretty crazy and energetic kid, and so often people try to calm him down and control him; truth is, there is no controlling a kid like that! I have to remember to let him get his creative juices and energy out.

Oh yes, and while at work on Friday, Austin had these desire to just draw on himself or someone! Last time him and I did that we washed it off before he went to school. He excitedly told his mom about it, and she wasn't so happy with it for some reason. I won't argue, because he is her kid, of course. So instead, we've stuck to Lanny's legs!! Haha.

Later on Friday we needed to run to the library to return things and pick more out. I'm still stocked up with a few books, so I sat and read for a while. Sam was pretty tired before we even went to the library, and it was a challenge to even get him in the car. So forget the shoes!! I am always amazed with Trista's patience, though haha. She is one, tough momma! Two huge (and majorly heavy) bags of books, her purse, and an ever-growing child! Whew. That's exhausting just to look at.

I had been informed by a friend from my ward that Saturday morning was supposed to be an ultimate frisbee day at a park in Dublin, and I SO wanted to join in. Russ and Corinne were out hiking/camping, so Trista and the kids decided they'd come along and play at the splash pad/park that was also where we were supposed to play frisbee. Well I walked around the whole park and saw no one...But it was wicked hot out, so I didn't mind getting a little wet and laughing at Trista and the kids. (;

I, however, spent the majority of my time sitting on a blanket in the shade and reading. (:

Thank heavens we went out in the water, though, because it was roasting outside AND inside the house. Darned AC wasn't working that day. Lucky for us, Russ fixed it the next morning. (: But initially the high was supposed to be right at about 100 degrees...Yeah well that quickly changed...

I was double lucky and was asked to babysit for Madeline and Claire (in a house where the AC worked haha). Since it was so hot out, we had permission to basically veg out inside and watch Curious George and Dora before dinner, bath time, and bed time. I left their place about 9:30 or so, and it was still above 90 degrees when I got home. It was so hot, even the sky was on fire. (;

Sunday was a great day at church, and then we all headed out to the trampoline place! Trista took a ton of pictures, so I've decided to steal a couple. (: For the rest of them, check her's out: http://theteetertimes.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-didnt-we-do-this-week.html

This video I took while playing dodgeball. All those mean adults, beating on the younger kids. (;

And these are a few of the pictures I stole from Trista:

Yes, this pool of foam blocks was insanely difficult to climb out of!

Building up the blocks, so that we can...

Jump through them!!

I look like a struggling fool. Massive understatement hahaha.

Corinne is rockin' the front flip!

Back flips! The first time I have EVER been able to do one...Mostly because I knew I'd have a super soft landing haha.

Apparently Monday at work was a learning day, but I definitely didn't mind! It was so exciting to see the pride and joy glowing from Austin when he correctly wrote a word or spelled something for me. (: He is a pro at writing his name, but he was getting bored with it. So he asked to write Lanny...then Hulk. Then milk haha. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but after I wrote out "SPONGEBOB" for him (while we were watching it, of course!), he wrote it out for me as a surprise and said, "Dang. That is one loooong word, Lanny!" Haha I loved it.

Yesterday wasn't much of anything special, since I stayed home to work on applications and budgets and such while Trista and the kids went to the cheap movies. Whoo hoo! I did get a lot done, thank heavens, and I am almost completely done with reserving my place at the Riviera apartments! Yeah!! Today, though, has been a heck of a lot less work and much more cuddling plus cartoons haha. After a semi-stressful morning, Trista was able to take off for her doctor appointment, and I am currently at the house with the kids. No worries, though, because it's just been full of cartoons, snuggling, picture-taking, and "monkey spwatters"! (genius idea of Trista's, since the kids often don't want to eat a sit-down lunch or dinner. So they get a plate with a small bit of various foods like animal crackers, sandwich cut up, cheese stick, dried cranberries, etc.)

Brooklyn's picture-taking with my iTouch; "Say cheese, Lanny!!"

Oy. Good morning! Haha.

Brook and I watching Tom and Jerry while Sam sits on the floor.

That's all for now, folks! I'm gonna go watch some Donald Duck before Trista gets home and we all head to PartiPalooza! (:

The Post of Basically Just a Bunch of Little Kids Plus a Few Adults Having Fun Being Kids!

I still can't decide if weeks here feel long, or if they feel like they go by wicked fast...It is a bit of both; I just can't explain how. :D Nevertheless, I feel like this one went by ridiculously fast. That could be because so much has happened and because I'm writing a post earlier than I usually do. **Shrug** Whatever!

So a while ago Trista put up magnets of foods we typically have available to eat, so that when the kids get hungry, they can just go look at what's there. The "available foods" are on the fridge door, and the "unavailable foods" are up high on the freezer door. Honestly, I think I use the magnets more than the kids haha. However, Trista has recently added some new kinds of magnets!...WORDS. :D

Not much to say about work and such, it seems, other than...I think it's getting better!! I'm feeling like I can trust Austin a bit more by himself, but not too much more. The other morning, I got there at 6:30 (as usual), and when Austin woke up, he didn't sneer, hiss, or even groan when he saw me! He simply said, "Lanny. Mom's bedroom is locked. You're mean." He then walked back into his room to talk with Little Nick. I am perfectly okay with that haha. It is WAY better than the aforementioned reactions to seeing me instead of mommy on the couch. Anywho, lately Austin is on a creative artistic high. We often spend our afternoons cutting up boxes or paper, coloring, painting, gluing stuff together...This is his most current art piece. (:

On...Saturday, I believe? Trista and Russ went to a bee-keeping dealio! So for a few hours it was just Sam, Brooklyn, and I haha. We ate pancakes, watched some Tom and Jerry, got dressed, hit the Dollar Store, went to a park, zoomed home to go potty, played on the Kinect...

