Do you ever wonder...

Do you ever wonder why your clothes come out of the washing machine with holes in them? Oh, maybe it's because there was a midget pencil stabbing them to death.

Rare

I had to take a picture of this. This never happens between these two. A moment of peace and mutual enjoyment. I think in 15 years they will be great friends because they have some much in common personality-wise. Until then...I need to take pictures as evidence of hope.

Mid-Life Come Early

I hardly know where to begin with this one.

If you know my husband at all you'll appreicate this entry.

Carlos brought this home one day last week. He actually went out and purchased this little number. I stared at him and the collar-back & forth- in confusion.

Umm, he was serious too.

What is this for Paco? If you know me, I was hoping this wasn't a bedroom toy. Seriously.

He explained that he bought it for Halloween.

For one of the kids, right?

Nope. For him or me because we are all going as rock stars this year.

What?!
Who was this man?!!

First of all, he doesn't dress up for the event. I've asked several times. He went one year as a doctor and another year as a college graduate. Safe, respectable choices right? That's Carlos.

Second, when he does have ideas they are tame. Way tame. I don't know when or where he came up with this idea but it is a green light for the Cruz Clan. The pictures will be entertaining I'm sure.

I need to buy lots of black eyeliner.

(I mean guyliner.)

Mommie Genius

Periodically, I have a stroke of genius. I had this organization idea for several months but couldn't find a clear shoe holder. (Thank you very much for Ross on one of our date nights!) I think we paid a mere $7 for this bad boy. The boys' room has now been decluttered and everything is in a cute little pocket. I don't know how much Cristian enjoys this - these are mostly Mason's play things, but this has made such a big difference for our short gromit Mace. Even his cousin Ian loves to dig in the pockets for toys. It makes "clean up" easy too because they can see where things belong.

Another great use for the shoe organizer that I've seen at my friends house is for spices, microwave popcorn, fruit snacks, granola bars, etc. Let me know what you use it for!

Random Pictures

The kids are always eager to take pictures whenever they see the camera out. The last time we used the camera we must have left it out on the desk, so this time it was Mason's turn to snap some random pictures. This is me a few minutes after I got home from Church checking my email.

I have to admit that these do have some artistic quality to them.

And then there's these; no idea who took them or when...

Creepy Beauty

Check out this gorgeous specimen! Our friends the Ereckson's have this fella gracing their front yard. He looks so dangerous, mean, & venomous. Sharon calls him a "garden" spider. ALL the kids were FASCINATED by him. I think he is the neighborhood attraction. Cristian didn't mind putting his hand behind him to demonstrate the size of this beauty! Yikes!

In Remembrance

This is what our lawn was graced with on September 11 of this year. It is adorable how patriotic my husband is. He puts these flags out on July 4th, Memorial Day, & Sept. 11. Cute right? He is always a little appalled that no one else has a flag out on these days.

The face of our family

Cristian was on the DS (big surprise), Cora was finishing her snack, Mace was coloring his homework, & Perry was thrilled to just be in the mix. What was I doing you ask? Why something glamorous and exotic - the dishes. So they are are yacking to each other when Perry announces that she is going to have LOTS of babies when she gets married. (I really am excited about her being the main grand baby supplier.)

Cora asks her how many babies she is going to have.

Perry holds up both hands and spreads her chubby fingers out as wide as she can. She looks at them, in awe of herself, thrilled with the prospect of all those babies. "I want ten babies in my tummy. I love babies!"

Cora's practical side steps in. "Well, you don't have to have all those yourself. You can adopt some if you want too. That's what I'm going to do. I am going to have two babies in my stomach and then adopt a third baby."

Perry's not sold. Cora finds another victim to push her ideals on. (I wonder where she gets that personality trait.)

I quickly piped in. Cristian had told me that he wants three children, so I point that out.

Cora asks him if he is planning on making all his kids because he could adopt them instead. Cristian doesn't even flinch from his game as he lays out his reproductive plans, "I am going to make 2 and then adopt 1." And...back to his game.

I ask Mason how many kids he wants to have. "Um, four." Yeah, 4 is a pretty good number, but then I suppose I am biased. Cora wants to know their method of entry into his family. Rooting for the adoption route, she prods. He really wasn't too interested in the conversation as is so he said he'd like to adopt some of his kids and refocused his coloring.

Point is, I loved this dialogue. There are so many rotten things I pass on to my kids. Like saying "crap" all the time so that they use it in school and church. Or when I'm at the end of my rope, sick of the fighting and teasing and tell them just to "pop each other and make it a good one".

But... THIS I will happily take credit for.

Back To School 2009

So, the kids went back to school on Monday, August 24. It's funny that as kids get older, they don't look forward to school as much. And as parents, the older our kids get, the more we look forward to the first day of school.

Jen started a new tradition this year...the back to school crown. We went to open house at the kids' school and Jen made these crowns for each of them to wear. They are decorated with their names (of course), stickers, pictures and doodles. They were all thrilled to wear it...except Cristian. He only wore it so we could take a picture and record the occasion. Can you blame him? Cristian's going to get beat up if he wears things like that to school!

Cristian - 3rd grade
Cora - 1st grade
Mason - Kindergarten

Vintage Cora

I bought this little diddy at Target. I couldn't resist - as I often can't with Cora and clothing. What can I say, she gets fashion. She appreciates every article of fabric I purchase and then she accessorizes it. She picked out her flower and shoes. Great eye, right?

I love this frock. It is so 50's-housewife-at-the-park. I wish they made it in my size.

I love the curve of her body especially the right ankle. She is just precious to me.

SAY WHAT?!?

