Wicked

It was a long time in the waiting but it finally came and so quickly went. Back in October I bought our tickets for Wicked. It was a play Talmage and I both thought would be fun to go see. My mom, sisters, cousins, aunts, etc. went last Wednesday but since Talmage wanted to see it and I knew he had Spring Break in April I knew we could go together. It was a fun day to spend just with Talmage. And surprisingly, I didn't worry about the kids...much, at all. I was relieved that Tyler was taking bottles and formula and he eats anything he can so I wasn't worried.

We left around 9:45 and decided to take BART so we wouldn't have to worry about parking or driving in San Francisco. Great idea! It was so relaxing...once we finally got on BART. Just a minor little gliche there. Once we got to the city we had about an hour and a half before heading into the theater. We got some lunch then walked around.
I kept noticing people carrying bags with produce so we went to check out behind the theater. Turns out the Farmers Market was going on. We grabbed some delicious kettle corn then continued around the block.
San Francisco City Hall was just right down the street so we walked up around there for a little bit. I wasn't always very good at getting the camera in the right spot to take a picture. Talmage was wearing a nice crown in this picture...but it sure is cute!

We should have gotten a better picture with the Wicked sign in the background, but this is all we got.
We had great seats and the play was absolutely wonderful. I would definitely go see it again. For those not familiar with it, it's the story about the Witches from The Wizard of Oz. It was fun to learn their story.
Of course after the play it was convenient to just hop on BART and talk about the play without having to watch for street signs or worry about traffic.
When we got back to our car, then came the impossible task (for me) to decide where to eat dinner. I had first suggested Applebees but we couldn't find it right away and saw many other restaurants. We walked into about 5 restaurants and looked at the menus before finally deciding on what else...APPLEBEES. I don't think either one of us minded the 45 minute decision making process. It was nice to just be out together and not having to worry about the kids.

And to finish off dinner...the delicious Chocolate Lava Cake. YUMMM!
We got to my parents' house to pick up the kids around 9:15. Kenzie and Tyler had fallen asleep but Grant hadn't given in yet. Katie had the kids earlier in the day but Brittany picked them up when she got off work. My mom had to work at the Disney Store...her one day a month job just happened to be the day we were going to see Wicked. As far as I heard, the kids were okay. Tyler did well taking bottles. I guess that means we can do it again sometime! What a fun day!

A little behind

Last Saturday Kenzie and I got to be princesses. Kenzie went to a Princess Party for her little friend and I went to a Princess Party for another little friend. Kenzie had so much fun. Elsa's mom was INCREDIBLE. First of all the invitations were cute little homemade PINK satin pillows with a PINK paper crown. How could Kenzie NOT be excited about that!? Then Elsa's mom was all dressed up and she had a cute castle all set up in the house. Later I found out from Kenzie that the little boys at the party dressed up like Knights and fought the Dragon (Elsa's dad) while all the little princesses ran into the Castle. (This is according to Kenzie so I'm not exactly sure how it all played out. She did say she was afraid of the dragon though.)


And I got to be Snow White for another little Princess party. It was so much fun! I always thought it would be fun to be Snow White at Disneyland. When I was in college I would talk like Snow White when my boss's granddaughters came to visit. It was fun then and it was fun on Saturday. I always loved dressing up when I was a little girl but I didn't know it would be as much fun as an adult too. I don't want to boast...but I think I was a pretty good Snow White. Thanks Angela for asking me! What I realized about these two parties...it's probably time I finally have a birthday party for my kids. Grant has never had a "friend" party and he'll be 6 in July. We had talked about having a party for Kenzie for her last birthday but that was right during the time we got the keys to our house and started painting and moving. We never did have a party. Sorry kids!

