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!

Welcoming In The Lazy Days

Seriously? It's only been a week since I've gotten back from my Rexburg/WA trip?! It feels as though its been at LEAST two weeks--if not more. That must prove I really haven't done much this week. (;

Although the flights seemed to take forever, thanks to feeling like a bunch of crap-o, I was so relieved to be back in California. I loved seeing family and friends. I miss them still, but at least I had the chance to see everyone. All my Rexburg friends. My "Freshmen" (Candice, Aurorah and Cheyenne--they're gonna be seniors. OY.), Keesha, Aaron, etc. But dang, I was more than ready for some sunshine, super healthy food, and being around munchkins all day again. I got picked up in Oakland, made a potty stop at a Jack-in-the-Box, ate some broccoli and homemade (DELICIOUS) bread, and basically took off for a beach. It was fanTAStic. Needless to say, however, I was falling asleep around 5:30 haha. Fell asleep on my bed after five minutes of reading, dragged myself onto the couch for when Trista, Russ, and the kids came home from the farmer's market, barely noticed their arrival, and plopped back onto my bed for the night.

Went to work the next day at noon, and Austin and Nick were not excited to see me haha. They clung to their mom like crazy; Nick cried when she left to get in the shower. Austin screamed at me. Gah. BUT...After Stephanie left, all went pretty well. I received some snuggles from Nick before going down for a nap, and Austin and I had a blast playing Toss-The-Coins-And-Swim-To-Find-Them. This second picture made me chuckle; he couldn't find that darned thing on the slide for EVER. :P

Honestly, I don't remember how Friday finished off. I'm fairly positive I sat around and did nothing. Just relaxed all day haha. But I was definitely okay with that. Then came the long-awaited Tony Hawk day at the Lawrence Hall of Science!! I don't particularly feel like explaining how awfully stressful the whole ordeal was meant to be, since 500 tickets were sold and all were sold out. We had our's ahead of time and originally wanted to go early. We finally decided to not go quite so early, drive to Berkeley, catch a bus to the science center, and look around for a bit before Tony Hawk actually performed. We did all that. We never knew until boarding the bus to go up there that the only time a bus would be going back down was 2-3 hours after Tony Hawk. I felt like we all loved the indoor stuff, though! Sorta haha. I found it extremely interesting, but the exhibits and information was definitely geared more towards preteens/teens. Not 4-6 year olds haha. At least Brook and Sam had a blast with the two friction deals! (;

Pushing the block board things down and racing them!

Racing down the smooth and semi-smooth surfaces.

Russ being a bit "upset" that he basically moves nowhere on the rough surface, while Sam zooms down the slick surface; Sam doesn't hold back at all when teasing and rubbing it in that he has won haha.

Watching Tony Hawk!...for all of maybe twenty minutes.

I found the skaters interesting; the kids, however, prefer rocks and bugs. Go figures. (;

Trying to get out of the sun by hiding behind mom and Lanny.

After finally getting home from Berkeley, we were all pretty dang pooped. Sam was so tired after his bath, he didn't even have the energy to put his underwear on! (; Haha jk. For some reason the idea of **cringe** underwear is just unappealing to all kids, it seems. Trista was pretty sure I didn't get any pictures of her attempts to getting Sam to put on his underwear...Oh boy, she was wrong! :D

Trista: "Sam, you don't want to give your butt superpowers??"

Me: "Uhhh I don't know if I'd want to..."

Trista: "Whatever, he already has them."

Trista's explanation of above picture: "...I had underwear on my head and a towel for a cape, trying to get Sam to put on his underwear instead of streaking for all the world to see, lol."

Who woulda thunk Captain Underpants was real?! (;

So the extra fun highlight of this last week?? Trista had decided she wanted some fun workout type video games or something of the sort. Lo and behold, she invested in a Kinect!! Oh my has it been a blast! (We just played for about 2 hours straight, and I am wicked sore.) This short, barely 2-second video is Trista and Russ' "victory dance" (; Wish I could've gotten more of it!

This be just a random picture of Trista needing some extra random fun. :P Sam and Brook get so immersed in their shows when they watch, they are completely oblivious to everything--including Mommy sneaking under the table and biting their toes. (;

On Sunday I finally got back to my ward after missing/bring gone a couple of weeks, and I came back to visiting teaching assignments, new home teachers, and being asked to give a talk on the 24th of June! (Is that still the day that West is speaking, too? Anywho. If so, his topic and mine will be VERY similar: Service haha.)

