When we recycle, we keep landfills from filling up. But in order to recycle, we need to wash our garbage out. I live in a city where water is a valuable resource. So should I wash my trash before I recycle it - or contribute the landfill?
And here's some Coby candy. She's so cute!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Random pictures & stories.
Kiersten had a birthday. She got cake decorating classes for her birthday present. This is her first cake. 
Ross & I had an anniversary. We went to the Biltmore for a few days. 9 heated pools. We brought the kids. Gaggles & gaggles of fun. 
Brynn got tired after the two days of swimming & couldn't make it all the way up the stairs. 
The budding artists: We went to the school yesterday and found this outside Howie's classroom. They "decorated" gingerbread men. Can you pick out Howie's? (hint: his is the un-boring one - my little punk rocker son) 
He also got his bobcat award for cub scouts. 
My other artist, Brynn, likes fingernail polish. 
We also purchased a LOOOOONG time ago - some trees for the back yard. We finally picked them up & planted them. We have a Grapefruit, Tangelo, Lemon, kumquat and a nectarine! I'm VERY excited about the nectarine! Look how pretty....blossoms! 
And saving my favorite for last (not favorite child, of course, I love them all the same!) but these videos are just CA-YUTE! Here's Coby climbing the stairs, she's So determined - I tried to get her to stop, but that just made her go faster. Then watch her interact with me - as she shakes her head "nothing's going to break my determination"
And do you remember the first time you swung in a swing? Watching her giggle, as you KNOW she's getting butterflies on the "down" part of this swing - just CRACKS me up!!!
I would say this is my favorite age, but dang, I'm pretty much in love with all the ages - up until they start to sass! But from newborn until about 4-6? My FAVE!
Ross & I had an anniversary. We went to the Biltmore for a few days. 9 heated pools. We brought the kids. Gaggles & gaggles of fun. 
Brynn got tired after the two days of swimming & couldn't make it all the way up the stairs. 
The budding artists: We went to the school yesterday and found this outside Howie's classroom. They "decorated" gingerbread men. Can you pick out Howie's? (hint: his is the un-boring one - my little punk rocker son) 
He also got his bobcat award for cub scouts. 
My other artist, Brynn, likes fingernail polish. 
We also purchased a LOOOOONG time ago - some trees for the back yard. We finally picked them up & planted them. We have a Grapefruit, Tangelo, Lemon, kumquat and a nectarine! I'm VERY excited about the nectarine! Look how pretty....blossoms! 
And saving my favorite for last (not favorite child, of course, I love them all the same!) but these videos are just CA-YUTE! Here's Coby climbing the stairs, she's So determined - I tried to get her to stop, but that just made her go faster. Then watch her interact with me - as she shakes her head "nothing's going to break my determination"And do you remember the first time you swung in a swing? Watching her giggle, as you KNOW she's getting butterflies on the "down" part of this swing - just CRACKS me up!!!
I would say this is my favorite age, but dang, I'm pretty much in love with all the ages - up until they start to sass! But from newborn until about 4-6? My FAVE!
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Hiking
Ross' mom & dad came into town that first night - before we went sledding - and were going to go with us - but mom had a bit of the sniffles, so they stayed back (we wanted to stay back to be with them, but once you tell the kids they're going sledding, and you DON'T go, you get on the bad list. Can't have that.
Next day - Ross' dad wanted to go on a hike - he dug around and found Camelback Mountain - maybe on some kind of chamber of commerce web site? And wanted to go. Well, I'm up for a good hike any day of the week - so we went.
I strapped Coby to the snuggly - and started off on the first 3/8 mile of a souped-up-nature-type stair-master climb!
It was great. Then we came to a CLIMB.
Can't do that with a baby - well, MAYBE up, but definitely not down! So I held Jolisa's baby while she went up one more level - and then we both went back down - I twisted my knee...Jolisa slammed hers into the ground.
BUT - the kids went (except for Brynn, who stayed home with Grandma and her cousin Olivia) and they all made it to the top!
