Okay - this picture was on AOL (click to read story) today. I guess that both of these sweet little babies were rejected by their mothers at a zoo in Indonesia and have been sharing a nursery room together for the time being. They have become quite attatched to each other "nipping and teasing each other, and cuddling up for a shared nap when they are worn out". I guess there are two other tiger cubs that are in on the fun too. I just loved the picture! :) It reminds me of my oldest and youngest. Sometimes they seem to be natural born enemies. They fight like crazy. But when it comes right down to it, they are the best of friends. Hopefully it will always be that way. Not the fighting part... I'm thinkin that if all of them can grow up to be friends, I will be one happy momma!

Multitasking Marvel
Okay... "Wordless Wednesday" is something that I am not capable of accomplishing at this moment. I need to put something up today. Not sure why. I just feel that blogging urge. So, this will be "Wordy Wednesday". Sorry to ya'll that thought you were going to get a break from my ramblings.


So, this is my multitasking Baby Girl. Look - she's a sweet little girl and a neck pillow all in one! She is wonderful to take on long trips or flights. This has got me thinking... what ways can I use my sweet children to accomplish other tasks? What about attaching scrub brushes to their legs while they bath? They can scoot around the tub and scrub the grime away while also getting themselves clean... I also think that covering their shoes or socks in tape would be a good idea. As they run through the house screaming and yelling at each other, which is something they believe they HAVE to do, they will inadvertently pick up all the little crumbs, thus reducing my vacuuming chores. What do you think? I'm all about multitasking! Now if I can just figure out a way to get them to pay the bills, do the laundry, scrub walls, sweep the floor, and fix meals, then I'll be set!

Wordless Winds- day

Hiccups
I think that everyone has a "cure" for hiccups. I was thinking of some of the ones that I know this morning as my insides went into spasms every few seconds. Then I remembered a time when Dh had the hiccups. We had only been married for a short time. One night we were getting ready for bed and he got a really violent case of the hiccups. They shook his body with each one and they were kinda loud. I teasingly told him that he could get rid of them by opening his mouth really big. And it came. The Grand-daddy of all hiccups. The apartment rattled from the force and volume of this thing! I stared at him and then... we heard it. His hiccup had been SO LOUD that it woke the neighbor's baby up! I laughed and laughed while he scowled at me and the neighbor lady desperately tried to get her infant to fall back asleep. Ahh... good times :)

Prevaricator

How do you teach a child to tell the truth? My oldest has started telling lies. Some of them are just little details and some are bigger more intricate fibs. I'm not sure how to teach him the importance of telling the truth. He has been caught on several occasions fibbing to us. And when confronted, he insists that he is telling the truth, even though we know he isn't. We have explained over and over to him why it is important to be honest. We even got "Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space" (VeggieTales). Okay, so we didn't get the video because of him. We got it a long time ago. Which means that he should know better! Doesn't he remember what happens to Jr. Asparagus when he tells a lie? Does he really want a giant purple alien to scoop him up and carry him to the top of the water tower??? ANYWAY, I'm getting a little frustrated with my little prevaricator. Any thoughts or ideas to share? I just don't know how to help him understand how important it is to tell the truth.

Blogging Rut
I have a lot of things that I wanted to blog about. But I'm sick. I've been sick for a week. I'm tired. My brain feels like goo and I have lost my appetite for Marshmallow peeps. I took two peeps out of the box yesterday. Ate one and then choked down the second. It did not taste good to me!!!!! WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO? Have my taste buds changed with the illness? Will I have to give the rest of my peeps to my kids? Will my affinity for the sugar coated marshmallow-y goodness ever come back? Should I force myself to eat them, hoping that I will regain a taste for them? This is so wrong. So many questions... not enough answers....

Amanda at the Skinner Scene had some pictures of an American Idol contestant and a character from the Nacho Libre movie - they look a lot alike! So, I thought I'd post a picture of my own little Nacho. This is Baby Girl at Thanksgiving time. Fearsome, don't ya think?