Monday was simply a great day. Y'know why? Because I got up at 5:30, like regular, for work and was sitting on my bed ready at 6. Just reading. I get a text about five minutes later from Stephanie saying that I didn't need to go over and work today, because her husband was home...WHOO HOO! Shut the book, plug the phone back in, and crawl back under the covers until 8 am. (: I then continued to lounge around all Monday and read the majority of my book. Lounged around most of Tuesday and did the same. Worked on Wednesday for another gal with two younger kids. Finished my book after work and then had a girl's night watching The Devil Wears Prada. (I had to watch the movie, since I just read the book.) Oh! And got to mention the zumba and kickboxing classes Trista and I went to!

So I went back to work today and had an absolute blast! I'm absolutely exhausted right this moment, and I'm pretty sure Russ is falling asleep on the little couch, hoping I'll be moving from the large one soon so he can take over haha. So I went explain much. But we did all sorts. I swept, and Austin wanted to help, so we mopped by hand. We've been talking a lot lately about trust and what it means. Austin also has asked about respect, believing people, what lying is, etc. It's been fascinating to see his mind work to learn and understand the complicated concepts. It's even more fun/funny to see his mind make the connection that when you open the back of a toilet and pull on the string, the toilet flushes. Then comes the discussion of water towers, sewers, and everyone having to pay for the water they use...So, of course, once Austin is filling up their dog's water bowl, he only fills it maybe halfway before realizing, "Agh! Lanny!" **Quickly shuts off water** "But we have to pay for this water, too!!"..."Ahhh well, yeah, buddy, but your dog needs to have water, too. No worries. This one's on your parents, alright?" :P Haha we had a good laugh about that one. Anywho...I just thought y'all would like to see a bit of what Austin and Nick are really like. Austin is a bit crazy, energetic, and mischievous. Nick enjoys playing, but he is perfectly content being quiet and cute and cuddly. (:

Nick:

Austin:

Anywho, that's about it for now. Today has been fairly exhausting, thanks to some awesomely crazy workout games/competitions on the Kinect haha. You know you're having fun when you send the kids in the house to watch Netflix, so the adults can play video games. (; All is well, I am sore, and I am 2 hours past my bedtime! G'night. (:

P.S.- Class registration is coming up next week for me. Needless to say, I've re-confirmed for the zillionth time that I love my major and what all I can do with it. I want to take Every. Single. Freaking. Class...I have this list of classes that I want to take, classes that I probably can't take just yet, classes I'd love to take and could also use to fill-in open class periods. Etc. Etc. Etc...I just look at my lists and major requirements and get so giddy about it all. I am WAY too excited to take Biostatistics. Oddly surprised at my enthusiasm towards Advance Human Anatomy and Lab. And stoked at the fact that I may get to take a 1-credit softball class in the next semester or two. WHOO! Okay. I'm done. (: Loves.

P.S.S.- Russell at 12:30 in the morning, while he begins another episode of his show: **insert sing-song voice** "I am gowing to be sweepy tomowwow..."

Not Such A Long Road After All

Holy crap it's been a long couple of weeks. I waited to write a post last week, because I only had a few pictures; then I was worried my weekend extravaganza would be way too many pictures! No worries, though, I really didn't take many pictures. Hardly any, sadly.

Anwho, these first pictures are just going to be thrown in with a short explanation of each. I don't have the energy at the moment. :/

Trista and I blew our guts out, trying to blow this thing up. Thankfully Russ came home in time to save us haha.

Brooklyn has been listening while Trista reads the first Harry Potter, and they just finished it a couple of weeks ago! They've also began the second. Too bad the movie gave her nightmares; no more movies ):

Oh, and about the previous movie-watching picture: my favorite part was the fact that every time a new character came onto screen, Sam would ask, "Is that Harry Potter?!"..."No, Sam. Not yet..." The best one of all? Trista asks Brooklyn, "Hey Dut, do you remember who that is? Tall wizard with a long, grey beard?" And, of course, Sam excitedly asks, "Is THAT Harry Potter?!?!"..."No Sam...That's Dumbledore."

Sam: "Oh."

:D

So maybe some of you think this is gross, but we were all pretty enthralled! In the polliwog habitats, "baby mosquitoes" were found, so they were immediately placed under a microscope with a few drops of water. SO FREAKING COOL! Granted I freaked a couple time when it randomly squirmed (hey now, I thought it was dead!), but it was incredible to see the heart and lungs all actively working.

