Everything is amazing, nobody is happy...

Please I beg of you, take the 4 minutes to watch this...

Everything is amazing, nobody is happy

I tried to get it to Youtube directly, but several failed attempts and some nerd chatter about embedding or going to bed with someone... and I decided to go with an old fashioned link. It's well worth your time, and it's an interview clip from my favorite late night host Conan.

My pal Cindy introduced this clip to me and it is so true. This was hilarious and made me stop for a second and be grateful. Sure, the economy has tanked.... but still... everything is amazing. We get phone calls from SPACE, people.... SPACE!!

Cramming it all in...

So I'm a total slacker mom. I prefer to spin it, so that I'm just picky about where and we spend our time. Just imagine all that Quality Time we are having as a family by having zero extracurricular activities.
Anyway, because it's tax season and I prefer to make my life ridiculously complex (remember last year's adventure), I signed the kids up for 300 extracurricular activities. My theory is that if I do it all now in one shot, I'll be home free for the rest of the year or possibly their lifetime. So along with Mr. Boy's Karate, we've got Gymnastics, Kid's in the Kitchen, and Sports. Then just for AK, she's taking ballet and tap. Which means she wears this... every single day, all day.

And dances and prances

every where she goes...

Furniture is overrated

I'm thinking I like this room better sans furniture. AK has found it to be the perfect place for a late afternoon nap. Even Baby Roller Hand decided it was the best place for a catnap. It's really tempting not to move the furniture back into this room once the floors are done. AK would prefer we didn't, since she has awoken us each morning by testing the acoustics and deciding that the mild echo is best tested by shrieking at the top of her lungs.

Mental Health Day

Finally convinced Mr. Boy to stay home from school after a rough early morning dentist appointment and hit the beach. I set my phone to go directly to voicemail and basked in the sun.

Pure Bliss Baby.... Pure Bliss

The way to a woman's heart..

Is taking the kids to the zoo every Saturday for the afternoon, so you can have some me time...
Or calming a nervous child during an outing....

Washing the cars with a wee one... teaching him how it's done and making sure he knows how to treat a lady... And Shoes... lots of Shoes. I want these.... so bad. Anyone going to London or Spain want to pick these up for me?

One can hope...

One can only hope that he will one day aspire to be a Bonafide Genuine Nerd like his mum and work at my former firm of Deloitte. Happy Tax Season to you and yours!

Happy Valentines Day

I am not a fan of Valentines Day... all that pressure to put out some forced sign of affection, it's not my thing. I don't want to get flowers at the office and have people gush or be jealous... I don't want to go out to dinner to some place to share a big heartshaped bowl of spaghetti a la Lady & The Tramp for $156... I'd rather spend some time at home, watching a movie or something. Although, now that these kiddos have come into my life... Valentines Day takes on a whole new meaning. I'm trying to teach these guys to be grateful, to give service, to be kind and totally abusing Valentine's Day as an excuse to have them serve. We've been prepping for a big Valentine's Day dinner for the family + Grandma.

We made decorations all throughout the week, shopped for the ingredients together, and today we prepped some stuff for the meal. The kids love it, and they are totally excited for the fancy dinner.

This whole project has reminded me that Valentines Day is not about the flowers, the chocolates, the romance or the commercial aspect, it's about appreciating the ones you love. The kids have embraced this more than anyone and it's a bit contagious.

And because we all love a good flashback:

Valentines Day 1995 - Provo, UT (aka the frigid vortex of hyper-happy people)

Current Beau: Hugh Grant (named changed to protect his identity)

I met Hugh at a punk concert of a local band. I had recently had one of those epiphanies that I was destined for greatness, SOLO greatness. Being social (and young and dumb, but that should be implied), decided best path for greatness was to find some guy who was looking for a casual relationship.

Enter Hugh Grant... he was 10 years older than I, British, Rock Star Wannabe-working at a nightclub as a maintenance man to pay the bills, British, Lovely, British, Fun, Never wanted to leave Provo, and British. He was not my type except for the British part... I could listen to him talk all day and night. However, I love ambitious people, not people who think there best path to Rock Star Greatness was playing a small club in Provo, Utah. However, he was fun and so lovely and perfect for something super casual. After having been burned on Valentines past (oh hello broken heart, you're still hanging on to wounds from 7th grade? get over it already!) I was cautious about even going out with an actual real boy on a Valentines date.

However, Hugh was shockingly charming, must have been his British Genes. He asked me to go to a Punk Show at the Nightclub he worked at. He arrived with a rose in his teeth and we then danced the tango in the living room of my apartment. He dipped me low to the ground, and slid a flower in my hair. He was that smooth people, loved that about him. We went to the club, where we got VIP treatment. He took me up to the DJ booth, where the DJ let me "spin some tunes" before the show. (Ok, it was really just one.. but it was still awesome. I "spun" Connected by Stereo MC) He took me to the VIP lounge and even told me in a lovely sexy whisper... "If the loo is out of toilet paper, let me know I have the keys to get more." It made me chuckle, still does to this day, because he took a lot of pride in his work and he was just so caring.