Kiddos

Ah... today you get to hear about my kids! Lucky you! My kids are awesome. And they do some pretty incredible things. Let's start with oldest to youngest, shall we?

This is Red at the animal park. Are you loving the tie dye? I think it rocks! He did it himself. It was something they did at school to prepare for a field trip. They all did shirts in the same color so that the teachers could keep track of them. Pretty smart, I think. They went to our county fair and Red had a ball! They got to watch all kinds of animals race - pigs, ostriches , camels, and they even got to participate in a tortoise race. I guess the kids got to sit on these big tortoises while they moved around. For my animal crazy boy, this was heaven! He's growing up so fast. There are so many things that he says that blow my mind. And he's so good to his brother and sister - for the most part :)

Little Bug is doing so AWESOME! He is saying more animal names and the other day he came to me and said, "Come on - let's see" - so exciting! He wanted more cereal and you'd better believe that I filled that thing as full as I could! Love hearing his voice. Also, we found out that he will probably be able to go to extended school year. Which means an extra 4 weeks of school. For most people, that would probably be a huge pain. But Little Bug goes through a cycle each year. In the fall his language is nonexistent. He doesn't say anything. Just little odd noises here and there. By winter he's starting to make a few sounds that are really close to words, but not quite. In the spring he explodes. He starts saying all kinds of things. And then in the summer he looses it all. Mostly because I can't interact with him one on one for 5 hours each day. My two other kids just won't allow it. So, summer school will be great! Instead of having 12 weeks off he will only have 8. Hopefully that will make a difference. And, we are hoping to get involved with some other programs that will help over the summer :D

Yes, I know this picture is fuzzy, but it's a cute one anyway :) Baby Girl won't stop talking. She is always talking. Yesterday I told her that I loved her and she said "Yeah, I love Dad". Thanks. Nothing like an ego boost from the 3 year old. Later on I told her she was a "cutie bug". She said, "No, you're the cootie bug - it's like a lady bug". There you have it. You heard it here first. I am a cootie bug. This morning she got up and I said "hi baby girl" and she looked at me and said , "You remember me?" Umm... yeah. I know that 10 hours is a long time, but I still remember you :)

So, even though they make me crazy and sometimes I just want to lock myself in my bedroom and never come out, overall, this mama cootie bug loves being home with her kids.

Another Weight Loss Plan
Some of you may remember the Makeup Weight Loss Plan that I blogged about awhile ago. I have another way to lose weight, but I'm not recommending it. Get sick. That's right. Horribly terribly sick. Don't eat anything for 2 days. Just drink a some water and TADAH! I've lost 4 lbs this way. Wahoo! Now, if I did this when I wasn't sick then I'd have an eating disorder. And I like food way too much to do that. And I just can't make myself puke. I tried one time. I had horrible morning sickness and I thought if I could just throw up, then I'd feel better. Didn't work. I don't know how those stick girls do it. And then again, I don't want to know. So, while the weight loss has been the only benefit of being sick, I'd rather be healthy and back to eating my peeps. Amazingly enough, they don't even sound good to me right now! Scary, eh? Maybe tomorrow....

Animal Park
On Saturday we took the kids to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Before I start my story, I would just like to give a few details and reminders.

1 - I have 3 kids... Red is 8, Little Bug is 6 and Baby Girl is 3

2 - Red brought along a friend for the day

3 - My kids LOVE animals - we have zoo passes for every animal exhibit within a 200 mile radius

