RANDOM THOUGHTS

I haven't shared any random thoughts in ages.  Of course, if I did it on a regular basis, it wouldn't be very random, would it?

Wondering who will win the debate tonight?  Because I'm wondering who will win debate BINGO.   I just can't decide what the prize should be for the winner.

 

You can play too!  Just go here to print out more cards.  I'm thinking misleading and malarkey should be easy to get.

 

I've already informed my readers that it's National Cookie Month, but just in case you don't like cookies, it's also National Pickled Peppers Month and National Popcorn Poppin' Month.  And this week this week is National Kraut Sandwich Week.  Honestly, I'm surprised the kraut lobby is powerful enough to get it's own week.

Looks like Thursday is going to be a scorcher. 

 

Pumpkin carving is #1 on my list of least favorite holiday traditions.  So I've been scouring Pinterest for non-carved pumpkin ideas.  I was leaning toward this quick and easy solution.....

 

Source

 

Then I remembered I'd have to find the Christmas lights in the basement.  There's no way that's going to happen before Halloween.



  

And finally, I admit it.  I'm excited November 8, 2012. 

 



May the force be with you.
 

 

RANDOM & ROBOTS

The kids are all going back to school today.  It's about time.  Although now that our routine starts at 5:15 am, I don't love routine quite as much as I used to.

Speaking of time, do you know what time it is?

That's right, it's Tebow time!

And speaking of the kids going back to school.....

Hindsight really is 20/20, isn't it?

And speaking of routine.....not only does E's routine begin every morning at 5:15 (for early morning seminary), for the next 6 weeks, he'll be at school every day until 8:00 pm. 

Building a robot. 

Sometime in those six weeks, we have to provide at least one dinner for an entire robotics team of over 40 geeks kids.   And I never believed those people who said robots would take over our lives. 

RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS

I've been too busy to have my own random thoughts.  Luckily we can always count on Rick Perry for some quality random thinking.

Governor, do you believe that President Barack Obama was born in the United States?

I have no reason to think otherwise.

That’s not a definitive, “Yes, I believe he”—

Well, I don’t have a definitive answer, because he’s never seen my birth certificate.

But you’ve seen his.

I don’t know. Have I?

I'm not making any political statements here.  But that's random.  Just sayin'.

Here's a random recipe for you.

Chicken Enchiladas with Red Chile Sauce.  I never thought I could love a red sauced enchilada as much as I love these White Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chile Sour Cream Sauce, but I was wrong.  So wrong.  The secret is the homemade enchilada sauce.  Don't be afraid.  It's easy.

Do you prefer red or white sauce on your enchiladas?  Or green?  Personally, I see no reason to  discriminate against enchiladas of any color.

Happy Tuesday!



WE COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD

Last night E had his first high school orchestra concert.  They have to wear tuxedos.  Did I take a picture of him in his tuxedo?  No.  I did not.  I barely had time to feed everyone the pizza I ordered in between lacrosse and orchestra.  But here is a picture of a tuxedo, in case you don't know what one looks like.

But do you know who did take a picture of him in his tuxedo?  His seminary teacher. Seminary is an early morning scripture study class that Mormon kids attend for all four years of high school.  Like really early.  Before school.  At 6:00 am.

Not only does his fabulous teacher get up at the crack of dawn 5 days a week to teach this bunch of Freshmen, she tries to attend all of their sporting events, concerts, plays and whatever else they happen to be doing.  What do you even say about a person that awesome?  I did say thank you to her.  A lot.  I bet we wouldn't complain as much about "kids these days" if every teenager had an adult (besides their parents--and some don't even have that) who cared about them that much.  

As soon as the concert ended, C stood up and announced to everyone within earshot that he was going to start his diarrhea when he got home.  He meant this:

The book he had checked out of the school library earlier that day.

Speaking of school, T has been checking his grades online every day this week.  Report cards come out Friday and he is hoping for straight A+'s.  I'm afraid right now he has a few regular old A's.  We're a little disappointed.

No, of course we're not!  I'm only kidding.  We couldn't be more proud of him and his brothers.  Even the one who started his diarrhea last night.

RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS

Do you know what I like about Random Tuesday Thoughts?  I can cram everything we've done for the last week into one blog post.  What a time saver!

On Friday after school we drove up the canyon in search of fall leaves.  I guess we were still a little early, or didn't go high enough, because there just weren't a lot of fall colors to be had.  But aren't these boys handsome regardless of the background foliage?