After watching this not-so-famous band, who later became semi-famous, play, Hugh had arranged for dessert in a private lounge for us. We hung out and talked for hours, and then one of the band members from the not-so-famous band came up to say hello. He sang for us, and then invited us to join him, the band, and Hugh's bandmates for Breakfast at the local greasy spoon.

At breakfast, one of the bandmates told me that Hugh was "head over heels" for me... And that is where I saw my plans for SOLO greatness coming to a crashing halt. Hugh was supposed to be for "good times only" and my plan was not working out. Little did I know...I was NOT destined for SOLO greatness anyway.

Remember how I was young and dumb... The evening/ morning ended with me sufficiently spooked, and running from Hugh's car to my apartment, yelling, "Thank you, it was lovely!" over my shoulder. I might as well have given him a high five or a handshake to end the evening. Not the best way to end a carefully planned out romantic date. I didn't even write a thank you note, which I'm sure would mortify my mother. I've ALWAYS felt bad about my hasty exit, so Hugh Grant.. if you are out there... I'm so sorry. It was such a fantastic & FABULOUS evening, and such good memories!! Thank You.

Here's a link to Fork Lift Guy from last years Valentine's Flashback, for those that love awkward stories.

You are wise, small grasshopper.

Little known fact: I took Karate in college my freshman year. I loved it! So fun to jump and yell, kick and scream. The teacher ended up getting fired... he asked myself and several of the students in the class out on dates... a big no-no at the University. Even worse, because I wasn't 18. Total shame and so awkward and long story short, I didn't continue. I've got to pick it up again! My short lived karate career has been coming in handy. Because I've got this going on at my house. And a lot of this going on at my house... And I love it! We practice every night, starting off with a bow. I'm thinking that I might need to sign up for the next session and join in.

Restless Morning

AK is the only morning person in this house, she wakes up enthusiastic to meet the day and her feet hit the floor running. The Misters, myself, and even the lazy dogs tend to roll over and lounge in bed for a bit before attempting to greet the day.

This morning, Mr. Man woke up somewhere around 5am to hit the airport for a quick business trip. I sat up in bed bleary eye-d, gave him a wave, then tried to roll back over to go to sleep. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, the only portion not buried in blankets, as he left. I lightly dozed for a few minutes but my brain was ramping up for the day. Inside my head were those swirling thoughts, the "what if's", the "should we", the "what about's". Pretty soon, both eyes were open and I was scowling at the clock.

I got up and started working on today's to do list, and Mr. Boy wandered out wrapped in a blanket and asked me, "What is happening? Why are you awake?" We read some books and he started to see the pink sky appearing outside the window. Alarmed he asked, "Why is the sky pink?" and I had to explain to him that it was the sunrise. Something he had never seen before. We went outside to stare at this phenomenon that was unfamiliar to us sleepyheads and marveled at the beauty of the early morning.

There is something about seeing the sunrise that calms the restless mind and heart. I'm grateful to have had this moment today... even if I'm not a morning person.

Catching Up

A while back I had a birthday, same day as Chinese New Year. I love the art projects Mr. Boy came home with. For years I have dreaded my birthdays. Thanks to Mr. Man, he has made my birthdays an event to look forward to. It was a mellow day, full of little surprises. Mr. Man and the kids made a special dessert just for me. I personally love the Dinosaur candle. My annual birthday self portrait. Mr. Boy has been stealing my new camera (a Canon Elph, for those inquiring minds) and has been taking 100's of photos. In a few years pics like this will gross Mr. Boy out. But for now it's fun to hear him direct us during impromptu photo shoots with, "Great, now give her some sugar!" (which in our house means a kiss)Mr. Man loves ice cream more than anything. We've been taking the kids out for ice cream in their pajamas as a special treat quite a bit over the last few weeks. Mr. Man swears Ice Cream makes his ailing tummy feel better, and I'm happy to indulge. The kids love feeling like they should be in bed, but are out and about. It's funny to see the combinations the kids come up with at Coldstone. Marshmallow Ice Cream with Marshmallows, Dark Chocolate with Chocolate Chips, and seen in the pic below Cotton Candy with Gummy Bears. Delicious!Those dark handsome eyes are delicious too. Mr. Man has a lot on his plate right now, and I feel for him. However, things are getting exciting as he starts on some cool new projects. Mr. Boy will eat sweets and then stop when he's had a few spoonfuls. AK however has to finish every last delectable drop. She also gets feisty and very protective of her ice cream, just like her dad. And just because... it's a great pic. No one's tongue is sticking out, and no one is pinching someone else.