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Debunked New Years Resolutions:
You must have a resolution for every New Year that comes along. I don't know what over-ambitious childless moron started this traditional ridiculocity, but I'll tell you right now what some popular resolutions are - and even show the hidden meaning behind them...which will help explain why my resolution this year is to not have any resolutions!
1 - Stop yelling at the kids. Do people do this? Yes and NO, the trick to this one is that it's okay to yell, but make sure the windows are closed so the neighbors can't hear what an idiot you sound like when squealing about backpacks and cracker crumbs. Also, if you really want to stop yelling at the kids - make sure you watch a video where you are in the background yelling at one of them...when you yell, make sure the video camera is in the OFF position. The key here is *NO WITNESSES*
2 - Lose weight. A lot of people gain weight during the holiday months from Halloween on - you're not really losing it. Nothing goes away - *I* find it all, so I would appreciate you keeping it to yourself.
*****(a) A trick to losing weight is to *deliver a baby* **it should be noted, I will not ever again lose any amount of weight. That is *MY* resolution for LIFE!
*****(a) Another weight loss tip - Don't drink your calories. Instead of drinking a soda or a juicebox, FREEZE it and eat it as a Popsicle. I've read in several places that drinking calories is not good. You will lose plenty of weight by chewing your liquid refreshment. At least twenty chews before you swallow. Chewing also burns calories.
*****(b) Keep hydrated. It's important to drink plenty of liquids. Take your snickers bar and blend it up adequately - freeze it, then chew it at least 20 times before swallowing.
*****(c) Exercise. We've heard this before, and I have an excellent tip for you - most people don't STICK to exercising because they get bored. My tip is this: to keep from getting bored while exercising, eat m&m's. Get a 3 pound bag, and dump them out on the "reading tray" of your treadmill or elliptical (we all know you move too much during exercise and the tray is too far away from your aging eyes to actually SEE text - the only reasonable use for that tray is for holding m&m's). Sort them by color and then eat all of them from the most amount of one color to the least amount of a color. Surprisingly, sorting m&m's takes a lot more time than it used to (they added the blue if you remember) by the time you finish sorting and eating your tasty little treat, you will have burned enough calories to cover an entire sorted color.
3 - Keep the {enter specific room or area of the house} clean. This is done by watching TV. If you avoid all areas of the home, none of them will get dirty - just sit in one place day after day and enjoy some liquid refreshments. Also, when adding children to the equation, do not let them in or out. Let them sleep in a tent. Tents are fun. And not in the house - therefore children tent dwelling doesn't lend itself to getting particular areas of your home cluttered.
4 - Get good grades in school. This is an important one for a lot of students. The key here is to find someone who is so uptight and stressed about school work to copy from. You'll understand this when you are much older and realize that you don't remember a thing from school, so it was a waste...besides school doesn't offer real life experience. Cleaning my refrigerator does.
5 - Become more spiritual. This is not as difficult as many people make it out to be. Every time you take the Lord's name in vain - use it constructively - turn the vain phrase into a prayer and bless the pygmies in New Guinea.
nuf sed.
1 - Stop yelling at the kids. Do people do this? Yes and NO, the trick to this one is that it's okay to yell, but make sure the windows are closed so the neighbors can't hear what an idiot you sound like when squealing about backpacks and cracker crumbs. Also, if you really want to stop yelling at the kids - make sure you watch a video where you are in the background yelling at one of them...when you yell, make sure the video camera is in the OFF position. The key here is *NO WITNESSES*
2 - Lose weight. A lot of people gain weight during the holiday months from Halloween on - you're not really losing it. Nothing goes away - *I* find it all, so I would appreciate you keeping it to yourself.
*****(a) A trick to losing weight is to *deliver a baby* **it should be noted, I will not ever again lose any amount of weight. That is *MY* resolution for LIFE!
*****(a) Another weight loss tip - Don't drink your calories. Instead of drinking a soda or a juicebox, FREEZE it and eat it as a Popsicle. I've read in several places that drinking calories is not good. You will lose plenty of weight by chewing your liquid refreshment. At least twenty chews before you swallow. Chewing also burns calories.
*****(b) Keep hydrated. It's important to drink plenty of liquids. Take your snickers bar and blend it up adequately - freeze it, then chew it at least 20 times before swallowing.