The solar eclipse! Almost completely forgot about it!!

So the week before going to Rexburg, Austin, Nick, and I had had a pretty awesome day. Methinks I need to explain that Monday, the 21st of May. (: It had been a fairly regular morning, with Austin waking up a tad grumpy, as always. We continued to work on being nicer and more patient with one another throughout the morning. It slowly began to turn around. I had asked him,as usual, what kind of day he had wanted to have earlier that morning. He was pretty tired and said he didn't know and that he would tell me when he knew. Hm. That was an odd answer, honestly. Anywho, we were just sort of playing and watching some cartoons when Austin started cuddling with me as he played on my iTouch. He first sat next to me, but as we kept taking pictures and laughing and having fun, the next thing I know, he's full-out on my lap, cuddling. Very rare. Like I've said before, he's a deep kid but extremely closed off. He gets up to find a pen and decides he wants to draw--on himself. Haha this is one of those times where immediately my first action is to ask him not to do so. But I have to ask myself, "Why not?" What does it hurt to draw on ourselves a little? It's washable. So I learned to let that worry go. But of course, one can't grab a pen and not draw on Lanny, too!! (;

He starts giggling, and the next thing I know, he's jumping on me and giving me the BEST hugs in the world. All the time. Randomly throughout the day. He realizes he has to go to the bathroom and rushes that way. Next thing I hear, "Hey Lanny! Can you come here? I need to tell you something." I call out from the living room as I slowly make my way to the bathroom, "What is it, bud?" "Well you have to come here, I can't just tell EVERYONE."..."Okayyy..." I get to the door and lean against the frame. "What's up, Love?"

"Lanny, I love you."

Oh my word. My heart melts. It was the first time he has ever told me that, and it reassured me that I was hopefully making a good impression on him. Granted he was sitting on the toilet with this pants pulled down when he told me, but what the heck?! I don't care! It made me happy. (: The day was full of hugs, kisses, and giggles. He'd attack me with a hug, and I'd attack him with kisses. We both giggled. Nick would want in on the fun, so he'd get his turn, as well! Austin and I were then just sitting on the couch, taking pictures again, and out of nowhere he says, "Hey Lanny, you know what kind of day today is?"

"What kind, bud?"

"The bestest day ever."

I must agree. It had been a pretty great day. (: I had gone home and relaxed a bit while looking for some extra jobs and such. I finally decided to take a shower before FHE. Well, while I was in the shower, I got to thinking about seeing West and family for his homecoming talk. All the flights and trips had been on my mind a lot, as well as wanting to see some Rexburg friends. As I was thinking in the shower, I decided to not turn down the offer of seeing all my family (except for Trista, Russ and kids ): ...) in Idaho, visiting friends, turning down a talk, etc. You can call it a "spur of the moment" decision, but I got out of the shower, got dressed, and started looking for tickets for that weekend! I found tickets...but I needed to talk to Stephanie about possibly getting Friday off. It was just one more thing I was asking for, and I was stressing out big time. Ask Trista haha. I could've been facing less pay, more hours, no job, and no Friday off. (LONG STORY). No Rexburg surprise. I pray before heading off to Stephanie's and anxiously/nervously take off haha. But no worries! All went well, obviously. (; I rushed home, bought those tickets, and arrived to FHE late! But I didn't care! I was so freaking stoked. (: While driving on the way there, I simply couldn't hold in my excitement. I screamed excitedly in the van haha. Yes...That was definitely a great day. (:

Okay, now for some more random pictures/videos! The kids love the Dollar Store and spend their money there quite frequently. This was on of those echo microphones, and we asked Sam-O to sing for us. (;

That week felt as though it went by pretty slow, but I didn't particularly care. I was way too excited to go and surprise everyone! :D I had only told one of my FHE brothers from Winter semester that I was flying in, so that I could be picked up from the airport. Once I saw this sight coming from out of the clouds, I knew I was back in Idaho. (; Hahaha.

But I was able to surprise just about everyone else. It was absolutely incredible. I missed (and currently miss) everyone and am so glad I got to see all. (: 

What  happens when we get together again with West?? Super Nintendo, of course! (:

And yes, we did play some Quelf. (; This is the fabulous Dene' performing her "rap", featuring Chris-Dawg.