4 - We are not made of money

Okay, on to our story. We were all quite excited to go to the Animal Park. We had been to the San Diego Zoo and had a fabulous time and we were sure this would be just as wonderful. If I had only looked into my crystal ball I would have seen that the Animal Park was not the place for us. First of all, and maybe this is just me, if you're going to call something an "Animal Park", I think there should be more animals. And they should be accessible. Not that I want to walk up and pet the rhino's, but we shouldn't have to go on a 2.5 mile hike to get a look at the rhino's(remember items #1 &2 from the list). May I also just say, that I have never seen so many gift shops in one area at one time? It was like a horrible shopping maze. I think they should send the Amazing Race teams in there sometime... seriously, they would never find their way out. But I digress... after seeing the gorillas, 100 birds, the lions, 100 more birds, elephants, some gigantic bugs and lots more birds, we finally figured out that there was a train that would take us to see all the animals. We went and got lunch ($8 for a nasty hamburger) and then headed to the train. They would let us cut in line for $12 per person. Remember, there are 6 of us. If I have done my math right, that's $72 to cut in line (please remember item #4 from the above list). So, we decided to just go get in the regular line, only to be greeted by a sign that said "Waiting time from this point: 1 hour and 15 minutes. No. That's all there is to it. I am not standing in line for more than an hour with these kids. They are tired, annoyed that they have seen every plant in the world (which probably makes them feel like they are on a horrid shopping trip to the Home Depot Nursery, where I just look but don't buy), but not many animals. They are cranky because they didn't eat much of the gross overpriced lunch, and overall frustrated that I don't have any reasonable solutions. So, we did the only reasonable thing we could do. Let the kids get the unlimited rides on the carousel.($4 per person) They rode for an hour. This was the happiest they were all day. But don't get me started on the bathroom locations! They were impossible to find and not well marked on the map... grrr... we did spend the last 45 minutes visiting while we had ice cream. That was kind of fun. Recap of the visit: we wandered around the gift shop maze, raced around searching for bathrooms, spent too much money, saw tons of birds and plants, very few animals, and were overall annoyed with the entire thing. The two happy moments are represented in the pictures - carousel and ice cream. Sorry to those of you out there who might love this park. But it is not on my list of places to visit again.

A Girl After My Own Heart
When you hear someone say "hangin' with my peeps" you automatically think "oh, they are going to go spend time with some friends". That is, unless you know me. In which case you know that "hangin with my peeps" means that I have consumed a box of the marshmallow confections for breakfast. Some of you may be familiar with VeggieTales. In the video "Lord of the Beans" one of the characters talks about consuming a 200 lb. marshmallow peep before breakfast and falling into a sugar coma. This is me! I just can't get enough of them! The best way to eat them, is to let them sit out for a little bit... yumm... and to my delight and dismay, Baby Girl likes the peeps! A girl after my own heart! But now, I have to share... not sure how I feel about that. At least the peeps are back! Valentines is over! Time for the next commercialized holiday that we celebrate by eating candy to come our way! WalMart already has their peeps out. Which means that I purchased 3 boxes this morning, (plus a box of chocolate marshmallow eggs). I was very pleased to see a new color... light green! Actually, I don't really care what color they are! Pink, blue, purple, yellow, green... I'm no respecter of peeps. Well, time to go eat breakfast. Hey, would one of you would give me a call later? Just to make sure that I've come out of my sugar coma... thanks :)

Okay, I wanted to try a different blog... blogger is okay, but I wanted some different choices and an easier format... so, I'm trying wordpress. I will still come here, and in the end, I might just keep this blog and get rid of the other. But, you can check out the new one at http://mejojac.wordpress.com/

Yellow Chicken
In Lee's blog she talked about how she met her hubby. I thought that would be a great story for this lovely Valentines Day. We were both students at Ricks College (yes, it was still Ricks back then). He had just gotten home from his mission and was a tad afraid of girls. The first time I met him was at a church gathering. One of his room mates introduced me as "That girl that thinks she's going on a mission". Future dh responded with "We'll have to do something about that". I didn't think anything of it because he then turned back to the girls he was sitting with and began happily chatting away. A week or so later I was in my apartment and I could hear a friend, J.D., out in the hall yelling at someone. So, I peeked my head out to see what was going on. J.D. was trying to get future dh to ask the gal across the hall out on a date. They were doing a group spaghetti dinner and future dh was the only one without a date. J.D. asked for my help. So, I proceeded to tell future dh that he was "yellow" and a "chicken" and a "coward" and that he should just knock on the door and ask her! She was a sweet girl and I was sure he would have a great time. I called him a chicken again and then he and J.D. left. About an hour later my phone rang. It was future dh. The first thing that came to my mind was "He's gonna ask me to ask my neighbor out! Coward!!" He asked if I remembered him, I said, "Yes, you're the chicken." His response... "Yes, well, the chicken was wondering if you'd like to come to the spaghetti dinner?" I was so embarrassed. I gave a quick "yes" got the details and hung up! I felt so stupid. But, that was our beginning. Luckily, it got better from there.