*****(c) Exercise. We've heard this before, and I have an excellent tip for you - most people don't STICK to exercising because they get bored. My tip is this: to keep from getting bored while exercising, eat m&m's. Get a 3 pound bag, and dump them out on the "reading tray" of your treadmill or elliptical (we all know you move too much during exercise and the tray is too far away from your aging eyes to actually SEE text - the only reasonable use for that tray is for holding m&m's). Sort them by color and then eat all of them from the most amount of one color to the least amount of a color. Surprisingly, sorting m&m's takes a lot more time than it used to (they added the blue if you remember) by the time you finish sorting and eating your tasty little treat, you will have burned enough calories to cover an entire sorted color.
3 - Keep the {enter specific room or area of the house} clean. This is done by watching TV. If you avoid all areas of the home, none of them will get dirty - just sit in one place day after day and enjoy some liquid refreshments. Also, when adding children to the equation, do not let them in or out. Let them sleep in a tent. Tents are fun. And not in the house - therefore children tent dwelling doesn't lend itself to getting particular areas of your home cluttered.
4 - Get good grades in school. This is an important one for a lot of students. The key here is to find someone who is so uptight and stressed about school work to copy from. You'll understand this when you are much older and realize that you don't remember a thing from school, so it was a waste...besides school doesn't offer real life experience. Cleaning my refrigerator does.
5 - Become more spiritual. This is not as difficult as many people make it out to be. Every time you take the Lord's name in vain - use it constructively - turn the vain phrase into a prayer and bless the pygmies in New Guinea.
nuf sed.
And we went sledding....
Two hours north of here is Flagstaff. They had a major snow-dump the last week (well, the week before we went - which was December 29th) and while Ross wanted to go the Friday before, I talked him out of it - first of all, it was going to be overcast and cold - and secondly - can you imagine how many crazy Phoenix residents would be heading up at the first sign of snow?
So we went on Monday - the second sign of snow - forecast called for SUN - and upper 50's - surely NO ONE ELSE would be there? No. Clearly I wasn't the only Phenician looking at the weather forcast.
There was hardly any room at our normal sledding spots. The road into the slope was cleared so exactly two cars could fit, one lane coming in to the slope, one lane going out - well, everyone was parallel parked on the going out lane, so as we came in - and cars came in behind us, we discovered we were trapped, so we put it in park and decided that we'd stay until everyone behind us left...in order...that's pretty much what we all did - so we stayed until the sun went down...and had an ABSOLUTE blast.
It was warm enough outside - that between the sun and the exercise of going up the slope carrying the sled, the kids only wore light sweatshirts and Ross (the dad) took his long sleeve off. He felt like he was in high school again - where he used to ski short sleeved...ah, to be young again...but with 6 kids...yah - there's a reality check - aged me 20 years in 30 seconds.
Anyway - our "tradition" (3rd time going! LOL!) is to bring up firewood - and make a camp fire - well, screw that tradition - the cars were bumper to bumper. (and it was pretty warm outside - so not really needed) So we took out the camp stove, camp table, the coffee percolator (we made hot water for cocoa) and the pre-cooked beef stew, and warmed it all up - ate a quick meal and the proceeded to do some sledding. The picture above of Coby & Brynn are in our camp chairs that only THEY could sit in (or there would be some serious sinkage!) Coby loved being a big girl in a big girl chair!!
Here are some more pictures of our stay. (I left my camera card at the house, so these were taking with Kiersten's camera - a new thing - that we're still trying to get used to!)
Brynn probably had the most fun.
Howie found a wheel-less skateboard and tried using it as a snowboard.
He actually did pretty well - I almost went to a store and rented one for him - too bad I was trapped between 30 cars?
Coby was a little worried coming down the slope, but after she stopped, she was giggling up a storm!
And Kiersten was my baby-holder while I looked for the photo-ops!
So we went on Monday - the second sign of snow - forecast called for SUN - and upper 50's - surely NO ONE ELSE would be there? No. Clearly I wasn't the only Phenician looking at the weather forcast.