I give major props to Christian and Audrey for hosting ALL of us in their apartment. I felt pretty bad with all of us sleeping wall to wall one night, so I did stay with a friend another night...But this is basically what it all looked like haha. Mom and Dad are on the blow-up mattress in the bottom left corner. West is on the couch. Dene' and Kenny are in the far blow-up mattress under the table. I was sleeping on the smaller couch, where I took the picture haha. Pretty intense! Jackson was the only one fortunate to have his own room. :P

Duck Ponds with Jackson. (:

So this just kind of amazed me haha. Mom and Dad had to hit up the Super Savers store or whatever in Rexburg. They went on Memorial Day, and they also happened to be having a sale!! Dad loves gum, and they were able to get ALL of this for...What? Five or six bucks? Pretty insane haha.

Phew...Quite the couple weeks, indeed. Great vacation and break...Now comes the part I'm a little hesitant to write about.

We drove home Tuesday afternoon and drove into Quincy about 10:30 pm. I got up the next morning hoping to get as much done in a few hours (visit friends, teachers, bank, etc.) before heading back to Spokane and fly out. Story cut short, I goofed in planning my flight and had to buy a new ticket for the next morning at 6 am. So I had a tad more time than I thought...I did most of the things I wanted to do other than visit Aaron in East Wenatchee and see Keesha, because she was in Ellensburg. Too far...Well I was watching some House while at home when I get a call from Keesha. We don't talk on the phone much, so it was a little surprising, but I answered...She told me of some bad news.

Ben was an incredible guy, and I know he continues to be...Just somewhere else, with other people, not currently here on Earth with the rest of us. I've met very few people in my life who have a work ethic, a heart, a desire, and a passion for all they do in life. But Ben did. He was one of the few. He was a runner, wrestler, athlete. His big goals after graduation just a year ago were to run from Quincy to George, Quincy to Ephrata, and then Ephrata to Moses Lake. He'd completed the first two. Thursday afternoon, about 11:45, he was three miles short of his goal when he was hit by a motorhome while crossing the freeway. Killed instantly. The poor couple who were driving is from Ephrata, and they are hurting just as badly as the rest of us who miss Ben so much...I'd been lucky enough to know Ben decently well. We had dated briefly during wrestling season, he was my "first dance", and I still have the monkey he gave me for Valentine's Day a couple years ago. It sat on my bed in Livermore, as I found out about the news...Not much else I can say, because I can rarely express how deeply I feel. But simply...I miss him. I remember all the joking and hugs. I remember that true smile of his. I remember wrestling with him and the others on the mats. I remember sleeping in the bleachers on road trips and stealing his pillow. I remember that match at Regionals that he barely lost; him and I sat next to each other in the hall crying. I remember the excitement of finding all the puzzle pieces throughout school, which ultimately spelled out, "Will U go 2 homecoming with me? Ben". I remember lying to him, saying I couldn't go, and then filling his tiny room with balloons that said I was joking...I miss him.

I found the puzzle pieces;

You popped all the balloons.

You lost that vital match;

I cried on the mat next to you.

Fallen flowers on these stones,

This is not where you belong.

Lush green grass upon just bones.

This is all so wrong.

One long, healthy road

Cut cruelly short.

We bid our farewells

And wish to say more.

Life was so short-lived,

Yet you lived it full.

Engraved on mere rock,

But eternally in our hearts.

One More Year Down, Many Memories to Come

So I happen to really enjoy my weekends and breaks, especially Tuesdays and Wednesdays, for some odd reason. I really don't know why haha. Typically it means some mixture of games, outside, experiments, library, and other adventures. This last Tuesday, after taking a quick trip to the library, we decided to stop by the compost garden! Basically a community garden with a compost bin and such. We wandered around a bit and ate some strawberries before Trista heard a familiar sound. I just thought it was a bird, honestly...Apparently birds don't hide in the bushes, waiting for their momma like a baby kitten does.

Gahhhh I want a kitty or dog or something!!

I got a turn to hold it, and the little thing fell asleep in my arms...Oh my word. My heart was stolen. How could you NOT love those baby blue eyes and calico-ness?! We had to go back later with Russ to show him. Obviously there was a momma cat, because the smart cat moved her kitten, since she definitely smelled us. So! We left it there, hoping to go and visit again sometime.