We have now been married for 9 years. He is my rock. I know that when things get crazy, he will be there. He is willing to sacrifice so much for our family. He does dishes, laundry and puts the kids to bed for me. And the really great thing - he loves me! Who could ask for anything more?

Sledding
Today was a nice day. Sunny and pretty warm for the 13th of February. I took the kids outside and we blew some bubbles...
Then we spilled a few, so I got the hose out to wash things off... then Little Bug took over for me....
Of course, you can't turn the water on without making a big puddle and splashing around in it...

And then, of course, you have to go sledding. California style ;)

We had so much fun today! These are the days that everyone said would come and we had started to doubt them. But, I think the nice desert weather is finally here. Not too hot, not chilly (doesn't really get cold here), just right. And we are going to take advantage of this just right weather as often as possible! Come on down and join us! The water's fine!

Rachelle does this each Monday! So, this weeks topic is: Somebody I love

Well, the obvious choice is these people...

But, I think I'm gonna talk about this guy instead:

Not the greatest picture, but it's the best one I've got. This is my Baby Bro - who just happens to be about 9" taller than I am. But that's besides the point. I can always talk to this guy. And it's fun to talk to him. We rarely have a pause in conversation. He's smart as a whip and is more than willing to share an opinion or two. When we were younger, I was a pretty big tease. I'm an older sister. It was my JOB. And we still tease, but it's not to torment each other... well, not usually ;) But I love spending time with him. When we went to Idaho for a visit, he and I went and grabbed Taco Bell and just visited. It was a lot of fun. One of the things that I really love about Baby Bro is that he loves my kids. He likes to play with them. Chase them around the house and just have fun. When the kids are naming people they want to go see, his name always comes up. So, here's to you Baby Bro! I wish we lived closer so that we could hang out more - come see us for spring break! You'd love it here!! Anyway, this is the "Somebody I love"... aww... ain't that sweet? ;)

Melissa Needs....
I stumbled across a fun little internet game - wanna play? Go to Google and type in your name and "needs"... then come back and list a few things that popped up... here are my 10 favorite!
Melissa needs...
1 - ... a nap! (that would be nice)
2 - ... to get over it (hey- I'm working on it!)
3 - ... to increase her votes from 25% to 50%+1 (you heard it here - vote for me!)
4 - ... your help to understand tar (umm... yeah...)
5 - ...some serious help bowling (alas, this one is really true)
6 - ...to board the blob ship that is hovering overhead (beam me up Scottie)
7 - ...to do something to the house (any suggestions?)
8 - ...the adulation and she cannot take anything negative said about her (bring on the praise)
9 - ...to stand up for herself more often (I'll stand up for myself, after my nap)
10 - ... your blog posts by midnight tonight (what are you waiting for? Our operators are standing by)
It was fun... anyone else want to try??