And plotted to overtake the parents once they got home! :P

While at the Dollar Store, Russ gave Sam one dollar, so that Sam could try and pick out a treat he thought Russ would like. (; Brook picked out Twizzlers, which Russ thinks are plastic. Sam picked out "Mater Teeth", which is like a ring pop, but when you put the sucker in your mouth, you have teeth like the truck Mater, from the movie Cars! Well...We were all headed out to the garage to play some games, when I saw Sam with Russ' treat in his mouth hahaha. Once Russ walked in, Sam quickly turned the candy back over to the original owner. :P

Then came Sunday...Everyone took off to go fruit-picking, while I headed off for church. I came home early, because Trista and I had a girl's night planned! Including riding on the BART to downtown San Fran, walking to the theater, an enthusiastic night of acapella, and a tasty burger/sandwich joint!! (No, we weren't supposed to take pictures, but oh well! Haha.)

The Voca People, who we went to go see/hear was incredible!! I love music and acapella music, and this was NO disappointment! They had some audience interaction, which made it even more hilarious! Trista had the opportunity to be a trumpet:

I thought she did a pretty dang good job, despite the semi-awkwardness of how outgoing and touchy they were haha. I suppose as performers they aren't exactly allowed to "hold back" or anything haha. But yes, I did have the chance to "participate" as well...Trista had the glorious idea of sticking a YouTube video of an example of our night, which I would do, but I don't feel like taking the time to figure out how to include YouTube videos in a blog. SO! The link is down below. The And yes, as Trista mentioned in her blog, at about 1:33 is where my part came in...The lady going up on stage with all the guys serenading her? Uhhh yeah. That was my part...Needless to say, I was sweating, because I was blushing so much!! So incredibly embarrassing, but now I find it hilarious and rather entertaining haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSf3KRlkdV0&feature=player_embedded

Anywho, we decided we should get a picture of us both! However, Trista's picture came out WAY better. Mine is fuzzy, obviously. Check out her blog to see other pictures of the weekend haha. http://theteetertimes.blogspot.com/

And yes, we both wanted pictures of downtown San Francisco after grabbing a bite to eat, so we decided to take a picture of one another. "Then we can both see whatever picture shows up on each other's blogs!" says Trista haha. So here be my lovely sister! (:

Phew! That was definitely a fun night out. (: Yesterday may have been a "nothing special" day for Trista, but it was a go-go-go day for Austin, Nick, and me. I was totally up for Trista's idea of going to the park about ten or so, because doing things at the house gets kinda old after a while, as we all know and understand, I'm sure. So after finally getting Austin and Nick to help me clean up their room and the living room, we packed some snacks to put in Aus' backpack and took off for the park! It was so nice to be out in the sunshine! And I definitely got some more sun. I was expecting Trista and the kids to already be there, because I'm always the late one to the park haha. I walked out the door about 10:30, got to the park about ten minutes later...It must have been a semi-rough morning, because not too much longer after that I get a text: "Gah, the troops are revolting! Thinking we aren't gonna make it, sorry!!" Hahaha. Either way, we still had a blast, especially since the neighbor girl wanted to come with us, Brianna. (:

"Yanny...Gapessss..." (Asking for grapes)

We headed back after many adventures of finding "treasure" (beads that had been dropped around some trees haha), and Stephanie was home early! Alas, I was able to go home early and go swimming with Trista, the kids, a homeschooling girlfriend of Trista's, and her kids! MORE SUN! :D I definitely needed all the outdoors stuff. Of course, Sam didn't want to wear shoes while the cement was smoldering hot, so he 'settled' for a piggy-back ride haha.

So I nanny for Steph, of course, but I also watch two other gals' kids fairly regularly. First is Christine's 2-year old girl (Stella) and 8-month adorable chubster (Gary). (: This morning, however, I went to go watch Jen's two little girls, who are 3-years old (Madeline) and almost 2-year old (Claire). These little girls have so much energy, but they are the most wonderful girls ever. I love them to death, and I really love working with and talking with Jen. She is a wonderful woman and such an awesome mom. So this morning I headed over to their house, just before nine, to go and play for a few hours! I couldn't help but take a few pictures while we were playing on the couches, watching Curious George, and reading books. (:

Little Claire (:

Toothless Madeline!

Headed out to the park to walk along the "balance beams". Madeline.

Balancing some more, with Claire trying to follow in big sister's footsteps. (:

And now...To continue to veg out and melt in this sweltering heat! Maybe a couple loads of laundry or something...We shall see. (: That's a wrap!