Before going back with Russ, though, we went to the AMGEN Tour of California. Cycling here is huge; I've never seen so many bikers around town every day before. This tour is pretty incredible, and Livermore was lucky enough to be the finish line! So, of course, we had to go! Pretty neat, actually. It was like FCAD (Farmer-Consumer Awareness Day) from Quincy, but it was downtown and had no vegetables/fruits being sold. :P And no, there was no tractor pull, either. (;

We met Russ there (he missed the race, unfortunately) and began heading back to the closest vehicle, which was the truck Russ brought from work. Well Trista and Russ were holding hands, and Dut wanted to join in. Sam realized it was just him and I walking behind them, and he wanted in haha. So he ran up to Russ' side; it was pretty cute. (:

I mentioned we ALL went back to the truck, right?? Well the heck we were supposed to fit in there?! Haha well we figured it would be safest to keep the kids up front, so Trista and I jumped in the back! Don't wanna get pulled over, so we laid down and watched the blue sky haha. Sorry, Trista, of the three pictures I got, this was the "best" one lol.

On Wednesday, Trista was invited by a homeschooling group to a park play date in Dublin. This song, which the kids love, came on the radio, and Brook and Sam gasped out of excitement! Haha. Brooklyn is SO good at whistling, and she's a pro when it comes to this song. She may stumble over the words a bit, but she does awesome haha. I had to get a video. :P

After a long day at the park, Sam tends to zonk out in the car. Unfortunately, we often have to stop at the grocery store and have to wake him up. Well, since Brook got the blanket last time, Sam got it this time! This was the funniest picture haha. Brooklyn was wanting to get in with him, but there was no room, and we told her no. This is Brooklyn trying to figure out another way, and Sam laughing at her in all his grogginess haha.

After getting home, Sam wanted to ride his bike in the road for a bit. Trista was out there watching, and she noticed he wasn't touching his training wheels at ALL. Granted, Russ had just put them way up, so he barely could use them anyways haha. So this is the look of a proud momma, as her son rides his bike for the first time without training wheels! (:

Can't forget the proud, excited boy!

Of course, I have to include a video of proof! :D

Thursday (yesterday) was my birthday! I received a manila envelope in the mail from Shaun (Where did that name come from?! Manila. Honestly. What the heck?), which had three of those light-weight airplanes you can put together and such. One for each of us: Sam, Brook, and I. But before ANY of that, I went to work in the morning! It was kind of a rough morning, but I reminded Austin that we were gonna go to a P.E./Sports deal that Trista was invited to as a homeschooler. She asked if I wanted to bring the kids, and I said HECK YEAH! Austin was so excited to go play with Sam, Brooklyn, and a bunch of other kids. We left about 9:30, all piled to the top of the van with four car seats, two adults, a pogo stick, and the scooters in the back. Phew! Got home just before 1 in the afternoon, put Nick down for a nap, and Austin and I had some alone time. (: It was pretty fun. Talked, sat in the sun while eating yogurt, played in some mud, and watched his Batman cartoons he showed me earlier that morning! I loved it. (:

I came home and found this on the front door:

I walk in, go down the hall, and find green streamers covering my door into my room with an envelope taped to the door haha. "Surprise!!" Sam, Dut, and Trista all jump out haha. Sam had long before seen the planes from Shaun, which were wrapped up like presents, and he says, "Wook Wanny! Pwesents!!" I then tell him that one is for him and one is for Brook, and they both are stoked haha. These planes are pretty fragile, but Brooklyn managed to get her's opened without breaking it. She decided she wanted to paint her's, but I don't think that ever happened. Sam, unfortunately, broke his in half while viciously opening his out of excitement haha. He was confused as to how it was supposed to go together (obviously it didn't go together anymore), so I told him to come over with me, and I'd show him how to put MINE together haha. Meanwhile, I hid his broken pieces behind me, put mine together with Sam, and gave it to him. He was pretty dang excited when it was all put together. :D

And yes, I had to snap a picture of both Brook and Sam flying their's! They were crashed many times and are now look like hit-and-run victims with all the bandaging on them haha.

Trista later found an improv show in Pleasanton, so she bought tickets for her and I to go to that. (Oh, forgot to mention the other gift that was in the envelope on my door: Indoor skydiving!! Holy crap! Stay tuned for whenever we get to go do that!) We finished our evening with dinner, cake, and the improv show. It was...Interesting haha. But definitely memorable. (; We thought about renting a Redbox movie, but her and I were both pooped about 9 pm, so we headed home to relax. Finished off the night with some cake before heading to bed. (: Methinks it's been a rather busy, yet fulfilling week!!