Yesterday we watched Jack and Audrey while Katie and Eric (and almost everyone else in the family) went to see Wicked in San Francisco. (Talmage and I are going next week since he has Spring Break). We had a fun day with the kids. I admit my ears started to get a little tired because everyone came to me for everything. All of the kids were very good. At one point when I was trying to make dinner before Tyler woke up from his nap, the kids kept coming to ask for a snack or ask where a toy was or let me know someone wasn't doing something... I finally came up with a brilliant game. It actually wasn't a game, nor was it brilliant. It was the first thing that came to my head. I told the kids to all sit down, close their eyes, and plug their ears. I thought they would laugh and tell me no. But they ALL did it. I was the one laughing. It was so funny that they were so quick to follow those instructions. I felt bad I didn't have an actual fun game for them to play. I'm sure if my head hadn't been so cloudy from the noise of the day or my cough I could have come up with something.
Talmage got home not too much later and took the kids out to the park. I am so lucky to have a patient and wonderful husband. He took the kids out and ran with them and played until dinner was ready. Then he helped the kids get the toy room all clean and give the kids a bath. We put Grant, Kenzie, and Tyler to bed then Talmage read Jack and Audrey books for almost an hour. Audrey soon fell asleep but Jack wanted to stay awake until his parents got there. Talmage and I were talking to him about his new baby brother or sister. He had some pretty good names picked out. For a boy, he wanted the name to be "HeyJude" and for a girl, "Andi". Pretty creative! He finally gave in and fell asleep.


The other day the kids were playing in the toy room. I noticed it seemed a little quieter than usual so I looked out to find they had taken their toys out for some air. It was a beautiful day. These kids are so funny and creative with their toys. I'm glad they're such good friends.
And for a little Tyler update... He'll be 9 months on Saturday. Still not crawling but he'll scoot on his back and every once in a while roll over to get something. Progress. He's also slept all night about 4 nights in a row. He had been sick so I didn't blame him for waking up in the night then. He just didn't feel good. Now we need to work on getting him to take a bottle again since next Wednesday we'll be in San Francisco all day.

I know I'm complaining

I'm having a hard time getting this started... I know what I want to say but I want to say it in a way that doesn't make it sound like I'm perfect...I'm only practically perfect. That being said, I wonder what's wrong with people. The past two days I've had two "Is this really happening?!" moments. Two things that I've been reminded that I don't like are 1) Disrespect and 2) Customer Service Agents.

A few days before my 16th birthday my family moved from the house on the turkey ranch to our new house. I had lived in the other house since I was 1. Of course many memories were created in that house. I remember so many little details about it. And the yard...I remember the HOURS I spent playing in the playhouse or swingset fort my dad built or just skating around the cement sidewalk. It was a HUGE backyard. The playhouse had a cute little porch, a dutch door, and 4 working windows. And the furniture... We were so lucky!

So yesterday my mom called and said my dad was over at our old house and we could go walk through it. The previous hired man moved out and before the new worker went in they had to fix it up a bit. The house showed 12 1/2 years of neglect. Obviously people that didn't like to clean. BUT it was the playhouse that really bothered me. This was more than just lack of respect. Total vandalism. Profanity was graffitied on the outside of the door and the walls inside. I was beyond disgusted that people would do that. What kind of world do we live in? This wasn't their property. Did the parents not care that their teenage or older boys would deface something that wasn't theirs? So perhaps the "kids" were going through a wild stage...but what about the parents?! I can't imagine they didn't know. What really bothers me is the fact that people do things like that but are not held accountable. I think they should have to pay for the damages but I know that will never happen. Who knows what these people did with their money but they sure didn't save it. To live in a house rent free and beyond not taking care of the house, they defile the innocent little playhouse. Even though the playhouse was bad and the house wasn't in good shape like we left it, I enjoyed being able to walk through the house. There were things about it I had forgotten. Fun memories in that house.

But as for my second item of annoyance...Customer Service Agents! I talked to PG&E for over an hour today and still didn't get my questions answered. I talked to three different representatives today and one a week and a half ago. I don't know what kind of training those people go through but someone should at least teach them to tell people the same thing. I heard so many different things that I was more confused after I got off the phone. I wished I hadn't bothered calling. What's so great about it is one lady told me she was going to transfer me to her supervisor so he could help me understand what she was telling me. WHAT?! I totally understood what she was telling me...but why could I not get a straight answer from her?!
The issue is about NONBYPASSABLE charges. When we moved into our house I was told that there was a charge for about $3 a month from PG&E. The charge is because PG&E came and put the equipment here but they didn't get the Electric accounts...those went to Modesto Irrigation District. The charge was about $2 for the month of November when we first moved in. The month of December was $3.64. I knew it was supposed to be around $3 so it didn't bother me. Then for the month of January it was $7.12. I just wanted someone to answer why it went up so much and if it's based on the average from the previous owners usage or our metered usage or all customers average usage. Not one of those 4 people could tell me that. And then I'm the one that doesn't understand what they're saying. I am a college educated person. Not saying that I know everything...but I seem to be able to understand what people are telling me. I can't say the same for Barbara, Beverly, or Michael. I still want to put up a fight for finding out what this really is all about...but is it really worth it!? I should just pay the bills and ask no questions.