Cristian
age 5.5
June 2006

When he grows up and marries Arwynn Jones - if it's okay with her - he wants to have 3 children. The first will be a boy, Pityano. The second a girl named Dani, and the third Krista.

I don't know where kids come up with these things!

These Boys

Today was a stake primary activity for the older kids. Our stake center is a zillion miles away so we toted 3 of Cristian's friends along with us to the activity.

Shane and Logan burst into my van making some sort of announcement about their deodorant they HAVE to wear and how much they HATE it. I could tell this was going to be a good drive.

We picked up Cameron and were on our way. Now let me tell you, as a mommie of boys and girls, hands down girls are the yack-ers. Except with this group of boys.

To set the scene...Shane has a booming voice. He is the most emotionally honest, upfront child I know. He is so refreshing. His brother Logan is more reserved, quite sensitive towards himself and others, but he won't let anyone steamroll him either. Cameron is all-systems-go 24/7. He is a wiry, quick little guy. His body or mouth are always in motion. It is usually both. His thoughts go so fast that his mouth can't keep up. He's always excited, animated, and happy. Then Cristian, who in this group, definitely takes a back seat. You'd have to be tenacious to hold your verbal own with these boys. He watches, listens, laughs and occasionally interjects.

We are driving south - the boys are loud, giggly, squirmish, frenetic. Thank goodness for their seat belts or there would have been much roaming about the cockpit. Conversations are jumping from Corvettes to water slides, video games to vacation spots. I am enjoying their interactions while sporadically hollering to "keep it down." None of them are phased by my behavior which means one thing: their moms yell too. Whew, that's a good sign.

I start thinking about their moms and how if we kept these boys together then this would be just one of their many car rides together. I imagined how the 4 of them would talk about each other's moms. Shane and Logan's mom would be up for anything and there would be tons of junk food or ice cream... you know the cool, fun mom. Sleep-overs should be there. Plus, they have a pin-ball arcade game. Sharon would be the relaxed, laid back mom. She'd be the one that would let an afternoon visit turn into a sleep-over and then a weekend stay. She's so laid back and accommodating. Cristian's mom would be the rule enforcer, the yeller. I'd be the one grilling each of the boys about their social lives and girls they liked. I'd make Cristian's house hugely unpopular.

I was chuckling about all this when I had a strange feeling come over me. I can't explain it nor do I know it origins. Maybe it was like a hopeful flash-forward. Of me driving these same boys around through the years. And it came to me that it has to be this way. I adore these 3 little boys. These are the boys that I want Cristian to grow with, these are the boys that he needs to be getting into innocent mischief with, scoping girls out with, attending football games with. These four boys are golden. I would so love for them to finish their childhoods together.

Then a little panic set in. That means the Erecksons & Carpenters have to stay in our lives for at least 9 more years. I was game for it, but will careers and dreams hold 3 families steady, fixed at one spot in space for nearly a decade? It seemed unlikely. But my feeling left me hopeful, that I'll have many more carpooling rides with these screaming, wild boys.

Our ride continued. We made it to the activity and piled back into the van. Same chatter and cackling ensued. I noticed these boys are on the cusp of manhood. They are still innocent enough to be entertained by childish things, but they are growing more sophisticated. The notice of expensive cars, the slight recognition of the opposite sex, sports, and technology. These boys are growing so fast! They are steadily approaching teen-hood! Eeeek!

But, graciously, to allay my mommie fears an exchange brought me back to the present. In a rare lull I asked Cameron, "So when is your daddy coming home?"

Cameron: "On Monday. He is hunting elk in Colorado."
Shane: "What? Your dad's a race car driver?"
Cameron: "No, no. He's hunting elk."
Shane: "Oh, my dad works for HP."

Needless to say I was laughing hysterically. My laughing caught the attention of all 4 and silenced them. What is so funny, they kept asking. I even had to pull over for a moment.

I guess for now these boys are still our little boys. At least they were for today.

Confession

so my husband seems to have another mistress besides little ol' me. i guess it's fair since i am entertaining two hubbys - that of carlos and his ipod.

carlos gets me and the quilting obsession.

this addiction was officially introduced by shalynn, who carlos sometimes feels he is married too as well, but that's another blog topic. all i can say is, that i dream about quilting, fabric, patterns, and designs. is that crazy or what?!

in all fairness, it was going to blow itself wide-open one day or another. i had a friend nine years ago who was a quilting proficient. she even had a quilted couch. it WAS hideous. but she was fabulous at mixing colors and prints. and i thought, "oh how nice that she is talented enough to do that. it seems fun."

and then six years ago i went through this fabric phase. i would sit for hours on the internet devouring fabrics. it was like art to me.

so that brings us to current day. shay started quilting, i gave it a try, and the disease has set in. now, i am realistic. i am a total white-trash quilter. i have zero creativity, but i can copy really well. i know with time and training the eye and brain, i will become a cute little quilter. no one great like shay or some of the other psycho crafters you find online, but special in my own little way.

long live obsessions and confessions!

Lest I Forget

I hope Perry doesn't outgrow this hobby. I think it's here to stay. She is my musical child.

She loves all the annoying instruments at Target that I'll never purchase. She is always singing throughout the day. And she always asks for the radio to be turned on in the car.

She has an ear for music. She'll hear a song once or twice and already have the chorus down. She bursts into Primary song regularly.

My favorite musical twist is her ability to sing her thoughts. This is hilarious to listen too. We crossed paths with two Target employees the other day. The one said to the other, "Yeah, I'll get right on that." We rounded the corner and there's Perry singing, "Yeah, I'll get right on that" with her own tune. Or there's the statement song, "Mason just got flicked in the mouth for saying bad words."

You name it and she'll turn it into her own little diddy. She is a cute little gromit.