The Little Figs

Yes, I added the fancy ending on the word, "Shoppe." I feel like it looks cuter that way. I love my sweet, sweet Aubree girl. Even in the midst of emotional roller coasters and pre-teen outbursts, she makes my days happy. I am so grateful to have her as my daughter. Aubree (11) is very creative, and has an entrepreneur spirit about her, which thrills me and kills me, all at the same time. I will explain... Imagine my surprise when, as a 7 year old, Aubree and her little friend decided to run a neighborhood carnival. The mom's thought the hours of planning throughout the summer would fizzle just in time for school to start, but oh no... those girls were determined to have a neighborhood carnival. We finally supported them by helping them make invitations and setting aside an evening for the big event. Lo and behold, they had quite a turn-out -- so many nice neighbors who were willing to spend their allowance playing Ring Toss, getting their faces painted, and shootin...

We have had trouble with the Tooth Fairy in the past. Apparently Marcus (7) set out to prove to everyone that the Tooth Fairy is not real. I only found out about this the other day when he proudly exclaimed, "Mom, I know the Tooth Fairy is not real." "Oh really?" I replied. "Why is that?" Marcus said, "Because I did an experiment. I lost a tooth a few weeks ago and I didn't tell you or Dad about it. I wanted to see if the Tooth Fairy would really come without you knowing about it." "Well that's too bad," I said. "I bet you didn't get any money under your pillow, huh?" Marcus shook his head, thrilled because he thought he had caught us. I continued, "I bet that Tooth Fairy stood outside all night. We have to be the ones to let her in the house, you know. Especially with the alarm system set. What a bummer!" "Hmmm..." is all he said.

We just got back from a fun road trip up to Mount Rushmore and to see some of the Mormon pioneer sites in Nebraska and Wyoming. Caleb, my 5 year old, is a total goof ball. He is just funny and goofy -- always making faces and saying funny things. We are driving along through Wyoming when I turned around and offered some snacks to the kids. When I offered some to Caleb he said, "No thanks, you crazy old lady." I wanted to laugh, because it was such a random comment, but seeing how I really should teach my kids to be respectful, I turned to him, pointed my finger and said, "You do NOT talk to me like that. That is disrespectful." (During my speech, I might add, Matt was in the front seat driving and laughing his head off. Luckily he did it quietly so the kids couldn't see.) Anyway, cute Aubree, always the diplomat, turned to Caleb and said, "Plus, she's not crazy. She's not even old, either." (Thank you, Aubree.) So Caleb turned to her an...

If you are ever thinking that it would be cheaper to drive to the furniture store and pick up your new furniture to save the $60 delivery fee, keep in mind that if you get a speeding ticket on the way to the store that costs $80, it would've been cheaper to just pay the delivery fee. Also, as you leave the furniture store and drive back down the same road you got the speeding ticket on, and see the same cop pulling someone else over, you may get a dirty look from the cop if you give a little toot on the horn and wave as you pass him.

Lessons I learned today... 1. Trying to cut your doll's hair, as a young child, does not properly prepare you for cutting your 13-year-old son's hair. Cleaning hair out of the bathtub is a royal pain. Trying to do a Zach Efron haircut when you've never even watched "High School Musical," or, for that matter, ever been to beauty school, is a very bad idea. 2. The caulking gun is not like a cake decorating kit. Caulk should have a very thin edge, not a big, thick edge, like when you apply butter cream frosting to a cake. Mental note to self -- caulk is NOT frosting and should not be applied as such. Caulk does not wash off hands as easily as frosting, either.

The other night we pulled into the Wendy's drive-through after a piano recital... Matt gave our order -- 2 chicken nuggets, 3 junior bacon cheeseburger -- ketchup only, 4 junior cheeseburgers -- ketchup only, 2 junior hamburgers -- ketchup and mustard only, and 2 value french fries. As you can see, much of this order is specialty made. As we pulled around to the drive-up window, Matt turned to me and said, "Money?" I said, "None. I didn't bring my purse." He quickly felt in his pocket, hoping a wallet would be there, but alas, he forgot his wallet. We both started scrounging for change. (Like that would cover our $15 order!) Finally Matt turned to the lady at the window and said, "Can you just cancel our order, please? We didn't bring any money." We drove away feeling sheepish.

Well, today was the day. It was the 5th grade maturation program. I have fond memories of attending with Tyler two years ago -- I even learned a thing or two. Aubree gave me the speech beforehand about how she didn't want me to raise my hand and ask any embarrassing questions. She didn't even want me scratching my nose, in case the speaker thought I had a question. I complied. I remember my elementary school maturation program. I remember giving my mom the same speech. I also remembering saying at the end of the program, "They have brownies? How are we supposed to have an appetite to eat brownies after this thing?" Ha ha! Ah, growing up is hard to do. That's for sure!