There was hardly any room at our normal sledding spots. The road into the slope was cleared so exactly two cars could fit, one lane coming in to the slope, one lane going out - well, everyone was parallel parked on the going out lane, so as we came in - and cars came in behind us, we discovered we were trapped, so we put it in park and decided that we'd stay until everyone behind us left...in order...that's pretty much what we all did - so we stayed until the sun went down...and had an ABSOLUTE blast.
It was warm enough outside - that between the sun and the exercise of going up the slope carrying the sled, the kids only wore light sweatshirts and Ross (the dad) took his long sleeve off. He felt like he was in high school again - where he used to ski short sleeved...ah, to be young again...but with 6 kids...yah - there's a reality check - aged me 20 years in 30 seconds.
Anyway - our "tradition" (3rd time going! LOL!) is to bring up firewood - and make a camp fire - well, screw that tradition - the cars were bumper to bumper. (and it was pretty warm outside - so not really needed) So we took out the camp stove, camp table, the coffee percolator (we made hot water for cocoa) and the pre-cooked beef stew, and warmed it all up - ate a quick meal and the proceeded to do some sledding. The picture above of Coby & Brynn are in our camp chairs that only THEY could sit in (or there would be some serious sinkage!) Coby loved being a big girl in a big girl chair!!
Here are some more pictures of our stay. (I left my camera card at the house, so these were taking with Kiersten's camera - a new thing - that we're still trying to get used to!)
Brynn probably had the most fun.
Howie found a wheel-less skateboard and tried using it as a snowboard.
He actually did pretty well - I almost went to a store and rented one for him - too bad I was trapped between 30 cars?
Coby was a little worried coming down the slope, but after she stopped, she was giggling up a storm!
And Kiersten was my baby-holder while I looked for the photo-ops!
Friday, January 02, 2009
Then Comes Christmas
So, the highlights - always "what did you GET?" Now...Coby didn't get anything (like she'd even care, right?) - well maybe an outfit or two - a chew toy - you know - something to keep her from gnawing on the furniture (why, YES, that *IS* a dried mixture of snot and graham crackers under her nose.)
Brynn got a coloring desk which apparently was a HUGE hit - as opposed to a last minute "filler" type gift...
Kiersten's gift was also a huge hit - we got her stickers. A bunch of them - and curtains and a window scarf - which she uses as mosquito netting around her bed, since Phoenix is infested with mosquitoes (particularly bedroom mosquitoes - but this is what she wanted)...
Grandpa Covino also got her wooden letters, which she painted - how absolutely ADORABLE, right? She did a great job!!
Rossi got a punching bag & gloves. I think he was slightly disappointed with it - but it doesn't matter, it's a good thing with which to take his frustration out. I think it was an outstanding investment!!
Kali - she likes to write us notes on a dry erase board, so what better gift than the gift of gab? And you may also notice in this picture our lovely fireplace, the plasma TV gives off some reflective heat, so it was quite appropriate for the moment. A 6 hour loop of warm fuzzies.
Howie got a few armfuls of Tech Decks. This, so he can ride around the block on finger-sized skateboards, apparently, it's the THING, I'm just glad pokemon cards are a thing of the past - what a stupid gizmo those are (as opposed to miniature skateboards?) That's what he asked for...and legos.
So there's Christmas.
Brynn got a coloring desk which apparently was a HUGE hit - as opposed to a last minute "filler" type gift...
Kiersten's gift was also a huge hit - we got her stickers. A bunch of them - and curtains and a window scarf - which she uses as mosquito netting around her bed, since Phoenix is infested with mosquitoes (particularly bedroom mosquitoes - but this is what she wanted)...
Grandpa Covino also got her wooden letters, which she painted - how absolutely ADORABLE, right? She did a great job!!
Rossi got a punching bag & gloves. I think he was slightly disappointed with it - but it doesn't matter, it's a good thing with which to take his frustration out. I think it was an outstanding investment!!
Kali - she likes to write us notes on a dry erase board, so what better gift than the gift of gab? And you may also notice in this picture our lovely fireplace, the plasma TV gives off some reflective heat, so it was quite appropriate for the moment. A 6 hour loop of warm fuzzies.