Ever so dependent...

I can't believe how much we rely on technology! It's crazy that we once lived without computers and without the internet. Right around the time Tyler was born our computer monitor was fading and fading fast. It would shut off on us all the time. Frustrating. I realized then how much we depended on computers. Lately we have a whole new issue. The monitor is working great...it's a new one. I think Tyler was 2 weeks old when the old one finally gave up completely. But this new issue is the computer. It gives us the blue screen of death.

For those that have experienced this joyful event know how it's not so joyful. One morning I had it shut down on me 5 times within 30 minutes. Why did I even keep trying?! Last Friday I was talking to Dell tech support for 3 hours. When I got off the phone after the first hour I thought the kind lady in India must have figured it out and helped. Shortly after...the BLUE SCREEN hit. I called them back and hoped it was a simple little problem they could fix again. Two hours later I got off the phone hearing that it would be best to reinstall the whole operating system and upgrade the memory on it. Our computer IS 5 years old next month. That's pretty good for a computer. The Dell tech support people said there was no need to buy a new computer but we just need to upgrade. I thought they would convince me I needed a new computer. More money for the company they work for, RIGHT? We now have more memory so all it needs is a reinstalled operating system... We'll see what happens!!

The late bloomer

Everyone develops at different rates... I just expected my kids to be a little more similar on their developmental learning. Tyler has definitely been the late bloomer in the family. I'm not sure if I just spoil him more...or if he's just a more needy baby...or what?? I have found that he's just a little more difficult than I've heard other 3rd children to be. He's just as sweet as can be and LOVES his MOM more than words can express...but I keep waiting for him to "catch up" to his brother and sister. Grant was crawling at 6 months. I know because I looked it up in his baby book. Those were the days when I was really good at writing everything down because I only had one child. Tyler is 8 months and I think I can finally write in his baby book that he can sit without support longer than 5 seconds. He CAN roll over...sometimes...but doesn't really chose to do so. Of course Grant and Kenzie were rolling all over the place by 4-5 months.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but I don't really consider it bragging either. Some kids are walking by 8 months and I'm glad that Tyler is not. I really am so grateful to have a HEALTHY and mostly HAPPY baby. Sure I wished he slept through the night! But that will come, I think.

Dinner and Dessert

I love a good deal. It's fun to see how much I can get for as little as possible. Coupons. Sales. Deals. Bargains. Discounts. All a language I understand very well. Monday night for FHE we decided to use our FREE SUB coupons for Quiznos. Talmage and I each had one so we knew we were covered. We figured we would just share our sandwiches with the kids and get something else to eat at home. Not a surprise that I took a little longer to order...I just couldn't decide what I wanted. The lady helping me was very patient and kind. She let me taste the different sauces that went on the sandwiches to make sure I liked them. After ordering my sandwich she asked if I wanted to get something for the kids. I asked how much the kid sandwiches were. $1.99 for a 3 inch sub...but she would give me two for the price of one. Sounded like a good deal to me.

So after getting our three sandwiches...which were delicious of course, we were enjoying a nice evening together. Our kids were happy. We were able to eat our sandwiches and they were able to eat theirs. When we were just about done the other lady working came to our table with three cookies and asked if the kids could have them. Well of course! Grant had been asking for a cookie but we didn't want to pay $1.29 for 1 cookie. How nice of her!

Then Talmage went to go refill our waters and one of the ladies said he could fill up on any of the other drinks. He thanked them but we just stuck with water.
What an evening! It was great walking out of there having dinner and dessert for only $2.14. It might have helped that were were the only ones in there most of the time. Only a few people came and went during the time we were there. Maybe it's just that we have cute kids?! Whatever the reason, those two employees were so nice. We had to leave them a little tip. Of course it wasn't ALL free...but close enough! Thanks Quiznos!

I'm up too late...

I can eat it fast
I can eat it slow
I can eat it with milk
I can eat it without
I can eat it with chocolate
I can eat it without
I can eat it in a bowl
I can eat it in a cup
I can eat it on a waffle
I can eat it with people
I can eat it alone
I can eat it at night
I one time ate it in the morning
I can eat it everyday
It's a good thing I don't
I just ate it


I love ice cream