The Makeup Weight Loss Program
We have an electronic scale in our master bath. Last night I weighed myself. Sigh. I was not pleased with the number that came up. I haven't seen that number since I was 4 months pregnant with my last child (please keep in mind that I gain about 50 lbs with each pregnancy, and I usually start gaining weight in the first month). Now, before anyone starts thinking "oh, well, maybe she's pregnant" - I'm not. Anyway, I was feeling rather blue as I took off my makeup and brushed my teeth. I decided to get on the scale again. Just to make sure that my eyes weren't playing some cruel trick on me. I jumped back on and.... WAH LAH! I had lost one pound! Evidently, I wear too much make up and need to brush my teeth more often! :D Actually, the scale seems to be little wacky. I got off, waited for it to reset, got back on and I'd gained that pound back. Got off, then back on again, I'd lost two pounds. I decided to stop there and go to bed on a semi-pleasant note. Maybe I need to get a hair cut and loose another pound... what other things could I do, without actually exerting any effort, to loose weight? If you think of anything - let me know - I'm game!

Country Gal?
I used to think that the city was the place to be! I wanted to live right in the middle of everything! There should be people everywhere and things to do right around the corner. Now, I'm starting to wonder if this is really the way I want to live. I think I might be turning into.... gasp... a country girl! The thought of having a little land, some horses, dogs (again), and maybe a few other animals (NO COWS) somehow appeals to me. I like the idea of the kids going out to explore a little creek somewhere. Having a lawn big enough to set up a swing set and a trampoline (we can't have either right now - no room). When we were in Oregon we had about 3/4 of an acre. It was perfect for our little family. I want that again. Unfortunately, we now live in California. I don't know how people buy homes here. Maybe someday someone will hand us a cool million and we will be able to put it all on down payment for a home :P And still have a monthly payment that we won't be able to afford. I admit it. I am a little country. And I'm possibly on a slippery slope that will lead me right to the Boondocks!

Sorry about that last post... it's for a blogroll that I'm trying to join :) Each Saturday there is a topic given and then you are supposed to go and try to find something that you think fits that topic. Actually, you can use old pics, or snap new ones. It looks like fun... come and join, if you'd like :) TNChick

Blogroll For Photo Hunt

Narcissists?

My kids LOVE to look at themselves. Whether it be in photos or in the mirror, they will take any chance they get to steal a glance or two at themselves. Little Bug has a photo album in his bed at this very moment. We had to stop having family prayers in the boys bedroom because there are mirrors on the closet doors. Inevitably we would hear... "Thank thee for... um.. for...." and I'd glance up to see one of my sweeties pulling faces at the other in the mirror. I'm not too proud to say that this caused a few giggles in the middle of prayer, but we did move our location to a less reflective area of the house. (Not that this solved all of our giggles, but it has helped) Tonight, my kids all climbed in my bed to watch our screen saver. Which, of course, is photos of them. They were mesmerized and then extremely annoyed when I announced that it was time for bed. I want them to be proud of the way they look... after all, they're cuties! :D But is there a point where that crosses a line?? Are they too young for me to worry about this? I turn to you, my blogging friends, can a little kid like themselves too much?

Music
I had forgotten how much I love music. That sounds weird, doesn't it? I get so busy doing the every day stuff and I don't think about putting a CD in while I work. It doesn't occur to me to do it. Well, the other day I decided that I wanted to get some new music. So, I started looking around on the Barnes and Noble website. I didn't want to pay $18 for a CD with one or two songs on it. Then I remembered something, I have high speed internet now. We lived with dial up for so long that the thought of downloading music seemed laughable. But now, I have the power! So, I got hooked up with iTunes and I am loving it! I can't explain the joy that I feel when I listen to good music. I've downloaded everything from Green Day (clean stuff) to Diamond Rio. I'll have to be careful or music downloads will become my latest addiction.
So, what's your favorite kind of music? Do you have a favorite song or group??

Pet Peeves
There is a blog where each Monday everyone is given a topic to blog about... It's called My Life Monday. Anyway, I know it isn't Monday, but I'm going to do this anyway! This Monday was Pet Peeves. Next week I'll do it again and see if I can insert the cute graphic that goes with it :)

1 - Hair stylists that don't listen. I take a picture in that looks all sleek and blunt cut and I end up looking like a French poodle! I have only had three stylists that ever listened to me and did as I asked . Everyone else styles my hair big. REALLY BIG. :P There needs to be a course at Beauty School called - The 80's are GONE - Get over it! Or perhaps - Bigger Isn't Always Better.