Howie got a few armfuls of Tech Decks. This, so he can ride around the block on finger-sized skateboards, apparently, it's the THING, I'm just glad pokemon cards are a thing of the past - what a stupid gizmo those are (as opposed to miniature skateboards?) That's what he asked for...and legos.
So there's Christmas.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Pre-Christmas
Well, I have to blog according to the pictures I took, so lets start with the Christmas party. Our ward didn't have Santa come, so we decided to invite him to our house & along with a bunch of the kids friends.
Coby freaked right out - which - I have to admit, as sick as I may be, was kind of cute. I think it's absolutely adorable when babies freak out at Santa. Yep, call me twisted.
Here's one with the kids - they were running around outside just before I hollered for them all to come in...so they're all tassled and sweaty and grass-stained knees...but all in one place.
Coby freaked right out - which - I have to admit, as sick as I may be, was kind of cute. I think it's absolutely adorable when babies freak out at Santa. Yep, call me twisted.
Here's one with the kids - they were running around outside just before I hollered for them all to come in...so they're all tassled and sweaty and grass-stained knees...but all in one place.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
My note to the math teacher.
But first - a bit of "history." Kiersten came home with a progress report for her math. Apparently a majority of her class is failing miserably. The teacher offers extra credit on math exams worth 5 points each. Kiersten not only completes the entire math test flawlessly - but answers the extra credit points absolutely correct.
She brought me a progress report. A progress report for math class. The progress report shows her progress thus far --- in math class.
Because she did poorly on one of her exams, she is not getting an "even" 130% (that's one hundred thirty percent), she's only getting 124% (that's one hundred twenty four percent.)
I want to write the math teacher a note.
Dear Math instructor.
My daughter has received a 124%. Could you please explain this mathematical phenomenon? Back in the day when I went to school, if you had 100% of something - you had it all. For example, if I had 100% of the money in the world, I would 100% of the money in the world. If more money was created, and I received the money, I would still have 100% of the money, not 110% of the money. I would like to learn your techniques so when I bring her home next month to home school her, I can teach her the latest and greatest in mathematics.
Thank you,
The mom.
She brought me a progress report. A progress report for math class. The progress report shows her progress thus far --- in math class.
Because she did poorly on one of her exams, she is not getting an "even" 130% (that's one hundred thirty percent), she's only getting 124% (that's one hundred twenty four percent.)
I want to write the math teacher a note.
Dear Math instructor.
My daughter has received a 124%. Could you please explain this mathematical phenomenon? Back in the day when I went to school, if you had 100% of something - you had it all. For example, if I had 100% of the money in the world, I would 100% of the money in the world. If more money was created, and I received the money, I would still have 100% of the money, not 110% of the money. I would like to learn your techniques so when I bring her home next month to home school her, I can teach her the latest and greatest in mathematics.
Thank you,
The mom.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
My trip to Idaho
I got a speeding ticket. The Idaho State Troopers are the loneliest people on the face of the earth. I have a ticket for going 66 in a 60.
I love Phoenix.
I love how if you want to get pulled over, you need to be going deliberately 20 miles over the speed limit to get the attention of a police officer. Then they will tell you what the speed limit is, and ask you to kindly obey the law.
They then will drive off wishing you a good day. Then you will go the speed limit because WOAH, that was a frightening thing.
Or if you're going over 10 mph, they'll take a picture of you and mail it to your house. If you ignore it and don't hear from them after 120 days, it will go away.
Our law enforcement here knows that speeding helps the flow of traffic...and don't harass the drivers.
Not in Idaho. They go 5 under the speed limit and stop for yellow lights. I can't handle it there.
Enough of that. I was just telling my friends the other night that Coby is still not eating solids yet - well, she will nibble on a cracker, but not real "meals" except from MUAH - cause I need the extra calories to exit through whatever means I can get...anyway - I think it's funny that while at Crysty's I was pre-occupied with something - and Coby was obviously preoccupied with something else, cause when I found her, she had gone all puppy dog on me....