Robot boxing movie with Hugh Jackman: 2 thumbs up!  Five stars!  And I'm not just saying that because it has Hugh Jackman.  I'm mostly saying that because it has Hugh Jackman.

Best advice I heard this week: Doing stupid things is not recommended and typically does not end well.

Do you need to get away from it all?  Are you feeling nostalgic for the good old days?  Well then you're in luck, because C has built a time machine.  With a cup holder.  If that's not time travellin' in style, then I don't know what is.

He's also taken up lacrosse.  I told him to look tough.  But he still ended up looking cute.  His Canadian father is so proud.  It's the national sport of Canada, you know.  Yeah, I thought it was hockey too.

Don't even get the resident Canadian started on Columbus Day.  First of all, to him, it's actually Thanksgiving.  And he loves to point out how dumb we are for calling our native people Indians--all because Columbus was lost.  He's always reminding us that Indians live in India, which is where Columbus thought he was.  It didn't help that he saw a commercial for a navigation device advertising how Columbus would have gotten here so much faster with a GPS.

People of America, listen to me carefully.  If Christopher Columbus had a GPS, he would never have come here at all.

How did you celebrate Columbus Day?  Because my husband thinks this is how we celebrate.

Happy Tuesday Day After Columbus Day!



RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS

There hasn't been a whole lot going on around here.  I'm not complaining.  Because in a few weeks, we're going to start the holiday season.  It starts with Halloween now, in case you haven't heard, and goes straight through until Valentine's day.

I took T to an "open air market" on Saturday.  Open air market is a fancy name for outdoor flea market, in case you're not familiar with the term.  He paid $1 for a spherical Rubik's Cube type puzzle called the Impossiball.  So named, I assume, because it is virtually impossible to solve.

He solved it a few hours later.  It's so hard keep my genius children entertained.

E brought home his shiny new laptop from school today--all the freshman are getting them.  It's got all kinds of filters and security features.  And streaming video from Netflix.  Because there is nothing available through Netflix that we would want to stop today's children from viewing.  Nothing at all.

Things have been so uneventful around here lately, I'm going to show you what we had for dinner on Sunday.

That's right.  Tater Tot Casserole.  Straight out of the 70's.  Except this was a way-better-than-the-seventies, Tex-Mex sort of tater tot casserole, with black beans, cheese and corn.  And everyone got their own little individual dish.  Isn't that cute?  Besides, I'm pretty sure Napoleon Dynamite brought tater tots back as a food trend. 

Gosh! 

RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS

I did my weekly grocery shopping this morning at 7:15 am.  I've been up since 5:00 am, so why not? 

C's 2nd grade teacher doesn't give traditional homework. Instead, she wants us to play board games, cook dinner together.....that sort of thing. Every day, he comes home and says, "I want homework." What is wrong with him?

Why didn't I think of this sooner?  I get so tired of making a new sign every time I go to a protest.  I could have been using the same sign all this time.

Today we have to go to laptop training at the high school.  All the freshman are getting laptops this year, and the parents have to go for "training".  In case we don't know how to use them?  To learn how much it's going to cost us when our teenage son loses or breaks it?  To spend time reflecting on all the other things we could have been accomplishing during laptop training? 

Last Thursday and Friday, I took school pictures at my favorite preschool in the world--Miss Elaine's Preschool.  My own children went there, but if you need further proof that she has the cutest students, take a look at this.  If you can stand all the cuteness, you can check out the rest of the kids here.

Speaking of pictures, I forgot to post my weekly photo of the day collage, so here it is.



Happy Tuesday!

RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS

If you missed yesterday's post on the Tour de Fat, here's a highlight.

It doesn't get any more random than that.  I have so many random thoughts about this guy, I don't know where to start.

Did he eat all that Captain Crunch himself?  And was it for breakfast?  Or when he had the munchies? Will he wear the Captain Crunch dress next year?  Or will he be wearing Froot Loops? Will Bjork show up in this dress at the Grammys?  So many questions.

C's birthday is Saturday.  He's asked for a Wii game and "one of those Slinkys that actually works."  How do I tell him that those Slinkys don't exist?  We're having a Spongebob party.  I'm debating whether or not to make a Jell-O fishbowl.

FYI, I'm changing my name on Facebook.