2 - People who apologize for things that aren't their fault. I understand showing a little sympathy... but if I say, "Hey, it looks like it's gonna rain" and they say "I'm sorry" it is annoying. Why are you sorry? Can you control the weather?

3 - People who talk before they think... which means that I sometimes commit one of my own pet peeves... sigh...

4 - Lee talked about this on her blog... people who wait for your parking spot even before you have gotten all of your groceries in the car. I had a lady do this today. Baby Girl and I were taking our time and just kind of playing around. I hadn't noticed this woman waiting for us. I get in and start to back out, but had to stop for a pedestrian. The woman in the car starts shaking her hands at me like "What the heck are ya doing??" Now, as much fun as it would have been to go to jail for running someone over, I decided to wait. I pulled out and passed the lady who had been so impatient, she sneered and turned away. Grrr...

So, what are some of your pet peeves? Or do you share some of the same ones as mine?

Okay, so we did the hair cut thing today... this is a before picture....


During the haircut... she did really well. I did end up bribing her with a new littlest pet shop toy if she would put her chin down so that they could even out the back... I think she was afraid they were going to cut her or something...

And after... it cut off so much of the light blonde that she looks more like a brunette to me now. Sigh... I'm getting used to it. She's a sweetie and she's always cute, but this is going to take some getting used to :)

Can You Hear Me Now?

I used to think that selective hearing loss only affected my boys. I was so WRONG! This picture was taken right after I said, "Stand still and give me a big smile!" She got the last part right... but as soon as I said, "Stand still" it was like she lost control of her legs. She jumped and spun in circles and couldn't hold still for 2 seconds. You see, we got a couple of new dresses at Costco tonight and I wanted pics to send to my mom. Most of them are a blur. Maybe I should have set my camera to the "action shot" setting. Or "sports" setting or whatever it is.

On another fun note... Dh brought me lunch from Carls Jr. today. I had been wanting a chocolate malt and he got me one! :) When Red got home from school he saw the leftover fries and such and asked about it. I told him that Dad had brought lunch home. Then Red looks at me and says, "Mom, have you ever eaten at Carls? I know you've eaten at Carls Jr, but what about Carls?" I love that boy!

Check Yer Batteries
I understand. No really, I do. Companies want to make it hard for people with sticky fingers to walk out of their stores with merchandise unpaid for. So, one of the ways to do that is to put items into big, bulky packages and then make them so that they can't be opened unless you have a chain saw. But can't they find a way to make it easier for the consumer to get to the product they have paid for? Some kind of magic wand thingy that they wave over it and the super mega glue that holds the thing together would melt so you could get the darn thing open??It took me 20 minutes to open that package! 20!! I didn't want the rechargable batteries that bad... but once I had made the first cut with the chain saw... well, there was really no going back.

Little Bug
For those of you who don't know, Little Bug has autism and can't talk. But, recently, he has started saying some animal names! He said "lion" and "elephant" the other day and I smiled and encouraged him as much as possible! You see, I learned a hard lesson. The first time Little Bug ever did sign language without any help I was so excited I let out a little yell. Okay, maybe it wasn't a little yell... it was more of a YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!!!! WWAAAAAHHOOOOO!! This scared the CRUD outta Bug. Can't blame him. He finally did something we had wanted him to do for a long time and momma FREAKED OUT. He did NOT want to do sign language for a long time... he still doesn't sign very often... sigh. I've never been very good at controlling my emotions. :) So now, I put on my biggest, brightest smile and hope he knows how much I am screaming for excitement on the inside. He seems to understand. He always smiles back. But, for as long as I can remember, his words have always come in waves. Suddenly, he will be saying all kinds of things. And then, just as suddenly, it stops. And we wait for the next wave to come. But, he is progressing! And for the most part, he's happy. So really, who could ask for more?