Don't let my Dad see that there were two perfectly untouched pancakes in the top of the garbage. But we moved her to a less trashed area of the house. She made great music.
Here's Howie's favorite birthday present from grandma and grandpa Covino. He wants me to take him to the store so he can spend his money from his other grandparents and aunts & uncles! He wants the laser for the nerf machine gun.
Our main purpose for going to Idaho was to take a special trip into Nampa to get a nice whiff of the sugar beet factory...mmmm, the smell of Christmas digestion at it's finest...and the second reason was so that we could visit with Grandma & Grandpa Meador! They've been in our prayers lately...Grandma's breast cancer has found its way into her lungs and she's struggling. Quite possibly the sweetest couple on the face of this earth!
I absolutely LOVE this picture! Brynn is NOT one to cuddle, so when she crawled up on Grandpa's lap like that and sat there for almost 30 minutes, I KNEW I had to take a picture. One of the sweetest guys in the world and Brynn got to sit on his lap!! LOVE it!
And here's the majority of the gang...I really love this one, too.
Oh - and one last thing - or maybe two...we also did Howie's baptism there. I'm supposed to keep quiet about it, though, we don't want anyone thinking we have special privilege to do this out of stake, but grandma's time is short and we really wanted to visit with her! So we saved the rest of the family a trip to Phoenix.
And since I was in Idaho - I had Danae do my hair. She went about 3 inches too short in the back - but hey, I guess that makes it so I don't have to go back in too soon for maintenance, eh?
I love Phoenix.
I love how if you want to get pulled over, you need to be going deliberately 20 miles over the speed limit to get the attention of a police officer. Then they will tell you what the speed limit is, and ask you to kindly obey the law.
They then will drive off wishing you a good day. Then you will go the speed limit because WOAH, that was a frightening thing.
Or if you're going over 10 mph, they'll take a picture of you and mail it to your house. If you ignore it and don't hear from them after 120 days, it will go away.
Our law enforcement here knows that speeding helps the flow of traffic...and don't harass the drivers.
Not in Idaho. They go 5 under the speed limit and stop for yellow lights. I can't handle it there.
Enough of that. I was just telling my friends the other night that Coby is still not eating solids yet - well, she will nibble on a cracker, but not real "meals" except from MUAH - cause I need the extra calories to exit through whatever means I can get...anyway - I think it's funny that while at Crysty's I was pre-occupied with something - and Coby was obviously preoccupied with something else, cause when I found her, she had gone all puppy dog on me....
Don't let my Dad see that there were two perfectly untouched pancakes in the top of the garbage. But we moved her to a less trashed area of the house. She made great music.
Here's Howie's favorite birthday present from grandma and grandpa Covino. He wants me to take him to the store so he can spend his money from his other grandparents and aunts & uncles! He wants the laser for the nerf machine gun.
Our main purpose for going to Idaho was to take a special trip into Nampa to get a nice whiff of the sugar beet factory...mmmm, the smell of Christmas digestion at it's finest...and the second reason was so that we could visit with Grandma & Grandpa Meador! They've been in our prayers lately...Grandma's breast cancer has found its way into her lungs and she's struggling. Quite possibly the sweetest couple on the face of this earth!
I absolutely LOVE this picture! Brynn is NOT one to cuddle, so when she crawled up on Grandpa's lap like that and sat there for almost 30 minutes, I KNEW I had to take a picture. One of the sweetest guys in the world and Brynn got to sit on his lap!! LOVE it!
And here's the majority of the gang...I really love this one, too.
Oh - and one last thing - or maybe two...we also did Howie's baptism there. I'm supposed to keep quiet about it, though, we don't want anyone thinking we have special privilege to do this out of stake, but grandma's time is short and we really wanted to visit with her! So we saved the rest of the family a trip to Phoenix.
And since I was in Idaho - I had Danae do my hair. She went about 3 inches too short in the back - but hey, I guess that makes it so I don't have to go back in too soon for maintenance, eh?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
WOW! It's my 300th blog post!
But I actually came here today to say a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Howie! He's EIGHT!
He's so full of fun, it's incredible!
I was digging through the archives of my "journal" and found this cute Howie story, This happened when he was four.