Found it on Pinterest

Apparently in some parts of the country, Girl Scout Cookie sales begin in October.  We don't see them around here until March, but it's never too early to brush up on your Girl Scout Cookie knowledge.

wired.com

What's your favorite?  For me it's a toss-up between Tagalongs and Somoas, with Thin Mints coming in second.  I don't know about you, but I enjoy an informative cookie chart as much as I do a pie chart.

Why do we send the children back to school in the middle of August?  I'm no educator, but I'm pretty sure there's not a lot of learning going on in an 85 degree classroom environment.  Last week, half the elementary school went home sick with headaches and other signs of dehydration.  Whatever you do, don't go to the nurses office if you're not feeling well.  An important person from the school district put a thermometer in there last week and when he came back 15 minutes later, it read 106 degrees.

Happy day after Labor Day--the day we should be starting school!

RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS: BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Yep, I'm posting Random Tuesday Thoughts on Wednesday.  I'm random like that.

Last weekend we attended the wedding of our friends Derrick and Debbie.  We've known Derrick since we moved to Colorado 12 years ago for G to attend grad school.  He and Derrick have been working together since graduation.  When E was life-flighted after his first seizure a few years back, Derrick was the first person to show up at the hospital.  We're so happy for them!

Debbie's mom made baklava for the reception.  Derrick's mom made cherry tarts.  And Debbie made whoopie pies....on the morning of her wedding!  Does it strike anyone else as funny to make whoopie pies on the morning of your wedding day?  But still, who does that and still looks this good by 5:00 pm?

I've been waking up at 5:00 am every weekday morning to get E off to his early morning seminary (bible study) class.  I think I got more sleep when my kids were newborns.  Because I was one of those mean moms who cut them off from late-night feedings at 3 months old.  Most moms gasp in horror when I admit to that.  But secretly they're jealous because they haven't slept for 17 years.  Besides, that's only one of the parenting techniques I've used that's scarred my children for life.

*Disclaimer: the scarring for life part was a joke.  The cutting them off from late night feedings at 3 months old wasn't.

T has been asking for a pet turtle since 1st grade.  That was 5 years ago, but who's counting?  We've had a dog here and there, but I'm really not a pet person.  Especially when it comes to non-swimming things that live in aquarium type enclosures.  I think they smell.  So I've never let T get a turtle.  (See, I told you I had other ways of scarring my children for life).  Guess what?  His 6th grade science teacher has two turtles in her classroom.  When T shared his love of turtles with her, she tricked him into asked him about feeding the turtles every day before and after school.  It's a win-win situation for every one!

I have a lot of growing up to do.  I realised that the other day in my fort. 

*Okay, I totally stole that one from Pinterest.

Happy Wednesday!

RANDOM TUESDAY THOUGHTS

I've been thinking about linking up to Random Tuesday Thoughts forever.  It's just that doing it every Tuesday on a such regular basis, didn't seem very, well....random.  Then I realized I could link up on random Tuesdays.  Problem solved!

 Here's something random from Pinterest.  I love astronomy humor mixed with pop music.

This morning at the grocery store I got one of those baggers who uses the squeeze and throw technique.  You know, squeeze each item to pick it up, then throw it into a bag.  Then throw the bag into the cart.  I appreciate him wanting to have a have a firm grip on my groceries, but the bread and produce still had hand prints in them when I got home. 

We're buying new tires for the family car today.  Tires are at the top of my list of things I hate buying because they cost way more than they should.  Toilet paper is a close second. 

My 6 year-old informed me the other day that he wouldn't want to be a professor because "in that job, you just sit around and think all day."  To be clear, he said he would be good at it, he just wouldn't want to do it.  I'm not sure if it's the sitting or the thinking that doesn't appeal to him.

Speaking of my 6 year-old, he is a completely different (much more pleasant) person now that his older brothers are off to school before he even wakes up.  It might be because there is no one around to bother him.  Although I suspect it's because there is no one around for him to bother.

A random tidbit about me. 

Also found on Pinterest

Finally, you'll all be relieved to know that everyone's school year has gotten off to a great start.  No one was locked in a locker, stuck in a trash can or offered drugs in the bathroom--because we all know that is what is supposed to happen on the first day of junior high and high school.  We are still trying to figure out how to manage E's backpack when every teacher wants him to have a 2 inch binder just for their class.  Guess we better find a good chiropractor.

Happy Tuesday!