Mother/Daughter Duet

Overheard at the in-laws

We were hanging out at Scott's parent's house on Christmas Eve, visiting with a couple of people in the family room, when our ears all caught a bit of the conversation going on in the kitchen between Scott's brother William (who is 46 and has down-syndrome) and another member of the family...

"I love Marijuana sauce," William exclaimed.

A bit more eavesdropping revealed he was actually talking about marinara sauce.

Boy, that would be some sauce!

What's for dinner?

So, the age old questions:

"When is Dad going to be home?"
and
"What's for dinner?"

I told the kids I was craving good hamburgers, and so I texted dad and he was going to bring home five guys.

"He's bringing home five guys?" Sierra questioned.

Spencer laughed and turned to the baby and said in a cute voice, "Is dad dating five different guys?"

Silly children.

Aquarium Amusements

We have never been to the aquarium here in Salt Lake (or more specifically, Sandy), but we've heard lots of good things about it, so the day before Thanksgiving when the kids and I had an extra day off from school, we decided to take some friends and go see the penguins, among other aquatic creatures.

Fun was had by all, but there were two humorous things that cannot miss being posted here!

One of the employees talked a bit about the stingrays during feeding time. We only caught the tail-end of the presentation, and she talked about how this particular tank, where we could actually touch the stingrays, contained only females.

The presentation ended and crowd dispersed. Our friends and most of the kids began looking at tanks near the stingray exhibit. I was tending to the baby and then snapping some photos of the rays now that there were not a ton of people in the way. Two of the rays seemed to pose for a picture and I snapped it.

As I took the picture, Sam said, "It looks like they are kissing!"

"Yep, it kind of does, doesn't it?"

I turned to put the camera away in the stroller and I *thought* I heard Sam say quietly, "They're lesbians." But I was also tired and thinking the same thing, so I figured I might have possibly imagined what was already in my mind.

I wheeled the stroller over to where Sam and the other kids were looking at a tank of sea horses.

"Sam," I asked. "After you said it looked like they were kissing, did you say something else?"

Sam began to shrink, looking embarrassed, with a silly smurk on his face.

"It's okay. I was just curious. You're not in trouble or anything."

Sam spoke timidly, "Well, didn't she say the rays were all females?"

I smiled and laughed and said, "You did say what I thought I heard." I told our friends and the other kids what he had said earlier and we all had a good laugh. Brandon said, "I love your kids!"

The second thing isn't quite as funny...

Right after that, I mentioned to Brandon that the baby was hungry, so I was going to go sit on a dark and quiet bench that was along the path of the tanks they were currently looking at so that I could nurse him. He said that was no problem, that he and Michael would stay with the other kids for me.

I went to the bench, sat down, got the baby all settled in for an afternoon snack, when less than 30 seconds later this large group of people comes to a tank RIGHT IN FRONT of the bench I was sitting on. Turns out the Octopus was hungry, too, and it was his scheduled feeding time.

Brandon, Michael and the kids came over to see what the excitement was. Brandon approached me laughing and said, "Nice, quiet private spot you've found to nurse the baby."

I know, right?

I have always had amazing timing, that's all I can say. :)

Rising Star

Video from the Primary Program, September 2010.



Ignore the voice of Sam's nearly tearful mother during the last verse. :)

Three dads

I wonder what Simon's primary lesson was about. And more importantly, I wonder if he told his primary class what he told me...

"Mom, I have two dads, because Jesus is one of my dads."

"And mom, if someone has two dads, and Jesus is not one of the dads, then they have three dads because Jesus is their dad, too."

Cub Country

Last night we began to get Sam ready for Cub Country, because he had to be ready to go by 7 a.m. this morning.

So first, I told him to find his shoes so that he would not have to frantically look for them in the morning.

Sam: "I need shoes?"

(I realize you have been hanging out in your pajamas and bare feet all week, throwing on flip-flops when absolutely needed. But yes, you are going to the mountains and you need shoes and socks.)

Next, I asked Sam if he knew where his scarf was (meaning his blue bandana-like scarf that goes around his neck as part of his scout uniform.)

Sam: "Why do I need my scarf? Is it going to be cold?"

Oh, boy.

Simon Random One-liners

May 3--Scott posts on facebook:

Simon: "Dad, pretty soon can we open another bag of fishy crackers?" Me: "I don't know... will you guys eat the whole bag in two days again?" Simon: [thinks for a few seconds] "Ok! So can we open one now?"

April 29--Scott's Status on Facebook:

From my 4-year-old: "Dad, licorice is *almost* like fries... almost. 'Cause it's loooong, and fries are a little bit long."

Approaching his chair for dinner that night (imagine voice inflection with attitude)

"Apparently Spencer left his coat on my chair."

April's Moho Party to Mom and Michael Wiltbank:

"We most definitely should not go play in our room! It will get all messy!"

Missing Shoes

Simon's shoes have been missing for a couple of days, but then Sierra found them in her room and put them in the boy's room.  Last night, Simon found them in his closet and exclaimed, "My shoes! I've been looking for those for years!"