We took the kids out to Applebees for FHE Monday night dinner - you know - we got 10 appetizers for their 1/2 price happy hour special - paid all of like 15 bucks! yah! Anyway - Howie had the trots all day - but had done an OUTSTANDING job of getting to the bathroom on time! So Ross took him there twice during our wait for the appetizers...we were eating & all sitting there nicely - when Kali told me she had to go real bad....the following is a script of what happened in the bathroom.... (two stalls in the room, one is already occupied)
Kali: Come in with me!
Me: It's too small, but I'll stand right outside here and wait for you.
{enter Howie}
Howie: I gotta go BAD, mom.
Me: Well, just wait a minute Kali's going to be done soon, right Kal?
Kali: {grunting} yah, I should be done soon.
Howie: Whose in here? {getting on all fours to peer under the other stall}
Me: No, no! Honey, that's not polite.
Howie: {impatiently yelling - while holding his cheeks together with both hands} WELL HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM ALREADY??? I GOTTA POOP BAAAAAAD!!
Unknown Lady: {inward giggle - flush - exit} There you go.
Howie: {rushing in} Thank you - (at this point he barely gets his pants down in time to fire off some partially filled blanks - two more ladies walk in - one of them is probably 18-22 and doing the pee pee dance - real mature, right?)
Me: Kali, are you almost done?
Kali: (still grunting) Almost, I just have to wiggle this one off.
Howie: Mom, I need you to come wipe my butt please.
(enter me to stall to wipe)
Howie: You're the BEST mom in the whole world - oh wait, I'm not done yet, you can go out again (more partially filled blanks shoot into the toilet)
(young woman dancing with more enthusiasm)
Me: Kali, how's it going in there?
Kali: I just keep wiping and the toilet paper is not getting clean, will you help me?
(enter, tp thankfully was clean - we flush & exit)
Howie: Mom, did you leave without wiping me?
Me: no, I'm right here, we're washing our hands now.
Howie: Don't waste your time washing them, you're just gonna get poop all over them again from me.
Me: Are you ready now then?
Howie: yep yep yep yep yep yep yep (Howie is wiped) WOW, mom, look how muddy the water is, that's COOL! (flush)
unknown lady #3 - in jest: I hope we didn't order what you guys ate.
Howie: make sure you wash my poop off your hands, mom.
Me: Okay, you wash your hands, too.
Howie: I don't need to, that's why I called you in.
exit the bathroom Howie is making a "popcorn ball that would smell so good"
nice.
So that story above is one of MANY I have in my little Howie bank of stories (Click here to read one of my favorite Howie stories)
Anyway - so 8 reasons I love Howie (keeping with tradition)
1 - Just look at that smile! It melts my heart.
2 - Right before Brynn was born we were talking about how he will be a big brother and he said it was his job to "Pre-tect her" and if he had to, he would use Dad's Japanese swords (something he's never been allowed to play with - but hey, what a good excuse to start, right?) Sometimes he gets frustrated with her, but I remind him of his promise and he immediately softens up!
3 - He's tender hearted beneath all that "cool" he told me "I will always be your baby, even though I'm a big brother"
4 - Some kids can do this and they'd be dorky, he does this - and starts a trend. Being like this takes so many different levels of confidence!
5 - He does it cause "The Chicks Dig it"
6 - Even when he's as sick as sick can be headed for the hospital - he's still being funny about "Think the nurses still remember me?" Of course they do, they look forward to your visits, dear.
7 - He's the only one of my children, when unloading the dishwasher, will organize the utensil drawer the way it's supposed to be - everyone else just tosses the utensils in there. Yes, Howie, I totally notice!
and
8 - He's kept his room clean for a whole month so he could get his semi-automatic nerf machine gun that shoots 3 rounds per second. (He hasn't opened it yet, so wait till I post the pictures!!!) He even knew that his birthday was going to be that day and since it was coming from Grandma & Grandpa Covino, that he'd get it even if his room was messy...so, lets call this one "Obedience."
So here's a picture with Howie and his look-alike Dog Tags.
He's so full of fun, it's incredible!
I was digging through the archives of my "journal" and found this cute Howie story, This happened when he was four.
We took the kids out to Applebees for FHE Monday night dinner - you know - we got 10 appetizers for their 1/2 price happy hour special - paid all of like 15 bucks! yah! Anyway - Howie had the trots all day - but had done an OUTSTANDING job of getting to the bathroom on time! So Ross took him there twice during our wait for the appetizers...we were eating & all sitting there nicely - when Kali told me she had to go real bad....the following is a script of what happened in the bathroom.... (two stalls in the room, one is already occupied)
Kali: Come in with me!
Me: It's too small, but I'll stand right outside here and wait for you.
{enter Howie}
Howie: I gotta go BAD, mom.
Me: Well, just wait a minute Kali's going to be done soon, right Kal?
Kali: {grunting} yah, I should be done soon.
Howie: Whose in here? {getting on all fours to peer under the other stall}
Me: No, no! Honey, that's not polite.
Howie: {impatiently yelling - while holding his cheeks together with both hands} WELL HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM ALREADY??? I GOTTA POOP BAAAAAAD!!
Unknown Lady: {inward giggle - flush - exit} There you go.
Howie: {rushing in} Thank you - (at this point he barely gets his pants down in time to fire off some partially filled blanks - two more ladies walk in - one of them is probably 18-22 and doing the pee pee dance - real mature, right?)
Me: Kali, are you almost done?
Kali: (still grunting) Almost, I just have to wiggle this one off.
Howie: Mom, I need you to come wipe my butt please.
(enter me to stall to wipe)
Howie: You're the BEST mom in the whole world - oh wait, I'm not done yet, you can go out again (more partially filled blanks shoot into the toilet)
(young woman dancing with more enthusiasm)
Me: Kali, how's it going in there?
Kali: I just keep wiping and the toilet paper is not getting clean, will you help me?
(enter, tp thankfully was clean - we flush & exit)
Howie: Mom, did you leave without wiping me?
Me: no, I'm right here, we're washing our hands now.
Howie: Don't waste your time washing them, you're just gonna get poop all over them again from me.
Me: Are you ready now then?
Howie: yep yep yep yep yep yep yep (Howie is wiped) WOW, mom, look how muddy the water is, that's COOL! (flush)
unknown lady #3 - in jest: I hope we didn't order what you guys ate.
Howie: make sure you wash my poop off your hands, mom.
Me: Okay, you wash your hands, too.
Howie: I don't need to, that's why I called you in.
exit the bathroom Howie is making a "popcorn ball that would smell so good"
nice.
So that story above is one of MANY I have in my little Howie bank of stories (Click here to read one of my favorite Howie stories)
Anyway - so 8 reasons I love Howie (keeping with tradition)
1 - Just look at that smile! It melts my heart.
2 - Right before Brynn was born we were talking about how he will be a big brother and he said it was his job to "Pre-tect her" and if he had to, he would use Dad's Japanese swords (something he's never been allowed to play with - but hey, what a good excuse to start, right?) Sometimes he gets frustrated with her, but I remind him of his promise and he immediately softens up!
3 - He's tender hearted beneath all that "cool" he told me "I will always be your baby, even though I'm a big brother"
4 - Some kids can do this and they'd be dorky, he does this - and starts a trend. Being like this takes so many different levels of confidence!
5 - He does it cause "The Chicks Dig it"
6 - Even when he's as sick as sick can be headed for the hospital - he's still being funny about "Think the nurses still remember me?" Of course they do, they look forward to your visits, dear.
7 - He's the only one of my children, when unloading the dishwasher, will organize the utensil drawer the way it's supposed to be - everyone else just tosses the utensils in there. Yes, Howie, I totally notice!
and
8 - He's kept his room clean for a whole month so he could get his semi-automatic nerf machine gun that shoots 3 rounds per second. (He hasn't opened it yet, so wait till I post the pictures!!!) He even knew that his birthday was going to be that day and since it was coming from Grandma & Grandpa Covino, that he'd get it even if his room was messy...so, lets call this one "Obedience."
So here's a picture with Howie and his look-alike Dog Tags.
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